San Miguel
On the drive, I thought to myself that I was entering the Jungle episode of Planet Earth (this made me pretty excited since the Jungle episode is my favorite). Then Jon spotted the national bird (my first wild toucan sighting!) and I knew I was in the Jungle episode of Planet Earth. Slowly, the voice of David Attenborough entered my head and narrated the rest of our journey. Then we got to the cave and walked around the mouth and all of a sudden we were in the Caves episode of Planet Earth. Patricia’s brother James told us that people have walked for miles inside the cave and still not found the end. Apparently the last Classical Mayans in Belize used caves like these to keep fresh water and keep their civilization alive. Of course, I started walking into the cave while everyone else got bored and started swimming in the river. Eventually we had a diving competition and got nibbled by little river fish. It was definitely one of the more awesome days I’ve had in Belize.
Lauren and Kristie summit a rock while Jon and Matt explore the floor. Eat your heart out BBC.
When we got back, the Krisite and Lauren volunteered to help make tortillas (no men allowed) and mostly got laughed at by the rest of the Cal clan. Then we ate a delicious meal of Caldo, a chicken soup (more chicken, surprise surprise). I didn’t get to talk with the Cal’s much, which was regrettable, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned since being in PG it’s that Mayans don’t easily open up to strangers, something which I won’t try to impose.
One thing which I wish I had gotten a chance to talk about was the recent constitutional referendum in Bolivia which granted more indigenous rights than has ever been granted since Columbus got lost on his way to India (in my opinion, Columbus was an idiot who obviously didn’t know anything about the people he was trying to steal wealth from in the first place and didn’t even know the difference between a Tamil and an Arawak). The referendum took place without any violence, the threat of which, if you didn’t already know, was what kept me from going to Bolivia for 6 months instead of Belize. So I now know in hindsight that I could have gone to Bolivia without a hitch. Ironically, it’s actually more violent in Belize where the sugar cane farmers are rioting in Orange Walk since the government bought a machine (called a core sampler in case you’re interested) which checks the quality of their cane instead of simply giving them a flat rate per pound. So far four people have been injured and one person has died. Don’t worry, though, Mom. Orange Walk is on the other side of the country and there is no sugar in Toledo, so I feel as removed from the riots as if I was in Bolivia. Anyways, I’m glad now that I can graduate with my own class and enter an unforgiving job market at the height of its unforgivableness.
The ladies makin' tortillas.
First off, this past weekend officially marked the longest period of time I have ever spent abroad. An important milestone indeed. On Sunday, Patricia invited myself and Kristie and Lauren and their boyfriends to visit her family in the Mayan village of San Miguel. So the Nolbertos (including me), made room for the Minnesotans and the Canadians in the truck and headed into the jungle. When we arrived, we dropped off the kids and Patricia to chat with her family and Marion drove us even further into the jungle to Tiger Cave.
On the drive, I thought to myself that I was entering the Jungle episode of Planet Earth (this made me pretty excited since the Jungle episode is my favorite). Then Jon spotted the national bird (my first wild toucan sighting!) and I knew I was in the Jungle episode of Planet Earth. Slowly, the voice of David Attenborough entered my head and narrated the rest of our journey. Then we got to the cave and walked around the mouth and all of a sudden we were in the Caves episode of Planet Earth. Patricia’s brother James told us that people have walked for miles inside the cave and still not found the end. Apparently the last Classical Mayans in Belize used caves like these to keep fresh water and keep their civilization alive. Of course, I started walking into the cave while everyone else got bored and started swimming in the river. Eventually we had a diving competition and got nibbled by little river fish. It was definitely one of the more awesome days I’ve had in Belize.
Lauren and Kristie summit a rock while Jon and Matt explore the floor. Eat your heart out BBC.
When we got back, the Krisite and Lauren volunteered to help make tortillas (no men allowed) and mostly got laughed at by the rest of the Cal clan. Then we ate a delicious meal of Caldo, a chicken soup (more chicken, surprise surprise). I didn’t get to talk with the Cal’s much, which was regrettable, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned since being in PG it’s that Mayans don’t easily open up to strangers, something which I won’t try to impose.
One thing which I wish I had gotten a chance to talk about was the recent constitutional referendum in Bolivia which granted more indigenous rights than has ever been granted since Columbus got lost on his way to India (in my opinion, Columbus was an idiot who obviously didn’t know anything about the people he was trying to steal wealth from in the first place and didn’t even know the difference between a Tamil and an Arawak). The referendum took place without any violence, the threat of which, if you didn’t already know, was what kept me from going to Bolivia for 6 months instead of Belize. So I now know in hindsight that I could have gone to Bolivia without a hitch. Ironically, it’s actually more violent in Belize where the sugar cane farmers are rioting in Orange Walk since the government bought a machine (called a core sampler in case you’re interested) which checks the quality of their cane instead of simply giving them a flat rate per pound. So far four people have been injured and one person has died. Don’t worry, though, Mom. Orange Walk is on the other side of the country and there is no sugar in Toledo, so I feel as removed from the riots as if I was in Bolivia. Anyways, I’m glad now that I can graduate with my own class and enter an unforgiving job market at the height of its unforgivableness.
The ladies makin' tortillas.
Belize Fun Fact: The national flag of Belize is the only national flag in the world with people on it.
3 comments:
were there zombie ants carrying one of their infected members away to die in peace?
the jungle episode is my favorite too!
sometimes i wish a zombie ant would carry me off so that i don't effect the rest of the colony. wait a sec, that's why im in belize isnt it? you worker ants are tricky.
yeah the jungle episode rocks my socks off. that and the extra on the desert episode where they go camel hunting.
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