HELLO: Belize Study Abroad - Day 3

So today was another long day!

And this was the beautiful morning that I woke up to. Wow. I can wake up to this everyday.

My roomies and I had a delicious breakfast next door where we were
staying at the Radisson Hotel. Red snapper and the Belizean traditional Flat Jacks were so good! You must try their sea food if you ever get the chance to stay in Belize. Everything is so fresh.

Today, we were leaving Belize City to San Pedro, an island just a bit off coast and the biggest tourist place. Our tour guide that took us to see the Mayan Temples, Philip, came back to drop us off at the airport. From there, we rode like a 13 passenger seat jet to San Pedro.

Once we landed, and waited for the others to arrive, we headed over to Paradise Villa with 6 vans. There were so many of us that it took us awhile. When we got there it was so beautiful, the Villa! I mean, look at our beautiful backyard! It leads straight to the ocean! It was beautiful!

I stayed with my roomies again, Sally and Khanh. Our room was so nice! There was a kitchen with appliances, a bedroom and bathroom, a living room with a small dining room, a TV, and etc.

There was no rest after we settled in. We all gathered outside near the entrance of the Villa and headed to Holy Cross, which is a small elementary school for the kids who lives in the town of San Mateo. It was such a long walk, seriously, and in the hottest heat ever! I regret not bringing a water bottle with me. I don't know what I was thinking. It felt like it was over 100 degrees with 100% humidity. Anyways, after what feels like weeks of walking, we finally reached the school.

A women who works there named Lidiya, I believe that's how you spell her name, showed us around the town of San Mateo. We walked around the place and man, this is an experience that I have never felt before. I have never seen a place like this other than on TV and in the movies.

There is trash all over the town and the smell, the smell is horrible.

There's huge puddles of muddy hot water everywhere as well. I accidently stepped into a huge puddle

The boards that you see that goes across the water is called London Bridges.

There were lots of pit holes and the roads are made out of sand and dirt filled with rocks that the citizens took from the lake that's right near the town. One of my advisor, Dr. Wynne, is well known to the town and the people and travels often to Belize. She said that it took a long time to build these roads. A lot of manpower and labor was put into these roads.

I know I'm terrible of explaining but I hope the pictures really shows you what I saw and experienced. I could not imagine living in an environment like this. I felt pity for the families who lived there but after hearing stories from my advisor and from Lidiya, I shouldn't pity them. These people are proud to claim what they have. They are proud of their homes and everything that they own. They don't take things for granted because they work hard for them. I never realized this but I will soon learn more of the people in San Pedro while I continue my stay.

As the Education students stayed behind at the school, us Business students left. I was with my organization, Enactus, and we came to Belize for a different reason, When we arrived back at the Villa, we took a break. It was well-needed! But we were so hungry that we all headed out once again for lunch.

We had a fantastic lunch at this restaurant nearby. I ordered stew chicken with rice, coleslaw, and plantain. It is a classic Belizean dish. All the citizens there says that they have it every Sunday! If you travel down to Belize, this is a must try dish you have to put on your list!

If you are ever in the San Pedro area, try Manelly's as well. Their ice cream are delicious. But know that once you step outside the heat, bring lots and lots of napkins or start eating your ice cream fast! The heat in Belize is insane that the ice cream starts to melt instantly! It dripped all over on me. Next time, I'll have it in a cup instead!