Belize 2012: January 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

January 21, 22, 23

Sorry, we haven't had good internet access!

January 21, 2012

This morning we woke up very early. We grabbed breakfast and quickly packed our luggage. We all said goodbye to the cooks and Sebastian's family. I wished that I hadn't packed my camera away because the cooks wore their traditional dresses as always, but today they wore lime, magenta, and purple. It was sad to leave those cute faces that waved as we pulled out of the camp. We drove four hours to our destination. I was sick with stomach problems which led to my dehydration incident later in the day. For some reason the bathrooms at the places we went today were unusable. We stopped at a gas station and the toilet was overflowing with nastiness. Then we went to the Garifuna Museum where all of the toilets had no flush handle, were full of nastiness, and the water was turned off anyway. We looked around the small museum and read about the Garifuna history. We had a “tour” of the museum as the curator talked about each area. It was very hot today, especially in the museum. I started feeling faint, so I sat down in the next room as the tour was going on. I was not able to get into a position that would take away my light-headedness. I asked for my drinks and tried to sip the water and pop, but I just felt more sick. Cody made sure I walked outside safely, as it was cooler outside. Everyone started shoving sugar sources in my face, but I really just needed some liquids. I “laid down” in the bus seat and took a mini nap; once I awoke I felt completely fine. I still had to use the bathroom though! We started driving to our destination again and then the van got a flat tire. Our bus drove ahead to park at the end of the road because there wasn't a safe place for us to wait near them. So, unable to hold my bladder any longer, I planned to go in the jungle. Luckily, Kendra and I were able to get Dwight to go with us up the road to find a house. We found a farm on top of the hill and the dogs began barking at us. Dwight yelled, “Hello?” and eventually a man came around the house and invited us in. I was happy to find a beautiful bathroom that had a working toilet. The house was similar to a poor American home. The home was small with the kitchen, dining room, living room, and wash room in the same...room. There was a TV in the corner and the unfinished walls served as shelves for little trinkets and collectibles. I'm sure that the family thought I was funny because I walked all the way up and back down the road holding a roll of toilet paper, but hey-you never know when you will need toilet paper or not! From atop of the hill, we could see the orchards, mountains, and creeks around us. It was so beautiful, I wish I would have had my camera with me. At one point in the road, Dwight stopped and put the bus in neutral. We were nearly on top of the hill and it appeared that we would go backward if he released the break. However, when he released the break, we actually moved up the hill. He said that this point in the road had many people confused and National Geographic even wrote an article about the strangeness of the hill, the consensus was that the point has magnetic forces. We ate at Cheers for lunch and we all had delicious chicken burritos. I saw a cool lizard that ran on it's back legs and had funny flappers around it's face. We arrived to the hotel around 4pm. It is a nice hotel, which is a nice change from cabins and concrete buildings. Cody and I will be staying together for the rest of the trip, which is really nice, too. I took a hot shower!!! It was so so so refreshing and I actually felt clean afterwards! The room is nice with tile floors, actual beds, a TV, and air conditioning! Several us of took our dirty clothes to the laundromat which was $7 U.S. for the whole service. I think that's pretty expensive, especially considering how that's $14 BZ. We went to the supermarket to waste some time and then we walked back to our hotel. Erika and I worked on our affluence debate and I we finished our powerpoint. We had pizza for supper which was similar to frozen pizza. We played a game of Euchre and I actually did well this time (unlike last night). Now, I'm finishing my journals and getting ready for bed. Yay for another day in Belize :)

January 22, 2012

This morning we went to the St. John the Baptist Anglican church. The church is the oldest cathedral in central America and it is 200 years old. The experience during the service was very different. There were so many chants. There were three different books that were used which were songs, chants, and responsive reading. The actual message was maybe 5 minutes long. The songs were without accompaniment and were very simple; actually the majority were songs that you learned as a child. Every 5 minutes or so, we stood up and then sat back down. Anyway, the service was really fast and I was confused just trying to figure out what book we were supposed to you at what time. We went to the Victorian Room Restaurant in the Best Western Hotel in Belize City for lunch, which was very good. We went back to the hotel where we changed into our swimsuits and loaded into two tour vans. We drove south to the place where we were going to go cave tubing. The roads were horrible after we got off of the highway, the tour guide joked that this was our complimentary massage that came with out trip. We arrived at the cave welcome center where we were given headlamps and our inner tubes. We hiked into the jungle for about 30 minutes with our tubes on our shoulders to the place where we were going to get in. We came upon the blueish-green river and jumped in onto our inner tubes. We immediately went into a large cave that went on forever. We floated under the roof of the cave and saw the stalactites that hung above us. The water was very beautiful, but I must admit I was pretty nervous about scary monsters that could be swimming beneath us. We came to an opening between caves and we were able to see the blue sky above us and the jungle that surrounded the river. There were vines hanging down from the trees and from the entrances of the caves. We went through a second cave which was even longer than the first one. It was definitely an awesome experience. At one point in the cave, everyone turned off their lights and it was so dark that we couldn't see anything around us. After we came out of the second cave, we floated on the river under the sky until we arrived at the place that we crossed earlier. We dried off and then drove back to the hotel. We took hot showers and then waited for supper. We all walked to the pizza place and found that there was no where to sit. So, a few of us stayed behind and waited for the pizzas to get done. The walk was a little scary because of the sketchy shops and houses that were along the road. Finally, we were able to eat and then I went to our room to start packing. We leave tomorrow for Caye Caulker at 0800 and I am so excited.

