Final Reflection

So the trip was amazing. I'm extremely happy that I was able to go on this trip and help all of those people. It definitely put my counseling skills to the test and made me appreciate people who are able to speak more than one language. This trip has made me realize that I remember more than I thought I did from all of the modules and classes that I've taken throughout my time at ACPHS. It was crazy to see how expensive vitamins were and that they were the main thing that people wanted. They're able to go to the doctor and get diabetes medications and stuff like that for pretty much free, but they're unable to get something as simple as vitamins. It really puts things into perspective at how young of a country they are and how things are still changing and adapting.
The class that we took before going to Belize was also very helpful. It was nice knowing the history of the country, the customs, and the culture of the people before we went down there. It was extremely interesting to be able to see some of the things we talked about (for example, where the Macal and Mopan rivers meet, or the swing bridge in Belize City).
I really want to thank my host family, Adma Robinson and her 4 children, for letting me stay with them. They were fantastic and I plan on keeping in touch with them. They made me feel right at home and they are genuinely extremely nice people.

1/17/13 - 1/18/13 Day 14-15 Caye Caulker and leaving Caye Caulker

Caye Caulker has been the best part of the trip hands down. The island is GORGEOUS and the water is as clear and as blue as you can possibly imagine. The trip from San Ignacio was a long one, starting by waking up at 4:20 am, finishing packing my backpack, and then went upstairs to give Adma the key, say goodbye, and wait for Catherine to pick us up. It was sad leaving the house for the last time, but at the same time I was really excited to head out to Caye Caulker. It took about 2 hours to actually reach the water taxi (we made it JUST in time; reaching the entrance at 8:01 am with the boat being scheduled to leave at 8, but we made it). The 45 minute water taxi ride was beautiful and the weather was perfect all day. I honestly can’t explain how perfect this day was. After we stopped at the hotel to get our rooms (which is kind of a sketchy hotel but it’s not that bad at the same time), we got to wonder around and get lunch until about 1:30 when we had to meet at Mario’s for the snorkeling excursion. For lunch, we ate at this beautiful restaurant right on the beach overlooking the water. The food wasn’t too bad, but the view was what made the lunch amazing. After that, we just walked up the island and eventually reached the beach (or what they call the beach). It wasn’t what you normally think of as a beach but it was an entrance into the water where you could swim. We didn’t really swim too much, just got our feet wet (we being Vicky, Dani, Hunter, Angie, Katie, Rachel, and I) I honestly can’t believe at how quickly the day has gone by. It feels like I was just doing these things a couple hours ago, when in reality it was about 9 hours ago. After wondering around a little more, we went to snorkeling place to get our goggles and fins. From there, we went to the boat (split into two groups for two different boats) and headed out. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, and the water was crystal clear. The first place we stopped was to swim with sting rays and sharks. They brought food for the animals so they would stay in one area. The sharks weren’t very big and it was really cool to see. Pretty sure they were the kind that only eats small things. After swimming there for a bit, we got to see part of the coral reef where I got to see a puffer fish, a baby shark, and a variety of other fish and coral. The third and final stop was another part of the coral reed where we could just swim on our own and see some schools of fish. In between the snorkeling, they gave us watermelon and pineapple. The pineapple was probably the best pineapple I’ve ever tasted. I could have eaten an entire pineapple all by myself. It was an incredible experience that I would love to have again. The entire snorkeling trip lasted about 3 hours or so, and then we came back to the room (Hunter and I) to shower and get ready for dinner. For dinner Vicky, Dani, Hunter, and I went to this place that was recommended in the Rough Guide book that we had to get for class. I got a banana daiquiri and it happened to be two for one since it was happy hour, and also got the complementary soup (which was cauliflower soup), chicken with veggies and pasta in a white wine sauce, garlic bread, and a salad. It really wasn't that expensive and was probably the best meal I've had outside of Adma’s house. After dinner we walked around for a bit and went shopping, got a couple of drinks with the rest of the group, and just hung out until coming back to the hotel where we’re getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we have to get up around 6:15 to get ready and then Dani, Vicky, Hunter, and I are going out to breakfast before meeting with everyone at the Hotel at 8 to go get the water taxi at 8:30.

I’m pretty excited to go home, as I've probably said a million times in this blog. Its weird how at the beginning of the trip, it felt like we were already there for weeks on end, but now it seems like the trip flew by. I’m extremely happy that I came on this trip and I would love to do something like this again at some point in my life. It was really rewarding to see how we can help people just by simply giving them vitamins, or telling that things that they should be following, or even pointing out things that are extremely serious and that they need to see a doctor right away.

Anyway, I’m going to save most of those kinds of thoughts for another entry. I plan on doing a “after I get home self reflection” about the entire trip.

Leaving San Ignacio

The swing bridge we learned about in class

Arriving at Caye Caulker

The hotel we stayed in

Leaving Caye Caulker:

Where we ate breakfast

Eliu, Dr. Hickey, and Catherine

Zach, Stephen, Hunter, and I

Vicky, Dani, and I

 Trip home and Final Reflection post to come.

1/16/13 Day 13 ATM

So today was FANTASTIC. We went to the ATM caves which took about an hour-hour and a half to get there. The roads were super bumpy once we got off of the main road. We had to wear helmets and head lamps. We started off by walking through some woods and had to cross this river three different times (I was wearing my bathing suit and ProWorld shirt). Once we walked through the woods, which took about half hour-45 minutes, we got to a picnic area where we ate lunch. From there, we went into the cave itself. The entrance was just a pool of water we had to swim through. There was so much water in the entirety of the caves it was crazy. Swimming with sneakers on feels really weird and I don’t recommend it. The entire cave was just a maze of water and rocks. We spent about 3 hours total in the cave, but it didn’t feel like it at all. We eventually got to the actual ruins and got to see clay pots that were left, bowls that were used for sacrifice and blood draining, and actual skeletons. We were able to see a total of 5 different skeletons. It was really cool. I really wish we were allowed cameras because it’s really hard to explain the things I saw and did inside the cave, but unfortunately we weren’t allowed cameras because at one point someone dropped a camera onto a skull and broke the skull. Once we got out of the caves, we changed and got into our van. It took us longer to get home because we kept taking breaks to look at birds (Dr. Hickey was in the van and our tour guide was also into birding). We saw some really pretty birds and eventually made it back home.

