With 90-day Honduran tourist visas, we had been promised official legal work visas this year, as the school had hired a lawyer specifically to orchestrate this for the volunteers. However, as per everything Honduras, this has not yet come through. Mostly due to a lack of funds. And about ten days ago we learned we'd have to go on a visa run (outside of the CA-4 region: Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) to get another 90-day visa. This weekend was a five-day weekend, the perfect opportunity for our visa run to Belize.
I'd had a fever since last Sunday and really was not feeling great, but also really didn't want to stick around inside the walls of my house for five days. So Wednesday morning seven of us got up at 6am and boarded our first bus into San Pedro Sula. Standing pressed against many other people wasn't my ideal wake-up. When we got off the bus in San Pedro, two of us had disembarked and the bus began to pull away. My jaw literally dropped. But it was okay because the bus pulled over again 100 feet down the road and the other five volunteers got off.
We got seats on the next bus, as well as the one after that. Then we got exit stamps from Honduras and walked out of Honduras and into Guatemala. Seats on that bus took us to Puerto Barrios. A short stop at Guatemalan immigration, where we got more stamps, as well as a couple instances of showing passports to soldiers on the road. At Puerto Barrios we bought ferry tickets to Belize, got exit stamps from Guatemala, and bought fresh juices.
Liz was also sick with the same thing I had, just one day behind me in the illness. Every time I get sick here she gets the exact same thing a day later. It's rather unfortunate.
In anticipation of the choppy ferry ride and our already queasy stomachs, we took dramamine.
The ferry ride was fine, and all of us got extremely sunburnt off the reflection from the water, despite the misleading overhead canopy.
In Belize we got off the ferry and headed through customs and immigration. When we saw the restroom with toilet seats, toilet paper, and soap, we knew things would be different in this country.
Trying to remember to speak English, we got on the next bus and immediately all fell asleep. When we got to the end of the line, our stop, we hopped off and jumped into taxis with only six minutes until the departure of our ferry. But we made the ferry and got to Placencia, a peninsula in Southern Belize. After walking around town for a bit, we finally found our hotel.
Liz and I stepped into our shared quarantine room and collapsed on the beds. It was now 5:15pm. I couldn't believe how comfy the bed was - no waking up sore from bed springs, like at home in Cofradía.Thursday morning I was feeling pretty sick, but made it to breakfast and a nice walk around the town and down the beach. Then, I had really good intentions to swim. Unfortunately, however, I didn't make it to that. After laying in the shade on the beach for over an hour, I decided the beach wind was too cold for me. So I went back to the room to sleep. By 3pm I made myself get up, take a short shower, and head to find some more food. I found a coffee shop-type place famous for their seaweed shakes, which literally sounded like the best shake flavors I had ever encountered. Knowing I couldn't stomach a shake, I got a spiced chai tea, which was freshly ground and delicious. I went on a long walk and met some expats on the beach who thought I was 15-years-old.
Friday morning three of the volunteers decided to head home, including Liz, who was dreading the combination of travel and illness. I was finally actually feeling better on Friday, for the first time in six days. After a nice breakfast on the beach by myself, three of us rented bikes so that we could bike around part of the peninsula. First of all, these bikes were brand new. Second, they were bright purple. And third, there were no hand brakes - you had to pedal backwards to activate the break, something I hadn't done since I was five with training wheels.
The bike ride was great. Simply being able to be on a bike was wonderful, and the beauty of Belize was also fantastic. The whole time we were in Placencia, it was just so incredible to be able to walk wherever I wanted whenever I wanted, and to be able to be alone and on my own as much as I wanted. I finally realized how much I've missed that freedom. After our bike ride I bought gelato from the best ice cream place in Belize and went swimming. And being alone was lovely.
The people of Belize were so kind, no matter who we encountered. It was crazy to be speaking English and to see prices that matched those of the United States. It was also crazy to be able to drink the tap water and to be by myself. But everything was absolutely beautiful. And in contrast to the $51 I had spent the entire month of October, the visa run cost $276. So that was also a little crazy.
Saturday morning I got up early, got breakfast, and finally got a coconut-flavored seaweed shake for the road. We caught the first ferry (I wore sunscreen.) Took a taxi to the bus station, took the bus to the port and boarded another ferry in the rain. Back in Guatemala, a taxi to the border. Then a very full bus (retired American school bus) with people smashed together filling the aisle, plus another bus into San Pedro. By the time we got to San Pedro it was 7pm and there were no more buses back to Cofradía, so we took a taxi the rest of the way home.
I returned home to an almost spotless kitchen, sanitized to be rid of rat germs. But also, the fridge is completely broken again. And the stove is out of gas. So our cooking options have become rather limited.
Side note. Just a few elements of my birthday weekend last weekend:
- Rabbit killed and skinned outside the front door.
- Rat ran out from under the toaster over, across the counter, through the spices, and into a pot of spaghetti.
- Rat disappeared, likely into our room.
- Opening of a new, legit supermarket in Cofradía. I have not yet visited, due to the hours-long lines.
- 3.5 hour meeting with the Honduran teachers, ending in cake for Liz and I, whose birthday was the day after mine.
- Major shout-out to Mom and Oma for the wonderful packages that arrived on time.
- 103 degree fever.
- Stack of birthday cards made by the second graders. Turns out it was an assignment from their Spanish teacher to make me a birthday card, because each card was formatted exactly the same, but precious nonetheless.
- Surprise party thrown by second grade. With cake from the new supermarket and iced tea.
Tomorrow two new volunteers arrive - including the new second grade teacher. While I'm excited for my kids, I'll be sad to see so much less of them.
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