Next to Last Month End

How can this possibly be? Only one more month till we come home. It seems like just yesterday we got here. I can't believe an entire year has passed. We have done so much, seen so much, changed so much ... but that's fodder for another blog. Today is the best/funnest/whatever pictures of May 2008 and here they are:
















Dry season in Belize comes with fire season. In May, this year, the fires really (OK, sorry, I can't resist) caught fire. In the morning we wake up to heavy smoke smell and haze. The only clouds we've seen for a month are smoke clouds. The fires mostly start spontaneously and there is no effort made to put them out. The fires just burn until they burn out. The broadleaf here won't burn so when the fires hit the jungle they just burn out.



These pillars of smoke are everywhere. In fact, last week, about half the Hopkins road burned.














May is the tail end of harvest season. Both for the sugar cane (in the north) and the citrus (in the south). Because nothing is tied down before transport, there are oranges, grapefruits and cane all over the roads.



The kids in town renovated an old golf cart and they push each other all over town. It's very cute.










We have enjoyed being friends with Miss Emma and Mr Herman during our time here. They own a shrimp farm and Miss Emma also has amazing gardens both of flowers and fruits and veggies. We love spending time with them and learning about everything!
So that's our May. It was a full month. Can't wait to see what June holds. We will see all you Sherwood Park people before the next month ends.

update

For those of you that managed to get down to visit us, you should remember Shaquille. For those of you that spurned our hospitality, I will introduce you. Whether you've met Shaqu or not, you should enjoy the story. Shaqu is the same age as Kori and in Standard 6 (grade 8) at school. He is fun and friendly and probably the kid you don't want your kids hanging around. He comes to our house on his bike about twice a week to sell coconut crusts which his Mom makes and occasionally to play hockey with Brynn. We love him.

A little more background to the story: because of the aids problem in Belize, many places hand out free condoms. Judy and the clinic are the free sources in Hopkins. The problem is, kids here are sexually active very early in life but the young kids are often embarrassed to go and get the condoms. Not so our Shaquille. He is very outgoing and has no problem going and picking up free condoms by the handfuls. Being the smart boy he is, one day Shaqu looks around and sees an opportunity. He can get all the free condoms he needs and sell the excess to other standard 6 kids that are too embarrassed to get their own. He starts up his own little business at $1/condom.

Things are going well. Shaquille is pulling in some extra dough and the adults that know what he's up to, look the other way because this is actually a service to the kids and community. Here's where things start to get dicey. Shaquille's brain kicks in again and he realizes there is a large untapped market in the kids from infant 1 to standard 5 (preschool - grade 7). Thinking fast he begins to market his special 'balloons' to the younger kids. Well, it doesn't take long before one of these innocents shows his mom his new balloon. Mom pitches the expected fit and heads to the school. So the upshot is that Shaquille has been shut down and is now suspended from school. There's just no reward for ingenuity in this place!

No matter how hard I look, we just don't seem to have a great picture of Shaquille. This is the best I could find.

