Well here we are almost 5 weeks later...we have had an unbelievable experience which ended in a great last week! We spent our day on Tuesday at NARCIE (National Resource Centre for Inclusive Education) where we had to assess two little ones with CP to determine their readiness to enter the schooling system, as well as the supports they will require.
Our first little guy was a client we had visited before named RJ. He is a 5 year old boy with cerebral palsy, his lower limbs were affected with little difficulty in his upper limbs. He is non verbal but able to make sounds and has the cutest smile any of us have ever seen. We put on our OT hats and got down to business. We assessed various areas including: communication, balance, affect, coordination, reach-grasp-manipulation, interaction as well as ADL's which were explored through speaking with his mother. It was great to be able to use the skills we have learned throughout our OT education. We also learned that our understanding of kriol is getting much better! We were able to understand RJ's mother compared to when we first arrived and couldn't decipher one word.
Next we ventured to another clients house since he wasn't feeling well due to an infection in his g-tube. His father picked us up from the NARCIE office and was the nicest man. When we arrived at their home we met Joshua who had severe CP. He currently attends a pre school around the corner from his house but he is 9 years old so entering primary school is the next step for this little one. Due to his difficulty with communication coupled with being irritable due to the infection, much of the assessment was done through his father. We spoke about his readiness for school and the concerns that his father has regarding his abilities in school as well as a plan for his transition from pre school to primary. There was so much love in this household it made us feel welcomed and happy that this client is so well taken care of. It was a great experience getting to make recommendations to this family and NARCIE. We felt that we had made a small contribution and that these children will be able to engage in school and build relationships with their peers.
The rest of the week was spent working in the office. We had to finish some projects we had been working on including a hand out on the task oriented approach which is becoming more popular in occupational therapy. The hand out will be distributed to the RFO's and will hopefully give them new and fun ideas! We also had discussions with some people who work here regarding recommendations that we think would be beneficial for the organization.
We feel so lucky to have been able to come down here to Belize and work with this amazing organization. We have learned so much and have experienced things we never could have imagined. The children and families are amazing, tenacious and resilient in the face of many difficulties. This organization is making a large impact on the communities they work with and will continue to have much success in the future. Yesterday we got to see the site which is being built for the first rehabilitation clinic in the country!! It was history in the making and we feel privileged that we had the opportunity to see it! We plan on coming back in a few years for the grand opening :)
There are not enough positive things to say about our experience and returning home is bitter sweet. We all feel that this experience will make us better professionals in our upcoming careers!!
Thanks for following us on our Belize Experience and we look forward to seeing everyone when we get home :)
Much Love
xoxoxo
Catherine, Laura and Jennifer
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Hopkins and Placencia
This weekend was a long one as we got Friday off as well as Monday for Victoria Day (God save the Queen!). Since we had four days to dedicate to travelling we decided to make the 5 hour trek down south to a small village named Hopkins and a larger more touristy area of the country, Placencia. After debating and researching ways to avoid taking the beloved city bus (plane or boat) our diminished bank accounts made our decision for us...so on the bus we went down to Hopkins.
Hopkins-
It was another hot bus ride but we finally made it and trekked around the village to find a place to stay. We ended up at a placed called Lebeha which is a drumming school as well as accommodations. We scored a great beach front cabana which was spacious and filled with our friends the trusty ants of Belize. After our trek to find this place sulls commented "okay I think we are all feeling a bit down" so we decided to ball out and get some amazing pizza and quesadillas from a beach front restaurant. After this we were feeling much more rejuvenated. We spent the day lounging on the beach and met some local kids who we made a trade with, our Canada frisbee for their mango wrangling abilities. They came back with shirts full of mangos, the only downside of this trade was that they decided to eat most of the mangos and left us with only one. I guess thats how they roll here. They also put on a show for us, doing flips off logs on the beach as well as singing and dancing our fav song Tornado! They ended up loving us so much they tried getting into our cabana but the wrath of their mothers came into play and they scurried home.
