My weekend in Santa Theresa

Santa Theresa, Toledo District, Belize
Mayan girl with sister and puppy 
I dont know why Im making this face but...
The view from the bus towards Blue Creek.  We crossed the river right after I took this picture.  I was scared for my life!

Hello!  So i have gotten a few people yelling at me for not writing regular like on this here blog. Sorry!  Things have gotten super busy in my life and its hard to find an opportunity to post the sort of long rambling dissertations on belizian life that i would like :)  

  This weekend I went on a volunteer visit...essentially I went and hung out with a currently serving volunteer in her site.  "My" volunteer was Liz,  from New Mexico.  She lives in a super rural village of about 300 Ketchi Mayan people.  To put it mildly,  it was a VERY different Belize from Independence.   I arrived friday night at about 8.  Now in a village without electricity this is late!  Liz lives in a thatch hut right on the outskirts of the jungle.  We got along just fine, which was a relief, spending the weekend with someone you don't know at all can be slightly daunting.  As far as sleeping went,  I crashed out maya style,  in her hammock.  The hammock was made of recycled sweatshirts and basketball shorts and was super comfy.  Lil tip people:  the airplane neck pillows make awesome hammock headrests.  

   So yeah,  the next morning we went for a village walk,  everywhere along the line people hailing us with "Yaah Ms. Liz, who de white bwai??"  May sound bold,  but these are the few that would actually talk to us.  Most seemed pretty shy, and I saw many a pair of eyes staring out at me from behind stick and board walls.  People would invite us in, and invariably we would be handed a bowl of Caldo,  a steaming hot, spicy, salty chicken soup.  I liked it!  The day was spent wandering from place to place,  helping to pluck chickens,  make tamales and go through long silences.  Unlike many other cultures that I am used to,  the maya don't really seem to mind long pauses.  People would stand next to each other for a few minutes after exhausting the pleasantry routine until one would say "OK, I am going" and wander off.  Random :)  

   The weekend was an excellent view into village life.  Its definitely not all roses.  Lots of fun aspects,  but also alot of hard work for Liz,  and an incredibly different culture.  Its funny bc originally I was super pushing for a really rural placement,  but I guess this weekend showed me that there are plusses and minuses to every situation, from Santa Theresa to Belize City.  

   I left for home on Monday morning...the village market bus comes through at about 430 am so as to get to Punta Gorda by 6 (so all the ladies can set up and sell their wares)  On I hopped,  far before daylight,  and was greeted by a packed packed bus of sleepy lil brown people :)  I stood for 2 hours until we reached blue creek.  Its the rainy season, and this is Belize.  The bridge probably shoulda been replaced 10 years ago,  instead see the bus pic....it was high.  We had to wait at the side of the creek for 3 hours for the water to go down enough to pass through.  Even then,  I could feel the bus shuddering and sliding under the weight of all those gallons of water.  Gotta admit,  I was pretty scared,  I thought we were going over the side...the bus was less than a foot from the dropoff, getting pushed further, people are screaming, and I'm thinking about how I am going to grab the lady's baby next to me once the bus flips.  Wild ride.  We made it across, and the bus only broke down once,  delaying us for another 2 hours, before we got to PG.  (This 40 mile 2 hour trip turned into 40 miles in 6...you do the math,  thats slow :)   

   The rest of yesterday was spent hanging out in PG,  (see old post for the pg lowdown)  And I finally got back last night about 7.  As far as how I am doing,  life is going well here...It seems to be getting cooler, (all relative) which is exciting.  I am getting really pumped to find out what my site will be.  This Friday, Oct. 3, I will know the village/town/city where I will spend the next two years of my life.  I am excited to know,  but no longer am I pushing for any one place...I have let go of expectations and it feels great.   I also feel myself calming down and becoming alot more chill.  I am rolling with the punches, keeping from being stressed, and generally really relaxing here.  I'm still same ol intense Jacob,  but I think this experience is really going to help me buff out my rough edges, calm down,  and generally not get so worked up about things out of my control.  Cool huh? Thats about it for now,  I'll let yall know on friday what the lowdown is!!!