Last week I spent completely out of site for a variety of reasons including Toucan Times, Consolidation Drill, & Lobster Fest 2010. For those who don't already know, Toucan Times is a quarterly publication put out by Peace Corps Belize volunteers who write and a small committee (including me!) who edit and actually get this produced. Its funny, informative, engaging and most importantly it documents our experiences. Those who write will have record of this part of their life and I'm sure the stories and anecdotes will continue to amuse us well after this chapter is over. Monday - Wednesday I worked tirelessly with 5 other individuals, only one of which was another lady. (In the next round of Toucan Times "staff" there will be less testosterone if I have any say, and I do.)
On Wednesday last week we had alerts coming from our wardens (regional person in charge of letting us know about any safety and security details such as...) that we were to begin consolidation for a drill. Since I was already in Belmopan I just stayed put - the capital city being the place we consolidate too. PC Belize staff wanted to make sure they knew how to wrangle up 100+ volunteers from around the country, make sure we knew what to do, consolidate us to one general location and ensure our safety in the event of a hurricane, or some other warranting event. Well, kudos to them because they did a great job. In something like 7 hours, nearly all of us reached safely and adequately prepared to survive out of a "hurricane bucket" for a week. Speaking of, I should get that packed. A volunteer should have at all times a bucket packed and ready to go that will contain everything you need to live off of for a week perhaps. I'll get on that. Right now...
So consolidation was successful, Toucan Times is nearly ready to be published again, and now its time for a little leisurely traveling. Whats new? I left Belmopan Thursday afternoon in the company of many other volunteers heading south. In Dangriga I de-boarded the James bus and went with my friends and fellow volunteers, Clint and Kathy, to their beautiful beach front home complete with ocean breezes and plenty of birds, kids and clouds to watch and observe. Clint told me story after story about his past, his childhood, different adventures him and Kathy have experiences, and of course we all like to shoosh just a little bit. Its Belize. Its what we do. I enjoyed the porch and the company of these two, had a lovely dinner and then played banana-grams which is like Scrabble's prettier sister who's a little more fun to play with. After this I got ready for bed, read a bit and slept peacefully. At 4:30am Clint woke me by announcing coffee, which really is the best way to get me directly out of bed. The reason for this early rising was to go on a sunrise walk, an activity they do every morning. A sunrise is a rare sighting for me, generally not a morning person at all, so I gladly agreed to wake and walk with them and I'm glad I did. I didn't actually get to see any magnificent colors or the sun in its brilliance. Perhaps that sun was being modest for the day. But I did enjoy the crisp morning air, the rare feeling of being chilly for once, the ocean lapping at the shore, birds flying around, fishing in shallow waters and the obligatory dog that manages to find white people walking and tag along at every opportunity. The dog that follows them every morning lives on their route and only walks part way. Dogs here are interesting... generally desperately hungry for attention and if you give it to them you best be prepared to have made an eternal friend. Perhaps an obsessive, annoying, bit-too-close-for-comfort sort of friend. Well, since I don't live in Dangriga I decided to pet this adorable creature; MISTAKE. He was instantly biting my ankles and my skirt, in a friendly but annoying way, and wouldn't leave me alone. Finally Clint spoke up in his deep voice, telling the dog to GO. And the dog went. Thank God the dog is gone.
A few hours later on Friday morning I went to catch the bus to Independence, another beach town south of Dangriga. From Independence I caught a water taxi to Placencia and in about 15 minutes I was on the beautiful beaches of paradise. Placencia is maybe my favorite beach so far in Belize and I plan to take every opportunity to enjoy it before the realities of tourism and development take over, transforming it into some different unaffordable tourist destination. The weather was gray but enjoyable. You can still get a tan on an overcast day which is wonderful. From my beach chair, I enjoyed the ocean breezes, cooled by the incoming storm. I was in good company with other volunteers and of course a few beers and a bottle of water in reach to keep my hydrated. We shooshed about the previous night's debaucheries, which I missed with no personal regret -- and we progressed through another day of paradise leading into another night of pleasure, living as PCVs in Belize. The rain came down in a torrential downpour at which point we hid inside. Once it cleared again I walked to get gelato from the Italian gelato shop down the path. In Placencia there is mainly a path that leads through the town and then a street for cars. Easily navigable. What you need to know about the rest of my time there can be summed up with the following list: beach time, beers, shrimp pizza, "Never Ever" games, hot tub on a roof top terrace, rain, dancing, and plenty of laughter. Its pretty clear I'm surrounded by some of the best people around - my fellow PCVs who certainly know how to party, keep it interesting and always always have a good time.
Saturday morning I went to sleep. A few hours later we awoke to the news that Peace Corps staff were calling all volunteers in from coastal sites. Meaning, Lobster Fest 2010, which was supposed to begin Saturday in full force, was rained out and we had to hit the road. Well, the water and then the road. The storm coming from the east had officially turned into Tropical Storm Alex and with water to travel, bridges to cross and buses to catch it was time we got a move on it. By 10am I crammed into a water taxi, in the pouring rain, with many other people and we sped off towards Independence, getting soaked on the way. I scurried to the bus, got on, toweled off and laughed at the ridiculousness of our situation. By 3pm I was home in Benque and never happier. I showered (wishing I'd had warm water for once), put on dry clothes, laid out all my soaked belonging to dry, ate some food and was in bed by 5pm... only to nap of course. I woke at 7, was up a couple hours and slept all the night away, sedated by the sound of heavy rains. In the morning I walked to see the river all filled up, muddy and raging with its force. This time, no significant flooding. Just a great night's sleep and cool breezes for a day. I may have only had one night of Lobster Fest and unfortunately no actual lobster, but we had plenty of fun regardless. I'll be back and hopefully we'll have better luck next year.
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