That night we got to go see a garifuna drumming show which was unreal! The 3 guys drumming were around 18 and were amazing, we have video evidence to prove it! We also got to see a little boy dance punta to the drumming (poh will show this to everyone when we get home!) In addition to the drumming the owner of the school was playing an instrument out of turtle shells, not something you see everyday.
We had to get up early for our next adventure so we hit the haaaaayyyy.
Placencia-
Our Placencia adventure began with a ride on the Hokey Pokey water taxi...that's right, the hokey pokey taxi, We got to our destination and began deliriously searching for a place to stay. We ended up at "Evans Place" and were treated to double beds, mini fridge and AC (hello sleeping through the night! Sully did not even have her usual angry night thrashes).
We took our hungry bellies to lunch and were sadly disappointed. We had ketchup nachos and wilted soupy salad...and expensive to boot! Cat's cheese level has never been so high. However, we tried the local conch (even Sulls) which was tasty.
The rest of the day was spent shopping, reading on the beach and researching scuba/snorkeling places for the following day. That evening's dinner was a hearty bowl of Cornflakes and bananas topped off by the best gelato of life! Outside of the gelato place, Poh was in her own world "punta-ing" and unbeknownst to her, "John Wayne" was fast approaching in such a stealth manner. Sulls and Krust just observed, quite amused. John Wayne as he called himself showed Poh how to feel it, and shimmy around. The lesson ended in a dance-off which Poh claims she won.
We continued on to the Barefoot Bar where we enjoyed some Lighthouse lagers and salbutes..yum! Sulls' heat rash was consuming her life. Poh was scared as she was hit multiple times by a lady claiming to be the ex-wife of a Vancouver Canuck. Kit couldn't wait to go home and watch The Voice on t.v.
The next day was the first separation of the 3-headed Canadian monster. Sulls needed medical attention which consisted of frozen wash cloths and vitamin E gel which frankly did nothing. She chilled hard on the beach and got some solid t.v. time. Kit took the plunge (literally) for her first saltwater scuba diving trip at the Laughing Bird Caye (literally the most beautiful, tiny magazine worthy island). She had a solid guide and saw some beautiful coral, fish and crazy ass jellyfish. Poh trekked out for her second snorkeling adventure (due to her panic-ridden first trip) and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Kit and Poh claimed they both felt like Ariel. We were all reunited and vowed to never separate again.
Alas, we were all starving by dinner time (shocking we know) and were in search of some much anticipated local seafood. Went to De Thatch, right on the beach and dug into what became one of our favourite meals. Poh almost peed herself in excitement from mashed potatoes. Sulls was most happy to chow down on BBQ chicken and we finally got salad sans mayo (note: Kit rejoices). Then, we went to gelato again, obviously, and outside we met..picture this: a French Canadian, an Israeli dude (hilarious!) and guy from Oregon traveling together. Hilarious conversation ensued.
With our new friends we decided to head to the Barefoot Bar again and shared some laughs and some beers. Sulls had a most interesting night with her French Canadian companion who admired her wrinkles (yep! for real) and lovingly described her as "mango blueberry icecream with dark chocolate chunks" in contrast to Kit as keylime and Poh as lime sherbet "because it is sour" (thannnq u). At one point during the night, Kit tried to save Sulls, but Cat literally had the chair pulled out from under her and her belongings were thrown onto the table (what a gentleman!). The Frenchman was ensuring that his beloved had a place to rest her weary limbs much to her dismay and disgust. After multiple refusals to beach invitations and mothering of children, Sulls got tired and we decided to end our evening. We went home to our sweet AC and t.v. and passed out hard.
The next day we bussed back to our homebase and were pleasantly surprised with one lag of the trip being on a coach bus. Ballin!
