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