January 23, 2012

This morning we woke up early and quickly got ready to leave. We drove through Belize City and arrived at the ferry. We scrambled onto the boat and started off on our 1 hour ride to Caye Caulker. I felt a little motion sickness a few times as the boat rocked side to side, but luckily I was fine the whole boat ride. The ocean is so blue! The farther out away from mainland that we got, the more turquoise the water became. We passed many islands covered in jungle as we came closer to the island that we would be staying at until Thursday. As we got closer to Caye Caulker, the water became so clear that we could see straight to the bottom. We saw beautiful docks, some with tiki huts that stretched over the clear waters. There are beautiful, super colorful houses all along the shoreline. Palms cover the island and there is soft, white sand. I was surprised at the amount of seaweed that accumlates on the beaches. However, there really aren't any beaches. There are tons of boat docks, but there is only one public place that people can go swimming which is at the Splits. Finally, we arrived to our dock and we jumped off of the boat. The piers are so beautiful and there are so many things to take in; it's like we stepped into a postcard. We grabbed our luggage and walked down the long pier and through the town until we arrived at the china town hotel. Cody and I are staying on the third floor, away from everyone else who are spread out in different rooms across the property. I love our room, there is not anything special or beautiful about it. There is just... air conditioning and hot water! It's small with a bed, a nightstand, a tv, a fridge, a chair, a closet, and a small bathroom. I thought it was funny that the doorknob hanger that says do not disturb or needs cleaning actually says, “Do not dosturb and Please cleaning.” I think the English could have been translated a little better :)

We went out to eat at The Sandbox which is close to the ocean front. The food was really good, but it seemed like we waited forever for our food to come-probably because we were starving. I learned that I love Pina Coladas (virgin, of course) and that you can each conch (which is like lobster meat that comes out of the conch shell). I will be getting both of those tonight, I think :) Then, we walked around looking for a place to go swimming. We made a huge loop around the east side of the island and finally found the Splits with some directions. There is an old concrete pier that is broken in several places, but it serves as a place to sit since there is no beach to sit on. I threw my stuff down and jumped in the beautiful big blue wet thing. The water was the perfect temperature and we found that the ocean is really shallow near the shore. We were able to stand up easily at 100 ft out. Sarah found a starfish, so Cody picked it up and we all took pictures with it. We found an even bigger starfish farther out, which was pretty cool because it's not everyday that you find live starfish out in the ocean. We swam for a while and played chicken once. We avoided the seaweed as it was scary to get your feet in it. Apparently, Brighton cut his toe open on the broken concrete slabs and so there was a nice blood trail from the dock to the sand. Everybody warned us to not go near the concrete and to climb up around the other side, but of course, Cody had to climb up the concrete slab and cut his toe open, too. It was a lot of fun being in the ocean. It's so different from the beaches that I've went to in the U.S. You can see the bottom perfectly and there aren't any waves because the coral reef breaks all of the waves further out in the ocean. We walked back to the hotel past all of the street vendors and restaurants. We cooled off in the small swimming pool and then I went back to our room to shower. I did get a little sunburned on my face and chest, even though I put plenty of sun-lotion on. In a little bit, we are going to go to supper and then have class this evening.

Friday, January 20, 2012

January 19, 2012

I did not sleep well at all last night. For some reason tonight was the night that the barking and snoring came through my earplugs. Once I finally fell asleep I was awoken by the cold and I tried to become warm within my sleeping bag.

For breakfast, I had a tortilla with grape jelly. We started class and the debate was on same sex marriage. I thought both sides did well in thought-out arguments. I'm so glad that I did not have to debate on this topic because I just get sick to my stomach just thinking about it. Luckily, the topics that I have to debate are topics that I don't really have a strong stance on. I was excited that Dr. Skon told our class to talk to the Mayans with the intent to learn a Kechi word. That's a great way to encourage the group to spend time with the cooks and surrounding families. I really enjoy conversing with people of other cultures and I think many people miss out on the opportunity because they are comfortable with their own people. We ate rice and beans for lunch and then everyone except for three of us went to Punta Gorda to shop. I stayed to finish my paper, reflection, and research the other projects. I was able to get a good amount of things done. Then I spent the rest of the evening with the family that takes care of the camp. I went into their house to find an empty room that served as the kitchen. There was a miniature stove at one end of the house and at the other end was a counter top with a small sink. I was happy to see that there was dish liquid and hand sanitizer by the sink. The next room was a little bigger than the average walk-in closet. There was a single hammock and a medium sized TV in the corner. The 6 children and myself gathered in the small room and we watched a few minutes of Bambi. I looked into their bathroom that was more primitive than our showers in the dorms. Everything was blocks and mortar with the bottom of the shower rough concrete. They did have hot water which was evident by the electrical cords running to the shower head. I think there was a small sink behind the door, but it was so small and full of things that I did not even try to enter the room. I learned that there was a small bedroom where the 6 children and the mother sleeps. I was unable to see the bedroom, but I was told that there is one bed that they all share. The father sleeps in the hammock in the “TV room.” Their home was very small, but everything seemed to have it's place. There were no seats or furniture. There was only concrete and gray block walls. We went outside and the children pointed out that their kitchen is actually outside under a thatch roof. There were three small concreted squares that served as their oven, they build a fire and lay whatever they are baking around the fire. There was a small chicken coop made out of wood and a thatch roof. The yard was muddy with tall grass due to the rain. The house is blue with a silver tin roof. The children showed me all of the trees surrounding their house that bear fruit. I learned about plum trees, mango trees, orange trees, coconut trees, crabapple trees, banana trees, and two other kinds that I was unable to identify. They showed me all of the naturally growing herbs that were in the yard. Although I cannot remember all of the (Mayan) names, I was able to recognize some of the scents, particularly cilantro. I feel so dumb because I never knew that coconuts aren't brown and rough when they are on the trees. The coconuts are inside of these big, light green melon-looking things. When the coconuts are ready, the big green things fall and crack open which reveals the brown coconut that we recognize. I didn't know that there are different types of mangos either. During our walk around the yard I was attacked by ants and now I have many tiny bites on my feet. I learned many Mopan Mayan words that are very hard to say. It seemed like every time I repeated a word I was doing something wrong. Their words are very accented and it's difficult to accent them just right. After we ate hamburgers for supper, we listened to a speaker who volunteers in Belize as a teacher, business woman, and leader in the church. I learned many things about her ministry and her dreams to help the Mayan people of Toledo out of poverty. I learned that for one year of high school it costs $1200 Bz which covers the tuition, 4 uniforms, books, lunch, and other fees. That's $600 U.S. Each family here has at the least 5 kids. The parents do not work jobs that bring in consistent money. They farm, they make crafts to sell, but they are unable to make a lot of money due to their location and the worth of their crops. Many of the farmers go into Guatemala to sell their crops because they can get a better price. However, many fathers have been murdered and their money stolen when they are walking back from the market. The Guatemalans watch the farmers go by with their crops and then they wait until the farmer is coming back through with the money. I wish that I had money to give to the children of these families because with a high school education, these kids could have the opportunity to get a good job that will help to pull their family out of poverty. For at least 2 hours, the 13 year old girl, Jostina, looked at my wedding pictures on facebook. We looked at them together as I told her about my family and American wedding traditions. Then we looked at Scott and Haley's wedding pictures. She then wanted to look at mine again and then she ran to get her mother and aunts. The whole family and the cooks looked at my wedding pictures forever, so I showed her how to use the computer and then I went to take a shower. They kept saying everything was so pretty and I felt a little guilty because I did not know if they were making comparisons or not. I hope that I was able to give Jostina a dream for her future wedding, but I hope moreso that it will come true. I am trying to encourage her to want to go to high school, but I know that her reluctancy is because of the cost. She did not go to school all week because she had to babysit all of her siblings. I hope to write her a letter of encouragement before we leave. We started a Euchre tournament and I have 18 points after 2 games.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

