La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge 2010

180 miles.
The flight distance from New York to Rhode Island. 180 miles is 6 miles longer than the entire length of the country of Belize. 180 miles is the distance on the river from San Ignacio, Belize to Belize City, Belize. In History,

La Ruta Maya

is known throughout Central America, the Old Belize River is part of the route that Mayan people had to take to trade and sell their goods. As a way to remember this history and to promote general well-being and healthy lifestyles, a canoe race was established in 1998. It is one of the largest sporting events in Belize. It is the La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge. It entails 180 miles on the Belize river, with 3 people per team, paddling for FOUR days. I was crazy enough to participate this year, so I thought I would share a little about my experience.

www.larutamayabelize.com

I was crazy enough to attempt the race last year, but I didn’t write about it – because I didn’t finish. Luckily, this year turned out differently. Two friends from the states, Spencer and Brad came down to take part in this awesome event.

T minus one day: Spirits are high. The canoe was dropped off, along with the paddles, and we are more ready than ever. We head out on the bus for Cayo, where the raee will begin at 7 am the next morning. We shop for supplies which include pieces of foam to cushion our butts, duck tape to hold it to the seat, and a few energy bars for the race. Our support team was taking care of the rest. I have been working out at the gym, so I feel prepared (a little). Flashbacks from the year before keep jumping into my mind, but I push them away due to my new partners for this year. Brad and Spence, each fit guys, which was different from the two women I paddled with last year. Not that they weren’t fit, just that I had much more confidence with two men in my boat. We register our team, the WIN-Belize Bembes. We set our alarms for 5 am to prepare for the first day of the race.

Day 1: San Ignacio – Banana Bank : 50 miles

Wake up call at 5 am. Feeling groggy, but manage to put on the designated shirt, which happened to be yellow for the day with our team name BEMBES

tattooed across the front. Even though it felt unnatural, I applied sunscreen all over my body while it was still dark outside. We had a big breakfast: Johnny cakes, beans, cheese, eggs, and bacon. Fuel for the paddling. We carried the canoe out to the water – which took about 6 people. I opted to ride in the vehicle to scope out the water and the competition ;) As we get to the water we realize we are missing a life vest, which are mandatory for the race. We scramble to find one. We started out with two, and ended up with five. go figure. Then we finally made our way into the water. We had medical tape on our hands, sunscreen on our bodies, and hats on our heads. Unstoppable.

Hour 1: Not so bad. My hands hurt a small bit, but nothing I can’t handle.
Hour 4: I am so hungry my stomach is practically snarling. I think I ate a protein bar – but it is all a blur at this point. Once we arrived at the lunch checkpoint we are so relieved. We decided to take turns eating so we wouldn’t lose too much time.
thought the peanut butter and jelly’s were delicious. When it was brads turn he realized that they were in fact just jelly sandwhiches. It didn’t matter. it was delish at the time.
Hour 7: Each village we pass we ask how much longer?????? Asnwers vary, but we take their word for it. When we see a toothless man standing on the shore hold up a 3 on his fingers we were elated – 3 more miles!!!! That has to be close. A few minutes later the safety boat pulls up.

Team Bembes:

How much longer!?

Safety boat:

You have about 3 hours left

I wanted to cry. My arms were so tired and all I wanted to do was relax. We pulled through, and finished in 9 hours. Whew. What a day. We had our tents set up for us, and were able to relax and eat dinner. All I could think about was how much I didn’t want to do the next day, which was 10 miles longer than day one.

Day 2: Banana Bank – Burrell Boom Approx 60 miles.
Wake Up: OUCH, I can barely move. It hurts to move my head. It hurts to raise my hand. Muscles hurt that I didn’t even know existed. I poured icy hot all over my body. Popped some ibprofun. Poured sunscreen over my body. Assembled clothing and rolled out of the tent. Sleepy eyed and groggily ate some breakfast. Don’t really remember what it was. I think it was cold eggs and beans and Johnny cakes. We get in our canoe and the pain goes away momentarily. The coordinator of the race gave a lovely speech that went something like this:

Team xyz you are disqualified. The river is lower than ever, before. This day will take longer than ever before. If you don’t make it to big falls by 2 pm, you WILL be disqualified. One Two Three – GO!

