To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Monday.
This message is a bit anticlimactic in that everyone is back and you have no doubt talked to someone and gotten all the news, but…
We got up early and finished packing, had breakfast, and got the classrooms in which we were staying as clean as when we arrived. After some last minute details, we headed for Belize City airport. We got there in plenty of time.
In Dallas, we needed to enter the USA, so had to go through immigration, pick up our luggage, go through customs, recheck the bags, go through US security, then find our gate. We had only about 1 hour 10 minutes to get all that done, and that is not nearly enough time. So we were concerned enough that while we were in Belize airport, a couple of the staff members offered up special prayer for everyone getting through and on time. My specific prayer was that God would somehow arrange things so that our departure gate was close to the exit of the customs area. God answered our prayer, in that our flight arrived 25 minutes early, and when we finished getting checked through, there was only one gate between where we exited and our departure gate. So we had ample time to get supper and boarded
Arrived in Denver about 20 minutes early. Most of the group was riding the bus up to Campion, but there were a few happy parents on hand to welcome home their world-traveling kids. We finally arrived on campus by 12:30 a.m. Wow! What a trip!
You might have seen the list of 7 objectives for the kids on this trip:
1. Grow closer to Jesus
2. Serve others with no expectation of reward
3. Learn to be more generous and unselfish
4. Become acquainted with another culture
5. Appreciate the blessings that you have in your home, school, and country
6. Make a bunch of new friends that you learn to genuinely love
7. Have a really great time
Each student had his/her own experience, but to one degree or another, all of our kids achieved all 7 objectives. Good kids, good times.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Day 11, Sunday
To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Sunday.
Well, today is the day that everyone was really excited about – SNORKELING!!! That pretty much took up the whole day. Left early – 7 a.m., drove to Belize City (2 hours), boarded the boat for Caye Caulker, and about an hour later (21 miles NE) we were on a beautiful island with a pristine tropical beach. After getting fitted with mask, snorkel , and fins, we boarded the boat and went out to the second largest barrier reef in the world – second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
We divided up into group of 10 or so and a local guide drifted around with the group, pointing out and identifying different things. As we snorkeled around above the coral, different groups reported seeing hundreds of tropical fish, a couple of parrott fish, nurse sharks, barracuda, butterfly fish, fire coral, lion fish, starfish, sea urchin, and neon colors of blue, yellow, white. It was like swimming in an aquarium. Then we went to a second location to see the Manta Rays – scores of them with their huge wings powering them all around our feet. We could reach out and touch them as they glided by. They were slick and squishy, and they looked very menacing, but they are harmless. We were there with the Rays for about 45 minutes.
After snorkeling we had opportunity to walk the streets of the little town. It is a really cute town with sand streets that run right along the beach. The whole key is only a block or two wide. There are a lot of cute little shops and vendors. We were there about 1½ hours checking out the town.
After the 2½ hour ride back home, we once again had our hermano restauranteers bring food to us. Their food is local, original, and GOOD. Immediately after supper we broke up and started packing and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we will leave around 11; our plane leaves at 3:45 p.m.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Sunday.
Well, today is the day that everyone was really excited about – SNORKELING!!! That pretty much took up the whole day. Left early – 7 a.m., drove to Belize City (2 hours), boarded the boat for Caye Caulker, and about an hour later (21 miles NE) we were on a beautiful island with a pristine tropical beach. After getting fitted with mask, snorkel , and fins, we boarded the boat and went out to the second largest barrier reef in the world – second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
We divided up into group of 10 or so and a local guide drifted around with the group, pointing out and identifying different things. As we snorkeled around above the coral, different groups reported seeing hundreds of tropical fish, a couple of parrott fish, nurse sharks, barracuda, butterfly fish, fire coral, lion fish, starfish, sea urchin, and neon colors of blue, yellow, white. It was like swimming in an aquarium. Then we went to a second location to see the Manta Rays – scores of them with their huge wings powering them all around our feet. We could reach out and touch them as they glided by. They were slick and squishy, and they looked very menacing, but they are harmless. We were there with the Rays for about 45 minutes.
After snorkeling we had opportunity to walk the streets of the little town. It is a really cute town with sand streets that run right along the beach. The whole key is only a block or two wide. There are a lot of cute little shops and vendors. We were there about 1½ hours checking out the town.
After the 2½ hour ride back home, we once again had our hermano restauranteers bring food to us. Their food is local, original, and GOOD. Immediately after supper we broke up and started packing and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we will leave around 11; our plane leaves at 3:45 p.m.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Day 10 Sabbath
To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Sabbath:
This morning most of us attended the campus English church; only a handful went to Concepcion and campus Spanish. Joe Martin preached at the English church again, and almost all students were there for it. We all ate lunch here at our quarters.
For the past 4 years we have collected shoes and brought them down to give away. So this afternoon was our 5th Annual Great Shoe Give-Away. We brought down about 1,000 pounds of shoes in 20 suitcases. Since we had so many, we thought it would be cumbersome to give them all away at one location. After talking with some knowledgeable locals, we chose 3 locations of the poorest churches and neighborhoods and made arrangements to give out the shoes. So at 2 p.m. we loaded up the bus with students and shoes, and made a “milk run”. We dropped about 15 of us and several hundred pounds of shoes at Chan Chen, then on to drop a similar group at Pachacan, then another at San Antonio. By that time the first group was ready to be picked up, so the bus made the same pass doing the pick-up. So almost all of the shoes were given away in a matter of less than an hour at each location.
Some good news to report: For the first 2 years we gave away shoes at the local school house in San Antonio. It is a very poor community, and it was mostly a humanitarian effort. However, there was a small group trying to get a church started there. (Our friend Andy Lizarraga and his brother were very involved in the effort.) This year when we rolled up to San Antonio, we discovered a lovely little church right across the road from the school house, and there is a faithful, growing group that meets there each Sabbath. Incidentally, their church is a “one-day-church” that they have done a nice job finishing. (see attached picture) There is a “one-day-church” shell that is waiting to be finished for their use as Sabbath School rooms. Future project for us?? Only eternity will tell what impact our shoe and literature distribution had on the efforts to evangelize that community.
And speaking of literature distribution, we gave away all of the 3,000 copies of condensed “Desire of Ages”. Again, there is no way of measuring the effectiveness of our work, but the promise is that when we “cast our bread” (the Gospel) out there, it will “not return void” (have zero impact).
After sundown we loaded up the bus and went to a very nice restaurant for our supper. It is right on the water. What a delightful time we had! The atmosphere was warm with friendship and a sense of wholesome pride in our accomplishments of the week. The cool breeze coming off the water, the full moon, the indirect lighting, the sights and sounds and smells all added up to be a real highlight of the trip. Oh, the food was good, too.
Everyone is hyped at the prospect of going snorkeling tomorrow. All is now quiet.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Sabbath:
This morning most of us attended the campus English church; only a handful went to Concepcion and campus Spanish. Joe Martin preached at the English church again, and almost all students were there for it. We all ate lunch here at our quarters.
For the past 4 years we have collected shoes and brought them down to give away. So this afternoon was our 5th Annual Great Shoe Give-Away. We brought down about 1,000 pounds of shoes in 20 suitcases. Since we had so many, we thought it would be cumbersome to give them all away at one location. After talking with some knowledgeable locals, we chose 3 locations of the poorest churches and neighborhoods and made arrangements to give out the shoes. So at 2 p.m. we loaded up the bus with students and shoes, and made a “milk run”. We dropped about 15 of us and several hundred pounds of shoes at Chan Chen, then on to drop a similar group at Pachacan, then another at San Antonio. By that time the first group was ready to be picked up, so the bus made the same pass doing the pick-up. So almost all of the shoes were given away in a matter of less than an hour at each location.
Some good news to report: For the first 2 years we gave away shoes at the local school house in San Antonio. It is a very poor community, and it was mostly a humanitarian effort. However, there was a small group trying to get a church started there. (Our friend Andy Lizarraga and his brother were very involved in the effort.) This year when we rolled up to San Antonio, we discovered a lovely little church right across the road from the school house, and there is a faithful, growing group that meets there each Sabbath. Incidentally, their church is a “one-day-church” that they have done a nice job finishing. (see attached picture) There is a “one-day-church” shell that is waiting to be finished for their use as Sabbath School rooms. Future project for us?? Only eternity will tell what impact our shoe and literature distribution had on the efforts to evangelize that community.
And speaking of literature distribution, we gave away all of the 3,000 copies of condensed “Desire of Ages”. Again, there is no way of measuring the effectiveness of our work, but the promise is that when we “cast our bread” (the Gospel) out there, it will “not return void” (have zero impact).
After sundown we loaded up the bus and went to a very nice restaurant for our supper. It is right on the water. What a delightful time we had! The atmosphere was warm with friendship and a sense of wholesome pride in our accomplishments of the week. The cool breeze coming off the water, the full moon, the indirect lighting, the sights and sounds and smells all added up to be a real highlight of the trip. Oh, the food was good, too.
Everyone is hyped at the prospect of going snorkeling tomorrow. All is now quiet.
Day 9 Friday
To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Friday
Today is our last day on the job, so we really wanted to give a good, hard push to get as much done as we could. But the end result of “getting it all finished” was a mixed bag.
The paint crew got the entire second story painted with 2 coats, inside and outside. And it really looks nice. In the end, there is a bit of difference in the exterior color of the first floor and second floor, but that is the hazard of waiting a year between purchasing the paint. So all 7 of the upper floor classrooms are painted, and ready for windows, doors, electrical, and tile.
We had so-o-o hoped to get the chapel all dried in, but it was not to be. One more short day and it would be finished. It lacks the upper cap being poured on one wall, and one more course of block on top of that. (see attached pics) But let’s not compare it to what we had hoped to get done, let’s just look at how far we came in the 6 workdays that we have been here. It was transformed from just a roof supported by a few ribs, to a chapel that is useable as is, although still incomplete. To God be the glory!