January 18, 2012

Today was an exciting day as we awoke in the morning to go to some more Mayan ruins in Columbia. The drive was about 20 minutes and we arrived at the muddy destination in our bus. It was so muddy that our bus became instantly stuck on the hill that was the entrance to the archaeological site. The men got out of the bus and the women went to the back of the bus to give it traction. They pushed, they put rocks, wood, and leaves under the wheels, but it was to no avail the bus was stuck. A few of the girls said they wanted to help push, so they jumped out to stand and watch. So, our group carefully walked down the muddy hill and up the next. Only one person, Dr. Skon, slipped in the mud and fell, but many of us were close to falling in the mud. We made it up to the ruins which were not as preserved as the other ruins that we saw before. There was a man who “ran” the ruins and we had hoped that he would help us get the bus out with the truck, but he was very rude and declared that we were stupid to try to drive it onto the road. Anyway, we walked through the Mayan ruins that were close to being piles of rocks because they had not been preserved as well. It was still interesting to be at another Mayan site and imagine what it must have been like thousands of years ago. Some of our group went into the jungle away from the ruins to play in a creek that they found. Brighton found a vine to play on which was hanging over a steep hill of jungle and rocks. Brighton, Cody, Damon, Kyle, Hillary, Erica, Dr. Skon, and I swung on the vine as we took pictures of our “Tarzan reenactment.” Then Kyle and Damon had a bright idea to go two at a time on the vine. Many of us said, “No guys, it's not a good idea,” but they both got on the vine, Kyle at 5 feet above Damon. They went as far out as the vine would go and then it snapped. We all screamed as we watched them fall into the jungle below. They landed on their backs on top of rocks and plants. I was scared to death that they hit their head or spine. Cody scrambled down the rocks to make sure that they were O.K. and they were both able to stand up with help quickly. Damon however was light-headed, so we had him sit before climbing up the rocks. Luckily for Kyle, Damon broke part of his fall as Kyle slightly landed on Damon's left half. They had multiple cuts and scratches with Damon having two deeper cuts around his ankles. We were happy to find that neither one of them showed signs of concussion and we rinsed their cuts off with water, since none of us had antibacterial wipes or band-aids. We started walking back and then “the nurses” ran over all freaked out like it was a major catastrophe. We were unable to get the bus out, so Dwight walked all the way back to our campground to get the other van. He was able to take the majority of our group back to the campground. I walked with the others who decided to walk, and we walked on the muddy road as we sweat from the crazily hot day. Dwight came back to pick us up once we made it to the village, so it wasn't but a mile or two that we had to walk. Damon and Kyle ended up being fine, just as we all knew he would be. We ate spaghetti for supper tonight and I helped the cooks make it because they had never had spaghetti before. I was sad to find out later that there wasn't enough for them to try it, but I was glad that I was able to talk with the cooks for a long time about their lives. I bought a bracelet and two baskets from some women that came to sell their things. We watched “A Class Divided” and now we are relaxing and watching The Big Bang Theory show.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

January 17, 2012

Today we ate breakfast (pancakes with honey) and then we had class on love and justice. It rained so hard today that we were unable to go anywhere in fear that the bus would tip over on the muddy, washed-out roads. So, many of us took naps and did homework. I like days that we have breaks because we are able to catch up at least a little bit on our school work. It was a little boring though so we played Euchre for our break from school and sleeping. The bugs were really bad today, especially this evening. I have 100% DEET oil rubbed on all of my skin, plus I sprayed 30% DEET in the afternoon, so I haven't gotten any more bites, but the gnats and bugs are still bothering us. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and for supper we had burritos. Dwight told us his life story tonight and it was interesting to hear about his experiences. He's a pretty cool guy and I'm glad that he is with us on this trip.

