This trip really began Thursday evening when I returned home from the pier. Elana's granddaughter, Deja, was home. As soon as I walked through the door, she yelled at me excitedly and told me to go to the back veranda. Elana was there, along with a few of her many relatives, also excited, and so whatever was back there was something COOL. Turns out, it was a wild IGUANA! A live iguana that Howard had purchased from a vendor alongside the road. It wasn't tied up, but it's legs were placed in a position (behind its back and tail) that apparently discouraged it from struggling. I could pick it up and hold it easily.
The following morning, Elana's relatives killed the iguana and roasted it. They then took it back over to Elana, who made iguana curry. When I returned home after school on Friday in order to pick up my things for the Placencia trip, Elana had iguana curry ready for me. I ate it on the bus, and it was delicious. Iguana really does taste like chicken, although the eggs tasted a bit sweeter and were more moist. Yes, iguana eggs. Pictures coming soon :)
The eight of us (all the UMD students, minus Garnet, but plus a volunteer from Seattle named Matt) took the 3:00 PM James Company bus up to Independence. The ride in the coach bus was bumpy, but comfortable. It took about 1.5 hours for us to reach Independence, where we took a water taxi to the small town of Placencia. I believe that there's a road into Placencia, but it would have taken us much longer to get there by bus. By taking the water taxi, we were able to view the wide expanses of mangroves that make up the lagoons around Placencia. We did not see any crocodiles, but they were doubtlessly present. The taxi driver was exceptionally nice.
When we arrived in Placencia, we looked around for a place to stay. We ended up staying in two cabanas owned by a company called Trade Winds. The cabanas had names: Venus and SeaStar. The cabanas were as close to the ocean as you could possibly get - right on the beach, surrounded by palm trees, and about 30m away from the water. The cost was split between 8 people, so we ended up paying around US$15 per person, per night. I ended up spending $35 total on housing. For a place on the beach, hot water, hammocks, refridgerator and coffee pot included. So, if traveling in Belize, I highly recommend staying with a bunch of people at Trade Winds (if you're looking for good + cheap). The first thing I did when I went inside was throw my things on the floor, change into my suit, and jump in the ocean. I then proceeded to find a big red starfish. I expected it to be squishy, but it wasn't. It was pretty rough and bumpy, like studded leather.
After settling in, we went looking for a place to have dinner. I believe that the name of the place where we dined was called The Amigos Bar. They had a decent menu, and I became excited when I saw the words "veggie burger." Thinking of the delicous wild rice burgers and soy burgers of the Duluth area, I ordered a veggie burger (with cheese added). A culture clash ensued. Afterwards, Matt told me that he had heard the server acknowledge my request for cheese with the phrase "Cheese on vegetables? Okay..." Note to self - ask about food before you order it. What I ended up getting was a bun with cheese and fresh vegetables on it, along with something like McDonald's "special" Big Mac sauce. Exactly like a cheeseburger, but without the burger. I was thinking Why call it a veggie burger? It's got no burger. Just vegetables on a bun. It's a vegetable sandwich.
Well, the veggie "burger" provided a lot of entertainment throughout the rest of the dinner, which was needed because of another cultural difference: in Belizean restaurants, they serve the meals as they are ready. One person gets to start eating while everyone else waits. In American restaurants, they serve a group their meals all at once. So everyone got to laugh at my burger mishap while they were waiting for their food (and likely waiting with increased apprehension as to the possible nature of that food). Eventually, the term "veggie burger" came to be defined as "something that is good, but not quite what you expected."
The VB term actually came to apply to the weekend as a whole. After dinner we returned to our cabana; we planned to go out later that night. Well, then it started raining. Hard. We tried going out, running through the rain in search of a place to have some fun; we were soaked within 5 minutes. I hate being cold and wet more than almost anything else, so I gave up and returned to the cabana. The rest of the group was braver - but definitely wetter. The rain didn't let up until the following night. It wasn't a constant rain, but it rained just often enough and just hard enough to prevent the beach weekend of our fantasies to become reality. Make no mistake - we had a lot of fun. But most of our clothes were wet by the end of Saturday night. Thankfully, it did clear up on Sunday. We spent most of the day in Placencia on Sunday, taking the 4:30 bus out of Independence to return to Punta Gorda. It was enough to get sunburnt, do some snorkeling, and dry out all our clothes.
One other interesting incident was that of the Strange Music-Selling Man. This guy followed Lana back to our residence, which in itself isn't strange since there are many mobile vendors around the island. They stop by all the cabanas in order to sell their goods. This guy was selling CDs. I, having just returned from a run, was feeling pretty good, so I bought an album. No one else showed any interest, so I expected him to take off pretty soon. I headed for the shower, and when I came out - he was still there. He hung around for something like a half hour before he left, just standing in the doorway, watching people play cards...Anyway, that was fine. It was raining, after all. But he returned much later in the evening. We were all inside playing a card game called Hockey, and he just showed up at our door uninvited. We didn't really know what to do. One might judge his behavior as rude by [some] American standards, but Belizean? And really, having random people show up is pretty normal in college parties. Everyone seemed all right with his presence. I, not being one to often go to college parties, was kind of weirded out by this guy. This was especially the case when he ended up joining Lana, Andy, and me at a dance hosted by The Barefoot Bar. And then it got a bit too creepy. So Lana and I ran away (sorry, Andy!)
Well, my time at the internet cafe must soon end. Pictures and more stories about student teaching will be forthcoming. ~LN
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