Heading to Glovers Research Station

Yesterday morning I woke up and walked to the King Burger which was a few blocks down from my hotel to meet the research team.
Kids, teens, adults, and the elderly minlge at street corners. It seems as if there is no need for television here because people are always in the streets. Maybe it's just too hot to be inside all the time. Whatever the reason is why Belizeans love to be outside I like it. It's very social, very active, and I personally think it keeps the community alive and productive. Everyone watches out for each other and it's just great to be outside under the sun.

Here's the King Burger. They used to be called Burger King, but the bigtime Burger King found out (how I dunno) and made them change it.

I met the researchers and we took off to the grocery to do some shopping.

As I found in Thailand you will often find the best traditional and foreign food alongside the streets. Buy from the street vendors, they really mean well. They sit their all day baking in the sun selling tamales and whatever to feed their family, but I also think they enjoy it. The streets are like a movie. Often they get their produce straight from nearby farms too and that helps the entire community out in the long run.

On our way to the fruit and meat market we saw this herd of children. I estimate at least 200 students were lined up down the street. The one boy I talked to at the bus station said that the population is growing quickly here and the younger generation has more needs and wants. This is not good because it puts more pressure on resources that they don't have to exploit. The future is dire if we keep reproducing without properly managing our environment.

Fruit market Habaneros seem to be one of the staple vegetables here. There's a sauce on every dining table called 'Marie Sharps' and it's the bomb. Best pepper flavour and it has a really good heat.

Fresh honey in the bottles. Bees are still okay here.

The fish & meat (area)

My second favorite pic in the post. Dis our meat guy (I be talkin like dem carrib belizeans now, I dig it mon), he's a cool dude that worked in Chicago for a bit doing BBQ business. He returned to Belize to pick up his job here for the summer. He tried to go back but customs denied him in Miami. Since then he has no incentive to go back to the US, he doesn't really like it there. The only place he liked was Vale, CO. Once Nati left me to the butch we talked for an hour about wild game. I told him about moose and bear meat up north and he told me about paca, wild turkey, and iguana. Unfortunately I learned that the way his sources get the meat is not environmentally friendly. He told me pig flu has come to Belize and it's making it's way even further south into Honduras. Then he goes, if there are too many people something has to happen to balance it out. Once again, in just two days I've heard at least 4 times that our world is overpopulated and natural/social destruction is imminent just to instate a global balance between society and nature.

He lended me this book so I could get to know certain cuts of meats. I pointed out to him short ribs, baby back ribs, pork shoulder, top serloin, and brisket. He showed me each cut and how to cut it.

The research team had been waiting for me patiently and in the meantime they showed a few young kids how to make bracelets. Off again. This time it was siesta time. Oh ya this is what I've been waiting for. Palm trees. This be my favorite picture. The boy and his dog. Then we packed up the boat and prepared to venture to the island.

Adios mainland Belize, see you again in a month.

First we stopped at Tobacco Key. This island is where many backpackers come too.

At first glance all I saw were little kids running around the island naked or barely clothed.

At the bar we chatted with the locals and a few German tourists who had been traveling the world for over a year.
That little red dot is where we are heading. The main barrier reef, which is about an hour boat ride away from our island is where Tobacco Key is at.
Dem birds will get your fish you ain't careful.

Full moon and a tiger ergot. Renata said that these birds are extrememy endangered and really rare to see. When they talk it sounds like a tiger.

Sunset. Hello Glovers Reef Atoll Research Station and Paradise Island! Home sweet home.

Unpacking.

Right away I got working on dinner. Brian helps me prep.

I did up a quick and easy dinner since it was late. My style of fully loaded quesadillas with guac, pineapple salsa, nachos, salad, and green beans.

After that I got to my room that looks like it has been battered by many hurricanes. It's only 80 degrees in there and my fan doesn't work, but at least there are bug nets on the windows to keep mossies out. Completely tradition and I love it.

