First Impressions

I am IN BELIZE! It was a bit of a rocky start, as our flight got cancelled and we had to spend a day in the airport and a night in Miami. It wasn’t bad at all, but frustrating as we all wanted to get to our destination. I only got half as much sleep as I needed the past couple days, and I get G-R-U-M-P-Y. The Belize City airport was exactly how I would have imagined a little tropical airport to be, and as soon as we walked down the steps and onto the runway, the tropical air went SMACK! Very sticky and humid. Pauline, a Vietnamese student, said it reminded her of home. It’s the kind of air you drink.

Taken by Dr. Ellis

Soon afterwards we were on an old school bus riding towards Gales Point, about an hour and a half drive over bumpy roads. I think I was half delirious the whole time, but the ride flew by because of the gorgeous views. So much to take in. (It probably flew by for the others too because a lot of them fell asleep—how they could sleep on a school bus over such bad roads, I’ll never know!)

Taken by Dr. Ellis

We got our first view of Gales Point, which somehow was exactly what I didn’t know that I expected, as far as tiny rundown houses and such, but I was impressed that there were some nicer places. Our home, Manatee Lodge, wasn’t entirely an oasis of Westernization, and I was very glad of that. I don’t want to feel like too much of a black sheep in the community.

I kind of sleep-walked to choose a room with my bio-mates Kathryn, Emilia, and Pauline, without really looking. We just took a room that no one else had chosen. After lunch, we were told that we were going to see Ben Lomond cave. I said no. No way am I hiking through the wilderness to go see a stupid cave after 8 hours of sleep in two days. But I shut up and went anyways, though hopefully Dr. Rimkus noticed I was making a grumpy face the whole time.

We got into Manatee Lodge’s boat, and as soon as we started over the lagoon towards the cave, I felt the first twinges of love for my temporary home. The breeze and spray from the boat, the air, the smell; even though exhausted (or maybe because I was exhausted) I was very, very content.

Content for the boat ride to keep going. But it stopped at the shore, and we all had to get off and “hike” to the cave. I walked as fast as I could, so we could get it over with and get back on the boat But I did enjoy it. The cave was definitely cool, and we got our first little taste of “jungle” (though burnt down jungle, as the area had been burnt down in a fire last October). What was even cooler, was that I was doing things that I never would have thought I’d have done! Once, I was not an adventurous person who goes into caves and walks through jungles, but eh. Now it’s all in a days work. Heck, I don’t even need sleep to adventure. I can do it BOTH HANDS TIED BEHIND MY BACK! (Well, except when we were going into the cave and had to climb down a short ladder, I kind of needed hands then.)

Taken by Ana Funes

Now we’ve just had a delicious dinner, and still delirious without sleep in a dream-like place, I am ready to go to bed. Goodnight.