This morning at 8:30 we held a joint meeting with all of the students and staff from BAJC, along with all of our “missionary” group to dedicate the chapel to the service of God. They sang their national anthem, then asked us to sing ours. President Joel Clarke and Joe Martin each shared some thoughts, prayers, and other remarks. To conclude the program they called each one of us up by name and gave us a token gift – a BAJC water glass. It was a very nice, appropriate program.
There are about 10 kids out of our group that have been at every VBS program, night after night. While everyone else relaxed or went to town for the evening, these have faithfully performed their duty: Ashley Growneweg, Caroline Silva, Moses Arevalo, Sneha Schrestha, Tim Medina, Emily DaSilva, Kelsey Downey, Dakotah Padille, Audrey Hatfield, Ivanna Carillo, JC Lynch. And there are probably another 6 or 8 that only missed one night of VBS. Kids like this are what make these trips so good, and trips like this are what bring out the very best in good kids.
Tonight for our worship we had our old friend, Floyd, give us his testimony. For the first 5 years, Floyd was our night watchman as long as our lodging was in town at Cascade Maya. But two years ago we began staying right on the premises of our work, so we have not needed a night watchman. But Floyd still loves to come around our kids, and he has a wonderful testimony of how God delivered him from a degenerate life, and led him into a life of following Jesus. As a bonus, his interesting story is delivered in a really cool Caribbean accent that is really charming.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Friday
Today is our last day on the job, so we really wanted to give a good, hard push to get as much done as we could. But the end result of “getting it all finished” was a mixed bag.
The paint crew got the entire second story painted with 2 coats, inside and outside. And it really looks nice. In the end, there is a bit of difference in the exterior color of the first floor and second floor, but that is the hazard of waiting a year between purchasing the paint. So all 7 of the upper floor classrooms are painted, and ready for windows, doors, electrical, and tile.
We had so-o-o hoped to get the chapel all dried in, but it was not to be. One more short day and it would be finished. It lacks the upper cap being poured on one wall, and one more course of block on top of that. (see attached pics) But let’s not compare it to what we had hoped to get done, let’s just look at how far we came in the 6 workdays that we have been here. It was transformed from just a roof supported by a few ribs, to a chapel that is useable as is, although still incomplete. To God be the glory!
This morning at 8:30 we held a joint meeting with all of the students and staff from BAJC, along with all of our “missionary” group to dedicate the chapel to the service of God. They sang their national anthem, then asked us to sing ours. President Joel Clarke and Joe Martin each shared some thoughts, prayers, and other remarks. To conclude the program they called each one of us up by name and gave us a token gift – a BAJC water glass. It was a very nice, appropriate program.
There are about 10 kids out of our group that have been at every VBS program, night after night. While everyone else relaxed or went to town for the evening, these have faithfully performed their duty: Ashley Growneweg, Caroline Silva, Moses Arevalo, Sneha Schrestha, Tim Medina, Emily DaSilva, Kelsey Downey, Dakotah Padille, Audrey Hatfield, Ivanna Carillo, JC Lynch. And there are probably another 6 or 8 that only missed one night of VBS. Kids like this are what make these trips so good, and trips like this are what bring out the very best in good kids.
Tonight for our worship we had our old friend, Floyd, give us his testimony. For the first 5 years, Floyd was our night watchman as long as our lodging was in town at Cascade Maya. But two years ago we began staying right on the premises of our work, so we have not needed a night watchman. But Floyd still loves to come around our kids, and he has a wonderful testimony of how God delivered him from a degenerate life, and led him into a life of following Jesus. As a bonus, his interesting story is delivered in a really cool Caribbean accent that is really charming.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Day 8 Thursday
To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Thursday:
Our day started off with Joe Martin and several of our students going over to the BAJC assembly, where Joe delivered their worship thought. He also handed out The Messiah to every student. All of our students reported that it was a very positive experience for them.
It is crunch time on the jobsite. We knew from the get-go that we did not have as much work as in times past, and we also knew that the work that we did have was not going to be as heavy. So we were prepared to not push the kids as hard, yet get the assigned jobs all done. Well, it kinda looks like we didn’t push quite hard enough. We will probably get it all done, but tomorrow is shaping up to be a long Friday.
Today we continued work on the chapel (one-day church). We had planned on having a cement mixer at our disposal; not to be. So we had to mix several yards of concrete by hand on the floor. We usually do the mortar mud by hand, but this is the first time we have had to mix cement by hand. Tomorrow we will pour the lentil/wall cap all around the top of all 4 walls. We will not have the end gables finished. Local folk will also have to finish the windows, doors, electrical, floor tile, and ceiling. Also furnishings such as pews/seats, pulpit, etc. What we DID do is pour the platform, pour the floor, lay block around all 4 walls clear to the top, pour pillars, pour lintils/cap, etc.
The painting project is pretty much done as of tonight. There is some 2nd coat of ceiling yet to do, but that should go rather quickly.
Tonight was the last night of VBS and our entire troupe attended. Good thing; there were about 130 kids in attendance. The kids (especially the boys) here are quite undisciplined, and that poses some real issues in this setting. Seems like it is borderline chaos right from the opening exercise. But there is no doubt that there are young lives that were changed through the time we devoted to them. Only eternity will tell.
Another major ministry project has been to pass out books in Corozal each day. Joe Martin arranged for 3,000 books to be shipped to BAJC, and they were here upon our arrival. The book was The Messiah, which is excerpted from Desire of Ages. Almost without exception, the kids really got into it. We went door to door, business to business, we stopped cars in the road, and handed it to bicyclers on the fly. Joe was constantly amazed at how receptive people are in this country. Almost every person seemed eager to receive the gift. In addition to handing them out on the street, we gave 300 out to all of the students of BAJC, and 800 to the federal prisoners.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Thursday:
Our day started off with Joe Martin and several of our students going over to the BAJC assembly, where Joe delivered their worship thought. He also handed out The Messiah to every student. All of our students reported that it was a very positive experience for them.
It is crunch time on the jobsite. We knew from the get-go that we did not have as much work as in times past, and we also knew that the work that we did have was not going to be as heavy. So we were prepared to not push the kids as hard, yet get the assigned jobs all done. Well, it kinda looks like we didn’t push quite hard enough. We will probably get it all done, but tomorrow is shaping up to be a long Friday.
Today we continued work on the chapel (one-day church). We had planned on having a cement mixer at our disposal; not to be. So we had to mix several yards of concrete by hand on the floor. We usually do the mortar mud by hand, but this is the first time we have had to mix cement by hand. Tomorrow we will pour the lentil/wall cap all around the top of all 4 walls. We will not have the end gables finished. Local folk will also have to finish the windows, doors, electrical, floor tile, and ceiling. Also furnishings such as pews/seats, pulpit, etc. What we DID do is pour the platform, pour the floor, lay block around all 4 walls clear to the top, pour pillars, pour lintils/cap, etc.
The painting project is pretty much done as of tonight. There is some 2nd coat of ceiling yet to do, but that should go rather quickly.
Tonight was the last night of VBS and our entire troupe attended. Good thing; there were about 130 kids in attendance. The kids (especially the boys) here are quite undisciplined, and that poses some real issues in this setting. Seems like it is borderline chaos right from the opening exercise. But there is no doubt that there are young lives that were changed through the time we devoted to them. Only eternity will tell.
Another major ministry project has been to pass out books in Corozal each day. Joe Martin arranged for 3,000 books to be shipped to BAJC, and they were here upon our arrival. The book was The Messiah, which is excerpted from Desire of Ages. Almost without exception, the kids really got into it. We went door to door, business to business, we stopped cars in the road, and handed it to bicyclers on the fly. Joe was constantly amazed at how receptive people are in this country. Almost every person seemed eager to receive the gift. In addition to handing them out on the street, we gave 300 out to all of the students of BAJC, and 800 to the federal prisoners.
Day 7 Wednesday
To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/ Best to go to the right-hand column and view the pictures day-by-day; otherwise they are in totally random order. Give it a few minutes to load, then click on “slideshow”.
To read all of these e-mails, log on to www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Wednesday.
Today was the first of our recreation days. Initially we had planned on going cave tubing, but things changed and we decided to go to the island (Caye) of Ambergris, to the little town of San Pedro. We boarded the boat right here in Corozal, and rode the 1 ½ hours to our destination. It is a little beach town that is THE tourist destination of Belize. In the past few years it has become a bustling place with cars and condos. It has an abundance of shopping, restaurants, souvenir shops, and a very nice beach. Our kids were able to spend 5 hours walking the streets, laying on the beach, and shopping. It was a welcome break from the heavy labor of the past few days.
We left Ambergris at 2 p.m., arriving back in Corozal at 4. One of our local “hermanos” runs a sidewalk café, and was commissioned to prepare us 50 meals. What great food it was, all local fare! On the plate was a burrito, a garnacha (a tostada without lettuce), a salbute (thick, small tortilla with nothing on it), 2 empanadas (beans wrapped in pastry and fried), and a tostada, with a side of repollo (like cole slaw). There was plenty to fill up even the hungriest of the guys.
After supper, most of us went to VBS, some went to bed, and a few wanted to make a trip to town just for an ice cream night cap. These are great kids all having a great time.
More on the subject of our food… as previously mentioned, Toni Odenthal is our cook. Food is a huge part of any youth project, and especially mission trips. But in a tropical setting, unique opportunities are offered. Every day when we go to market, we look for foods that may not be familiar to the kids so that their culinary horizons can be broadened. Below is a list of some of the things they have tried:
Chayote (prickly pair) vegetable that is in the squash family that tastes a bit like artichoke.
Mamey - orange colored fruit that looks like an oblong cantaloupe, but tastes like a really sweet, fruity sweet potato.)