Hour 1-3: I have no idea.
Hour 3-7: Paddling, Paddling, Paddling. The safety boat informs us we are just barely on the side of not being disqualified. Awesome. We are trying to make the time cut off. We are struggling worse than the first day. Just as I realize I am absolutely exhausted, the safety boat comes up and asks if we have FOUR more hours in us? If we do, then he will let us pass, and stay in the race. Silence. I can’t muster a word. Brad says… Yea we got this. Spencer agrees. I agree silently. We continue on the way.
Hour 7-11: I am delirious with laughter. I think trees are hilarious. I see cows and make cow noises. I begin making up random songs, or sing existing tunes that happen to pop into my head. Row Row Row your boat popped in there quite a few times. My arms are moving without my brain even telling them to. It wasn't quite four more hours, but I have never been so happy to see an end to something in my life… but my elation is quickly dissipated by the idea of two more days of this “La Ruta Maya”, better known as hell on earth. I step out of the boat with sea legs. I was stumbling about, but still delirious and happy to be out of the canoe.

Why did I do this? AGAIN?

NINE boats were disqualified this day. I felt proud having made the cut. This was where my LRM experience ended the year before, so I felt as though I had really accomplished something.

Day 3: Bermudian Landing to Burrell Boom Approx 40 miles.

Pain, Paddle. Pain. Paddle. It has become exhausting just to lift the paddle out of the water.
Hour 1-2: We had two creepers on our tail. The adrenaline of racing with them kept our mind off of the pain and agony we were in. Finally the adrenaline subsided and we were passed… then again, then again. One, two, rest. One two. rest. Suburned knees and arms were adding to the overall pain of my body. It is amazing what your body can endure. Just when you think you can’t go anymore – you paddle for 6 more hours. It took us a total of 7 hours on day three – the shortest distance so far, but the shortest distance through what seemed like molasses. The water was perfectly still – what one might consider beautiful if they weren’t paddling with a 3 pound paddle in the blazing sun. The greatest part of all was when a nice gust of wind would rush against us, making it even harder to paddle.

Day 4: Burrell Boom to Belize City – Approx 30 miles.

Before the race began I figured this day would be so simple. Logically after doing a 50 and 60 mile day, surely this day will seem like no challenge at all. IDIOT. After having rowed 150 miles already, this wasn’t the case at all. Each day got progressively more difficult. More Wind and the current was against us as well. It was as if we were paddling just to stay in place. It took us just under 5 hours to complete day 4. Those were some of the most painful hours of my life. I felt as if my arms were going to fall off. My knees were next to blistered from the sun. My hands donned a lovely dozen blisters that had to be taped and wrapped. But after all, I still felt wonderful. It is a great feeling to accomplish such a challenge.

As we paddled up to the shore, small kids ran up to steal our left over nourishment – apples and juice and protein bars. I snatched the pretzels before they could. I am not usually greedy, but after those four days, I really wanted pretzels. ☺

My lovely co workers from WIN-Belize held a bar-b-que for us, which was delicious, and it was great to have finished the race. La Ruta Maya is the second longest canoe race in the world. It is one of those things you hate to do while you are doing it, but I am so glad that I accomplished it. It was a great time, and if someone asks me to do it again, I might just be crazy enough to forget about all this pain, and do it again. Until my next adeventure…






Take care, and take it easy.


Glossary:
Bembe: Steming from the African people in the northwest forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was a tribe, and the name has now been adopted throughout Belize and beyond to define a feirce, independent and strong women.
Johnny Cakes: Typical breakfast item in Belize. Made out of a flour based dough, then baked, they are kind-of like something us southerners call a biscuit. They are usually filled with cheese, beans, and/or ham. Delish!
WIN-Belize: Women's Issues Network of Belize. It is the organization I am currently working with.
http://www.winbelize.org/

Snappa fa da Whoppa, Snook fa da Crook, Jack fa da Back...

