Settlement Day

November 19 is Settlement Day in Belize, one of the most popular and important holidays here and the biggest celebration is held in my town of Dangriga. First, I encourage everyone to read my blog about the Garifuna to understand the background on the ethnic group that this holiday celebrates.

The first group of Garifuna arrived in Belize in the town of Dangriga on November 19, 1832. They’ve been here ever since and have celebrated their ancestors arrival with a mix of tradition, culture, drinking, and partying. I’ve been hearing lots about this holiday since I arrived and everyone told me to be ready for a great time. I have to admit I kept my expectations low since I hadn’t been all that impressed with other holiday celebrations here but I was pleasantly surprised at the fun I had this past weekend.

Schools across the country celebrated Culture Week leading up to Settlement Day last weekend. Students were allowed to wear their traditional outfits instead of uniforms to school so throughout town it was fun to see all the students in their colorful clothes headed to school in the morning. They also did activities to learn about the many cultures that make up Belize. On Friday, all the primary schools in Dangriga came to the park across the street from my house to celebrate Settlement Day together. There was a re-enactment of the boat landing at the park and then a nice program organized by the district education center. They presented some information about the history of the Garifuna and then each school did a presentation they had prepared. Some had short plays, others sang, while others drummed and danced. Finally, two well known musicians performed for the students and talked to them about the importance of keeping their culture alive. They then had the afternoon off so were running around town excited for the festivities.

Thousands of people from around Belize, Central America, and the world descended on Dangriga last Thursday and Friday for the celebrations. Belizeans that have migrated to the United States often come back every year to celebrate Settlement Day. Hundreds of tourists also were in town. I’ve never seen so many people here and the entire town was transformed. Thursday night people were wandering the street and there were several different concerts and performances going on around the town on makeshift stages. We saw traditional drummers and dancers as well as well-known musicians from Dangriga that perform the more contemporary punta rock that is based off traditional Garifuna music. Most people stayed up all night partying. I only made it until 9 pm but I heard music blasting all night long. Roaming groups of drummers canvassed the town for two nights before Nov 19 stopping at many houses and performing with the expectation they’d receive a little money to help cover the cost of their costumes. You also are allowed to join these groups and continue roaming with them throughout the town. It’s a little like Christmas caroling.

After a full night of drinking and partying, everyone congregated at the river at 6 am for the official re-enactment of the Garifuna’s arrival. We got up early to go see this but of course it happened on Belizean time and didn’t arrive until after 7 am. While we were still half-asleep, it was entertaining to watch all the folks that were still partying from the night before. Finally a canoe with three men paddled up the river and then paddled back out into the ocean. We were confused and wondered if this was it but then realized these were scouts coming to check if Dangriga was an acceptable place to land. A little later, three larger boats (disappointedly they were motor boats) full of people, came up the river dressed in traditional clothes and singing and dancing. The Garifuna had arrived in Dangriga.

Later that morning, a program was held at the park by my house. Many community leaders spoke about the importance of preserving their culture and teaching the young about their traditions. They also had several performances. I enjoyed watching it from the balcony of my house but loved the people watching even more. Many people wore traditional outfits which you occasionally see around town throughout the year but were much more common for this holiday. Following the program, there was a parade down the main street. Many schools had bands and dance or flag troops that performed as well as different organizations from town that had floats. Local companies had floats and handed out samples including several rum companies that were throwing out small bottles! There were lots of dancers and several famous musicians singing on the top of semi trucks. Overall it was a fun parade.

The rest of the day and evening were spent wandering around town, talking to people that we ran into, drinking, watching different performers, and just enjoying the festivities. The town was transformed for a few days to celebrate the traditions and the work of their ancestors and also to have a great time partying and dancing into the future. It was a great mix of young and old, foreigners and locals, and the ancient and the modern. Nobody can say the Garifuna don’t know how to throw a good party!

I've posted some pictures from the weekend.

Love in the Peace Corps

Nope, this blog is not really about my love life though I have been lucky enough to find love in the Peace Corps. I recently returned from a trip to the U.S. where I attended a wedding of two RPCVs, visited with Dylan and his family, and thought a lot about my fast-approaching post-PC future. I spent about a week in DC before moving on to Atlanta for a weekend. In order to save hundreds of dollars, I flew out of Cancun which meant over 24 hours of travel to go a pretty short distance (well compared to Africa!). Lots of time on the bus and in the airport but a great final vacation before I finish the Peace Corps.

I met many of Dylan's friends and family and just enjoyed hanging around this fun city that I'm planning to soon call home. Thats right, I've decided to move to Washington DC after Peace Corps and start the next adventure of my life there. Dylan and I went to a bike sale one day and purchased matching year-old Trek hybrids for about half off. I have grown to love biking since joining the Peace Corps and knew I wanted a bike when I got home with the hopes that I will continue riding frequently. I'm so excited to have a bike waiting for me when I move to DC! Its been not so enjoyable returning to my crappy Beach Cruiser in Belize though! Dylan and I enjoyed biking around the Mall and while he was at work, I took several other nice bike rides along the Capital Crescent trail. I loved experiencing fall for the first time in years. It was at its peak in Washington (after surviving snow the week before I arrived) and the leaves were beautiful. The weather was crisp (yeah I still froze) and I enjoyed apple pies, jumping in the leaves, and wearing sweatshirts!