That's all for now...
love,
The Belizean Trio
Hopkins-
It was another hot bus ride but we finally made it and trekked around the village to find a place to stay. We ended up at a placed called Lebeha which is a drumming school as well as accommodations. We scored a great beach front cabana which was spacious and filled with our friends the trusty ants of Belize. After our trek to find this place sulls commented "okay I think we are all feeling a bit down" so we decided to ball out and get some amazing pizza and quesadillas from a beach front restaurant. After this we were feeling much more rejuvenated. We spent the day lounging on the beach and met some local kids who we made a trade with, our Canada frisbee for their mango wrangling abilities. They came back with shirts full of mangos, the only downside of this trade was that they decided to eat most of the mangos and left us with only one. I guess thats how they roll here. They also put on a show for us, doing flips off logs on the beach as well as singing and dancing our fav song Tornado! They ended up loving us so much they tried getting into our cabana but the wrath of their mothers came into play and they scurried home.
That night we got to go see a garifuna drumming show which was unreal! The 3 guys drumming were around 18 and were amazing, we have video evidence to prove it! We also got to see a little boy dance punta to the drumming (poh will show this to everyone when we get home!) In addition to the drumming the owner of the school was playing an instrument out of turtle shells, not something you see everyday.
We had to get up early for our next adventure so we hit the haaaaayyyy.
Placencia-
Our Placencia adventure began with a ride on the Hokey Pokey water taxi...that's right, the hokey pokey taxi, We got to our destination and began deliriously searching for a place to stay. We ended up at "Evans Place" and were treated to double beds, mini fridge and AC (hello sleeping through the night! Sully did not even have her usual angry night thrashes).
We took our hungry bellies to lunch and were sadly disappointed. We had ketchup nachos and wilted soupy salad...and expensive to boot! Cat's cheese level has never been so high. However, we tried the local conch (even Sulls) which was tasty.
The rest of the day was spent shopping, reading on the beach and researching scuba/snorkeling places for the following day. That evening's dinner was a hearty bowl of Cornflakes and bananas topped off by the best gelato of life! Outside of the gelato place, Poh was in her own world "punta-ing" and unbeknownst to her, "John Wayne" was fast approaching in such a stealth manner. Sulls and Krust just observed, quite amused. John Wayne as he called himself showed Poh how to feel it, and shimmy around. The lesson ended in a dance-off which Poh claims she won.
We continued on to the Barefoot Bar where we enjoyed some Lighthouse lagers and salbutes..yum! Sulls' heat rash was consuming her life. Poh was scared as she was hit multiple times by a lady claiming to be the ex-wife of a Vancouver Canuck. Kit couldn't wait to go home and watch The Voice on t.v.
The next day was the first separation of the 3-headed Canadian monster. Sulls needed medical attention which consisted of frozen wash cloths and vitamin E gel which frankly did nothing. She chilled hard on the beach and got some solid t.v. time. Kit took the plunge (literally) for her first saltwater scuba diving trip at the Laughing Bird Caye (literally the most beautiful, tiny magazine worthy island). She had a solid guide and saw some beautiful coral, fish and crazy ass jellyfish. Poh trekked out for her second snorkeling adventure (due to her panic-ridden first trip) and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Kit and Poh claimed they both felt like Ariel. We were all reunited and vowed to never separate again.
Alas, we were all starving by dinner time (shocking we know) and were in search of some much anticipated local seafood. Went to De Thatch, right on the beach and dug into what became one of our favourite meals. Poh almost peed herself in excitement from mashed potatoes. Sulls was most happy to chow down on BBQ chicken and we finally got salad sans mayo (note: Kit rejoices). Then, we went to gelato again, obviously, and outside we met..picture this: a French Canadian, an Israeli dude (hilarious!) and guy from Oregon traveling together. Hilarious conversation ensued.
With our new friends we decided to head to the Barefoot Bar again and shared some laughs and some beers. Sulls had a most interesting night with her French Canadian companion who admired her wrinkles (yep! for real) and lovingly described her as "mango blueberry icecream with dark chocolate chunks" in contrast to Kit as keylime and Poh as lime sherbet "because it is sour" (thannnq u). At one point during the night, Kit tried to save Sulls, but Cat literally had the chair pulled out from under her and her belongings were thrown onto the table (what a gentleman!). The Frenchman was ensuring that his beloved had a place to rest her weary limbs much to her dismay and disgust. After multiple refusals to beach invitations and mothering of children, Sulls got tired and we decided to end our evening. We went home to our sweet AC and t.v. and passed out hard.
