1) "Hey guys! We're half way to somewhere! We're almost there!" These are the words of Edwin, one of the tour guides that took us wandering through the jungle in search of a river. I don't think I've ever heard it stated better.
2) Carmen San Diego lied to me. Okay. Maybe not lied to me me, but definitely misguided me. "From Berlin down to Belize" was not sufficient to prepare me for what I saw. The city was more like Jamaica than my previous Latin America experience. Once we went out into the country, it seemed a little more Latin to me, but at the same time, the jungle TOTALLY threw me off. I'm not going to lie. It is probably the poorest country I've ever experienced. Which leads to...
3) I'm proud to be an American. I grew up here. I left for a while, but I came back. After chatting with Dennis (our local tour guide) about the economy, I learned quite a bit (and I'm sure this same thing applies to other third world countries as well). There are intelligent people in Belize that actually have good business sense and a good understanding of how to make the country thrive physically, socially, and economically, BUT they all leave the country for their education. They never come back. That doesn't help the country. Ever.
4) Allspice smells like Christmas. I actually discovered that earlier in the month while I was out for cocoa with some friends, but we couldn't peg the actual spice that was used to flavor the cocoa. I only realized that when Dennis knocked a few leaves out of the allspice tree (which apparently only grows in the jungle?!?) and crushed them up and passed them around for us to smell. HEAVENLY. Perfect for hot cocoa.
(I have to apologize for the lack of pictures. We were in the water A LOT this day and therefore had one of the cheapie waterproof film cameras. They don't download so quickly as digital).
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