Last weekend, Dylan and I went to Atlanta to celebrate the marriage of some Peace Corps friends. Zach and Dylan had trained together in Guinea back in 2009 before they were evacuated and Dylan transferred to Burkina. Zach went home only to come to Burkina a year later where he met Christina in training. Their sites were in our region and during the violence in Burkina last spring, Dylan spent a lot of time with them. They decided to come home because of this violence and were engaged last summer. The wedding was held along the river in Atlanta with a beautiful outdoor ceremony and fun reception afterwards followed by an evening of bar hopping. Its a pretty well-known fact that many couples meet and fall in love in Peace Corps and PC marriages are not that unusual. This was my first PC wedding though I know of several other couples that married after meeting in the PC. We enjoyed celebrating with our friends and reminiscing about Burkina Faso together!

ATM or How I Celebrated Halloween

I had planned to write this blog for Halloween but never seemed to get around to it and now I'm weeks late but I still want to share my experiences with you. While in the U.S., many of you dressed up in silly costumes, went trick-or-treating and maybe visited a corn maze or haunted house, I spent my Halloween with the ghosts of the ancient Mayans in a pitch-black cave while climbing and swimming through a freezing cold river.

There are so many tourist spots to see in Belize and I've been fortunate to visit numerous interesting places during the past year but there was one place I hadn't been fortunate enough to see yet but I now can say I've crossed off everything on my Belize To-Do list. And I just happened to visit this otherworldly site at the perfect time of year when we all enjoy getting scared. Now that I've peaked your interest, let me tell you a little about this spectacular tour.

Actun Tunichil Muknal, called ATM by everyone here, is a cave system located in central Belize that was a sacred place for the Ancient Mayans. The name means Cave of the Stone Sepulcher in one of the Mayan languages. It has only been explored in the last decade by modern day Belizeans and is carefully protected to avoid looting and destruction of artifacts. Only a few guides are authorized to take groups in and visitors must remove their shoes while walking in the cave and avoid touching the walls in many sections. Its a mystical experience but also a little spooky as its pitch black, there are bats flying around, and ancient artifacts that haven't been moved in over a thousand years.

To reach the cave, we hiked for about an hour through the jungle along a path that crossed a river three times. There were no bridges though so we had to walk through the river with water that sometimes reached mid-thigh. When we finally reached the cave, there is a river flowing through it so in order to enter the cave, we had to jump in and swim into the entrance through deep water to a section that was more shallow and not usually over our heads. For the next hour, we continued to swim and walk through water as we went deeper and deeper in the cave. I think in total we traveled about three miles deep into the cave. The first half was mostly in the water and we had to squeeze through tight sections of rock at times to continue along. The cave was pitch black of course other than the light from our headlamps and the beams bounced off the uneven walls. We were warned to close our mouths when looking up to avoid any bat guano though it was hard not to stare at the beautiful stalagmites and stalagtites that covered the cave. In other parts, the walls were covered in crystals that had formed over thousands of years of dripping water.

After about an hour in the water, we climbed to a higher part of the cave where the river couldn't reach. Now that we were climbing and walking, we were asked to remove our shoes but keep on our socks in order to show respect to this Ancient Mayan sacred place. We climbed farther in the cave for another hour and enjoyed seeing pottery the Mayans had carried into the cave with food and drink to give to their ancestors or gods. They had to follow the same path that we had just come and it was amazing these small people were able to carry large pottery through the river and small crevices. If they happened to break or scratch a piece of pottery, it was no longer good enough for the gods and was discarded along the cave. Those pieces that made it farther in were displayed in specific positions, some facing up, some down, and others to the side to represent the underworld, the heavens, and the present. Some also was placed on pedestals in specific places so the light of torches bouncing off them created mystical shadows. Our guide explained that the ancient Mayans had different drugs and alcohol, some that may have caused hallucinations so they thought they saw their gods from the shadows made by stalagtites and their pottery.

We saw several skulls and other bones throughout the cave and we were told these were probably sacrifices to the gods. They may have been brought into the cave and sacrificed inside during intricate rituals. The final place we visited as we traveled deep into the cave was to a perfectly complete skeleton of a young woman. It was very spooky knowing that she was laying in the same position that she had been killed in a millennium ago.

Very few archaeologists have been in the cave and no excavation has been done so it is completely left like it was when re-discovered two decades ago. The pottery is laying in the same position that the ancient Mayans had set it and mounds of dirt were lying as they had been formed by their own hands. I've visited many ancient sites around the world but they've all been excavated and changed by archaeologists. It was fascinating to see this place that was left intact for over a thousand years. Who knows how long it will last though as more and more tourists come to Belize and want to visit. Luckily, its been protected to this point but I'm sure it will be difficult to prevent any looting or other destruction in the future.

At Halloween, we joke about being spooked by skeletons, ghosts, and bats. In Belize on Halloween, I spent a day climbing and swimming deep into a pitch black cave that was full of skeletons, bats, and probably the spirits of the ancient Mayans if you believe in that. It was exciting, it was mystical, and a little bit spooky but mostly just an amazing adventure that I am so happy I was able to see! I only have a few pictures since it was so dark and couldn't use my camera in the water but check them out on Picasa.