29

Walking the narrow mainstreet of Rio Dulce meant avoiding the many large busses, semis, and livestock trucks that barely missed pedestrians as they passed who were dodging in and out of the small stands that lined the streets.  We noticed one man who nonchalantly sat polishing someone´s shoes sitting just inches away from the giant wheels of the vehicles as they rolled past.  Rog said...that´s proof that an inch is as good as a mile.

28

At lunch today we got a local dish...which we didn´t know for sure what it really was when we ordered it....when a kid riding a bike delivered a Domino´s pizza to our cooks!!!  I asked if I could get a piece of pizza....the cooks shook their heads no...it was for them!    I am not sure where that pizza came from as the only chains we have seen since we left home is one Burger King and  one Pizza Hut and they were far from here!

27

Rio Dulce Farm Report:  the rich river basin here is being put to good use.  We passed miles of fields of pineapple, bananas, palm oil trees and sugar cane...and since ¨dulce¨means sugar, the river´s name is perfect.

26

So many women here still live as they have for many years:  cooking tortillas outside on home built, wood burning stoves and scrubbing their clothes on big stones in the river where pigs & sheep also wade.  Nursing in public is a given...even with toddlers who help themselves by pulling their Mom´s shirt down & helping get the breast out.  Most women here are modestly dessed with decorated, lacy loose tops over spagetti strap shirts.  I asked where I could buy one...and the lady laughed and said that they make them at home. 

25

We got up early and took a tuk tuk to the bus station to buy a ticket to Rio Dulce leaving at 10...all which were recommended by our hotel owner.  We sat in the bus office playing cards as the ticket guy came by to check on us often.  Around9:58, the ticket man came rushing in yelling ¨Vamanos!¨....let´s go.  He had us get into his car while another guy moved motorcycles out of the way....off we flew racing through town, getting yelled at by police and perplexed as usual.  About 10 minutes later, he stopped at a bus stop, then took our ticket and motioned for us to get on the approaching bus.  Why did he wait until the last minute?  Why did he have to drive us there in his own car?  Why did he give us tickets only to take them away before we got on the bus?  We will never know but it was a very comfortable ride, air conditioned & plush seats and it took us to our destination, Rio Dulce.  On the 3 hour drive, we passed many herds of cows & horses, some being rounded up by cowboys.  Fence post are straight branches stuck in the ground close together sprouting new growth or already growing into a tree.  Corn was planted on several hillsides so steep no tractor could have done it.  The cars we see are quite nice & clean.  Almost every home has one thing in common...clothes drying.  Anything horizontal is fair game to hang them on...even barbed wire fences.  Besides nicer & neater than Belize...we also noticed another big difference.  Few people were sitting around or lying in hammocks....they were working.  Rio Dulce is a safe port city as it is on a navigable lake flowing into a big river that leads into the Caribean Sea.  During a hurricane, it is considered the safest place for ships.  Many yachts are docked here and we have seen many people in town stocking up on supplies & enjoying time on the land.  It was HOT in town so we crammed into a mini van....they call them ¨collectivos¨...which is so appropriate since they keep collecting people and won´t move until they are completely full...atleast 16!  We headed out of town to a small village, San Felipe, in hopes of finding a hotel room.  Success!  With a cool pool too....and best of all, with a computer with no time limits....which was truly a God send as we had been waiting for news from Bekah about a recent xray.  We got her good news email just before we went to bed....and that made us sleep much better.  Day 2 in Rio Dolce, we caught a ride in a mini van along with 21 others, switched to another in town, which took us to our next adventure--just a 1 km walk at Finca Paraiso and we were at a roaring hot springs waterfall.  The pool under it was warm and sparkling clear.  Our kids will recall the glorious feeling you get from swimming in such an awesome spot!  Hot springs bubbled up in several spots down stream and we stood on the hot stones and soaked in the water for serveral hours.  A few people joined us and two of them followed a local boy & climbed the steep cliff and jumped about 12´into the pool below.  (Jake...can you imagine anyone doing such a crazy thing?)  I visited with a New Zealand lady while drying out.  She asked me how long I had been married...her response was ¨F....ing Crazy!  I have never met anyone I could be around that long!¨ I had never gotten that response before.   Finally, our hunger won out and we left reluctantly.  

