It’s all over the news—Swine Flu. It started in either Cancun or Mexico City. There were some deaths and it was a big scare for the us’s in Belize. I wasn’t scared of course. I’m hardcore.
I did find it quite interesting how people in a technology/medical supply-less society cope with a possible pandemic. Getting lab results is not as easy as picking them up from the lab tech down the road or in one’s local hospital. For Belizeans, their spit stick has to travel to Trinidad and possibly Miami to be read and then sent back which is why there were 4 undetermined cases for over a week.
We taught our kids how to wash their hands well using soap and singing the Happy Birthday song.
I am definitely grateful for the healthcare in the States, although I don’t appreciate the health insurance system. One bonus about paying for health services here in Belize is that you don’t have to—socialized medicine is the way to be!
We had the choice to leave early, but I didn’t want to do that cuz I’m hardcore. They did change our departure city from Cancun to Belize City.
As I am typing, I am feeling the outside breeze situated in a cool hand-painted chair about 50 yards from the bluest ocean I have ever seen. The Blue Tang hotel is quite fabulous. I had a HOT shower yesterday and just stood there for 15 minutes—bliss! I am about to go find some nachos without cheese here in a little bit.
Last night, I met some Garifuna people which are the Black natives from Belize. They were just chillin on their porch talking. I stayed with them for the afternoon and got to play with them. He happened to be a musician and played around town. He said he had instruments at his house. I told him I was interested and he spun off on his bike.
He came back with a drum 2 feet in diameter that you put between your legs. They told me to grip it like I would my boyfriend and I was about to ask them, “Oh! How do you do that?”
He also had 2 shakers and 3 tortoise shells that hung down your torso and was tied with a string that you put around your neck. He needed sticks to beat them with. So he found a random 1.5x1.5 that you would find in Lowe’s, cut it into two pieces, and used that to beat the tortoise shells. Belizeans don’t waste anything (For example, I saw two outdoor chairs that were actually car seats at one time in their life plopped outside someone’s door.)
We played for about an hour and he told me about the 5 languages he spoke: English, Spanish, Creole, Garifuna, and a little Mayan. There’s nothing like seeing a city from the eyes of a local.
My favorite song that he sang was part English and Garifuna. The lyrics were: “She used to have a nice little house/but now she wants a skyscraper. /She used to drive a small car/but now she wants a limousine./We used to make love on the floor/but now she wants a waterbed.” I was entertained.
I walked on San Pedro (a not-island-island) which is a peninsula to see the vendors catering to Americans. I found some orange-pineapple sorbet and the BEST $1.50 burrito I have had while here. I don’t know WHAT they put in that thing. It’s kinda funny because next to our hotel which is oceanfront, the food is the price of Applebee’s or more. Two streets down, you can find local food which is mega cheap. I’ll go for the cheap.
I’m also in the process of preparations for my 22nd birthday. I will be a multiple of 11 tomorrow! I’m pretty psyched about that. But more on that during my next blog.
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