As I mentioned before, I am currently working with an organization called the Toledo Cacao Grower's Association, or TCGA. About a week and a half ago the manager announced a staff trip. We would be going on an overnight fishing trip. Belize is right on the sea, and home to the second largest barrier reef in the world, so naturally it is rich in beauty, and opportunities like this one.
So, we set out on an adventure on the Caribbean Sea. We had our captain named "Scully", who allowed us to pick out our snorkeling gear for the next couple of days. We hopped in the boat and loaded all of our supplies for the two days. Supplies included: Water, Coolers, Knife, Fishing line, Boom Box, Black Eyed Peas CD, and Beer. We were set. We headed out for the open sea. We began the show right away by dropping our lines. I am not much of a fisher women, but I did know that we were supposed to use poles... right?

WRONG!

Poles are for amateurs here in Belize. You just get any old bottle, board, or other common household item - and start wrapping your line around that. Then you "rig" the end with your hook and bait. We went out to catch our own bait this time. Scully pulled up a million tiny fish with his net, and we were set for the entire day. So, I grabbed my used sprite bottle, equipped with my fishing line, and went to work.I felt the pull on my index finger, and gave a good jerk. I got it!! Pulled up a nice Snapper. "I love fishing!!". Two hours later after not catching anything else = "I hate fishing!!". The trend went like this for the entire weekend.

It was a weekend full of excitement though, no doubt. As a group we caught a whole cooler full of fish including Barracuda, Tuna, Yellow Tail Snapper, Red Snapper, Kingfish, and a variety of other fish I don't know the name of. Some of which the Belizeans named "Ole Lady" and "Young Gyal". I don't know about that business. In addition to the fish we were able to see all sorts of other marine life too. We saw a whale shark, some other type of shark, and a plethora of dolphins. We were also able to see brand new baby sea turtles that hatched on the Caye the night before.
Once we arrived at the Caye, we got to swim and rest in the pristine sand. We went to the Sapodilla Cayes, and specifically, Lime Caye. We had our meals prepared for us by a wonderful local cook - Ms. Sandra. For dinner that night we enjoyed delicious fresh fish that we caught that day - bar-b-qued on the grill. Served with the traditional rice and beans.

De-Damn-Delicious

as my uncle likes to say. I have never enjoyed such fresh fish, that was so nicely prepared.

That night, guess what? Fishing again. I was more interested in the stars. I have never seen so many stars in my entire life. It is amazing how much light and pollution hinder our views, and most of us don't even know what we are missing! It was a sight you had to see to believe.

The next day we went out for more fishing after we enjoyed a scrumptous breakfast. We also got to do some snorkeling on the reef. We saw fire coral, Lobsters, jellyfish, myriad of aquatic fish life, and the coral on the reef itself. It is absolutely breathtaking.
Literally. To be so close to such natural beauty is a gift that I thoroughly enjoy! Unfortunately the trip had to come to an end, and the day was drawing to a close. I am always surprised by the little nuances of cultures that present themselves when you least expect it. This trip taught me a lot about Belize, and Belizeans as well. I learned that you only need what is necessary. Necessity rules, not yearning and desires. Do we need fishing poles? Heck NO! I also learned a little more of the local language - the Kriol, which is where I drew my title from. Whenever you catch one of these fish, we would all scream it out. I tried to catch as many as possible! My favorite

Snappa fa da Whoppa

. Until Next time...

Hope in Belize

Well, It has been a good 8 months since I updated my blog, and that is just embarassing. I am going to make an effort not to let that happen again, and update more frequently.

I will start with Camp GLOW.

Girls Leading Our World

So, myself and several other Peace Corp Volunteers planned and held the 2nd annual Camp GLOW here in Belize at the end of July. We invited girls from our respective communities throughout the country. That was one of the most significant points of camp - the diversity of the girls. We had a variety of cultures and languages present, and it allowed the girls to really represent who they are, as well as learn from one another and share their cultures, languages and values. (Even though one of their biggest "values" is Hannah Montana). We had girls who spoke Spanish, girls who spoke Mopan Maya and Ketchi Maya, and girls who spoke Kriol. We had a total of 30 girls. The camp was centered on 3 goals: Self Expression, Self Esteem, and Self Reliance.