24

We crossed into Guatemala and soon were riding in a minivan with 18 others.  The luggage was strapped on top.  We stopped often and a young boy would climb up the ladder built on to the side of the van and pass down some luggage...or we would pick up new passengers & the boy would strap on more luggage and we´´d move over a little more....if possible.  We were pleasantly surprised by how much cleaner the landscape is here...homes are mostly built with cement blocks with yards neatly grazed by a horse and sometimes sheep or pigs.  There are also large areas nearby grazed by cows.  We only hear Spanish now and the locals have lighter complexions and straight black hair...no more multi-braided hairdos.  Our first stop is Flores...an old city on an island...the same one we visited with our kids 12 years ago.  We walked to the center square where we had spent New Years Eve.  This quaint town is full of hotels and restaurants.  The hot sun made the lake very inviting and many were enjoying a cool dip.  Tuk tuks and motorcycles buzzed up and down the narrow stone streets.  Around 4 p.m.several ladies with their home prepared foods set up underneath a tent  by the lake right in front of our hotel window.  People swarmed about that area like bees around their hive until late at night.  Rog kept looking out the window wishing he was hungry again!  Our second day in Flores, we went to Park Ixpanpajul about 10 km away.  We hiked a 3 km trail which took us through the jungle and over several suspension bridges that were about 100 ft high and about 100 M long.  We didn´t see much wildlife but saw lots of flora & two beautiful orchids.  Later we climbed into a boat for a one hour tour (think Gilligan´´s Island....again)   of the lake and just like 12 years ago...a storm rolled in & there were no life jackets anywhere.  It started pouring down rain so our driver docked the boat at his own house which was on the other side of the lake.  We waited for the storm to pass and under a thatched roof where an altar had been built with hundreds of shells and used for setting up their Nativity scene at Christmas.  We practiced our Spanish as our driver practiced his English.  We learned the lake is 2M higher than usual due to all the rain during their dry season and that there is an unexcavated ruin a short distance from his home.  We played with some kids who had made a boat out of a coconut shell and were trying to get it to float down a small stream created by the downpour....another unexpected and unusual treat!  After about an hour, we climbed back into the boat and finished our tour.  

23

We came ¨home¨to the Tropicool Hotel in San Ignacio and soon met up with Paula & Emmanuel.  Paula has Dengue fever but insisted on us joining them for dinner.  She had arranged to have three of her women{s sewing group there and bring us the purses they had embroidered over the last two weeks while we were gone so that we can take them home to sell them.  I expected 4 or 5...but was utterly amazed as they had finished about 20 of them....and one more just as we were leaving.  I sure hope I can reward them with a large payment.  Paula´s younger sister mentioned that she made bracelets so I offered to sell them also.  She didn´t have any to sell and no money to make a lot.  I explained to her what a microloan was and loaned her $20 which I told her she should loan on to someone else once she has earned $20.  She was excited!  Paula & I took her hands clutching the $20 and said a prayer asking for the money to multiply and bring income to many in need in the future.  During our final hugs, Paula again whispered, "You bring us much hope."  Tomorrow we leave Belize.  Did we find lots to enjoy here?  You Better Belize It!   (that´t their motto)

22

Quite often we're in a spot where we can watch TV and though we are surrounded by locals, we are all watching USA news...we even hear about the weather in Michigan.  When in Michigan did I ever hear anything about Belize?  We have noticed this is true in many of the countries we have traveled.  No wonder they know so much about the USA...and we know so little about them.

21

We are back in San Ignacio and will meet up with Paula and Emmanuel tonight...sometime.  Our last couple days in Hopkins were slow, quiet & with hours of reading on the beach, listening to Garifuna drummers & travelling Argentinian musicians (who for 1 and 1/2 years have paid for their travels by performing in towns all over--nothing planned in advance--true troubadours!)  We also made delicious smoothies by freezing fresh pineapples, bananas & oranges & then adding a bit of cold water & putting it in the blender provided.  (we learned this from a local).  The pace here is s...l...o...w...almost everyone, even very small kids on bikes way too big for them, cruse at a very, very slow speed from place to place.  We wonder how they keep their balance going so slow on the rutted, rocky roads.  All the bikes are pedal and no hand brakes...and very old.  None of them look like they have even been washed.  Perhaps, like their buses, they are USA discarded ones also.  Imagine, if you took a wide angle shot of the homes on the gorgeous shoreline here...then cut it up into a jigsaw puzzle...you'd find that about every 30th piece would look like it did not fit in...29 would be run down old cabanas with yards littered with old frigs, stoves, useless boats and a trash pile 2 to 3' tall...then that 30th piece would be a gorgeous home/hotel with a well raked yard & beach.  Lucky for us, we spent 5 days on #30!!!

