Unbelizeable

I remember waking up on Wednesday with such mixed emotions. I was excited to go to Belize City to experience the journey God had laid out for us – yet part of me was sad to leave the medical clinic. I felt our time there was short (and it was) and the missionaries and staff are SUCH wonderful people! We wished we had a chance to get to know them more!
Our hotel was along the coast (which most are) and this is the view we had – it was gorgeous morning!

Our hotel! Cute and quaint! One morning I woke up and I saw a few spiders in my bag – like itty-bitty little ones. I took out my bathroom carrier and they were all over! No joke, when I shook it out, there were probably 75 of them. It honestly didn’t gross me out that much just because they were so small and I think I got rid of them all after I exterminated them all 🙂

The group waiting to leave and head to Belize City

One of my favorite pictures – a family walking to school

One thing that made more sense while we were there – why this is a 3rd world country. I don’t necessarily think of gas prices and would label it “3rd world” but when gas prices are $5.50 US dollar, and labor in Belize is very cheap, it is just one more reason why. Most people walk or bike somewhere. Yes, there are still plenty of cars, but with gas prices being $10.96 Belizean, I know us Americans would be pulling our hair out!

I have really gained an appreciation for the Belizean lifestyle – like I said before, they live about 50 years behind us. They don’t believe in debt! On the right, you can see these stick/thatch hutches. Well, as this person saves money, they start to build a brick house – the one in the middle is only partially completed because this person is probably saving up more money to finish it. So it could take a couple of years before it is finished.

This little cabana was our “cooling grounds” in the heat at the clinic

Lauren, a nursing student, and I – such a sweet girl!

The staff and women of our group at the clinic

Mahogany tree – because it’s Belize’s official tree, you cannot cut it down (it’s illegal), even if it’s growing into your house!

Outside the clinic – view from the road. It was a beautiful place!

There are very few stop signs in Belize – they have speed bumps instead. There may or may not be a sign warning you – if you miss it, be prepared to hit your head on the roof of the car!

There wasn’t “trash pickup” in Patchakan so they dig holes and burn EVERYTHING! This hole was dug in 3 days, by hand – its 12 feet deep, 6 feet across

The jungle!

Bananas!

It was a hour and a half drive back to Belize City – good time for Joe to take a nap!

One of the first things etched in my mind when flying into the airport was this painting on the side of this building – JESUS IS LORD! We had to travel back to the airport to pick up a rental truck. We needed something for our luggage and to carry 7 people. We were using the medical clinic’s 15 passenger before, but since we weren’t going back, renting was the only option

Instead of sitting 4 across in the back seat of the truck, we decided to sit in the bed, since it’s legal in Belize and “everyone was doing it” – I know, lousy excuse!

It’s a small but awesome airport!

On the road to Belize City!

Those dark clouds in the upper lefthand corner were clouds we saw on the horizon. We thought “eh, why not sit in the back?” Well, rain in Belize can be quick, but forceful!

Dan and Alex got drenched! Dan’s trying to air out his pants. I’m sure even the Belizeans were getting a chuckle out of us!

After eating at the BEST fried chicken place I’ve ever been to (Friendship Chicken), we headed to the Burial Grounds. I would say this is probably one of the poorest areas I have ever been to (ranking up there with the DR). The ground is marshy, so they “bury” their people above ground, hence the caskets being above ground. Many of the caskets are just bricks.

Heading into the Burial Grounds. Well, the cemetery is right next to where the people live, so they also live on the marsh. To get to their houses, there are often paths of stones to skip across on or tin/wood paths to walk on, that are one-board wide. Because of the constant moisture, sometimes the smell can be quite heavy.

Unity Presbyterian School is an AWESOME Christian school – 212 students currently attend there!

View of the Burial Grounds from the school. As you can see, the houses are patchworks. They built them with whatever pieces they could find. Some don’t even have finished sides. One house we saw was built with little fence posts (the type of posts we would use to build our yard fences). They were all different colors, just nailed together to form the best possible wall they could. Doors (if they have one) are made of tin, but many don’t have hinges, so they just use a sheet.