Some of the concepts are foreign ideas to these girls, and it was exciting to get the share it with them. We did different activities that encompassed these ideas throughout the week and did some fun extra things too - leadership scavenger hunt, futbol, volleyball, campfire with smores, talent show, and the legendary DANCE PARTY. Being a camp counselor is exhausting, and I had no idea how much it involved. Not only do you have to help with sessions, but you have to feed them, advise them, lead them, and help them with any miscellaneous problems they might have. (i.e: physical fights, stealing of items, questions on puberty, questions about sex, etc.) Twelve and Thirteen year olds have some issues! It was all well worth it, and not only did they learn from us, but we learned from them! I never knew how important Hannah Montana was until now. The week was successful and I got to meet some amazing girls, who will hopefully make a difference in this country someday.


There have been some other big changes since I wrote last. I moved out of Blue Creek Village, and am now living in Punta Gorda Town, which is the district town of the Toledo District. The population is a whopping 6,000 or so. I found a great house to rent. In my front yard I have a mango tree, lime tree, and mutiple banana trees. I also planted some herbs and flowers. I am pretty botanical these days... more so than I ever have been. I now live one street away from the seaside, which is lined with thatch cabanas that are great places to relax some evenings. You can go to the seaside and look out to see Honduras on the horizon. It is beautiful.
Last week however; I returned to Blue Creek for some vigorous hiking and cave exploring. When we got there I realized that rainy season is in full effect, and how the would effect us. The hike up the local mountain in the village is intense - and that is an understatement. It is a vertical climb almost the whole time to the top, where there are inspiring views. So I went along with a couple of freinds to take in the sights. Little did we know, we were next to risking our lives! It was quite a challenge to reach the summit, but a whole additional challenge to come down. In the end we made it, and were able to get some great excersize along the way. To be surrounded by such nature and beauty is truly amazing.

I am now working with a local organization called the Toledo Cacao Growers Association. It is an association of cacao farmers throughout the Toledo district. The aim is to improve the livlihoods of the families involved, by offering an alternative crop to sell for cash. Most farmers live off of subsistance farming, and the idea is that cacao can offer an alternative cash source. There are about 800 active farmers in the association. The other important point about the organization is that they sell to a company in England, who offers a guaranteed market for cacao farmers in Belize - and all the cacao is 100% Organic and Fair Trade. It is a premium which provides the farmers with more money for their crop. I am enjoying working in this world, and I am learning a lot as I go along.

Well - Omnibus '10 is coming up on our year mark of being in Belize. (The groups of volunteers are named based on the year that they will COS - Close of Service - and I have no idea why they call it Omnibus). I will soon take a trip back to the states to visit my Aunt and Uncle. I am excited and nervous, being that a year is the longest I have ever been away from the states. I am excited to be there.

The new group of volunteers is coming in right as I will be returning to Belize, and it should be interesting to be the "experienced" ones in Belize - especially because I still feel like I just arrived myself.

Well - until next time - Keep it Real.

I am continuing to strive to remember why I came to Peace Corp and accepted this mission. One of the most important things another volunteer has told us all is "It isn't all about you." If we all keep that in mind, I think the big picture would become a little clearer. Easier said than done, I know....

Santa Clause in Belize?

Christmas in Belize….

Christmas Eve I woke up at 4:00 am in order to catch the bus into town. The market buses run from the far villages here in order to take all those men and women who haul their veggies and corn and rice into Punta Gorda Town in hopes of selling some at the market. Christmas Eve was no exception, and there were many more on the bus as well. It was crammed with women and men and their children going into town, or to visit families farther away. I was lucky to get on the bus and had to stand near the door it was so full, trying my best to keep my balance – not to end up on the dirt road outside the bus.
In town I expected more festivities and celebrations for the holiday, but there was no Santa Claus or Christmas trees, only the Cobaneros and 80 degree weather. Cobaneros are vendors that are set up all around town that sell anything and everything from hammocks to shoes to silverware to thread. They are called Cobaneros because they are originally from Coban, Guatemala – and the name stuck. Even though there weren’t formal celebrations in town, you could still feel a certain buzz in the air. The families were getting ready to visit with family and friends. They were buying supplies for a nice Christmas meal perhaps, or as they say here in Belize they were “just taking a walk” – which means just hanging out basically.
I was in town all day just visiting and spending time with my host sister Melissa. We reached back to my village – Blue Creek at about 6:45 pm. Just as I was unlocking my door and trying to get settled a friend came by on his bicycle. I nearly forgot about Church! On Christmas Eve, there is a big church gathering. We have two main churches right in the center of the village; one Baptist church and the other Catholic. The Baptist church was traveling away on Christmas Eve, so I decided to go to Mass at the Catholic Church. I dropped my things and changed into a skirt and walked across the street to my house into the church. There are two rows of wooden benches filled with families and children running around outside and playing with each other. One side is the women’s side and the other is for the men. I quickly took my place on the Women’s side in the back row. It was the last seat in the house, almost like it was saved for me. The Church leader and a couple of guys playing the guitar were playing and singing some songs in Ketchi (Mayan language). I sang along by reading what I thought the words would sound like in a small hymnal type book. While we were singing, the bush doctor comes with a small container filled with herbs that he lights on fire and spreads throughout the room. The pastor soon arrived after that. An old white man – who travels in once in a while. Church lasted until about 10 o’clock and would resume again at 11, and last until about 2 am. I didn’t make the last service because I was simply exhausted. So I went dreaming.

