Wordless Wednesday: Vitamin D

Sunrise in Belize....

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.

The Children of Belize

One of the best aspects of this recent mission trip to Belize was the children - as I've already previously posted. We got to interact with the children during recess - and while some of our members played volleyball, soccer, frisbee, or other games with the kids, I used my camera to interact.

I carry a Nikon D50 camera, and the children LOVED playing with it. They would literally line up to take turns taking a picture - after I would show them how. With some of the older children, I got into more details, such as zooming in and out, changing the settings, "framing" the subject, etc - and some of the photos that the kids took turned out pretty good!

Here are some of the photos that the kids took:






Here are some "sneak" photos I took with my zoom lens so the children didn't know they were being photographed:






Aren't the children beautiful? I think kids - no matter their nationality, culture, color, etc - are wonderful, and I enjoy nothing more than interacting with all of them. It was tough to say goodbye to these kids - I was bawling - but I hope to go back some time in the future. Maybe for more photography lessons - as some of these kids have some real talent!

Peace.

The Bumps of Belize

Bumps...bumps everywhere....

That is my impression of Belize...

Mosquito bite bumps (all over me - geesh, I swear every mosquito in a 5-mile radius knows the minute I walk out the door!), goosebumps (it's been rather chilly here in Belize sometimes)...

...and speed bumps.

Lots and lots of speed bumps.

There are so many of them, that I've given the speed bump signs "names" - depending on their personality. You may have to use your imagination on this - but just look at the pictures I've taken of the signs, and think about it for a minute.

We have the triple bump, also known as the "Alien" Bump:

Then, we have the four-bump sign, also known as the "Puppy Litter" Bump:

Next, we have the no-bump sign, also known as the "Unibrow" Bump:

And last, but not least, we have my favorite, known as the "Dolly" Bump, for obvious reasons:

Yes, I'm still in Belize - and just having some fun....we finished our project today and tomorrow, we head to San Pedro in Ambergris Caye for some fun in the sun....

Peace. And don't let the bumps in life get you down - have some fun with them, like I did. :)

I Love Me Some Field Trips!

When you put me with hundreds of children - and in a classroom - you have created Paradise for me. Seriously. Crazily enough, I love children - hundreds and hundreds of them - and I love being in school. This mission trip is Nirvana for me - I can't imagine a trip being better as far as the project that we have.

Today, we performed our "bratty" skit in front of the children of Corozal - and this time, I got a round of applause! :) It may have been when I mentioned we were giving them gifts - and not so much for my acting skills - but hey, appreciation is appreciation, and applause is music for the soul for any actor!

After our skit in Assembly, it was time to work...but today, my work was in the classroom. I got put into a pre-school classroom of 33 children (yikes!) and I did Kindergarten screenings all morning with the children. I set up a little table outside (bliss!) and brought the students out, 1 by 1, and went through the series of questions and activities with them.

Sometimes, it was difficult due to the language - although English is the primary language in Belize, we are so close to the Mexican border that some of the children speak Spanish primarily. One of the questions I had to ask was, "What is this table made of?" One child answered, "Mesa." I said, "I know it's a "mesa" - but what is the "mesa" made of?" And she rattled off a Spanish word I have never heard of - I had no idea what she said....hmmmm.....does she get credit or not??!

Another activity involved drawing a person - and the child needed to draw 5 identifiable parts to get credit. One little boy drew the stick figure (which is what most kids drew - very basic) and he added the eyes, nose, arms - but then only one leg. He sat his crayon down - and he was done - and I couldn't help but notice that his figure only had one leg. This was interesting - of course, I had to delve further....

"Who is this a picture of?" I asked.

"My father", the child replied.

I hesitated for a moment, and then plunged right in...."Does your father only have one leg?" I asked.

He looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "No."

Oh. Okay. Maybe he's an Impressionist artist or perhaps he's a future Dali or Picasso???!! I just thought it was funny.

At lunch time, I was on the front porch of the pastor's house, eating some delicious barbecue, when a Belize Red Cross van went whizzing by....

"Oh my God!" I screamed.... "I SO wish I could have taken a picture of that van to show my American Red Cross friends!"

But it was too late - it was long gone....

Later, during recess, I was playing with some girls when a little boy came running up to me, and said, breathless, "Sherri!!!! The Red Cross truck is back!!! Don't you want a picture of it??!!!"

Wow - I couldn't believe that little boy had remembered that I had said that at lunch - and had then made the effort to run and find me so I could get my photo...that's why I love these children!

I got my necessary photo and then had an opportunity to talk with fellow volunteers - which was pretty amazing.

