“Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero. Better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth. Better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it.”
— Erwin Letzer
Here’s a few snaps from holiday time spent with friends in the bush on the other side of the paradise . . .
Had a barbecued turkey meal the day after Christmas with friends Philomena and Antonio, their families and some of their neighbors. They insisted I come eat with them during the holidays. Belizeans like them teach me a lot about Christian hospitality, contentment and the goodness that flows from spiritual poverty.
When in a Belizean home in the bush, don’t be surprised at the variety of creatures that wander in and out of the house.
Ducks, geese, dawgs, pups, kittens, kitties and lots of poultry come in and out of bush homes and nobody notices. Except me. We never had chickens and geese running around the kitchen where I come from.
The life span of turkeys and chickens in the bush tends to be rather short.
A gift for one of the grand girls
Philomena and one of the resident grands
Other grands with neighbor kids
Play time in the road
Back yard (to the shower and outhouse) has been muddy for several months from the exceptional rains in Belize. The cold fronts that keep coming have brought cool days and nights, but no sooner than the sunny days dries out the mud, another wet cold front comes along. Weatherman has been saying for weeks that the rainy cycle would continue until January. So January can’t come to Belize soon enough to “sunny Belize.”
No bush turkey is long for this world this time of year.
They do have good roads in this part of the bush where Philomena and Antonio live, since it’s only a couple of miles from the highway.
They also are close enough to town that they have running water, but no electricity. It’s always a strange feeling to be in the bush at night and see so many lanterns burning near and far, in the houses and in the hills.
Speaking of hills, I like nothing better than taking aimless walks just to see what’s on the other side of a hill. That’s my pickup down there.
Many of the hills have big, sprawling homes like this one. Rich and poor live next door to each other in Belize.
Three stories, tropical fruit trees all around, solar power, great view. You see such homes on hilltops in the jungles all over Belize, but the neighbors may have only lanterns for light and boil their water in the fire pit. That’s the other side of paradise in Belize.
Happy trails.
Great pictures, Paul. Sounds like the gap between the rich and poor is significant in Belize and the US is heading the same direction unless we do some serious redistribution of wealth (dad-gum socialists). I’ve been seeing an ad on TV lately about what a “paradise” it is down there and it urges folks to buy property in Belize to live “high on the hog” on a middle-class income. How’s the book coming along?