Once I showered, I packed up all the things I didn’t need for the morning and Adma brought us and our suitcases down to ProWorld to make it easier for tomorrow morning. From there we went to our farewell dinner. The food was pretty good and Dr. Hickey, Grant, Catherine, and Eliu gave farewell/congratulation speeches. It made it really hit home that we’re leaving pretty soon, that tomorrow is our last day in Belize. It’s actually pretty sad because I’ve grown attached to my host family. Adma and her kids have been fantastic and I’m going to miss them. It’s crazy to think that this is the last night I’m going to be sleeping here, although I am looking forward to my own bed, hot water, and not having to worry about bugs.

Anyway, I should probably head to bed since I have to be up at 4:20 tomorrow to get up, get ready, and make sure I have everything. Caye Caulker should be amazing and a fantastic way to end the trip.

1/15/13 Day 12 Home Visits, Home-Stay Family Time, and Drumming

Today was a pretty good day so far. We did home visits (only did a couple of houses) and most of them just wanted vitamins and their BP checked. None of them really had any problems, except this one little boy that the other group did who had a fever and a cough. After the home visits, we went to this restaurant called Hode’s and got some food and just talked about what we would improve for the next trip that comes down here. It was pretty interesting conversation and the food was delicious. We didn’t end up going to the zoo because about 5 people were home sick and only a couple of us left wanted to go. After Hode’s, we went back to ProWorld and went through what was left and took whatever we thought our host families could use and left the rest of it for the next group.

Tonight we have drumming lessons which should be interesting. Let’s see how bad everyone’s rhythm is haha.

It’s crazy, tonight is the last night that our host families are going to cook for us. I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s sad, but at the same time I’m excited to go home because I miss my friends and family and such. ATM tomorrow should be fun as well. I’m kind of excited just for the fact that we’ll be in the dark most of the day so I won’t have to worry about my sunburn getting worse. I just hope the bugs aren’t bad in there.

Trevor, Hunter, Zach, Stephen, and I

Zahi

Hunter, Adma, and Sunita

Stephen and David

Sunita and Zahi

Adma

Sunita

Hunter and Adma

Hunter and Stephen

Group picture!

Adma and Zahi

Trevor, David, Zahi, and Zach

Sunita and Zahi

Marie

Set up before drumming

 Drumming was very entertaining. We didn't actually learn to drum like I thought we were going to but we got a lesson in Garifuna history which was very interesting. It was nice being able to remember most of it from class and compare what we learned in class to what they were telling us. The guys played a few songs for us, had us get up and dance and move around. We had to do this conga line type thing with certain moves. It was definitely entertaining and I thought it was really cool. Wish I was able to get more video but my camera ended up dying on me.

1/14/13 Day 11 Teaching and Swimming

Today was really good. Started out by teaching little kids about Hepatitis A. It was tough; our first class was 5 year olds, second class was about 10, and then our third and final class was 14 (which was the easiest). Our group first started by asking if they knew what germs/viruses were (they all said that germs were little worms which explains why people always came into the clinic asking for meds for worms). From there we explained what the liver was and how the virus attacks the liver and the different signs of hepatitis A. After that, we did a little skit where Hunter and I were a bathroom, Dani was a sink, Rrita was the one going to the bathroom, and Angie was Hepatitis A. The first time we did the skit, Rrita skipped washing her hands and Angie would attack her, while the second time Rrita washed her hands and Angie couldn’t get near her. We just tried to show the kids that it’s really important to wash their hands and food before eating it. We were only there for an hour or so. The other groups taught about hygiene/cold/flu, lice, and dental hygiene. Pretty sure ours was the toughest topic of them all. Once we were done at the school, we went back to ProWorld and figured out what was going on for tomorrow. Tomorrow we’re doing home visits in a town and then we’re going to the zoo. Tomorrow night we have the drumming lesson which should be interesting. Once that was decided, we had a free day and Vicky, Hunter, Dani and I (along with a few others) decided to go get our bathing suits and go swimming at the ProWorld pool. It was a nice relaxing day where I got burned because I forgot to put sunscreen on in the morning (so my arms got burned on the walk from ProWorld to the house to get my bathing suit) and then I forgot to put sunscreen on my face while we were swimming. Oh well, it only hurts a little bit right now and I’m putting aloe on it a lot. I’m just hoping it doesn’t affect my sleep tonight. I’m probably going to take a Benadryl before I go to bed just to make sure I can fall asleep.

Oh forgot to mention, on the way back to get my bathing suit we stopped at Sweet Ting’s and got this AMAZING Oreo cheesecake. I was so delicious.

So yeah, ATM is still on, it’s not supposed to rain until Friday I think, so that should be fun. Then Thursday we have to be at ProWorld at 5:30am to catch the first ferry in Belize City to go to Caye Caulker. Adma is most likely going to drive us down since we’ll have our luggage and that walk with luggage would be a disaster. It really has been fantastic here. Adma has been a phenomenal host mom, and her children are awesome as well. I added Adma on Facebook yesterday, so hopefully she’ll add me at some point.

Anyway, I think that’s it for tonight, time to read for a while and head to bed. =)

San Ignacio Hospital

Pool at ProWorld