memories of belize

Last night I dreamed about volunteering with HELP International again, but this time in Costa Rica instead of Belize. Kind of made me nostalgic for our little San Ignacio and the friends we made there. It's been a year now, which is nuts.

Here are a few (of the many) journal entries.

June 11
Sweat. Down my back. Soaking my sports bra. On my upper lip. EVERYWHERE.


Also, I ate a termite. Kyle said they should taste like minty carrots -- which, if you ask me, sounds disgusting -- but I chewed and swallowed so fast I hardly tasted a thing. 


June 14
I did four minutes of calf raises yesterday, and along with my workout this morning and walking around and around town today, those poor calf muscles have only gotten worse. Every time I stand, they are a bit tighter. I can't stand with straight legs.


June 19
On the way home from church today an unexpected rain shower dumped on us. I couldn't believe how big those raindrops were -- it was a torrential downpour without a doubt. Anyway, we ran, giggling through the streets. 


June 22
Today I stepped in a pile of red biting ants, and I also was careless (idiotic) and never reapplied sunscreen. Now I'm praying praying praying that my poor red nose won't blister and that I won't get skin cancer and I'm promising I'll wear enough sunscreen the rest of the summer. Pray for my nose. Pray hard. I'd prefer to go through the rest of our trip with a normal colored nose.


July 8
I'm still loving PEACE Camp. Love those kids. Aaliyah can't come next week she told us today and we're all so sad about it. She's our little rainbow everyday -- always sweet and smiling. After camp she hung around hugging us and clinging to our waists.


July 10
Yesterday we went to hell and back. It was a journey through a Mayan cave, and probably one of the best adventures I've ever been on. We went with Aaron, our tour guide, through these winding passages and narrow rock tunnels. We wore helmets and lights and had to swim up through the caves. There were a few moments I got claustrophobic because we were up to our necks in water and had to squeeze our heads through tiny crevasses in a ten-foot long passage to get to the other side. It was totally thrilling! Periodically Aaron would tell us to gather around and shut our lights off. We stood in complete darkness giggling (out of terror probably) and he would say, "Shhhh. Listen. Listen to the cave." 

Belize {Part II}

This is what we could see from our rooftop. Isn't it lovely?

The palm trees kill me.

Gorgeous view of San Ignacio.

Sea foam green.

This is how far we got on the caretaker's "dome" house at the orphanage before Leah and I left. See the foundation of tires? And all those white bags? We shoveled and wheelbarrowed and mixed in cement and mixed in water and stuffed those all full. Each of the tires has THREE WHEELBARROWS full of dirt pounded into them.

For real.

We called this the Harry Potter house. I swear You-Know-Who is upstairs in the room on the left sitting in an old red chair next to the fireplace.

Gave us the heebie jeebies.

Leah and I brought stuff for glitter toes. I glittered the toes of most of the girls at PEACE camp. They were in heaven.

Eventually we got sick of rolling up our sleeves and sweating through everything anyway, so we cut up our old t-shirts. Aren't they cute? I'll do a DIY to show you all how.

Hammocks are for sale everywhere. How do you choose?

Dirty and tan = good Chaco lines.

This is Sister and EmKo in front of our favorite souvenir shop, Back to my Roots. This is the rendition of the owner, a Rasta man named Carlton.

This is me and Leah with the man himself. Definitely the coolest Rasta we met, although they all are pretty rad. This was on our last day in San Ignacio. He had asked us to come back to say goodbye, so we did and he gave us a "farewell treat," a bracelet the colors of the Belizean flag {blue and white}, a keychain, and a kiss on the cheek.

I blushed.

Belize {Part I}

Want to see a few pictures from my summer?

My sister and I spent six weeks in San Ignacio, Belize {I didn't know where it was either; it's next to Guatemala in Central America.} with HELP International doing humanitarian projects. Our favorites {I'll go into more detail later...} were building an orphanage, teaching writing classes, and being camp counselors with a bunch of cutie Belizean kids.

I have a lot of photos, but here are just a few to give you an idea of what it was like.