20

#20  (By Roger)
The local economy of Hopkins...this is a small shore town just south of Dangriga and it seems that many people here are doing okay. ..that is ...they eat, have decent clothing, send kids to school, even some paint their houses.  We have seen many people working various jobs:  security, waitress, bus drivers, bicycle rental & repair, banana delivery man, clerks, weavers, wood carvers, fishermen, librarians, teachers, house/hotel cleaners.  There are also many cooks...some in restaurants but many on the street preparing meatpies, conch fritters, buns, panades, pastries and even choc-coconut pies and then they send their kids around on their old bicycles carrying 5 gal pails filled with these items their mamas have prepared for them to sell.  It's good to see them helping their families.  We have also met children who immediately ask us for a shilling or dollar.  It is hard to say no to them as they are usually preschool age, cute and often appear to be needy...and beside a dollar is not much to us.  But that child will grow up and in a few years, I think, s/he will be asking for more than a dollar...and thinking why work if it isn't necessary?  It seems that a natural progression might turn that cute little kid into an adolescent to be savvy enough to know when and where to demand money from tourists...or others in their town.  I believe we,  tourist, need to encourage the kids who are helping their families and at the same time, discourage those who are begging.  

19

A pot of gold may be at the end of a rainbow...but a chocolate-coconut pie is at the end of a pot hole ridden alley in a ramshackle shack where Maggie lives.  It looked & smelled scrumptious...we bought the whole pie for $12.50...the pan (which we promised to return) was still hot.  We couldn't wait to get home and sink our teeth into it.  It was a bite of heaven!  We shared some with the lady who runs the hotel and a couple of the drummers.  Wish I could bring lots of them home to share with you!!!

18

The Tobacco Caye dock filled with people that we'd met the last few days all wishing us well on the rest of our trip.  The ocean was calm so we seemed to glide on top as we headed back to Dangriga to catch the bus to Hopkins...a small village about an hour away...a diamond in the rough.  We had booked a room at the Garifuna Drum Center and found it freshly painted, well built, cleverly decorated with a frig, coffee pot, spacious hot shower, a real bed and a porch with a hammock....all right on the beach.,,all for just $55.  The hot sun quickly encouraged us to get in our suits and let the cool Caribbean Sea roll over us.  Bikes came with the room and so after a while we headed out to check out the town and find some lunch.  Though definitely still Belizean, this town has an extra dose of friendliness.  The tourist and locals seem to mingle easily.  After dark, the drumming started so we followed our ears.  With amazing speed they beat the drums...their hands a blur of movement.  We only planned to stay one night but have extended it to five.  When you find a piece of paradise, why rush away looking for another?  I should qualify this statement by what you must look beyond here:  piles of trash, deserted crumbling buildings & ones very similar but not deserted where chickens, dogs & children play in the dirt yards...but it's what you can take in that overrides this:  kids in their school uniforms walking to school or on rusty bikes often with a smaller child on the handlebars, the broad smiles & friendly greeting from the locals, the smell of fresh baked coconut bread, the multi colored hammocks where the cool wind rocks you gently, the vibrant green coconut trees, the glistening sand and of course, the warm inviting sea.  Need I saw more?  We found the local bakery, sucked down a pineapple smoothie, soaked up the sea, rode bikes up & down the sides streets and searched for Maggie's famous coconut-chocolate pie.  We were hot on the pie trail when we met two women walking on the road.  Rog asked them if they knew where Maggie's was...and one piped up..."I'm Maggie!"  Unfortunately all the pie was gone but she promised to make us one tomorrow.  Can't wait.  Again right after dark, the drumming started.  It was a group of young boys who also dancing the Punta.  We went back to our room after a bit and were serenaded to sleep by the sound of distant drumming.  

17

Day 2 on this 5 acre island ...that brings back memories of the Gulligan's Island TV show.  We know most every one on the island now...both tourist and locals.  The morning sky was cloudy and hung them just  before it started to rain.  In intervals we read, visited with neighbors & staff, napped in hammocks, played cards, walked around the island & made careful & prolonged viewing of the osprey, pelicans, crows, herons, rays & fish swimming around the docks.  Even a coconut dropping was interesting.  After a couple showers, we re-wrung out clothes & hung them on our porch.  The day went by about as fast as the clothes dried.  Island time is easy to get use to.  Here meals are served family style and on days like today...we linger around the table with rich conversation.  Fellow travelers can tell such fascinating stories!  Day 3 brought sunshine so we were on open water and what is called The Garden.  The vibrant colors of the fish & reef was worthy of it's name.  A group of Vermont students snorkeled at night with headlamps and showed us their video of a green moray eel & a large octopus they'd spotted.  It was tempting but not convincing enough to make me go.  Princess, a 3 year old hung around me for a while so we wrote the ABC's in the sand & read a couple books I had.  She rewarded me dancing the Punta (she could shake every part of her little body!).  Day 4  Spent the first couple hours saying goodbye to Muriel & Judd and then getting to know our new neighbors...Jeff & Erica better.  We had talked to them a bit yesterday and today they said they thought it was such a good idea to do some volunteering while traveling that next year...they were going to do it.  We exchanged our emails & they want us to let them know more about Safe Haven...the orphanage we worked at in Thailand.  We canoed along the nearby reef and spotted sting rays, trunk fish, star fish, coral & many tiny fish through the sparkling clear water.  We watched guy cleaning conch & later his wife brought us some freshly made conch fritters. Our dinner last 2 hours as a couple from Belgium, a girl from Switzerland & her boyfriend from Hawaii and a couple from Canada shared many of our views of this world discussing all we have learned while traveling. ..not only from the countries we travel but also the many people we meet from all over the world.  Truly these conversations are one of the best parts of traveling!