The next day we bussed back to our homebase and were pleasantly surprised with one lag of the trip being on a coach bus. Ballin!
That's all for now...
love,
The Belizean Trio
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Rice & Beans, Beans & Rice, Chicken, Stew beans & Rice, Stew Chicken
We wanted to explain a little more in depth the local fare that we have experienced during our stay in Belize. The title really says it all...
Initially, rice and beans was good... but after weeks upon weeks of this things have changed for the worse. Kit now has a Pavlovian dog gag reflex to rice and beans. She immediately begins to gag the second that an enormous heap of it ends up on her plate.
We have been on the hunt for veggies each day. It really is difficult.
After hearing multiple times on the news that Belize is experiencing a sugar shortage, Kit one morning spilled the entire bowl of sugar all over the table, her lap and the floor. She froze in fear of Leiva's wrath and was quickly trying to decide if there was any way to clean it up before she saw. Unfortunately, there wasn't and she received a mean backhand... just kidding, but it was close.
Also, we must mention the little pests that bother us each and every time you sit down for a meal at the table. It has become very unnerving. At first, you may feel a small tickle on your forearm, wrist or hand. Then by the time you look down, your entire arm will be covered in an army of miniature ants! Sure does wild things to the appetite. Sulls finds this particularly troubling.
Breakfast is always a treat with new dishes each day, but not really. We awake to the sounds of sizzling heaps of butter which our fried eggs are cooked in. Poh has subsequently experienced some GI difficulties.
In addition, Poh has been craving mashed potatoes since the second we had arrived and was blessed by God himself when we discovered a pot of them in Leiva's kitchen. Unfortunately, she made sure to tell us that we shouldn't eat much and to save lots for the boys.
We shouldn't complain too much, we have actually had some really great food and Mrs Levia is quite the cook! Some of our highlights include:
-BBQ chicken
-eggplant parmesan
-salbutes
-flour torillas
-impossible cake
-pineapple pork
-pandora's iced coffee
-fresh, delicious local fruit
-delcious soup made of broth, chicken, rice and copious amounts of onions
-Mango salad!
Wonder what is for dinner tonight...It is always an adventure!!
Love,
The Three Canadian piggies
In Belize, there are four main food groups consisting of: beans, chicken, mayo and rice. You can cook them different ways but the same thing tends to end up on your plate no matter what way you slice it.
Initially, rice and beans was good... but after weeks upon weeks of this things have changed for the worse. Kit now has a Pavlovian dog gag reflex to rice and beans. She immediately begins to gag the second that an enormous heap of it ends up on her plate.
We have been on the hunt for veggies each day. It really is difficult.
After hearing multiple times on the news that Belize is experiencing a sugar shortage, Kit one morning spilled the entire bowl of sugar all over the table, her lap and the floor. She froze in fear of Leiva's wrath and was quickly trying to decide if there was any way to clean it up before she saw. Unfortunately, there wasn't and she received a mean backhand... just kidding, but it was close.
Also, we must mention the little pests that bother us each and every time you sit down for a meal at the table. It has become very unnerving. At first, you may feel a small tickle on your forearm, wrist or hand. Then by the time you look down, your entire arm will be covered in an army of miniature ants! Sure does wild things to the appetite. Sulls finds this particularly troubling.
Breakfast is always a treat with new dishes each day, but not really. We awake to the sounds of sizzling heaps of butter which our fried eggs are cooked in. Poh has subsequently experienced some GI difficulties.
In addition, Poh has been craving mashed potatoes since the second we had arrived and was blessed by God himself when we discovered a pot of them in Leiva's kitchen. Unfortunately, she made sure to tell us that we shouldn't eat much and to save lots for the boys.
We shouldn't complain too much, we have actually had some really great food and Mrs Levia is quite the cook! Some of our highlights include:
-BBQ chicken
-eggplant parmesan
-salbutes
-flour torillas
-impossible cake
-pineapple pork
-pandora's iced coffee
-fresh, delicious local fruit
-delcious soup made of broth, chicken, rice and copious amounts of onions
-Mango salad!
