If you start feeling stressed in Belize, just find a nice sized tree to lie down in for a while till the tension passes and maybe say a word of thanks to God for all the many blessings He/She has given you this day and every day of your life. Of course, you don’t have to find a big tree to calm down in to thank God for all the many blessings He/She has given you this day and every day of your life. Just stop where you are, do some mindful breathing, conscious of breathing in and conscious of breathing out, and thank God for that breath of life you have today.
SO MY LANDLORD HAS BEEN HERE FROM HIS HOME IN WASHINGTON D.C. FOR A FEW DAYS AND GRACIOUSLY TOOK ME AROUND SOME YESTERDAY TO GET A GREATER SENSE OF THE LAY OF THE LAND HERE IN FAR WESTERN BELIZE. THIS IS A PICTURE I TOOK STANDING IN FRONT OF THE LIBRARY IN THE BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE OF BENQUE, WHICH BORDERS GUATEMALA AND IS A 30-MINUTE WALK FROM MY HOUSE IN NEIGHBORING SUCCOTZ VILLAGE. THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF BELIZE LIVES IN THIS HOUSE ON ONE OF THE MANY HILLS OVERLOOKING BENQUE. THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IN IT SAY THE DRIVEWAY IS DESIGNED IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE DRIVING UP TO THE WHITE HOUSE. I DO PLAN TO WALK UP AND TAKE A LOOK AROUND UP THERE SOME DAY.
EVERY GOOD COMMUNITY HAS A GOOD LIBRARY AND BENQUE VILLAGE HAS A FINE AND MIGHTY FINE NEW ONE. TAKE A LOOK INSIDE.
THE BENQUE LIBRARY IS A BEAUTY WITH ITS SHINY WOODEN FURNITURE AND TILE FLOORS. BEAUTIFUL TILE ABOUNDS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD, AS DOES BEAUTIFUL, HAND-MADE WOODEN FURNITURE. BUT THIS LIBRARY ALSO IS QUITE WELL STOCKED WITH THE SORT OF BOOKS YOU’LL FIND IN ANY GOOD AMERICAN COUNTERPART, PLUS RESOURCES ON ALL THAT LOCAL MAYAN HISTORY AND CULTURE, AND A VERY SPACIOUS AND NICE COMPUTER ROOM AND INTERNET ACCESS MAINLY FOR THE LOCAL STUDENTS.
MY LANDLORD HELPS OUT THE LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS WITH DONATIONS WHEN HE COMES DOWN TO BELIZE EVERY FEW MONTHS FROM D.C. THE WOMAN TO THE RIGHT IS MIRIAM, THE LIBRARIAN AT THE BENQUE LIBRARY. I’M GETTING A LIBRARY CARD AT THE LIBRARIES IN BENQUE, MY HOME VILLAGE OF SUCCOTZ AND IN SAN IGNACIO’S NICE NEW LIBRARY. FIRST, THOUGH, I WILL HAVE TO PROVE I’M LIVING HERE TO A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE FOR HIM TO SIGN OFF ON IT.
DID I TAKE A WRONG TURN OR WHAT? CASA BLANCA ON THE BUSTLING MAIN STREET IN SAN IGNACIO WAS NAMED BEST SMALL HOTEL IN BELIZE A COUPLE YEARS AGO FOR GOOD REASON–IT’S A REAL CHARMER OF AN INN.
SO OF COURSE I WAS BACK AT THE MARKET IN SAN IGNACIO THIS PAST SATURDAY–(NOTE TO SELF–GO TO SATURDAY MARKET AFTER NOON, LIKE YOU DID THE FIRST TIME, NOT BEFORE NOON, WHEN THE CROWDS CAN BE, WELL, CROWDING). THE PEOPLE WATCHING AT SATURDAY MARKET HAS TO BE THE BEST IN BELIZE AND I’M COLLECTING QUITE A PICTURE COLLECTION OF ALL THE COLOR AND THE CHARACTERS.
