Let’s Learn About Sailing Boats
Sailing boats are almost a thing of the past in San Pedro. To have a boat was the best thing in your life 25 years ago, and it was a lot of fun. Young people today only have to deal with speedboats and heavy engines, but the teenagers of the past learned much about […]
Remembering Easter in the 1950’s
There are many things that were so different with the celebration of Easter in the past. Well, you know how it is today and perhaps this recollection will give you a good comparison perspective. First of all the most vivid recollection is that the sleeping village became alive and jovial from Holy Thursday to […]
Cloth Diapers vs. Pampers
I sit outside my home on the deck near the swimming pool as some good friends have a swim with their lovely little girl. I watch all the wonderful treatment they give the little girl, and I cannot help remark to myself in my mind: Babies did not get all that fine treatment 25 years […]
Our Good Friend “Spanish” Jose Pacifico
Jose Pacífico is his name. Most people call him “Spanish” here in San Pedro, a nickname that stuck to him like crazy glue. There are many people who do not have an idea of this young man, but those who can recollect back to the 1970’s will remember Spanish as a great influence to the […]
Soccer Team Los Atleticos
I have recently received a very heartwarming letter from one of my ex-students and graduate of San Pedro High in the 1970. The person is Steve Krueger whose father was the owner of El Pescador Hotel and who lived here in San Pedro along with his parents and family. His little brother was Robert and […]
Reading the Clouds
There are people today that can read the palm of the hands. There are others who can foretell your future by reading from a deck of cards. Others read the stars and tell us a lot about our lives. Still there are some people who can tell of your personality simply by looking at how […]
Boxing Matches
The other day I watched some good boxing between Joe Calzaghe and Jeff Lacy and I could not help reminisce about some boxing that used to happen in San Pedro twenty five years ago. No it was never professional boxing, not even formal amateur boxing, but good street boxing that did develop some good boxers […]
Children Eating Sand
Teacher, teacher, Pedro is eating sand,” This kind of accusation was common from children at school who discovered that a boy was eating sand. And this happened with children who were as young as three years and as old as ten. It is not that they had no understanding of the very unhygienic practice, but […]
No Politics, No Campaigns
We can safely say that 25 years ago there was no politics in San Pedro. As a village there were no two party elections so there was no campaigning to become a village councilor. In fact people had to be coerced and persuaded to volunteer their services as chairman of the village council, and when […]
Where are our Beaches?
Back in 1998 past town board Councilor Omar Guerrero showed me some plans for beach expansion and beautification. I was extremely excited because I knew that our beaches are the number one attraction for tourists and the most affordable recreation for our locals as well. I mean a San Pedro without beaches is “No […]
How Yours Truly Got Into Politics…
I got into politics in a most interesting way in 1971, and after I got in I remained committed to politics until 1991, when I retired.I was only 21 years old and I was curious about what was happening at a village council meeting held at the local cinema, Teatro Arenas. Present at the meeting […]
Beachcombing That Struck Perfume
At times Sanpedranos have gone beachcombing looking for things they can use like lumber to build a fence or bamboo to repair lobster pats. At other times they went out looking for buoys for the guild nets or digging for worms to be used as bait. Interesting things have been found on the beaches of […]
Apples on the Beach
Imagine a time when apples were enjoyed for about two or three weeks of Christmas only. Apples were not seen on the shelves of the stores throughout the year. And suddenly, in the middle of the year you wake up one day and people are saying that there are tons of apples on the beach, […]
More on Beachcombing
Last week we took you beachcombing in the 1960’s, and we found interesting objects that had floated to the beaches along the coast of San Pedro. Very few people walked the beaches up north, but the beach from the town core towards the south was frequently combed by children, men and even families. It was […]
Vamos a Playar (Beachcombing)
The word “playador” means a beachcomber. Therefore Hotel Playador actually refers to the pastime of beachcombing. Beachcombing used to be a favorite pastime in the 1960’s. Coconut farmers used to beach comb on their way to their place of work along the beach. Fishermen used to stop at a certain spot and beach comb for […]
Toughest Time in Fisherman’s Life
After the Christmas and New Year’s vacations, our tourists are returning home to their daily routines. The children are returning to school and so families must return home. Therefore, there is a slight lull in San Pedro after the vacations. Twenty five years ago there was a similar lull in the village life, and one […]
Who was King, Man or Animal?
Indeed the world changes and so do customs and traditions, laws, events, even people. And all of this comes to mind with the recent article by Ambergris Today informing and perhaps cautioning us that there is at least one large shark and several vicious crocodiles roaming too close to town, too close to swimming areas. […]
Funny Side of “Serenatas”
Last week we enjoyed the romantic side of the “serenatas” or serenades. It was certainly a macho thing as only men took serenades to the girl of their dreams. However, as romantic as it was, serenades had their funny side. There were parents who were not pleased with the young lad or perhaps with the […]
“Serenata” How Romantic
Do you consider a young lad singing a love song at your doorstep a romantic event? Do you consider a group of young men, two guitars, and three voices waking you up at three in the morning to the tune of a romantic ballad a very special moment in your life? If you do, then […]
Garifunas in San Pedro
I have just learned at the 2005 Miss Garifuna Pageant, which I thoroughly enjoyed, that there are 2,500 Garifunas living in San Pedro. Could that be true, because I have always thought just by looking that there might be about five hundred. That would be a good social studies or civics project of a school […]
Oil on Ambergris Caye Since 1950’s
Fifty years ago there were rumors going around San Pedro that there was oil on the island. As children I remember playing in the lagoon and suddenly a bubble of air would appear from the bottom of the lagoon and rise to the surface. When this bubble got to the surface of the water, it […]
Inventions of Yesteryear
Indeed necessity is the mother of inventions as I commented last week. Did you know that back in the 1950’s we could catch radio stations as far as Harlingen, Texas? And how did we do that? Simply by using two very tall bamboo poles and setting up a very high antenna connected to the radio, […]
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
This weekend I had a craving to drink something we used to drink plenty in San Pedro twenty five years ago, that is red Fanta or the Strawberry pop mixed with pet milk and sugar corn with lots of ice. Boy is that delicious! Anyway, I opened the tin can with an electric opener and […]
Baking Corn Tortillas
There is a new corn tortilla factory in town, in the San Pablo area, and I am going to write about it not because it is a convenient store in my area, but because it reminds me of baking tortillas 25 years ago. It is mostly done by hand. The first thing involved in this […]
The San Pedro Police Station
Visiting San Pedro over the week end was a good friend Mr. Alpuche, who used to be the police officer in the 1950’s. His daughter, Anne Alpuche, attended primary school here along with me and many other peers of the time. Mr. Alpuche commented that his house, the police station did no longer exist, so […]