The next morning the loud pounding of the rain on my rooftop awakened me. Zinc roofs don’t make quiet raincatchers. For Christmas I was invited out to a friends house in another village. We arrived there at around 11 am. After traveling through the rain it was nice to find shelter. I found a typical meal to eat on Christmas is BBQ. BBQ here is literally putting the meat over the fire with lots of seasoning and BBQ sauce, served with beans and cabbage cole slaw and with homemade flour tortillas. We had BBQ pork. Also, when describing food here you use the word “nice” rather than “good”. Anyway – the barbeque was really nice. We also had tamales later on. Tamales are ground corn which is called Masa and a mixture of meat and seasoning on the inside. It is made in what they locally called a waha leaf, and boiled. They are a Belizean favorite. Christmas is simply a time to relax, remember the meaning of the holiday and eat delicious food. It is a time to enjoy family. My Christmas day was relaxing and I was welcomed into this family’s home with such kindness. There was the mother and father and then 11 children. 9 of the 11 children were there. I enjoyed the day very much!

The next morning, I woke up and enjoyed more tamales and barbeque and boiled plantains. Then I was lucky enough to ride a horse to their farm. We walked through the yard and picked oranges, mandarin oranges, tangerines and ate those. Then we came a little further and tried some kind of berry. Then we came across some green coconuts. We pulled those from the tree and cracked them open with a machete. We drank the coconut water which was nice. We crossed the river and walked into a cacao patch. We finally found one that the birds hadn’t spoiled and ate the cacao seeds. You suck on them and then save them in order to roast and grind for fresh cacao. I saw their pastures and called their cattle – I never thought cows were pretty until then. Finally we crossed across the next pasture and got to the “bush”. When I saw the bush I mean the end of the cleared land. We ventured further – found some jippy jappa – which is a type of vegetable of sorts. We ate it right then and there. It is good with rice and can also be used to make baskets. Being resourceful isn’t an option around here. Anyway – we finally made it back to the house after gathering more waha leaves and firewood. The whole little outing was amazing. Eating things here and there right off the vines and trees, seeing the beautiful country side that belonged all to this family. It was all so beautiful.

Overall Christmas this year was culturally rich and I was lucky to have spent my Christmas in Belize and with such a warm family. I was boldly mistaken thinking I would be sad during my holiday, which I am thankful for. Although I missed the smell of pine and a cold breeze, don’t get me wrong. The lack of egg nog was a little upsetting as well.

Well I hope the holidays went great for all of you. Until next time….

December Times

So, the holiday season is arriving and the feeling of anticipation is here in Belize as I am sure it is at home. Something I am sure you are familiar with is the beginning of Christmas season. The very day, morning rather, after Thanksgiving and not one moment later, the radio stations start playing nothing but Christmas music. Well, the Belizeans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but as soon as December 1st hit, Christmas songs Galore – Or as the Belizeans would say “lone Christmas songs”. See yu fa learn talk Kriol, tru?

