The town where we live

"Our senses themselves are dumb. They take in experience, but they need the richness of sitting for a while through our consciousness and through our whole bodies...Maybe Away from Paris I could write about Paris as in Paris I can write about Michigan."

-Writing Down the Bones

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The Beauty of Belize
Part I

I was greatly inspired after watching the movie "The Human Experience" this Christmas weekend (I highly recommend it---it is now on DVD). It follows a few different young men as they travel the world to better understand the unity between all human persons, the beauty of life, suffering of life, and the purpose of life. As I was watching this movie with my family this evening, I was moved to write about Belize. I would like to reflect on the beauty of Belize, its culture, and people in a few different posts while I am home.

When first arriving in Belize, immediately I noticed the green palm trees that were absolutely everywhere. It was gorgeous! The greens were lush and the landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen. We were in a whirlwind through Belize, squeezed into a white van and bumping through the rural landscapes. I saw cows, sheep, more palm trees, simple colorful houses, dirt roads, people on the side of the road waiting for buses, and fruit stands. My favorite part of the drive through Belize came up as we were suddenly confronted by incredible mountains and hills. Sheep were grazing and hill after hill was rolling. It reminded me of the Gospels when Jesus would sit upon green hills and preach the Beatitudes or parables. I imagined myself sitting upon a summit, pondering life and praying. It was stunning. In between the views, new and old volunteers told stories and reminisced or described families. I noticed, to my discomfort, that seat belts were not a primary concern in this van but was again distracted by the scenery and new faces.





Benque, the town where we live, is simple and lovely because it has found its way into our hearts. The streets are made of a white and grayish clay that is quite fluffy beneath ones sandals. However, it is a dangerous path after rain. I can vividly recall five of us girls walking to the school on a weekend after it had rained. I remember a girl up ahead of me saying, "Should we go a different way?" and three of us agreed that we were fine. About one minute later I felt a little heavier but ignored it. About a minute and a half later I noticed that my sandals were sticking to the clay. Two minutes past and I find that my sandals are becoming quite heavy as I call out, "Girls, I'm having trouble walking,". When I look up, I notice that some girls have taken off their flip-flops or have walked to the side of the road. I am now "the one that fell behind" as I stare down at my flip-flops that have assumed a shape like two clay boats. It reminded me of those boat shoes that Da Vinci is wearing in "Ever After" when Drew Barrymore is floating on her back in that river. After quite a bit of struggle, we trampled over into a man's yard who had turned on his water to help us out. He must have chuckled when he saw a bunch of "gringas" with shoes eaten by clay and our legs and feet covered in the grey road. We stuck our feet and flip flops under the faucet. He was a wonderful, kind, older gentleman that rescued us from the "quick sand" of our own road.