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.

News from Belize

Here it is mid-October and I know I haven’t written a blog entry in weeks. I just feel like I haven’t had much to say and it seems like all the blogs I’ve been writing from Belize are about travels I’ve done. I did take a week vacation to Cancun in September, my first “real” vacation since arriving here but not a whole lot report. I know many of you think my life here sounds like a vacation and it times it does seem that way but it was great to actually get away for a few days. I was able to spend time with Dylan and relax on the beach. Otherwise, I’ve pretty much just been hanging out in Dangriga. I’m trying to get several things going but there hasn’t been much to report. I figure its time to share something with all my loyal, dedicated readers though.

Last week on Oct 13, I hit my three year mark in the Peace Corps. That’s right – I now have been serving for over three years. In many ways its impossible to believe this. The years have really flown by. It seems like just yesterday that I was still living in New Orleans, trying to get through my grad classes, and constantly wondering where the Peace Corps would send me. At that point, I never would have expected to be in Burkina Faso or Belize. I now have completed my first two years in West Africa and have just three months left in Central America. Its been quite the tour! I have to admit I’m ready for the future though and am excited to move onto the next adventure!

As for news from my current location, on Sept 21, Belize celebrated its 30^th birthday. It was just thirty years ago that Belize won its independence from Britain and became an independent country. People here were excited to celebrate and like most holidays in Belize, this meant a parade, loud music playing all day and night, and lots of beer. I guess its not all that different from the Fourth of July back home. Other recent holidays included St George’s Caye Day, also referred to as Baymen’s Day on Sept 10. This is a celebration of the Brits final defeat over the Spaniards and their claim to the land that is now Belize back in 1798. Columbus Day is also celebrated here but its called Pan-American Day. This year an extra holiday was declared at the end of September when the first prime minister of Belize, George Price, passed away. He was recognized for founding this country and a huge funeral and celebrations were planned in his honor.

In my personal life, one of my favorite activities for the last several months has been zumba and strength class. Another PCV in Dangriga was a fitness intstructor in the U.S. and started classes here after she arrived in June. There's a small group of women, both Belizean and other PCVs, that meets twice a week to dance away calories at zumba class. We also have a strength class twice a week that includes a variety of exercises. One of the more creative things we've done is fill liter water bottles with sand and then water to make weights. We're not sure how heavy they are but are guessing around 6 pounds. They're perfect for lots of different exercises. Our instructor and her husband also developed a system using cheap rope from the market, pvc pipe, and pipe insulation to do a variety of different exercise. She got the idea from TRX which is an expensive system of ropes people buy in the U.S. to work out. Her system cost only a few dollars and works great! The best part about our classes is location. We work out in the park across the street from my house in the bandstand. It sits right on the sea so we have an amazing breeze off the sea to keep up cool and a beautiful view. I doubt I'll ever have such an amazing workout experience when I get back to the States!

Anna's Visit

My amazing friend Anna came to visit me for a week at the end of August. We are great Peace Corps travel buddies. We met my freshmen year of college when she was my RA and lived across the hall. She served as a volunteer in Cape Verde and I visited her in 2007 and she visited me in Burkina Faso in 2009. I wonder where we'll meet up in 2013? She worked at Peace Corps headquarters in DC until recently so knew some of the staff here in Belize. Therefore our first stop after she arrived was at the PC office. We then travelled on to Cayo for a couple days.

The next day we took a tour to Caracol, the largest, most impressive Mayan ruins in Belize. This is considered one of the Big Four of Mayan ruins throughout Mexico and Central America. Not many people visit here though because until recently, it was nearly impossible to reach. A few years ago, the road was fixed up a bit and a part of it is paved due to the frequency of it being washed out. Even with the improved road, it was a three hour drive in a private vehicle to reach the site. It was a beautiful drive though that included going through the Mountain Pine Ridge National Reserve, one of the only areas in the region where you will find a pine forest. We also passed a few abandoned villages. It was strange because it looked like one day everyone just got up and left. The houses seemed in pretty good shape and were just left there. The guide explained that the villages were built when there were many loggers in the area and when this work was prohibited, everyone moved out of the reserve.

