I just got home yesterday night from my week-long trip to Belize. It was one heck of a trip. Instead of trying to summarize it in one long paragraph, I will instead type several sections, each describing one day. That way my disorganized mind will find some organization so that other people know what the heck I'm talking about.
Day 1 of Belize: It started at 4:30am when YS1 and I left for the airport. We got there by 5 and then we waited for everyone else in the group to show up. Goodbyes were said, and we headed off into the lines for security. At 6:40 our plane left and our trip officially started. The plane was pretty small, with only 12 full rows and half a 13th. We actually took up most of the room since our group consisted of 22 people. 21 at that point because our assistant youth pastor, Scott Anderson, had to get his tickets later than the rest of us, so he wasn't on the same flight. His left at 6.
We landed in Houston airport with a 4-hour layover. Cool thing was that we didn't have a gate right up to the airplane, so we got to go down the steps. So, even though it was only about 9:00, we went to Chile's to eat lunch. But apparently they don't serve Chicken Crispers until after 10. (WTF?)
So, finally time to get on the next plane to Belize. Funnily enough, this one was a 737 and a LOT bigger than the one from Des Moines. Oh well. The flight was smooth and perfect and we touched down in Belize about 2 hours later. The first thing that most of us noticed was that Belize was hot and the airport lacked air conditioning. (At least, the part where we were did) We had to go through the security to get into Belize and then went through customs. All incredibly easy. YS1 and I got to go through together because only one form per family was needed.
Now we were in Belize. After leaving the airport, we found a huge group of others also with the same missions organization that we were with: Praying Pelican. (We found out the last day why they're named that. Apparently, when there's not enough food to go around, a mother pelican will slice open her own stomach so that her babies can eat her insides; a sacrificial bird. The organization thought the parallel with Jesus' sacrifice appealing, hence Praying Pelican.) We all loaded our luggage onto buses by church group and then we drove off to the Central Assembly of God Church and school where we were staying. Rupert was our bus driver and he had mad skills.
As we were driving, the first thing I noticed was that almost every building in Belize City had some sort of fence around it. Even the more shack-like houses had fences. Also, it seemed that there were very few traffic laws there. You were vaguely supposed to stay on the right-hand side of the road and you had to stop at stop lights. But passing wasn't regulated, cars stopped whenever, bikers went wherever the heck they wanted whenever they wanted, and pedestrians walked into the street when it pleased them, making cars stop. It was crazy.
When we got to the school, our JEFC group was the last to get there. We had to set up our rooms and then get changed for church services with our various churches that night. Another group and we were driven by Rupert to Lake Independence Baptist Church, the only church with two groups. (Our first church had fallen through, so we got stuck with the group from Milwaukie, Oregon) The church service was just about 2 hours long. The Belizeans were very friendly and open and Pastor Ashley Rocke was very welcoming. All in all, it was a pretty nice church.
Finally, at about 8pm, it was cool enough to be comfortable. It was especially nice after we got to take our nice cold showers. Which, by the way, are outside and covered by a flimsy shower curtain that blew away with the slightest breeze. Needless to say, after that first night, all the girls learned that showering was definitely to be done with swimsuits on. (The JEFC girls had all worn their swimsuits and I couldn't imagine why anyone would assume you didn't need to wear your swimsuit...)
The rooms in the school where we were staying were pretty much bare concrete floors. Our room had a rug on one side, but that was it. (Girls were upstairs for sleeping, guys downstairs) The windows had no screens, just slats that you could open and close, and they had iron bars over the outside as well. That first night, everyone passed out pretty much immediately.
Day 2 of Belize: It was pouring Monday morning when we woke up. I was pretty happy about that, because rain makes everything cool down a lot, and in a semi-tropical place like Belize, that's a really good thing. I got a pretty good night's sleep, having passed out immediately and didn't wake up until 7:15.
Breakfast was served at 7:30, or so they said. All week they said that, but it was really served at 7:45. We got very good at waiting until the last minute to wake up and get ready. That first breakfast was a type of frybread with powdered sugar, scrambled eggs, and a chunk of cheese. It was basically a funnel cake for breakfast; it was very nommy.
We left from what we lovingly called "the Compound" at 8:30 so we could be prepared for our VBS/Sports Ministry at 9. Like I said earlier, we were paired with a group from Milwaukie, so they were the ones actually running the VBS. My impression after the first day was that they had never done this before. They weren't exactly organized. Our group did the games as our "sports ministry," but because it was still raining, we could only do inside things. The kids loved it still, especially Duck, Duck, Goose. That first day, there were only about 15 kids.
The kids left at noon so we could eat our lunch and then get to our service projects. Lunch was disgusting, so most of the Johnston group had bananas for lunch. (Our group seemed to be the most put-out by the food all week long) The Milwaukie group left for their service project while we got to work, painting the sanctuary floor at our church. It got boring after a little while, because we didn't have enough painting supplies to have everybody actually doing something. Erica (our Praying Pelican leader) would get mad at us for sitting, but there seriously was nothing to do. We really found her very trying the entire week long. As a person, she's great, but as a leader, she got pretty much no respect from any of us. We all went by what Jeff and Scott said was okay.
This was the day that I found out how much things cost in Belize. I had forgotten my water bottle, so I had to get a Gatorade from the store to use the bottle. It cost $3Bz. I gave them two American dollars, and got one Belizean dollar back. (So, $1Am=$2Bz) All their money, paper and coin, has Queen Elizabeth II on it (Just so you know, Belize used to be an English colony). The dollar coin is octagonal and has ridges on every other edge. (paper and coins) I brought home a $5-bill, a $10-bill, a $1 coin, a 25-cent piece, a 5-cent piece, and a 1-cent piece. YS1 was lucky enough to get a 50-cent piece, which they didn't give out a lot.
After supper, most of the Johnston group went to the store to get Pringles and cold Coca-Cola. (It was the habit of going before or after supper, every day, to get food that earned us a reputation of always eating.) Although, this was the night that supper was the best. They figured out what picky Americans wanted and gave us mac&cheese, mashed potatoes, and boneless chicken.
Without air movement, the Belize air is stifling.
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