Anona (custard apple) ugly rind with white, sweet flesh with black seeds.
Guayava (guava) closest to a pair in looks/texture, but tastes altogether different, really hard seeds
Papaya (same) yellow/orange flesh with frog-egg-like seeds, size of a small watermelon
Zapote (Sapodilla fruit) looks like a brown golf ball; tastes like honey
Kaimito (like a deep purple baseball) don’t eat too close to the rind or it’s bitter
The pineapples from here are ripe when they are picked, and as sweet as if they had sugar dumped on. Ditto on the watermelon. Believe it or not, there are no native mango or avocado available here in Belize. Whatever is available has been imported (smuggled) in from Mexico. The cantaloupe is also picked ripe, and very, very flavorful and sweet.
Funny thing, here in Belize they have some fairly strict import laws of fresh produce. Locally grown stuff tends to be scraggly, and rough looking. Produce from Mexico (15 miles north) is usually prettier, with better color and packaging. To protect the local grower, there are laws forbidding the sale of Mexican produce; it is contraband. So as you walk around the market, the merchants sidle up to you and ask if would like broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, lettuce, etc. They whisper as they glance around. In the USA we arrest people for peddling marijuana, cocaine, etc. Here in Belize they are arrested for peddling broccoli and cauliflower! Weird!
Yesterday the rain curtailed a lot of our work, and today we were completely shut down for recreation. So tomorrow we must really make some headway if we expect to see this project to completion.
To read all of these e-mails, log on to www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Wednesday.
Today was the first of our recreation days. Initially we had planned on going cave tubing, but things changed and we decided to go to the island (Caye) of Ambergris, to the little town of San Pedro. We boarded the boat right here in Corozal, and rode the 1 ½ hours to our destination. It is a little beach town that is THE tourist destination of Belize. In the past few years it has become a bustling place with cars and condos. It has an abundance of shopping, restaurants, souvenir shops, and a very nice beach. Our kids were able to spend 5 hours walking the streets, laying on the beach, and shopping. It was a welcome break from the heavy labor of the past few days.
We left Ambergris at 2 p.m., arriving back in Corozal at 4. One of our local “hermanos” runs a sidewalk café, and was commissioned to prepare us 50 meals. What great food it was, all local fare! On the plate was a burrito, a garnacha (a tostada without lettuce), a salbute (thick, small tortilla with nothing on it), 2 empanadas (beans wrapped in pastry and fried), and a tostada, with a side of repollo (like cole slaw). There was plenty to fill up even the hungriest of the guys.
After supper, most of us went to VBS, some went to bed, and a few wanted to make a trip to town just for an ice cream night cap. These are great kids all having a great time.
More on the subject of our food… as previously mentioned, Toni Odenthal is our cook. Food is a huge part of any youth project, and especially mission trips. But in a tropical setting, unique opportunities are offered. Every day when we go to market, we look for foods that may not be familiar to the kids so that their culinary horizons can be broadened. Below is a list of some of the things they have tried:
Chayote (prickly pair) vegetable that is in the squash family that tastes a bit like artichoke.
Mamey - orange colored fruit that looks like an oblong cantaloupe, but tastes like a really sweet, fruity sweet potato.)
Anona (custard apple) ugly rind with white, sweet flesh with black seeds.
Guayava (guava) closest to a pair in looks/texture, but tastes altogether different, really hard seeds
Papaya (same) yellow/orange flesh with frog-egg-like seeds, size of a small watermelon
Zapote (Sapodilla fruit) looks like a brown golf ball; tastes like honey
Kaimito (like a deep purple baseball) don’t eat too close to the rind or it’s bitter
The pineapples from here are ripe when they are picked, and as sweet as if they had sugar dumped on. Ditto on the watermelon. Believe it or not, there are no native mango or avocado available here in Belize. Whatever is available has been imported (smuggled) in from Mexico. The cantaloupe is also picked ripe, and very, very flavorful and sweet.
Funny thing, here in Belize they have some fairly strict import laws of fresh produce. Locally grown stuff tends to be scraggly, and rough looking. Produce from Mexico (15 miles north) is usually prettier, with better color and packaging. To protect the local grower, there are laws forbidding the sale of Mexican produce; it is contraband. So as you walk around the market, the merchants sidle up to you and ask if would like broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, lettuce, etc. They whisper as they glance around. In the USA we arrest people for peddling marijuana, cocaine, etc. Here in Belize they are arrested for peddling broccoli and cauliflower! Weird!
Yesterday the rain curtailed a lot of our work, and today we were completely shut down for recreation. So tomorrow we must really make some headway if we expect to see this project to completion.
Day 6 Tuesday
To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/ Best to go to the right-hand column and view the pictures day-by-day; otherwise they are in totally random order. Give it a few minutes to load, then click on “slideshow”.
To read all of these e-mails, log on to www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Tuesday.
Tonight it was stated that as of tonight we are at the half-way point of our trip – 6 down and 6 to go. When this was mentioned to a few kids standing around, there was a collective groan. At least at this point they are not ready for this to end. Seems that everyone is having a really great time.
At least one day during our stay, each family group gets to do the “domestic” thing. That is the day where you help in the kitchen, do the day’s shopping, clean the bathrooms, prepare the materials for VBS, and hand out literature. We start off by going to market – the open-air style that sells fresh produce, clothes, meat, etc. There are a couple of shops that are owned by some “hermanas”, so we try to buy as much as we can from them. We also try to spend money in a number of different stands to spread it around. The market is a real study in tropical foods. More on that tomorrow, but let’s just say that the trip to the market is a real education. Most locals speak both Spanish and English, so the kids do very well.
Just before leaving, we go down the fish/meat row. There is a really nice guy (Javier) that runs a meat stall and always enjoys having our kids stop by and visit him. The meat is hanging out in the open air, and strewn about his counter top. The various organs are clearly visible and identifiable – pig’s feet, liver, lungs (with bronchial tube attached), kidneys. The most fascinating thing is that the local people do not like cow meat, they want bull meat. So Javier hangs the “Rocky Mountain Oysters” from the rack to advertise the fact that he is selling bull meat that day.
After market, we make several other stops at grocery stores to pick up non-fresh items. Then we try to make a stop at the tortilla factory to show the kids how tortillas are manufactured. The folk there have seen us come and go for years, and seem to enjoy us stopping by for a visit. The kids can taste what fresh, warm tortillas are like, and see what it is like to work in primitive conditions. Inside the oven area is very hot – probably 120 to 130 degrees. Then we go to the bakery where we buy all of our fresh whole wheat bread, rolls, buns, etc. Here again, one of our “hermanas” works there.
Each evening we try to take a group of kids in to town. Half of the kids are required to go help at VBS, and the other half have the option of going to town or VBS. Corozal is a typical Hispanic town, complete with central plaza with Catholic church attached, hygienically substandard, noisy, smelly, and lots of bicycles and pedestrians. But it is fun to walk around.
Besides the Catholic church attached to the plaza, this town has an Adventist church as well. It is located right next door to the town hall, near the taxi stand and post office. So on Sabbath morning when they crank up the song service, the entire downtown area gets in on it. Very cool.
There is a huge Chinese influence here in Belize. Many of the shop keepers are of Chinese ancestry. They own grocery stores, restaurants, hardware, building supply – just about everything you could imagine.
When a group kitchen responsibility, they also must do the VBS in the evening. So when supper is all finished, we head on over to the academy auditorium and put on the program. From 6 – 7:30 they are indispensable helpers in keeping scores of kids corralled. Tonight there were 68 in attendance. For most kids, this day is a welcome break from the heavy work out on the building sites.
By the time we finished breakfast this morning, clouds were beginning to gather on the horizon. It sprinkled lightly off and on during the morning. Then when we broke for lunch, it began to rain steadily. That continued for 2 or 3 hours. It did not force us to a complete halt, but it put a serious damper on our progress. We lost a lot of man-hours due to the weather. But even so, we made noticeable progress. The block is almost to the roof all the way around the chapel, and we will easily be finished with the painting by Friday.
Tomorrow we will take a day for recreation and go to the town of San Pedro on the island (Caye) of Ambergris. For some general info and pics you can log on to: http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS378US379&q=san+pedro+ambergris+caye&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=q_B-TfTOHsXi0gG10dCHCQ&ved=0CHUQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=499
And speaking of pics, we are trying to get a good many more pics posted. It is a work in progress, but you may now log on to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/ . Right now we are about 3 days behind in getting the pics posted, but we will try to get it current by Thursday.
There are 2 pics of the day: 1) inside the chapel facing the back wall of the platform, and 2) inside the chapel facing the rear of the room. Both were taken in the morning before the rain hit. By quitting time the walls were about 1 course below the eaves.
To read all of these e-mails, log on to www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Tuesday.
Tonight it was stated that as of tonight we are at the half-way point of our trip – 6 down and 6 to go. When this was mentioned to a few kids standing around, there was a collective groan. At least at this point they are not ready for this to end. Seems that everyone is having a really great time.
At least one day during our stay, each family group gets to do the “domestic” thing. That is the day where you help in the kitchen, do the day’s shopping, clean the bathrooms, prepare the materials for VBS, and hand out literature. We start off by going to market – the open-air style that sells fresh produce, clothes, meat, etc. There are a couple of shops that are owned by some “hermanas”, so we try to buy as much as we can from them. We also try to spend money in a number of different stands to spread it around. The market is a real study in tropical foods. More on that tomorrow, but let’s just say that the trip to the market is a real education. Most locals speak both Spanish and English, so the kids do very well.
Just before leaving, we go down the fish/meat row. There is a really nice guy (Javier) that runs a meat stall and always enjoys having our kids stop by and visit him. The meat is hanging out in the open air, and strewn about his counter top. The various organs are clearly visible and identifiable – pig’s feet, liver, lungs (with bronchial tube attached), kidneys. The most fascinating thing is that the local people do not like cow meat, they want bull meat. So Javier hangs the “Rocky Mountain Oysters” from the rack to advertise the fact that he is selling bull meat that day.
