So I arrived in San Ignacio around 11:45, then proceeded to go through customs and pick up my luggage (which was all there and nothing was stolen, yay!) As soon as the plane doors had opened, a wave of heat immediately came through the plane and I was hot. I was told that a taxi driver named Ted with a long black ponytail was going to pick me up. As I walked outside with my 3 bags of luggage, I saw a whole row of Belizean taxi drivers that ALL had long black hair. Luckily, Ted was near the front holding a sign with my name on it and I was able to pick him out of the crowd. We shook hands and then we were off on our way to San Ignacio…about a 2 hour drive away from the Belize City airport. He has been in the taxi driving industry in Belize for about 7 years and knows the areas of Belize well. The entire time, he talked to me and told me about the different places we were passing and the history behind Belize. On the way, we passed numerous horses just tied to trees and tons of stray dogs. He also offered to take me to the Belize zoo, which I kindly accepted.
It was $10 to get in, but definitely worth every penny. Unlike the zoos in the US, this zoo is all based around the animals’ natural habitat and the fences are not cages or anything like you would see normally. I got to pet a wild white-tailed deer and a toucan! I saw lots of birds, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, a tapir (Belize’s national animal), wild hogs, a jaguar, puma, other small cats, a kinkajou, and much more! While at the zoo, it also would rain for about 5 minutes, stop, then continue again. Very strange. Here are a few pictures from the zoo...
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292162996590150178" />
After the zoo, I was driven straight to San Ignacio, since I was already missing my first two classes of the day. Meg, my program leader, was waiting patiently for me to arrive and helped me get settled into my new home. I was given a cell phone, keys, and lots of papers to look through. I then showered and started to unpack before being driven to Galen University for my class at 6:30.
Jay, my other program leader, drove me to Galen about an hour before my class began to show me around. It takes about 15 minutes by bus/car to get to the university. When I arrived, I was slightly taken aback by the size of the school. There are only 3 buildings…there are only 3 classrooms and they are all in one building. The other buildings are the library and the student center. As soon as I walked in, I met up with several of my fellow UVM classmates and signed up for several clubs/sports. I then hung out with everyone until class began.
After class, we all headed back to Martha’s Inn/Guesthouse to hang out. I hadn’t seen my roommate, Margaret, yet since she has a different class schedule than I do, so I was ready to come back and talk to her. I walked over to the Inn with the two guys in my group that live in the room next door and the entire group just hung out and had some drinks. The best part though was when our new friend Tony brought over his cousin Roger who has a 2 month old pit bull mix!! For the rest of the night, that puppy, Jade, had my attention and I got to hold her and play with her for several hours. I was in heaven. Around 1, I called it quits and Alex, one of the guys next door, walked back with me and we went to bed.
Our breakfast nook
No comments:
Post a Comment