Belmopan

First of all, here is the picture of the infamous Garden City Hotel. Evidently, it's the largest hotel in Belmopan that can accommodate the PC volunteers and is also the evacuation center for all PCVs when there is an emergency in the country. On the first level

is a Chinese restaurant and another NGO office. Across the street is the hardware store where we pick up our room keys. There are three floors and no elevators, picture all of us having to haul our suitcases back and forth from our host families and back to the hotel. In the last move back to the hotel I lost one wheel from the large suitcase; fortunately, I only have one more move to my permanent living place in a few weeks.

The next photo is from the day we went to the river in Belmopan to cool off. The younger volunteers had a blast splashing and jumping in the creek. You'll notice the horses in the background; this is a common sight in the whole country, horses grazing by the road side. The horses are thin and look poorly nourished.

Dogs are everywhere, mostly without restraint and free to roam. Armed with rabies shots the risk of rabies from dog bites is minimized. Because people use the dogs as guards and protectors, some dogs are vicious - we are told to have a couple of small rocks in hand to scare them away. These dogs are also skeletal and prolific in breeding, feed on table scraps, dog food is not a norm in their diet.

This a typical landscape near Belmopan - mostly flat, lush and green. Belmopan is one of the world's smallest national capitals with a population about 18,000. Belize City was the capitol until Hurricane Hattie hit on Halloween of 1961, destroying about 75% of houses and businesses in the city. The Government of Belize (formerly British Honduras) decided to move the capitol to higher ground and inland officially in 1970. Belmopan is mostly Kriol but also Garifuna, Mestizo, Maya and most recently Chinese. It looks like the Chinese run most of the retail businesses, grocery stores, restaurants, and smaller hotels. Along with these ethnic groups, there is a large contingent of Mennonites living in Belize. I look forward to visiting a Mennonite community soon. Kim was critical of my comparison of Belmopan to the beginning of Los Angeles - yes, she is correct in that LA has an ocean therefore there is no commonality. Still, I see the city expanding with suburbs.

Well...I've been with my new host family and at my new site assignment for a week and experiencing a new environment quite different from village living. My host family is a Mestizo woman and her six year old son. She works full time at an NGO, is educated, and has a modern-thinking outlook in parenting and living the best without surrounding herself with superfluous material things. Adjusting to Creole is interesting and challenging, I think it'll be easier than Spanish - I know, I know...I promise myself to continue learning Spanish when I finally get settled.

As for my site assignment, I've already changed the office configuration to optimize the space. Yeah, laugh if you want, this is my MO as usual. I think I'll have fun working there since the organization is still young and evolving and will take a vital role in the central government in molding and influencing the governance of the country's villages. I have two counterparts: the chief administrative officer and the president. I'll write more later.