We took a tour of the school, led by Mrs. Caroline Betson, who we stayed with. Her husband Ernest Betson is the pastor at Unity Presbyterian, which is right across the school’s property. We went from classroom to classroom and each time we stepped in, the students would stand up and say “Good morning Mrs. Betson and visitors, we welcome you…” It was SO CUTE! Then Mrs. Betson would tell them to come and give us a big Unity hug – which meant a big ole bear hug. You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. All these beautiful and adorable kids ran up and gave us ALL bear hugs! When we walked out of the school, there was this adorable little girl, just watching us. I would wave to her, she’d shyly wave back. I told the group “I’ll be right back.” I don’t think I came back. Deoni is a little 4 year old who isn’t old enough to go to school yet. She stole my heart!

I wanted to take her home with me!

After school was over, the kids all ran to the playground to play and by all means, we were right there joining them! Dan and I had this huge desire to play with the kids on this trip – we were ready and we were hoping we could get the opportunity!

One of the boys had a speech impediment and kept telling Dan he wanted to play. Dan was so great with him. After a few questions, he told Dan he wanted to race, so Dan said “well then, lets race!” One of the kid’s shoes was untied, but he didn’t know how to tie it – so, Dan helped him. Well, that meant ALL the kids had to untie their shoe so Dan could help them 🙂

Dan is in the middle, running his heart out – of course he can’t be beat by a bunch of elementary-aged kids! They were supposed to race down to the broken-down car. Little did Dan know that half the kids turned around early, so they could beat him!

So Dan had to kick it into gear – I’m pretty sure he’s going all out right now :).

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

Deoni not only stole my heart 🙂

This kid (I forget his name), was SO GOOD at dancing! He was Dan’s little bud

The kids were so hungry for LOVE and we were ready and willing to give all we had!

The kids wanted to play “river bank” which is where you stand on one side of the extension cord (river) and on the other side was the bank. Someone would yell river and you’d stay put and then someone would yell bank and you would jump to the other side. If you jumped too early or went to the wrong side, you were out. It was fun 🙂

This is the kid with the serious dancing skills – just doing a back handspring – no big deal

Oh then he decides to do an air-cartwheel off the blue playset.

Dan and Junior. Ah. Melting my heart.

I was taught the handjive Cinderella

Some of the kids wanted to teeter-totter. Dan was a little heavier obviously, so Dan asked for a few more kids to jump on the other side. Of course they ALL had to jump on then 🙂

On our way to Pastor Betson’s house – this is what Belize City looks like. The roads I would say are narrow and people just GO. Again, really no stop signs, so people just go whenever they desire, which is ALWAYS. Scott, one of the guys on the trip, drove and he said that when he goes back home to Maryland, it’s so hard to not get a ticket because you have to drive so aggressively in Belize. And yes, he has gotten a ticket before after coming back to the US because it’s a hard adjustment! We did a lot of driving through Belize City, which helped us gain a better understanding of what the culture was like there.

Outdoor basketball court that was right by our restaurant!

I feel like I have so much to say about this trip! Right now I am mainly just sticking to pictures, but I will tell more of the stories probably after that. God so many life-changing things in Dan and I! I don’t have pictures of them, but those memories and experiences are etched in our hearts. I wish I could sit down with each one of you and tell you everything God did!

Quick story:

Wednesday night we went to go visit Scott’s friend, Charles. Scott has been to Belize around 15 times, so he has been able to build relationships with the people down there. Charles is in a wheelchair. His brother or nephew (forget which one) was in the gang. The gangs are VERY prevalent down there. Well, the brother/nephew owed some of the gang members money, but couldn’t afford to pay them back, so he fled to the U.S. Well, he was arrested in the U.S. because of gang-related issues, so he was deported. Well, the gangs in Belize found out he was back, so they were after him. They thought the gang was going to come at night, so he came to Charles’ place. Well, the gang came at an unexpected time and Charles was caught in the crossfire as he was trying to run away. He was shot just below the heart. He dropped, but felt NO pain. As time slowly crept by, Charles could feel a shaking in his body. He was taken to the hospital, yet still felt no pain. The doctors put chest tubes in because he had internal bleeding right by his heart, which was causing his heart to go crazy. I forget exactly what caused Charles to realize this, but he soon found out he was paralyzed. A bullet had gone through him and severed his spine. Just like that. He didn’t know it at the time because he didn’t try to walk. This happened in 2006 and he is still in a motorized wheelchair today. I well tell you more about him in another blog post because I have a picture of him. He is one of the most faithful men I have ever met and daily, I think about what he has taught me!

I have many more stories to tell!