A Rained out 34th Independence Day did not Stop the Party

Waterlogged San Pedro

Thankfully for party goers, it waited till after the fireworks and Independence eve celebration for Chac (the rain god of the Maya) to let loose. It down poured fairly heavy from about 1:30 am onward and kept right on going. As a result, there was some damage control yesterday morning.

First off, little did I know I could have used a kayak to go get a jar of coffee and some eggs this morning. I was expecting puddles but this one was deep enough to make me go back and get my camera so I could show you just how much rain we got overnight.

Secondly, when I got home it was a full out whirlwind of boat issues. Unfortunately, the recently repaired automatic bilge pump option was not working and my neighbor’s boat was going down fast. Aimee called to say she and Martin’s son would be over in a minute to help me bail the boat. She is across the canal and literally from the time it took them to get one street over, the boat went from partially upright to a sinking ship. Theirs was not the only one. At least one other boat that we know of went down in our neighborhood.

Thankfully Kevin and Heather (who are out of the country) left me a contact number list with the boat captain’s number on it. As soon as I called, Daniel was there within 10 minutes but they could not get it upright without further help so he called the mechanic to come by and help. Unfortunately, because it is a 4 stroke engine it will have to be taken apart and cleaned. If it was a 2 stroke it could have been could be flushed which is less expensive.  In this case, the boat acronym Break Out Another Thousand holds true 🙁

Back to the Independence Parade

Loose plans were to have lunch then see who we found at the parade – that is if it was not rained out. Facebook was up and down on rain reports and right up to the time we were about to leave the word was rain or shine. At the very last minute, my friend Aimee messaged me saying that the parade was officially canceled due to rain but she was still planning to follow through on lunch plans and she and her daughter Tori would pick me up shortly.

On our way to town, we saw a few golf cart paraders that either did not get the memo that it was canceled or did not care – guessing the later was the case. Aimee’s first pick was El Patio but since they were closed Caprice at the Holiday Hotel it was. As soon as we walked in we saw smiling faces of Raquel and Kristen all decked out in their independence day finery. They are relatively new ex-pats. After 10 trips in 5 years, they finally made their move.

We went and got a table at the back and being as it was cold and wet, soup became the obvious choice for Aimee and me. She had black bean and I went for shrimp. Victoria opted for a sturdier meal of a sandwich and fries. Before long Tori’s boyfriend, Ryan and his family joined us.

All of a sudden we heard parade sounds and by the time we walked from the patio to the street, we saw a row of carts going by holding their own mini-parade through town. Not enough time to catch a picture though. Holiday Hotel still had their celebration tent outside and by the time we were done lunch quite a few people were enjoying cocktails under it.

Since I was not trying to be everywhere and catch it all  because rain + holiday = quality TV time 🙂 Kendall offered to share more of the 34th annual festivities and even wrote a poem for you (and all his Facebook friends 🙂 )

If you have not signed up to get email notifications for meanderingfool.com (Kendall’s blog) it is totally worth doing. He provides a humorous and thoughtful take on the unexpected twists and turns of living in Belize.

Belize Independence Day and the impromptu Parade by Kendall Beymer

Rain, rain,
You can stay.
Here in Belize,
We parade ANYWAY!

To those around the park last night for the chalk shindig – you were treated to a parade! Many of us were a bit sad; almost as soon as the decision was made to delay the parade the skies parted the rain stopped (of course, it always works that way).

That, however, was a temporary set back as many people decided to parade anyway. It’s nearly impossible to determine how many in the lengthy parade actually meant to be in the parade. Many of the carts thought they had just stumbled into a heavy island traffic pattern. Though the music, dancing, and flying chalk likely clued them in rather quickly.

Of course, what do you do when you find yourself in an impromptu parade? Smile, stay with it, take some pics…remember you’re in Belize and this may never happen to you again. Enjoy the party! Birthiversary Belize!

I will leave you with a few pictures Kendall shared of the pre-party and the impromptu parade.