Now, we've all determined that the best word at school in the English is "recess" - followed by "lunch", perhaps...but there are two other WONDERFUL words that I always loved to hear when I was at school, and those words are:

FIELD TRIP!!!!

Yes, dear readers - my pre-school class had an afternoon field trip planned and the teacher graciously invited me along. We boarded up the school bus with 2 pre-school classes and dozens of parents and two teachers - and then went about 10 minutes down the road to the Santa Rita Mayan Ruins.

The children spent about 10 minutes looking at the ruins and then another 35 minutes running around a nearby park - isn't that the way it always is??!!!

A great day spent with the children - and an evening with devotional messages from fellow team members - and then a long, pleasant stroll through the streets of the village - with perfect weather and a faithful dog named "John" following us the entire way.

Again - life doesn't get much better....

Peace.

Being A Brat Comes Natural

I love it when I get to play the brat.

Of course, my hubby would tell you that playing the brat is an every day occurrence - and that it comes naturally to me. But I would disagree, of course. I only turn on the "brat" when I don't get my way - or when I'm in a skit being performed by our mission team in front of hundreds of Belizan school children.

We visited a small village yesterday, Libertad, where we put on our skit - which we acted as students in a classroom with a teacher. I was the bratty, disruptive kid who didn't show "patience" - the theme of our skit. I had the kids giggling - which is an actor's dream....and actually, it really did come easy for me to be the brat. Hmmm......

After the skit, we headed back to Corrazal, where we went back to work on painting the new addition to the school. Recess at 9:30, lunch at noon, and recess again at 2:30 gave us opportunities to drop the tools and play with the children again.



Yesterday was very hot - very sweaty - but so warm in the love oozing from these children.


It is going to be very hard to say goodbye tomorrow - I am already dreading it....

But in the meantime, I plan on having as much fun as I can - recess is great!



Peace.

Concrete Dust & Kids

Lots and lots of children...and lots and lots of concrete dust...

My impressions of our first day at work in Belize....

We spent the day working in some new classrooms - where we scraped and scraped and scraped the "bumps" off of the concrete walls and floor...It was hard, dusty work - but thankfully, God gave us cool breezes today so we didn't die of heat prostration!

Every time the school had "recess", so did we - we'd drop our tools and head to the playground where we'd play with the kids. Kickball, soccer, football, frisbee - and photography lessons. The kids are fascinated by my camera - so I lined them up and let them "play" with it and take photos. I ended up with 200+ pictures of myself. Not exactly what I was wanting - I kept telling them to take photos of their friends - and so all I can say is, thank God for the "delete" button!

Very good day - the children are awesome. They hug us, they love on us, and they have welcomed us with open arms.

Who knew "recess" could be so magical - even as an adult?!

Peace.

A Belikin-Flavored Super Bowl

Sunday morning: two different churches with amazing worship services and beautiful children...

Sunday afternoon: one set of Indiana-Jones inspired Mayan ruins and beautiful Belizan beaches...




Sunday evening: drinking Belikin beer & Coke in an open-air bar on the coast of Belize, with the waves crashing on one side and the Super Bowl on a projector TV on the other - watching the Saints come from behind to win.... At the bar during the game....

The game on the projector TV....

Add in absolutely perfect weather (sunny, warm, with a little ocean breeze) along with 13 amazing friends....

Does life get any better than this?

I don't think so.

Peace.

I've Arrived in Belize!

Note to self: If you are not completely recovered from a sinus infection, with resulting pressure on your ears, do not even CONSIDER flying on a plane - ever again.

The flight from Kansas City to Dallas - almost resulted in a burst eardrum. It was all I could do to hold it together while the plane was descending. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

During our 5-hour layover in Dallas, about all I could focus on was how I would survive the flight to Belize. I was in a tailspin, that's for sure.

Some of my traveling partners - bless their souls - took my situation to the help desk at the airport. There, 3 flight attendants happened to be standing around, and they all 3 quickly chimed in with advice. Buy some gum. Take another Sudafed. Buy some Afrin at the airport shop and USE it. Get a warm compress on my ears immediately.

So - I did it all. Yup - I bought the gum. I took another Sudafed. I bought the Afrin and sprayed. I got a warm towel (thanks, Dallas American Airlines employees - you rock) and hot water and held it on my ear.

When I boarded the plane, the situation was quickly explained to my flight attendant - and she made it her personal mission to see to my comfort on that flight.

I did okay on the ascent and most of the flight. It was during the descent that all hell broke loose - again. I survived - without a shattered eardrum - but just barely. Damn, that hurt. I mean, it hurt worse than childbirth.