Monday, January 16, 2012

January 16, 2012

January 16, 2012

This morning we slept in until 0800. I slept pretty well during the night except for when one of my earplugs fell out; I wrestled around trying to find it because without my earplugs, I can't sleep through the rain, snores, and jungle noises. I found out that we are currently in San Pedro, Toledo right along the Machaca forest reserve, which explains the jungle that surrounds us. When I was talking with one of the boys, Johnathan, I found out that there are more Mayan ruins about one mile down the road from us. I learned that the Mayans originally lived in Columbia and when the Spaniards came, most of the Mayans moved north. In the south, the Mayans speak Mopan and Kechi. In the north, the Mayan speak a whole different dialect called Yucatec. I also learned that the average yearly salary in Belize is $3000 Bz. This means that the people here live on $1500 U.S. per year. Now this yearly salary is based on those who have jobs and work in the towns. The Mayan villages out here make less than that because they pretty much just live off of the land to feed their families. Most of the Mayan's means of income is selling their produce or crafts in the villages.
The temperature has been really good since we left Kindred Spirits (first place that we stayed), the days can be pretty hot and humid, but at night the air is perfectly cool. I would guesstimate that the temperature during the days has been in the 80s and at night the temperature is in the low 60s. Apparently, it stormed pretty hard last night just as it had during the day when we were driving. The rain drops the temperature several degrees, but the humidity increases so we still remain sticky. Today it poured the rain and it is still very windy here as the rainclouds move above our camp. In fact, as I'm writing this the rain is again pouring so hard that I cannot hear anything, nor am I able to see outside of my building. I don't blame anybody for being scared of the rain and thunderstorms here! I think I'll be waiting a while before going to the main shelter where most of my group is at right now.
This morning, we had breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, beans, and fried jacks. It is so interesting that they have beans at every meal here. In Succotz, there was refried beans that were more like the consistency of soup because they were smashed up so much. The beans here in San Pedro are like kidney beans.
After breakfast, our whole group drove on the road that has been being built since last March. They have been blowing through the mountains and the majority of the road looks like it is ready to be paved. The road is mud, but it was smooth unlike the potholes that we drove on last Saturday. I was nervous about making it up the muddy hill in our bus, but our driver, Dwight, always does a great job. We went to a primary school today where the group set up more computers and taught the teachers how to use them, the business group demonstrated one of their water filtration systems which is a large straw with a filter inside, and the rest of us sang VBS songs and played games with the children. The filter straws were pretty impressive. Scott and Melissa demonstrated the straws by drinking out of a bottle full of rainwater, mud, and leaves, and Scott drank out of a puddle in the mud. I was amazed to see that the water turned from disgusting brown to clear, purified water. I learned that the spring break mission trips that come to Belize go to the villages and schools to give the people the water filters every March because the straws last for one year. The school that we went to was in Crique Jute Village which means Snail Creek. It was interesting to see that the school was built by the Peace Core in 1994. As we drove towards the school, we saw the block buildings change to thatch covered huts, but it seems like the majority of the homes throughout here are block buildings with thatch roofs. I have slowly learned that although the official language is English, not very many people in the Columbia-Toledo area speak English. The people that live here in the south are Mayan and they continue to speak the dialects of Mopan and Kechi. When I went into the school today, I spoke to the children in English and they did not know what I was saying, so I spoke to them in Spanish and they looked even more confused. I learned that the Mayan children are very shy at first, but after a little while they began to speak the little English that they did know and we were able to exchange names. The teacher told me that they speak Mopan here and that the children do not learn English until they come to school. The class that I stayed in was Infant 1 and 2, so the 2s could say the basic English phrases and were able to understand what we said. The children were so cute and it was even more fun to try to play with them because there was such a language block that we just smiled at each other and used sign language to communicate. These were the first children that were shy in front of the camera! I think this may have been the first time that most of them had seen cameras because they reacted so much differently. I'm so glad that cameras are digital now because as soon as you take a picture, you can show the children their picture. They giggle and point at each other as they look, which is one of the funniest things to see. Their smiles and big brown eyes just melt my heart. We sang all of the various songs that we learned when we were little like the hokey pokey, father Abraham, etc. We played several games like Simon says, but I don't think the kids ever really caught on to the directions. The girls just loved me to death and we did Ring around the Rosie probably a thousand times. I think half of the rhyme was English and the other half was Mopan because they lost me half-way through every time. It rained so hard while we were there and some of the older kids went sliding in the mud with some of our guys. It was hard to say good-bye to all of the children. Literally. It was hard to get away from them! As soon as I tried to leave, I was hugged by ten girls. When we finished hugging, I would be grabbed by ten more children- I was lucky to make it out alive. You never realize how weak you are until you have ten crazy first graders pulling on you and you can't escape. I finally was able to say goodbye so I began walking through the rain and mud to the bus. Cody calls out of the bus saying that he forgot his water bottle. So, I walk back through the mud and rain to find it. I make it to the door of the classroom and I spot it. Unfortunately, the children spotted me first so the hugging started again. I even got a kiss from one of the girls named Lianee. It seems like most of the children have English names, but they are pronounced and spelled much differently.
We drove back to our camp where we ate chicken, rice and beans. There are so many people complaining about the food here, but it's not bad, it's just bland. I was surprised that the chicken that we ate was so... skinny? As in there was little meat on the bones. I guess it gives a new perspective on the amount of food that the people have. I am a little worried about the food though because this is the first time this month that my stomach has been messed up.

January 16, 2012 Continued

Well, I took a nap instead of doing homework and then we had class. The debate today was on Euthanasia and the four people presenting did very well. We ate supper (tortillas and eggs) and it did not fill me up at all. Some Mayan women came to sell their things, but I don't think anyone bought anything. I felt really bad that only a few people came to look because the women walked really far in the dark. I spoke with three of the young girls that came and it was nice to learn that they wanted to be teachers and one wanted to work at a business. They all three were going to high school. Then our group drove to Punta Gorda to get food for the next couple of days. We were able to see the ocean even though it was very dark. The town did not feel safe at all and I was happy to leave.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

January 15, 2012

This morning we went to church in San Ignacio. We ate BBQ chicken for lunch and then we finished packing our bags. Our group and the business group left the campground and headed down south. We spent the whole day in the bus as we drove 6 hours to our destination at another campground. This campground seems nicer so far due to the girls dorm set up. The scenery was beautiful along the way, there were so many mountains and fields of oranges and bananas. Although we haven't seen what is around us yet because of the dark, it seems as though we're in the middle of the jungle. I showed all of the little kids the pictures on my computer because they were all so interested that I had a computer. They all gathered around, almost on top of me to see what I was doing. I've already memorized their names! I love the kids here, they were so funny as they chased Scott around the main shelter. I must admit, I'm a little nervous about the bat that is flying above our heads, I hope he doesn't run into me!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