After market, we make several other stops at grocery stores to pick up non-fresh items. Then we try to make a stop at the tortilla factory to show the kids how tortillas are manufactured. The folk there have seen us come and go for years, and seem to enjoy us stopping by for a visit. The kids can taste what fresh, warm tortillas are like, and see what it is like to work in primitive conditions. Inside the oven area is very hot – probably 120 to 130 degrees. Then we go to the bakery where we buy all of our fresh whole wheat bread, rolls, buns, etc. Here again, one of our “hermanas” works there.
Each evening we try to take a group of kids in to town. Half of the kids are required to go help at VBS, and the other half have the option of going to town or VBS. Corozal is a typical Hispanic town, complete with central plaza with Catholic church attached, hygienically substandard, noisy, smelly, and lots of bicycles and pedestrians. But it is fun to walk around.
Besides the Catholic church attached to the plaza, this town has an Adventist church as well. It is located right next door to the town hall, near the taxi stand and post office. So on Sabbath morning when they crank up the song service, the entire downtown area gets in on it. Very cool.
There is a huge Chinese influence here in Belize. Many of the shop keepers are of Chinese ancestry. They own grocery stores, restaurants, hardware, building supply – just about everything you could imagine.
When a group kitchen responsibility, they also must do the VBS in the evening. So when supper is all finished, we head on over to the academy auditorium and put on the program. From 6 – 7:30 they are indispensable helpers in keeping scores of kids corralled. Tonight there were 68 in attendance. For most kids, this day is a welcome break from the heavy work out on the building sites.
By the time we finished breakfast this morning, clouds were beginning to gather on the horizon. It sprinkled lightly off and on during the morning. Then when we broke for lunch, it began to rain steadily. That continued for 2 or 3 hours. It did not force us to a complete halt, but it put a serious damper on our progress. We lost a lot of man-hours due to the weather. But even so, we made noticeable progress. The block is almost to the roof all the way around the chapel, and we will easily be finished with the painting by Friday.
Tomorrow we will take a day for recreation and go to the town of San Pedro on the island (Caye) of Ambergris. For some general info and pics you can log on to: http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS378US379&q=san+pedro+ambergris+caye&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=q_B-TfTOHsXi0gG10dCHCQ&ved=0CHUQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=499
And speaking of pics, we are trying to get a good many more pics posted. It is a work in progress, but you may now log on to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/ . Right now we are about 3 days behind in getting the pics posted, but we will try to get it current by Thursday.
There are 2 pics of the day: 1) inside the chapel facing the back wall of the platform, and 2) inside the chapel facing the rear of the room. Both were taken in the morning before the rain hit. By quitting time the walls were about 1 course below the eaves.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Day 5 Monday
To read all of these e-mails, log on to www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Monday.
Work continues on the construction site – a couple of crews laying block on the chapel, and a couple of crews painting the upper floor of “our building”. By this evening, the chapel had 4 courses of block all the way around, and about 8 on the back wall of the platform.
A bit of a snag happened with our paint project. The lower floor is already painted, so the upper floor that we are painting ought to match – right? Well, it didn’t. It was a noticeably lighter shade. Fortunately, we planned all along to do two coats, and we have gotten the correct color for the second. These kids are really roaring on the painting. As of this evening they have made enough progress that it looks like they will finish all 7 classrooms inside and out by tomorrow evening.
This evening we have a bunch of our kids go to the college auditorium and conduct the second night of VBS. That is a major project in its self.
During the day, one team of kids is assigned to stuff around our place, and preparing all of the materials for VBS is one of their jobs. They spend probably 1 – 2 hours cutting, packaging, reviewing, rehearsing. Then after supper they load up and go to the church and put on the program. Last night there were about 75 kids, and tonight there were 110. We expect the numbers to continue to grow.
There are many in our group that consider this interaction with local children to be the highlight of their entire trip. Some of our 2nd and 3rd timers remember some of these children, and resume their friendships. Those kids treat our kids like celebrities; and that being the case, who wouldn’t love it?
Ashley Groeneweg and Kathy Binder have been doing an excellent job of putting this all together. Their efforts and planning started months ago. A lot of shopping was done in the States, and the purchased materials brought down with us. This is the culmination of months of work, and a lot of local kids are benefiting from it.
We had a couple of guests for supper tonight. Our old friend, Floyd, was invited as a special guest. He is the one who served as our night watchman for 5 years running. Our contact with Floyd has waned in the past 2 years, but it is always good to see him.
Our other guests were the Padilla family that came to display their woodworking wares for our kids to purchase. If your kid is bringing you a Padilla piece, you are a very lucky person.
While half of our group was working at VBS, the other half had the option of going in to town. Our first stop was at a clothing and variety story that is owned by one of our members. They welcome out kids, and give them some really great discounts. Then we drove over to the center of town and let them walk the streets for about 45 minutes. Kids stayed in good-sized groups, and each group found something of interest to pass the time.
The day closed with group worships and more just hanging out and enjoying each other.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
Here is what happened on Monday.
Work continues on the construction site – a couple of crews laying block on the chapel, and a couple of crews painting the upper floor of “our building”. By this evening, the chapel had 4 courses of block all the way around, and about 8 on the back wall of the platform.
A bit of a snag happened with our paint project. The lower floor is already painted, so the upper floor that we are painting ought to match – right? Well, it didn’t. It was a noticeably lighter shade. Fortunately, we planned all along to do two coats, and we have gotten the correct color for the second. These kids are really roaring on the painting. As of this evening they have made enough progress that it looks like they will finish all 7 classrooms inside and out by tomorrow evening.
This evening we have a bunch of our kids go to the college auditorium and conduct the second night of VBS. That is a major project in its self.
During the day, one team of kids is assigned to stuff around our place, and preparing all of the materials for VBS is one of their jobs. They spend probably 1 – 2 hours cutting, packaging, reviewing, rehearsing. Then after supper they load up and go to the church and put on the program. Last night there were about 75 kids, and tonight there were 110. We expect the numbers to continue to grow.
There are many in our group that consider this interaction with local children to be the highlight of their entire trip. Some of our 2nd and 3rd timers remember some of these children, and resume their friendships. Those kids treat our kids like celebrities; and that being the case, who wouldn’t love it?
Ashley Groeneweg and Kathy Binder have been doing an excellent job of putting this all together. Their efforts and planning started months ago. A lot of shopping was done in the States, and the purchased materials brought down with us. This is the culmination of months of work, and a lot of local kids are benefiting from it.
We had a couple of guests for supper tonight. Our old friend, Floyd, was invited as a special guest. He is the one who served as our night watchman for 5 years running. Our contact with Floyd has waned in the past 2 years, but it is always good to see him.
Our other guests were the Padilla family that came to display their woodworking wares for our kids to purchase. If your kid is bringing you a Padilla piece, you are a very lucky person.
While half of our group was working at VBS, the other half had the option of going in to town. Our first stop was at a clothing and variety story that is owned by one of our members. They welcome out kids, and give them some really great discounts. Then we drove over to the center of town and let them walk the streets for about 45 minutes. Kids stayed in good-sized groups, and each group found something of interest to pass the time.
The day closed with group worships and more just hanging out and enjoying each other.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sunday Day 4
Here is what happened on Sunday:
This was our first full work day. As you would expect, Friday was a bit chaotic, and so we didn’t get all that much progress done. Today was a different story – there was some serious work getting done!
We have two crews painting the interior and exterior of the 7 classrooms upstairs. It will need two coats, so this first pass is just getting started. These crews worked hard all day, and got the first coat done on ALL of the walls. They did not get the “cutting in” all done, which is a major amount of time. But it really does look much nicer than raw concrete. Unfortunately, they gave us the wrong color at the paint store, and the first coat is a lot lighter shade than it is supposed to be. But we would have had to do a second coat anyway, it’s just now it will have to cover a bit more thoroughly since it is a different shade.
The “one-day church” is going to be used for a chapel for the junior college. On Friday we poured the platform (stage), and today we poured the rest of the floor. While that was going on, a crew was up on the now-dried platform beginning work on the block walls. ¬¬As soon as the floor all dries, we will begin going up with the block walls.
One crew helps in the kitchen, cleans the bathrooms, goes to market, hands out literature, prepares and executes the Vacation Bible School in the evening. They stay very busy all day, but it is quite easy work.
Rony Burgos (formerly the youth director of the Belize Conference) attended our morning worship today. Quite some time ago, he expressed a wish to Jim Lynch for a computer projector so that he could do evangelism and Bible studies. Over the past year Jim did some fund raising, and was able to purchase a brand new one for Rony. This morning Jim made the presentation of it to Rony; he was very surprised and pleased. We prayed over that piece of equipment, dedicating it to the service of God. That is one more microscopic piece of the puzzle to help spread the Gospel to all the world.
Our nurse, Marlene Medina-Ellquist, made the observation that she is a lot busier than she ever expected. There has been nothing worthy of mention, but rather a fairly steady complaint of cuts and bruises, sore throats and upset tummies.
Tonight was the first night of VBS, and usually we have about 20 or so to begin with, and it grows all week to where we have anywhere form 75 – 100 kids. Tonight it started out at 75, and who knows where we are going to end up; could be 125+. We send at least half of our kids (18) over to help Ashley Groeneweg. It is always one of the favorite parts of the entire trip for some of our kids. When VBS ended, we just hung out around our accommodations. (Some were already in bed by 7:30 – eat your hearts out, moms and dads!) The rest wound down and crashed by 10. More tomorrow.
This was our first full work day. As you would expect, Friday was a bit chaotic, and so we didn’t get all that much progress done. Today was a different story – there was some serious work getting done!
