Missionary to Missionary

At last my friends have come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

When I was on the cable car to the ‘looking over the slums, I was tuned out to the others inside. I was consumed in poverty. How does this happen where one side is so rich and the other is so poor? I sit and ponder these things while others talk about face book and what they want to eat for lunch. I can’t really focus on that when I am looking at what’s below me.

Fortunately, there was a long way to go and we ended up three different cable cars to get to the top. The third cable car entered into complete natural beauty and I could refocus myself.

For an icebreaker (yes therapists use icebreakers too), I asked the four in the car if they would like a picture.  It was all downhill from there as we immediately clicked. Oh come on Priscilla how do you just click with strangers? I make jokes to make them laugh and we get to know one another. 

By the time we were off the cable car at the top of this amazing forest, they asked me to join them.  They brought their “lunch” and I brought myself because I planned to buy food at the top. I found some nice chocolate covered strawberries (need those) and a whole bunch of meat (not very appetizing). 

On our way past the local food, there was a man selling a gooey white substance. It was suppose to be a dessert. My new friend walks over to buy one and hands it to me. While I love sugar, this is not something I want I try. I taste and it taste like something gooey  with coconut. "Mmm" I smile. I walked around with it having small bites and acting like I like it. 

This was a National Park with 

many trails, hikes, waterfalls, ziplining, kayaking, bird watching, and more. My focus was on the activity and not so much on the eating. The Colombians make me lose my appetite with those bodies (yikes).

We had such a wonderful time taking a long hike to the park where you can kayak and zipline. We stopped at a couple waterfalls and made  silly jokes.

Along the way, they were eating their lunch. I stopped to eat their “lunch.” They said they brought a picnic lunch. An average person would think sandwiches, cheeses, and some fruit. Their lunch consisted of cans of soda, Cheetos, mini brownies, chocolates, and something like fritos. They kept offering it to me and I was thinking, “How do you all eat this junk and stay skinny?” It’s a metabolism thing I just never quite understand.

Nevertheless, it was cute watching these adorable Colombians chomp on Cheetos and walk like turtles. 

The guy, Christian, was quite a guy. He shared with me his story that he was a missionary and he preaches all over. He recently finished a trip walking from Panama City to Colombia through the jungle. This was hard to believe, but his friends all confirmed it. This kid was amazing and intriguing to have such commitment to the Lord to walk through a jungle hundreds of miles-maybe 1,000? When he explained his reasoning it involved doing something greater than what is asked for by the Lord. It involved service and it involved spreading the message of the Lord-powerful.

 People do incredible things and they do them with God whether they are aware of this or not.  PRIS

 

This was interesting because it turns out they were all Christians and they met through the local church. Two girls and two boys in their early 20s and committed to Jesus-beautiful.

Instead of taking the cable cars back down, it was recommended to take the bus. Oh my goodness, I love the bus, but this was like zig zag and zig zag all the way down. It was completely nauseating and I needed a break.  They weren’t up for kayaking and ziplining because they wanted to catch the bus down. They had church to attend-wonderful Christian new friends yaay.

They left me all by myself to zipline and kayak-oh so sad. The ziplining was quick and just went right across the lake.







 





The kayaking was a rather large boat with a paddle. This was not a kayak. It’s made for 2-4 people, but I wanted to give it a try with one person.  The guy said I could go and try and out since they were closing and he didn’t think I would be out long with 1 person and 1 paddle. 

Well, I even surprised myself and the Colombian family in the water. I started off switching off my rowing. Something I was doing was unsuccessful because I stayed in one place. This caused laughing from the people across from me. 

I decided to move my body forward and this helped me have a better grip. Off I went into the sunset and around the bay area, people were still watching as I was switching sides at a fast pace. When I took a break, I looked up and stared into the sky. This day was meant to just be spent alone, but I met some beautiful believers and they made the day so much better. 

God sends the right people my way when traveling and I am forever grateful. 

Threes Company

The lovely woman I am working for in my organization, Francis, is always looking out for me. She makes sure I get my meals, I have a nice room, and she includes me in on tours if I'm available. She doesn't give this special treatment to anyone else and she's like a Mom and I adore her. We just have a great relationship and its really nice.



As for my Saturday off, she insisted I go to San Ignacio and have a nice day. She knows how invested I am in working in the MH community, therefore, she told me to just,"Go!" 

