It’s a Small World

And other first impressions of Belize

It’s hot and my hair is curling in an humid halo around my head. The cool breezes from the earlier passing storms have fizzled out and not even the smallest leaves are stirring. Most of us are relaxing on the back porch, drinking cold drinks and appreciating the joy of a new to us country. I keep scratching my bites. The birdsong is strange to our ears and we’re all waiting to hear the first howler monkey. Apparently they live in the trees near the house we’re staying in. I tried to get Naomi to give me a demonstration of their noises but she was overcome by a fit of shyness and didn’t do a very good job. Our house is perched on a hill overlooking the Macal River Valley. We can’t actually see the river cause of all the trees, but google maps assures us it’s there. The hill is too steep to climb down, even for Tilton boys.

We arrived here yesterday. Travels went great except for having to continually loop Dallas airport in a very crowded train. Personal space flew out the window as we snuggled up to humans from across the globe, stepping on toes, clutching each other when the train lurched and commiserating with the ones actively missing their flights. American Airline was having a nasty sense of humor and kept changing our gate on us. We’d ride the train to our terminal, step off with great relief, only to find they had changed us back to the terminal we had just left. We’d shove our way back on the train and the process would repeat itself. Needless to say after the third gate change we finally just stopped and chilled till just before our flight, knowing they couldn’t pull that trick anymore.

Avril, the beautiful girl we were coming to visit, was waiting for us when we popped out of the crowded airport into the muggy air of Belize. Her husband Rob and little Caspian were in the van waiting to pick us up, and joyous greetings were exchanged all around! We loaded up, snacks were produced by Avril and the good times commenced with a vengeance! It’s so fascinating to see a new culture and realize once again that while the surface can be vastly different, all humans are extraordinarily alike. The whole world is full of grinning babies, sweet grandmas and youth chasing dreams. But not everywhere are the public transportation buses all ancient retired school busses, or the houses quite so shabby. Nor are the hibiscus and palms quite so lush. The cows have deep grass to graze in and the speed bumps will send your back wheels off the ground if you’re not vigilant. The ride to San Ignacio was peppered with snack stops. We needed to stop at Paul’s (Avril’s brother) Shell Store for natural juice and Belizean meat pies. Then we saw a coffee cart under a tree that needed to be checked out and seems there was more, but it’s getting blurry. I know we eventually made it to Cool M Farm, where we met the lovely Janet Lohr, then to our house across the road. A generous couple from the USA has let us use it and it’s perfect for our little group. Two of our boys are with us, and one daughter in law as well as our employee and friend, Andy.

Supper was at a friendly little local joint where we were joined by the Seven Mile missionaries. The place was so small they had to call in extra help to get us all fed, but they did it cheerfully. Big platters of panades, tostada ish things, and other things were produced and we fell to, enjoying every bite. Well, not every bite. There was also a dipping sauce and while it tasted amazing, it also sizzled like a blue flame on your tongue. Zach and Rob had sweat pouring down their faces, yelping with regrets but going back for more. It was good, but wow. Perhaps that’s what they sell at this store?

We all were shot by the time 8:00pm rolled around, but not too shot to enjoy the beautiful outdoor shower at the house. It’s epic.

Sunday morning we all felt refreshed and ready to tackle church at Seven Mile. A scorpion crawled out of a crack in the kitchen right by Brooke’s foot, and Forrest found another one in the bedroom, but we managed to get ready without any mishaps. The little church tucked into the jungle was full, and though some of us faltered over the Spanish songs, we could join with gusto for the English ones. A breeze wafted through the wide open windows and a lizard played on the sill behind the speaker. When the children went out for Sunday School the teacher grabbed the crate of books, then dropped it with a shriek “there’s a rat in there!” Someone went to check it out and said “not just a rat, a rat and a scorpion!” The next 5 minutes or so were taken up with a rat chase and by the time it had circled the church and roared out the door we were all loosened up enough to have a good Sunday school. How I love the more informal church services. The group was friendly and we all stayed a long time afterwards, visiting and using the outhouse. Have to experience it all you know. The women were telling wild scorpion stories, so though I was calm about it earlier, now I’m a little jumpy.

For lunch we sat in the outdoor dining room at Hodes Place and filled our hungry stomachs with delicious Belizean Beans n Rice and Chicken for lunch. The heat was thick and the lazy ceiling fans barely made a dint in it. Eventually a storm passed by and a blissful breeze cooled us for a few minutes. It’s rainy season here so little showers seem to happen a lot. We had the rest of the day free, so wound up at Cahal Pech Mayan Ruins right here in San Ignacio. I had the idea that ruins in town here would be like the ruins in European towns. Just peek under layers and layers of buildings and voila! Ancient history! Nope. It wasn’t like that at all. There’s a patch of jungle in the middle of the city and it’s so dense you have no idea that town is happening around you. Hidden in the patch and covered in moss are the ancient walls, steps, doorways and tunnels of one of Belize’s oldest Mayan settlements. The site was developed and grew in importance between 600 BC and AD 900, with its heyday between AD 250-900. Somehow I wasn’t expecting something that old this side of the pond, foolish me. We climbed around on the ancient steps, found some delightful vines to swing on and marveled at the air plants lying all over. Strange birds had a fight in the trees and others, or maybe monkeys, hurled nutshells onto the ground.

A tiny ice cream shop stop and of course another supermarket run filled the rest of the afternoon, and then we all came and relaxed at the house. The lazies were just getting the better of us and we started to think about bed when Rob called and told us to pop down to Cool M Farm for tea with the Lohr ladies and Rob and Caspian. That seemed good, so we headed over there for a few more hours of grand visiting, watched Naomi milk the cow and drank cups of delicious tea. Cool M is a beautiful farm with a lovely old home and more trees, plants and flowers than you can even dream of. It seems magical, for sure in the evening when the garden lights are shining on the pathways. But all evenings must come to an end, so when our eyes started to droop we betook ourselves back up the hill to home.

The monkeys still are silent, so I might as well go to bed.