Kaylyssa...my baby sister.
My little sister came out for her spring break to experience ALL of Belize. This was done, in seven days, with great success. She is the first visitor we've had and therefore the first to fill out our 'Post-Visit Questionnaire.' But before that much anticipated Q and A, I will delight you with some of the top quotes of the week:
"There's an ant in my bed." -Kaylyssa with marked concern in her voice
"uh huh." -me, no concern in my voice
"There are many ants in my bed!" -Kaylyssa with a sense of panic in her voice
"How many?" -Kevina still no concern
"um...2." -Kaylyssa in a small voice
"That's not many. Go to sleep." -Kevina
Kaylyssa in her cage...apparently infested with 'many ants'
First Visitor Survey!!!
Dates of Visit: March 6-13 2010
Itinerary: Day 1 Belmopan, Day 2-3 Placencia, Day 4-5 Silver Creek, Day 6 Punta Gorda, Day 7 Belize City
Visiting our old host family...Alyssa and Kaylyssa.
Our host dad and Frances who plays for the 'Italian' kids football team!
Typical view out the bus window, eating cahoon cabbage with the Coh's
Walking to visit villagers and Margarita showing Kaylyssa how to pat corn tortillas.
A very happy Brandon...he said everything about Kaylyssa was beautiful!
My school sang her songs!
We helped out with the preschool Flag Day parade
Weather: Alternately beautiful and way too hot!
Money spent: about $180 USD not including airfare
Souvenirs taken back: 1 Guatemalan blanket; 1 cup cacao, roasted, ground, and mixed with water; 1 heart-shaped magnet that says “Belize” (for my friend).
Classic Engrish
Something that surprised you: Oh, so many things. The bus station bathrooms, “Please do not make your child stool on the floor,” the entire James bus system, THE WORD “CHINY,” the shyness of the children, the niceness of strangers, saying “goodnight” instead of “hello” after dark, how the country felt like 10 countries crammed in one.
Something you learned: There are different ways to live than the American way! It was a very general but profound lesson, which manifested itself in pretty much every area of Belizean life. Look for it!
Showing Alberta how to use their new camera Kaylyssa brought them.
Washing at the creek.
Mrs. Choco showed Kaylyssa how to make Cacao drink.
I was a slave driver...I made her make tortillas at every meal to practice!
Saturnina even let us carry Seaford around in the La'pop
Something you wish was in America: Definitely the glass bottles recycling system. Also the easy-going attitude and informality of Belize. And the lack of winter, please-thanks.
Favorite part: If I’m being honest, it would be the 2 relaxing, beautiful days in Placencia! The ocean was unbelievable, the food was great, and it felt like we were the only people there a lot of the time (this last part will probably will not hold true for all seasons).
Hardest part: When my sister thought it would be a good idea to take a 16-mile roundtrip bike ride to some ruins 2 towns over, from the hours of 12pm to 2pm, in Central America, over hilly dirt/gravel/rock roads. I would not recommend this to other travelers; however, I must say it was character- and thigh-building. The hardest part was NOT anything bathroom-related I am glad to say! Also, the ruins were pretty awesome once we got there.
Right before she killed me for taking her on this death march.
Funny story: So in Placencia, the vacation spot on the coast, Kevina, Greg and I shared a tiny hotel room with 2 single beds. I had the bed next to the door and their bed was hidden on the other side of the bathroom that took up most of the tiny square room. We had a long fun day and, turned in pretty early and went peacefully to sleep. Around 2 or 3 in the morning, I was woken up by a vague sense of light and sound. I sleepily looked around and noticed the door to our hotel room was open. "Kevina or Greg must have needed to go get something," I thought. Then, immediately, "Wait! Why would they EVER need to get or do ANTYHING...OUTSIDE?!" I bolted up and to my horror, the bathroom light was on. I peered over to the dark area of Kevina and Greg's bed. I studied the shapes in the bed. There it was, conclusive evidence: two distinct sets of legs attached to two distinct bodies. My heart started pounding as I realized there was--somebody--in our bathroom. Since I am apparently completely reasonable and smart in such an emergency, I developed the following scheme: I would stare at the bathroom door until it opened, and when it did I would give the intruder a withering stare. In doing so, I would silently inform him of his mistake and cause him to leave. The bathroom door swung open. A tall, white, youngish, somewhat pudgy man in boxers emerged. We locked eyes. I delivered my withering stare. He returned my stare blankly. He started forward and began to climb into my bed---wait, what?! My stare had not worked! He is totally sleepwalking, or drunk, or insane! Oh my god! I squealed, "Hey!" and started smacking him with two limp-wristed, girly hands. "Aah!" My struggle woke up Greg and Kevina. Greg flew out of bed to my rescue, only instead of speaking or doing anything normal at all, Greg started flapping his arms like a giant rooster and belting out the most ungodly, wordless roars I have ever heard. Imagine, if you will, any dinosaur noise from Jurrasic Park. Now you have imagined some of the sounds emerging from Greg. Meanwhile, Kevina was also highly distraught to see a strange man apparently trying to sexually harm her baby sister, and she started leaping from bed to bed, floor to bed, all around the room like a flying monkey, and screeching "Get-the-f-out! Get-the-f-out!" in a high-pitched voice. (She was blocked from any further action or assaults by Greg's flapping rooster arms.) Finally, Greg lunged toward the intruder and pushed him warningly. The intruder fell over kind of on top of me and further onto the bed. I looked at him as he wordlessly stared up at Greg with saucer eyes. He seemed frozen, incapable of comprehension or action. Greg lunged again, this time picking him up by his arms and shoving him outside into the hall. Greg slammed the door, turned around and said pleasantly, "Hm! I wonder why I freaked out so bad?"
Epilogue: The bathroom reeked of alcohol. We think the guy was most likely drunk AND sleepwalking. Greg said in retrospect that he thought he was shouting "Wrong room! Wrong room!" as he roared, but Kevina and I confirmed that he did not actually utter a single English word. The intruder also never spoke a word. We don't even know if he spoke English. The interaction was apparently between two primal male brains: one in alpha dog fight mode, the other frozen between fight and flight.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Remember to lock the door to your hotel room!
Sisters. We are very close.
Honeymoon picture!
Celebrity spotting: The Honorable Dean Barrow, hanging out eating pizza and going for dips in Placencia!
Other Peace Corps Volunteers you met: Ryan, Andy, Erica, Adam, Peter, and a couple whose names I forget that we met on the street(Taylor and Zander). But my favorite PCV was probably Piglet.
Illnesses or injuries: None! I came home with 3 rather terrifying-looking welts of bug bites and a small patch of sunburn on one shoulder. No upset stomach, no headaches, nothin!
Thoughts on your visit: I'm glad I got to see both a vacation spot and village life, AND some of the bigger cities (Belize City is pretty scary but also interesting and awesome). I wish I had had more time, one week is not enough! Two weeks would be a perfect length. I can't wait to go back and see more!
Advice to the next visitor: Relax and go with the flow: it’s Belize! It’ll be fine. Do not expect to be comfortable the whole time. Bring a sweater and have it accessible whenever you get on a fancy-looking James bus (i.e. not a school bus). You can leave your book packed, because the view out of the bus/the people inside the bus is often entertaining for entire bus rides. If Belizeans get their hands on air conditioning, they turn it up to 11. Be very suspicious if Kevina suggests a “bike ride.” Drink and eat whatever is offered to you: it’ll probably be delicious. Don’t promise everyone you know souvenirs because they’re not that easy to find.
