Easter Holiday

Even though Easter came and went without JELLO eggs, I'd have to say I enjoyed it quite a bit... a mean, a lot! I started my break on Thursday, March 25th with a trip to Belmopan to meet the new trainees. I missed the early bus, unable to make it to the airport, so instead I finished my bi-annual report and saw them at dinner but really didn't meet them until later that night. Honestly, I was super happy just to see current volunteers I hadn't seen in awhile (ahem.. Kevina). It was so fun to meet my pen pal, Jenna and she made me feel super special bringing me a gift, wrapped and all! I now have sparkly pens, new hairties, (I'm not sure why this is something I had forgotten to pack or how the three I did bring lasted so long) and two beautiful pairs of earrings. The pink ones perfectly matching my Ke'kechi dress. Thanks again, Jenna!
I made it back to PG Friday night, ready to be home on Saturday, but instead decided to spend Palm Sunday in Poite. Since neither Grace nor I had clean clothes and were feeling ambitious, we decided to get off the bus at my house, grab my dresses, leave bags we didn't need, and try our luck a next vehicle would be heading that way. I'm pretty sure I had a few concerned villagers worrying about two crazy white girls thinking they could walk the however many miles to the only village down that road. I have yet to figure out how far it really is, I think Mr. Chub said 13.5 miles... but we did end up walking the whole way for a total of four hours. Although it would have been nice to have caught a ride I'm glad we walked just to say we did and I would even do it again, or course trying to cut back the time it takes. The highlights of the visit included fresh chips with salsa and swimming in the beautiful river, there was a little water fall and everything. All the kids were adorable and it was nice to meet some of the people in Poite especially since I see them on the bus. Some already knew my name so I was glad to learn theirs. yeah, even when Grace and I first reached Poite while walking through the village some called out, "Miss Lilly," which is understandable, they would most likely think a white girl walking through their village was their own PCV, but a few girls greeted me with, "Hello, Miss Amy!" How neat!
As much as I enjoyed my walk to Poite, I was happy for a bus ride back to Santa Teresa early Monday morning. I had two days at home to prepare for my visitors coming to see the Deer Dance. Cali, Grace, and Megan all came to Santa Teresa for the cultural even and were stuck until Saturday morning because the buses didn't run on Good Friday. Belizeans are quite superstitious about Good Friday, some of them refuse to do anything that day, even bathe afraid they would turn into a mermaid. They believe you must by extra careful during Easter time as that is when many accidents happen. Not too long ago a young girl chopped her finger while cutting open a coconut with a machete. (I have yet to find out if she actually cut the whole thing off or only made a large gash, the story changes each time I ask and she keeps it wrapped up.) This was blamed on it being close to Easter. Anyways, back to the girls' visit. We came in on Wednesday, rested a little, then went to play games with Paulina's family. We had so much fun! I had wanted us all to bake there, but had trouble arranging the chicken situation so we just went back to my house to make kalalu with eggs and flour tortillas for dinner. While preparing meals during their stay I was reminded how different it was cooking for more than one person. I also have to say my guests were the best! They helped out so much cooking meals, washing dishes, cleaning up to leave, they even helped with making popcorn for the school's fundraising during the dance. And about the dance, we watched practice for a bit Wednesday night and made our way to the church a few times during the next couple days. The costumes were beautiful, but I'm still not exactly sure why they do the dance. The most common answer was simply to teach the younger men the culture, but I want to say there was more meaning. There were men dressed as dear, night walkers (monkeys), tigers (jaguars), and Spanish men, plus there was one old man, an old woman, and a dog and the dance seemed to tell a story. I want to say they'll do it a couple more rounds, so maybe I'll hear more later. I was surprised that they danced all day and quit before dark. I was so used to them practicing all night long. We stayed pretty busy in the evenings though. Thursday night the Max boys came to find us. Mariano (he's nine) wanted his new friends to come over for dinner so he killed his chicken. Maybe I'm over thinking the gesture, but to me that's incredibly sweet. Chickens are usually saved for special occasions, like birthdays, but to him, having those three girls come back over was reason enough. Then we were asked to eat with the Mas family on Friday night. I was surprised by Mr. Mas's dinner invitation and Hillaria was so cute reminding us of our meal at the "Mas residence." I'm trying to think what else was important about having friends visit Santa Teresa except how everyone was super kind and wanted to meet them. They also loved to see us in cultural wear and I think my new favorite outfit is the po'ot uuq (blouse and skirt). While wearing it a lady from my village took off the beaded necklace she was wearing to give to me since I didn't have one of my own and needed one to make me a true Ke'kchi. How incredibly sweet!
Alright, I've already written a lot and haven't even mentioned our trip to Sarteneja and lovely stop in Orange Walk Town on the way back. Sarteneja is beautiful! I can't believe Manissa lives so close to the water in basically a touristy spot. She's doing good work there, helping a tourist agency, hoping for an animal clinic, and just finished her World Map Project. My favorite part was wading in the water then kayaking for the first time in the sea, soaking up the Caribbean sun... glorious. I can still easily close my eyes and take myself back there. I randomly met a guy from Denver who had grown up in Hastings. What a small world! I probably could have stayed longer, but we decided to spend a day in Orange Walk Town with a next volunteer. My time in OWT would best be described as relaxing which was much needed. We were given a nice tour on Monday although everything was closed as it was still holiday. I was glad we stayed until noon the next day to experience the delicious bakery and fabulous thrift stores. I had a wonderful break that's for sure, and just wanted to share it with you all. Sadly, my camera decided to quit working- luckily this was after Picture Day at the school and I traveled with friends. Feel free to check out their pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/cali.zimmerman/SantaTheresa# Loves and Hugs!