Don’t be, Belize is still on the globe and the shaking has stopped. (For the most part) We want to get up to Placencia because we heard there are some giant cracks in the ground. They also apparently had their water tower damaged and the tower in Mango Creek came to the ground. Both of these villages are setting on sand and old Mangrove swamps. As we get the story from our local geologist, Brian Holland, the ground is a bit like wet cement and a layer of Jell-O; so when the earth starts shaking something is coming down.
The temperature has been up where it should be for May. We had a little thundershower Monday morning, June 1st, which happens to be the traditional start of the Rainy Season. So the beginning of the day was cool but the afternoon was a bit of a steam bath. Tuesday the 2nd, we had a Big-ass thunderstorm, about 5 hours worth, and a following down pour for a short time. Wednesday the 3rd, thunder and light rain all morning. Thursday the 4th, heavy cloud, thunder, but no rain til the afternoon and cool all day. Welcome Rainy Season! And hurricane season soon come.
We did get to go to a wedding last weekend. The daughter of our host family in
Medina Bank, Bernadina, got hitched. She was the one who was always there taking care of us. She did most of the housework, cooking, laundry and was our good buddy.
We went up on Saturday and spent the night in Medina Bank and then travelled to San Roman, about 35 miles more, on Sunday for the wedding. We got a chance to swim in the ‘Rok I ha’ again, should we say bathe in the river, not much water. But we had mosquito nets before and this time we were the main course. If we don’t have malaria now we won’t likely get it.
Looking for work occupies as much time as our jobs do these days. We have a few reports to fill out for the end of service. Other than that we are planning travel time more than anything. Let us know if you hear of any great opportunities for work. We would rather not have to include “ Do you want to SuperSize that?” as part of the required job vocabulary, not that there’s anything wrong with that, otherwise we’re open-minded.
We did get a chance to go to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Preserve. WE went with a couple from Canada who just came down to volunteer with Plenty Belize to do organic agriculture things. Sorry, we never got a picture of the buildings, but in this compound of maybe 10 buildings we stayed in the bunkhouse and were the only ones in the compound that night.
WE did 2 really nice hikes, very vertical, and swam in the falls after, just so we could cool down and sweat-up for the hike back. The most amazing part was the lack of bugs! There was hardly a mosquito when we went swimming and we even tubed down the river about an hour before sunset and were not feasted upon.
The plan as it is now………….Our desired extension remains a possibility but it grows less likely as time goes by. Peace Corps applications are up over 125% so the pool for recruits is deep. Our departure date is August 18th. Right now we are thinking of a short trip to the east coast to check-in with some new friends and old family. Trish, I don’t mean you’re old, just that you’ve been around longer than our new friends; I’ll stop there before I can’t climb out of the hole, and then moving back into the old abode the beginning of September. Roughly. All plans subject to change with little notice. Much depends on any bites we get on the job search lines.
There are some incredible stories that continue to unfold about hospitals, government ministries, NGOs, family life for some, boarder disputes, adoptions, oil exploration, conditions on the reef, etc., etc., etc. There are some other fun things we will certainly miss.................
But we will only bore those of you who are interested when we return. Everyone has the right to tell us to shut-up. But we wouldn’t mind doing a few talks to groups if anyone has some attentive gathering of curiosity seekers in mind that may be interested in hearing about our adventure.Hope all is going easy for everyone. Of all we have learned, patience and really trying to live in the moment are the 2 biggest quests for improvement in our lives. We’re sure that can only help when we return to the insane-o world as much as it does here. A good-old American chicken would be a nice help too.
Love to You All,
Peace to the World,
Karey and Michael