But - God was with me. I happened to be sitting right next to a physician. No kidding. Who talked me through it and also gave me tips and advice. He also gave me the bad news that it would probably take 3 weeks to kick this infection, so yes, I would probably be flying home on the 14th with this same problem. Great.

Anyway - I'm okay. I have fluid on my ears right now (5 hours after landing) and so I can't hear very well at all - but the doctor said that is normal and it would eventually go away.

Belize is awesome. It's warm. Very warm. And we didn't see much, as we left the airport and then drove north for 2 hours, arriving in Corozal around 7:00 p.m. tonight. And it was dark. Tomorrow - church and then some Mayan ruins. Should be fun.

And - I met Phil, the Guatemalan Mission guy and his wife today at the airport - so we could discuss future Guatemala mission trips. That was awesome.

So - my ears are sore, but all is well in my world. Thanks to all of your well wishes; you all are great!

Peace.

Damn the Alarm Clock

There is just something WRONG when your alarm clock goes off at 2:45 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Seriously wrong.

But – it’s trip day. Up at 2:45 a.m., so I can leave the house by 3:20 a.m., and be at the airport by 4:30 a.m.

I seriously need to either schedule later flights or move closer to the airport, cuz this really sucks.

A 6:00 a.m. flight from Kansas City to Dallas, and I’ll arrive in Dallas at 7:45 a.m. And then, the fun part…our flight for Belize doesn’t leave until 12:45 p.m. So – I have a 5-hour layover. Oh, joy.

Now – here’s the exciting part…awhile back, I blogged about meeting the most fascinating person on my flight back from Jamaica this past January. He was the flight attendant on that flight, and in his spare time, he leads mission trips to Guatemala. We ended up talking on that flight for 90 minutes – it was such a God-moment, that it was downright spooky.

Well – guess who’s going to be at the Dallas airport tomorrow? Waiting for a flight? OMG – YES! Phil, my fellow “Guatemala Groupie”, has an 11:00 a.m. flight out of Dallas tomorrow – along with his wife– and so we are all meeting up at the terminal so we can talk about – what else – Guatemala missions!

Again – what a God moment – that we would BOTH be at the Dallas airport tomorrow at the same time…of course, he works for American Airlines, so he has a good excuse – but still….how weird is that?!

I am always amazed how God “pushes” us down paths that we may not have taken if left on our own.

We should arrive in Belize City around 4:00 p.m. – and then we’ll hit the road and head north – to a little village called Corozal. It’s about 20 minutes south of the Mexican border, on the coast. The hotel we’re staying at has a website here - looks pretty nice for a mission trip, compared to SOME places I've stayed at.

We’re in Corozal, working, until next Friday – at which time we head to Ambergris Caye until Sunday. We’ll be staying at a place called The Tides Beach Resort. There, we’ll have some fun in the sun and unwind a little bit before we head back home.

It should be a good trip. Fourteen of us, total. Seven from my church and 7 from the partner church, working at a local church and school with children.

But…still….2:45 a.m.? Ugh.

Peace.

I Totally Screwed Up

As much as I love to travel, and as much as I love to go on mission trips, AND - as much as I love to escape the frozen, snowy, icy tundra of the midwest and head south this time of year -

I made a horrible, horrible, HUGE boo-boo when I signed on for this trip to Belize.

A mistake of epic proportions that can't be undone - that can't be fixed - and will forever live now, in my memory, as the year of the "What the hell was she thinking???!!!???!!" moment.

I know, I know - you all thought I was perfect. It's understandable. Most people do. I even get caught up in that belief every now and then - and then I am shamefully brought down to earth with a shattering thud when I realize I SCREWED UP. Big time.

"What is it?" you ask, in breathless wonder...."What can be so horrible about this trip? What did you screw up?"

Well, I'll tell you, Dear Readers. I hope you're sitting down. And aren't prone to heart attacks or anything. Because when you read this, the shock of it may send you into an immediate faint/coma - or to the nearest cardiac unit to get revived.

Are you ready?

Sure?

Okay....here goes....

....taking deep breath.....

I am going to miss the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Oh. My. God.

Seriously.

You're looking at one of the BIGGEST, most FANATICAL football fans in the country - who lives and dies for Sundays during football season -

- and I will be in a Belizan jungle on Sunday.

Oh. My. God.

I can set the DVR to record it - but...deep sigh....it's just not the same.

Sigh.

Peace.

My Brush with Hurricane Wilma

I'm heading to Belize on Saturday - another mission trip - only this time, working more in construction and with children. More up my ally.