She sent me off with the MB tour guide Chester and driver, Justin. They were picking up some tourists in San Ignacio and taking them to Monkey Bay.  She jokes that they both are in love with me and will do anything I ask of them. I guess this was partially true. My second day I had to make my presence known. I came back from MH for lunch to find my room invaded my ants. I found Justin and Chester and told them to come quickly. They were standing there and Justin says, "I'm surprised that many got in your room." He is always making the funny comments.  I told them, "Okay boys lets move it out." I knew there were open rooms above the library so I had them move all my stuff. 

Side note:  I switched rooms 3 times at Monkey Bay until I got my perfect room. 

Justin and Chester knew about my funny ways and my high maintenance behavior and they loved it. We all became good friends. 

They are just two nice guys who have worked with the company for over 8 years giving them credibility and loyalty. They just enjoy being acknowledged by a tourist rather than just having forced conversation. Chester mentions how much he loves meeting tourists and getting to know them. 

On the bus, Justin is rocking back and forth to his reggae music and is super content. He's just in love with reggae music. And with the songs in Belize, they basically turn every hit song into a reggae song. It just slows down and has a reggae beat-it's pretty funny. Chester is the tour guide so he is full of information and facts about Belize.

Instead of accomplishing my bus writing goals, I am again sitting there and learning about the country asking a thousand and one questions. This usually why I fall behind- I blame on my beautiful people;) 

To sum up a few facts, Belizians are Creole, which is a mixture of European and African-American. The Creole language sounds like broken English and is quite difficult to understand. The political situation is pretty similar as the same corrupt party is voted in each and every year. Chester says that people don't know any better, which is an insightful and true statement. 

We discuss all the imported items and the few exports including: oil, sugar, bananas, and other fruits. They import everything making the cost of things ridiculously high. It's so unfair for the locals who have to grocery shop and have families to feed.

-When it comes to the kinds of people, Belize is very diverse with many cultures and languages. People speak Spanish, garifuna, Creole, and Mayan. 
- It was originally part of the British empire and became independent in 1980s with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Her face is on all of the bills and coins- it's a little strange because you are in Belize.

Chester's random facts

-Belize is the birthplace of chewing gum. Belize has the largest Jaguar reserve( hence the ones outside my room!)

-Hurricane destroyed Belize City, which made the capital move to Belmopan. The tallest building ---  --Belize is a Mayan ruin and Belize has over 7,000 Mayan ruins.
-The islands of Belize are called Cayes and there are around 450. 

The best fact and my own observation- there is NOT ONE Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, or Pizza hut. Go Belize!!!!! Stick to your amazing soul food and forget the American food chains. 

      

We´re Jammin Jammin

English was back, but I was still speaking Spanish. I was not sure if I was ready to switch to Creole English so quickly. It was again a lot of culture shock.I asked about the bus and they said it would be coming in 15 minutes. I went to buy a water from a couple happy looking Pakistani guys, They looked eager to chat and immediately they asked where I was from and I told them guess. Well, I maybe chose the wrong question because their guess was loud and confident, "China." They looked so innocent and naive in their response I had no room for any comments and I just let it ride, "Sure I'm Chinese and I recognized that you were Pakistani." This was just adding to the already strange day.

What could make a day even stranger one may ask?

Well when a Bob Marley red, green, and yellow school bus shows up blasting reggae and you realize that's your bus-strange.  People load onto the bus and the conductor is very sweet and looks extra excited for his job this day. He looks like he may have had a special brownie for lunch along with those reggae bus beats.  

I hop on looking around like a complete tourist.  The people are just staring at me like, "Is this girl on the wrong bus?" I sat down in my own seat keeping my backpack on so I am ready to get off the bus when she shouts off my stop.  

Off we go  and "We're Jammin literally." We're jammin to Bob Marley going about 60mph. The bus is full and smells like burnt engine oil and fried chicken. People all have their fans waived on their face and the heat is creating more of an odor on the bus.  The drivers seat is bouncing up and down hydraulics style." I'm waiting for Snoop dog to show up and offer to "Pimp the Ride."

The thought is crossing my mind. "Why did I leave Guatemala again?" It's not that there is something wrong, but Belize is different and it is definitely in a league if its own.

While driving it seemed that after we went through the city, everything became very remote. It was just a village after a village and a few random restaurants. 

This remote stop just happened to be my stop.  The nice conductor gives me my bag. I say, "Thank you" and she says, "Your welcome baby cakes." 

Here goes Baby Cakes to the new adventure at Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary...