Beaches and Baracudda

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First 2 weeks of school was a success! All my classes are good so far, and Im especially loving my Spanish and fish biology courses. My Spanish teacher always picks on me in class though…I think he likes laughing at my awful pronunciation, and how much I struggle with some words. Last Wednesday Danielle and I we finished classes just after lunch, so decided to go for an adventure. He hoped on the bus and headed for St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park. It is only about 15 minutes away from Belmopan, but unfortunately we still got there to late to make the hike into the blue hole. So instead we took on a shorter hike to St. Hermans cave, and after dosing ourselves with bug spray, and renting sweaty smelling headlamps we were on our way! After a short hike through the jungle hearing howler monkies in the trees, seeing fresh bananas growing, and carefully stepping over a leaf-transporting ant production line that crossed the trail, we found ourselves staring at a massive cave leading into the earth. I was both ridiculously excited and scared to explore this wonder, as we started down the steps leading into the darkness. With only the light from our headlamps as well as the flash of the camera, we ascended deeper into the cave to discover an underground river, huge structures formed by mineral build-up, and the constant sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling overhead. This experience was one of the most amazing ones I have ever had, and we will definitely be visiting the park again soon to check out the blue hole!

On Thursday night, Sharon made fried jacks (I call them flapper jacks) for dinner. It is basically dough which they dead fry and eat with beans, and I have absolutely fallen in love with them. The beans that are made in this country are like nothing I ever imagined. They are so tasty and spicy, that Im more than happy to eat them for at least one meal per day! So, as if these homemade flapper jacks were not enough, the next morning when I woke up, Sharon was in the kitchen making a fresh batch of tortillas. They were so tasty (and of course, eaten with beans), and although it was a lot harder than I thought, I was able to shape a couple of them into a somewhat circle shape.

Later that day, we went to watch some presentations that were done by the students interning here from Maryland. It was neat to see, and afterwards, Sharon invited them all over to the house for cake. Some of the student government from UB also came over, so it was really nice to get to chat with them and get to know them better. The next morning Danielle and I were up bright in early to catch a bus to Placencia. After 2.5 hours on the bus, and a short boat ride we arrived on an amazing little white somewhat island. I say ‘somewhat’ because it is technically a caye which you can drive to. Anyways, we had a great time here lying on the beautiful white sand beach, swimming in the ridiculously warm, clear water, and trying barracuda fish for the first time. Mmm mm m. We even met an ex-cancucks-and-other-teams goalie when we went out to the pickled parrot for some drinks and dinner. Just a nice old retired guy, whose living the dream in Placencia.

The next morning, unfortunately we had to catch at 7:00am bus back to Belmopan, as we had school the next day and we heard that, as it was Sunday, it was the only bus leaving the town. So our trip was cut short, but it was totally worth it, and I am sure we will be back!

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