We have two crews painting the interior and exterior of the 7 classrooms upstairs. It will need two coats, so this first pass is just getting started. These crews worked hard all day, and got the first coat done on ALL of the walls. They did not get the “cutting in” all done, which is a major amount of time. But it really does look much nicer than raw concrete. Unfortunately, they gave us the wrong color at the paint store, and the first coat is a lot lighter shade than it is supposed to be. But we would have had to do a second coat anyway, it’s just now it will have to cover a bit more thoroughly since it is a different shade.
The “one-day church” is going to be used for a chapel for the junior college. On Friday we poured the platform (stage), and today we poured the rest of the floor. While that was going on, a crew was up on the now-dried platform beginning work on the block walls. ¬¬As soon as the floor all dries, we will begin going up with the block walls.
One crew helps in the kitchen, cleans the bathrooms, goes to market, hands out literature, prepares and executes the Vacation Bible School in the evening. They stay very busy all day, but it is quite easy work.
Rony Burgos (formerly the youth director of the Belize Conference) attended our morning worship today. Quite some time ago, he expressed a wish to Jim Lynch for a computer projector so that he could do evangelism and Bible studies. Over the past year Jim did some fund raising, and was able to purchase a brand new one for Rony. This morning Jim made the presentation of it to Rony; he was very surprised and pleased. We prayed over that piece of equipment, dedicating it to the service of God. That is one more microscopic piece of the puzzle to help spread the Gospel to all the world.
Our nurse, Marlene Medina-Ellquist, made the observation that she is a lot busier than she ever expected. There has been nothing worthy of mention, but rather a fairly steady complaint of cuts and bruises, sore throats and upset tummies.
Tonight was the first night of VBS, and usually we have about 20 or so to begin with, and it grows all week to where we have anywhere form 75 – 100 kids. Tonight it started out at 75, and who knows where we are going to end up; could be 125+. We send at least half of our kids (18) over to help Ashley Groeneweg. It is always one of the favorite parts of the entire trip for some of our kids. When VBS ended, we just hung out around our accommodations. (Some were already in bed by 7:30 – eat your hearts out, moms and dads!) The rest wound down and crashed by 10. More tomorrow.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Day 3 Sabbath
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg .
This same e-mail will be posted at www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
Here is what happened on Sabbath.
Boy, oh boy, did we ever get a rude awakening this morning! About 5:45 one of our guys got up to go to the bathroom, only to discover that the entire room was covered in about 4 inches of water. As if that in its self was not enough of a disaster, there were about 30 sacks of dry cement stacked on the floor. Joe Martin sent out the SOS, and all the guys shot out of bed and were on duty in less time than it takes to tell. It took almost 2 hours to get things under control. One of the toilet valves did not shut off properly, and it continued to run the entire night. Fortunately we were able to get the cement powder out of the saturated paper sacks, and very little of it was actually lost.
After a good breakfast, we left for church by about 9:25. Kids were given the option of attending the campus Spanish church, the campus English church, or the Spanish church in downtown Corozal. All but about a dozen went to the English services where Joe Martin preached. The two campus churches are no more than a 6 minute walk from our living quarters. Many of the locals remember us from years past, and some of us have made friends with them over the years, so church is somewhat of a reunion.
We went home and had a wonderful Sabbath dinner, rested for a few minutes, then loaded the bus for a 45 minute drive to the Mayan ruins. The ruins are not exactly on the kids’ “bucket list”; they are pretty low key. Kids were able to splash around in the ocean, climb coconut palms and pick a few to worry open, climb the pyramids and mounds, and more. Before departing we had our sundown worship in a gazebo by the ocean. Great times.
The plan was to take the kids to town to visit the ice cream parlor and walk around a bit. Not to be. There was some kind of fiesta at the center plaza, and many of the shops (including Sunny’s Ice Cream) were closed. So we just hung out at the place and played some table games.
This same e-mail will be posted at www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
Here is what happened on Sabbath.
Boy, oh boy, did we ever get a rude awakening this morning! About 5:45 one of our guys got up to go to the bathroom, only to discover that the entire room was covered in about 4 inches of water. As if that in its self was not enough of a disaster, there were about 30 sacks of dry cement stacked on the floor. Joe Martin sent out the SOS, and all the guys shot out of bed and were on duty in less time than it takes to tell. It took almost 2 hours to get things under control. One of the toilet valves did not shut off properly, and it continued to run the entire night. Fortunately we were able to get the cement powder out of the saturated paper sacks, and very little of it was actually lost.
After a good breakfast, we left for church by about 9:25. Kids were given the option of attending the campus Spanish church, the campus English church, or the Spanish church in downtown Corozal. All but about a dozen went to the English services where Joe Martin preached. The two campus churches are no more than a 6 minute walk from our living quarters. Many of the locals remember us from years past, and some of us have made friends with them over the years, so church is somewhat of a reunion.
We went home and had a wonderful Sabbath dinner, rested for a few minutes, then loaded the bus for a 45 minute drive to the Mayan ruins. The ruins are not exactly on the kids’ “bucket list”; they are pretty low key. Kids were able to splash around in the ocean, climb coconut palms and pick a few to worry open, climb the pyramids and mounds, and more. Before departing we had our sundown worship in a gazebo by the ocean. Great times.
The plan was to take the kids to town to visit the ice cream parlor and walk around a bit. Not to be. There was some kind of fiesta at the center plaza, and many of the shops (including Sunny’s Ice Cream) were closed. So we just hung out at the place and played some table games.
Day 3 Sabbath
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg .
This same e-mail will be posted at www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
Here is what happened on Sabbath.
Boy, oh boy, did we ever get a rude awakening this morning! About 5:45 one of our guys got up to go to the bathroom, only to discover that the entire room was covered in about 4 inches of water. As if that in its self was not enough of a disaster, there were about 30 sacks of dry cement stacked on the floor. Joe Martin sent out the SOS, and all the guys shot out of bed and were on duty in less time than it takes to tell. It took almost 2 hours to get things under control. One of the toilet valves did not shut off properly, and it continued to run the entire night. Fortunately we were able to get the cement powder out of the saturated paper sacks, and very little of it was actually lost.
After a good breakfast, we left for church by about 9:25. Kids were given the option of attending the campus Spanish church, the campus English church, or the Spanish church in downtown Corozal. All but about a dozen went to the English services where Joe Martin preached. The two campus churches are no more than a 6 minute walk from our living quarters. Many of the locals remember us from years past, and some of us have made friends with them over the years, so church is somewhat of a reunion.
We went home and had a wonderful Sabbath dinner, rested for a few minutes, then loaded the bus for a 45 minute drive to the Mayan ruins. The ruins are not exactly on the kids’ “bucket list”; they are pretty low key. Kids were able to splash around in the ocean, climb coconut palms and pick a few to worry open, climb the pyramids and mounds, and more. Before departing we had our sundown worship in a gazebo by the ocean. Great times.
The plan was to take the kids to town to visit the ice cream parlor and walk around a bit. Not to be. There was some kind of fiesta at the center plaza, and many of the shops (including Sunny’s Ice Cream) were closed. So we just hung out at the place and played some table games.
This same e-mail will be posted at www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
Here is what happened on Sabbath.
Boy, oh boy, did we ever get a rude awakening this morning! About 5:45 one of our guys got up to go to the bathroom, only to discover that the entire room was covered in about 4 inches of water. As if that in its self was not enough of a disaster, there were about 30 sacks of dry cement stacked on the floor. Joe Martin sent out the SOS, and all the guys shot out of bed and were on duty in less time than it takes to tell. It took almost 2 hours to get things under control. One of the toilet valves did not shut off properly, and it continued to run the entire night. Fortunately we were able to get the cement powder out of the saturated paper sacks, and very little of it was actually lost.
After a good breakfast, we left for church by about 9:25. Kids were given the option of attending the campus Spanish church, the campus English church, or the Spanish church in downtown Corozal. All but about a dozen went to the English services where Joe Martin preached. The two campus churches are no more than a 6 minute walk from our living quarters. Many of the locals remember us from years past, and some of us have made friends with them over the years, so church is somewhat of a reunion.
We went home and had a wonderful Sabbath dinner, rested for a few minutes, then loaded the bus for a 45 minute drive to the Mayan ruins. The ruins are not exactly on the kids’ “bucket list”; they are pretty low key. Kids were able to splash around in the ocean, climb coconut palms and pick a few to worry open, climb the pyramids and mounds, and more. Before departing we had our sundown worship in a gazebo by the ocean. Great times.
The plan was to take the kids to town to visit the ice cream parlor and walk around a bit. Not to be. There was some kind of fiesta at the center plaza, and many of the shops (including Sunny’s Ice Cream) were closed. So we just hung out at the place and played some table games.
Day 2 Friday
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).
To read all of these e-mails, log on to www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
Here is what happened on Friday.
Let’s start with a report on our accommodations. The school vacated a couple of their classrooms and we have moved in – guys in one room, girls in the other. They are nicely finished with ceramic tile, plaster and paint. Last night was quite cool according to Belizian standards; a few girls even reported getting cold!
There is not a water heater anywhere in the entire building, so we have to heat all the water for washing dishes. And yes, the showers are all cold. But Belize “cold” and Colorado “cold” are very different. We have discovered that if you feel that the shower is cold, it is because you have not been in there long enough. It’s kinda like diving into a swimming pool: at first it takes your breath away, but after a few minutes it actually feels nice and refreshing. Even so, “warm showers” will be on everybody’s list of things that they are thankful for back home.
And speaking about our bathroom situation, we cannot flush any paper at all down the commodes or they plug up. Every toilet in Belize has a trash can beside it for…well, use your imagination. That is something that we are all having to get used to. ‘Nuf said about that.
