Back to the States, and Good Family Stuff

The last few weeks have been filled with adventure for us. We made a trip to North Carolina to celebrate the birth of a new grandson and to catch up with the rest of our families. I am grateful for all the efforts of my family to let me see them; I got to spend time with all my siblings, children, and grandchildren.

We also had some great food and did some serious retail therapy, mostly for us, but also for some of our Belize friends.

All of our travel connections worked out well, and we escaped the catastrophic weather that pounded the Northeast as we were departing. One of the fun things we did was to purchase little cheap cell phones with lots of minutes so we could talk to relatives we missed seeing in person. It also made a huge difference in arranging get-togethers with the friends and family we did get to see.

We were able to help Nancy with her moving sale. Cathy and Carol were especially helpful with their disarming style of conversation. They could have sold ice cubes to Eskimos. It was a huge success.

Now we have settled back into our routine and are energized to get back to work on our projects. Clearly the second year of Peace Corps service is much busier that the first year was. We keep saying that we should not take on too many more projects, but after we accept each additional project we say the same thing again.

The trip to the northern latitudes also convinced us that winter may be much more tolerable in the tropics, but even in the tropics the nights are chilly. We have started using the blankets at night but have not yet fired up our little space heater.

Picture time! Sorry that we didn't get snaps of all the wonderful people we visited.

Working hard at the yard sale.
Then we pretty much sold the table and chairs out from
under us.

Burnham siblings

Grandpa, Jim and Kayleigh

Best friend from high school - Martha!

Dad and daughter Laura

 

Nanny giving Burke some good advice

The great crowd at the UNC Wellness Center.
That's my wonderful friend, Uma, in the front, pretending
that's she's really short.

 

"Liz" and me after a great vegetarian lunch.

Great night at Stacey's house, with Toni and me

Dad and Joyce with us at Lucky 32

There's that Toni-girl again. This time we are Mistress of Funky
Looks, Miss Quyen!

Steve with the happy parents

Babies do this a lot

A Dance Item and a Disappointment in Orange Walk

Last week began what seems like a month-long holiday. Monday was St. George's Day and Tuesday was Carnival Day. Wednesday Dangriga had the Talent Showcase, and on Friday the primary schools held their big rah-rah rally!

Our Garifuna Glow Girls wanted to perform for the Talent Showcase on Wednesday. We didn't have much notice - about 5 days - so we had to keep things simple. The girls were already familiar with several dance routines, taken from music videos, so they made the decision to pull something together from that.

I volunteered to have the girls practice at my house. About 9 girls showed up on Sunday afternoon. More than an hour was spent selecting music and trying to download it. The songs they wanted were NOT available from anywhere online, and they wouldn't believe that it couldn't be found.

"No, Miss. Right there on YouTube."

"Yes, girls, it's on YouTube, but that's a video, not music. I can't find only the song to download." And I tried some of those so-called YouTube downloaders, but none worked. I guess Google has found a way to disable them.

Steve helped me record it from YouTube played through the computer speakers, so the quality was AWFUL. Girls didn't care.

As the girls left on that first day, they all agreed to come back the next day at 1:00, and I followed with my usual, "And don't be late."

When 1:00 o'clock rolled around Monday morning (St. George's Day, remember? So there was no school.), and no one arrived I wasn't surprised. One girl showed up at 1:15 and she had a good reason for being late. Aliyah is one of the "good ones," usually punctual, quick to volunteer, very polite. By 1:30 we had 4 girls here, but we waited some more before practicing. The de facto leader still wasn't there, and we felt like she knew the routine the best. (I certainly didn't know it.) They finally started rehearsing and we broke up about 3:00.

As I walked out with the girls, we saw four other club members strolling up the street toward the house. I kindly but firmly told them that practice was over and that I was very disappointed in their lateness, that it showed disrespect for their club mates and for me.

I don't know any other way to put this. Few girls here have been taught social skills. The four girls just stood there gawking, speechless. So I gave them the words to use. "The nice thing to say would be, 'I'm sorry, Miss Cathy. I messed up and I won't do it again.'" Those poor girls could still not get a single syllable out of their mouth, just stood there. Some looked down at their feet, another gave a half smile, and got a little tear (of embarrassment?). Another turned on her heel and just walked away. I waited a few moments, never got anything from the latecomers, and walked away with the other girls. As we walked away, I told them that last rehearsal was the next day after school.

This is dragging on too long, but I guess I'm trying to get across the basic frustration I live with on a daily basis. I did call the girls' mothers to tell them that their daughters had let us down and that I was disappointed in them. I also emphasized how each girl was special and that I thought they were special (which is true!). Each mother said she would talk with her daughter.

