By Angel Nuñez
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER SANPEDRANO IF
When you got home for lunch during the week and you did not get a piece of pig tail in your beans, you felt cheated and on Sunday you felt cheated if you did not get corned beef soup. This is easy to understand when you consider that the average Sanpedrano used to eat fish three times a day and seven times a week, so whenever there was a new pot of beans cooking, mom would add some pig tail for a special treat. Everyone considered pig tail delicious and whenever the family knew it would be served on a particular day, they all arrived home for lunch very punctually. How about the Sunday meal? Well, to deviate from fish meal, mom would open a can of corned beef and make a delicious soup with tomatoes and macaroni and lots of potatoes. Dad would tease mom that her beef was very tender. Mom would be happy that her cooking time was only about fifteen minutes, but everyone in the family would be happy that they had beef instead of fish for lunch. Rice and beans was not known in San Pedro in the1950’s; it was a Belize City thing.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER IF
Your school supplies were two exercise books and a pencil or pen. What about school bags? You are kidding! We simply rolled the exercise books and placed them in our pockets. One exercise book was kept as a general notebook and the other one was for us to write our daily work, and turn in the whole exercise book for the teacher to correct. Reading books were property of the school and were handed out to the students during the reading period. Mathematics, English and science were not taught from textbooks; they were taught from the mind and the heart.
The boys in school had lots of fun decorating their exercise books by drawing spectacles (glasses) on Queen Elizabeth’s face or a lot more fun yet by painting a moustache over her lip. This was done despite the fact that we were cautioned to keep our exercise books clean and did receive many a good whipping for defacing our exercise books and disrespecting our Queen. Wanted to get a sure whipping and a good one? You just had to draw the devil’s horns on the Queen. Today I actually feel sorry for my grandson coming home from school with a thirty pound bag full of books and supplies.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER SANPEDRANO IF
You argued which empanadas and garnachas were better- Mrs. Rosita’s or Mrs. Lara’s. Even in the old days, young people and children have always indulged and treated themselves to an afternoon snack after a sports match, a nice dive or some strenuous activity in the afternoon. The two favorites were the panades and the garnachas made by Mrs. Rosita Valencia Alamilla (+) and Mrs. Leonor Lara (+). (Mrs. Leonor Rosado’s mom) They were simply delicious- crispy and very tasty or it could be that after strenuous activity, the folks were simply hungry just like today when the office people look for snacks at mid afternoon.
25 Years Ago Books Can Be Purchased At:
-Ambergris Today -Lala’s Store -Chico’s Meat Shop -Pampered Paws -Ambergris Jade -San Pedro BTB Office -Aquarius Salon (Kim) -S.P. Town Library -Di Bush –Richie’s Stationery -San Pedrano’s Stationery -Rum, Coffee & Cigar House
Contact the Author at: nunez_nest@yahoo.com