At the ruins, I was stunned at the size. Only a part of this ancient city has been excavated but they had a model showing what they believed was there. Even with only a part of the buildings visible, it was obviously much larger than any of the other sites I've visited. There were plenty of temples and other buildings to climb around on. I'm afraid to admit this is my favorite part of visiting ruins - the taller, the better and Caracol was the tallest I've seen in Belize! We took a long tour around the area to learn about the city that thrived here over a thousand years ago.

On the ride home from the ruins, we made several stops to visit natural wonders. This included a large cave that was more like a tunnel. We walked along the side to enter the huge cave and could see the large opening in the back. We also stopped at a series of natural pools and small waterfalls. Unfortunately it had been raining a lot so these were flooded and not nearly as beautiful as some of the pictures I've seen. Finally we stopped at a large sinkhole.

The following day I took Anna to Cahel Pech, a smaller Mayan ruins in San Ignacio so she could compare it to Caracol and understand just how impressive the first site was. We then travelled home to Dangriga for a couple days. Another day I took her to the Blue Hole, one of my favorite sites here. We walked into St Herman's Cave only to find it was flooded. I was very confused because all of the sudden the path was cut off by a river. Its pitch dark inside the cave and my flashlight wasn't very bright so I couldn't figure out where to go. Finally we realized it was flooded and we couldn't go any farther. We then hiked to the Blue Hole to find it flooded as well. On that day, Blue Hole was not an appropriate name. Instead of the gorgeous blue clear water thats usually there, it was several feet higher and green and murky. I've been here numerous times and never seen it like this so it was quite the shock.

For a final few days, we went out to Tobacco Caye which I had visited previously with my parents. This small island is just off the coast of Dangriga and is reached by an hour ride in a speed boat. We were the only guests there as its low season so had complete privacy. Unfortunately the snorkeling wasn't as great as I remember as there had been green algae blooms and the visibility wasn't great. We did enjoy laying in hammocks and relaxing all day.

I love having visitors here in Belize and showing my friends and family this beautiful country that I can call home. I think Anna was my last visitor before I leave unless any of you are still interested in coming. Let me know if you want to plan a trip before January! I'd love to host you!

Short Update

I know I haven't written in a long time. I feel like my life is pretty boring these days. I don't have much going on with work now and I've mostly just been hanging out.

I wrote a while back about the HFLE (Health & Family Life Education) training of trainers that I helped plan and facilitate. About a month ago we had the second part of this activity; the participants from the first training taught the material to other teachers in our district. It went pretty well and now another group of teachers is more prepared to teach this curriculum to their students. Schools started on Monday so hopefully they will begin using the materials and lesson plans we shared with them.

Belize faced its first storm of the year a couple weeks ago. Tropical Storm Harvey made landfall in Dangriga Town, Belize though I never would have known it. Peace Corps was overly prepared for the approaching storm. We received frequent updates that it was coming days before it hit and all the volunteers on the coast or in the southern part of the country were consolidated in Belmopan the day before. The day of the storm, it rained all morning but wasn't too crazy. We were expecting it to hit mid-afternoon so when winds and rains picked up we thought it was the outer bands of the storm. It started to clear up and nobody knew what happened. We thought we were possibly in the eye of the storm. Well it stopped raining and the skies cleared. Turns out that was the whole storm. There was a lot of flooding in Belmopan including in the Peace Corps office but not much damage. Two tornadoes were spotted throughout the country which was all over the news here. Nobody remembers every seeing a tornado before in Belize, let alone two. When I returned to Dangriga the next afternoon, I was surprised to really not see any damage. I guess there were a few trees that fell and a couple shacks that were knocked down but nothing serious. I guess it was a good practice storm because we're all still expecting more for the year as September is usually the busiest time of the year.

September is also holiday season here. This Saturday is National Day and Sept 21 is Independence Day so everyone is in a festive mood and ready to party. I hear the days involve parades and lots of drinking.

That is about all thats been going on here. I'm down to about four months of service left and am starting to think about whats next. Will keep you all updated!