First thing this morning we toured “our” building. The local Conference has put a lot of work and money into the building, and there has been an incredible amount of progress made in the past year. When we left it last year, there were 3 classrooms that needed the walls finished to the top, about 18 pillars to be poured, and about 6 window headers to be poured. All that was finished, and they poured the entire roof on the building, and put up two staircases - one in front and one in back – plastered the interior and exterior of all 7 upstairs classrooms, and a lot more. The end is now in sight!
Today was our first day of work. As with almost every mission trip, the first day “at work” is mostly getting things arranged, purchase materials, figuring out what all needs to be done, etc. Yes, that is typical, but this trip seemed to be a little worse than most. It took us most of the day to get thing arranged to where we could do our first bit of work. In former years, we have had one really BIG job – like laying hundreds of block; a different dynamic this year is that our work is more varied and it looks like going to be physically lighter. A lot of our job is going to be painting, and trim work.
One of our jobs is to finish a “one-day church”. It starts life as just some metal uprights and a roof. The plan was for us to build block walls, set windows and doors, etc. In order to do that, the concrete floor was to be poured and dry before we arrived. It wasn’t. So our first job is to mix and pour the concrete stage and floor. It was lunch time when the mixer finally arrived, and by the end of today we had poured the stage at one end of the church; the rest will wait until Sunday.
While we were waiting for the mixer to arrive, almost everybody pitched in and helped with the painting. By quitting time there was one classroom with the first coat 100% done, a second classroom with about 80% done, a third classroom with about 75% done, and 2 guys that had 2 coats from head to toe.
The kitchen crew got a very late start as well. It was 11:30 before that crew got on the road to town to do the shopping for the weekend – fresh fruit, bakery, several grocery stores, bus fuel, tortilla factory, and a few more stops. There is no one grocery store that carries everything we need in the quantities that we need. So it might take us 2 or 3 stops just to round up enough milk for breakfast.
After supper the “family groups” each went their own way and had worship together. A “family group” is 5 or 6 kids that are led by a student leader. They spend a good bit of time together, on the job site, evening worships, etc. Whenever we travel together we simply ask each of the 5 group leaders to account for their 5 or 6 kids, and it makes things a lot easier for the sponsors. Our group leaders are Sneha Schrestha, Moses Arevalo, Melysa LeFore, Alex Plank, Nik LeFore, and Kyle Wearner – all students at Campion Academy. They are learning leadership skills while they make a meaningful contribution to managing the logistics of the trip. Our girls “dean” is Ashley Groeneweg, and boys “dean” is J C Lynch.
A few years ago, sending out these e-mails was the only source of info that parents and friends had with the kids. Now, most of the kids have cell phones with at least text message capacity. And Facebook is their medium of choice for posting messages. Times are a-changing.
To read all of these e-mails, log on to www.rmcmission.blogspot.com.
Here is what happened on Friday.
Let’s start with a report on our accommodations. The school vacated a couple of their classrooms and we have moved in – guys in one room, girls in the other. They are nicely finished with ceramic tile, plaster and paint. Last night was quite cool according to Belizian standards; a few girls even reported getting cold!
There is not a water heater anywhere in the entire building, so we have to heat all the water for washing dishes. And yes, the showers are all cold. But Belize “cold” and Colorado “cold” are very different. We have discovered that if you feel that the shower is cold, it is because you have not been in there long enough. It’s kinda like diving into a swimming pool: at first it takes your breath away, but after a few minutes it actually feels nice and refreshing. Even so, “warm showers” will be on everybody’s list of things that they are thankful for back home.
And speaking about our bathroom situation, we cannot flush any paper at all down the commodes or they plug up. Every toilet in Belize has a trash can beside it for…well, use your imagination. That is something that we are all having to get used to. ‘Nuf said about that.
First thing this morning we toured “our” building. The local Conference has put a lot of work and money into the building, and there has been an incredible amount of progress made in the past year. When we left it last year, there were 3 classrooms that needed the walls finished to the top, about 18 pillars to be poured, and about 6 window headers to be poured. All that was finished, and they poured the entire roof on the building, and put up two staircases - one in front and one in back – plastered the interior and exterior of all 7 upstairs classrooms, and a lot more. The end is now in sight!
Today was our first day of work. As with almost every mission trip, the first day “at work” is mostly getting things arranged, purchase materials, figuring out what all needs to be done, etc. Yes, that is typical, but this trip seemed to be a little worse than most. It took us most of the day to get thing arranged to where we could do our first bit of work. In former years, we have had one really BIG job – like laying hundreds of block; a different dynamic this year is that our work is more varied and it looks like going to be physically lighter. A lot of our job is going to be painting, and trim work.
One of our jobs is to finish a “one-day church”. It starts life as just some metal uprights and a roof. The plan was for us to build block walls, set windows and doors, etc. In order to do that, the concrete floor was to be poured and dry before we arrived. It wasn’t. So our first job is to mix and pour the concrete stage and floor. It was lunch time when the mixer finally arrived, and by the end of today we had poured the stage at one end of the church; the rest will wait until Sunday.
While we were waiting for the mixer to arrive, almost everybody pitched in and helped with the painting. By quitting time there was one classroom with the first coat 100% done, a second classroom with about 80% done, a third classroom with about 75% done, and 2 guys that had 2 coats from head to toe.
The kitchen crew got a very late start as well. It was 11:30 before that crew got on the road to town to do the shopping for the weekend – fresh fruit, bakery, several grocery stores, bus fuel, tortilla factory, and a few more stops. There is no one grocery store that carries everything we need in the quantities that we need. So it might take us 2 or 3 stops just to round up enough milk for breakfast.
After supper the “family groups” each went their own way and had worship together. A “family group” is 5 or 6 kids that are led by a student leader. They spend a good bit of time together, on the job site, evening worships, etc. Whenever we travel together we simply ask each of the 5 group leaders to account for their 5 or 6 kids, and it makes things a lot easier for the sponsors. Our group leaders are Sneha Schrestha, Moses Arevalo, Melysa LeFore, Alex Plank, Nik LeFore, and Kyle Wearner – all students at Campion Academy. They are learning leadership skills while they make a meaningful contribution to managing the logistics of the trip. Our girls “dean” is Ashley Groeneweg, and boys “dean” is J C Lynch.
A few years ago, sending out these e-mails was the only source of info that parents and friends had with the kids. Now, most of the kids have cell phones with at least text message capacity. And Facebook is their medium of choice for posting messages. Times are a-changing.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Day 1, Thursday
Thursday, March 10, 2011, Day 1
Well, we are off to our SEVENTH YEAR of going to Belize for the Rocky Mountain Conference youth mission trip!! Today we got a REALLY early start! Since our flight left DIA at 8:20 a.m., and since it takes several hours to get 46 people through ticketing, baggage, and security, the majority of us met at Campion at 3:45 a.m. We were just ready to pull out of the driveway when one last sleepy-head staggered down the hall and out the door to the moving bus. There are no “alarm excuses” for this trip; he barely made it!
Joe Martin and Jim Lynch did their homework with American Airlines, and we were able to check 92 suitcases, all at no charge! That was about $1,200 worth of savings for our kids. Thank you Lord and American Airlines.
We changed planes in Dallas/Ft Worth, then arrived Belize City 3:45 in the afternoon. For most of our kids, this was the first time going through immigration, customs, baggage search, etc. into a foreign country. We had in hand a letter from the Belize Minister of Finance that authorized us to import all of our things without duty, but in spite of that, the customs agents seemed to take their job a lot more seriously, and did a thorough search of our luggage. They “quarantined” several of our food items for a short time to make sure that they were FDA approved. In the end, they charged us a modest $35 for use tax, and that was it. But the whole process was quite stressful. In addition, they had plain-clothes policemen circulating to make sure nobody took any photographs. Several in our group innocently snapped a photo in the customs line, and were promptly made to delete the offending photo. When our group photographer snapped a candid shot of our kids in line, a policeman confiscated his camera. It was returned to him at the end of the inspection process. More stress.
The weather is wonderful! Upon arrival, temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s, and of course high humidity.
Folks from BAJC were there to meet us, and we boarded the bus and loaded the luggage. This took a lot longer than you would think necessary since we had to wait on our quarantined food items, but by 6 p.m. we were on the road. The bus was exceedingly crowded – suitcases to the roof in the rear, and all up the aisle, every seat taken, and 3 or 4 perched anywhere they could find. The sun set soon into our trip, and it began to rain, so our progress was slowed at bit by those conditions. It was cool enough on the bus that we put the windows up and it was very comfortable.
Our final destination is about 2 hours north of the airport, and we arrived about 8 pm STARVING. Fortunately the locals had supper ready for us (sandwiches and juice). After supper we got the bus unloaded, and everyone found a few square feet or real estate to call home for the next 11 days.
We stay right in the building that we are working on, guys are in one classroom, and girls in another. There are almost twice as many girls as guys, so their quarters are a lot more crowded. There is a kitchen on one end of the building, and the bathrooms at the other. The college does not charge us anything for our lodging, in spite of the fact that our presence is quite an inconvenience and a lot of work for them to prepare for us. Granted, we more than make up for it by our contribution to their project, but still it is not without a price to them.
Praise God for a good, safe trip. Everyone is healthy, happy, and accounted for. We ended up with the correct number of kids. (It’s bad to lose a kid along the way, but so much worse to pick one up!) We are getting the details of our trip settled, and tomorrow we go to the job sites.
We are going to send out a daily (more or less) communication to keep you up on our happenings. If you know of anybody that would be interested, please forward this to them. You can also just give them our website www.rmcmission.blogspot.com, or reply to this message with their address and it will be sent directly to them.
Some details on the 49 that are going: There are 34 high school students (22 girls, 13 guys), 5 college students, and 11 “oldsters” (4 ladies, 5 men). Almost all of the high school age students attend school at Campion.
