Back to School

The group was up early this morning for Duna and Thelma’s breakfast  - scrambled eggs, refried beans and endless fresh flour tortillas with mango jam. The first group (Emma, Maddie, Max and Aaron) went out riding at 8:30 with Emil, our favorite guide. The rest of us got ready to go down to the school. “The school” is the Gallon Jug Community School on the Gallon Jug estate, which serves the children of the Belizeans who live and work here on the farm and at the lodge. For years our friends Mike and Jill Casey ran it, and after they were tragically killed 2 years ago it has struggled to find continuity in its leadership. This year Debbie Lyon is doing a great job, and we worked with her earlier in the year to collect and purchase science supplies so the teachers can build a basic lab, and they were excited by the possibilities as we delivered the equipment.

Teacher turnover is tough here, and this year in addition to Debbie, Kim and Reina from last year are back, and are joined by Reina’s sister Vicky and Kaylan (no idea how she spells it), a new addition recently graduated from the University of Oregon who came down to fill a hole in December.

Lots of great comments and thoughts from the Brooks kids as we worked with the wonderful Gallon Jug kids. How can they not know what a microscope is? Do they really not know who [fill in the blank music artist] is? What happens after 8^th grade here (the hardest question of all). I think they all fell in love today, and will be doing some hard thinking about the realities of life in the developing world, even for kids as cute and loving and full of potential as these kids are…

We spent the morning with reading buddies from the 1^st and 2^nd grade classes, and returned after lunch to do 2 music lessons with some little kids and some of the older ones. “Lessons” were some combination of a concert (though the kids didn’t know any of “our” music) and a singalong. We learned some of the kids’ songs and taught them some of ours – notably, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (what better song to sing in the jungle?)

The heat is taking it out of the Brooks kids, so we zipped over to the pool at Chan Chich, and were quickly joined by Cat and Blair, who had gone out with Emil in the second riding group. They must be good riders – Emil complimented them and they said they had fun.

We’re enjoying a fancy meal tonight at Chan Chich Lodge (no offense to Duna’s food) and I suspect the kids will retire early once again – they are tired at the end of every day (I love it!) Tomorrow will allow for more time at the school, more riding, tours of the various agro businesses out here and sunset at the top of the nearby escarpment, providing a breathtaking view of 3 countries. A nice way to end our time here.

More pictures - text to come

In the Time of the Butterflies

We made it to Spanish Lookout (a Mennonite agricultural community) in good time to meet Zander Bowen, our old friend from Gallon Jug. The short cut from Cayo district up to Gallon Jug weaves through unmarked logging roads for more than an hour, and we don't know the way ourselves. the kids enjoyed the fresh Western Dairies ice cream (ask them what Soursop tastes like!) followed by a hot, dusty, bumpy, at times surreal drive. Matt has fun driving the F150. I feel like I'm driving a schoolbus on goat paths. The kids were in a country music mood - not my favorite - which didn't help my concentration! It rained off an on which put the kibosh on riding in the back of the trucks, which was just as well.

Duna and her mom had food ready for us when we arrived at the bunkhouse - rice, beans, stew chicken, and cole slaw. After eating, the kids put on their suits and we brought them over to Chan Chich for a swim and a look around. They are happily splashing as I sit here catching up with all of my old friends who run the place. I've heard some happy shrieks from the computer area, so I suppose there has been some good college news ... more to come on that.

All are well here. We're heading to the school tomorrow and the kids have had a request to do a music lesson, as well as read with the kids. We will also deliver the science supplies (thanks, science department!!) and the microscopes (thanks, Parents Association!) so that the teachers can build a basic science lab.

Oh yes - the title of this post. The one magical thing as we drove the rutted logging roads was the regular appearance of flocks (herds?) of butterflies. We passed through thousands of them in clouds of white, orange and yellow. It was beautiful, surreal and inexplicable.

Travel day

There’s nothing more heartening than getting up early and heading to the lodge only to find that students have gotten here before me.  Believe me, that has rarely happened.

Last night went well. After dinner (main courses: short ribs, grouper and stew chicken – dessert: chocolate cake & tres leches), the kids congregated by the pool, attracting every guest in their general age group, and started the singalong.  After a fascinating conversation with a guy who lives in Kandahar, Afghanistan, working for Lockheed Martin, I dragged Jake out of the hot tub and we crashed. The kids stayed up and played for a while but went to bed at a reasonable hour and are up and at ’em this morning.

We’ll check out of Caves Branch this morning and head up through the Mennonite town of Spanish Lookout and up through Yalbac logging region to the Bowens’ ranch, Gallon Jug. It’s a long day in the car but once we get onto the dirt roads the kids enjoy bumping along in the back of the pickup truck. (don’t worry – it’s perfectly safe. No traffic, low speeds.)

More later!

Action-packed 2 days!

