I received a request to write a “day in the life” post recently so here it goes…My days in Belize are from the experience of someone owning a business in Belize and as a girl in her late 20’s. Typically my days and my mom’s days are similar though and she is a woman in her 50’s. It is also slightly difficult to put a “typical” day down on paper because my days in Belize seem anything but typical but I will try my best with the disclaimer that so many unexpected things come up on almost a daily basis.
- 8:00 – 10:00am: To start my day off I would typically try to get a workout in. For the first few months of being in Belize I went to a gym in town and worked out with a trainer but unfortunately his gym closed and I had to resort to a home workout but either way I tried to get this part of the day over with first (this wasn’t always accomplished). We typically would stop off at the market for fresh OJ and chicken tacos for breakfast.
- 10:00am: We operated the business (Scotty’s Bar and Grill) 5 days a week with a staff of only three girls and the first person arrived at 10:00am for the day so we had to have the bar unlocked and ready to go for her to start her day off.
- 11:00am: The bar opened at 11 so our cook showed up a few minutes before 11am to get the day rolling. My mom and I would go out and buy any necessary supplies for the day and usually did our own grocery shopping as well at this time. Our cook was also our manager so we left the place in her care while we went out to do this. We would by fresh produce at the market, order meat to be delivered from a local meat shop and stop by a close grocery shop for any other necessary items. The Belikin beer and Coca Cola trucks usually stopped by our place around this time to deliver any beer or soda we needed for the day.
- 12:30pm: I do all the bookwork for the business so I usually started in on any necessary paperwork around lunchtime. We typically ate at our restaurant for lunch.
- 1:00pm: Afternoons were usually our time for some fun on the water or just to take a break for the day. The restaurant closed from 2pm to 4pm each day so it made it easier for us to go play a bit. We would either go find a nice spot by the bay to lie in the sun or swim, go out on a quick boat ride with a friend or just take a nap.
- 5:00pm: Our dinner crowd started to come in around 5pm so we would either be at the restaurant (usually at least one of us was there) or our manager started the dinner crowd while we were out. We hired waitresses so we were able to sit and socialize with our clientele which was typically ½ expat and ½ local. Most of the time we ate dinner at our restaurant but occasionally we would make dinner plans outside of the restaurant and meet up at a friend’s house in town.
- 10:00pm: We closed at 10pm so after everything gets shut down for the night we would typically go out with friends at one of the other bars around town that stayed open later or we would meet up at a friend’s house for socializing. A panty rippa (coconut rum and pineapple juice) after a night at our bar was usually a welcome treat.
- Late Night: On the weeknights we were usually ready to go to bed after our place closed but on the weekends we would try to find something fun to do around town. Usually it is just meeting friends at a bar in town but every now and then there would be a dance or party to go to.
A lot of times I would spend a few days during the week with my boyfriend who lives by a village outside of Corozal. Those days typically consisted of playing in the lagoon, reading, talking and relaxing with him. A far cry from the “typical” day I just listed above.
Everyone living in Belize as an expat has a different spin on their daily lives though so feel free to comment about how yours plays out.