Day 5
As we woke up in our individual homes, separated for the first
time, our bond could still be felt throughout the village. After being fed to
our content, and in many cases, a little bit more, we headed over to the
library. As we walked down, we heard kids yelling our names. Everyone trickled
in, feeling overly full and refreshed and some came with offerings for the
group like mangos, cotton candy fruit thing, cocoa, and more (Tyler&Nick&Danny&Matthew).
Despite our separate breakfasts, we shared good vibes over the huge variety of
fruits brought to us. We began to work on the library, painting it (and each
other at times ;) as well as setting up
windows and door frames. Originally painting the inside green, it was later
decided that it should actually be white! This presented itself as an
interesting minty white color as we tried painting over it. Originally
overconfident in our hammering abilities, we were quickly shut down by our
inability to, in fact, hit the thin and annoying nail (as can be demonstrated
by the silver hammer marks on the wood surrounding the nail…) Then Mac, the
amazing handy man and overseer of construction who casually handled a nail
through his thumb, came in and hammered everything in half the time it took us
to do one. Back together again for an especially uniting lunch, where good
energies were overflowing the room, we had some delicious chicken tamales
wrapped in banana leaves, along with several other amazing food choices. While
we had our lunch, Aurora, an amazingly talented artist and healer, told us her
story. We were all enchanted by her account of the Tata Duende and how her path
led her to her current position. As soon as our stomachs were yet again filled,
there was a rush to grab fresh sets of clothing (not that we needed them or
anything, as there is no such thing as sweating in Belize). Then in a stroke of
luck, Dilan found that everything she had left behind had been saved for her,
and we continued on our way. On the epic journey toward a cacao plantation, we
were guided by Marroquin and his trusty dog. Once arrived, we were led through
the dense jungle on the 2 lane highway, through some trees, over a river (where
piggy back rides were provided even for those even too large to receive one)
where one of our comrades had his shoe ripped away from his grip by the rapids
(Julian <3), through more trees, and finally into the heart of the
plantation, where we were viciously pursued by an inch long scorpion, luckily
we were able to overcome the evil creature, who realized we were too tough for
it to handle, and even obtained photographic evidence of his cowardliness. YOLO. Then repeating the same journey
described before, with some new piggy back rides, and others who were brave
enough to walk through with their shoes on through the rapids. Then we arrived
to the museum, where we were greeted by a small puppy, chickens, and hopes for
chocolate. There we proceeded into the museums kitchen where our bonds were
further strengthened by the magical powers of the delicious substance called
chocolate. We first tried cocoa beans that had already been fermented, then
ones that had also been roasted, both of which were rather bitter. Ms. Bastedo
had become a dog and was rolling on the floor with one of the dogs in the side
room (the dogs and chickens here are really comfortable walking in and out of
stores and houses). Then came the process of grinding. It would be fair to say
that none of us were particularly good, but we did see Tyler show off his guns
(sleeves up). Then came Carlos,
prepared to face the challenge with a chocolate dance. For several minutes we
watched as he did the same amount of work that the many people before him had
worked together to accomplish. It was beauty. The chocolate began to look like
chocolate and we all made sure to double-dip on as many fingers as were necessary
to make sure we had gotten a good taste. The teachers then demonstrated once
again their spectacular waitressing skills, as we repeatedly attempted to make
sense of our drink orders (from a list of three choices). Cold water was
definitely appreciated. Then a rush to go next door and buy some chocolate and
other little touristy things and we were back to the Mayan Center to grab our
stuff. Before returning to our home stays, we made plans to meet again before
the day was over, for we knew that we could not remain apart for very long.
Then each one of us went to our respective families, and yet again, consumed a
wonderfully wonderful feast. Our instincts led us to the soccer field before we
knew we were destined to meet there. There, we all engaged in a very intense
soccer game with some locals and had to run into tall cutter grass to retrieve
the ball every five minutes. A game of soccer on the school field, split into
the monkeys (ma-ash) and the jaguars (balum), got rather interesting,
especially since there were no goals and no real rules. The freshly cut grass
(which was attracted by our positive energy) followed us home. We were covered
in sweat and gross stuff and showers felt like heaven (to those of us who took
them). Each of us slept (or talked deep into the night) and dreamt of one
another.<3 We were ready for another day of good feelings.
-Carlos & Dilan
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