In my mission to visit every volunteer in their village or town, last weekend I hit the road again, traveling to the northern most town in Belize - Corozol. I went to the bus station here in Belize City and met KC, who came in from Independence, which is about 3 hours south of here. We jumped on the next bus to Orange Walk Town, where Colleen met our bus and joined KC and me for the last leg of the trip to Corozol. Corozol is a beautiful town on the water, and Gayla, who lives about an hour west of Corozol, met us so we could celebrate her birthday. We had written a song to the melody of Hello Dolly and she was delighted with it, even though the three of us sang it together in three different keys! Matt Andrews, another volunteer invited us to his house and Molly, also a volunteer from Orange Walk, was there. They were fabulous hosts! Molly had made deviled eggs, and Matt cut up vegetables and dip for us to snack on. He even made fresh brewed Starbucks coffee! Another volunteer in Corozol was in the states visiting her family and she had offered her house to Gayla for us to stay in, so we went back there and had a great evening just catching up.The next morning we caught an early bus to Chetumal, the first town over the Mexican border. It was amazing - like stepping into Miami Florida (ie. like America, only everyone spoke Spanish!) We went to a real mall with department stores that had Estee Lauder make up, a Target and Walmart, ate soft serve ice cream, saw the new Angelina Jolie movie, Salt, and I devoured the best Big Mac I've ever eaten in my life! Then, after smuggling through customs more than our one bottle allotment of wine, we were off to Cristo Rey on Saturday, to see Gayla's village of 300 people - what a culture shock after our day in the mall. We took a bus to the junction and, loaded down with all our great finds in Mexico, we had to walk the two miles to get to her village. We were exhausted when we got there., but felt a bit better after lightening our load by drinking some of the wine. Gayla is helping the ladies in her village start up a tortilla factory, and they had waited until we arrived to show us around their one room business. She also recruited some of the kids in the village and painted a world map on the side of the school, which you can see from the road as you walk through town.
After a short visit there, we decided to go back to Orange Walk so it woul
d be easier for KC and I to catch the bus on Sunday morning. We also wanted to see Colleen's house and visit with other Peace Corps volunteers in Orange Walk, so back out to the highway we trudged. As we were waiting for the bus, I started flagging down trucks that were waiting at a police checkpoint, asking if we could get a ride to Orange Walk. A man with his wife and 2 children finally said yes, so the four of us piled into the back of their truck and off we went down the highway, reaching Orange Walk before the bus even arrived at the location where we were waiting at the highway. It was the first time KC had ever hitchhiked and we all had a good laugh as she crawled into the back of the pick up truck in her dress and white sandles!
When we got to Orange Walk, we went straight to Colleen's house, where we were going to stay on Saturday night, to get cleaned up from our truck ride. The house has just been remodeled, and is as modern as stepping into a beautiful home in America. In fact, we all agreed that her bathroom is nicer than any
of us have at home!
After a short visit there, we decided to go back to Orange Walk so it woul
d be easier for KC and I to catch the bus on Sunday morning. We also wanted to see Colleen's house and visit with other Peace Corps volunteers in Orange Walk, so back out to the highway we trudged. As we were waiting for the bus, I started flagging down trucks that were waiting at a police checkpoint, asking if we could get a ride to Orange Walk. A man with his wife and 2 children finally said yes, so the four of us piled into the back of their truck and off we went down the highway, reaching Orange Walk before the bus even arrived at the location where we were waiting at the highway. It was the first time KC had ever hitchhiked and we all had a good laugh as she crawled into the back of the pick up truck in her dress and white sandles!
When we got to Orange Walk, we went straight to Colleen's house, where we were going to stay on Saturday night, to get cleaned up from our truck ride. The house has just been remodeled, and is as modern as stepping into a beautiful home in America. In fact, we all agreed that her bathroom is nicer than any
of us have at home! After settling in and having a glass of wine, we went to see Zach's house. He moved into a former pre-school, and we were greeted by Zach and Ernie when we arrived. This is the first place many of the volunteers have ever had and it's fun to see how excited they are about fixing up their own places. Zach had to bu
ild a shower in his house and paint all the walls, and he's even added some inspirational phrases to the walls.
ild a shower in his house and paint all the walls, and he's even added some inspirational phrases to the walls.
Then it was on to a party hosted by Jake, a volunteer who is leaving next month after his two years in Orange Walk. He will be going to New Hampshire to graduate school, and is getting very excited to get on with the next phase of his life. We also saw Jim and Janine, a married couple from our group, who we hadn't seen since swearing in in May. They are living in a village just a few miles away and just moved into their house last week.The next morning, KC and I were back on the bus for the trip home. It was a great weekend and so wonderful to see all the volunteers who live in the Corozol District. And the culmination of the weekend was adding four more dots to my map of Belize of volunteers I have visited!
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