Dream Weaver

Belize

Yay, we’re finally moving to another country translation, more stamps in my passport, because come on that‘s all this trip is actually about anyway, right? :) We accidentally (on purpose) spent too long in Mexico, which was amazing but now means that we have to cut a few days out somewhere else. It’s crazy, 4 months seems like so long, but there is just so much to see and do and I feel like we could spend a couple months in each country and still not see everything! In Belize the official language is English, but lots of people speak Spanish and Creole or a mix of all three. You thought regular English Creole was hard to understand, trying throwing a few Spanish words in the mix like taco or burrito and see how much you understand then…. It was really funny walking up to people because half the time you’d ask something in English and they would give you a blank look or reply in Spanish and the other half you’d ask in Spanish and they would reply in English.

Sunday Feb 10

Corozal

We weren’t quite sure what to expect crossing the border, but it ended up being easy peasy and we took a bus from Chetumal to a little town called Corozal. We got there on a Sunday afternoon and it was completely dead and so hot! After getting checked in to our hotel (hotel is a very generous word) we walked around and decided to try and find a church, the first people we came across were working on some stage thing and we asked them if there was a Mormon church in town, the lady got a big smile on her face and said, “I am one of your sisters!” It was really cute and totally random.

Coke break! Please notice the Chinese writing on the wall, there were Chinese people here all over the place and I swear they own every single restaurant and store in this town, Chinese mafia maybe? They even had a man driving all over town with a massive Chinese flag flying in the bed of his truck. I kept getting confused at which border we had actually crossed.

Yep, this is a mother breast feeding her child….. In the shape of a statue… Proudly displayed in the middle of town.... I mean, I’ve definitely noticed a different culture around here and I swear they aren’t afraid to whip it out at anytime, but really, they couldn't think of any other way to honor the mothers around here?

This is the local swimming hole, old and young alike were to be found braving the treacherous rocky shore out to the 3 foot deep bay!

Te'oing, it’s like Tebowing only a lot more lonely….

Burger and Fries, big plate of Lo Mein and two bottles of Coke including the tip $6.50, I could get used to this!

This was the Corozalians (as I'm sure they prefer to be called) version of the Carnaval parade... No that's not your imagination, they did in fact dance around simplistically swaying from side to side holding a ribbon for ten minutes.... And it only got worse from there! :)

Monday Feb 11

San Pedro

Got up and caught the 6:00 am (as in we got to watch the sunrise, which for me happens like… never) ferry over to one of the little islands off the eastern coast of Belize called San Pedro. It’s kind of long and skinny so from one side of the island to the other was only about 3 blocks wide. We weren’t sure what to expect and even though it was super touristy, it was so pretty and definitely had the laid back island vibe going on.

Here’s the proof, we were awake as the sun was coming up, notice the bags under my eyes....

We stayed at a hostel in San Pedro called Pedro’s Inn. Despite being down a super sketchy road where we were offered drugs twice, before 9:00 in the morning, it was awesome. This is the super fancy pool complete with slivery wooden chairs! Who's living the high life now?

Do you wish your church was in a renovated hotel on the beach overlooking the ocean? Cause I do!

As part of Carnaval, these people were dressed up and going around the street asking if they could dance in front of businesses and then proceeding to dance to this terrible self recorded music that sounded like a mix between Gangam Style and traditional Mexican fiesta music with bad karaoke. The girls were dressed up like boys and the boys were dressed up like girls. I didn’t really get the concept except that they seemed to be having a really good time and then asked for money afterwards. The best part was they did it for us and then seriously moved down the street 10 yards and did it again, I think we saw the performance 3 times and heard it at least 8! 

Lucky for us, we were at Pedro's Inn at the right night, there was a pizza place attached to the hostel and they had the Kansas vs Kansas State game on ESPN and the sweet sound of Karaoke in the background. I mean that's the kind of night that dreams are made of. And yes, the man singing in the background definitely sounded as bad as he looks.

Tuesday Feb 12

Caye Caulker

Took another boat to the next island down called Caye Caulker. It used to be a lot bigger, but a hurricane split the two islands apart maybe 20 years ago. I absolutely loved Caye Caulker, it was smaller and way less commercial, they still have dirt roads and it felt like more a place people actually live instead of a place where people only vacation. We had such an amazing day hanging out by the break. Where the island used to be connected there’s now about a 50 yard gap that makes an awesome swimming area! There’s also ton of kite surfing here and we had fun watching everyone, the good ones hitting the sweet air and the beginners face planting it… :)

Paradise Hotel! If you squint really hard you can almost make out our room clear at the back away from the water, internet, and air conditioning! Seriously though, we were at the same hotel but it felt like we were living with the help, probably because we insisted on the cheap room.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the look Mckay decides to rock once we get home, I think it really becomes him!

This is part of a restaurant right at the split!

Does this look amazing or what? They just have the lobsters and fish swimming around in these tubs and you choose the one you want and they cook right there on the grill. And it was amazingly cheap, for lobster, which means it was still out of our price range, I told McKay he had to get me out of there right away before I convinced him that I had to have this in my life!

This is where we ate instead... Pupusas! So delicious and only $1 each, we might have gone a little crazy and were both sick from eating so much, but the total for everything with a tip was less than $10. This lady was awesome and kept laughing every time we said, more please! :)

Up next Guatemala! :)