The next day - 4 girls showed up and practiced. Here's a sample:

The little girl in pink in the front row is the only one who came to all 3 rehearsals.

There's more, but I'm tired of writing about it. Short version, to get this whole show on the road, I  -

• Called Town Council
• Called Police Department
• Called 4 principals
• Called Central Education Center
• Helped the girls settle on what to wear and where to meet and when

I had to leave for Orange Walk the next day (see next section), so Aidra was taking over to make sure they did what they needed to do for the Wednesday performance. In the end, two girls showed up and one refused to dance. No dance item for the Garifuna Glow Girls. Sigh.

But they do look cute, don't you think?

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Several weeks ago, Peace Corps Volunteer Natalie Macias invited me to come to Orange Walk Town to teach a Zumba class to a small women's group. I agreed and looked forward to seeing a part of Belize that was new to me. 

It's a L-O-O-O-N-G bus ride, close to 6 hours I decided to take my big speaker - my Block Rocker - so we'd have good sounds for the class. It weighs a little over 20 pounds, but it's got wheels and good handles. It's manageable. I just have to be careful to make sure nobody "thief" it.

So I rode up on Wednesday morning. Natalie met me and we had lunch at a cool restaurant (air conditioned), and did some power shopping at A&R (sort of like Target). Natalie has a great house, a sweet fun dog, and a nice music collection. On Wednesday night, we met another PCV, Barbara Levy, and had shrimp ceviche and Belikin Beer at a fun spot. The only thing they sell at the restaurant is shrimp ceviche (except when conch is in season; then they also have conch ceviche). And I saw something that I never would have believed. Mennonite men sitting around drinking beer. They weren't even eating, just drinking. Natalie said there's a group of "very progressive" Mennonites in the OW area.

Thursday morning, we went early to the library, where the Zumba class was to be held. Natalie said the women's group was small, usually about seven, but a very enthusiastic and outspoken group. They meet once a week and have a different speaker or program each week. They had been looking forward to this fun class and even joked about what they would wear. The librarian texted everybody at 9:00 to remind them about the session. Class was to start at 10:00.

You guessed it - nobody came. By 10:50, I was disgusted and ready to pack up. One of the women walked in with her two kids. "Where's everybody?" The librarian "railed up" on her, but of course it fell on deaf ears. She said, "Well, I couldn't come because I had family court." She kept talking about family court. I asked her how it went in family court and she said, "Well, I didn't have it because I never called them back." Not quite sure what that was all about.

So I showered and got back on the bus. On the Belize to Belmopan leg of the ride, I had an interesting conversation with some guys who were ranting about how Peace Corps was trying to teach children in Belize to be homosexuals and that the anus is a sexual organ. They were getting pretty excited about it. I decided to speak up, identify myself, and set the record straight. They were referring to the HFLE curriculum, of course, which has been in the news a lot lately (see this link: HFLE PAGE LISTINGS and brief descriptions of issues). By the end of the conversation, I think five people believed me, and the last guy wasn't going to change his mind no matter what. It was fun and cordial, and I think the people appreciated hearing a reasonable dissenting view.

***********************************

So that's about it for me. Here's a picture of the journals that the Garifuna Glow Girls made. They are writing in them a little each week - about their name, their strengths and weaknesses, goals - topics like that. Some of the girls are enthusiastic, and some do bare minimum - just like school!

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Steve here. This week I traveled to the satellite clinics in Pomona and Hopkins with Mr. Tillett who is the nutrition social worker for the district. We went through all the charts of babies and children up to 5 years old to check on their growth charts. We picked out those that may be in trouble and compiled a list for home visits if they do not come in sometime soon for their routine immunizations. We have great data on how many kids are served by each clinic and how many of them are underweight and what their ages are and their genders are. 

Hopkins clinic

Nurse Martinez at Hopkins Clinic

Pomona Clinic

It was a good week for keeping in touch. I was able to video chat with my son and was able to talk to both sisters on the phone. We all look forward to getting together next month in the US.

How We Spend Our Money in Dangriga

When I asked for suggestions of blog topics a couple of blogs back, our friend Ed came back at us with more than a dozen ideas. So Steve has been busy writing about some of those subjects. Here's his first installment on "Shopping."