Campion Students: College Students:
Abigail Van Alstyne Ashley Groeneweg
Audrey Hatfield Caroline Silva
Alexander Plank J C Lynch
Bambi Joe Jason Blood
Charlotte “Charlie” Baugher Shawna Ansari
Chloe Moran
Dakotah Padilla
Deanna Morgan
Devon Anderson-Neal “Oldsters”:
Emily DeSilva Jim Lynch
Emily Lynne Turner Joe Martin
Isaac Arthur May Kathryn Binder
Ivana Carrillo Kevin Binder
Jessica Montoya Marlene Medina-Ellquist
Joshua Da Silva Toni Odenthal
Juan Tena Garcia Trish Retzloff
Katie Fry Robin Retzloff
Kelsey Downey Bill Hay
Kimberly Cannon Moses Sylva
Kyle Cate Steve Lucero
Kyle Wearner
Levi Esparza
Marissa Yeoman
Melysa LeFore
Moses Arevalo
Nallely Teniente
Nikolas LeFore
Olivia May
Scout Kutschara
Sierra Watson
Sneha Schrestha
Stacey Munoz
Tim Medina
Travis Retzloff
Well, we are off to our SEVENTH YEAR of going to Belize for the Rocky Mountain Conference youth mission trip!! Today we got a REALLY early start! Since our flight left DIA at 8:20 a.m., and since it takes several hours to get 46 people through ticketing, baggage, and security, the majority of us met at Campion at 3:45 a.m. We were just ready to pull out of the driveway when one last sleepy-head staggered down the hall and out the door to the moving bus. There are no “alarm excuses” for this trip; he barely made it!
Joe Martin and Jim Lynch did their homework with American Airlines, and we were able to check 92 suitcases, all at no charge! That was about $1,200 worth of savings for our kids. Thank you Lord and American Airlines.
We changed planes in Dallas/Ft Worth, then arrived Belize City 3:45 in the afternoon. For most of our kids, this was the first time going through immigration, customs, baggage search, etc. into a foreign country. We had in hand a letter from the Belize Minister of Finance that authorized us to import all of our things without duty, but in spite of that, the customs agents seemed to take their job a lot more seriously, and did a thorough search of our luggage. They “quarantined” several of our food items for a short time to make sure that they were FDA approved. In the end, they charged us a modest $35 for use tax, and that was it. But the whole process was quite stressful. In addition, they had plain-clothes policemen circulating to make sure nobody took any photographs. Several in our group innocently snapped a photo in the customs line, and were promptly made to delete the offending photo. When our group photographer snapped a candid shot of our kids in line, a policeman confiscated his camera. It was returned to him at the end of the inspection process. More stress.
The weather is wonderful! Upon arrival, temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s, and of course high humidity.
Folks from BAJC were there to meet us, and we boarded the bus and loaded the luggage. This took a lot longer than you would think necessary since we had to wait on our quarantined food items, but by 6 p.m. we were on the road. The bus was exceedingly crowded – suitcases to the roof in the rear, and all up the aisle, every seat taken, and 3 or 4 perched anywhere they could find. The sun set soon into our trip, and it began to rain, so our progress was slowed at bit by those conditions. It was cool enough on the bus that we put the windows up and it was very comfortable.
Our final destination is about 2 hours north of the airport, and we arrived about 8 pm STARVING. Fortunately the locals had supper ready for us (sandwiches and juice). After supper we got the bus unloaded, and everyone found a few square feet or real estate to call home for the next 11 days.
We stay right in the building that we are working on, guys are in one classroom, and girls in another. There are almost twice as many girls as guys, so their quarters are a lot more crowded. There is a kitchen on one end of the building, and the bathrooms at the other. The college does not charge us anything for our lodging, in spite of the fact that our presence is quite an inconvenience and a lot of work for them to prepare for us. Granted, we more than make up for it by our contribution to their project, but still it is not without a price to them.
Praise God for a good, safe trip. Everyone is healthy, happy, and accounted for. We ended up with the correct number of kids. (It’s bad to lose a kid along the way, but so much worse to pick one up!) We are getting the details of our trip settled, and tomorrow we go to the job sites.
We are going to send out a daily (more or less) communication to keep you up on our happenings. If you know of anybody that would be interested, please forward this to them. You can also just give them our website www.rmcmission.blogspot.com, or reply to this message with their address and it will be sent directly to them.
Some details on the 49 that are going: There are 34 high school students (22 girls, 13 guys), 5 college students, and 11 “oldsters” (4 ladies, 5 men). Almost all of the high school age students attend school at Campion.
Campion Students: College Students:
Abigail Van Alstyne Ashley Groeneweg
Audrey Hatfield Caroline Silva
Alexander Plank J C Lynch
Bambi Joe Jason Blood
Charlotte “Charlie” Baugher Shawna Ansari
Chloe Moran
Dakotah Padilla
Deanna Morgan
Devon Anderson-Neal “Oldsters”:
Emily DeSilva Jim Lynch
Emily Lynne Turner Joe Martin
Isaac Arthur May Kathryn Binder
Ivana Carrillo Kevin Binder
Jessica Montoya Marlene Medina-Ellquist
Joshua Da Silva Toni Odenthal
Juan Tena Garcia Trish Retzloff
Katie Fry Robin Retzloff
Kelsey Downey Bill Hay
Kimberly Cannon Moses Sylva
Kyle Cate Steve Lucero
Kyle Wearner
Levi Esparza
Marissa Yeoman
Melysa LeFore
Moses Arevalo
Nallely Teniente
Nikolas LeFore
Olivia May
Scout Kutschara
Sierra Watson
Sneha Schrestha
Stacey Munoz
Tim Medina
Travis Retzloff
Sunday, March 6, 2011
flight schedule
Flt # Depart Time Arrive Time
AMERICAN AIRLINES
OUTBOUND
1264 Denver 8:20 a.m. Dallas/Ft Worth 11:20 a.m.
2193 Dallas/Ft Worth 12:50 p.m. Belize City 3:40 p.m.
INBOUND
2194 Belize 3:45 p.m. Dallas/Ft Worth 8:00 p.m.
1986 Dallas/Ft Worth 9:40 p.m. Denver 10:40 p.m.
AMERICAN AIRLINES
OUTBOUND
1264 Denver 8:20 a.m. Dallas/Ft Worth 11:20 a.m.
2193 Dallas/Ft Worth 12:50 p.m. Belize City 3:40 p.m.
INBOUND
2194 Belize 3:45 p.m. Dallas/Ft Worth 8:00 p.m.
1986 Dallas/Ft Worth 9:40 p.m. Denver 10:40 p.m.
What to expect en route to Belize
WHAT TO EXPECT ON EN ROUTE
Packing
Some things worthy of mention while you are packing and getting ready.
1. If you are going to carry on your toiletries, anything liquid, gel, or paste must be in
a. bottles less than 3 ounces
b. put into a one zip-lock bag
c. that is a quart-size zip-lock
So if you need more lotion/shampoo/conditioner/tooth paste than 3 ounces, it must be packed in your checked luggage.
2. Be sure that your luggage conforms to the size and weight restrictions. (Maximum limits are: Carry-on, 40# and 45” lineal; checked, 50# and 62” lineal. If it is overweight, it is $50 to $100 charge; over size is $150.)
3. You will be issued a “group” piece of luggage that you are responsible for in addition to your one personal suitcase.
4. Besides your personal suitcase, and the “group” suitcase, you are also allowed one carry-on piece of luggage.
5. Be sure that you pack so that you can handle the two checked suitcases as well as your carry-on. If necessary, your carry-on could be a backpack so that it will be easier to manage all 3 going through customs and check-in.
6. It is a long time between DFW and Corozal, with no good opportunity to buy food. Pack some food in your carry-on, or else buy some in Dallas/Ft Worth airport.
Loading the bus
Arrive with your 2 or 3 pieces of luggage in time to have it loaded and ready to roll by 3:45 a.m.
Record will be taken to be sure that everyone is there.
At the airport
1. Check in your luggage
We will meet up with those of our group that have arrived on their own.
Have your passport and flight info handy as you approach the counter
It will take us about an hour+ for each one of us to get our 2 pieces of luggage checked in at the counter. Hang on to your carry-on.
2. Security
Leave the check-in counter and make your way down stairs to the security area and get in line. Present your boarding pass and passport. Proceed to a conveyor belt. There are plastic trays to put your belongings in to run through the X-ray machine. Take off your shoes, hat, jacket and put them in one of those plastic trays. Remove anything that is metal (cell phone, belt buckle, quantity of coins, large hair barrettes, etc.) and put those in a tray as well. Take out of your carry-on the zip lock bag that has any liquids, pastes, gels, and put that zip lock bag in the tray. Run the tray(s) and your carry-on suitcase/backpack down the conveyor and through the X-ray machine. Now you are ready to walk through a big arch to screen YOU. If you have failed to remove something metal, the machine will beep and you will need to remove that something, and go through the arch again. Be sure to gather all your belongings and put yourself back together after you have been screened. No need to wait for the whole group – go ahead to the shuttle train.
3. Shuttle train
Leave the security area and go down the stairs and get on the shuttle train. American Airlines is on concourse “A”. When you get off, go up the escalator and follow signs to the gate number.
4. At the gate
You do not need to go to the counter at the gate, you are already checked in and have your seat assignment. Just hang around the gate area (at least stay on Concourse “A”) until it is time to board your airplane. Boarding will take place 30 minutes prior to take-off, that is 7:50.
5. Boarding
On your ticket is printed the boarding group number that will tell you when to board. There will be clear instructions over the speaker as to when your group should board. You will walk down the bridge and on to the airplane. Place your carry-on luggage in the overhead bin. SIT IN THE SEAT THAT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO YOU. DO NOT CHANGE SEATS to sit next to someone else, or be by a window. It creates mass confusion and clogs up the aisle, slowing down the boarding process. We don’t want to be on the wrong side of the flight attendants this early in the game.
