Last days in Belize, first days in Canada

The rest of the week with my parents was a wonderful time. Our routine over the last week was balanced between activity one day and then a day off after that. The heat really took a lot out of my parents, so we made sure that if we did something active one day we would relax and recoop the next. Tuesday was a laid back day. We walked around Placencia, went for our daily swim in the sea and just hung out. We were planning on heading Belize City on Wednesday but my friends Joseph and Shelley convinced us to stay one extra day. So instead of travelling on the bus through the country, we hopped a little fishermans boat and headed out onto the sea to Laughingbird Caye and National Park. The ride was bumpy, so much so that our tail bones were sore and bruised by the time we got there. The Caye is a small island with a shelter, barbecue, bathrooms and lots of Pelicans and Palm Trees. We spent about 4 hours between the water and the picnic tables. The beaches were amazing and soft, I would have stayed there forever if I could. We had a great time with Joseph and Shelley's three kids Travis, Amber and Beyonce. They were a hoot. My dad had so much fun bugging little Beyonce and she loved being picked on. On the way back our ride was significantly less bumpy as we were riding with the waves not against them. About 15 minutes into our ride we anchored the boat and did a little fishing in the sea it was great. Upon our return, we packed up our stuff, and got ready to meet Joseph and Shelley for a drink and a little Karaoke at the Purple Space Monkey, it was a great experience, some people made us plug our ears.....but I'm assuming that happens at all Karaoke clubs!!

Thursday morning we hopped the 6:45 am water taxi to Mango Creek and caught the 7:30 am Express Bus to Belize. I thought it would be nice for my parents to see the country as we didn't get a chance to make it into the Mayan Mountains, and the bus ride is perfect if you want to see the country side, and super inexpensive. I purposely packed my sweater as the A/C makes me freeze. We stopped in Dangriga, and a man came and sat beside me in the back of bus. We started talking about what I was doing down in Belize. When he found out I was a Deacon in the Anglican Church he told me he knew a Deacon in Belize. "Her name is Lorna Sampson," he said. I clapped my hands and said, "Lorna did an exchange at my seminary and she lived across the hall from me in Canada, her daughter is coming to pick us up at the airport." I replied. "You know Dawn as well? She's my god-daughter." It was so cool....and totally common in Belize. I don't think I ever took a bus ride that didn't involve me talking to a local who knew someone who I had gotten to know well during my time in Belize. It's amazing, how many people you get to know in such a short time. It didn't hit me until yesterday when I realized that I had actually met a lot more people than I thought I would, and a lot of them were situated outside of Mango Creek. Small world......I'm definitely going to miss that. We arrived in the city. Dawn Sampson picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel. It was amazing. The beds were divine, and they had douvee (sp) covers which I took total advantage of seeing that the room was air conditioned!!! Because the bus ride can take a lot out of a person, we laid low for the day because our Friday was going to be packed with activity. Friday, Dawn took the day off of work, and she and her neice and nephew joined me and my parents on an adventure to Jaguar Paw Resort to go Cave Tubing and Ziplining. What an awesome experience. My parents walked up a path for about a half an hour, made their way into the cave, hopped on their tubes and let the current take them down stream to where Diroune and I were waiting. They tubed through a massive pitch black cave that would open up so you could see the jungle as you were floating down stream. They couldn't stop talking about it. After their return, we hung out played in the river a little...my parents jumped off a cliff. My mom was stiff as a board when she jumped off the cliff and she landed in the water with her mouth open. Of all the people that jumped that day she was the only one to scream....we laughed pretty hard.

From there we made our way to the Ziplining section of the resort. We met our tour guides, got dressed for the occasion and briefed as to what was going to happen. The trip was 45 minutes and we would Zipline to 6 different platforms....the highest was 85 ft. It was amazing as we soared over the canopy of the rain forest, you felt like a monkey. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life. My mom is really afraid of heights but we convinced her to come. The majority of her time was spent with her face in the tree that the platform encircled......I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard at her and the noises she was making. I don't think the tour guides had laughed so much either, they got a kick out of watching my dad and I hound my mom as she held onto the tree for dear life!!! Now it's important to know that when I do things like this often I scream.....loudly. I was so proud that as we got to the last platform, I hadn't screamed once. It was time, to get down, and the tour guides lower you to the ground. So you're standing there and basically have to walk off the platform and pray that their ropes are secured. Before I walked off the platform, the one guide asked what speed I would like to be let down at, I said it didn't matter, thinking that I was all pro now. The first second and a half was a slow decent and then he let go of the rope.......I'm happy to report that my vocal chords are working and I'm pretty sure I scared any animal in the jungle away from us with my screech. As I got to the bottom of the tree the guide waiting for me was red he was laughing so hard.....all I could do was laugh as my knees knocked together.

Our final evening was spent having a wonderful supper with the Sampsons. They have been my Belizean family so it was wonderful to have the opportunity for my Canadian and Belizean families to spend time together. We had a wonderful time, we laughed a lot...it was a great way to end the week. At the same time it was really hard to leave. My parents kept telling me this week that they felt like they were taking me away and that was hard for them to do, particularly when they saw the people that I had gotten to know and grown close to. I must admit, it still hasn't sunk in that I'm not returning to Belize, coming back to Ponoka is like a vacation, and I need to keep reminding myself that my next destination isn't Belize. I miss the country and the people tremendously. Everyone that I talked to has told me to come back, and I can see myself making yearly trips to spend time with my new friends and family in Belize. I'm going to miss the gentle nature of the people, their humor and hospitality. I'm going to miss the laid backness of life in Belize and simplicity in which they live their lives. And yes I'm even going to miss the rodents that took up residency with me in the rectory.

After 14 hours of travel time I made it home in one piece. It was hard for me not to burst into tears as I flew farther and farther away from the country and people that quickly became home to me. I know the next few days are going to be hard. I'm excited to be home, yet homesick for Belize at the same time. I was welcomed to Edmonton by the graceful dance of the Northern Lights in the sky, and the captain updating me on the weather in Edmonton 16C (59F). It scared me, I haven't been in weather less then 85F and 100% humidity all summer!!

I've only been home a few hours and already I'm finding myself culture shocking a little. Having my luggage still in Denver doesn't help the situation either. :) In the airports I couldn't get over the hussle and bussle of the people. Everyone was running or speed walking to get somewhere, and all I could do was slowly walk to where I needed to go the fast pace of the America's can be overwhelming....it was to me. When I got home, I couldn't get over all of the pavement and the smoothness of the roads...it was a nice change from the pot hole roads in Belize, but with smooth pavement comes lots of traffic, traffic I'm not used to seeing. And walking into my parents house was a huge shock as well. There house is very large compared to the houses that people live in, in Belize. Not that the people are poor, their houses are just compact and small. I realized this morning that the first floor of our house is bigger than most peoples houses who have a family of 8. I don't really know what to do with all of the space. It's something that I will need to grow accustome to.....but the simplicity of housing and living in Belize is something I've really grown to love.

I've decided to continue to blog over the next couple of months as I tranisition myself into the North American culture. I figured it would be a good way to debrief and continue to reflect on the experience. Please keep me in your prayers, as I share my experiences with people and reflect on the work that God accomplished through me this summer. Also continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Belize as they continue to spread the Gospel through the country!