“This is my brother Greg”

6 Months Already??

It has been a good couple of weeks for Greg. He is getting excited about some projects at school. Namely, helping to write a grant for a projector, computer classes with standard 6 students, and trying to see if there can be a way for teachers to be exempt from duty on computers. Greg is a really great teacher of computers. He had the kids come over to all these different parts he pulled out of broken computers. Then he explained what they do and let the kids delve in to attempt to solve problems like, ‘a missing hard drive’ in another broken computer. The kids loved getting to touch all the parts (especially the boys).

Operation Integration update: Greg has made a Belizean best friend named George. His wife is the preschool teacher at Greg’s school. They’ve been hanging out a lot and seem to be frighteningly similar. Greg and George were comparing cuts and scars when George said, “that’s nothing, check this out” lifting up his right sleeve to reveal a nasty scar that wrapped around his bicep. Greg said nothing just lifted his right sleeve to reveal his own scar. Some other similarities; they have the exact same bottle opener key chain, same letter name, love of karaoke, and are both Jack of all trades and master of none. We were invited to his house for his oldest daughter’s 14^th birthday. They have 6 wonderfully behaved kids and one on the way. It was so much fun watching Greg and George as they belted out song after song as the kids quietly entertained themselves.

Greg also got invited to play football with the guys. Every evening around 5 until about 6:30 all the boys and young men come out to the school yard to play football. The kids make their own little field towards the school and the men play on the other half of the yard. Greg has often eyed the games, but they looked too good for him to comfortably ask to play. But, Peace Corps is all about pushing boundaries and comfort zones so Greg went out to play barefoot with the kids. As the guys started showing up and kicking around the PTA chairman’s son called out to Greg for him to join them!

Fajina (the monthly chopping of the village) happened again yesterday. Lynette ran to a neighbor’s house to get a machete for Greg (since we have yet to buy one for ourselves) and he set off with all the men to chop. Many people called out, ‘good morning Mr. Greg’ and those that didn’t know asked Andres who he was. Andres responded, “This is my brother Greg.” The villagers joked that he must be from another mother, which they proceeded to name a lady from another village that apparently ‘gets around.’ As they were all chopping the alcalde took the opportunity to inform the community that we should not be fishing at a certain spot anymore because it is protected. The villagers were yelling and Greg heard them say white a lot of times (he asked Andres if they were talking about him). Andres said no, and that they were angry because when white people come buy land in Belize they change the rules of the land that they’ve been using for years.

There is one Catholic Bishop for the entire country of Belize. That has made Confirmation pretty crazy with the Bishop going on a whirlwind tour of Belize doing 2 to 3 confirmations a day for an entire month. We have gone to two confirmation parties..one with BBQ and 2012 playing on a tv set up outside; and the other in the neighboring village. We saw many people from our village and rode back from that one with the Coh’s, each of us with a nane’(baby) in our arms.

I am so excited about my sister coming this weekend! All the kids will scream her name when she calls and I tell everyone I visit that my baby sister will be here next week. I even went and visited the lady who sews ketchi dresses so we could have some made when she's here. We had a fun time visiting that house, it is Virginia's in-laws. Rinelva (the seamstress) was born in Silver Creek and has lived here for 30 years. She said that up until about ten years ago there was only a bus out of Toledo every other day, and no buses into the village. Her husband used to go out and work for a month or more at a time before he could come home.

Sheldon was sitting in the hammock with me reading his book, he would reach behind him and pet my nose saying 'saq' which is white...that's life

I feel like I am getting behind in my posting...so much to talk about. I took the Std. V and VI kids on a 'village field trip' to their houses and all the important places and they will be writing up paragraphs on housing, vehicles, money, and our library which I will post for their pen pals back in the states (soon Lauren!)

