This morning started bright and early! Our group met in the lobby just before 7am for coffee and to have breakfast before heading for our water taxi. Breakfast this morning consisted of fried jacks, boiled eggs, potatoes, sausage, cheese, and bean sauce. It was delicious and very different from the usual American breakfast! Following breakfast, we boarded a water taxi to San Pedro. The 1.5 hour ride was bumpy, but quick. The sunny beaches of San Pedro greeted us with various vendors selling beautifully handcrafted wood items and hand stitched bags as well as a variety of Belizean culture. The first half of our day consisted of a choice between snorkeling with sharks or shopping and exploring the beach.
At noon, we all gathered at Elvi’s Kitchen for the traditional Belizean cuisine of chicken, rice and beans. The delicious food paired well with fresh squeezed lime juice and fresh watermelon juice. Following lunch, we resumed our search for the perfect souvenirs to take back to Texas. Several individuals within the group played giant Jenga and giant Connect Four along the beach.
One thing we found to be interesting were the young children selling various items to tourists along the beach. Some children appeared of preschool age and knew their trade well. This is something we would never see in America.
Following our long day at San Pedro, we boarded the water taxi back to Belize city where we enjoyed dinner at the Calypso Restaurant located at our hotel. Our meal choices consisted of seafood, pasta, and fajitas.
The streets of San Pedro left much to explore, and we were sad to leave, however we all look forward to the many locations left to explore! Tomorrow, we will tour the Altun Ha Maya Ruin in Maskall. Stay tuned to hear about all that we learn on our New Year’s Eve in Belize!! You better Belize we’re having a blast learning and exploring all that this beautiful country has to offer!
I should have been tired this morning, waking up so early after getting so little sleep, but I was surprisingly energized. The event that our group has been working so hard towards had finally arrived; We were going to Belize! Months of fundraisers and planning are finally coming to fruition.
Our flights to Dallas and then on to Belize were both smooth. On the flight to Belize, we met up with the group of six students from TAMIU and also got the opportunity to meet a group from Kansas that was also doing study abroad.Once we arrived in Belize, we breezed through customs in about an hour and then boarded the bus to our hotel. On the road to the hotel, I noticed that Belize looked very different than I expected. While it isn't a major metropolis, it isn't a small village with huts either. The roads were very narrow and the drivers drove very fast, but I put my faith in their hands knowing that to them it wasn't too narrow or too fast.
The Ramada Princess Hotel is beautiful and fun! We had an hour after arrival to settle in and get down to dinner, which was at the hotel restaurant Princess Calypso. We could chose between a varity of sandwiches and baskets of fish, chicken or shrimp. The fish seemed to be the favorite of the group. At dinner, six of the girls from TAMUK were paired with the six girls from TAMIU and the remaining TAMUK girls were paired together. In these groups we will prepair presentations about different language disorders to present to the teachers and staff at Stella Maris school and hopefully show them some new ways to help their students.
Tomorrow we have an early day! We hit the road at 7:15am and will be travelling by water taxi to San Pedro! There we will have the opportunity to go snorkling and explore the island so that we can learn more about the culture. So far, this trip is unBELIZEable!!
