La Ruta Maya & The City

Here in Belize there is a canoe race that takes place every year called La Ruta Maya, or maybe its Roota. It starts in San Ignacio in the Macal River and ends in Belize City, thus spanning the width of the country. People race in teams of three per boat and are usually sponsored by a company or institution - this means that their registration fee is covered as well as the provision of a boat and transportation. Additionally, each team needs a support crew: a team of people dedicated to following the entire race, setting up camp for the racers, throwing water and candy bars and other forms of sustenance to their boat from the shore, providing massages, first aid, etc. This year we had two different canoes with Peace Corps volunteers aboard.  

This is a picture of the starting line, everyone lined up and holding their boats in place ready for the whistle to blow. The most serious teams took off with a fury, paddling in astonishing synchrony and leaving the others behind in their wake. 

The Peace Corps HIV/AIDS Outreach Committee followed the entire race, using the opportunity of the event and the huge gathering of people to set up tables at each stopping point and teach people about HIV/AIDS. They reached over a 1000 people in four days, meaning they had meaningful, educational conversations and hopefully left an impact on individuals to make healthy choices for themselves and others. I am not on this committee so I didn’t have the chance or time to follow the whole race, but I did bus it over to Belize City to watch the boats cross the finish line.
Here’s a picture of Katie McFarland (PCV) racing with two friends of hers from the states. People come from all over the world to do this race! I would like to do it next year and will be planning to make this happen.

 

Here’s a picture of Mike McGuire (PCVL) and Peter Kane (PCV), the last minute men bringing the race to a close. They lost a team mate on day 3 due to serious dehydration and stomach issues. She was incredibly upset to have to leave the race but she was still laying near on the grass to watch them come in and cheer them on. Kudos to them for completing the race with one woman down. Just look at their determination.

 And here's a picture of some of the adorable kids. They saw me takin pictures and wanted one of themselves. I'm not sure if they realized that they wouldn't actually get the picture, but I let them look at it while I held onto my camera. "One.. Two.. Tree.."

So after the race was done, the tables and materials packed up and pictures and goodbyes were had, I took off with some PCV friends to stay at Adam’s house in Belize City. As we drove to his house I was a little weirded out by all the stop lights. Like actual red, yellow, green light posts that control traffic. Its been a long time since I’ve seen those. Once at Adam’s place, I took a shower and was beyond delighted that it was hot. Once done showering, I hung my towel hoping it would dry quicker than it could mildew when I looked up and realized he had a washer and dryer in his apartment. A dryer! I hadn’t used a dryer my entire time in Belize so this was an amazing treat. Hot and dried in minutes. Amazing.

The following day Heather and I left Adam's place in search of the bus stop. He rattled off directions getting lost in tangents nearly every other sentence. But we trusted him and took off walking. It was a beautiful sunny day and it felt nice to walk. Along the way we saw a man with a cart selling oranges. Shilling for one, or 25 cents. I bought just one for myself and sucked the juiced out of it as we walked. It was a delicious, sticky, juicy mess. We crossed the bridge and went into SavU - a large grocery store that I was delighted to see. You see, most the stores I frequent are run by the Chinese or Taiwanese and they sell a limited selection. At SavU however I felt like I was in America again. A mini-America sure, but still, when I found the cereal aisle, you should've seen my face. I started nearly shrieking when I saw Cinnamon Toast Crunch! And Life! And Kashi! It was unbelievable and wonderful. I didn't buy much because of the time and money issue, but I'll be back. And I might just go back before I close my service here in Belize. I think it would lighten my shock to visit a large store in Belize before being thrown back into the extravagance and abundance present in almost every aspect of American culture. 

Now I have a craving...