Holiday Break and Vacation Trip to Guatemala

Finally, some down time - I spent the weekend relaxing. I'm set to travel with two volunteers to Flores, Guatemala, for the Christmas Holiday. This will be the first time to venture outside of Belize (not counting the trip to Cancun on my way to the States).

The library party was fun. Roger played his guitar and sang children and country-western songs which they

loved, including the adults. The kids made hand-made paper out ofbits of shredded paper, then cut them to make bookmarks.

- a project I got from the Peace Corps training from the week prior. It was so much fun that I hope to make it with my grand kids when I get back.

I lit my gas oven all by myself for the first time - after hearing the horror

story from former Peace Corps volunteer about lighting the oven wrong subsequently the oven exploded, I was a bit fearful. I made cupcakes for the kids - I got so excited about using my oven and the baking, I went out the next day to buy more cake mixes. Along with the cupcakes, Ms. Mary made little sandwiches and served fruit juices.

I baked more cupcakes to take to Heather's house for the evening gathering. She

made the most delicious Ratatouille - got the recipe if anyone wants it. It was fun spending some time with them. Pictured here

are volunteers from my group and the new group that came in March. Carol (sitting on the sofa) and I were the old folks there, and yeah, that's me standing with Heather.

Jacklin and I travelled to Punta Gorda, Toledo on Wednesday and Thursday - four hours on the bus one way. We spent the night which was a treat for us. Along with the president of DAVCO, we interviewed two candidates for the secretary job and then worked with the new secretary the next day to get the office functional.

Punta Gorda, a seaside town in the south, was a markedly different change from the rural countryside of Belize. Mostly Kechi and Mopan Mayans live in the Toledo District - similar but different than my San Antonio family of Mayan. The Toledo Mayans looked more traditional in dress and appearance. Another group living in Toledo, the Garifunas were a sharp contrast to the indigenous Mayans.

Throughout the country, small women groups work together to co-op a business or handcraft making - we found such a group producing wonderful basket weaving items. Because Belmopan has no place to buy these, I grabbed the opportunity to collect gifts for family and friends.

The DAVCO Toledo office sits next to the waters in an ideal location. The office is on the lower level of an inn owned by an ex-pat American who's been there for over

forty years. The place looked like it was formerly a restaurant/bar. The front area of the floor had wonderful old native artifacts - a harp hallowed out huge tree trunk, drums, masks and spears. He said that his wife saw no reason for keeping such old junk and told him to trash them. I told him that he could probably sell them to a gallery or museum.

The owner and I had an interesting discussion about Belize. I wanted his view on why Belize after thirty years of independence from Britain was

still struggling and underdeveloped considering its many natural resources and tropical/Caribbean paradise. For him, he felt that the British colonial system subverted and oppressed the population of slaves which resulted in a people not capable of rising to the challenge of building a functional government and infrastructure. The British left the country impoverished with no skilled workers or industry.