Yup...23 std 5 and 6 kids and one white gyal traipsing around the village for 2 hours

You Can't Buy Pythons like These at the Pet Store

The Champs:
Myself and Coy

I was putting off writing up the events that took place at AVC (All Volunteer Conference) but Kevin put it so well... so I will just attach his blog:

Kevs
http://frasure7.blogspot.com/2010/02/all-volunteer-conference-arm-wrestling.html

I almost missed this event because we were watching lost at the Peace Corps office. We power walked back to the office answering phone calls and texts getting them to hold us off, delay the woman's matches until we got there. We walked up to the third floor to a full arm wrestling frenzy. The room was pack and hot and sweaty, much like the scene of a Peace Corps fight club. I will add that I thought I didn't stand a chance...there were some huge guns...last year's champ Katie being my biggest fear. So be sure to check out Kev's post :)

Caves, shoe-boxes, and Bats...OH MY!

We're 26 yall!

My cake, Greg sang me a lovely rendition of happy birthday.
The cake was made in our new toaster oven!!!

For my birthday we decided to go to this place called Caves Branch Jungle Lodge. We get the 'local rate' since the prices are all in USD we just pay the same in BZE. We stayed in a sweet 'Jungle Cabana' with a luxuriously soft bed complete with towel animals! It reminded me of the 'Euro Camp' we stayed at in Italy. We got an orientation, including when dinner starts (chips and salsa at 6:30 where the tour guides come around and you sign up for what you want to do the following day, then salad & soup, main course, and desert!), how to use the jungle shower, and how to light the oil lamps. The whole place used oil lamps and torches, giving everything that warm romantic glow.

One side of the pool area, with the Caves Branch River in the background

A HOT TUB!

Couples table and our sweet cabana!

For the first time in six months we swam in a POOL! We got in even though it was freezing and swam all around, mixing it up with the hot tub when we got too cold. That night at dinner we met two couples that were here for our Erin (one of the tech trainers for Peace Corps) wedding, and another couple just traveling through. Dinner was so good and we had fun laughing with the three other couples, a nice break from the often awkward conversations with my villagers.

Greg skipped rocks clear to the other side...the banks were just lined with perfect skipping stones!

We chose the River and Cave Exploration tour. We took a 20 bus ride through an orange planatation then carried our tubes to the river...you could see the entrance to the cave and we just floated backwards right in...headlamps on. We alternated tubing and hiking for 5 hours inside the massive cave that archeologists said were used around 400 BC (the same time as the large Maya cities). We went to two chambers inside the cave. One was where they believe offerings were made to the fertility god (they found a carved face and an alter). This is where we ate lunch! I found a small cave nearby that you had to crouch down to get into but then it was almost head high inside. there was a little shelf of clay and apparently other kids on the tours thought it would be fun to make their own artifacts of smiley faces and hearts. I showed some kids who were with us and they had a fun little arts and crafts room all to themselves!

We saw fruit bats and insect bats, brain-suckers (like a glow worm with out the glow), and catfish. The water was freezing but as we got into the belly of the cave the air was nice and warm. It is believed the maya people would prey to the gods, sacrifice, or do blood letting here because the stalagtites were thought to be the roots of the tree of life of the Ceiba (or Kapot Tree) and that the smoke would travel up through the roots, the stem, and finally out to heaven from the leaves. We saw evidence of these rituals in the second cavern where there were several fire pits with pieces of pottery. They would collect the blood then burn it for the gods, finally smashing the pots to release an evil spirits trapped inside, or boring a hole at the top of the pot. The head lamp hurt my head and the water was freezing but other than that it was pretty much the coolest (no pun intended) trip, floating down a river deep inside a huge cave, our splashes and distant rapids echoing as we creep closer to the sacred grounds of the ancient Maya.

Fire pit and curtain and pond formations!

Fruit bats...their acidic poo eats at the limestone making these little cylindrical homes for them.
They flew around the cave periodically too!

Fertility God, notice the tongue

Little insect bat...he was so cute!

