Moving on to Belize!

So as a result of San Andres being the home of the slowest internet i have ever encountered, which is inside the hottest room I have ever been on, on the very top of the biggest hill i have ever tried to surmount, I have not written as much as I had planned. oh and not to mention there are these CRAZY rain storms that just come out of nowhere and knock out all elecricity and internet signal. Totally not worth it to start writing a blog and then get cut off without so much a thunderstorm warning. But since we have to catch a 5am bus to Belize tomorrow, we have decided to bid farewall to our little town of San Andres and stay in a hostal in the next big town over close to the bus stop. So here I am, relfecting upon the past two weeks and there is just so much that has happened, so much personal growth, that I don{t even know where to begin.

First, I have become way more comfortable with bodily functions and having a face so shiny with sweat that you could check yourself out with it. As I said last time, there is not any running water so if you gotta poop, its just gonna sit there until water comes back on. And if you gotta poop after someone else has just pooped...well, yah...not the most pleasant thing over. Telling your host mama that you just let a load out in her toilet and you don{t know what to do about it is even worse. Plus, add the language barrier and a bunch of over the top signals to get your point across, and you got yourself a situation. For the most part, showers consist of my pouring a bucket of cold water over my head and getting dressed, only to begin sweating again the moment I have stepped out of the shower. And as for the hair straightner...forget it. See, i told you...tons of personal growth here. I only have three tank tops that I am rotating and I have become accostomed and maybe have even fallen in love with the idea of a headband and sunglasses as a means of feeling sassy.

Personal growth numero dos- I have never been scared of bugs or creatures, but there are some MASSIVE ones out here that I have battled with, with my own bare hands. I picked up two huge fat frogs who conveniently blocking my way up the stairs, and killed this bug that they call a RON RON, or a Rhinosaurce bettle, and I kid you not, the name matches the description. I found it in my room one late night after everyone had gone to bed, and for a second, I think I blacked out. There was no way I could step on it, as I figured if I didn{t pass out from the crunch, it could quite possibly take my shoe and throw it back in my face. So I poisened it with some clothes bug spray and watched as it died slowly. Then I got brave and put it in a ziplock bag so i could properly dispose of it outside where its spirit could not find me. Go me! The next day, I showed my teacher pictures that I had taken of it and she was like "oh yah, the other girl took a picture of one of those at the zoo the other day!" Greaaatt...so the creature that was in my room last night, actually belongs in a freaking ZOO!! My sister e-mailed me later and told me that she had looked the animal up online and that they are used as pets for small children in China. Double great... so i possibly killed someone{s pet!

Personal Growth lesson numero tres- Its okay to have nothing to do. And by do nothing, I mean sit around in a hammock all day while dripping sweat on the lake. That{s been my life for the past two weeks, and although I am enjoying it, it was kind of a difficult transition to adjust to. Not saying I am the most active thing in the world when i{m at home, but it seems like these people are just so happy doing this for their life, not just during their vacation, like us gringos. I absolutely LOVED the people in the village...so friendly and ready to try out their english. The kids run around screaming "I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU" and not in a bothersome creepy way, but in a curious eager to learn kind of way. I absolutley adore it!!

Yesterday, we went fishing and we passed a little strip of land where two ladies were washing clothes on this hut on the lakeside. We pulled in the ask it they sold limons, and in doing so got ourselves invited inside what we thought was a village, but was really the home to one family with 12 kids. There were chickens and children everywhere, and they{re clothes were all really dirty, but the women, with the most kindness ever, hauled over chairs and insisted that we sit down. She proceded to cut open coconut after coconut with her machete, until we could eat coco no more. I was playing with a little baby boy, who was no more than 7 months and we were talking to a 13 year old girl who was saying she had gone to school before, but can{t afford to get to the school since they live in such a remote area. As the boat drove away, the lady said to us "I don{t have money, and I don{t have a house, and we don{t have much clothes, but we have God" W0w, talk about a dose of faith and humility right on the spot. Despite our society{s need to be consumers, i learned that happiness truly does come from the peace you can give yourself from within your heart. Amen sister!

Personal growth numbero Cuatro- You are as tough as you push yourself to be. On Saturday, we left San Andres at 3am to make the 1 and a half hour drive to Tikal so we could watch the sunrise over Mayan Ruins. After a thirty minute hike in the pitch dark where we had to be careful for these massive tree roots on the ground that were apparently the home to tarantulas, while listening to howler monkies, who if you{ve never heard, sound like a mob of starving jaguars, with the scary movie "The Ruins" playing over and over in my head, and after climbing up man made stairs, which a handful of people had apparently fallen of off and died in the past year, I made it to the top to watch the sun come over the city. Although it was a little cloudy, it was a magical experience, especially to think that there is so much more to discover (apparently, it is only 20 percent excavated), and so much that we don{t know, and probably will never know.

But that wasn{t even the best of it! Our guide led us to an even huger, more massive ruin that, I am not kiddening you, had 100 plus stairs up, in the form of a rickety wooden, verticle ladder! I can{t wait to show you picture of this thing! I wasn{t sure if I wanted to climb up, but I did and although I got to the top, and refused to let go of the wall, and then climbed right back down, I{m glad i did it.

So that{s a basic recap of my 2 weeks here in San Andres. Other than learning life lessons, Rachel, Dana and I, along with another girl, Katie who is traveling solo, but has joined us, we have just managed to make the best of every situations. There have been tummy aches, crazy boat experiences, tons of Gallo (the local beer), weird meals made by our homestay moms that we couldn{t even decipher, creatures galor, etc, but we are alive and stronger than ever. So now we are moving on the Belize, ready to experience more. yessss!

PS I love your guys comments, it really means a lot to me!!