Who Knew?

Who knew? Here are some interesting (or not-so-interesting!) bits of trivia I learned while in Belize...take them for what they are....!

Supposedly it is illegal to bring Pepsi into Belize - and offenders can face a huge fine PER CAN! Supposedly, some big head honcho in the Belize government has a share of Coke - and so don't go to Belize if you're expecting to drink Pepsi products. I can handle Diet Coke, but I sure did miss my Diet Dr. Pepper.

There is an abandoned plane on the runway at Belize City - our taxi driver told us that years ago, the plane was confiscated when it was caught trying to smuggle drugs in from Columbia. The government meant to auction off of the plane but never got around to it - and now it won't "start."

Rice and beans is a very traditional dish of Belize - and sure enough, we ate a lot of rice and beans. Thankfully, it was good.

The national beer of Belize is Belikin - and it is surprisingly good. The women of Belize will cut it by 50% with Sprite - making it taste (supposedly) just like champagne. Hmmmm....I never tried that - but it sounds interesting.

Belize's money is also called "dollars" - but it runs about 50% of the value of our dollar. It was nice to divide everything by half to get the U.S. price. I like easy conversion.....!

I couldn't understand why I had never heard of Belize growing up as a child - until I realized that when I grew up, it was known as the "British Honduras". It didn't become "Belize" until 1973. It's the only country in Central/South America where English is the primary language.

The barrier reef on the coast of Belize is the 2nd-largest in the world - only the Great Barrier Reef of Australia is bigger. It's a great place to dive and snorkel - lots of marine life.

I loved Belize - it was nice to not have to use my basic Spanish to communicate with the children. And the weather? Awesome - absolutely beautiful. I also felt very safe while in the country - which was nice. Perhaps we'll visit it again one day on a future mission trip.

Peace.