Life in the village of Blue Creek has been going well, each day bringing a little something unexpected. Honestly I was a bit apprehensive about village life. I thought daily life would be slow and honestly even sometimes boring. I am not sure if I was right, or if I have just grown accustomed to the new pace of life here. The days go by, slow rolling things here and there, but I can tell you, it doesn’t feel like that at all. I feel exhausted at the end of every day. Every day feeling like I accomplished something allows me to sleep well. When or if I feel bored, I always manage to find something to pass the time, and it is usually something a little rewarding. Some things my boredom have spawned are:
-Sewing, which, believe me, is something I NEVER saw myself doing.
-Riding my bike around the village – which I am getting pretty good at by the way.
-Tortilla Baking - which is something you must learn to do in order to truly be considered Maya.
-Volleyball Practicing
-Doll Making ( Out of corn husks)…
Anyway the point is, I am learning things that are part of the culture and that at the end of the day I feel satisfied that I spend my time on them. I spend a lot of quality time talking with my host family and sisters, which always presents an opportunity to do some cultural exchange. My host sisters are 16 and 20 and they have truly become my sisters and best friends here. Other things I do in my free time is swim/bathe in the river. I actually bathe in the river, but even if you are simply going for a swim, you are still “bathing”. I also wash my clothes in the river too, which is quite an experience. You have to beat the clothes on a rock. It took me a few times to get the hang of it – but now I think I got it. My clothes don’t appreciate it though.

So, one might be wondering about all the time that isn’t actually “free” time, and what the heck I have been doing here. My primary project here that is assigned from Peace Corp is working with the Blue Creek Tourism Committee and offering their assistance in developing a tourism infrastructure for the main attraction in Blue Creek which is the Hokeb Ha Cave. It is a tremendous cave lying on the outskirts of the village. I have been twice since I have been here in Blue Creek, and it is absolutely amazing. It is a cave system that spans for miles. I could go off on this tangent forever, so I better leave that for later. The tourism committee has been meeting and some of the work I have been doing includes helping them to elect officers and to organize themselves as an actual committee. We have done some fundraisers in the village like selling BBQ and refreshments. I have also been working with the Village Council in order to help them come up with a Strategic Plan in order to complete some projects in the village. Some major ideas are a computer lab for the village and a bathroom for the community center.

All this sounds just lovely right? Well, one of the most shocking things that I have discovered here in Blue Creek is the amount of “shush” which is Kriol for – Gossip. Population barely reaches 400+ people in this village, and the amount of shush that goes on is incredible. There are major issues here that divide families, friendships, community groups, etc. I guess this isn’t so different from home and the amount of conflict, but it is just so concentrated in the village it seems more observable or apparent. It has been challenging for me so far to remain neutral and not get caught up in situations where I don’t belong. Living with a host family also makes it hard to stay neutral and seem to be an unbiased party. Overall though, I think it will just take some getting used to, and a little practice closing my ears when they shouldn’t be listening. But, sometimes I have to listen to things because they are fascinating…

An interesting topic of conversation for me has been the Maya medicines and traditional beliefs. One particular belief that intrigued me was the ability of people to curse one another. It is called an “Obia”. So one can “obia” someone else, and someone can be “obia-ing”, and one can get “obiaed”. The spelling of all this is questionable. An obia is a curse and it can be for anything. One common obia is for the opposite sex. If a man really wants a girl and wants to marry her, he can obia her to make her come to his side and never leave his side until he dies. This is seen as a horrible thing to do of course and if someone is caught obia-ing it is probably that he/she will be beaten or killed. One tragic story I heard involves this practice: a three year old was killed by a man on a motorbike, and the family of the child acted on their grief by obia-ing the driver. The curse was to cause the man death by worms infesting his body. Apparently, he was found days later, dead with worms overwhelming his body. There are other stories that I have heard that involve this act. When I first heard about it, it was simply the curse that was placed on women to make them be with certain men. My response to my host sister was “ That can only happen to Maya women right?”. Her response wasn’t encouraging “ Oh no Kate, it can happen to anyone!” It isn’t something taken lightly here. I am writing rather openly about it here, but it is something that isn’t publicly talked of here. Anyway I found all this to be exciting to hear about and thought it might be interesting for you as well.

Other than that – I have been meeting people in my village and steadily growing more accustomed to my way of life here.

I hope things back home are fascinating and exciting all the same! xoxo

Here it is Folks...

Well, I have finally gotten into this whole blog thing. I figured it would be easier than 1000's of emails, and possibly easier for you all to keep up with Peace Corp Life in Belize.

Stay Tuned for the official first post. I am enjoying a great day in Belize now, and I hope you are enjoying your day, wherever it may be.