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