Travel ~ Belize

   I went to Belize. I was a teenager and I took two younger teenage boys there. They were staying in my country but were Korean citizens, and they also had landed immigrant status in Belize. They had to go there every so often to get their passport stamped. Through a random series of events I was chosen to be their guardian on this trip as their parents were in Korea and they were too young to travel there by themselves. My trip was payed for.

Now, I had never travelled anywhere in my life other than a very short plane ride to visit my cousin who resided in the same country as myself. I did not have a credit card, no real proof that I knew these boys, no cell phone, and had no idea what I was doing. I question how my parents felt I could do this ~ but then I realize that my parents let me do what I wanted when I wanted, because they didn't have a lot of spare time to worry about me. 

On the plane we got and headed to Belize. First thought we stopped in Texas and stayed the night there in a motel. Texas was exactly what I thought it would be and it was awesome. My only surprise was that I was from a small town full of mostly white people and in Texas there were so many darker skinned people! I don't know why I didn't realize this but it was something I remember. Texas was hot and muggy as well and I had not experienced that sort of heat before. The next morning we got back to the airport and headed to Belize.

I knew nothing about Belize or where we would be staying. We did not have cell phones as I said before. I do believe I had an email address but I did not email a soul while I was there. When we landed in Belize I knew we were going to be staying on a small island so we needed to catch another plane. The lady in customs looked askance at me as I herded the two boys through her docket. She questioned who I was and how I was taking these boys to this island. It had just had a hurricane and we knew no one there. I was eighteen. Somehow she let us through. We got on a teeny tiny eight seater plane and flew quite low over the most beautiful coloured tropical water I had ever seen. It was a terrifying experience to fly in such a tiny plane but it was also exhilarating. 

When we landed on the tiny island we got out of the plane and the heat was a shock. We got our bags and started walking. We had no clue where to go but we knew the name of the place we were staying. Locals directed us to the building. We were sharing a room. The boys shared a bed and I had my own bed. It was very hot. There was no air conditioning and we were there for a week. 

The first night we were there we ran into some trouble. We had brought money with us but we had to bring enough to pay the lady that was accommodating us. We had to pay for food, and whatever else we were going to do there. The lady who was in charge of the trip had estimated how much to send us with but she had no idea of the prices of anything or how tourists were gouged of all they had. 

The lady who the boys were staying with in my country knew a lady who lived on this island so she was our emergency contact if we got into trouble. We did not have her number though!

So the first night we went out for dinner and ate a normal meal. This ended up costing us so much money that we were now basically broke! From then on we relied on eating one bun from a bakery in the morning for breakfast, drinking Capri Sun juice boxes, and eating Chinese food takeout for dinner. We had to make a collect call to the lady back in my country to beg her to figure out a way to get us more money so we could eat while we were there. 

There wasn't a lot to do during the day since we had no money. After we made the emergency collect call to the lady in my country who had set up the trip she called the lady she knew on the island who then contacted us. She gave us some more money and she took us out snorkelling and to swim with sharks! I had never snorkelled in my life and was not a strong swimmer. This experience was unlike any I have ever had and may never have again. Belize has an incredible coral reef. A garden under the sea. It was so beautiful and magical and vibrant. I saw a huge manta ray and so many fish and coral. I could not bring myself to swim with the sharks but one of the boys I was with did. 

One day I got horribly sunburned. I have red hair and am very fair. An American couple saw me burning and alerted me and left me their bottle of aloe vera. I was in so much pain and sick. That aloe vera was such a kind gift! I remember they also gave me an orange. We couldn't to buy fruit or veggies while there so this was such a treat. Since I got so burned I could not be outside for a few days as the pain was so bad. Our room was very dark and although we had gone to the local library and found a few books in English I could only handle reading for so long.

On this island was one main road with little shops all along it for the tourists. We had already been on it many times to pass the time. Somehow I had met one of the shop owners and chatted with her. After I was burned I asked her if I could help out in her shop. It was very dark and disorganized and dirty. She asked me to clean it. I love cleaning and organizing so I was happy to help! 

Something to keep in mind is that this island was tiny. Everyone there knew how vulnerable we were and that we had no money and that no one was there to care for us. We could have gotten into trouble so easily from evil people but the locals were kind and gracious. We were kept safe. I didn't even think about this until years later.

The first day I worked in the shop I did so for eight hours. I organized a glass cabinet filled with  hundreds of pairs of earrings that looked like they had been tossed in by the handful. Many were not joined in pairs either. The cabinet had glass shelves that were uneven and propped up by books. My first order of business was to take out every pair of earrings and wash down the shelves and then re stack the books so the shelves were even. Then I arranged pair upon pair of earrings on all the shelves. It took me hours. After this I dusted and organized and spent two days working away. The shop owner commented that I accomplished in two days what they would not accomplish for weeks. The process was so interesting as there were no garbage bags or garbage cans and no rags or dusters. I had to be creative. Their pace of life there was so much slower. They would chat with friends for hours during the hottest hours of the day and really enjoy and live their lives. At the end of the few days I worked there she braided my thick red hair in tiny braids. My hair was very short at the time so I looked ridiculous. However it was kind of her to do this for me and took her a long time.

Back when I was a teenager I had a much different view on the world and on saying yes. I wanted to travel, I wanted to experience different cultures, and I didn't live in fear. I am so thankful I said yes to going to Belize. 

Something that struck me about the local people there were a few things. They lived isolated on a tiny island. The children had to go to high school on the mainland and stay there. They didn't get to come home often. I met the shop keeper's daughter and her boyfriend and they were more my age. They told me about their lives and begged me to send them textbooks so they could study and learn more. When I got home I tried my best to do it. However the school I went to would not give me any textbooks and I didn't know how to get any other ones so I could not send them any. I still regret that to this day.

Since they had just had a hurricane the local people's homes were torn apart. The shops had survived and the bigger buildings that tourists stayed in but the villagers homes were ruined. I wondered how they would rebuild because there wasn't exactly a local hardware store to buy supplies to rebuild the huts they lived in. 

The beaches were absolutely beautiful and had the most amazing shells to gather. The water was this aqua color that sometimes changed to an almost jade green. Tourists from all over the world came to snorkel the reef. There were not many cars on the island. People drove golf carts. The store keepers changed their prices every day. I finally called one shop keeper out on it and told him I would only pay a certain price each day for the juice boxes that sustained us and he sheepishly agreed. 

What an experience for an eighteen year old! I kept the boys alive but just barely. One night one of the boys told me he had left our room while I was asleep in the middle of the night and wandered around. There was a nightclub where not good things were happening but angels were guarding him and he was kept safe.  I firmly forbade him to ever do that again but he was fifteen! I couldn't really tell him much. The food we ate was unknown ingredients from a Chinese food place because it was so cheap. The men bent over huge woks with lit cigarettes in their mouths. The ash would fall into the food and sometimes you would bite something crunchy you knew should not be there. 

We got home in one piece and I got my films developed from my film camera and those photos are what I have left to remember my trip. Those boys went home to Korea. One became a dentist and I don't know what the other one became. I have not heard from them in many years. But I can remember how the white sand shone so brightly it hurt my eyes. I can remember the heat of the day and how it felt. I can remember the priest going to all the locals houses on Sunday afternoon as every family sat outside by the water and chatted and laughed the afternoon away. I can remember the colours under the water at the reef and how warm the water was. I can remember. 

What a gift memory is. What a gift the world is.

It holds so much beauty!

xo Tansy