My First Taste of Belize

This journey from Alaska (subarctic) to Belize (equator) has been more fulfilled by words than these photos. I met so many people today and received many lessons. It's started from the second I turned off my computer next while sitting next to that giant grizzly at the airport. Some girl about my age grabbed the phone behind me and called the police. She said something, I wasn't paying attention, hung the phone up, looked at me and goes, "so... hi, what's up?" I just said I'm heading to the northern terminal to catch my flight to Belize. She starts to tell me her story and the cops walk up. They open a door near the phone, they talk awhile, then give her a suitcase and a court summons document. She sits back down next to me and tells me her situation... just got evicted from an apartment in Anchorage, cops found narcs in her suitcase but they aren't hers, trying to Fairbanks but missed her flight because there was a hold up once they found the stuff in her bags, and she has no cash. I gave her 20 bucks for a taxi and we split. At 2AM I borded and at 8 AM I reached Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix to Houston... The new suburban microchip by Microsoft.

Flying is the ultimate means to view Earth's big blue picture. At 35,000 FASL you are flying above 95% of atmospheric mass. The view is a beautiful blue. Air travel is tedious and tiresome but if you have a window seat you can get a birds eye view of the world we live in. I would love to go into space. Think outside the box. Dream outside the blue ball.

Hello Belize Belize City in the distance. No big buildings, thank goodness. I was amazed at how much land is undeveloped. I could see subdivisions being constructed alongside watersheds in the mainland. At the bus terminal a dude came up to me and we started chatting. I told him about my job here and he said he's taking eco-tourism classes at school. He said it was neat to learn about the sky and the water, and how humans interact with it. That is really the underlying principle of geography. Later we got on the subject of climate change and Mayans. He told me how the Mayan civilization was like contemporary urbanization and population growth. Mayans used too many natural resources and grew so big that they eventually choked their environment and civlizaiton. We both agreed that what you do onto others comes on to you. Disrespect the Earth and she'll clean herself of such filth. I just said 2012. He goes, it's not about a certain date it's already happening. Word.

Palm trees!

Customs!

Taxi to the bus station. Just when I thought it wa sover I find out I still have to get 3 hours south of the airport to Dangriga by autobus.

Palm trees! Palm trees!Palm trees!Soldiers. Hey a bike... More bikes... I think there are more bicycles on the streets than cars and the bikes will just pull right out in front of cars, I like that enthusiasm for green transportation.

Exercise is good, can't get a sweat going while driving a car now can ya?

The sun begins to set and the communities just seem to be hanging in the streets. Most speak English fluent and I've heard almost no Spanish. I'm the only one speaking Spanish it seems like. Most have a Jamaican dialect and dreds are common. There's totally a rasta vibe to this country. Yet, the further south I got the more different the dialects changed. It turned from a Carribean-Rasta English accent to a Mayan-Spanish accent. I can understand some words they speak, but some speak so deep, so unique, so intersting that I just have to pick up their vibe to figure out what they trying to say. Night came and we headed south the the bus to several small towns and finally to Dangriga.Full moon in 2 days. I always transition on full moons.

The markets closed down everywhere we came to.

But, thankfully I got to my hotel in Dangriga and found a bite to eat.

I picked up some temales and empenadas? at a local street vendor. Both taste like corn flour, chicken a hint of curry.

Many strangers helped me today along my way through Belize, they rock. All I have met so far are very chill and positive. It's a great attitude to just be happy with what you got. There's a collective conscientious incentive to take care of the envrionment and I was glad to hear the one student at the bus station telling me about his eco-tourism courses. On the bus I heard other young students talking about how bad one of the oil mining sites was as we passed it on our way south. The hotel I'm at now has pictures of conservation programs and signs promoting Belize's environment conservation and awareness. Should be sunny tomorrow. I have to meet the team in the morning, buy groceries for the menu, and then we're off to the island. Feels like 24 hours of non-stop traveling because it has been, good nighty.