Day one May 20th
Our flight out left at 7 am from Chicago we met at the airport. This is when I got the first sight of the other people I was going to spend the next 10 days with. There were three of us from Heartland, Brian, Chris the instructor, and myself, another group from Madison area technical college also was taking the trip with us. Two students Loren and Dianna and two instructors, Joel and Dean. Loren is enrolled in the electrical apprentice program and Dianna is studying to be a teacher. Joel’s expertise is in the electrical and solar power fields while Dean is a plumber (expert at everything). We talked a bit as a group at the airport before the flight, small talk everyone kind of feeling each other out trying to figure out who these people are that we will be spending the next 10 days in the jungle with.
The flight from Chicago to Miami was smooth as was the flight from Miami to Belize City. We arrived around one pm or so. Concept of time is different in Belize things happen when they happen, one curious thing I noticed a few days into the trip was the absence of clocks, this could be due to the fact that sunrise and sunset only vary about an hour all year so the amount of daylight is pretty constant and who needs a clock anyway. Oh, anytime anyone is late or they don’t show up at all, someone inevitably says “Welcome to Belize!”
At the Belize airport, we met up with the final member of our group, Bevy (“don’t call me Beverly, its Bevy like Chevy”) A former student from Madison now living in St Croix. This was her third trip to Belize. Bevy is a staff Sargent in the army reserves scheduled to retire in September and also works at The Home Depot. We gathered up our belongings and piled in a full-size passenger van. We randomly took seats which somehow became assigned seats throughout the whole trip; Brian in front, followed by Dean and Joel then the girls Loren, Bevy and Dianna in the next row, and Chris and I in the back.
Driving through Belize city it soon became clear that is an underdeveloped country, the roads are rough, the speed limits are just mild suggestions and passing on the highway is an art, it is done on hills, blind curves at intersections, and even when you are following someone and they are turning left drivers honk and pass, the guy turning left yields to the passer. It was a bumpy ride but the driver skillfully dodges the larger bumps and sometimes will slow down for the speed bumps that seem to be everywhere on the highway. We eventually stopped for lunch at a place called Cheers, it had a bar atmosphere and good food, little did I know this was the last “normal meal” I would have for a while. After lunch, we continued to San Miguel, this is when the road really got bumpy, a gravel road full of potholes and bumps. We soon arrived and unloaded our belongings into our accommodations.
The bunkhouse was a wood framed structure with a high-pitched thatched roof and opened air windows, the bathroom consisted of a separate building with two pit toilets and two cold water showers, there was a small patio with a hammock where most of our time was spent. The inside of the “hut” consisted of two bunk rooms with a small common area in between, each bunk room had 6 bunks crammed into them. After unloading we went down the road to the village of Big Falls for dinner at a place called Colemans Café. Dinner was buffet style of stewed chicken (a hint of things to come) stewed beef, rice beans, coleslaw, some cooked greens, and salad. After dinner, we headed back to our bunkhouse for our first night of sweating and sleeping.
Day 2 May 21st
The guest house where we were staying was called the TEA guesthouse (Toledo district Ecotourism Association), the TEA in San Miguel is composed of four families who host guests and take them into their homes for all meals. Having eight people we were split up into groups of 2 and a representative of each family came to lead us over to the home we were eating at that time. Today we were lead to Maria’s home for breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and cabbage and fried plantains. Maria's house was typical of most the houses in the village. Thatched roof hard dirt floor, small gas stove and an earthen oven/cooktop that was low to the ground and used wood or corncobs for fuel. The houses are basically one room with hammocks for sleeping tied up and out of the way when not in use. After breakfast, we met with Pablo who is a representative of the organization that planned most of the trip CELA (Center for engaged learning abroad). We had an orientation about Mayan culture, safety, and health. Pablo is an interesting person easy to listen to and very informative.
The Chocolate Festival happened to be going on this weekend. The Festival is designed to raise awareness of the Toledo District as a responsible tourism destination and to extend the tourist season. It tries to help improve the lives of many families, whether through direct employment in the tourism industry, or through the 'ripple effect' spreading money throughout the District. Today, the last day of the festival we piled into our assigned seats on the van and headed off to the festival location. The activities were being held at the Nim LI Punit Mayan ruins. The name Nim Li Punit is derived from a carving on one of the site's twenty-six stelae (an upright stone slab or column typically bearing a commemorative inscription or relief design, often serving as a gravestone), which depicts a figure wearing a large headdress. In the Maya Kekchi language, Nim Li Punit means "the big hat." The monument on which this carving appears is the longest stela in Belize (Stela 14), originally located in an area called Plaza of the Stelae. Just a little bit of information I gleaned from the informative signs at the site. With all the activities going on cars were not allowed to drive up to the site, parking was only available at the bottom of a large, steep hill and a hike loomed ahead. The hike was rough, but not as bad as some in the group made it out to be. At the top vendors had booths set up selling food, Mayan crafts, and trinkets. Demonstrations of Mayan dance, ceremonies, and rituals were also going on. After a few hours of enjoying the sights, we headed back down the hill piled into the van and made our way to another part of the chocolate festival celebration, the Soccer match.