January 14, 2012

This morning, three nice, air conditioned vans came to take us to mountain pine ridge. The van was so nice! The ride was smooth, the air conditioning was lovely, and it was pleasantly quiet. We drove 1.25 hours to Mountain Pine Ridge where we went to Big Rock. We climbed down a steep descent to see a beautiful waterfall. The rocks were pretty slippery, many of the girls fell on the way down. We took a couple of pictures of the river and waterfall, and then it started pouring rain. So, we all scrambled to get back up the steep climb back to the top of the mountain. We were all soaked, but I really enjoyed the hike. I have found that I love climbing up and down mountains and rocks, but when it comes to stairs- they are my worst enemy. We drove to Pools of Rio where we ate sandwiches by some mennonites. Our tour guide called them the “money-nites” because he said they love money. Our tour guide was pretty cool, his name was Philip. After lunch, we drove to the Caves of Rio where we went inside the biggest, most awesome cave ever! There were stalactites, a river running through the center, and plenty of cool rocks to climb on. It truly was amazing to look out of the cave into the jungle that was covered in sunshine. We had military escorts that came with us because apparently people from Guatemala have been stealing plants and tourist's property in Belize. The cave was very close to the border, so the two men carried AK47s to ensure our safety. The military stay in an old British military training camp that has long been deserted. There were houses and barracks that were shut up with weeds grown around them, and it felt like a scary movie driving through the old camp. After the sweet cave, we went back to the Pools of Rio where we went swimming in the pools. There were multiple waterfalls and rapids, so we had all kinds of excitement. Several people got cuts and bruises falling on the slippery rocks in and out of the water. We all went behind a waterfall, which was a pretty cool experience. We went down the “slides” that were created from the rocks and rapids. I felt like we were the Swiss Family Robinson a little. I did get a couple of nice bruises from going down the slides, but it was a lot of fun. Swimming felt great. Once it was finally sunny, we had to leave. By the way, the roads were pretty awful- the constant holes and washouts reminded me of Ecuador. The road was mud, pot holes, and streams. The whole mountain was covered in pine trees, which was different to see since we have been driving through jungles. The landscape on the way up to the mountain was amazing, there were mountains, creeks, crop fields, and many trees. It is so neat to see banana, orange, and other fruit trees everywhere. We passed by several Mayan villages where we were able to see how the houses were built on levels on the side of the mountain. We passed by the one of the last Mayan Shaman's house and old clinic, which was kind of neat to hear a little about the late Mayan healer. Today was a really cool day, the climbing and hiking made this to be my favorite day thus far. We went back to our campground where we stuffed food into our starving stomaches, then I took a nice shower. We are now watching The Book of Eli.

We learned about the tataduende (grandpa dwarf) which is a old, white-haired dwarf man with feet that are backwards and he only has four fingers because he is without thumbs. The Mayan legend is still passed down to the children and the story goes that if anyone walks into the jungle and sees the tataduende, then they must wave to him with their thumbs folded into their palm because if he sees their thumbs, then he will cut them off for himself. We learned about the weeping woman legend. She is a beautiful woman who leads men into the jungle only to leave them so that they are lost forever. She does this because in her life, an elicit affair with a man took her only child, so now she hates men. We also learned about the Mayan rain god Chaar who cries from heaven.

Friday, January 13, 2012

January 13, 2012

We had class this morning and the debate today was on abortion. Cody and Ashton were against abortion, with Courtney and Hilary for abortion. I thought they did a great job and I was happy that it went so well. After class, we had hamberguesas for lunch. Cody and I tried to find some means of privacy so that we could spend some quiet time together, but after getting attacked by bugs in the grass, we decided just to take naps in our own beds. A few members of our group went to another school today to sent up a computer lab, but the majority of us “took the day off.” Many of us went down to the high school soccer field to watch and play soccer with the high school boys. I got an Icee from Benny's and it turned my whole mouth blue, but I loved it, especially because it was cold! I took a lovely shower then watched the boys play basketball. Cody has proven himself to be a real athlete, many of the girls have asked me if there's anything that he's not good at. Supper was... different. We played euchre and I really enjoyed the game. Then we listened to a speaker, Bryan, talk about his life's journey and how disappointments happen in life, but they are all in God's plan and happen for reason.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

January 12, 2012

This morning I finally made it to breakfast! We had class today and the debate was on the death penalty. We watched a movie about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and I was able to catch up on all of my current homework, although I still have been able to start on my papers. I plan to start tonight, but I'm not feeling very well now. Ginny had to go home today. She wasn't getting better and everyone feared the worst, so Dr. Skon drove her to Belize City to get on the airplane. I feel so bad for her to have to leave after she's waited so long to come here. I know how upset she is about missing the experience. I hope that she makes it home safely to a hospital that can care for her appropriately.

A few of the students went to the Catholic school today where they finished setting up the computer lab. We stayed here and I spent almost all of my time with the Belizeans school girls. I let them play with my camera for a while and they took many pictures of us. They begged me to play duck duck goose, but it ended up in being a dog-pile on me. I had at least 8 little girls on top of me as I laid on the ground, helpless. It was fun at first, but then I really started hurting because there were so many of them and they were so rough! I was glad that Cassie unknowingly sacrificed herself as I ran for cover. The little girls are so cute, they always want to hold my hand or hug me. Then, the little boys found a tarantula, which of course they scared all of the American girls with. I hid in the dorm until they finally killed it. Supper was really good tonight, we had noodles and mashed potatoes. I took a lovely shower, we cleaned the bathroom, and now a few of us are doing laundry.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

