MARKET DAY IS GLORIOUS HERE IN WESTERN BELIZE

Macal river market in Twin Towns of Western Belize


Western Belize Twin Towns Macal River market.

What a wonderful day out there this Saturday morning. Sun is shining. The Macal river market is loaded with people. Vegetables and food stalls, used cloths, tools, flowers for planting, young chickens chirping away, a crate of small puppies sleeping away among the bustle of people. Country girls are dressed in their finest dresses and high heels. The young farmers of tomorrow sport their sombreros, and cowboy boots and western belts with western buckles. Our famous local soloist street musician was playing to the crowd for all he was worth. He said, he is going to be on Channel 7 tv on Thursday and Sunday at 9 p.m.and I should watch it.
The Macal River is shallow and clear, kids are just wandering into the shallow water, to play and swim on this day that promises to be hot. Horses are picketed along the grassy river bank, below the market tents and stalls. Said hello to a few friends and acquaintances. Janet the Mennonite dairy farm widow, at her stall gave me some samples of her granola. So I didn't have to buy breakfast. The wife had disappeared shopping and later we met when she had her quota of radishes, bananas, and myriad other vegetables we do not grow at home. The tomatoes this week are huge. I could not resist weighing one, it ran over a half a pound, but not quite three quarters of a pound. Lots of new vegetables.The carrots, radishes, and onions have vastly improved in looks and size. It takes an extra six weeks to let green bell peppers turn red on the vine so most farmers sell them green. I did see some red ones though, but no red chiles. I have some of those growing in my nursery. Wife got some cucumbers, they add a very nice tart flavor to our home made salads from our own nursery vegetables. The vegetable scene is real good this time of year.
It was a very pleasant stroll through the market stalls, talking and stopping to gawk at things. I was thinking I wouldn't like to live anyplace else in the world, than right here in Santa Elena Town. This is what I call living! Small, folksy with a touch of consideration from your neighbors. Beats living in Miami by ten thousand times. You can take your FIRST WORLD industrialized country life and large metropolis and shove it.
The park nearby to the market was loaded with tents and I see by the sign that Sacred Heart High School is going to be having some sort of event. The traveling circus has gone this past week to another location.

WESTERN BELIZE TWIN TOWNS GET FANCY INTERNET CAFE AND STARBUCKS STYLE COFFEE HOUSE!

This is the NEW INTERNET CAFE ( BELIZE DIGITAL EXPRESS ) across the narrow main street of Santa Elena Town in Western Belize, Cayo District, Recreational Area, across from the AGRO PRO feed and fertilizer store. The girl is Maria Jiron, who is 21 years old and has a daughter. The unique thing about this Internet Cafe in Santa Elena Town, a typical dusty Central American agriculture and tourist town, is that it is the first place in the TWIN TOWNS to combine an Internet Cafe with Vivians Coffee House. They serve Frappuccino for $6.50 which has ice cream in it, they also serve frozen coffee for $5.50, hot Cappunicio for $4.50 and hot Latte. There are Nachos to munch on, ice cream, Sundaes and other good stuff. This is the first time the WESTERN BELIZE RECREATIONAL AREA has seen anything modern like this. They seem to be doing good business as well. I was surprised to see teenagers and people in their twenties queing up to buy what for me is a rather expensive delicacy. I myself usually eat at the Hindu Restaurant across the river and $2.50 will buy me a Ginger Lime juice in a big glass and a Somoza, which is a kind of pastry that has inside it various vegetables. $5 for a coffee strains my Scottish frugal genes.