The inhabitants of San Pedro

---

San Pedro has an eclectic mix of inhabitants. First off, you have the locals, who are born and raised in Belize.
The Creoles make up 60% of the population and have 2 distinctive traits. They have some degree of African-European ancestry and use the local English-Creole dialect. Skin color varys from very dark to very light.
The Mestizos speak Spanish and are a mix of Maya and European. They have come to Belize from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico.
The Maya, who are descendants of the ancient Maya and make up about 12% of the population.
The Garinagu or Garifuna. They came from Saint Vincent which was a refuge for escaped slaves from the sugar plantations of the Caribbean and Jamaica.
The Rastafarians. They believe in the eventual redemption of blacks and their return to Africa. They wear their dreadlocks as a sacrament.
East Indians who were brought to British Colonies as indentured workers. They agreed to work for a given length of time for one "master". Then they could return to India or stay on and work freely.
The Mennonites are the most recent group to enter Belize on a large scale. They practice complete separation of church and state, and have been very involved in the agricultural production of Belize.
The gringos. This is the category I fit into. And I have been called a gringa practically every day I have been here so far. Gringo refers to a pale non-Belizean, so I guess I do fit that category. It is not a negative word, but purely descriptive.

---