The local Soccer match was a spirited event, to say the least, we got there well into the games and it was obvious there was a beer vendor somewhere, there were many drunk spectators. This was quite a contrast to the Mayan village where no alcohol was noticeable. After finding the beer stand Loren and I joined the locals in a few cold ones (semi-cold, nothing is really cold in Belize even frozen stuff). After watching a few games, we climbed back into the van and headed back to the sweaty confines of San Miguel.
Back at the village for dinner I was led to Delores’ home and fed a meal of two small pieces of pork and some seasoned beans with a juicy mango for dessert.
Day 3 May 22nd
Woke at around 5:30 to a little bit of rain, after a bit another group member and I were lead off to Antonia’s for a breakfast of fried puffy tortillas and beans that were similar to refried beans. We were seated at a table no more than 18 inches off the ground. A bowl of water and a towel was offered to clean our hands before eating, curiously most of the time we were not offered spoons or forks, left just to eat with our hands using tortillas as utensils. After breakfast, the driver showed up with the van and we were off to Santa Theresa. This was the bumpiest ride yet!
Santa Theresa is a remote village with no utility provided electricity, all light comes from solar or I assume a few generators although I did not see any. Santa Theresa is home to a woman named Florentina, her story is a paper in itself, so I will give it in a nutshell. A Goodwill worker from some do-good organization came looking for two women members of the community to transport to India for training in some areas including candle making and solar power. After a selection process, Florentina was whisked off to India to begin her training. When she returned the villagers, all expected her to have the magic solar lights in her hand, which of course was not the case. Over the next two years the product arrived, solar panels, charge controllers, lights, and solar lanterns. Florentina oversees the project and acts as the maintenance person. Our task was to help troubleshoot some of the product and to deliver some project kits for students to learn about solar. Most of the time was spent troubleshooting solar panels. We broke for lunch and had stewed chicken. After lunch, it was back to work testing and checking. Another interesting fact, there was a tarantula in the outhouse. Around mid-afternoon, it was time to go, back into the van and off to San Pedro Columbia and Agouti Chocolate Farm.
At the chocolate farm, we met the owner Eladio Pop, who lead us through his garden in the hills. Eladio is quite the character thin, tall for a Mayan, very animated, with a big smile, and very passionate about his garden, life, and faith. This guy also deserves a whole paper dedicated to him in fact, there is a documentary entitled “The Chocolate Farmer”. Eladio Pop is a Mayan farmer and he is something of a local legend. He started the cacao plantation himself with a handful of seedlings more than thirty years ago. Now he has a thousand trees. Eladio uses traditional Maya techniques, which involves companion planting and no fertilizers. He also admits to talking to his plants. Always holding a machete, he guided us through the trees as he clears the forest floor, digging, and prodding the plants slicing off bits of pineapple, banana, heart of palm, turmeric, allspice, anything edible and offers it up to the group. At one point, he ducked behind a bush and pulled out a five-gallon bucket filled with a fermented alcoholic concoction, which was quite good. While we walked, he explained his thoughts on nature. “The more you pay attention to your plants the more they love it. These are my children here,” pointing to the cocoa tree as he whacks off a fruit, slices it and in half and presents it proudly to our group, his eyes alive and excited. (again, this guy is intense). Bending over he pokes the ground and pulls out yellow ginger(turmeric) cleans off the dirt and takes a bite, with a big smile. Like many traditional Maya, Eladio is a spiritual person, infusing a kind of mysticism into his explanation of simple techniques. Referring to the agouti, a small rodent that collects and scatters seeds around the forest floor, he says, “I see Jesus through this little animal. I give respect to wildlife.” Thanks to the agouti’s forgetfulness, he will benefit from newly germinating cacao saplings. (preceding partially taken from website). After the garden tour, we made our way to Eladio’s home while he stayed behind to reflect and spend time with his children, the plants.