The last time I was in Belize, Hurricane Wilma decided to join me. I didn't invite her - if anything, she was the LAST traveling partner I would have brought along. History says she was the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlanta basin - and she did reach a Category 5. She was nasty.

It was in 2005 - and we were on a Western Caribbean cruise... We had spent the good part of the cruise about one day ahead of Hurricane Wilma - she was chasing us around, we were running full-steam ahead of her - dodging this way, feigning that way, doing our best to avoid her and her treacherous path - but when we reached Belize - she caught us.

Oh, it was a mess. Lots and lots of rain...cats and dogs, buckets, you name it - winds whipping at us - as we traversed the streets of Belize City in a little cab driven by a wonderful Belizan named Douglas. We had planned on going cave-tubing that day, but duh - all shore excursions were cancelled, due to Wilma. We survived a harrowing tender ride from the ship to the port, where Hubby turns to me, and asks,

"So - do you want to go snorkeling? I mean, I know it's raining and all - but we'd be wet anyway. We'll be in the water and we won't even notice the rain."

I looked at him like he'd just grown 4 heads....and said, "Uh yeah...but I WOULD notice the 6-foot swells out there! We're on the edge of a hurricane, dude! And I DON'T SWIM!!!"

Maybe he had ulterior motives...I suspect he had increased my life insurance or something before we left. Hmmm....

I'm not the smartest bulb in the bunch, but I DO know to not go snorkeling in a hurricane. (Well, the edge of a hurricane, anyway. We were "in the outer bands" at this point.)

Anyway, we DIDN'T snorkel - but we did opt to go on a little driving tour of the country - in the pouring rain, in the wind - and we had a great time that day with Douglas. Douglas made a drippy day very sunny for us with his obvious love for his country. He even proudly took us to his house that day.

Later that afternoon, we had another harrowing ride on the tender back to the ship - it was awful.

The next day, we learned that 7 people had died in Belize the day before - 2 people were killed in a small airplane crash at the airport, (trying to land in the winds), and 5 fishermen had died when their boat overturned at sea. And hubby had wanted to go snorkeling. Geesh.

I'm so glad it's not hurricane season now. Although rain is in the forecast for Belize next week, it can't be as bad as 2005. When Wilma tagged along with us the day we were in Belize. Bleh.

Peace.

Same Old, Same Old

Wow.

Still sick. Now, I'm saying prayers it doesn't turn into bronchitis or pneumonia. Kinda' seems that is what it is trying to do. That would suck. I had pneumonia back in 1993 - and it was horrible. Took me forever to recover from it.

I leave this Saturday for an 8-day mission trip to Belize - and so I have to get better. Fast. No more pain & pressure; no more coughing; no more tightness in my chest. No more. Be gone, already. Please.

What's even worse - I had a huge "to-do" list that I wanted to accomplish before I went out of town - all of those "Mom" things and errands that would leave my household all nice and organized while I was gone. Well - it ain't happening. Nothing much is happening except for me, lying here in bed, surrounded by Kleenex and medication and fluids. I'm trying to drink lots of fluids. I'm trying to get lots of rest. I'm trying to do all of the right things.

So - I apologize my blog seems to have "fixated" on being sick - I guess since I've done nothing but spend the last 5-6 days in bed, my life is pretty dull right now. I have this HUGE adventure coming up in a few days - but if I don't get better - I don't get to go. Argh.

Well - one more day; one more day of being miserable. Here's hoping tomorrow is another day and I'll be on the mend. In the meantime, everyone - take care. :)

Exploding Ears!

Brought to my knees by a sinus infection.

That's the official diagnosis from the doctor today. Yes, hell froze over, folks - the day the Drama Queen picks up a phone and calls for a doctor's appointment for HERSELF is a small miracle. Goes to show how miserable I've been feeling the last 3 days. After suffering through another horrible, sleepless, painful night - I called the doctor's office today at 9:30 a.m. The receptionist said they could see me at 9:50 a.m.

I had seen the doctor and was leaving with prescriptions in hand by 10:02 a.m.

Now, THAT's service.

I probably would have let things go except for the fact that I have another mission trip (to Belize!) coming up in a week - and the last thing I wanted/needed was to be sick - on a plane or in a foreign country. I couldn't imagine having any more pain or pressure on my ears than I've had for the last 3 days - on a plane, surely they would explode. Yowza. Exploding ears is what got me to call the doctor.

So - I'm off to take my medications and get some rest and drink lots of fluids. Sometimes even Drama Queens must take it easy and just let things go - and although it's hard to not want to clean the house or do the laundry or cook dinner or pay the bills or run errands - I know that my job - at this moment - is to take care of me.

Peace.