The only class I’m really worried about is my Indigenous perspectives class. We have so much to read for each class and it is impossible to get it all done. It’s also impossible to download the readings (they’re all online) when not on campus, and even when on campus it doesn’t always work. In class, I have absolutely no idea what is going on…we were talking about economic theories and all these things I have never learned before, nor have I ever taken an economics/political science/philosophy class before. About half the class dropped out already and many people have complained. The teacher in response to everyone coming up to him asking for a signature to drop the class, talked to us on Wednesday and said he will slow down and cut down the readings into smaller pieces, so I really hope he follows through.
In more exciting news…Fridays I don’t have classes, so a few of us decided to go to Cahal Pech in the pouring rain. Most of our group went to Caye Caulker this weekend…which is a place to vacation at the beach…so only 8 of us were left here this weekend. Cahal Pech, besides being the hotel and resort where we go swimming, is the oldest Mayan ruin, is extremely important culturally to Belize and only a 25-30 minute walk to get there. The six of us who went made the hike up the hills to the top, paid $10 to get in and were just blown away by its size and all the artifacts they have found here. We are learning about Cahal Pech in my Maya Archaeology class, so it was really great being able to put the information he has told us together by actually being there. I think my Maya class might be my favorite class here.
When we first walked outside, I was expecting one small little ruin. What I saw was nothing like I imagined and pictures can’t justify the magnificence of it. There were at least six different ruins and we were having so much fun climbing up all the steps and exploring the ruins. There were so many different rooms we could walk into, tons of steps to climb, and we found a couple bats and giant moths living in some rooms. The only bad part was that it was raining, so the ruins were really wet and slippery, on top of the moss growing on them, so it was scary at times climbing up and down the ruins. I was basically on my hands and knees, using the roots from the ground to make it safely up and back down. The climb was definitely worth it though to get to the top. It amazes me to think that I was standing where the ancient Maya once were and probably slept, ate, and/or performed rituals right where I was standing. Spooky.
Saturday was the ultimate lazy day. Woke up around 10:30, sat around for an hour or two, went out to breakfast, which took almost two hours in itself (the service here is extremely slow), went to the market and various other places to buy food, then came back and took a nap. Since there were only eight of us, we decided to each buy something and make pizza and salsa together. We made three different kinds of pizza…vegetable, cheese and tomato, and pineapple. We bought all fresh fruits, made our own sauce, and bought the dough from a local restaurant. It was probably one of the best meals I’ve had here so far.
After dinner, a few other people were back already from their mini vacation and we all just hung out and watched tv/movies. We found the soap net channel and they have Indian soap operas, which are really entertaining. Our favorite channel, however, is the game show network. My roommate, Meg, loves any type of game and is obsessed with the game “Chain Reaction”. Whenever we’re bored or waiting for food, we just start playing it by ourselves. We also randomly quote “Friends” in our daily lives. I love it.
Sunday, everybody who is a “paddler” for La Ruta Maya, had practice from 1-6, so the rest of us just spent the day catching up on homework and studying. We had another group meeting and ate dinner at the South Indian Restaurant (the place where I have been buying the fruit shakes that are absolutely amazing) and had very delicious chicken curry.
I was finally able to upload my pictures onto photobucket. I have made a section in the upper right-hand corner of my blog for links to the pictures. Feel free to check them out.
Next weekend we are going on a three day field trip to the Cockscomb Basin and Jaguar Reserve, Punta Gorda, Dangriga, and a couple other short stops. More stories to come soon…
