Belize it or not!
The blog titles aren’t our creation – they are all from t-shirts we had seen 🙂
Tuesday was definitely a memorable in the sense that we got a lot done, but most of it was done in the rain! It was day where we were unsure as to what God had in store for us, but we just took it hour by hour.
Sometimes morning came a little too early!
This was worth waking up to! It was quite humid, so we knew rain was on the horizon
We drove to Patchakan, to the medical clinic and it was another hot one! Oh! Before I forget, for breakfast at the hotel, we always had FRESH-squeezed orange juice! It was the best I have ever had! Apparently the oranges in Belize are sweeter than Florida oranges, so often the juice we buy, is a combo of Florida and Belizean oranges.
We watched the clouds creep in on our roofing party…
The road was a main highway for sugarcane trucks – it just made the surrealness of being in Belize, more real.
I told Dan that if it was possible in Michigan, that I would build a hut with a thatch roof. I think the idea behind these types of roofs are just incredible – so beautiful!
The rain soon hit us – and with a bang! For about 30 seconds, I thought, should I just go down and try to stay dry? That thought ended there. Big rain drops started to fall and by then it was too late. I never regretted it! We were busy scraping and sweeping the roof and the rain was so refreshing! We had to keep the pressure washer dry, so we used a good ole handy-dandy umbrella.
It is pouring at this point (hard to see)
The rain helped wash off all the dirt on the roof, which ended up being a huge blessing!
Joe’s tongue hanging out…the heat was MUCH more bearable with the rain!
As you can see, the power washer sure did a number on that roof!
This is Marcos. He is 45 (I thought he was 30-35), married and has 3 kids. He rides his bike 30 minutes each way (every day, in the heat). He is the grounds man and helps with maintenance. I have never seen someone enjoy work as much as he does – he ALWAYS had a smile on his face! And he was SUCH a hardworker! Because there are dogs everywhere in Belize, he carries a machete with him, to “fend” them off. And because of the heat, he takes an old bleach bottle, full of water, so that he can hang it from his handle bar – all so that he can work. I learned more from him than I could ever express to him. I am blessed to know Marcos!
After the rain, we realized that the rain “bubbled” up some more paint, so to scraping we went
Belizean flag! We had gone to a grocery store and they had a Belizean flag that was on the white pole so you could hang it from your window. It was $1.75 US. SOLD! Dan and I try to get a flag from each country that we do a mission trip in, and frame it. So far we have the Dominican Republic and Belize. It helps us remember the people of those countries and reminds us to continue to pray for them.
Alex “resting…”
Dan the man power washing!
When we got back to the hotel, the water was a soft green – this picture destroys the beauty of it b/c you can hardly see it, but it was almost erie.
Heading to dinner!
Karen, her grandson, and Dan…
For dinner we went to a little nicer of a restaurant called Corozo Blue. They made wood-fire pizzas and they were AMAZING! I was having a hankerin’ for pizza, so it definitely hit the spot! I realized I wolfed it down, but I also didn’t realize how hungry I was – I wasn’t used to sweating and working that hard. We went out with Lee and Jen Bigelow and their kids(missionaries at the clinic), as well as Gary and Anita Chambers (missionaries at the clinic), Lauren, and Amber (who work at the clinic). It was fun to get together as a group and get to know one another!
I remember thinking on Tuesday, wow, the week is going fast! We just felt so blessed to be there and so humbled that God provided a way for us to go. We just didn’t want it to end!
Here are some random facts and thoughts:
Can’t throw toilet paper into toilets (it was hard to get used to!)
Couldn’t drink water (I only rinsed my toothbrush once)
Instead of drinking out of water bottles, they have water in plastic bags. Think IV-type bag!
I drank pineapple milk out of a bag too – it was insanely good
Their ketchup is sweet (in taste) – never really acquired the taste
Tortillas and refried beans are a common breakfast.
Just some fun facts that I know you were just so excited to know 🙂
