Thread: Fossildoc: "thanks"

I wanted to say "thank you" for doing such a great job with your writing. Your posts are so interesting, very accurate and helpul to many new comers. Keep up the good work, you may find it more difficult to find the time as classes begin. Also, enjoy your time on the island, have a positive attitude (it sounds ad you already do) and remember why you are there. Study hard, but at the same time take time out for yourself.

Hey guy,

I am enjoying your posts and "thanks" too for taking the time and effort. I have had some questions of course about some of what you have written, and some of the time I have had to laugh at the scenerios you have described. Ha ha

Will see you soon and stay out of trouble until more of us get to the island (both the returning students and all the "newbies")! Chao for now.

You are the man fossildoc! your posts are very much appreciated. Have you been able to find a suitable dwelling with an awning? that is retractable? also are there stainless steal grills available on the island? and what is the evacuation plan if there is inclement weather? i believe this points would be helpful to some of us other students who could not go on a fact finding mission or could not get proper information. Please expand or do start a post in regards to entertainment options on ambergris caye.

Originally Posted by BillyBill

You are the man fossildoc! your posts are very much appreciated. Have you been able to find a suitable dwelling with an awning? that is retractable? also are there stainless steal grills available on the island? and what is the evacuation plan if there is inclement weather? i believe this points would be helpful to some of us other students who could not go on a fact finding mission or could not get proper information. Please expand or do start a post in regards to entertainment options on ambergris caye.

Thank you for the kind words. I am living in Dr. Giovanni's house, upstairs apartment, which is on the housing list Blanca distributes to incoming students. Downstairs is vacant. I got that place because I'm old and need to limit physical stresses going to and from school; the house is the closest one to the school. I don't have a retractable awning, but I never go outside anyway, especially now that I've been surrounded and bitten by neighborhood dogs because I made the mistake of going into my back yard, which they interpreted as their territory. There is a leash law here which is not enforced due to manpower shortage. I do, however, have a tin roof overhang in front of my balcony, which forms the canopy for the downstairs apartment. On that roof a humungous iguana occasionally suns itself, and scares the living feces out of me when I come down the stairs and startle it.

I believe there are stainless steel grills available. I assume you mean outdoor barbecue type. Be careful if you live in an apartment next to a lagoon; crocodiles inhabit such places and have been fed cooked chicken by tourists for years, so they come up into people's yards and occasionally amble down the street. They're very dangerous; I'd advise against barbecuing where there are crocs, and that ain't no croc! This is an important enough problem to warrant a special post, which I'll get to soon.

Informaiton on entertainment options are available in numerous tourist publications available in all the hotels. There are two main places to get them. The Banana Beach Resort Hotel and Suites (I call it the banana split hotel) very close to the school has an office called Monkey Business devoted exclusively to tourism; they will have everything there. Another place is in town; there's a manned tourist room next to the Town Board (town hall) loaded with advertisements by all the merchants. There's an abundant supply of discos and music joints of all types, and of course more eateries than you could possibly visit during your twenty months. Stay away from the Chinese food served in "Tim's Fast Food"; it's awful.

I need to spend my posting time on survival issues. I have partial info on available medical facilities; Blanca, the housing officer, gave me a comprehensive list of all the doctors and clinics, and if I hadn't forgotten to bring it to school tonight I would be posting it right now. I'll do it next time I'm on the 'net; it will be incomplete, lacking a couple of phone numbers and addresses, but I'll flesh it out over a few days. I'm visiting every medical thing on the island to make sure I know what they do; I'll report on it in my medical Logistics post. Today, for example, I visited the Hyperbaric Chamber clinic near the Mayan Air terminal at the airport. Besides inspecting the chamber up close and having a long talk with its operator, I learned that they have the island's only x-ray equipment, used by all the island doctors.

I will make a post about evacuation plans eventually. Right now we're not in hurricane season, so it's not urgent. I've heard that Dr. ***** has made arrangements with some hotel on the mainland to put us up if we have to evacuate. The only really sturdy building around here seems to be the posh Radisson Hotel on the north end of town, but it'll probably be full of the rich locals by the time a hurricane strikes.