Almost immediately
following the village health fair, I was on a bus with some other PCVs on my
way to San Antonio, where I would see my family for the first time in a
year. Along with them was my aunt from
Ireland, who I haven’t seen since we traveled through France two years
ago. I got there about an hour before
them, giving me time to plot my surprise entrance as well as ask a member of
the resort staff if there was anyone that could do some laundry for me. I hadn’t done laundry for about two weeks, so
the only “clean” clothes I had were the ones I was wearing. All of the clothes I had in my bag were in
need of a good wash.
When my family finally
arrived, it was, again, this bizarre feeling that two worlds were
colliding. I was seeing them in a
setting where I had never imagined them before.
Not only that, but I was also their source of guidance throughout the
vacation, something that had rarely happened before. Usually, I’m the one that relies on them for
information, such as how to get from point A to point B or where it was exactly
that we were going. This time, the roles
were reversed.
Their arrival also
brought about this weird feeling that I hadn’t really been gone that long. Yes, a year is a long time, but since I’ve
been in Belize, I talk to my parents more than I used to when I was in
college. I know what’s going on in their
lives, more or less, and even get to see their faces occasionally through
Skype. I was expecting to see them and
be surprised about their changes in appearance and even spend the first few
days getting caught up on their lives, but outside of my brother’s new look and
catching up some with my aunt, that wasn’t really the case. This, ultimately, was a blessing in
disguise. Instead of focusing on all the
things I’d missed over the past year, we got to spend our time in the present.
The first day of the
adventure, we went out to Rio Blanco National Park, just a short ride down the
road from the resort. After five minutes
or so of hiking we came across the Rio Blanco falls, probably one of the larger
waterfalls in the district. Just to the
left of the falls, there’s a cliff that’s probably some 20 feet over the
surface of the water where you can jump in if you’re feeling up to it. It was awesome!
There was also this sign,
which we all got a good laugh from.
The next day was a day
that I’d been looking forward to for months: the day that I could take my
family to my site. I had set up a
charter to pick us up from the neighboring village, where I heard the bus would
stop, and take us into my site; however, as things sometimes go in the village,
the charter had forgotten, so we were forced to do the three and a half mile
walk through the hills. Luckily we
arrived around 8:00 AM so it wasn’t too hot yet and, really, outside of
increasing our heart rates some on the up-hills, it wasn’t too bad.
Once we arrived, we went
by the school, simply for the fact that it would be a comfortable spot to relax
after our hike. Naturally, I was a
little surprised when the principal told me that the school would be having an
assembly to welcome in my family. This
gave the teachers and students some time to speak about some of the work that
I’d been doing at the school so that my family would have a better idea of what
exactly I’ve been doing here. It also
allowed my family the opportunity to meet the people that I’d told them so much
about over the phone. It was a great
welcome to the village!
After that, we went to my
house in the village and met my host family.
It wasn’t long before everyone was talking, laughing, and eating hot
caldo. There was a bit of a learning
curve for my family, but by the time we finished they were using the tortillas
as spoons, just like the Maya. Once we
finished our lunch, we went on the grand tour of the village. We stopped by houses where I spend a lot of
time, and my mom was even asked to take some pictures for people that she could
send back once in the States. Then, in
an effort to avoid getting soaked by a threatening rain cloud, we made our way
back to the school where we spent the rest of our time in the village. Overall, it was an awesome trip!
The Standard V/VI class
even wrote notes to me thanking me for a good year and helping with their
health class. I think some of the kids
think I’m leaving for good, so those were fun to read. I wonder how the kids will react when they
see me back in the village. Anyway, gonna miss those kids for the next week and
half.
The next few days
consisted of zip lining and just kind of relaxing at the resort and touring the
grounds with the owner. Then, come
Sunday, we were off to Hopkins. I had
never been there before, so I was really looking forward to seeing something
totally new. The cool thing about
Hopkins is that, even though it can be touristy, it is still a Garifuna village
first where people go out every day to fish for their dinners and where cassava
is king. My family was also very excited
because this was the first place that we stay on the trip that had AC.
On our first full day in
Hopkins, we decided to take a boat out with a guide and go snorkeling. The reefs were amazing and we saw all sorts
of colorful fish. In the afternoon, we
went out to a reef that was a little deeper.
This gave use the opportunity to see larger fish and more of them. We saw two or three schools of fish and even
a huge sting ray. It was probably 3-4
feet in diameter with its tail protruding another 3-4 feet from the back of its
body. You could also sit facing out from
the reef and look out into empty ocean, something that left me with a bit of an
eerie feeling, especially when I imagined a shark swimming up.
The following day, my
mom, aunt, and I took a guide out to Cokcscomb Reserve. The first part of the hike was mostly used to
search for animals, with the obvious goal being to find a sleeping jaguar. Unfortunately, no jaguar was to be found… We
did, however, see a coati, a small raccoon like animal, as well as tapir tracks
and even one small jaguar print. After
this we decided to do a more difficult hike up to an observational point that
was incredible. One the way down, we
even stopped to swim some in a little stream with a small waterfall.
After a final, relaxing
day at Hopkins used to take in some sun/allow our sunburns to heal, we made our
way up toward Belmopan. We stayed at
another forest lodge that, again, had no AC.
This little detail caused some tension among the family, but I’m very
happy to say that they toughed it out and didn’t let it put a damper on the
trip. Soon after arriving at the resort,
we made our way into the Belmopan and made a quick stop by the Peace Corps
office so that my family could meet the PC Staff. It was a great visit and allowed my family to
see all the work that goes into making sure that I am well trained, safe, and
doing my job.
The next morning, we made
a trip out to Xunantunich. Even though
I’d been there before, it was still awesome to see. It’s crazy to me to hear about how the Maya
lived so many years ago. I can’t even
imagine how their lives would have been or how they were able to do the things
that they did, such as build a temple that still remains the tallest building
in the country.
To finish up the
vacation, we stopped by to see my host family in Armenia. It was great to see them and how they
interacted with my family. We made the
mistake of giving a Chic-Fil-A cow to one of the boys while the other one was
asleep. When the sleeping one woke up,
he refused to participate in picture taking until his brother gave him the
cow. Thankfully, they worked out an
agreement and everyone was a part of the photo shoot.
The final night was spent
in a nice, AIR CONDITIONED hotel that we all loved. It was, ironically, the first hotel that I
stayed at when I came into Belize. I
remember thinking a year ago how it was just like any other hotel, but after
spending a year in the jungle, I realized that what I originally thought was
just a hotel was in fact paradise, equipped with AC and over 100 channels. It was a great way to spend the last night
with my family and top off an unforgettable vacation!
Thanks for everything guys!
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