Belize City

Caye Caulker
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I spent the past week in Belize City, staying with my first homestay family.  It was definitely a different experience.  There are really no “good” neighborhoods in Belize City, there is basically poverty everywhere you look.  But, I never felt unsafe or uncomfortable in my surroundings.  We walked around downtown a lot and ran into some interesting people, got A LOT of cat calls, and figured out how to navigate streets with broken sidewalks and cars literally driving by with only a few inches clearance.  When I get back to the states I am going to feel so insecure because there won’t be anyone to yell out how beautiful I am or all the things they want to do to me, as I walk down the street!  I actually had an awesome time.  We spent most of the week learning about the politics and economics of Belize.  Main point: CORRUPTION!  This tiny country of about 280,000 people has buried itself so far in debt, it will never break even.  Belize is less than 25 years old!  At first I was afraid to talk politics with my host mother, but after she started, there was not stopping.  She showed me where all the officials lived and we talked about the different problems they are responsible for.  The funny thing is, is everyone in Belize knows or is related to each other, and I’m not joking!  So we would be walking down the street and she would immediately stop talking when we walked past a certain house or person, and then when we were out of earshot she could start talking again.  But enough about the crazy politics.

Caye Caulker
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We went out dancing a couple of nights, but apparently we kept going out too early (we did have nine am class) and there was never anyone out but us!  So we learned how to have a good time, together.

Belize City used to be the capital city, until it was destroyed by a hurricane and a new capital city cropped up in the middle of Belize, Belmopan.  However, Belize City is still the hub of the country, with the airport and cruise ship port.  There is an area known as Tourist Village, a safe, expensive place for tourists to buy cheap diamonds and see a pirate museum.  I never actually got to go, but I did see the waterfront side of it when we passed by on the way out to the Caye Caulker.

Group in Caye Caulker
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Caye (pronounced key) Caulker was one of the highlights of my week.  Saturday was our day off to spend with our host families, but my family couldn’t go anywhere because the teenage daughter had to work at a school fair, so five of us (from the group) decided to head out to Caye Caulker for the day.  It was a $35BZ (~$17US) ticket to take the boat, which took about an hour, and it was worth every bit!  We got to relax all day; just walking around the caye, lying in the sun, swimming in the crystal clear, turquoise water, shopping , and eating.  It was a nice capstone to the week.

Caye Caulker
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Yesterday, we had a six am bird watching lesson.  First of all, we met the guy who was teaching us about birds the night before and he is so adorable!  Everything he said about birds he was really excited about and was squirming in his chair because he couldn’t tell us about birds fast enough!  So yesterday morning was funny watching his get all excited about seeing a certain kind of bird, even if we already saw ten times before!  But after the bird walk, we had our lecture on reptiles and mammals.  And we got to hold this giant Burmese Python named Julius Squeezer!  She was so massive and strong.

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Today we leave to go up to Mountain Pine Ridge for a few days, and then on to canoeing down the Belize River.