Pretty amazing, it was.

I was really impressed with how clean they kept the towns.

I also thought it was cute they call San Ignacio + Santa Elena the "twin towns."

Sister and me lounging. See our glistening faces? Didn't stop until we stepped off the plane in the US. We all sweated a lot. A lot, a lot.

Typical dinner. Tortillas, corn & carrots {Carrots are the filler veggie. Trust me when I say they're on e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.}, mashed potatoes, and yes. One half of a fish. Skin, tail, and all.

Sister, Mack, Jane, and EmKo with Belize's favorite beverage. Soda. We liked the Fanta -- pictured from left to right are the red velvet, root beer, gingerale, and pineapple flavors. Yum!

This doll is Ireina, my beautiful little friend I made working at PEACE camp. Most dark-skinned people have dark dark chocolatey eyes, but Ireina's were the color of caramel.

And this cutie is Aaliyah, my other friend I made at PEACE camp. She's probably the most intelligent 9-year-old I've ever met; she told us she made a science fair project that had something to do with conducting electricity. Obviously over my head.

Self portrait of a mirror/door we walked past every day.

Victoria St. -- our street. Isn't it a pretty little sign?

Colorful.

ten things you should know about the belizean bus system

We ride the bus almost daily, which has given me plenty of chances to observe the quirks of the public transport system. In case you were ever curious, here are ten things you should know about buses in Belize.

This is inspired by one of my friends, Erika K. Norton. She wrote her observations on her blog, and I wanted to do my own.

{one} Schedules are approximate. Very tentative. If it says the bus will come at 7:30am, be there at 7. But then again, it may not show up until 8.

{two} The buses are colorful versions of school buses. They've got charm coming out of the wazoo.

{three} It is actually possible to squeeze three or four adults into one seat, especially when leaving the bus terminal and when passing police checkpoints.

{four}It's okay to shove your way on. Everyone does it, so you probably won't get a seat if you don't play dirty.

{five} You pay every time you get on, and the prices are from $1.50 Bze {75 cents} to $10 Bze {$5} depending on the distance.

{six} The driver gets to play his favorite CDs {usually reggae} as loud as his heart desires. Even blasting the iPod doesn't tune it out.

{seven} The best way to catch some shut-eye is to rest your forehead on the seat in front of you, but be ready for sudden jerks or bumps. That window is dang hard.

{eight} There are no stoplights or speed limits. The bus drivers go really, really fast until they see a speed bump in the distance. Then they hit the breaks about 10 feet before. Bus rides often feel more like roller coaster rides.

{nine} The aisle seat is the coveted one.

{ten} They drive with the door open. Always. Unless it's a worker's express with AC, which are much too rare.

xo

Jane.

P.S. I'll be in the States in two days!

Did you hear? I went to Hell on Saturday.

{Sorry if you've already read this in an email. Or on my Facebook status.}

Last weekend we piled into a 14 seater van with AC {ohmyheckbestthingever} and roadtripped back into the mountains of Belize to the caves of ATM -- what the ancient Mayans believed to be the underworld. With helmets and headlamps, we jumped one by one into the river and swam upstream into the caves. Honestly I think we all were feeling a slight amount of terror, but we doggie paddled until Aaron, our tour guide, led us to a shallow spot.

He launched into some of the cave history, telling us about how only the royals were allowed to visit Hell, and when they came, they changed into their spirit animal. It sounds far-fetched, but these people were kind of out there.

"You need to change into your spirit animal before you enter any farther," he said. We went around the circle and named our spirit animals. We were everything from lion to zebra. I chose horse. Not the ideal animal for spelunking, but hey, I only had a couple seconds to choose.

We closed our eyes and imagined ourselves changing into our spirit animals. Aaron told us the Mayans actually had drugs a thousand years ago and used them before descending into Hell, which probably assisted in the changing-into-spirit-animal thing.

"We offer that tour too," he said with a smirk. "But not to you guys."