10 things I love about you

As I realize with shock and some anxiety how fast the time of our departure is approaching, I have decided that now is the time to list the top 10 things I will miss about Belize. Later, when the date is imminent, I will list the 10 things I will miss the least in an attempt to make myself feel better about leaving. So here we go. In no particular order here are some of the things I will miss most about living in Belize:
1) The friends I have made: this MUST come first. I have met so many amazing people here. From those that are trying to improve this world for everyone living in it to those just trying to make it from day to day. I have met the friendliest, most open and affectionate people I have ever known. I think it is medically impossible to be born here without an inherited and amazing sense of humour. I will miss the closeness I feel to my friends here and I will miss being surrounded by people who laugh at themselves as quickly as they laugh at me.
2) The children that come to my door every day selling great food! Especially Shaquille and his coconut crusts and the girls that bring me fudge!! Added to this point are all the children that come to play hockey with Brynn.
3) The food! Especially the fruit. I can make most of the food I have come to love here but nothing will replace the taste of the fruit. Adrianne, Brynn and Kori have been seriously trying to figure out how to bring back some pineapple so that our less fortunate Canadian friends can taste it the way it was made to taste. Many of the fruits we have come to love aren't even available in Canada. My new favorite snack is wax apples cold from the fridge.
4) The smell of the jungle. Hiking through the jungle has been a major pass time. The smell always captures me. Green really does have a tangible smell. I love it.
5) The gardens here at our villa. The smell of the flowers is intoxicating. The birds and butterflies flitting around are beautiful and we enjoy the lizards, snakes, frogs and various bugs that come to visit (as long as they stay outside!) (yesterday on the way back from the pool, Adrianne and I came upon a baby brown racer snake. She touched it and it totally freaked. Fun.)Watching the lightning bugs in the bushes is something I really enjoy.
6) The sea. I never thought I was one of those people that would love living beside the sea, but I am. I love the sound of it and the smell of it. I love the moods it expresses as it changes color depending on the weather. I love being out in it and on it. Mostly I love snorkeling and swimming with the fish, seeing the manatees playing off our beach, sitting on the beach and reading or just watching the waves.
7) The voices of the Belizeans. It has become comforting and comfortable for me to hear the kriol and garifuna languages being spoken around me. I love it when I go by someone and they call out "a'right mahmmy" (which, believe it or not, is a respectful way to say 'hello' to a woman) or "hey beautiful' or "hi baby girl". I smile when the kids call me 'miss' or 'miss Dana'. Just the music of the accents feels good to me. We understand kriol now (mostly, anyway) and are starting to be more comfortable throwing in a few words here and there.
8) The drums. Not all Belizean towns have drums. It is a Garifuna thing. Because we live in a Garifuna village, there are always drums. Drums play at parties and gatherings, at funerals, weddings and celebrations, or just at the bar at night or in the yard during the day. Whenever a few drummers get together, there is drumming. We hear it most days and nights. On special days, we have actually heard the drums being played in Dangriga across the sea.
9) The lifestyle. Because of the heat everything here moves slowly. Even the rhythm of speech is slower. silences during a conversation are OK - they don't need to be filled. If something doesn't get done today, it will get done tomorrow. Makes it tricky if you need something in a hurry but mostly it just takes the stress levels down a notch or two. There is always time to just sit and relax or visit with friends. No one stresses if you are late and no one is ever early! To say you are coming 'right now' means sometime when you get to it. To say 'directly' means as soon as you are done whatever you are presently doing. To say 'I'm on my way' means as soon as I can get there. It took a while to figure that out but now it is just second nature.
10) Housekeeping! They come once a week and clean my bathrooms and kitchen, change the bedding and towels and just sweep and tidy up. I love it! It is so nice when Monday comes around and I know my house will be spotless at the end of it.
So that's my top 10. I think I could do a top 20 with ease but who really wants to read that much? Don't get me wrong, I am really looking forward to seeing all of you (especially Rafe) but it is somewhat surprising to me how much I will miss being a part of this place. It suits me.

Terrorism - Belize style

After nearly a year in Belize, this weekend we ran into our first, first-hand experience with terrorism. To be fair the terrorists were not Belizean. They were definitely latin - likely Guatemalan. They detained us against our will and tortured us for over 1/2 an hour! Here's the story:

The Agiculture Show is in Belmopan this weekend. For a year, people have been telling us we should go. It's so fun. We are somewhat curious but not sure we really want to hang out at an agriculture show, until we hear there should be a rodeo. Very cool! We will definitely go to the rodeo. So at 9 am we head out from Hopkins to hang at the show and do a little shopping in Belmopan. (for those of you that know Belmopan and are confused by the shopping reference, think Angelus Press) We finish our shopping and arrive at the ag grounds. OK, now we know, agriculture show = Taber corn fest. Only hotter ... and without the corn ... but you get the idea. There are rides and games and food and animals and all kinds of stuff. And there is no one in the parking lot. Now we are really excited. Why is no one here? Doesn't matter. Lets go have fun! The first thing we notice is that the parking lot lied! This is when we remember that most Belizeans don't drive.