Wonder what is for dinner tonight...It is always an adventure!!
Love,
The Three Canadian piggies
Stella Maris
Our next two days were spent at Stella Maris, which is a school for children with disabilities. We were not ready for what we were about to experience...
We each got separated (against our will) into classrooms of varying ages. Sulls was in the youngest classroom of 5-8 years olds with disabilities including down syndrome, CP, and hearing impairments. Cat had the hooligan classroom of 6-10 year olds who were basically the most rowdy group of children possibly in all of Belize. Poh had the tamest class of all with angel children who sat quietly and listened intently to everything she said (sulls and cat were beyond cheesed when they found this out). Recess is just the wildest time we have ever experienced. Some highlights include:
-playing frisbee with a metal hubcap
-poh getting attacked and subsequently had a heat related freak out
-being introduced to a new childs game here in Belize City the rules are simple...shove your friends face into the dirt, as hard as possible, pull out your plastic automatic rifle, hold it to the back of their head and pretend it goes off....we think this has a lot of due with the new casts we hear each night over dinner
-another game included throwing cement rocks at each other...nice and simple
Kit and Poh got to attend a violence lecture, with 30 kids crammed into a boiling hot classroom. It was put on by the Belize Police police department (aka sketch). It consisted of extremely graphic photos of bullet wounds and the police saying "sometimes we gotta rough dem up real good". Another line was "so daddy got extra woman, den momma points gun at dadas head" "wat kinda abuse dat"? needless to say the children all got this answer correct. Overall it was quite the experience for kit and poh bear.
On a more serious note most of the teachers at the school are saints as the classrooms are very difficult to handle, they do the best they can with very limited resources. It is very different from what we are used to in Canada where a child with a disability has an EA with them at all times. This is not feasible in Belize due to lack of training and funding. The children all have so much potential and this was an eye opening experience for all of us.
That is all for now loves
xoxox
Cheesy-Pie, Krusty-Pie, Poh-Pie
We each got separated (against our will) into classrooms of varying ages. Sulls was in the youngest classroom of 5-8 years olds with disabilities including down syndrome, CP, and hearing impairments. Cat had the hooligan classroom of 6-10 year olds who were basically the most rowdy group of children possibly in all of Belize. Poh had the tamest class of all with angel children who sat quietly and listened intently to everything she said (sulls and cat were beyond cheesed when they found this out). Recess is just the wildest time we have ever experienced. Some highlights include:
-playing frisbee with a metal hubcap
-poh getting attacked and subsequently had a heat related freak out
-being introduced to a new childs game here in Belize City the rules are simple...shove your friends face into the dirt, as hard as possible, pull out your plastic automatic rifle, hold it to the back of their head and pretend it goes off....we think this has a lot of due with the new casts we hear each night over dinner
-another game included throwing cement rocks at each other...nice and simple
Kit and Poh got to attend a violence lecture, with 30 kids crammed into a boiling hot classroom. It was put on by the Belize Police police department (aka sketch). It consisted of extremely graphic photos of bullet wounds and the police saying "sometimes we gotta rough dem up real good". Another line was "so daddy got extra woman, den momma points gun at dadas head" "wat kinda abuse dat"? needless to say the children all got this answer correct. Overall it was quite the experience for kit and poh bear.
On a more serious note most of the teachers at the school are saints as the classrooms are very difficult to handle, they do the best they can with very limited resources. It is very different from what we are used to in Canada where a child with a disability has an EA with them at all times. This is not feasible in Belize due to lack of training and funding. The children all have so much potential and this was an eye opening experience for all of us.
That is all for now loves
xoxox
Cheesy-Pie, Krusty-Pie, Poh-Pie
The Day of Hades
Well we all feel more bonded now after going to hell and back today with a visit from the grim reaper in the form of vendors on the bus in Orange Walk. Okay let us explain further....We went back to Orange Walk aka Hades to visit an amazing prosthetic/orthotic clinic put on by some people from the US. They come down to Belize twice a year to custom fit both children and adults with AFO's (ankle-foot orthoses...like braces) as well as prosthetics for amputees. It was such a great experience to see them in action and we even got to see some of our little cutie clients who we had visited during our home visits with Hilda! Although we had a blast at the clinic we all began to feel the delirium set in in the clinic as there were limited fans and basically no where to sit down. Hilda realized we were melting and decided we should get lunch and do some home visits.
