Just updating everyone about our first 24 hours in Belize!
Thursday, 2/25/10:
Di and I arrived at the Belize City Airport around 4pm. I got hustled at customs and had to open my box of clinic supplies and childrens' toys for them to look through. If only they knew how long it took me to fit everything in that box! Grrr. We took a taxi to Hotel Mopan and found our hotel room. First thing we noticed – our bathroom has no doorknob and the walls of the bathroom don’t reach the ceiling! We learned really quickly to turn up the volume on the TV as soon as one of us walked into the bathroom. And thank goodness for Poo-Pourri! Haha...let's just say Di and I are closer than ever now!
By the time we unpacked and settled in, it was time for dinner. We asked Oliver (the nice guy at the front desk) where we should eat. He suggested Macy's, which was 5 blocks away and definitely walkable if it wasn't dark out already. Even Oliver suggested not to walk around the city at night for safety reasons, so he called a taxi for us. It felt kinda silly being driven 3 minutes down the road, but better safe than sorry! The menu at Macy's consisted of beans & rice, rice & beans, chicken, beef, pork, fish. I had the fish, Di had the chicken, and we both had rice & beans (which is different than beans & rice). So good!
Friday, 2/26/10:
This morning, we had breakfast here at the hotel. I had eggs, a bowl of fresh fruit, and toast with butter & mango jelly (yum!). Di had bacon (double yum!), eggs, and toast. After breakfast, we took the opportunity to roam around the city while the sun was out, so we could figure out where everything was. We walked to the water one block away to try to find the beach (which we haven't found yet). Then made our way back to the main road and just walked down a few blocks and back. By then it was time to pick up Milea from the airport.
We got back to Hotel Mopan to drop off Milea's stuff, then headed down the main road to Marlin's for lunch. We got lost and had to keep walking by a group of boys who were whistling at us, but finally we found it! The menu there consisted of...well, about the same thing as the night before. This is where we figured out that "rice and beans" are mixed together, but "beans and rice" is white rice with stewed beans on the side. It's different, believe me! After we finished our food, the older men sitting at the table next to us invited us to have a drink with them. Howard, Magnus, and Albert offered us whatever they were drinking - Campari (it was green) mixed with some sort of canned "sterilized" milk. It tasted like melted mint ice cream, or a mint White Russian. But it went down smooth! They pointed us in the direction of our next destination - the tourist village. Unfortunately, the village was pretty much closed since there was no cruise ship docked for the day, but we met Gary (the Star) who led us to the one open stand of souvenirs. All of the people we met today had plenty of stories and were full of laughs (more details to come with the next blog)!
We walked back to Hotel Mopan where Josh (the one member of our group whom I hadn't met yet) found us. He had just gotten back from Caye Caulker where he spent an extra day scuba diving. Shortly afterwards, Mariza, Lauren, & EA returned from San Ignacio. Our group is coming together (just missing James)! We walked over to Bird's Isle for dinner and just spend some time getting to know each other.
I'm super excited for our week in Belize; the group of people I'm with are awesome! Can't wait for tomorrow's cave tubing and ziplining adventures!!
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3 comments:
YAY!! It sounds like you're seeing and meeting a lot of interesting people and places. I thought it was Milea posting at first but I continued reading and realized it was Bev. I hope to see pictures soon. Wah zip lining and scuba diving...I thought you guys were there to volunteer. Haha I'm joking. Work hard and play hard. Throw caution to the wind...ah wait be safe too. I miss you gals very much! Keep updating!
campari is red and bitter not green and minty...methinks you were drinking green chartreuse or a local brew that is unknown to me [n would dearly love a sample of if u can bring some back ;-) hee hee] sounds like y'all are having a great time and are already drawing the attention of the local "gentlemen"
We'll not say reading your lines makes us feel like we're with you. That's because there's no substitute from being actually there. Folks don't seem to mind having their pictures taken. Any fruits/food you have seen or eaten for the first time? Continue taking pictures aplenty, Bev.
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