PICTURED ON THE RIGHT IS MY BUDDY JUNIOR. HE AND HIS FAMILY LIVE ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME IN SUCCOTZ VILLAGE AND JUNIOR IS THE HANDYMAN I CAN CALL ON FOR ANY NEED OR ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO GET AROUND. HE’S 100 PERCENT MAYAN, WITH BLOODLINE THAT GOES WAYYYYY BACK TO THE DAYS WHEN LITERALLY MILLIONS OF MAYANS DOMINATED BELIZE AND GUATEMALA. BELOW MY FEET EVERY DAY I WALK OVER LORD ONLY KNOWS HOW MANY MAYAN TOMBS, BODIES, RUINS AND ARTIFACTS.
THE MENNONITE FARMERS PARK THEIR HORSES AND BUGGIES DOWN BY THE RIVER WHEN IN SAN IGNACIO. THE MANY DUTCH AND GERMAN OLD-TIME MENNONITE AGRARIANS HAVE CONTRIBUTED A LOT TO ADVANCEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE AND EVEN SOME ENGINEERING IN BELIZE. I’LL BE DOING AN ARTICLE ON THAT INTERESTING STORY SOME DAY.
MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE HOME VILLAGE. . . . BUS DRIVER WASHES DOWN THE WINDOWS OF THE TOUR BUS WHILE THE TOURISTS ARE OFF SEEING THE MAYAN SITE HERE IN VILLAGE.
METHINKS I’LL GRAB A SNACK ON “D” WAY HOME
Another amazing post and great advice to boot…and terrible pun. You look absolutely FABULOUS Rev. Paul. I feel more enriched every time you post. Thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure. (:
Feeling the love, Lisa. Thanks so much. Puns are big in Belize and I gotta get in the game.
I couldn’t belize I had such a hard time finding “d” pun but finally. Beautiful pix Paul and I know many have said this.,but thanks SO MUCH for the photographic travelogue of Belize. People and their cultures are a major interest of mine as they seem to be for you. You would make a great “Cultural Geographer.” In case you are not familiar with “Cultural Geography,” think of it as Anthropology with an emphasis on place. I loved that stuff in school – U know, my 28 years of undergraduate work finally paid off and got me a BS in Geog!
28 years for a degree in Geography? Quick, name the capital of Belize.
Guessing without looking it up – Belize City!
After looking it up – Belmopan!
Some folks think that geog is about memorizing countries, capitals, main ag products, etc. However, my specialities were cartography (map making) and cultural geog. Before asking, cultural (or human) geog is somewhat like anthropology with an emphasis on place.
Dude, I am just as dumb as most when it comes to naming capitals, etc; however, it does worry me sometimes about our lack of geographic knowledge. For instance, sometime back in the 90’s, students at Miami University were asked to find Miami on a map. I don’t remember the numbers, but a staggering amount of students could not.
Another thing that gets to me are folks that just cannot read maps and there are a LOT!
I know; a lot of people have those over-simplified ideas about geographers because i knew some geography profs at Texas A&M years ago. Belmopan is an interesting capital city because it was created after one hurricane too many, in this case Hattie, flattened the capital that was Belize City. So they just packed up and moved way over here, not far from me in the West. It’s the smallest capital in the world, BTW, and has no reason to be except for being the capital.Your capital factoids for the day. Class dismissed.
Yep, 28 years sounds like “Animal House” but went to many schools but did not get serious until went back in 1993 to James Madison U and graduated in 1996 (amazing how U view things when Mom and Dad are not paying). Thanks for today’s lesson Professor Rev Paul McKay and do not stop! I view learning as a life-long process and it helps to keep older brains like mine from degenerating. Where was I? Oh well, doesn’t matter now.
Thank you for sharing your photos and information on Belize and the people there. It is always wonderful to see how other people live. At one time I wanted to be a missionary.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
I wanted you to know how much I enjoy your comments, fgassette. They are always filled with hope and optimism. Peace to you and yours.
Thank you. You can call me Francine. Peace to you and your family as well.
I’ve always been fascinated by how other people live myself and always wanted to dig in with people in another culture and live with them. It’s fascinating and a little surreal sometimes in a place where you’ll suddenly spot some exotic bird or weird leafy vines wrapped around a giant tree or something. That tree i’m reposing in is not near as big as some–not even close.
OK, from now on it is Francine. My family is my wife of almost 40 years, myself, and 2 cats, lol!
And numerous of those frightening raccoons.
LOL, deer and bunny wabbits scare me too – U thilly goose!