We trundled off from the clinic into the blazing abyss. Had a great lunch minus the "vegetable salad" which in actuality was made completely of soupy mayo...poh cried when it came because she couldn't distinguish between the clumps of so called veggies. Post lunch we walked to the bus terminal, all the while discussing with Hilda how Orange Walk seems to be at least 20 degrees hotter than Belize City. It got much worse as we boarded the trusty school bus only for it not to leave for about 30 minutes. During this time we all experience extreme heat, profuse sweating and each of our first panic attacks. The bus was packed (as always), children were screaming, vendors were bustling up and down the crowded aisles selling anything and everything. At one point cat looked down the aisle to see poh deliriously trying to flagged down the vendor selling a shotty slushie in a plastic cup, but due to her exhaustion she couldnt even lift her arm or speak loud enough to get his attention. Luckily Krust saved the day and yelled to the man, while at the same time passed him the 50 cent coin. Poh claims she would have died had this not happened....we all believe her.
Finally we got to a little town called San Jose after almost losing sully on the bus, she could have ended up in Mexico. The heat continued to rise as we trekked down the dusty roads of SJ to two home visits which were great minus the lack of concentration, at one point sully turned to poh and said "It looks like you went swimming". We also experienced our first belizean squirrel which was being kept hostage in a cage in a clients kitchen...strange. After this Hilda told us she didn't want us to die in her care so she decided to get us back on the bus so we could get back to Belize City. Luckily this bus ride wasn't as bad but it was still about 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
We made it back to the city with quite the saga to tell our family as well as a vow to never step foot in Orange Walk again....except maybe to go for tacos and salbutes.
Thankfully we are alive to tell this tale...
Love xoxox
Charlies Angels, risen from the dead
We trundled off from the clinic into the blazing abyss. Had a great lunch minus the "vegetable salad" which in actuality was made completely of soupy mayo...poh cried when it came because she couldn't distinguish between the clumps of so called veggies. Post lunch we walked to the bus terminal, all the while discussing with Hilda how Orange Walk seems to be at least 20 degrees hotter than Belize City. It got much worse as we boarded the trusty school bus only for it not to leave for about 30 minutes. During this time we all experience extreme heat, profuse sweating and each of our first panic attacks. The bus was packed (as always), children were screaming, vendors were bustling up and down the crowded aisles selling anything and everything. At one point cat looked down the aisle to see poh deliriously trying to flagged down the vendor selling a shotty slushie in a plastic cup, but due to her exhaustion she couldnt even lift her arm or speak loud enough to get his attention. Luckily Krust saved the day and yelled to the man, while at the same time passed him the 50 cent coin. Poh claims she would have died had this not happened....we all believe her.
Finally we got to a little town called San Jose after almost losing sully on the bus, she could have ended up in Mexico. The heat continued to rise as we trekked down the dusty roads of SJ to two home visits which were great minus the lack of concentration, at one point sully turned to poh and said "It looks like you went swimming". We also experienced our first belizean squirrel which was being kept hostage in a cage in a clients kitchen...strange. After this Hilda told us she didn't want us to die in her care so she decided to get us back on the bus so we could get back to Belize City. Luckily this bus ride wasn't as bad but it was still about 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
We made it back to the city with quite the saga to tell our family as well as a vow to never step foot in Orange Walk again....except maybe to go for tacos and salbutes.
Thankfully we are alive to tell this tale...
Love xoxox
Charlies Angels, risen from the dead
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Weekend of The Zoo and Lamanai
Hi everyone!
FRIDAY
Our weekend started with a bang when we took the bus straight from work to the Belize Zoo for a night tour. The zoo is for injured animals or animals that have been kept as pets, like a natural rehab centre for wild Belize animals.
We had to wait a wee bit in the dark on the side of the road before the guide finally showed up with flashlight in hand!