We have fallen into some shopping habits that do not have much rhyme or reason here in Dangriga. Most of the grocery shops in Belize are run by ethnic Chinese. The stores have the generic name of “a Chinee.” One of our favorite places is the Garden Store, about three blocks away. The shop is small, but it is sort of like the convenience store for neighborhoods in the states. The biggest drawing card is Ms. Lilly and Mr. Lew who own the store. Their English is much better than our Mandarin, but Cathy is trying to learn a few phrases when she shops there. They are very nice and always pleasant. When I go there, she always asks about Cathy. We allow ourselves a soft drink most days at lunch, and Ms. Lilly knows that Cathy likes Coke Lite (diet soda) and keeps them in stock. When Ms. Lilly is there by herself, she locks the burglar bar doors, and people shop through the bars for things that she brings them. We can count on them being open even on Sundays and holidays.

The Garden Store, just a block and a half from our house.

There is a store out on the highway coming into town that is like a Belizean-style Walmart - Gregalezean Shopping Serter. (That would be the Chinese bad-spelling sign maker's version of Grigalezean Shopping Center.) The store is convenient because they have a lot of merchandise, but the people are not very friendly. The selection is much larger than the Garden Store, and it is on my way home from the clinic, so we get some things there. They also have household things there and a limited selection of hardware stuff. 

A lot of merchandise doesn't mean that it's GOOD merchandise. I once got a light bulb there, and they were nice enough to test it before I paid. It did not work, so they put it back on the shelf. The same thing happened with the second one, so I changed my mind about needing a bulb. Cathy told me that one time she was checking out with a plastic tub to use for washing the dishes. As they put it in the bag, it cracked, so she said she wanted to get another one. One of the guys walked back to where they were (I guess to make sure she didn't pick up a more expensive one). Of course he put the cracked one back on the shelf, and she picked out another. But then she noticed that it was cracked, too. So she walked back up to the front and said that she didn't want ANY tub, that she wanted her money back. The guy at the cash register didn't want to give her a refund, even though she hadn't even walked out of the store yet! After a little bit of "discussion," the matriarch came up, grabbed the $5 out of the cash register, and shoved it into Cathy's hand. 

The Gregalezean Serter

Our other store, The Price is Right, is downtown next to the river at the most dangerous intersection in town. They are intermediate in their friendliness, and have a pretty good selection. We probably shop there the most.  

The Price is Right (also about a block and a half from our house)

Right across the river is the town market where we get most of our vegetables and produce. The shopkeepers mostly speak Spanish as their first language. They are helpful with selecting the best stuff. There are also booths that sell clothing. The prices there are great. Most of it is second-hand, but pretty good. Shirts are about BZ $3, and pants are BZ $10. I think shoes are more expensive.

Dangriga Market (meat, fish and vegetables

Also next to the river on the other side of "the Main" is the chicken place that advertises, “Dis dah fi wi chikin” (This is our chicken or this is the chicken for us). 

Another block north is the bakery that we adore. They don't do the baking there; it just the store. The bakery is one block behind our house, but you can't buy from there. It's called the Grigalicious Bakery, and they are kind enough to share their delicious aromas with us throughout the day. One of the sales people at the store is very nice and gives us the Belize price rather than the gringo price. She even gave Cathy some of their reject cookies that had gone a little stale (still good enough for me). They have sliced whole wheat bread, and slightly sweetened bread in a loaf (called bun). It makes great toast, and is almost like eating dessert for breakfast. They sell out before noon, so we try to go early in the day.

Mayaz Bakery

  

Sometimes we are fortunate to get bun when we ride the local bus to and from Belmopan on the Hummingbird Highway. Near mile 15 to 20, a young woman gets on with a tray on her head. She rides for several miles and sells bun, and then gets off to replenish and ride the next bus back to her first stop. Vendors along the highway also sometimes have boiled corn. It is delicious and very reasonably priced. 

Here's Cathy again with just a few comments. We go to some store or the market every day. Our refrigerator is small, and we like fresh vegetables. Some things that we can buy in quantity in the states are not available that way here (unless you count a package of toilet paper or a pack of gum). Beer or sodas are sold as singles, eggs (most stores provide the styrofoam cartons, but not all).  Dog food is sold by opening the bags and sold by the pound. And in some cases, especially with soap products, it's obvious that each bottle of a certain product (for example, Joy dish detergent) is a couple of ounces low or have been watered down. 

As far as "how we spend our money," most goes to rent, food and household, then Internet, and utilities - kind of in that order. We don't have any left over for travel. A lot of other PCVs really skimp on the housing and other accommodations to save up for travel.

--- Steve and I are in a state of flux with our work right now , and we have LOTS of time on our hands. Today is yet another holiday (Columbus Day), so another short "work" week. We'll have more news in our next entry. In the meantime, please continue saving us your dimes so you can come see us!

Just so you don't think that we only take pictures of buildings, here's a snapshot of our pretty downstairs neighbor, Rafi.