Six Weeks in San Pedro!

My first diary writing for a week, although there have been a number of activities that warranted some observational documentation.

We have been here in San Pedro for six weeks now (the longest we have stayed anywhere since leaving the UK).

We have settled into our little abode at the Yacht Club, and feel comfortable now thinking of this as ‘home’. There is a friendly sense of community spirit from those that live and own here, Americans and Canadians, and all retired. We joined in another cocktail hour last night, not only feeling very young amongst all the retirees, but also beginning to feel at home amongst these folks! Now all we need is come cash to be able to purchase the few things we require to make our place functional and more ‘homely’. It will be a milestone achieved when we actually begin to make our mark on this place. We are not talking major “stuff” here…..just simple things like crockery, a couple of pans, a tin opener, a garlic press, a toaster, a rug…….oh and of course, a hammock….no self-respecting home in the Caribbean is complete without one!!

We have encountered our first crocodile here…..and got up close and personal!! The other evening we took a golf cart ride with Billy and Joy (Billy who we friendly refer to as Fred Flintstone!) and visited the lagoon out the south of San Pedro, where the crocodiles are becoming so bold they will saunter across gardens, and have even been eating small pet dogs!!! Doing the brave (and stupid) thing that ‘tourists’ do…we walked to the edge of the lagoon where a croc was loitering in the water, and threw sticks to entice him out of the lagoon!!!

Our shopping is improving….we have discovered a fabulous produce market on a Tuesday morning by the lagoon, where mainland traders bring their produce to sell. It is such good, fresh produce and a fractional cost of some of the produce offered by stores here. For $BZ18 we got green peppers, broccoli, onions, cilantro, tomatoes, lettuce, apples, limes. We have found our supplier for large, raw shrimp….which happens to be the Belikin distributor…well I guess beer and shrimp go hand-in-hand!! And, we have now sourced a little meat factory where we can purchase 2lb fresh boneless chicken breast for $BZ11. Prices for provisions in all the stores vary so much you really have to shop around. No one store can be said to be best value for everything, and we are told the price war depends very much on who on the island buys up a supply of something. Our local store near to the Yacht Club is Lebonese owned, although as an ‘island of shop-keepers’ there seem to be a number of nations running stores here!

I am now very conscious of the fact that Nick uses pot to reduce the stresses of his life and block out the things he does not want to face. It is so readily available here, it will always be the easy answer! And the irony being that I am one of his biggest stress factors……and being with me will probably always determine a certain level of stress.

The ‘responsible’ activist in me just wants us to be able to ‘fix’ some of the stresses such as money. I also have a dream, and that dream involves living a happy, healthy life here. I would like to be cycling around the island, doing yoga once or twice a week, I miss running and would love to run along the beach in a morning to start my day.