Aaron led us up through the dark belly of the cave; we swam through dark water, jumped from rock to rock, shimmied through passageways, and squeezed our heads through crevasses only a few inches wide with the rest of our bodies completely submerged in water. Imagine it like an Indiana Jones adventure. We saw bat holes, scorpion spiders, and cave crickets, who have antenna that are 5 inches long.

A few times, pressed in the crack of a massive broken boulder, we all shut off our lights and found ourselves in complete blackness. We held hands and a few of us giggled in fear.

"Shhh," tour guide Aaron said. "Listen. Listen to the cave."

So we did. I heard rushing water and felt it around my legs. I felt the rocks pressing in from every direction. I felt the energy from the others and the curiosity and wonder radiating from us all. I tried to imagine the Hell the Mayans saw.

After wading and swimming for an hour or so, we climbed up and up and up and took off our shoes so we wouldn't damage whatever was around the corner. In sock feet, we stepped gingerly on the ground the Mayans walked, on the ground they brought pots full of food and other offerings for the gods of the underworld.

We saw pots, broken and whole, scattered around the huge room. They had never been moved or rearranged from their original positions -- they were in the exact places the Mayans put them.

It was amazing in an eerie way.

We saw skeletons of sacrifices, including one of a teenage girl who was likely a captured royal from another tribe. Her spine is in half; researchers say they probably stabbed her or broke her back and left her there, still alive.

That's one girl I want to meet in the next life, I'll tell you that.

Ancient Mayan Hell was different than I imagine Hell to be. But with some mushrooms, a good fire torch, and a vivid imagination, maybe I could have experienced it a bit more like they did. But really, I thought it was incredible.

When I get home in a couple weeks, I want to...

{Bake}

cheesecake in a jar

deep dish cookies

lasagna soup

strawberry rhubarb pie

peach and raspberry crumble

{Watch}

Harry Potter 6. And 7.

The Office

The Help

The Green Lantern

Monte Carlo {with little sister}

{Do}

sleep in my own bed

shower in my own shower

read read read

work out my class schedule

do TurboFire like never before

blog

do my hair

do my makeup

go shopping in my own closet

go on dates

flirt

play the spinning game in the backyard

get a snowcone

drive into town with the windows down and Lady Gaga on full volume

drive

kayak with little sister

have a bonfire

have a barbecue

show everyone my chaco tanlines

hug my computer because I've missed her

choose an outfit not based on how much I'll sweat that day {inspired by my lovely friend, Emily}

go on a roadtrip to see Harley

I miss a lot of things, but I'm glad to miss them. There's nothing like being in a different place to shake up my world and make me appreciate what I have back home.

I'm learning that I have more than I ever could have imagined and that I should be more grateful for even the smallest wonders and beauties in my life.

What do ya say we do it together?

Starting today, more gratitude.

xoxo

J.

Can you Belize it? I'm back on Blogger!

My lovelies!

I'm back on Blogger for a day or two because Harley needs a little vacay. She's been so great about keeping up with the blog solely on her own while I'm in Belize, but I wanted to say hey. And that I've missed the blog a lot.

I wish I had photos to post, but as I don't have a computer to upload them to, you'll all have to wait for two more weeks until I'm home. Then I'll flood you with photos of the Carribbean and my sweaty adventures.

For now, I'll just tell you the highlights of my day.

{1} I'm making the best little friends at PEACE Camp. We've been counselors all week at a conflict resolution camp for 20 kids ages 9-13, and they are seriously the c u t e s t. They all speak Creole to each other and bring me stickers and bookmarks wrapped in lined paper and flash me smiles from across the room. I might be in love.

{2} "Learn Creole" is going on my bucket list. I've learned an important phrase:

"Wu pa you de?"

Which translates into, "Where are you?"

{3} Sister and I painted glitter toes on two little sweet girls. They wanted to know where we got the glitter because they can't find it here, so we got their address and told them we'd send them a package of their own. I think we made two new best friends.

P.S. I decided to run another half marathon (October) and the Dirty Dash 10K (September). Anyone want to be a race buddy?