The more Belizean, the better!

Ok, I haven’t posted in a few days so I have lots to fill you all in on. But first, I want to say thank you to everyone reading this! I appreciate everyone’s support back home as I continue this amazing journey I set out on. You guys are the best!! (Comments below are encouraged!)

On Saturday, we went to the market in the morning to get food for the day and for our snorkeling trip Sunday. We decided to make coconut crusts for the trip. (See previous post on how to make them). The market is full of fruits and veggies. Apparently the Mennonites are the best to buy from because they are the cheapest and their food is very fresh.

We also went to a cultural and history lesson from Dr. Palacio at the University of Belize. It was interesting, but a lot of the info I had learned from my past two weeks in Belize. The info also deserves its own blog post so I’ll save it for a future day when I have more input.We spent Saturday walking around town to the shops and movie stores. If I haven’t mentioned this already, it is legal to bootleg DVDs here. There is store full of movies and you just tell the Alfonzo the movie you want and he copies it for you. They are $4 ($2US). I will definitely be stocking up on some. The day was mostly filled with relaxation. That night, the girls and I made roasted veggies for dinner and cookies for dessert, plus our coconut crusts for the next day. At night, we set up the projector and had a movie theater in our room. (That made me miss home quite a bit, reminded me of backyard movie night). We discussed the possibility of setting up a sheet on the veranda and watching in the hammock for our next movie night!

Sunday was snorkeling day. Roberto was our guide and we met him on one of the piers around 9am. The weather was not perfect but they day was still full of fun! The snorkeling was amazing. I have not perfected the art of blowing water out of the mouth piece but I will work on it! The reef was beautiful and so were the fish. We also went to Snake Cayes and played around a little. Roberto found a snake that we took pictures with. (This was on Coi’s camera so I will be posting it as soon as I get it). All-in-all, it was a fun-filled day. Side note: I meant to post this on Sunday, along with a fathers day video for dad, but it wouldn’t upload. Sorry dad! Love you though and hope it was a great fathers day!

The beautiful water. The dark spots you see are the reef, otherwise its crystal clear.

One of the Snake Cayes

Yep, Snake around my neck! It's a small constrictor snake.

Yesterday, I had more villages to visit. The frustration of a developing country was in full effect. My plan was to visit 4 villages along the highway. But, with a bridge down (the bridge was washed away) the buses weren’t running on schedule. My first village was Indian Creek about 45 minutes away. When I got there, I had to walk around asking people where the village health worker was. After about a 20-minute walk, I finally found his house, but he wasn’t home. I got his wife’s cell phone number to call back later. I had to wait over an hour then for the bus to come and pick me up. I decided to skip Hicatte and go straight to Big Falls. I got there at 12:20. The clinic was closed from 12 to 1. So I waited until 1 to talk with someone. It took 5 minutes to get the info and then I had to wait another hour for the bus again. Once it came, I decided to head back to PG instead of going to Dump because I didn’t have a phone and I was worried about the bus schedule. Back in PG, I went home and read on the porch. I was so exhausted and I went to bed earlier.

 

The health post in Indian Creek. It is abandoned and no longer used.

Today, I got up bright and early. I was at the bunkhouse by 7. There is a group in town from Metro, a University in Denver. They are doing nutrition education in communities as well as blood pressure and glucose checks. I went with them because they went to Sunday Wood and that is a village on my list. I talked to the village health worker, Martin Tush, and community members to gather my info. One of the schoolteachers there lives in Crique Sarco (it sounds like people say Cricket Circle when they say it) so I gathered village info from him. A pretty successful day. I also got to walk with the group as they went house to house. This village has very little. The houses are simple and some people had solar panels but some had no electricity. We also saw the Ministry of Education pull up to the school. When we went to see what they were doing, they were passing out TOMS shoes. For those of you who don’t know, TOMS is an organization with the motto one for one. You buy a pair of shoes and they donate a pair to a child in need. I have a pair myself so it was great to see their philosophy in action. It makes me want to buy another seeing how excited these kids were. If anyone is interested in them, they are definitely worth checking out. The shoes are comfortable too!

The group handing out goodies in the Sunday Wood today

Ministry of Education passing out TOMS

There are several things I have discovered about myself while here. One is the fact that I get the greatest experience being out in the community talking with others. My best days are the days that come with both excitement and frustration. I love hearing people tell me about their culture as well as their community needs. I have one more day on my current project. While I feel like I could’ve done much more, I am proud of my work. I have hopes that it will make a difference in some lives and I know it has shaped my future in ways I didn’t imagine.