Yesterday the 6th annual Boogie in Belize skydiving festival began. Skydivers from all over everywhere have arrived and are making jumps all day. Their landing site is a flat, dusty, open space just north of the bridge. I walked up this morning and waited for a wave of them to come in and jump. The small planes come first, circling the spot and climbing. Then the jumpers make their descent. The parashutes -- canopies is the correct word -- are beautiful bright colors. A dozen or so jump at a time so it is really pretty to watch them float down. Rookies can tandem jump with one of the skilled jumpers, and there were two of those in the group I watched. I have never been that close to skydiving and was surprised at how fast they come in to land. Here is a short clip.
This afternoon we held a family worship service for Holy Cross. There is no Anglican church on the island, so once a month they hold their own service. If there is a visiting or volunteer priest, then they have Eucharist. But all they had today was me.... The service is held at the high school in their auditorium/basketball court. Today there was reportedly a smaller than usual congregation. Word must have gotten out that I was preaching! All the teachers from Holy Cross were there, many with their families. It was fun to see them all dressed up -- Mr. Freddy in long pants and a sport shirt, for one. Because the congregation was mainly children, they were not very responsive at the response times. But, all in all, we had a nice service. I am not used to leading the entire service -- God continues to lead me (push me?) to new places. Next month I will be more comfortable and more in tune with their customary service.
The cold front is now a thing of the past. Today was bright, sunny and hot again. Once the sun goes down, it cools off quickly. Every day is a little different.
I had planned to write about the high school performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" which was last night. As a former high school drama teacher, I was looking forward to it. However, my mother always told me if I couldn't say something nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. So..... I will only state the facts and clear observations.... Those St. Lukers who have met the "world-famous Julliard trained violinist" who lives here in San Pedro will have some understanding when you learn he was in charge of the performance. The choice of "Fiddler" then allowed his playing to be show-cased rather than the young actors from the high school. I am afraid Julliard would be extremely disappointed. In what is often called "Belize time", the show started about 40 minutes late because several key performers had not arrived yet. Understudies and a teacher stood in for them until they came. The show had been rewritten in more modern "lingo" and a more modern setting -- Golde took Tevye's dinner out of the microwave to serve him.
I must confess that I left at intermission. I wonder how many others in the audience did too. The program listed five acts before intermission and another three after intermission. The Broadway version I saw only had 3 acts. Even the free refreshments couldn't entice me to stay any longer.
Here is what I saw on my way home. This little guy had been to the top of the tree and kicked down 2 or 3 coconuts. A better show than the one I had just left.
Have a great week, y'all.
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