We caught the bus after we got back (after one last warm jungle shower) and got back home at 8:00. I wanted to be home for my actual birthday. We slept in luxuriously (until 8:00) I heard the family bustling around, and heard iswa (ducunu) several times so I knew already that we would be eating good. I came out to many birthday wishes and we went to the shop to get some breakfast supplies. We spoke only in ketchi again and the shop keep said my ketchi was getting good. With a smile on my face we started walking back and saw kids pouring out of the church with shoe boxes. I stoped some kids and asked what was going on and they said some white people came and gave out boxes of presents. Sweet mother, I live in a village that the Good Samaritans send their shoe boxes for kids to! This was a surreal revelation to me, I do not think of my village as poor, destitute, or oppressed, but this was just a reminder that by most of the worlds standards it is. Well it was great non the less. All the kids tore into the gifts as we and the adults all gathered around oohing and ahhing and there was much murmuring of "mas chabil" Very beautiful. They all got toothbrushes and toothpaste a book (Sheldon is not seen without his from sun up to sun down) and lots of little trinkets and some clothing. This did cause some drama which I heard about at the river later in the week. The ladies were all talking (I am less of the entertainment now and starting to be just one of the ladies....sometimes) and they said not all the kids got boxes, and that some families got one box while others got one per kid. Speculations were made that you had to know someone in the church to get a box for all your kids...I just kind of tried to stay neutral. I was just happy that they were asking my opinion by name and not just watching me wash. We had a great day helping to get the corn ready for ducunu (it was Murphy's birthday the day before mine!) We went to church, sang ketchi songs and watched 3 kids get baptized.

Sheldon with his goodies, Fermin and Andres with Tanisha and Brendon.

Cecilia the mom checking out all the kids gifts, she put them in this basket because Murphy destroyed his box.

Taking the young corn off the cob to make ducunu...even little Hermin helped!

So all you out there...I had a great birthday, and a great start to my 26th year of life. Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Lao li Piis Kor

Intro to Site
Last Sunday we had our 'Intro to site' community meeting. Even though we have been in 'site' for a little over two months...Peace Corps still thought I'd be a good idea (and it was). We'd had some shuffling around to do because of Es's passing. Also, I have been working with the alcalde, my principal, and the PTA on getting our library to become an official community library through the Belize National Library Service. After pulling some strings, and some great work from the BNLS they were able to come to the community meeting also! There has been lots of interest in this, with four people submitting their names for the one potential librarian position.

The day before our meeting I washed clothes for 7 hours from 6am until 1. I washed in buckets then I washed at the creek, and finished up with some more washing in buckets. I was extremely proud of myself. When I went to the creek the place was packed. Lynette had to make me a new washing stone (she found a large flat rock, wedged it on top of some other rocks (using small ones to make it sturdy). I also cleaned the latrine, and helped re-spackle the firehearth. They just take ashes from the fire-hearth, some dirt, mix it with water and there you have it...spackle! It was fun and messy. Meanwhile Greg was next door helping to build our neighbors second story to their house (they just take off the roof and add on). So I was feeling pretty good about myself when I woke up in the morning.

And I thought Greg was scared of heights (he's on the right)

Saturnina making the cement, Cecilia putting on the fresh coat

Our meetings are always on Sunday because that is the day when everyone is in the village. Lots of men work on plantation, or travel to other villages and 'camp' there all week. We had our 2nd ever PTA meeting at 11, which was super productive, and the community meeting started at 1:00. They announce the beginning of the meeting with the blowing of a conch. I was so nervous and especially so because everyone came! Ginnie our Tech Trainer did a short piece on what Peace Corps is and the history of PC in Belize. Then I presented on what I am doing in the school, then Greg and I presented on us, our family, Wilmington, and our hobbies. All of which had accompanying pictures. I was really surprised how well this went, we actually ran out of Peace Corps pamphlets and I got some great questions from the audience. After our piece the BNLS presented and we scooted off with Ginnie to get to Belmopan for our AVC (All Volunteer Conference) which I will post shortly...

The Chairman on the far left and the Alcalde next to him.

My principal talking about what I do in the school.

