Chillin' in Punta Gorda

So I'm in Punta Gorda for a couple of days, have been walking around for about an hour and needed to get out of the sun for a bit. Came into this cafe and found they have internet and thought I would update you a bit on my last couple of days!
As a treat to myself I decided a couple of weeks ago that I was going to spend a couple of days in Punta Gorda, the major and captial town situated in the Toledo District. It's a town I haven't been too, and it's the largest town in the south of Belize. Surrounded by numerous Mayan Villages, the Toledo District is lush and green. Tones of palm trees and other green trees (I'm not sure what they are) and the district is one of two districts that remain mostly untouched, as it is fully of national parks. The drive was beautiful, that is, once I caught the bus. My journey here was eventful and I found myself to be chuckling a lot last night as I looked back on it. So I figured I would fill you in while I have a bit of time.

I woke up bright and early yesterday morning (July 15) to catch the Express Bus to P.G. It was to come around between 9:00 and 9:30. So I packed up my stuff and headed to Tony's Supermarket. Sat on the sidewalk and waited. Mango Creek was pretty dead, so I pulled out a book that my mom had sent me in the mail and started reading it. I was really into it, so much so that when the James Bus pulled up in front of Tony's at 9:20 to drop people off and pick me up, I didn't even notice it was there.....and these buses are super loud! I just kept reading, it wasn't until the bus was about 50 yards away that I looked up to make sure I hadn't missed it that I realized.....I missed it!! Now had this happened to me 2 months ago, I probably would have panicked and freaked out....but it was very very apparent to me yesterday that I have almost completely adapted to the "don't worry about it" attitude of the Belizeans. After realizing I missed the bus, I picked my stuff up, and walked down the street to sit at the bus stop. I was getting lonely at Tony's and there was no shade and I was getting hot. So I hung out with others waiting for the bus, and hung out with some of the cab drivers who were waiting for the next bus to arrive. Turns out the next bus to P.G. wasn't scheduled to come by until 11:00 or 11:30.

I caught the 11:15 bus and enjoyed a beautiful 2 hour drive to Punta Gorda. Upon my arrival, the bus conductor asked where I would like to be dropped off. I told him where I was staying and they dropped me off right in front of the hotel that I had decided to crash at. The owner of the hotel is super sweet, I ended up interrupting his lunch, as I had arrived when everything is closed (between 1:00 and 2:00) but I got the last single room. It's purple! He checked everything in the room to make sure it was working, we found out the T.V. didn't work. So he said he would send someone over to take a look. When he got to the room, he tried to fix the t.v. no such luck, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do. So i packed up my valuables, and went for a walk, and asked the guy to shut the door behind him, that way I could make myself familiar with the place. While walking up Front Street. A couple of young men hollared out to me. Being the friendly person I am I stopped for what I thought was going to be a quick "hello where are you from" conversation. WRONG!!! I think they were a little drunk. One of the guys kept telling me I was the most beautiful woman he had ever met and they were very persistent in inviting me to their village in Columbia. I refused....over and over and over again! When I finally tried to get a move on, they followed me, I needed to find a tour agency to see if I could hop a tour to a Mayan Ruin, and I needed to get some lunch. So my afternoon was spent with a couple of young tipsy guys, who insisted that I visit their village. I found myself being very blunt with them. And for the first time all summer, getting quite annoyed. They ended up paying for my meal, which I thanked them for, and as I left the resturaunt I walked into a Supermarket to buy something that I could munch on in the evening. Best decision of the day. Because I haven't seen them since :)

I came back to my hotel, registered with the owner, and went to my room. Only problem was, I couldn't unlock the door. Something had happened with the needle in the lock after the t.v. guy had left, it got stuck and my door wouldn't open. So they had to pry the door open with a crowbar....thankfully they didn't have to replace the lock. I laughed pretty hard. You could tell that the guys at the hotel were a bit embarrassed, so I tried to assure them that it's not a problem...and that I'm not going to give them a bad rap. Actually....all of the events of the day makes me want to come back to St. Charles Inn!!

After getting back into my room and relaxing for a while, I decided to take a walk to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. I bumped into a man on my walk from one of the neighbouring villages. His wife died 5 years ago in child birth, and his other children have grown and have moved away and he doesn't see them. After hearing his story I wanted to cry, not just becasue I felt sorry for the guy, but because I was blown away by his faith. The last couple of weeks have been difficult for me and there were moments where I lost sight of why I was here, I got caught up in worrying how I was going to pull things off, and my mind was focusing on one thing....me. He said to me almost immediately into our conversation after telling me about his hardships that, "God doesn't give us more then we can handle." It was such a simple statement, but a profound one at the same time a statement that I know I'm going to have to remind myself of everyday!! I couldn't help but recognize Christ in this stranger, and it was that recognition and presence that almost brought me to tears. It was a blessing.

One of the things that I have been witness to here in Belize is the faith that people have. Every conversation that I've had with locals has almost immediatley begun by talking about God. I know what you're thinking, "they know that you're the Deacon." But that's just the thing, I don't tell them until usually the end of our conversation when they ask what I'm doing in Belize. So I know that they aren't talking to me about God and faith because they know I'm a Deacon, cause I usually don't say anything. Maybe it's because I'm white and they associate white people with missionaries.....I don't know. Or maybe they just have really strong faith, and even if they aren't "church goers" they aren't afraid to proclaim their faith to the people they meet. This is something I need to reflect on and talk to some of the locals and members of St. Michael's about.

After my walk, I went back to the hotel, to do some report writing for my internship. I wrote for a couple of hours and then decided to get ready for bed. I was overjoyed and almost screamed when I found out that the showers at St. Charles Inn has HOT WATER!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!! It was glorious!!! I've never smiled so much in the shower in my life.....and had probably one of the longest showers all summer!!! I'm very excited to get ready for bed this evening!!!

I headed down to the market in Punta Gorda this morning. Wednesdays and Saturdays are market days. P.G. definitely comes to life there are lots of people in town and you get to see all different types of vegetables, and seafood throughout the market. The Mayan's from the villages around town come into town at 5:00am, they bring their vegetables and sit on the street under umbrellas for the morning selling their goods. It's been really neat. I spent about 20 minutes standing outside the fish market as I watched people pick out their pick for the day. It was neat!!

After lunch I will head back to the hotel, and relax, I'm still not feeling 100% but am getting better, and figured that I should use the next couple of days not only to get ahead on writing but also to give myself a rest. I'm hoping to head out with a tour group tomorrow to check out some ruins, waterfalls and maybe go for a hike in the Jungle....I really hope it pans out. Anyway, that's been my last couple of days in a nutshell. Over and out.....for now!!