Belize - Day 2

Today has been long, hot, sweaty, and amazing! After our leisurely morning (because of our wrong alarm), it was finally time for breakfast. Delicious!! There were eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice, (homemade?) strawberry jam, refried beans, watermelon, coffee, bacon, and fry jacks.  Fry jacks are a bread they make here for breakfast. I don’t know if I was just hungry, but everything was delicious!

After breakfast we head out pretty fast.  The first place we went to was Cahal Pech.  This was an ancient Mayan civilization with many different areas.  It was almost like a maze building, because a lot of the buildings were connected.  Right as we began the tour, a man stopped us and asked if we wanted a guide.  He was a native of Belize and has studied to get many different degrees in the states.  Apparently he opened the zoo here, which is how he got the grants and scholarships to study. I’m not sure how true it is, but let’s go with it.  He told us a lot about the history of Cahal Pech and many interesting facts about the use of nature from ancient times and still today.  At one point he walked over to a tree right next to him and told us it was an Allspice tree.  He took of a few leaves and ripped them to pass around.  They smelled just like cider or cinnamon. After a lot of history, a little quizzing, and three jokes we were allowed to wander around.  It was fun to have reign over where we went in this ancient complex. I would say I covered almost every part of the place. 

Haha, at one point Carly and I were on a lower part of the building and we wanted to get to a higher part for a picture with two friends and our teacher.  Well, Carly and I didn’t take the easy route; we took the direct route, which was a steep climb from the ruins we were on to the others.  (Sorry mom! I promise we weren’t being reckless!) We get up there (dripping in sweat) and catch our breath.  Our mentor leader turns around, asks where we came from, and when we pointed, she just goes “Ohhhh. I’m so glad I didn’t see that!” Whoopsies!

*Side note: I’m sitting in the *cafe* right now for internet.  It is a screened in room with no AC and tables set up for people to use their computers.  It is only 5:22pm here, but it is pretty dark outside, and it just started down pouring! I’m so thankful that weather held out for us today.  It’s so pleasant, but I’m not sure how I’m going to make it back to my cabin if it doesn’t let up.*

            After Cahal Pech, we went into the town of San Ignacio for lunch.  We parked and walked down to the river where some teenage local boys put on a show for us doing jumps of the bridge.  On the other side of the river a little girl was washing herself and some others were doing laundry.  We walked back into to town for lunch at a place called Matha’s Kitchen and Pizza House.  Carly and I split a mushroom pizza for lunch and each got a bottle of water.  The total we each spent was $3.25.   Walking back to the vans we got a whiff of some sewage… RANK!

            Xunantunich was incredible! We had to take a little ferry across a river. We got out of the van, and walked onto the ferry while the teachers drove on. It only took a minute or two to get across by a hand crank.  From there we walked up a large hill and some stairs, but right after we got up there the view looking up to the buildings were amazing.  We had a fantastic tour guide for this, who explained so much about the ancient civilization and how things were set up and run then.  Part of this tour was climbing up to the top of Xunantunich.  At each level, our guide would stop and explain a little more about different aspects of this village.  The climb was steep and on uneven ancient stairs (I felt like I was doing high knees all day), but so worth it! The views, and breeze, from the top were beautiful. I’m afraid my pictures won’t do them justice at all. Looking to the west you could see Guatemala, which is only a few miles away.  To the east was a view of the Belize River Valley. It was kind of a cloudy day, which gave the whole the scenery eerie feel. This large building of Xunantunich, which used to be a shrine/place of worship and then a palace to the aristocrats a few centuries later, is 130 feet tall, so you could see every where! I was told that it was the highest spot in Belize, but I don’t know the accuracy of that. It wouldn’t take away from the beauty of the day though.  On the way out of there we got to see Worker Ants carrying leaves.  We were told that they know when rain is coming, which is why they store up on food. I guess that holds true! Right after the Worker Ants, we saw a family of Howler Monkeys. It was two adults and the cutest little baby.  Unfortunately they were too busy eating to “howl” for us.
           

            After crossing the ferry again, we stopped at a lot of little market shops for souvenirs.  If you know me well, you know might know that I am a TERRIBLE shopper.  I’ll like something, think about getting it, and then walk away without doing so… Well, that wasn’t the case the entire time here.  I found something that my brother, Jeremy, would find pretty cool. (I’m crossing my fingers it gets through customs!) Then I bought something for myself. I can’t believe I did, but I bought a hammock! It is handmade, strong, fits two, and gorgeous purple and coral/salmon colors! It was $25 (US), but I feel like even then it is a good deal! Well, I’m excited about it, so it was worth it!

            Now we’re back at the lodge and just hanging out for another 45 minutes before dinner, then just lounging around tonight I suppose. I’m sure we’ll all fall asleep early after all that walking and climbing today.

            Until later! XO

Well, today started off differently than expecting.  Carly, Elise, and I all woke up and got ready for the day, but before we went to breakfast, decided to check our emails.  We can get a little internet access at the end of our long porch (in front of some other people’s room).  We knew they were supposed to go to the ATM excursion at 7:00, and we were curious as to why they were still here because it IS 9:00… nope. It’s seven and we are up and ready to go two hours before we needed to!  Oh well, it’s just something to laugh about, so now I get to lay back in bed for a bit! 

Today we are going to two Mayan Ruins! Xunantunich and Cahal Pech.  I’m am excited for these.  Ancient ruins are something that really do intrigue me.  It is so crazy to belief how old the buildings are and interesting to hear what they were used for.  I always try to imagine what it would look like if I could rewind time 2500 years ago.  

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Hello all! 
I’ve made it to San Ignacio, Belize safe and sound and sweaty!  The morning started at 6:00am in Atlanta, and we didn’t get here until about 6:00pm Atlanta time (4:00 Belize time).  It’s been a long day, filled with lots of sitting!

For those that don’t know why I am here, this is a sixteen day study abroad. I am an education major, and the class this trip takes care of is about integrating arts into the classroom.  I will be working in a primary school here with students ages 5-13.  I will be assigned to a teacher and creating lessons that have aspects of the arts and promoting creativity.  It will be a challenge because the schools here are in poverty, receive little funding, and are very crowded.  All of the supplies we have available to us are the ones we brought. The other challenge will be the timing of it all.  Originally we were supposed to have 8 days at the school, but we just learned that we won’t be going Monday.  That means rushing to create and write up 5 lesson plans the night before I’ll have to implement them, making sure I know what the curriculum here is, and needing only the supplies we have available. 

It really is different here.  The walk off the plane, through customs, and to the van was less than the length of a football field. From there it was about a two hour van ride on the bumpiest road I’ve ever been on, but that might also be because I was in the back of the van.  But now we’re here! At the Log Cab Inns!  It’s an okay place to stay; definitely not a resort, but it will be fine for this week and a half.  I’m just thankful it has air conditioning, unlike the “cafe” which is where I am typing all of this because of internet access.  Thankful for the AC because it is hot and HUMID here.  Humid, humid, humid…

But that’s just a short blurb for today, I’ve got to get back to the cool air and have an orientation to get to in a bit.