16

My Birthday!  FIrst thanks for all the emails wishing me a good one!!!  We found a great place that had cheese omelets, french fries & Coke Light for breakfast then hit the bank, internet cafe, bakery & a grocery store to stock up with Coke Light and then climbed into a boat headed for Tobacco Caye about 45 minutes out.  Ahhh! What a haven surrounded by turquoise water and a reef that is part of the second largest in the world.  By 2:30we were snorkeling seeing schools of various fish feeding on the reef.  Can't say it was the best we've seen...but no complaints.  We watched a glorious sunset and the dinner bell rang at 6...just like at camp.  We enjoyed the company of a couple from Oregon comparing travel experiences.  Drummers filled the night air with their rhythmic sounds late into the night. How is that for a birthday???

15

We got on the bus and headed to the jungle stopping at the Hummingbird Guest House.  It turned out to be another unique experience.  A clearing had been cut in the middle of the jungle by a group of mostly Californians who lived there at various times for various amounts of time ...basically communal style.  They worked & ate together and made joint decisions on what to do with the property.  They had planted many trees and flowering bushes that all produced something edible and had gardens and chickens.  It was pretty basic living with shared outhouses & showers.  I am not sure what the attraction was.  We walked the land that was encircled by a clear, fast running creek.  We rode to the village with one couple but there seemed to be nothing happening there...or would be happening.  A bit farther up the road, what seemed to be a mirage was actually a real ice cream stand...they had Coke Light too...I got one of each!  The ice cream was made fresh daily by the Mechannites--they were Mennonites that used mechanical equipment.  Great fine!!! Unfortunately some nasty biting sand flies (we call no see-ums) found us and we itched lots.  Next a.m. we waited in what looked like the middle of no where for one & a half hours for the bus.  We felt like Steve Martin in The Jerk.  The bus finally did come and we headed for Dangariga passing by acres of orange trees that produce not the picture perfect ones we buy in the states...but rather greenish-blackish ones that taste delicious.  We got to Dangariga and found Ruthie's --our hotel.  Lonely Planet--our guide book...sure let us astray on this one!  A dump...but it seemed all the ones nearby were the same so we just bit our tongues, scratched our bites & made the best of it.  The beach we were on was covered with litter & the water was as muddy as the Mississippi.  We walked around town...everything was pretty run down.  We did enjoy going to the Garifuna museum.  We were the only ones there and the guide unlocked a gate to allow us in & relocked it as soon as we entered it.  We'd been told this town was unsafe...guess this was proof.  Our guide was of Garifuna descent and spoke from her heart as she explained each exhibit.  The Garifuna is a mix between the Black Caribs & slaves from a slave ship that shipwrecked on the island of St. Vincent.  Later the British deported them in chains to Honduras & some made it to this area.  They remain a people who hold fast to their traditions.

14

14
As I reflect on our time helping the Omega Church, I am grateful for the time we spent with kids, Paula & Emmanuel.  But I also find myself thinking, we could have done so much more if only they had been more organized.  That's my Midwest USA, work ethics talking...that's not here.  Don't I always tell myself that I will let God be in charge, not me?  He let me know he was in charge as I hugged Paula and she whispered in my ear, "You inspire me and give me the courage to continue."  So that's enough for me.  Amen

13

We visited the Belize Zoo.  In 1982 a lady came here to do a documentary about some injured animals in a rehab and when she found out there wasn't a zoo in Belize...she started this one.  It is unique as you feel like you are walking through the jungle with only wire fences & one strand of electric fence separating you from puma, jaguar, black leopard, ocelots, tapirs, howler & spider monkeys, harpy owls, peccaries, jabiru storks, coatimundi, jaguarundi, kinkajou, scarlet macaw and a variety of other animals.  Several other animals sneak in and freely join the ones behind fences ...sometimes on the same walk way we were on.  

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."