Dylan's Visit

After more than six months apart, my boyfriend Dylan and I were reunited in July. He recently completed his PC service in Burkina Faso and came to Belize for two weeks before settling into life back in the U.S. We had a wonderful time catching up and reconnecting but, of course, the visit was too short. We really enjoyed just hanging out, swimming in the ocean, and playing lots of backgammon but also took a few trips and I was able to show him some of the amazing places in this country.

We started off his visit with a weekend in Caye Caulker. He met a few other PCVs that were around and we enjoyed a full day sail and snorkel tour that included three stop. We didn't actual see much snorkeling at the first but as we got back in the boat, three manatees approached the area we had just been swimming in. At the second stop, we jumped in the water among dozens of nurse sharks and sting rays. It was a little scary but very cool to be so close to them. The final stop was in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve where we saw a lot more coral and fish including a huge grouper that was about three feet long and a turtle.

After our weekend of fun in the sun, we enjoyed a few days back in Dangriga just hanging out while I had to work. Two more visitors then arrived. My good friend from college, Maren, and her husband, Mike, came to Belize for a week. It was their first trip away from their 14 month old son and a chance to really relax. We enjoyed a day touring Dangriga followed by a trip into Toledo in southern Belize. We visited two ancient Mayan ruins: Lubaatan and Nim Li Punit and enjoyed driving around rural Belize where we could see many small Mayan villages that people currently live in. Our last stop was Blue Creek Cave where we were in for a surprise. We somehow had misunderstood and thought the cave was right off the road and easy to get to. I had been warned not to climb in the cave now since there is a risk of flash floods. After hiking through the woods and crossing a river, we finally could see the cave opening. It was humongous and water was rushing out of it. There was no way we would try to enter the cave with those rapids! Dylan did enjoy trying to climb closer to the opening though while the rest of us enjoyed the view that didn't involve quite as much climbing over slippery rocks!

A few days after Maren and Mike left, Dylan and I traveled to Placencia for the biggest adventure during his visit. We had been talking for months about going diving and I had tried to get lots of research beforehand and picked out a company to go with. I've never dived before so needed to get certified and Dylan wanted to do a refresher course since he had only done a few dives and it had been several years. I thought everything was planned and would be great but of course thats not how anything works in Belize! Turns out there has been a weird algae growth throughout a large area of the reef near Placencia that means there is no visibility. The first company said they couldn't take us anymore but thankfully we found another company, Splash Dive Shop, that would take us north where visibility was still good and wouldn't charge any more. I think we actually lucked out since this company was so great and I would recommend them to anybody wanting to dive in Belize. They even gave me a great discount as a Peace Corps Volunteer. My dive certification was three days with the first day full of watching videos and taking quizzes. Not very interesting but I liked the instructor and was able to calm some of my fears about diving.

The next day Dylan was able to complete the refresher while I did my first couple dives. We went with a group out to South Water Caye where we first practiced using the equipment and did our first dive from shore. I had to do a lot of different skills testing that is required for certification including taking my mask off and putting it back on underwater, sharing a regulator (what you use to breath with), having my air turned off to experience what its like to run out of air, practicing an ascent when you're out of air, and many other things. They were a little scary but I guess the idea is to get practice now so its not so scary if you actually have an emergency.

The final day we went out to Tobacco Caye and Dylan was able to enjoy an awesome dive down to 90 ft and saw lots of cool stuff. I had to spend the time doing lots more skills tests but it meant that I was certified by the end of the day. Our second dive was very cool though and we were able to go together. We were supposed to only go to 60 ft but at one point I realized I was down to 75 ft. We saw lots of coral and fish and even a turtle. It was very cool and made me realize I want to see more. The batteries on my underwater camera died which I guess means I do need to dive again to get some pictures. Now that I'm certified, I hope to be able to do a couple more dives (if I can afford it!) before I leave Belize to get some more experience. I'm excited that this is something we both enjoy and can experience on future vacations!

One other outing we did while Dylan was here was a day trip to Blue Hole and St Hermans Cave. I've been to the Blue Hole several times now but always love it. We started off the day at St Hermans Cave. They have a great, well-marked path that you can follow pretty far into the cave with flashlights. When we turned the lights off, it was completely dark! We then did a long hike through the area and were so hot and sweaty by the time we reached the Blue Hole that the cold water felt especially amazing!