Celebrating 10 years of marital bliss (part 5): Belize - UPDATED!

When we arrived in Belize, we were ready for a break from the sunny beaches and humid heat, so we hopped into an air conditioned van with only four other people plus a tour guide and drove all the way across the country to within three miles of Guatemala.  Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and fluent in multiple languages.  I enjoyed trying to guess what he was saying when we spoke English Creole to friends along the way.  I was able to understand at least some of what he said when he spoke Spanish to another tour guide.

Our church sends out dozens of short term missions teams around the world each year, but one of the largest mission teams we send out every year is a group of high school seniors who go to Belize during spring break.  I wanted to see the heart of the country, not just the tourist stops.

As we traveled, we saw a lot of uniformed school children waiting at bus stops, walking, or biking to school.  Older siblings would walk hand-in-hand with their younger siblings.  Children in Belize receive a free education up to 8th grade.  Much of this education is funded and provided by Catholic schools instead of the government.

The country is quite poor, and I shed tears in the van as we passed the delapidated shacks along the rural parts of the main highway.  The country gets very hot in the summer.  When we were there, the temperatures were just beginning their summer climb.   Belize City is two feet below sea level and experiences a lot of flooding.  So, many homes are raised similar to those we have at our beaches, except they are built very modestly.  I saw older couples sitting in rocking chairs underneath their unairconditioned homes trying to keep cool.  How do they manage during the really hot and rainy season?

The country is predominately Catholic except for a number of Protestant missions and a large Mennonite population (10%).  We saw Mennonites with their horses and buggies selling wares.  I tried to take a photo through the window of our moving van with our "antique" camera (our SLRs were at home and our brand new digital point-and-shoot camera died at our first stop), but it came out quite blurry.

We traveled to the Zunantunich Mayan ruins, but we first had to use a ferry to get our van across the pretty river.

 

The flora and fauna were beautiful.  Our guide gave us the proper and slang names for many of the new plants we saw.  My favorite tree there had bright orange blossoms and was aptly named "Flamboyant".  We asked our guide about a tree that had really bizarre looking fruit.  The guide informed us that the tree is called "horse's balls" and crude as it may sound, the name perfectly describes the appearance of the fruit.  Our guide cut a slice out of the fruit and a sticky white glue oozed out.  He explained that Elmers Company originally purchased this fruit from Belize to make glue, but now Elmers uses synthetic products.

Note the photo at the lower right in the layout above depicting a Mayan ball court.  Our modern sport of basketball supposedly began with the Mayans.  Our guide said that they were the first people to take rubber from their trees and use it to construct a round ball.  In their games, instead of using a hoop, they had a horizontal opening not much larger than the ball in which they would stuff the ball for a point.  The winner of the game had the "privilege" of being sacrificed to their "gods". Why anyone would want to play such a game just to be sacrificed seems like a mystery to Americans, but that mindset may not be all that different from that held by those who strap bombs to their chests today.

The excursion description instructed us to wear sneakers for the tour.  I knew we would be climbing stairs to reach the top of the 130' temple (the highest structure in Belize) and looked forward to experiencing one of my favorite forms of exercise.  The actual building is over 205' but the bottom part cannot be fully excavated without damaging the structure.  Our guide said that the original building was painted bright purple (color of royalty), red (from Mahogany), and green (representing the center of the earth).

When we arrived, we saw young people at the top of the tallest structure sitting on the ledge with their feet dangling over the edge.  One gal appeared to be running along the edge.  When we began the climb, I was surprised by the steepness of each step.  During Mayan times, only the Mayan ruler was allowed to climb it, and he was likely no taller than 3 feet, so I'm not sure how he managed to climb those stairs.  I expected to find hand rails and safety guards around the steps and edges of the structure.  The climb was quite narrow, too.  I made the mistake of looking down when I was halfway up and then realized that one wrong step, stumble or slip could send me tumbling 130 feet to the ground, bouncing along rocks during the unfortunate descent. At that point, I had my first ever panic attack.  I've climbed many buildings and hiked numerous mountains.  I have taken rock climbing courses and love repelling down steep walls.  However, in every other instance, I have had ropes or handrails to support me.  I thought about my children and all that courage and spirit of daring adventure I possessed in my youth vanished.  Thankfully, I did make it to the top, but I clung inside the cleft of the rock.   My husband walked right up to the edge and took some great photos while I wished he had more life insurance.   While hiding between those two rock walls I prayed for the peace that passes all understanding, and it fell upon me.  I climbed back down the structure slowly but without the fear I had during the ascent.

Psalm 46

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.

Climbing down

We climbed down that upper facing for this mid-way landing shot.

The one and only area with handrails.

After touring the remaining plazas and structures at Zunantunich, our guide drove us through the downtown district of a larger city where international (Chinese, Thai, Indian, etc.) food offerings abounded. Then he took us to a nice open restaurant where school children gathered for lunch and recreation on the playground.  We were served authentic rice and beans, chicken, and fried plantains.  The food was very flavorful and seemed as tasty to me as any of the gourmet entrees we were served on the cruise ship.