January 11, 2012

This morning I had an even harder time getting out of bed, but Kendra and I were having a “heart to heart” pretty late into the night. I really enjoyed laughing with her as we listened to all of the various snores. Hannah and I did our debate on “just war” this morning and I thought that we did very well. After lunch, the nursing majors walked down to the Good Shepherd Clinic where we spoke with Nurse Margaret. She was absolutely and utterly inspiring. I learned so much in just a matter of minutes. I honestly felt like God was speaking through nurse Margaret because she talked about a issue that I have been dealing with for quite some time. Nurse Margaret changed my perspective a little because she talked about the worth of individuals. She gave the example of a patient who had a major stroke. The patient cannot move, talk, or perform any type of functioning. They cannot hold a job, they cannot pay for their healthcare, they cannot clean themselves, they cannot contribute anything. So what is their contribution to society? They can love God. They can praise and thank him every second while they are lying immovable in their bed. Is that not why we were created? We were created to love God, to praise God, and to bring others to God through our testimony. Who are we as humans to judge the worth of another human being? The whole time that she was talking about this, she was looking right into my eyes, as if she had read my heart and seen the struggle within me. I feel honored to have had a moment with God through this beautiful Mother Teresa. She taught us many other things, I wish that I could remember everything. While I was listening, I kept wishing that I had a recorder so that I could listen to her wisdom over and over again. She taught us the nursing is not a profession. Our professors would kill us if they heard us repeat that. Nursing is not a profession, nursing is a vocation. A profession is something that you choose to do with your life. A vocation is what God calls you to do. You do not choose your calling. He gives you the talents for a reason, this reason is to follow God through His calling on your life. I now understand why Kendra loves and admires this woman so much. What an amazing person!

We were not able to help in the clinic today, so we walked to the market. On the way we saw two large lizards on the concrete wall. I bought several things at the market, but it was really hard to shop because it was so hot! We stopped by a pottery artist's place and I learned about the process of black beans. He was very nice and I would like to speak with him again sometime. Us girls got whistled at and hollered after while we were walking and we acted confused and asked if they were wanting Cody. They were so funny as they started shouting, “No, no!” We took showers, ate supper, went to Benny's, and then came back to camp. Some of us girls prayed around Ginny because she is very sick and may need to go home because of her health issues. I hope that she can miraculously get better within the next few days; I would hate for her to miss this experience.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

January 10, 2012

We went to the Duck Run Three school again today. We did crafts with the children, played games, took pictures, and a few of the students helped the children with their math homework. Hannah and I spoke with one of the teachers and learned a little about his life. He did not want to be a teacher, but he had an associates degree from college will allowed him to take a 2 month substitute position at one of the schools. The government decided to hire him as a full time teacher and he has now been teaching for six years. His dream is to be an architect, but instead of having a bad attitude about having to teach, he had the attitude that he can help others through this. He said that he wants the children to come running to school and walking home, instead of the opposite. He wants to be able to change the attitudes of the other teachers and the students to want to learn and want to go on with their education. He told us about the grade system. “Infant 1 and 2” is the equivalent of grades 1 and 2. “Standard 1 and 2” is grades 3 and 4. “Standard 3 and 4” is grades 5 and 6. “Standard 5 and 6” is grades 7 and 8. The majority of children do not go onto high school. The teacher said that only a couple of students out of each class will go onto high school, and out of those who do go to high school only 1 or 2 will graduate. High school is not a requirement and the families pay for their child's high school and college education. . I received so many hugs today and the kids took many pictures again. I was sad to leave the school for the final time. We went to lunch at a restaurant that had many tourists from the cruise, then we walked around San Ignacio for a while. It was very hot today, so as soon as we arrived at the campground we excitedly took long cold showers. .

Monday, January 9, 2012

January 9, 2012

January 9. 2011
Last night, I took Dramamine and it knocked me out until morning. I only woke up once at night and I had a horrible time making myself get up once it was time. We drove 45 minutes to Duck Run Three where we spent our day at the Hidden Paradise Government School. The school is for children grades K-8th. There were four small classrooms that were for the separate grades, so there were 2 grades per each class/teacher. All of the kids wore white shirts and blue pants or skirts. There were two brothers who were white, blue-eyed Mennonites, which was interesting to see the minority difference in comparison to the States. All of the children were so cute, funny, and very interested in our being there. We did crafts with them, played games, told them about America, and sang praise songs with them. Several of the little boys asked me if I knew Spanish, so I was able to keep up with everything that they said, including their persistent quizzing of my Spanish knowledge. They loved giving and receiving hugs, and the especially loved taking pictures. They could not get enough pictures taken of themselves and I ended up just giving them my camera so that they could take pictures of each other. They were so funny and I giggled with them as they took pictures of everyone and a cowpie that was on the ground. The boys were the ones who took the picture of the cowpie, of course, and they loved seeing my reaction. There was a man there who was going to show a movie about Jesus after lunch, but we had to leave to allow the children to get back to their schooling. It was interesting to see their daily schedule which had three separate times for devotions. The morning started with devotions, then they had a spirituality (Bible) class, and they ended their day with another devotion. One of the classes was learning math during the time that we arrived and many of the children said that they liked math. I was glad they did not try to quiz me on my math skills because I would probably fail that quiz. We sang songs with the children and it was cool that they knew the same songs that we did, English and Spanish. The children learn Spanish and English at the same time; I wish that we were able to learn a second language as naturally as they do. We ate lunch in a diner that was inside of a modernized store. I have noticed that Belize is much more advanced than I had initially thought before coming. We stopped for ice cream afterwards, which was pretty awesome. Then we had class that was focused on Mother Teresa and Christian Ethics. We ate pork, rice, pineapple, cucumber, and cake for dinner. Now, I am trying to catch up on homework before our next class time. I'm so happy that we were able to spend the day with Belizean children!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