So here we are in a mass of humanity unlike any I've been in before. We keep running into people we know which is truly testament to how small the country is. So we wander for awhile, get hungry, stop and eat some gibnut. (yes, gibnut; aka the royal rat - a large ratlike rodent served as a delicacy in Belize. They even served it to the queen when she visited. Google it for a picture) Finally the girls say they would like to go on a few rides. Good plan! Adrianne and I aren't overly anxious to go on a ride but are willing to be good sports. How about the ferris wheel? We could do that. Easy ride. Good for romantic interludes and families with small kids. Not when it's being run by sadistic Guatamalan's but we were still oblivious to their fiendishness at this point. So we head for the ride. The sign says $5 for each. OK we can do that. We pay our cash and get on. They lock the bar across the seat. No seatbelts or anything but that's OK it's just a ferris wheel. We start to move. Here's where the mom in me kicks in. The seats are old wood and I begin to wonder if there has ever been anything like a safety inspection done on this thing. Better not to think about it. Too late now. Brynn and I are in one seat and Adrianne and Kori are a few seats down. Up we go. As we round the top I let out a little squeal. Just for fun. It's pretty high. For the next few minutes (like 15ish) we go up and down and back and forth as they fill the ride. I think we're about finished and this has been fun. That would be when the fun really started. The Guatemalans let it rip. We are flying over the top - literally as we are having trouble keeping our seats. And the cars are rocking no matter how hard we try not to. And my hands are now permanently welded into the bar in front of us. OK, I admit it, a little more than a squeal escapes my lips but it is lost in the frantic screaming around me. Backwards and forwards we go and just when I think it can't go on any longer, we start over. The little boy in the car below us is in hysterics and has a death grip on his mom. I am yelling at the operators each time we go by and they are totally ignoring us all. A little girl runs onto the platform and is in danger of being beheaded in front of our eyes but the ride only slows to a stop after the frightened and irate father throws a soda at the operator. We hang there, suspended as the fight plays out and then we are off again. During the lull, however, one brave couple has decided to make a run for it and has opened their bar. Before they can escape, the ride starts again. They can't get their door closed. The operator sees this and, I guess decides out right murder is going to far. So he jumps onto the outside of their car (while the 'ride' is in progress)and rehooks the bar. Then he leaps from the car onto a ladder on the side and climbs down. Brynn and I are considering the viability of this plan when I come to my senses and decide to try the 'mom' face. I gather my composure and as we stream past the guy, I give him the look and say OFF!! He nods. Next time we go around he lets Brynn and I off. My hands are permanently frozen in 'claw' position and we are both shaking and dehydrated from living a nightmare for over 1/2 an hour in +36 degree heat without water. Adrianne and Kori are lulled into a false sense of security. They didn't see the 'mom' look and think they are next off. It takes another 10 minutes or more before we can communicate to Adrianne that she needs to tell them she wants off. As we all collapse in the shade and guzzle water we decide we have had enough. The rodeo will have to go on without us. All we want is the 2 hour ride home in the air conditioned vehicle. They didn't break us but it came close. We are done!

Belize's answer to a yard sale

Yesterday was a truly sad day that carried over to today as we had to say goodbye to our adopted children. Todd and Ashli returned to Utah today. Last night we went over to their house to say goodbye and offer our services as packer/cleaner/movers. Turned out they didn't need help but, as always happens when we get together with Todd and Ashli, we were glad we went for the experience. Important to note: Todd and Ashli's house is about 400 sq ft and has 4 rooms and a storage space. The living room is about 12ft by 12ft.

We arrive at the house and discover Todd and Ash aren't home. But Todd yells at me from down the street to say they will be right back - go on in. In we go and are sad to see the house is in packing mode: piles of things organized here and there, hammock gone, etc. There is a strange, rhythmic tap, tap, tap. I'm trying to figure out what it is when Brynn and Kori look behind the futon. The tap ... tap ... tap... becomes taptaptap. Oh, Ed (the dog) is behind the futon. We say Hi to Ed and Todd and Ashli arrive home. Closely followed by one, no two, no three young boys. Coming to say goodbye. The boys decide they must, right now, play chess. So they pull out a chess board and plop down in the middle of the floor. OK, this is Belize, we go with it. Just as the game is really getting going, three Mayan women and one Mayan man show up at the door. 'Are Todd and Ashli moving?' 'Yes.' 'Can we buy your bed?' 'Sure.' A price is haggled out and set. While this is happening, three kriol women come in. One has a beer in hand and a few more in bloodstream. 'Are you moving?' 'Yes.' 'Can we buy your bed?' 'No, just sold.' 'How about the fan?' 'Sure.' The kriol women start looking around and going through things to see if there is anything else they may want. Meanwhile the bed has been taken apart and is being moved through the chess game and out the door. The chess game ends and Kori takes on the winner. The bed continues to be moved and the kriol women pick up a basket and blow dryer and are in serious negotiations for the cell phone and water dispenser. In walks our church's Branch President and a young man. We now have 3 Mayan women, 1 Mayan man, three kriol women, one Latino man, one Latino boy, 1 Canadian man, 1 Canadian woman, 2 Canadian girls, 3 kriol boys, Todd, Ashli and Ed in the living room. Everyone is talking and haggling and playing chess, moving things and trying not to get stepped on. One half hour later, only the Canadians, the Americans and Ed are left. Gone also are the bed, the futon, the water dispenser, the stove, the gas tank, the cell 'phone, basket, fan and blow dryer, sheets for the bed, mattress for the futon, and numerous games and odds and ends. That's what happens in Belize when you tell the seven - ten year old's in chess club that you are moving. Pretty efficient if totally chaotic. No signage, no long day sitting behind a table in front of a garage. Just an explosion of people and languages and everything is gone.

