ABC Pre-School parents create Valentine art with children

Valentine's Day is super special for many reasons...at ABC Pre-School, parents were invited to join their little ones in creating some beautiful artwork honoring the day of love. Parents got into the crafting with glue, paper, crayons, scissors and more...helping their sons and daughters to make beautiful memories...

Happy Valentine's Day to all!!

Kelly McGuire celebrates his annual Birthday Bash and releases new CD

Internationally re-knowned artist Kelly McGuire was back on the island for his annual “Birthday in Belize Bash” as well as to release his new CD entitled “King of the Island”. The San Pedro Sun caught up with Mr. McGuire down at Athen’s Gate to listen to his new CD and get a rundown of what he had been doing since his last visit.Kelly McGuire made his first journey to San Pedro about eight years ago. How this happened was quite interesting. He won the Independent Artist of the Year award, an award given by the Texas Country Music Association, and as a result his video was posted online. Unbeknownst to him, he was being viewed widely. That soon changed when he received a phone call from Ebbe, who introduced himself as the entertainment director of Fido’s in San Pedro, Belize and requested that Kelly fly to San Pedro to do a concert. Mr. McGuire admitted, “At first I thought this was some sort of a timeshare scam – I was very skeptical – however within a couple days, I received another call with a confirmation number. My tickets had been purchased.”
Kelly hopped on the plane and landed in Belize and after a short flight; he was in San Pedro for the first time. He did a couple shows on that visit. The last day of his visit found him sitting on the beach in front of the Royal Palms, where he started writing a song about a guy he had met on the island. The gentleman was from Colorado and owned a charter boat which was parked behind BC’s bar called “Boat in Belize”. That song was finished on his plane ride back to Houston. That year, Kelly returned about four times and did various shows for Fido’s.

With each visit, Kelly found himself writing more songs. Before he knew it, he had a collection of tropical island type songs which were later compiled to become the “Boat in Belize” CD. This however, was not Kelly’s first CD. His first CD, titled “Red Fish Island” was released in 2000, and it was comprised of sailing, boating and island type songs. His second CD was a country album that had couple singles featured on the Texas Music Charts.

Boat in Belize was Kelly’s third CD, which in 2008, received the award for Album of the Year at the Texas Music Awards. Kelly has continued to make several trips to Belize throughout the years, and every time he is here, he awes the audience with his magnetic vocals and catchy lyrics. Apart from performing in Belize, Kelly has performed at venues throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

On this trip, Kelly stayed on the island for ten days and had four performances at Fido’s, leading up to his final performance after Super Bowl Sunday, and featuring well known local artists as well. The release of his CD “King of the Island” is as a result of years of writing and visiting. He told The Sun that most of the songs were written while sitting on a beach some where in Belize. The CD expresses his emotions and the way his fans make him feel every time he visits and performs on the island. With songs such as Daddys and Daughters – an audience favorite and Nautical Man, this CD is sure to be a favorite.

The artwork for the CD was done by well know local artist, Walter Castillo, and was created to reflect the lyrics of the song “King of the Island” and Kelly’s relationship with San Pedro. With inspiration from his travels and personal experiences, listening to Kelly can make you fall in love all over again with San Pedro, Belize.

The Art of Life - Lovers Nature

Cooking is like making love, you need the right ingredients

Immortal Kiss

Let’s speak of love and so we should

A boy of youth I thought I could

Did take the oath to make a mark

On tender heart stained passion dark

In bold desire we did spend

Brave emotion constant sent

And when the time had come to part

We tried, wept a broken heart

That love can leave one empty so

A turn in time we cannot know

Kissing, touching immortal soul

Once again makes us whole

Making love is part of our human nature. Why should we be ashamed of it? Like nakedness, it’s simply our humanity. In today’s’ world sharing our bodies have become complex. Sex has so many taboos, and meaning attached to it, it has become like eggs in our societies dark closet.
Sex should not be used to control or manipulate, to abuse or for selfish pursuits. I dare say those who have known the painful results for a quick minute pleasure.

Anything hidden and denied becomes a perversion. Some religions confine and control it, advertising glorify it, Obsessive’s perverts it, and spiritual seekers deny it. No wonder it has become a seething undercurrent in our culture. Lovemaking is far more than these ideals. We need to make lovemaking natural and healthy. Make it precious like the food we take time to prepare with the right ingredients. It is a natural need that should be properly respected. It is a gift from the divine, which unites love through physical expression. It is a sacred, profound act between two consenting souls. The result is our legacy and co creates our existence.

Books by Christopher Emmanuel can be purchased at his Art Gallery in The Sunbreeze Hotel, Art of Touch, Pages Book Store, Black orchid Spa and Sol Spa.

Delta Airlines now offers daily nonstop service to Belize via Atlanta

Delta Airlines hosted a reception to welcome Safari Services represented by Paul Hunt as the new General Sales Agent in Belize. The event took place at the Radisson Fort George. Delta now offers a daily nonstop service between Atlanta and Belize as part of its continued plans to grow in Central America. From left to right: Jorge Fernandez, Metro Atlanta Chamber and VP Global Commerce – Atlanta USA; Gladys Henriquez , Sales Manager El Salvador and Belize for Delta Air Lines; Hon. Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture – Belize; Paul Hunt, General Sales Agent – Safari Services Belize; and Miguel Lopez, Regional Sales Manager Central America and Caribbean for Delta.

Editorial -- Is that US $$ or Belize $$?

In the matter of a couple weeks while going about my daily life I was quoted prices from a cab driver, a realtor, a tour guide operator and a water-taxi business for their services. Twice I purchased their services only to find out afterwards that the price quoted was in US currency, not in Belize currency. What the heck? What country are we living in people? Hello, THIS IS BELIZE!
This policy of marking prices in US dollars is not only confusing, but is a clever way to lead people into thinking they are getting a deal, since the common exchange ratio is two BZ$ to one US$. The conversation usually goes, “Thanks, I can afford that! What, you mean US$? What? You mean EACH person?” If a vendor’s price is in US$ then it is their responsibility to be up-front and clear about that from the beginning, not after the service has been rendered, and frankly I think this practice should be abolished all together, if not outlawed!
This practice is not limited to tourists and “clear-skinned” people, as there are many Belizeans who complain of the same problem amongst themselves. The bottom line is the country we live in is Belize, and our currency is Belizean, not US.
For those who argue that they mark their prices as such because the bulk of their business is catering to tourists, since when is every tourist from the US? Do they also quote their prices in Euros? Tourists who visit foreign countries certainly know that the currency is different and they are prepared to make money conversions accordingly. Since the US dollar seems to be a common denominator, many visitors do use that when deciphering costs, but I am sure there are others who have to calculate the exchange rates of more exotic foreign currency to BZ as well.
When a vendor quotes a price it should always be in Belize currency (after all, this is where we are), and for those who are mathematically challenged or just clueless, adding “that equals x in US$” can be helpful, but one has to wonder if they refrain from mentioning a price in BZ$ because essentially the amount quoted is DOUBLE, which can scare off a customer. Instead they wait to drop that little bomb on the unsuspecting consumer after they have already enjoyed the product, and more often than not the consumer reluctantly pays the difference.
Let’s keep it simple, when in Belize let’s keep the currency to her Royal Majesty the Queen and leave the Benjamin Franklin lingo to the good ole US of A.