January 8, 2012 Succotz

I ate breakfast this morning which was refried beans, eggs, and flapjacks. After eating our good meal, we walked to the Nazarene church and stayed throughout the three hours service. We came back and ate lunch, then we tried to start on our debate projects. We did not get far at all in our homework because everyone was going to Xunantunich and this was the only time that we were going to be able to go. So, we walked all the way down to the ferry which we rode across the river. Then we started hiking up the mile long hill, but we were picked up by the van, so we had it easier than the poor guys who walked all the way. I was amazed by the ruins, Xunantunich was huge! I can't believe that thousands of years ago, these amazing temples were built. On the way back, we went to the market where I bought a bag, a Mayan calendar slate, and a bracelet for Caleb. I took pictures of several cute kids along the way back and we spoke with a lady with a hilarious parrot. We were walking up the road and we started hearing a baby just wailing up a storm, then we realized that it was a green parrot on top of the electric line. The lady was trying to get him to come down, but he just kept talking back and making so many different noises, it was so funny. We ate supper and then tried to work on our homework...again. Then, we had to clean the women's bathroom, but it didn't take too long. Finally, I am back here trying to work on my homework, but I have a feeling I won't be getting anything done because there is no quiet area available to think in.Good night!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

January 7, 2012

This morning, we packed up our luggage and moved all of it to the main building. The education girls came last night and we're pretty loud all night, thankfully my earplugs blocked most of the noise out. Our group, Professor Yerxa's group, and the huge education group loaded into the van and the bus, then we headed to the Belize Zoo. The zoo was pretty cool, we were able to get really close to all of the animals. The jaguars, tiger cats, and the harpy eagles were my favorite. The animals were so cool, I'm glad that we were able to go. One kind of scary thing that happened was these bloody bug bites. I'm not sure what the bugs were because we never saw them. They bit our legs and we didn't even feel their bite, we would just find blood trickling down our legs. I was pretty creeped out, but I guess I'll be O.K. because I'm not dead yet! We headed back to the campground where we loaded the tons of luggage onto two pickup trucks, the bus, and the van. We were cramped pretty tight and to be honest, the ride was miserable.

We drove through several towns and the landscape went from flat to hilly. We saw a variety of homes and buildings as we drove to our destination. Finally, we arrived to the school where we are going to stay until next Sunday. There are two dormitories, one for the boys and one for the girls. All of the girls rushed into the huge room and started grabbing their bunks. I followed some of the girls in my group and put my stuff on the lowest bunk (there are three per bunk). I was worried that I wouldn't be able to because I'm so afraid of rolling off again like at church camp years ago. It is pretty crowded in here with over 37 girls. Good night!

January 6, 2012

January 6, 2012 Belmopan Orphanage

This morning, they made French toast. I decided to get up early enough this time to go to the kitchen and eat some of what was left and I'm glad I did because we rushed through lunch later in the day. We had class in the morning and we focused our discussion on Matthew 5. I had planned to nap for the afternoon, but it was warm enough and I had the time to do laundry instead. So, Cody and I got two of the big bins from the kitchen and a large strainer, and I added my little tide packet to the wash. I was happy that washing our big load worked so well, as I had only hand washed a few things at a time at home. We hung everything to dry on the playground on campus and all except for the socks and jeans are dry. Close to lunchtime, Christy ran around telling us that she was going to the orphanage in Belmopan and to get ready if we wanted to come along. So, we changed into skirts, stuffed down a sandwich, and gathered into the van. The drive was about 15 minutes, thank the Lord, because we were crunched pretty tight. We arrived at the blue building that was the Capitol's orphanage. As soon I we arrived, a little boy named Lindi came up to me and asked me if I could read “The Abdominal Snowman,” which is one of those books where you can make a choice of what will happen next.

Every time that we reached “The End,” he would flip the pages back to make a different choice. So, we read about six different endings, then Ginny took over my reading job. I was so aggravated at the gnat that flew in my eye because I could not get it out and it hurt so bad! Plus it made it really difficult to read to him because I kept rubbing my eye. There were many children there from the ages of 1-17. I thought it was interesting that there were so many adults and mothers there helping with the children. It felt like a daycare a little because adults would come in off of the street to sit with each other while they watched the kids run around. The building and the yard were small, but adequate for the amount of children. I'm not sure how many children there were because every time I turned the corner I saw another child that I hadn't seen before. Christy brought sun-catchers for the children to paint and those beads that you iron together. The children loved working with the crafts and one little girl decided to repeatedly paint her sun-catcher. She would paint her car, then wash the paint off, and paint the car again. I guess she was never satisfied or she just enjoyed washing the paint off. There were several babies around the age of one, who were so preciously cute. One of the toddlers was named Moses and he was so rowdy! It was everything that was in me just to hang onto his wallering body! He was so adorable though, especially when we were cleaning up the beads. He would squat down and pick up the beads, then hand them to us to put into the container. We noticed while we were there that many of the toddlers had not said a word, apparently they never have spoken.

After our time at the orphanage, we drove back to our campground, and I went to bed. I feel so tired, I have not done so many different things in such a small amount of time. We had spaghetti again, which was even better than last time. We watched a video about Mother Teresa and were able to see how caring she truly was. The education group arrived this evening to start their month in Belize, I hope that God has big things in store for them. I hope that everyone's lives are dramatically changed for the good while we are here. I am so happy for this opportunity, I wish that every person in America could experience a developing country, their perspectives would change for the better I am sure.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