Eladio’s home is nice, a colorful stucco structure situated on a hill with great breezes, and views out the back. Around back of the living quarters is a large covered eating area and an outdoor kitchen, where we were met by Eladio’s oldest daughter (one of about 16 children) she preceded to give us a demonstration on roasting and grinding cocoa beans, then made the chocolate drink all the locals drink. It was a coffee like drink tasting like bitter chocolate. She also offered up some processed chocolate bars to sample. After the demonstration, we sat down to dinner. A buffet style consisting of a chicken stew, roasted chicken, a very spicy hot coleslaw, lime juice drink, and of course chocolate drink. We sat for some time after dinner enjoying a cool breeze and talking. Then back into the van and returned to San Miguel.
Day 4 May 23nd
Today Chris and I were led to Maria’s for a breakfast of stewed chicken and cabbage, also as an afterthought, she made a tamale like dish consisting of beans wrapped in masa and cooked in a banana leaf. At least is wasn’t chicken. After breakfast, we systematically climbed into the van and headed off to the village of Laguna for a service project.
Our task at Laguna was to install a small solar panel on the roof and light inside a health clinic, to provide light for the health care worker. The health care worker looked more or less like any of the other village farmers. It is unclear if he was trained or just appointed to the job. Laguna has grid power but for some reason when the health center was remolded the meter and the lines to the building never got hooked up. This brings up a point, it seems like the Mayans never question or stand up for some of the smaller things they should get. They seem to be taken advantage of quite a bit. As in the case of the uncompleted work on the health center, I am sure a little complaining or follow up with the contractor would have helped the situation. After accessing the lighting situation, it was determined that supplies were needed, back into the van and off to Punta Gorda. It was a nice break going to town with a phone signal and Wi-Fi we were able to experience a bit of civilization. With supplies in hand, we headed back to Laguna where we had lunch. Yup, stewed chicken.
Lunch was served at the village leader’s house somewhat like a mayor. The Mayans refer their village leader as the Alcalde which is Spanish for mayor or magistrate. The house was a bit larger but much the same as the rest; steeped pitched thatch roof earthen cooking center hard dirt floor and hammocks. While eating our stewed chicken Loren exclaimed “I got a foot”, she seemed quite proud of it. After lunch, we finished off the solar light install and headed back to San Miguel, on the trip back I couldn’t help thinking “probably will have stewed chicken for supper again”. I was right. This made it a chicken hat trick for the day.
Day 5 May 24th
Woke and decided to skip breakfast due to the fact that yesterday’s food seemed to be going through my system quite quickly, maybe it was the water. Today’s schedule started with a trip to Punta Gorda and a meeting with some of the Mayan Alcalde, they talked about how the Mayan village municipal government worked and some of the concerns of the Mayan people. One interesting fact about the selection of the Alcalde is, no self-promoting or campaigning is allowed. The group of 39 Mayan Alcalde forms the MLA or Mayan Leaders Alliance. We met with four members of the MLA from various villages. One of the main topics centered around an agreement the Belizean government made with Malaysia to let them harvest lumber on Mayan property. The Mayans had no idea this was going on until the heavy equipment moved in. This seems odd to me, I would think someone would have got some information, or could it have been top secret classified information, like Watergate. In the end, the Mayans were able to stop the logging through an organized effort, working through the court's system to show the rights of indigenous people as the United Nations has defined. We then were carted off in a pickup truck to a local restaurant, Gomier’s. Piling into a pickup truck is another example of the cultural/legal differences of our countries, at one point I counted 14 people crammed on a pickup truck speeding down a bumpy gravel road, then pulled into the church and everyone piled out.
Gomier’s was located on the highway outside of town with great views of the gulf. We had fried fish, French fries, and salad. I could go on about Gomier and his motto “healthy is wealthy” and about his food but this isn’t a Yelp review. After lunch, we hiked back to the center of town in 113-degree heat index. The hike was rough but not as bad as some in the group made it out to be. After hanging for a bit at the park in town center we headed off to Emmeth Young’s Drum School.
Emmeth’s and Jill’s compound sat near Punta Gorda off a rough gravel road (like everything did). Maroon Creole Drum School is the official name of Emmeth’s project. His mission is to give underprivileged kids a chance to be a part of a drum band and try to keep them out of trouble. He meets every week at a park in Punta Gorda and teaches drumming to any kids that show up. For a fee, he will host groups at his home and teach drumming and provide a meal, which is what we did. Emmeth showed how to husk and grate coconut, picked fresh cashews and roasted them. He also explained about his Maroon culture and his mission to help the kids. We settled in on benches and Emmeth gave us each a drum, handmade by himself. He taught us a song to drum, breaking it into bits, and putting it all together at the end. We still need some practice. All this time Jill was working on dinner.