Hello everyone!
Welcome to my blog about Belize!
I arrived in Belize on Saturday January 23, 2010 around 4 pm. As soon as I stepped off the plane my hair curled right up (from the humidity). Leaving Syracuse it was 10 degrees, arriving in Belize it was 84 degrees. Another thing that was different from 'cuse was that everything was GREEN! The streets in Belize City are awful.....pot holes everywhere and really deep. The driving here is crazy and there are people and stray dogs all over.
As we were driving through the city I thought to myself....what did I get myself into? But as time progresses I am getting more and more comfortable living here. I am living with the Fabro family and they live in a beautiful home right on the Caribbean Sea. Daniel and Terry Fabro have 4 children: Martinique (15), Dmitri (12), Dante (8), and Dani (6). They made me feel so at home the first day. One thing that is different here is that lunch is the biggest meal of the day and dinner consists of things like sandwiches or things we would have for lunch in the U.S.
On Sunday I went to the family's local church, The Holy Redeemer. It's a beautiful church and a children's choir sings during mass. Water is very necessary down here because it is so hot and after church I discovered "bags" of water for 25 cents. The bags are like the milk bags they used to give us instead of cartons at school. They also have collections at church and all over for support of Haiti.
I have met some very nice people so far. I think part of that being nice comes from having sunshine in their lives ; ) I had a couple Creole trainings this week which helped a lot when I started to listen to people down here speak. A lot of people down here tell me I look 10 yrs old. Guess that will never change : )
I am starting to really understand the area. Basically avoid the Southside completely and stick to 3 or 4 main streets on the Northside and I live in Old Belize on a part of the Southside that you wouldn't consider the Southside.
On Weds I woke up early and traveled around Belize City and to Northern Belize with different people from different Caribbean countries. It is quite interesting to hear the different dialects and stories of different people. We went to a couple different organizations in the city. The city is very poverty stricken and visiting some of the places really makes me appreciate ALL of my blessings!
Thursday, I went over to the tourist village (on the other side of the harbor) with Terry because she owns a gift shop there. There were about 5 cruise ships docked out at sea so the village was packed with tourists. I bought this really nice hand made bag but had to soak it and wash it several times because the first time I used it, it turned my hands purple! Later that day I sat up on the front deck and enjoyed the amazing sea breeze. : )
Thursday night-Friday were not so good. During the night I got really really sick. I think it was fate that I had Friday off from anything scheduled because I stayed in bed all day recovering. I think with all the new adjustments I might have picked up the stomach bug from something I ate : (
Saturday was nice and relaxing. I felt a million times better when I woke up. I went to Dmitri's basketball tryouts and then in the afternoon I got a pedicure with Terry and Martinique. Pedicures here cost $15 and I think they do a much better job at cleaning up one's feet then in the U.S. except for the fact that they do not have the nice pedicure chairs like we do ; ) After our pedicures, Terry, two of her friends and myself went to D'Ceviche Hut. It is a quaint little outdoor place that serves seafood and beer. Ceviche is shrimp, conch, onions, tomatoes, spices and lime mixed together and eaten with tortilla chips (mmmmm very good). The brewery here is called Belikin and the beer is pretty good. I tried both regular and light (lighthouse) but I prefer the regular. Terry and her friends were so funny and seem to always have a good time in each others company. When we got home, Daniel told me that he is proud of how well I've adapted and thinks I will fit in and do fine here.
On Monday I will start with the Belize Family Life Association (BFLA) who provide a lot of reproductive care and education for the people of Belize. I met briefly with a couple of the people I will be working with and my supervisor Ivorine said that my time here is well planned out!
I miss everyone a lot but I could see how people get used to life in the Caribbean : )