Estevan Co 1984-2010

Estevan Co

October 10, 1984- January 26, 2010

It is a great travesty that we did not get to know ‘Es’ better before his life unexpectedly came to an end. He worked nights as a civilian police driver and slept days so we only saw him some evenings before he would leave for work. He was cheerful and joking and because of him we have a table to eat on (Saturnina came over and said Estevan said to let us borrow their table they weren’t using so we don’t have to eat on our laps). His death tore a huge gash in this village’s heart. The following is an account of the days after his death and his funeral.

Monday night (well actually Tuesday morning at 3:00am) I woke up to muffled sobbing. I was tired and didn’t know what to make of it and got up to look through one of the gaps between our boards over to our landlords house. On the veranda I saw most of the family crying. I hurried back to Greg and we got dressed and went outside. By that time there were a few people standing on the sidewalk to their house and Mrs. Choco (from across the street that I always talk to at the creek) came up to us and said, “The boy died.” I was shocked and Greg and I just stood on the side walk with the now growing crowd staring at the grieving family. The mother, Cecilia and one of his brothers, Andres were sobbing. There was a man I did not recognize sitting on a bench outside the door who talked the entire time. I understood he kept talking about Estevan’s head and God. Saturnina, the wife, sat motionless and quiet on the cement wall, sometimes a small stifled sob would slip out. The kids were running around and Murphy came up to me so I held him for a while while he put his head on my shoulder and played with my arm hair. More and more villagers came and at the peek there were about 30 people standing, sometimes quietly discussing, and staring at the family on the veranda. At around 5:30 a.m. Greg and I went to bed (most of the crowd had gone home) the family all stayed up.

We woke up at 6:00 to more crying and we let all the kids come in the house to get out of everyone’s hair. The kids were overtired and hungry so I asked if it would be okay if I made them some tortillas. They said that was fine so I walked to the store with 8 kids trailing and hanging all over me. The man at the shop thought this was hilarious as the kids asked for sweets and Murphy asked for a toy car. I said “jowan!” (wait) and ‘ink’a mas terto,’ no too expensive and the man found this even more funny. I bought 10 pounds flour and peanut butter and we headed back. I saw Mrs. Delphine and told her what happened and that I would be late to school. We entertained the kids with uno and card games as I made 17 tortillas then fed all the kids. I gave the extra ones and the peanut butter to the family. School was hard, I was upset and tired and all the kids still went to school except Estevan’s son Sheldon. Tuesday night we stayed up late…they brought out benches to the yard and everyone just sat around. We put movies on for the kids and we had ages from 1 to adult in our house at one point or another. Fermin asked if we could help type up the ketchi songs for the funeral program. I said of course, so for the next two hours I worked on that. Mr. Ico brought over his laptop so I wouldn’t have to disturb all the subdued children/teenagers by turning off the movie. Periodically Mr. Ico would come in and watch me type, bringing other men in sometimes to stare at how fast I typed. He kept thanking me saying how this would have taking him at least 6 hours. I typed those up and then edited and typed the Eulogy. Greg helped them scan his ID picture and then we called it a night at around 12.

Wednesday night we had a prayer service. Greg had an intro to site presentation in Big Falls I chose not to go so I could get some stuff done and be with the family. When I got home from school I said I had to go to the river and wash. Virginia said that margarita would go with me. For the first 45 minutes it was just the two of us and she told me how her mother was sad, that Sheldon was asking for his dad, how she likes to read now, and that she’s glad we don’t have school and Thursday and Friday. I love Margarita. Margarita finished bathing and washing her uniform, she got dressed and curled up on a dry rock to wait for me. Mrs. Choco and her daughters came down along with a brother and sister from my school and the kids all started playing in the water. They would run up the little bank and up the grass and jump off into the little pool and chase each other trying to tag them. They played for about 15 minutes then the older sister told her brother to start bathing and she got to washing the clothes. I hurried through my wash as fast as I could and got back to the house. Brandon was following me around all evening and started to call me mom. In ketchi he would say, “mom, where are we going now?” Or, “Mom I want to watch a movie.” His friends and cousins were making fun of him but he would just hug me. He is a very good boy, but I am trying to get him out of that habit. I kicked all the kids out of the house so I could straighten up and make tortillas before Greg got home. Brandon made sure everyone left then quietly sat beside me on the floor as I mixed my tortilla dough.

