12

Our last day in San Ignacia and full a full one.  Our 9 a.m. ride arrived at 9:40 and after stopping to pick up kids a couple times, it dropped us at the bottom of the hill that leads to the leveled area called the Omega church.  We quickly got 45 kids singing Alleluia! adding rounds & speed each time.  Then we did a lesson on the two greatest commandments including games where you had to help your neighbor:  put on gloves, move a rope ring to the next person, identify a neighbor with eyes closed & a version of 7 Up.  We also read the bible story of the Good Samaritan and talked about ways each of them can be good Samaritans.  Food arrived & quickly about 200 garnaches were assembled and gobbled up.  We hitched a ride back to town and had Paula & Emmanuel join us for some peanuts, M & M's and lots of laughs as we shared stories.  After they left, we went out for a hamburger & hot wings while watching a NFL playoff game.  We ran into one of the girls we'd gotten to know a little & invited her & her Mom to our porch.  She speaks just a little English & reads none so I wasted no time and spent the next hour tutoring.  She was visibly pleased with her progress.  Me too.  Again we climbed into the truck, headed up the hill for another service.  A pastor who'd earlier spent 3 months here, preached.  Hugs all around ended the service.  So many kids wrapped their arms around us--how blessed and loved we felt.  They have so little yet they are so willing to share their love with us--who have so much.

11

Here there are no traffic lights & very few stop signs but mucho speed bumps.  Why?  We are told the Belizians wouldn't obey the traffic signs.  Speed bumps cannot be ignored.

In Belize two weeks now and not a sign of any chain restaurant or store...Mc Donald's somehow over looked this country.  

A sampling of Creole language (which is a shorten English dialect):
Whachauta = What are you up to?
Wheredego = Where are you going?
Dis da fi wi chiken =  ????  you guess is as good as ours!

We are told education is not free here--and since we see so many church schools here...we're guessing that's the best route for most kids.

Our ride yesterday was a van (need I say OLD)--us and 16 others.  Our kids will relate to this as they experienced the same while in Guatemala ten years ago.  Paula told us that once they had 60 people in one large van.  I believe it!

Public transportation is quite easy to use.  Busses go through towns about every half hour.  Al the busses are old USA school busses.  Some of the signs we remembered as students are still on them!  Our driver today was talking on his cell phone, drinking a Coke and snacking on chips--and not wearing his seatbelt.  Safety is not a word you hear here.  

Here's ways we've eaten tortillas:  empanadas, tacos, nacho chips, salbutes, enchiladas, fry jacks, burritos, quesadilla, garnache and with peanut butter!

10

Last couple days have been Belizian, in other words, plans change often and there is lots of waiting for the next thing to happen.  Example: today plan 1 was that we were to be picked up at 9 to go tutor & help build a bench.  Didn't happen.  Plan 2 was to help at a BBQ chicken fund raiser at the market.  Didn't happen.  Plan 3 was to deliver flour, shortening, beans, dried milk, crayons & coloring books to the needy family we'd met a couple days ago.  We did walk the mile traversing the mud holes & slippery clay carrying all the stuff to get to their home...but she wasn't there as she had taken her baby to the doctor.  The door was locked but Rog figured out how to open the wood shutter & we dropped the stuff on the bed under the opening.  Plan 4 was to attend the youth program led by Emmanuel & lead the games.  That happened as planned.  Yesterday we spent time showing Paula the curriculum that we use at our church's Sunday School classes...she was excited.  Also, Bekah sent me internet sites that Paula could show several of the young girls that she works with that could help them learn & read English.  Paula is eager to check them out.  I sat in on one of her sewing classes where she was teaching about 10 ladies how to use patterns.  My job was to check the battered pattern packages to see if they contained all the pieces.  Of the 5 I checked, one was complete, one was missing just one piece and the 3 others were missing lots.  I thought of all the ones I've seen at garage sales for 10 cents and wished I'd known to fill my suitcase with them.  We also worked with several kids on reading skills.  But between all these...we wait:  eating food we've purchased at the local grocery stores on our porch or at restaurants, walking around the market, watching TV, & talking about all the interesting people we meet and things we observe.  Belizian time gives your mind time to rest, think & enjoy tiny pleasures like watching a mother herd her 4 or 5 kids, street vendors peddling their wares, fans cheering on a local soccer team, a small entertaining themselves with stones while their parent works a stand or at a store, bird calls amidst the blare of a radio, girls with high heels loaded with rhinestones, the many ways you can braid hair, a group of young tourist just arriving with their eyes open wide as they try to take in all these sights and sounds, and a baby sleeping on his Dad shoulder in the middle of it all.  How much I miss at home when I am in my "efficient mode."