Monday and Tuesday (it is Tuesday, right?) have been challenging and rewarding. We filmed two class sessions this morning and two interviews this afternoon - student teachers at Isla Bonita elementary school and at the Roman Catholic school. All went very well, although hot and humid.
Shot an afternoon interview with one of the student-teachers in her "hostel" room at Pedro's. Great interview, super depth, thoughtful responses.
Then - off to the mayor's office to shoot video and still photos of the Wilmington Sister City meetings with Belizean officials. A very nice meeting with representatives from Wilmington and UNCW. Photos to follow. The Belizean officials offered to treat us to dinner at Blue Water restaurant overlooking the ocean. Lovely time had by all.
All in all Belize is a fascinating and interesting community with aspects of incredible growth and modernity mixed with dusty dirt roads. Native San Pedroans mixed with ex-patriots from the U.S. and Canada and England - all of whom have a story...or two. The adventure continues. I eagerly anticipate the arrival of PJ tomorrow!
As of 11:02 Belize time, the nightly ritual of copying files - TWICE - to an external hard drive continues. Copying 70-85 gigs of video files is monotonous but much better than the alternative.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
24 hours in Belize
My trip from Wilmington began smoothly enough - "easy peasy lemon-squeezy" as Logan would say. Early flight from ILM, smooth connection through Charlotte. The final approach to Belize City is where the trouble began - a very windy day, lots of bumps and turns on the way in started me down the path to feeling poorly. Then we had to do it twice as the plane came in too high and fast for the first attempted landing. Hit the gas and circle around to do it again.
On the ground finally, I just kept feeling worse. Puddle jumper from Belize City to San Pedro was pretty smooth over the beautiful waters. I kept feeling worse, though. Upon arrival at the hotel I was about gone - overcome with queasiness and an infected boil on my thumb. Quite the first impression I must have made.
Just so happens that the local doctor was at the hotel and she drove me to her clinic to take care of the nausea and thumb. Turns out I have an inner ear infection - which makes for lousy plane travel and even scuba diving. A nausea shot in the rump, anti-biotics, draining the staph sore on my thumb and I was back to the hotel to recover, thumb wrapped in gauze. To me, Dr. Teresa was Saint Teresa. Til she gave me the bill...over $500 Belize. (about $260 USD). Good thing I got that travel insurance through work. I still consider it quite miraculous that the Dr. was on site when I arrived. Prayers answered? Quite possibly.
Fortunately the very basic rooms have cable with both CBS and FSC so I was able to watch some NCAA basketball and Champions League soccer while recovering and gaining my footing. During the doctor visit I was feeling about as bad as I've ever felt - any movement brought nausea so I was most content to just lay there curled up.
I was also able to access the web from my room so I updated PJ on my condition via Facebook chat. I was glad I could at least communicate the situation to someone back home.
Slept like a rock. Allelulia!
Eased out of bed in the morning to see the teaching group off on their snorkeling trip. I planned to take it easy and recover. Took a short walk down the beach to Sara's Kitchen for a nice strong cup of coffee and a great breakfast burrito. Feeling amazingly better by now and the antibiotics are finally in the system with my first meal since breakfast the previous day.
Local carpenter Jonathan graciously shared his table and we chatted about many things. Paul, the owner of Sara's joined the discussion. Jonathan is from LA originally and does construction and design on the island. Paul is a mechanic by trade and is from Canada. Really interesting and friendly people. I'm starting to get a taste of the ex-patriots who settle here.
Quick trip to nearby publc market for a Fanta and some snacks. Chatted with Billum from Jordan at the counter. Back to the hotel pool to check email in the shade. Chatted with Mario from the nearby Caye -he's a massage therapist on vacation.
It's quite hot and humid as the sun approaches midday - perhaps in the upper 80s. Light clouds are floating by and the breeze makes it comfortable in the shade. The smell of barbecues is wafting over the whole area. Apparently Sunday is beach day with lots of picnics and barbecue carts.
From "easy peasy lemon squeezy" to "Belizey queasy" and back again in 24 hours.
Peace
On the ground finally, I just kept feeling worse. Puddle jumper from Belize City to San Pedro was pretty smooth over the beautiful waters. I kept feeling worse, though. Upon arrival at the hotel I was about gone - overcome with queasiness and an infected boil on my thumb. Quite the first impression I must have made.
Just so happens that the local doctor was at the hotel and she drove me to her clinic to take care of the nausea and thumb. Turns out I have an inner ear infection - which makes for lousy plane travel and even scuba diving. A nausea shot in the rump, anti-biotics, draining the staph sore on my thumb and I was back to the hotel to recover, thumb wrapped in gauze. To me, Dr. Teresa was Saint Teresa. Til she gave me the bill...over $500 Belize. (about $260 USD). Good thing I got that travel insurance through work. I still consider it quite miraculous that the Dr. was on site when I arrived. Prayers answered? Quite possibly.
Fortunately the very basic rooms have cable with both CBS and FSC so I was able to watch some NCAA basketball and Champions League soccer while recovering and gaining my footing. During the doctor visit I was feeling about as bad as I've ever felt - any movement brought nausea so I was most content to just lay there curled up.
I was also able to access the web from my room so I updated PJ on my condition via Facebook chat. I was glad I could at least communicate the situation to someone back home.
Slept like a rock. Allelulia!
Eased out of bed in the morning to see the teaching group off on their snorkeling trip. I planned to take it easy and recover. Took a short walk down the beach to Sara's Kitchen for a nice strong cup of coffee and a great breakfast burrito. Feeling amazingly better by now and the antibiotics are finally in the system with my first meal since breakfast the previous day.
Local carpenter Jonathan graciously shared his table and we chatted about many things. Paul, the owner of Sara's joined the discussion. Jonathan is from LA originally and does construction and design on the island. Paul is a mechanic by trade and is from Canada. Really interesting and friendly people. I'm starting to get a taste of the ex-patriots who settle here.
Quick trip to nearby publc market for a Fanta and some snacks. Chatted with Billum from Jordan at the counter. Back to the hotel pool to check email in the shade. Chatted with Mario from the nearby Caye -he's a massage therapist on vacation.
It's quite hot and humid as the sun approaches midday - perhaps in the upper 80s. Light clouds are floating by and the breeze makes it comfortable in the shade. The smell of barbecues is wafting over the whole area. Apparently Sunday is beach day with lots of picnics and barbecue carts.
From "easy peasy lemon squeezy" to "Belizey queasy" and back again in 24 hours.
Peace
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