And so are Todd and Ashli. We miss you guys!

Happy Mother's Day

Tomorrow is Mother's day and we are worlds away from our Moms. So this post is for the two Beautiful Betty's in our lives - my mom Betty Vankoughnett and Alfred's mom Betty Burgess. We were very lucky and happy that both of our mothers were able to come to Belize this year and visit with us. It was great to share this place that we love with the two most important women in our lives! Thank you for your friendship, for your love and for your support. We love you both!

We love you and miss you. Have a very Happy Mother's Day!!

The Not Mexico Post

I know there are some of you out there in cyberspace who are waiting for my post on Mexico. Sad to say it but you are going to have a long wait. Mexico was fun but not really different from any other North American city I've been in. Lots of traffic, people, stores, etc. Back in Belize today, though, Brynn, Kori, Todd, Ashli and I went on a hike that definitely provides fodder for the blogger.
In a moment of sentimental weakness, I decided that we should go hiking with Todd and Ashli as they will be leaving the peace corp and heading home next week. It will be like loosing two of my kids. Sad!! So we want to spend as much time as possible with them this week. We let Todd choose the hike because this is his area of expertise. (This would be my second moment of sentimental weakness) Todd decides we should hike the Tiger Fern Trail in the Cockscomb Basin. A 'short' 5 km round trip hike with a waterfall and swimming hole at the turn around point. The hike started out OK but Todd is some kind of hiking robot that feels no pain; no heat; no fear; no weariness. Of course we let him lead. And I took up the rear. For safety reasons to have a responsible adult at either end of the line? No. Because I am a notoriously slow hiker. I get where I'm going but at my own speed. The hike is all up hill until you are almost at the waterfall. Then it's all downhill. This, of course reverses on the way back. At varying intervals, the group would stop, sit down and wait 15 - 20 minutes for me to catch up. It was somewhat embarrassing but that is better than being dead, which was the option. Up and up the steep and narrow path we go. Somehow, after the requisite break, I end up , briefly, in front of Brynn. Suddenly Brynn does this gasping, leaping, reverse move she does when she sees something unexpected on the trail. I stop. She says 'He tried to bite me!' I look down and realize I am standing amongst a group of about four baby snakes. (One of whom tried to prove his superiority to Brynn). Sorry I didn't get a picture of this for you but we were busy trying to stay still and decide what kind of snakes they were and look for the Mom and decide who would run back for the anti-venom if they were poisonous and anyone (likely me, since I was in the middle of them) got bit. Not a situation conducive to searching through the pack for a camera and taking a picture. By the time we decide they are harmless racer snakes and we are fine, they are gone or hiding. Crisis averted. Moving along we come to the end of the up and start to go down. Steeply and, seemingly, endlessly down. As the trail gets steeper we come to this sign:

What do they mean 'no leaning on the wooden railing'? Well they have put up railing along the edge of the path because the path is very, very narrow and drops off on the one side dangerously. Good to have railing. But if you can't lean on it ... how much good will it really do if we fall? Not very reassuring!Finally we get to the bottom (top?) where the waterfall is. It is beautiful. And deep. And cold. But very nice after a long, very hot hike. There are two tubes there (you can tube down the river and these two must have gotten away from the tubers and gone over the falls) which provide endless fun for all four of the 'kids'.

First they float. Then the peace and calm of the surroundings allow their minds to start wandering. Never a good thing. There are rocks around the swimming hole. We could dive off the rocks ... into the tubes ... YA!

Kori dives in but Brynn decides to jump instead.

Is this where we show the picture of the sign we piled our stuff around when we first arrived? I believe it is:

The trip back was much less eventful and easier as there was more down than up. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.