Every Day is a Bad Hair Day

Today the temperature got up to 97, heat index 106, humidity about 110%. Then the power went out in town (brown out, I guess), so NO fans in our classroom. Our classroom manager showed up like a super hero in her white Peace Corps SUV and whisked us off to Belmopan to the Peace Corps office. Ahhh – air conditioning and internet access. Awesome!

This blog entry has no focus. I’m just going to put some events and thoughts out there to try to catch up chronologically. Not much happening lately – just hard work and trying to stay cool.

***The country of Belize is largely Catholic and the Easter holiday is BIG doin’s. The kids get out of school starting the Friday before Good Friday and come back a week after Easter Monday. Except that this year Belize’s Labor Day is the Monday after Easter Monday. So they come back Tuesday.

We went to church with Miss Sala on Palm Sunday. They have an itinerant priest, so mass is held only every third Sunday. It was neat, though. They blessed the palms and had a very traditional service. Music was just the voices of the congregation. They all knew the melody.

Good Friday is bigtime day of rest. Everybody is gearing up for the big weekend, I guess. Steve and I both worked a lot on our PC assignments. I spent an inordinate amount of time creating a puzzle from this picture:

I thought that this was a good picture to start kids thinking (adults, too) about the ups and downs of life. The lesson I have to teach is about self-esteem and being resilient. And about “don’t do drugs or have sex or shoot somebody.” I get all that from this picture, don’t you?

Easter Saturday was the big Cross Country Cycle Race. People from all over the world, mostly our hemisphere, come to ride their bikes from Belize to San Ignacio and back, about 140 miles. There’s a big money prize. The Belizeans were really hoping that one of their own would win, since it’s been won the last five years by someone from another country. This year a Guatemalan took the first prize.

The racecourse went right by our house. We were out there to watch, of course, as was every red-blooded  citizen of Camalote. The partying began EARLY, about 630, with people drinking and cooking out. The REAL party people next door, burned out about a 25 X 25 foot square (of vegetation, or “bush” as they call it) right next to the road. They set up their barbecues and chairs and coolers and a little tent, and MUSIC of course.

The 160 men and 2 women pedaled by about 8:15, led by a Belizean. The crowds were going crazy. He had already taken several station prizes, and there were high hopes. So he racked up about $1500, but fell back in the pack.

After they came back by on their return, there was a nice size group at the end of our drive, maybe 15 or 18. There wasn’t much to do then, so everybody just found something to sit on and hung around talking. Then the neighbor lady asked if we wanted to have some of the wine she had made. It wasn’t quite 10:00, but we figured we’d taste it. POTENT, but tasty. It was wine made from the palm tree. One glass was plenty; I really felt it.

All the pikni (children) and pets were there, running around and playing. One lady brought her pet parrot, which got along fine with all the kids and dogs. At one point, one of the kids was playing a little too rough to suit Polly, so she came over to me, and put herself right beside me on the chair, sort of nestled under my arm in the curve of the waist for protection. Then I guess she felt safe again, so she pulled herself up with her beak and feet, and sat on the back of my chair. The rest of the day was kind of a loss. The wine made me so sleepy, I did some napping and laundry and that was it.

Easter was quiet. We finally were able to get Skype going and we talked with people back home!

Monday I experienced my first Belizean diarrhea. Lasted 2 days. Enough said.

***One day we visited the market in San Ignacio. It’s a big town, wouldn’t mind being stationed there. There is a beautiful river running through with a nice park area. The town reminds me a little of San Francisco, with steep-sloped streets.

After we shopped for fresh vegetables and fruits, we headed back toward Camalote, but took a very interesting detour through Spanish Lookout. The quickest way involved crossing a river on a ferry. It’s a hand-cranked ferry, held by some big ropes. They can get about 3 cars at the most onto the ferry. It’s free, funded by the government.

Spanish Lookout is a big Mennonite community. The Mennonites are the “rich” people of Belize. They grow almost all the produce and raise livestock and poultry. The appearance of Spanish Lookout is different from any other part of Belize that we’ve seen so far. The farm buildings are large and modern-looking. Everything is very neat and well-cared for. We stopped at a  place to eat pizza (!!) and it was air-conditioned (!!!) and they had toilets (!!!!) Then we went to a place that was like a Walmart. We hadn’t seen that much merchandise in one place anywhere else in Belize. Good prices, too.

***Another day we went to San Ignacio to visit their hospital. One of the doctors gave a presentation on vector control. I already knew about malaria and dengue fever, but I had never heard of the parasite called chagas. Lives in the chinch bug until it poops on your skin (while it’s stinging you – is that insult and injury?). Then you scratch ‘cause the poops tickles I guess and the parasite crawls in and 20 years later you die of a heart attack. Or something like that.

We toured their facility, a two-year-old hospital. It was pretty nice, and they have an excellent vaccination system in Belize, good infant and pre-natal and post-partum care especially. They took us right into all the departments – maternity, lab, x-ray, pharmacy, and a few other places. I wouldn’t mind working at a hospital or clinic.

***I am having a tough time getting enough exercise. Obviously the heat is a factor, and my skin and the directive from my dermatologist limits me even further. Still looking for a good indoor place to work out. We managed to have a couple of e (while it’s stinging you – is that insult and injury?). Then you scratch ‘cause the poops tickles I guess and the parasite crawls in and 20 years later you die of a heart attack. Or something like that.

We toured their facility, a two-year-old hospital. It was pretty nice, and they have an excellent vaccination system in Belize, good infant and pre-natal and post-partum care especially. They took us right into all the departments – maternity, lab, x-ray, pharmacy, and a few other places. I wouldn’t mind working at a hospital or clinic.

***I am having a tough time getting enough exercise. Obviously the heat is a factor, and my skin and the directive from my dermatologist limits me even further. Still looking for a good indoor place to work out. We managed to have a couple of exercise classes before we came to Camalote. I taught a cardio drill class and a Zumba class. They went over pretty well, and we talked about having some more when we return for our last two weeks before swearing in. Boy, I MISS my regular 8 to 9 workouts a week!

***As for the hair problem, it is so far at the bottom of my priority list, I barely even think about it. Does that mean I’m integrating?

Note: I heard from some friends that they liked my "Ed and Jeannie" entry. But they didn't know about the other two entries I posted the same day. So in case you missed 'em, scroll down a few :-)