Staging in a nutshell:
-Skits and presentations to give us the basic how tos of getting to Belize.
-From 3-7 we were in a conference room and found out we all had similar aspirations and anxieties.
-There are 5 couples in this training group
-Total of 41 trainees in our group
-We had to get up at 1:30 to catch a bus to the airport (which didn't open until 4:00am)
-Magically we ALL got to Belize along with ALL of our luggage!
-When we got off the plane in Belize we were greeted with cheers from the current volunteers and leaders on the second floor of the airport!
1:30 in the morning...ready to go to the airport!
About to land!
The welcome we recieved...all the staff and some current volunteers! So nice.
Training:
Our first day didn't really count because we were out of our heads with sleep deprivation. We were treated to lunch at this wonderful outdoor restaurant. They served us watermelon and lime juice. Thus beginning my infatuation with Belize. We got our training notebooks, a big water bottle, and some other basic introductions to Peace Corps and then we all headed back to eat and sleep.
From the busride
I mean come ON... watermelon juice! Why haven't I lived here my whole life?
“If you haven't been looking at your poop for the last 20 years of your life, get ready, you'll be looking at it for the next two years.” Quote from our PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer)
We had our intro to Medical with our PCMO which was very informative. The opening slide she had on the power point was:
Don't get bit.
Don't get hit.
Don't get lit.
Don't do it.
Don't eat shit.
She said if we all followed these five rules she would never see us and we would have a very pleasant Peace Corps experience. We also got our Anti-Malaria pills, Aralen, which we take once a week. We haven't had any weird dreams yet and we didn't get sick so, yay! Greg also got to explain to the group what a human bot fly does.
Trainees:
So we are not officially PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers) until we swear in October 22. Until then we are PCT (Peace Corps Trainees). There are a whole bunch of instruments in our training group. We brought our two ukuleles and a mouth harp. There is also a ¾ guitar and a mini bass, a regular guitar, a melodica (air powered piano), and kazoo in the group. We are thinking of making a band...perhaps for the big talent show in October. There are also kinda two age groups within the trainees, the 22-31 (there was a competition for the oldest young person which turned out to be 31) and an older group from about 45 up. It is really great spending time with everyone, we all have such different backgrounds and we come from all over the US.
About to explore
Our band after practice one night!
One night we stopped to eat at this little 'fast food' restaurant with the other young couple, Alyson and Clifton. Several other volunteers saw us as they were walking by and joined us. The man who owned it was awesome, he made us sit at his table because he 'likes to gossip.' We got to practice staying neutral (a topic covered that day in class) because this guy hit all our out-of-bounds topics (politics, religion, and visas). He was very nice though as were his children and wife who served us. We had these DELICIOUS fish empanadas which were just 3 for a dollar (which is only 50 cents USD)!
Cultural Day:
We have the weekends off so the staff planned a cultural day for us which was super great. We all loaded onto a bus and a van and were able to listen to a presentation on Mayan and Mestizo histories. A youth dance group, aimed at preserving the culture and heritage, performed several dances for us. My favorite was the Mayan sacrifice! A famous Belizian flute player also performed, he was extremely animated and you could tell he loved what he was doing. We also ate traditional foods. I loved the fried calaloo (bitter green) with eggs and also the Mestizo desert which was a rice pudding (I ate two)! We drank fresh Horchata (rice milk flavored with spices) while we enjoyed the performances.
We then went to Xunantunich to see the Mayan ruins there. We got to take a little ferry which fit one car and people. The ferry guy pulled us across to the other side with this wench like apparatus and then we got a ride to the top where we saw our first MONKEY! The tour of the ruins was great! We got to climb to the top and on our way back down we heard drums and our guide said it was from a neighboring village, who was number 1 in the country, practicing! We also saw an iguana, leaf cutter ants, and peanut-head mantises. Our guide explained why they Mayans predicted the 2012 doomsday date. Very interesting and unsettling. There was a ball field still pretty intact where they played a game where players would run up the sides of the field and use their hips to shoot an 18 pound solid rubber ball into a hoop on either side. The winners of these games were sometimes sacrificed. The ball field was very small maybe about 30 ft long and 15 feet wide, with slopes on either length where the hoops would have been in the center. We also cracked opened some nut like things that fell from the trees. They tasted sort of like coconut, more fibrous. The guide said the best time to eat them was when they were green and the meat was soft.
First monkey!
On the top!
Leaf cutter ants!
Clifton and Alyson and us at the base.
Coconut-like nut thing we found/ate!
After touring all the sites we all walked back down and hung out at some little souvenir stands where Greg and some other PCT played hackey sack. There was this cute little boy who would peer around the corners and sneak out and whenever the ball would come his way come out and kick it as hard as he could back to them and run away. We kept trying to get him to play, as did his little sister (who dragged him, sometimes by the shirt towards us) but he was too shy and would just watch mostly.
Found this little guy:)
Belize is just super!
We will try to post once more before we head out to our host family site for our CBT sites (cultural based training) for 5 weeks.
THE RIVER!
These horses just walked down a path and hung out in the water.
