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.