Maya Center and Tobacco Caye

Hello Everyone! My name is Luis Morales and I am one of the students in the Belize Field School. While at the Maya Center, our class had the opportunity to support the local indigenous community by purchasing handmade products from the craftswomen. It’s interesting to note that the entire community is run by women. At times they’ve taken drastic measures such as blocking roads with trees and wielding machetes to protect their “Tierra Y Libertad.” An inspiring story for anyone who believes in human rights and creating self-sustaining communities that is harmonious with the local ecology.

After our indigenous shopping experience, we proceeded to visit the newly created Maya Museum, which features a working model of a typical Maya home. Frank, Alex and Erin tested their tortilla making skills, and Casey, “The Lion,” had an explosive experience with an entire habanero!! The local Senora had quite a laugh. We also ate lunch at the Center, an array of Maya foods such as: Col with boiled eggs(made with annato), atole, chaya, bollos(tamales), chaya juice, and a dish consisting of tomatoes and hardboiled eggs with a funky sounding name I can’t remember.

Ok, so off to Tobacco Caye!!! We situated ourselves along the mosquito infested Sittee River, where Frank got cross-cultural and donned a t-shirt as a turban and a towel as a dress to protect him from the killer mosquitoes. It was quite comical. During our transitional boat trip from a freshwater ecosystem to the salty sea world, Kimo explained the current condition of this ecosystem. Due to intense financial pressure, Lots of land are selling for six figures. To make these lots ‘attractive’ the riparian forests are being cut down, which contain the very important mangroves responsible for stabilizing sediment and uptaking nutrients, not to mention providing a habitat for seabirds and young fish. It was quite sad to know there are no plans to control this destructive development practice.

After a beautiful thirty minute boat ride, we finally arrived at our house for the next six days! It was so exciting to be back, and the class seemed ready to settle in. After a brief introduction and a quick caveat regarding the precarious coconut trees, we were off to our snorkel lesson in the seagrass. Everyone had a blast (wink-wink), getting used to and adjusting their equipment. We were then treated to a Garifuna dinner, not entirely unlike a New Mexican Dinner of rice with beans, chicken, and potato salad, with some oh so good Marie Sharp’s Hot Sauce. After a quick meeting it was off to bed for the sleepyheads. Everyone else experienced Garifuna Drumming, and our first encounters with the local wildlife.