Finally in Punta Gorda!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! It's been a crazy couple of weeks here in Belize. I am just finishing up my in country orientation which has given me the opportunity to get acclimated to Belize...and my new home for the next two years --> Punta Gorda! (or PG as everyone calls it). The ride down to PG from Belize City was absolutely beautiful. It was about a five hour ride on the express bus line which is a considerable amount of time seeing that Belize is about the size of Massachusetts. Just as in Belize City, the heat in PG is at times pretty rough - just to give you a little sense of the heat, it's normal here to sweat through your shirt...entirely. Although I don't think I'll ever quite get used to the heat, I think I'm well on my way to getting used to the sweating.

One of the most exciting parts of finally arriving in PG was seeing my house for the first time. From the outside it looks as though the house is a run down, abandoned structure that is about to blow over (which it very well might). Inside, the house a lot of character (check out the pictures link on the right hand side of the blog page!). One of the greatest aspects of the house is the fact that it is literally across the street from the Caribbean Sea! We sit out on our veranda in our hammocks on the front of the house and stare out at the sea. On nice days we can look out at the water and see Guatemala and Honduras. It's amazing. And when we get really hot, we walk down the veranda steps and cross the street and jump right into the water off of the walkway. The water is always filled with kids from the neighborhood.

The good news about the house is that I have yet to see a rat (a live one at least). I've also become quite immune to the sight of cockroaches. Now they're just giant bugs that chase me around the kitchen every now and then as I run in circles while my community mates laugh. The bad news is the mosquitoes and other such flies are out of control here in Belize! My legs and arms are covered in bug bites and the bug spray only seems to help temporarily. There's one bug called a doc fly that is the bane of my existence! These little buggers love me for some reason. The annoying thing about them is that when they bite, the bug bite begins to swell quite rapidly. The other day one got me right on my pinkie finger, it swelled so bad I couldn't bend it - my pinkie looked like it belonged to a 450 pound man. The good thing is, they're not dangerous...just annoying as hell!

One of the great things about the in country orienation is that it has allowed us first year volunteers to really experience a wide range of activities in Belize. One of the experiences included our own individual two night homestays with a local family (I will be posting on this experience). We were also able to go on two weekend trips into the local villages. Our first trip was to the traditional Mayan Mopan village of San Antonio. On this trip I had to opportunity to make homemade corn tortillas with two older Mayan women - surprisingly they said I was a fast learner. Our second trip was to the Garifuna village of Barranco. Barranco differed greatly from San Antonio as the Garifuna and Mayan cultures are vastly different. This is one of the most amazing aspects of Belize - it is a country made up of so many different cultures including Creole, Garifuna, East Indians, Mayan Mopan and Mayan K'eckchi. Throughout our two weeks of orientation we also had the opportunity to kayak in the Caribbean Sea as well as take a trip to one of Belize's national parks where we cliff jumped into the waterfalls of Rio Blanco. All in all, Belize has already been more than expected and can only imagine what else lies ahead.