belize:2

I literally have mosquito bites ev-er-y-where. they itch and burn and then turn red like chicken pox. the weird thing is that I have only seen a few mosquitoes-I'm not sure when they bite me and I don't notice but it has happened.
we arrived on caye caulker off the coast of northern Belize yesterday afternoon. we had heard caye caulker was the relaxed, "backpacker" island destination from many different sources but didn't realize understand until we stepped off the water taxi. rather, we took the water taxi that drops off at San Pedro (apparently the cancun of Belize, with many resorts and much more commercialized) after caye caulker and it was more the lack of people who got off the taxi with us that really gave us the inclination that backpackers are their own type of people. the hotels here are more like guesthouses, all mid-range budget wise and we were glad to find such a great place on our third try.
(this is where I would like to upload a picture but after hours trying to figure out why my app won't let me, I've given up-sorry, Tim. I wish I could have delivered for you. maybe Whitney can read it to you ;)
we explored much of the island today, after running into our French friend, Roxanne, who is a travel agent from the south of France and was at the jungle resort with us-she is staying until tmrw at San Pedro and came to caye caulker to see if any of the guesthouses would appeal to her readers. we walked around with her and saw much of the island, and got offered marijuana for the first, second and third times (of many more since) we then wandered to the northernmost part of the island (until the split, which is where hurricane Hattie carved a big chunk of land out and cut the island in two) to the lazy lizard, a popular bar where there are chunks of cement in the water perfect for suntanning. the three of us swam and suntanned until we went our separate ways and Tyler and I did some shop browsing and bike riding around the island. the weather has been perfect so far, minus a short downpour yesterday and a constant gust of sea breeze. I am excited to come home with a tan! (because that's obviously what I came to Belize for;)
we love the culture here on the island, but it's a little too relaxed to imagine any sort of real life besides a vacation. we've seen a few american women with Rastafarian men and children, so apparently it is possible to get swept away and never look back. there are around a 1000 locals on the island, so watching the kids run around is entertaining. and as many cats as there were in Thailand, there are that many more dogs in Belize. we ate fresh grilled lobster last night and red snapper tonight after a lunch of conch and shrimp kabobs with **fresh** fruit smoothies. the food's not terrible. ;)
we hope to get some snorkeling and diving in (by we I mean Tyler) and otherwise general relaxing. after not having hot water, fresh drinking water, air conditioning, television and electricity for most of our trip, we are enjoying the luxury of all of the above here on the island. :) thanks for stopping by!