After Greg got home we ate and then went over to the house for the prayer service. Just like with the old man everything in the house was pushed aside and about 15 benches were lined up. An electric keyboard and a guitar supplied the music as we sang song after song. The house was already filled when we came over so we sat outside. Much to my delight, Laticia (the 19 year old PTA chairman’s daughter) saw me and came to sit next to me. We all sat on a bench on the porch and looked in through the window and door. Kids lined up behind the porch wall and sang with us. We all had to raise our books and constantly shift them to catch the light from the moon inbetween the kids shadows. The benches in the yard and the step around the cosine were all packed with people too. After we finished the service the family silently passed out bowls of a warm delicious oat drink. I had heard of this but not tasted it yet. It is sort of like oatmeal but watered down. It was a quiet time of reflection as we all slowly sipped our warm oat drink in the cool night air. After everyone finished…people chatted for a while and slowly started to go home. We stayed out with the family and at around 11:30 they passed out bowls of coffee and bread and Murphy ran between Greg and I to alternate sitting in our laps.

Thursday we went in town to get our H1N1 shot and came back after 'the body' as everyone called it reached (got to their house). They just finished serving everyone bowls of soup with tortillas and there were empty bowls all over the lawn that the dogs stole out of the trash. We put our stuff away and then we went to view the body. His casket was set on two cinder blocks with six candles surrounding it. The sent of incense was strong as we approached the beautiful coffin. The lid was off and leaned up against one side. You could see his whole body, swollen from the embalming. It was awful looking down at that young man, 8 month younger than myself, knowing he left his wife and two small boys. The people would come and crowd the coffin and someone would take off the handkerchief covering his face, then another would lift up the snow cap they put on his head to cover the Frankenstein stitches that covered the whole left side of his head. His shoes laid beside his white sock clad feet...too swollen to put on. He had on his wedding suit.

After 3 hours of staring at the body, as more and more family arrived it dawned on us that they would all be sleeping in the one house and the cosine. We offered our house for their family and they accepted after we insisted it was no trouble. We cleaned up the place and caught a late bus into town...we would be back for the funeral the next day at 1:00.

In Belize...taking pictures of the decesased love one, or video is accepted and normal. Perhaps because there are often so few pictures during life so this is truely the last time they will see them. Since Estevan was a civilian police driver they gave him a state funeral. About 20 police and the superintendent came and marched and showed their support. They also brought the police band which played several somber songs as they transported the coffin from the house to the church in the police pick up truck.

There were close to 600 people (which shows a lot since the whole village is only about 500) in attendance. The church was packed to capacity well before we walked over with the large crowd from the house. We stood outside the church, trying to get the little big of shade on the side of the building as we listened to the service through the wood slat windows. People lined the church yard and all neighboring houses and shops.

After the service they loaded the coffin back into the pick up and stopped on the road. The family was allowed to walk right behind and then the 20 police (in full uniform) marched in unison behind. After they passed the crowds quietly fell in behind. We were at the end and it was quite a site to see that amount of people walking in silence to the grave site.

It had been rainy and the hike up to the grave was slippery. Everyone made their way, helping each other as the need arose. Everyone gathered around his freshly laid tomb, climbing on top of old tombs to get a better look. The priests did a final prayer, then the casket was lowered into the tomb. Then two police passed the baby, then Sheldon back and forth over the head of their father's casket three times. The baby screamed the whole time and Sheldon just let out a little grunt each time he was handed off, glancing down as he passed over his father. Then they began to cement the tomb, right there as we watched. Again I am left with the thought that death is so much more real here. It's in your face and hard, and a seemingly constant part of life. I will miss Estevan's laugh and his constant banter with his brothers. I will miss saying good evening as he heads off to work. I will miss seeing Sheldon running to jump on his lap when he's laying in the hammock. And I know that he will be missed terribly by his family and friends.