4 days and 6 vehicles later, arrived!

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I kept putting this off until I could load pictures but too much time will pass and then it will be a mega blog post that no one has time to read! So here's a picture-less blog about getting to PG...

First of all - I was packed super early for the trip. My mom and I watched 3 movies and just packed and got my bags all ready to go, but about 4 days before we were even going to go to Edmonton! So I spent those days trying not to add anything else to my luggage, since I had been doing so well! My one medium suitcase of gear (and a duffel of school supplies for the kiddies) was a far cry from the giant bags I packed for my exchange!

I did make it out of the house with just that medium suitcase, thought it was pretty super full.

Off to Edmonton on Sunday with Mom, Dad and Grover (and the inoperable navigation system!). We spent a couple days there and I had a great last couple Canadian days! Had a chance to catch my lovely sister and her lovely man for lunch at Grassland, the normal "basically-halfway" between Ed and Fort McMurray. Enjoyed some ginger beer and sun with Saima and my parents and then Tuesday morning I was off again!

Tuesday I left from the Edmonton International, after paying an exorbitant amount for my school supply duffel (although the lady at the counter assured me that "it was still less than other airlines were charging now"). First stop Denver, for a short layover, then to Houston. This was an especially memorable flight because we flew around a big electrical storm and you could see the lightning rattleing around inside the huge clouds. Definitely one of the coolest natural things I have ever seen. Very neat.

Once in Houston, I headed to a hotel close by to get some sleep! Unfortunately I arrived too late for food at the restaurant, and having forgotten my apple and carrots at Saima's house, my nutrition deprived-airport food full belly was sad. And my paranoid brain was worried about sleeping in and missing my flight, despite having an alarm set and a wake up call ordered. The worry kept me up late, which made me worry more since I wanted to get up at 6, to get the shuttle at 6:30!

Sleepy or not, I arrived at the giant Houston airport with plenty of time. Which is a good thing, which anyone who has gone through this new TSA security business will tell you! I had enough time to grab a little bagel and a hashbrown, and since I'm a carb-o-holic, I was happy. My flight left right on time for Belize City, and it wasn't full so I was able to snag myself a window seat in a row by myself instead of sitting in the aisle of a full row! Score!

The plane arrived in Belize City, to a surprisingly small international airport. I know Belize is small but the airport was about the size of Fort McMurray's airport - it had 6 departure gates and three desks for customs. It was just like arriving in most hot locales: the heat and humidity just smacks your right in the face when you walk off the plane onto the tarmac.

I got through customs no problem and on to my next flight - on a plane that I do not recommend to people afraid of heights or amusement park rides. It was a plane with room for about 12 people. It had worn out fabric benches for two on one side, and single seats on the other- carry-ons sitting in the rear of the plane because there's no room. I'm pretty sure if you were on this plane in Canada they would make you wear earplugs. I sat right behind the pilot, and I thought his door would fly open at one point, when he almost hit the handle with his elbow. So yes, a bit sketchy but you forget that once you look out the window. The great thing about little planes is that you can see the ground. And what ground there is to see! Rivers and canals and rainforest and coastline and reef. Gorgeous. We stopped twice, in Dangriga and then Placencia, and once we finally arrived in PG, I was really excited. All all really small towns and the airstrip consists of a piece of ashphalt at the max 750 m long, with little paths across it where people bike or walk across to get to another part of town. Their "airport" is a little shack with a 1m x 1m sign that says "Tropic Air: Punta Gorda" so you know where to get off the plane.

Ian, the owner of the hotel I'm staying at, picked me up and gave me a little tour around town before taking me and my bags to the hotel. It was a pretty shocking experience driving around actually... Much more poverty than I expected to be honest, so that shook me. There doesn't seem to be much difference in the socioeconomic status of PG-ers. Almost all the homes are some combination of formerly white washed concrete, untreated and unpainted wood, and metal sheets. To be sure there are people who seemed to have worked on their homes, and there are a few newer buildings, but in general my first impression was that most people were living in harder conditions than I expected. More on that as I continue to explore town.

So I was little culture shocked when I arrived at the hotel, so I just relaxed a bit that night, participated in the Garifuna Drum lesson the hotel hosts on Wednesdays, then went in to town for dinner -and had the best tofu of my life. Another of the guests here doesn't eat meat so we went to the veg restaurant in town, and the very Rastafarian owner brought us some delicious food, mine included tofu he makes himself! I think he and I will be friends.

Pictures will come once I get better internet, and I'll tell you about my first couple days actually in PG, biking around! And exciting news: I found a place to live! I move in tomorrow (where there should be reliable internet) so I will have pictures and news about that asap!

Love to you all <3

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