January 5, 2012

January 5, 2012 Orange Walk and Lamanai

This morning was not as cold as the previous night, until I had to get out of bed. Today we drove two hours to Orange Walk where we took a 1 ½ hour boat ride to Lamanai. The land is so beautiful and the river was really cool. I loved looking at all of the different trees, the lilly pads, and the animals. We saw two crocodiles, several different kind of birds, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, and an owl. We saw the Mennonite community whose farm was along the river. We finally arrived to Lamanai where we ate lunch and looked in the shops. Lunch was awesome, we had chicken, rice and beans, coleslaw, and potato salad. The drinks that we had were watermelon juice, lime juice (my favorite), cantelope juice, and papaya juice. Our tour guide led us to the museum where we looked at the history of the Mayan culture and the Mayan artifacts. We then started our hike to the mayan ruins. We saw the chicle (gum) tree and learned about many other trees that have medical value. There were so many different kinds of palms and plants. I loved looking up at the sky through the branches. Then, we heard the howler monkeys who were howling louder and louder as we walked towards their trees. We were able to see several of the big, black monkeys and I was most excited to see a baby monkey jumping across the branches with his tail hanging on as he crawled around in the trees. We saw five ruins, although I do not remember the names of all of them, we climbed two of the Mayan temples, one of which was the High Temple. It was absolutely amazing to be able to experience the ruins! We climbed the longest, steepest stairs that I have ever even seen. I was pretty nervous climbing up, but when I made it to the top, I could see for miles. I'm sure that I'm going to be feeling really sore tomorrow after hiking and climbing the temples. This had been such a great opportunity, I love being in Belize. There are so many things that I want to talk about, but I'm too tired to even think about everything that we learned and did today. After our long day at the Mayan ruins, we took the boat ride back to Orange Walk where we drove close to the shore where two spider monkeys were. Several people had bananas and the spider monkeys just walked right onto the boat in between everyone and started taking the bananas and eating them. It was so funny to watch them, their characteristics were similar to toddlers in that they walked upright, grabbed food, and while eating, grabbed more food. We then drove back to Kindred Spirits. We took cold showers and then ate supper (beans, rice, and tortillas).

January 5, 2012

January 5, 2012 Orange Walk and Lamanai

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

January 4, 2012 Kindred Spirits Campground

January 4, 2012

Kindred Spirits Campground

I was not able to sleep very much last night. We listened to the howler monkeys and the crickets while I tried not to think about tarantulas and mosquitoes. It was funny because we did not know what was making the loud growling noises until this morning when one of the residents told us that it was the monkeys. We thought the noises were coming from raptors or jaguars, others thought they were sheep. It was surprisingly cold all night, I woke up several times trying to find some means of warmth with my blanket, sheet, towel, jacket, pants, and socks. In the morning we had class in the main building. Then we walked around the campground taking pictures and did homework. We ate lunch (ham sandwiches, chips, and salsa). I was able to speak with four of the Belizeans that take care of the campground. One man named Tim told us about the leaf cutting ants and the howler monkeys. There is a cute little boy who only speaks Spanish, I'm glad I know enough to be able to talk with him a little. Everyone is very nice here and they do an excellent job at making us feel welcome. We walked to the river, which took 40 minutes or so there and back. The jungle is so cool, I love looking at all of the different trees and vines. It makes me feel like our “woods” back home are boring, but I'm sure it's only because the jungle is “new” to me. The river was very pretty although getting to the river meant going through a lot of mud, but I really enjoyed walking with everyone there while we explored and took pictures. I helped make spaghetti for supper, which turned out to be really good spaghetti. We chopped up onions, green pepper, and tomatoes then added that to the tomato sauce, which I had never done before. I think I may do it that way at home a couple of times instead of using Ragu... except I'll have to add some more spices and such. I felt so bad because I repeatedly asked about doing various things like washing dishes or putting on another pot of water for more spaghetti, and was repeatedly reminded that we do not have any running water. We ran out during the day, but luckily we had enough to cook the meal. I really enjoyed working in the kitchen with the girls, it was a challenge to make a meal for 30 people.

After supper, we listened to a special speaker who taught about the environmental contamination. It was interesting and I think the most valuable part that I learned was the following statement: “The Lord gave us the earth. It is our world. How are we going to give it back to God?” So, I am going to continue to recycle and encourage others to do so as well. However, I do not think I will be getting rid of microwave even though the lead levels are going to kill me. Gosh, I sound like a smoker or something. Speaking of smoking, I did not know that there was cyanide in cigarettes. It's no wonder they are so awful.

I then proceeded to a quick cold shower. I got wet, turned the water off, washed, then turned the water on to rinse very quickly. It wasn't so bad, in fact, you can save a lot of water that way.

Now it is bedtime!

January 3, 2012 Flight to Belize

January 3, 2012

Flight to Belize

I did not get very much sleep last night, maybe two hours. I could not stop thinking about the beginning of our journey that was going to happen this morning. We woke up at 0400, put our stuff in the car, and went to MVNU where we took a bus to the airport. Our first flight went to Dallas, TX, and I believe I did very well as far as anxiety attacks go, I made it through with only a little fear for my life. After a two hour wait, our next flight went to Belize City. I was particularly proud of my accomplishment of having no anxiety on the second flight. This was my first time seeing the ocean and islands from a plane, and it was beautiful. Once we started our descent, I could see the waves of the ocean and I was able to distinguish the terrain of the land. I tried to look for dolphins, boats, or something exciting on the waves, but alas I was unable to spot anything. Going through customs was slightly hectic and the customs worker was a little aggravated as I was not with my husband who had already went through with our family papers...oops.

Finally, I hauled my luggage outside of the small terminal and into the Belizean air. I was so excited to see so many different kinds of palm trees and the different building structures that were similar to the ones that I saw in Ecuador, although the buildings seemed nicer here. As we drove away from the airport in the school bus, the buildings and houses progressively became farther apart and less elaborate than the houses in town.

We ate supper at a lovely outside restaurant called “Cheers.” I decided to get a cheeseburger and a baked potato, so as to ease myself into eating Belizean food. I learned that two Belize dollars equals one U.S. Dollar. I also learned that beans and rice is different from rice and beans, but I'll have to describe that more later. The restrooms were beautiful because they were so clean.

We got back on the bus and drove to Kindred Spirits campground. Since the area of Belmopan has been receiving a large amount of rainfall, the ground was pretty muddy which made moving the luggage difficult. I love the cabins here, they are so cute! Cody and I are staying in the red one, and I am happy to have not seen any bugs in there yet. We do have three roommates though, two tiny tree frogs and one cream colored salamander. We decided not to catch them, as they could be poisonous, so they remain on the opposite side of our cabin.

I am very excited to spend almost a whole month in Belize because I have wanted to study abroad and see the world ever since I can remember. This is a beautiful country and I love the blue skies, sunshine, and colorful houses.

Monday, January 2, 2012

January 2, 2012

Packed and ready to go! Now let's see about falling asleep...