During our night tour of the zoo we got the chance to see Belizian-native animals including:
-the Harpy Eagle (HUGE weird looking tuxedo guy)
-Junior the Jaguar
-Carlos the Puma who we got to feed raw chicken claws (oopsies, salmaonella)
-Gibnuts (aka The royal Ra)- they are huge rat things that are a delicacy to eat here- creepy
-a clan of Howler Monkeys- We couldn't believe how LOUD they were. They sounded like haunted lions (Poh has perfected her Howler Monkey mating call).
-huge, smelly pig-like creatures that have an extra smelly hump on their back which you need to cut off before you cook them or it will contaminate the meat-eww
- saw HUGE crocs held back by a shotty fence that was like two feet high. Our guide told us that they hadn't attacked humans.....yet. We decided to move on quickly.
-Tapirs, the national animal, one of which was blind. They look like a cross between a horse and a rhino kinda. They have a weird snout. We got to feed them veggies.
- On our way out of the tour we came across a little visitor- The most poisonous snake in Belize (Fer de Lance) It was just roaming free on the zoo path. Could've died. A weirdo lady from Slovenia was convinced she could wrangle it no problem. She was prepared to grab it with her hands and put it in a bucket. She also proceeded to poke it with a stick. "Oooooh! I love de snakes! Let meee have it!"
-At the end, we held a boaconstrictor!!
Trusty Mr. Gomez took us in his cab home. It was a great experience.
SATURDAY
To the Mayan ruins we go! Shockingly, we had to get up at 5am. Got to the boat dock for Lamanai, joined by an annoying family and bratty (yet cute) child "Excuse me! Excuse me! Um, what is that leaf?" Saw some cool things on our boat ride including "Jesus birds" that walk on water and spider monkeys.
Once we got to Lamanai we toured and climbed the multiple temples. Due to our rapid physical deconditioning we have been experiencing here, we almost collapsed from severe exhaustion and heat. Climbing up temples + 100 degree weather = Poh sweating out half her body weight, Sulls' heat rash blossoming rapidly and Kit's heat induced delirium resulting in vision loss, limb weakness and loss of reactive balance (almost fell off the temple side). Had a lunch of rice and beans (shocking) to revive ourselves.
Best part of our entire Belize experience: the annoying family gave us a pimp AC ride home to Belize city. So happy!
The Leiva Girls
FRIDAY
Our weekend started with a bang when we took the bus straight from work to the Belize Zoo for a night tour. The zoo is for injured animals or animals that have been kept as pets, like a natural rehab centre for wild Belize animals.
We had to wait a wee bit in the dark on the side of the road before the guide finally showed up with flashlight in hand!
During our night tour of the zoo we got the chance to see Belizian-native animals including:
-the Harpy Eagle (HUGE weird looking tuxedo guy)
-Junior the Jaguar
-Carlos the Puma who we got to feed raw chicken claws (oopsies, salmaonella)
-Gibnuts (aka The royal Ra)- they are huge rat things that are a delicacy to eat here- creepy
-a clan of Howler Monkeys- We couldn't believe how LOUD they were. They sounded like haunted lions (Poh has perfected her Howler Monkey mating call).
-huge, smelly pig-like creatures that have an extra smelly hump on their back which you need to cut off before you cook them or it will contaminate the meat-eww
- saw HUGE crocs held back by a shotty fence that was like two feet high. Our guide told us that they hadn't attacked humans.....yet. We decided to move on quickly.
-Tapirs, the national animal, one of which was blind. They look like a cross between a horse and a rhino kinda. They have a weird snout. We got to feed them veggies.
- On our way out of the tour we came across a little visitor- The most poisonous snake in Belize (Fer de Lance) It was just roaming free on the zoo path. Could've died. A weirdo lady from Slovenia was convinced she could wrangle it no problem. She was prepared to grab it with her hands and put it in a bucket. She also proceeded to poke it with a stick. "Oooooh! I love de snakes! Let meee have it!"
-At the end, we held a boaconstrictor!!
Trusty Mr. Gomez took us in his cab home. It was a great experience.
