It's early Saturday morning ("early" being used in the college context, not that of Belize, where we got up on average at 7 AM!) and I've been doing some thinking about our trip to Belize. What strikes me is it's already been almost a week since we left, and I just can't help but think what our dear friends Daren, Claudia, Dr. Mike, Shelly, Hedge, Ross, Leon, Trish, Phylicia, Karteek, Dave, Kahlil, Alger, Caesar, and co are doing. Sure we have email, blogs, and Facebook to keep in touch, but it's just not the same as being together in Belize impacting the community and getting to know one another better.
Anyway, while I was on the trip I kept a journal of sorts, and added entries every few days. None of it is too personal to share, I feel, so I thought it'd be interesting to post them here. Below is my first entry, which includes first impressions of Belize.
3/19/07
Belizia. I am writing this entry a little later than I would've liked, as we've now been in Belize two days. It's very important to me to capture first impressions of the country in their freshest form, especially to compare these with pre-trip conceptions and expectations of Belize.
But oh what a country! We have been here all of two days and I can already tell eight days just won't be enough. The sheer amount of culture and diversity within Belize is astounding. Coming into the trip I had read about the different groups making up Belize's ethnic mix, but my goodness, what an array of people. There are the Mayan, the Mennonites ("White guys in overalls" according to the Lonely Planet), the Farifuna, mestikzos, East Indians, Lebanses, North Americans, and even Chinese! The latter came as a shock to me, but evidently there is a healthy population (around 10,000) of Chinese and Taiwanese in Belize. I never would've guessed it and just assumed I would stick out like a sore thumb being white and Chinese. Apparently the people from Taiwan are very good about integrating themselves within the community, while the mainlanders are more reluctant and keep to their own respective neighborhoods. I wonder why that is? I'm tempted to try the Chinese food here, but as Kay pointed out, we ARE in Central America and should therefore enjoy the food of this region first.
And now we've touched upon my favorite topic... the food! Wawaweewa! Ok, so maybe it's not that good, but it's tasty. Since arrivfing Sunday we've had some Belizian dishes - both in restaurants and homemade - and they are certainly remniscent of Mexican dishes and Latin American food in general. At the very first restaurant we went to in Belize called Cheers we got a taste of the flavors of the country. Tom Cruise, ahem excuse me Tom Hughes (I hear Hughes gets that all the time) pointed out the "Gringo Tomale" and of course I immediately felt compelled to try it. He went with the vegetarian burrito... idiot. I can't remember some of the others. WE ordered this ridiculous spread of nachos supreme, loaded with meat, cheese, and my favorite, jalapneos! Daren, our chief host and Belizian superstar, challenged me to test out the hot sauce, which turned out to be manageable (I did cry later). Since then I've gained his respect for spicy foods and flavors with my willingness to try, well, anything and it was later observed by Hedge that I have "a littel bit of Mexican in me". Go figure :)
I should pause for a moment and shift back to when we first arrived in Belize. It's significant because never before have I received as warm of a welcome to a foreign land or anywhere else than what we experienced upon coming to Belize. The Belmopan Rotaract Cluhb was out in full force, and just after stepping off the plane we could see them all excitedly waving and proudly holding a welcome banner. At first glance of the banner and crowd gathered atop the airport gallery I thought to myself, "Jeez, somebody must be loved", and then realized it was all for us. Complete strangers and we get this kind of welcome? I didn't realize it then, but the warmth and care the Belizians extend in general to visitors is remarkable. It might be blasphemous, but they just may even have Apple's customer service beat. There, I said it!
The airport in Belize City was small and a far cry from the monstrosity that is George Bush International Airport., It reminded me a lot of the airport in Ixtapa, Mexico. Funny, not but a few seconds upon entry had I taken my camera out for a picture and was approached by secuirty. They informed me of the no camera rule, which made sense. Apparently the gentlemen behind me video recording the baggage claim and customs area was of no concern to them.
So we've already met a lot of incredible and fascinating people while here. One that immediately comes to mind is Ross. Ross is a 77-year old Texan witha killer mustache. He's a wooden cross-wearing, big gulp-toting, free spirit who is friendly to everyone he meets. You take one look at this guy, have one exchange of words with him and just think, "oh the stories he must have. The sights and sounds he must be able to share." Indeed, this isn't far from the truth. Ross was born in Texas and is a true traveler of the wrold. He fought in the Korean conflict and has been to a majority of the continents.
Alright, before wrapping up, as it is getting quite late here in Belmopan and we are going on a radio show tomorrow morning, I wanted to reflect some on how the trip si going thsu far with respect to our main objective, which is raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. Today we had our first experience with discussing AIDS and with Belizians. Actually, the first conversations began the night before when we met with the Rotary and Rotaract members from the Belmopan community and Gayland University. That was an eye-opening experience. We got into a fairly intense discussion/deabet about preventative measures and the crux of the issue was whether to emphasize abstinence only or incorporate it among several other methods of avoiding STDS/pregnancy. It's the classic debate held frequently and as vociferously in the U.S. There was definitely a divide among those in the room about where the emphasis should lie when raising awareness about AIDS in the classrooms. Some advocated abstinence only or at least a strong emphasis placed on abstinence. THis of course left othres among more progressive sentiments not necessarily opposed to the inclusion of abstinence teachings but insistant on it not being the only advocated solution. One interesting thing I saw was why the abstinence supporters felt as they did. There was the obvious influence of religion that I was use dto hearing back in the U.S. While people spoke passionately and eloquently on all sides, the general understanding was to teach a vareity of preventative measrues, including a portion covering the merits of abstinence.
Must get some sleep now. More later.
Ok so that's my first reflection. If anyone has any reactions - whatever they may be - please don't hesitate to post. I leave you with this:
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