On the airplane
Be respectful of those around you. Hollering to friends is appropriate in the CA cafeteria, but not in the airplane. Do your best not to jostle the seats of your fellow passengers. Listen to what the flight attendants have to say. The beverages are free.
In Dallas/Ft Worth
We will eat lunch, and change planes in Dallas/Ft Worth. The gate that we arrive at might be on a concourse different than our departing gate. You will NOT claim any luggage in DFW, they automatically transfer your checked luggage to the right airplane (in theory). You will receive money to go buy your own lunch there in the airport. We scheduled to arrive at 11:20. Immediately go to the gate where we will depart to Belize and we will assemble there. Once everything has been accounted for we can scatter and find something to eat. Be sure to arrive back at the gate by 12:20 to board the plane for Belize. That gives you less than an hour to eat. If you did not pack snacks for the trip from Belize City to Corozal, buy some in DFW.
Flight to Belize
The same general observations stated above apply for this flight also. One additional note is that during the flight, the attendants will hand out a “declarations form” that everyone must fill out. This is a questionnaire about who you are, where you are going, why you are visiting, and if you have anything do “declare”. (There are certain things that a country does/does not permit to be brought in under certain circumstances. This form is your opportunity to disclose that info. You will have nothing to declare.) The flight attendants and your sponsors will assist you in filling out that form. Notice that in Belize, they list the date and day backwards to what we are accustomed to: we will be arriving on 10/3/09 (not 3/10/09) and we will be departing on 21/3/09 (not 3/21/09). Same for your birthday, and other dates. (Tip: I like to use the restroom on the airplane late in the flight; that way you don’t have to make a dash for the porcelain as soon as you arrive.)
At Belize airport
The first thing you will notice is the glorious weather: upper 80s with high humidity! It is like Hawaii. When we get off the airplane, the first line you will get in is the “Immigration”. That is where they look at your passport, stamp it, and give them back to you. When you leave the immigration desk, the next thing you will do is to claim your luggage. Get your personal suitcase, and the one issued to you. Next stop is the “customs” inspection. That is where they review that “declarations form” and inspect your belongings to make sure that your stuff conforms to their laws. VERY IMPORTANT: You must keep one copy of that form with your passport as long as you are in the country. When you leave Belize on March 21, you must present that copy along with your passport in order to get out. They will likely inspect us as a group, so you will not have to be subject to individual inspection. Be sure to fold the declaration form and tuck it into your passport. When you leave the customs area, you will enter the public area of the airport. Immediately there will be baggage handlers trying to take your bags and put them on their cart so they can get a tip. We will have some sponsors out there running defense for you, but in case you get separated, hang on to your bags. Head for the sidewalk outside, and we will all gather at the curb and wait for the bus and van to haul us all to Corozal. While we are standing around waiting it is a good time to break out those snacks.
Arrival at Corozal
It is about a 2 hour ride from airport to Corozal. Hopefully we will be all ready to go by about 4:30 or 5. When we arrive at Corozal, the locals are supposed to have supper waiting for us…we’ll see. We will need to unload the bus/truck and go stake out a place to call your own for the next 12 days. We are staying in the same building that we are working on. Thursday night we will eat, get settled, and get ready for bed. Friday we will have an organizational meeting and go to the job sites to “get our feet wet”.
Packing
Some things worthy of mention while you are packing and getting ready.
1. If you are going to carry on your toiletries, anything liquid, gel, or paste must be in
a. bottles less than 3 ounces
b. put into a one zip-lock bag
c. that is a quart-size zip-lock
So if you need more lotion/shampoo/conditioner/tooth paste than 3 ounces, it must be packed in your checked luggage.
2. Be sure that your luggage conforms to the size and weight restrictions. (Maximum limits are: Carry-on, 40# and 45” lineal; checked, 50# and 62” lineal. If it is overweight, it is $50 to $100 charge; over size is $150.)
3. You will be issued a “group” piece of luggage that you are responsible for in addition to your one personal suitcase.
4. Besides your personal suitcase, and the “group” suitcase, you are also allowed one carry-on piece of luggage.
5. Be sure that you pack so that you can handle the two checked suitcases as well as your carry-on. If necessary, your carry-on could be a backpack so that it will be easier to manage all 3 going through customs and check-in.
6. It is a long time between DFW and Corozal, with no good opportunity to buy food. Pack some food in your carry-on, or else buy some in Dallas/Ft Worth airport.
Loading the bus
Arrive with your 2 or 3 pieces of luggage in time to have it loaded and ready to roll by 3:45 a.m.
Record will be taken to be sure that everyone is there.
At the airport
1. Check in your luggage
We will meet up with those of our group that have arrived on their own.
Have your passport and flight info handy as you approach the counter
It will take us about an hour+ for each one of us to get our 2 pieces of luggage checked in at the counter. Hang on to your carry-on.
2. Security
Leave the check-in counter and make your way down stairs to the security area and get in line. Present your boarding pass and passport. Proceed to a conveyor belt. There are plastic trays to put your belongings in to run through the X-ray machine. Take off your shoes, hat, jacket and put them in one of those plastic trays. Remove anything that is metal (cell phone, belt buckle, quantity of coins, large hair barrettes, etc.) and put those in a tray as well. Take out of your carry-on the zip lock bag that has any liquids, pastes, gels, and put that zip lock bag in the tray. Run the tray(s) and your carry-on suitcase/backpack down the conveyor and through the X-ray machine. Now you are ready to walk through a big arch to screen YOU. If you have failed to remove something metal, the machine will beep and you will need to remove that something, and go through the arch again. Be sure to gather all your belongings and put yourself back together after you have been screened. No need to wait for the whole group – go ahead to the shuttle train.
3. Shuttle train
Leave the security area and go down the stairs and get on the shuttle train. American Airlines is on concourse “A”. When you get off, go up the escalator and follow signs to the gate number.
4. At the gate
You do not need to go to the counter at the gate, you are already checked in and have your seat assignment. Just hang around the gate area (at least stay on Concourse “A”) until it is time to board your airplane. Boarding will take place 30 minutes prior to take-off, that is 7:50.
5. Boarding
On your ticket is printed the boarding group number that will tell you when to board. There will be clear instructions over the speaker as to when your group should board. You will walk down the bridge and on to the airplane. Place your carry-on luggage in the overhead bin. SIT IN THE SEAT THAT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO YOU. DO NOT CHANGE SEATS to sit next to someone else, or be by a window. It creates mass confusion and clogs up the aisle, slowing down the boarding process. We don’t want to be on the wrong side of the flight attendants this early in the game.
On the airplane
Be respectful of those around you. Hollering to friends is appropriate in the CA cafeteria, but not in the airplane. Do your best not to jostle the seats of your fellow passengers. Listen to what the flight attendants have to say. The beverages are free.
In Dallas/Ft Worth
We will eat lunch, and change planes in Dallas/Ft Worth. The gate that we arrive at might be on a concourse different than our departing gate. You will NOT claim any luggage in DFW, they automatically transfer your checked luggage to the right airplane (in theory). You will receive money to go buy your own lunch there in the airport. We scheduled to arrive at 11:20. Immediately go to the gate where we will depart to Belize and we will assemble there. Once everything has been accounted for we can scatter and find something to eat. Be sure to arrive back at the gate by 12:20 to board the plane for Belize. That gives you less than an hour to eat. If you did not pack snacks for the trip from Belize City to Corozal, buy some in DFW.
Flight to Belize
The same general observations stated above apply for this flight also. One additional note is that during the flight, the attendants will hand out a “declarations form” that everyone must fill out. This is a questionnaire about who you are, where you are going, why you are visiting, and if you have anything do “declare”. (There are certain things that a country does/does not permit to be brought in under certain circumstances. This form is your opportunity to disclose that info. You will have nothing to declare.) The flight attendants and your sponsors will assist you in filling out that form. Notice that in Belize, they list the date and day backwards to what we are accustomed to: we will be arriving on 10/3/09 (not 3/10/09) and we will be departing on 21/3/09 (not 3/21/09). Same for your birthday, and other dates. (Tip: I like to use the restroom on the airplane late in the flight; that way you don’t have to make a dash for the porcelain as soon as you arrive.)
At Belize airport
The first thing you will notice is the glorious weather: upper 80s with high humidity! It is like Hawaii. When we get off the airplane, the first line you will get in is the “Immigration”. That is where they look at your passport, stamp it, and give them back to you. When you leave the immigration desk, the next thing you will do is to claim your luggage. Get your personal suitcase, and the one issued to you. Next stop is the “customs” inspection. That is where they review that “declarations form” and inspect your belongings to make sure that your stuff conforms to their laws. VERY IMPORTANT: You must keep one copy of that form with your passport as long as you are in the country. When you leave Belize on March 21, you must present that copy along with your passport in order to get out. They will likely inspect us as a group, so you will not have to be subject to individual inspection. Be sure to fold the declaration form and tuck it into your passport. When you leave the customs area, you will enter the public area of the airport. Immediately there will be baggage handlers trying to take your bags and put them on their cart so they can get a tip. We will have some sponsors out there running defense for you, but in case you get separated, hang on to your bags. Head for the sidewalk outside, and we will all gather at the curb and wait for the bus and van to haul us all to Corozal. While we are standing around waiting it is a good time to break out those snacks.
Arrival at Corozal
It is about a 2 hour ride from airport to Corozal. Hopefully we will be all ready to go by about 4:30 or 5. When we arrive at Corozal, the locals are supposed to have supper waiting for us…we’ll see. We will need to unload the bus/truck and go stake out a place to call your own for the next 12 days. We are staying in the same building that we are working on. Thursday night we will eat, get settled, and get ready for bed. Friday we will have an organizational meeting and go to the job sites to “get our feet wet”.
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