first prize!

so we got a call the other day from the bank, saying we had won first prize in a raffle we had entered! imagine our delight. we went today to collect our prize, we had had some discussion about what it might be, i thought i had seen a toaster in there all wrapped up, alongside a casserole pot, but wasn't sure which would be ours. robert went to get it and came back with a blender all wrapped up in plastic with a large number 1 stapled to it, and some coloured bits of paper to make it look exciting. we have brought it with us to placencia.  we haven't tried it yet. robert had his photo taken in the bank when he picked it up, alongside a model from the bank. i think he found this pretty exciting but so far he hasn't made a big song and dance about it. we'll see if his picture makes it into the paper. the money from the raffle goes towards scotiabank's student scholarship fund, so that's nice.

there is a tropical storm on its way here, should be a category 1 hurricane by the time it reaches belize, which isn't too bad, winds of 70-90 miles per hour. probably quite hard to keep your umbrella up in those winds. it's currently down near nicaragua/honduras as i write this. we have no tv or internet at the house here in placencia so have gone to a nearby hotel to get online and watch tv. we should really have stayed in cayo which is much more hurricane proof but el jefe wanted to see his island so we came down here. hopefully all will be fine and we'll be back up north by the time it hits, due on saturday afternoon/evening.

i went cycling the other day and went up the hills on the way to the border 3 times. this wasn't fun, but it  made my legs a bit stronger, as i noticed the next time i went cycling i could go easier up the hills. i got a puncture on the ride earlier in the week, and fixed it with an inner tube of mick's, which the next day burst, and the one i fixed it with the valve broke, so i caved in and called our neighbours (as robert wasn't answering the phone) and they came to rescue me as they are very lovely. they baked us a banana bread too the other day, cathy makes THE best banana bread i've ever had. it has pineapple and nuts in too. that was on september 21st which is independence day in belize. from england. which interestingly enough was in 1981 the same year that sierra leone got independence from the uk. sierra leone also still has a british army presence just like belize. i wonder what happened in 1981 that made the uk get rid of its provinces. perhaps all that funny 80's music made the queen make some strong decisions concerning foreign policy.

we saw some really big bugs recently, i'll put photos on my next blog of them.

that's all from me from belize for today. bye from lucy pickles x