SATURDAY
To the Mayan ruins we go! Shockingly, we had to get up at 5am. Got to the boat dock for Lamanai, joined by an annoying family and bratty (yet cute) child "Excuse me! Excuse me! Um, what is that leaf?" Saw some cool things on our boat ride including "Jesus birds" that walk on water and spider monkeys.
Once we got to Lamanai we toured and climbed the multiple temples. Due to our rapid physical deconditioning we have been experiencing here, we almost collapsed from severe exhaustion and heat. Climbing up temples + 100 degree weather = Poh sweating out half her body weight, Sulls' heat rash blossoming rapidly and Kit's heat induced delirium resulting in vision loss, limb weakness and loss of reactive balance (almost fell off the temple side). Had a lunch of rice and beans (shocking) to revive ourselves.
Best part of our entire Belize experience: the annoying family gave us a pimp AC ride home to Belize city. So happy!
The Leiva Girls
Friday, May 13, 2011
End of the work week
Back in the office for the last two days of the week, wildness has occurred which needs to be explained in detail:
Remember when we went snorkeling and met those two characters? We showed up to work on Thursday to a surprise bouquet of flowers with the note which said "Thinking of you..." they had been delivered to sulls (laura), poh and kit DIED laughing. Then while speaking to our director, we found out that he in fact did not know any of our names and had thought that kit's name was laura. Therefore in actuality the flowers were for kit much to sulls relief!! They were from the Belizean news activist from the boat. Please note that none of us made any effort to speak to this guy while snorkeling. Also the creep factor increased when he called our directors cell phone to get the name, which he shouldn't have given out. Ms Levia, being the good Belizean surrogate mother that she is was disgusted with this, but loved the flowers which she displayed as the center piece on the dining room table. Kit has now found herself in quite the predicament, although we are all hoping that a box of chocolates shows up next!!
Poh also had an adventure last night when she decided to go to "thirsty thursdays" with our other house mates. She sassed herself up using one of Ginny's outfits and strutted to the bar. Sulls and Kit are grandmas as we all know and needed sleep therefore did not join poh on her evening outing. She had a grand time chatting with some belizean's and brits who seem to infiltrate every part of the world. She is currently running on 3 hours of sleep but has had a wonderful nap before the work day ends!
We are heading to the Belize zoo tonight with Ginny for a night tour and then to Lamani tomorrow for a day long trip to visit the Mayan ruins!! Sunday will be full of relaxing, hopefully by the Radisson pool if we dont get caught :)
Love Love Love
xoxo
Kit, Sulls and Poh Bear
Remember when we went snorkeling and met those two characters? We showed up to work on Thursday to a surprise bouquet of flowers with the note which said "Thinking of you..." they had been delivered to sulls (laura), poh and kit DIED laughing. Then while speaking to our director, we found out that he in fact did not know any of our names and had thought that kit's name was laura. Therefore in actuality the flowers were for kit much to sulls relief!! They were from the Belizean news activist from the boat. Please note that none of us made any effort to speak to this guy while snorkeling. Also the creep factor increased when he called our directors cell phone to get the name, which he shouldn't have given out. Ms Levia, being the good Belizean surrogate mother that she is was disgusted with this, but loved the flowers which she displayed as the center piece on the dining room table. Kit has now found herself in quite the predicament, although we are all hoping that a box of chocolates shows up next!!
Poh also had an adventure last night when she decided to go to "thirsty thursdays" with our other house mates. She sassed herself up using one of Ginny's outfits and strutted to the bar. Sulls and Kit are grandmas as we all know and needed sleep therefore did not join poh on her evening outing. She had a grand time chatting with some belizean's and brits who seem to infiltrate every part of the world. She is currently running on 3 hours of sleep but has had a wonderful nap before the work day ends!
We are heading to the Belize zoo tonight with Ginny for a night tour and then to Lamani tomorrow for a day long trip to visit the Mayan ruins!! Sunday will be full of relaxing, hopefully by the Radisson pool if we dont get caught :)
Love Love Love
xoxo
Kit, Sulls and Poh Bear
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