Sorry for the delay – it has been an action packed 2 days and I’m afraid I fell asleep before writing last night. Yesterday (Saturday) we jammed in 3 activities – the zoo and our meeting with Sharon Matola in the morning, lunch at Alfredo’s brother Vitalino’s little restaurant, then ziplining with some old friends, then cave tubing with Alfredo and his nephew Junior. The value of being repeat customers here is that we establish relationships with folks providing the services we’re interested in, and we get to have some great experiences as a result.

If you had the chance to look up Sharon Matola, you may have learned that she’s an American biologist/animal behaviorist who has been working for decades to build a zoo to allow the Belizean people to get to know their own animals – when she first arrived (as the animal wrangler on a documentary film crew) she learned that most locals never got to see the animals their country is famous for, and wanted to remedy that. She has also worked hard to save endangered/technically extinct species (she’s currently hand-raising scarlet Macaws and harpy eagles to that end) and to rehabilitate predators driven out of their habitats by development who veer from their usual predation pattern and prey on domestic animals. Jaguars are her signature species in this endeavor, but as we learned yesterday, she has rescued lots of critters including Brutus and Mrs., 2 huuuuuuuge crocs who come when she calls (really disconcerting to see!)

The kids got the chance to see Junior the jaguar do tricks for treats (Coley: “Did you HEAR that bone crack? it was like a chip to him…!”), and then got up close and personal with Fieldmaster, a significantly larger cat (new fun fact on Fieldmaster – his particular vice was dogs, so when she caught him and brought him back to rehabilitate him she named him after the popular dog food of the time). From the pictures you can see the drill. The kids were inches from his face and had him roll over and high five – then Sharon gave him a delicious chicken foot. No matter how many times I stand up there, I can’t help but be mesmerized by his eyes. And if I ever call you “jaguar breath”, believe me, I know what I’m talking about.

After lunch (stew chicken, rice and beans made by Alfredo’s sister Yolanda), we headed to the zipline. Everyone did great, and a special shout-out to Haley, who has spent months (literally, I’m afraid) stressing about this moment, and who was a pro by the end of the last run. At its highest the zipline is more than 100 feet into the rainforest canopy, and at times it moves fast. It’s a fine balance to enjoy the thrill while also appreciating the beauty of the flora around you, but they seemed to strike it well.

After the zipline Jake and I headed home, leaving Matt with the kids to cave tube (I guess 9 times was enough for Jake). By all reports the tubing was great (river was a bit high so there were a few fun stretches of rapids). They loved the chance to jump off rocks into a swimming hole, and came home tired enough to be subdued at dinner. But not for long…

Dinner included many different vegetable selections including a green-skinned gourd that they called pumpkin. There was a chicken carving station (the kids are still remarking at how “real” the chicken tastes and looks) as well as shepherd’s pie and baked pork chops (the pork was the best for me – I could really taste the meat … not the washed out “other white meat” from home.) The soup was cowfoot, and Max has made it his mission to try every whacky thing we come across, so he was psyched. We opined on what body part would be in the soup the next night, but there’s no need to report on that.

The kids got a second wind after dinner (no surprise) and ended up around the pool with other kids and a guitar singing and dancing until … I don’t know when. All I know is no one came banging on my door to complain and many adults complimented us this morning on the quality of the musicians in our group. The latter is true – I am the designated van driver so generally have most of the kids with me, and with our handy-dandy wireless ipod transmitter (thanks, Mom!) they play their songs the length of each ride. As a song starts they shout out which part they will sing and play, and it’s an ever-evolving band in the back of the van. It sounds spectacular (I’m always lead vocals) … wish I could watch them too!  Current fave on the playlist: “Dancing in the Moonlight”.  Props to my daughter for mixing in enough music I know to allow me to sing along much of the time. Maddie is often singing harmony behind me, so I’m learning as I go.

This morning we were up on time (breakfast opens at 8 and waits for no man) and headed to the Maya ruin Xunantunich, on the Guatemala border. The kids, again, were fantastic. Good-natured on the ride, attentive as we sketched out a game plan, respectful but excited at the site, and awed once they got to the top of the high temple. They are such a content bunch, they, like me, were happy to sit in the breeze up there and survey. Lots of conversations about the Maya people, how they accomplished all they did, why they “disappeared” … and how evident they are in the physical features, crafts and languages we hear and see around us here. Honestly, they are a thoughtful group; I love it!

We’re back at Caves Branch and the kids are stretched out in the sun, splashing at the pool or river or crashed on their beds waiting for dinner.

Tomorrow is a big travel day but will not offer much to report. Will check on once we arrive at our Brooks friends the Bowens’ paradise, Chan Chich Lodge and Gallon Jug Ranch. Hope no one’s suffering frostbite up there …

PS forgot to mention during the zoo bit that Blair wrote a grant request that helped the zoo out; though the grant was for money to buy microscopes for our partner school out at Gallon Jug (more on that in a dayor 2), we gave the rest, plus a bit more, to Sharon for her project to make the zoo the first wheelchair-accessible public place (that's not a bank) in the country - a projecct after my own heart. She's amazing! (Blair AND Sharon).

Pictures now

...text later.