Belize 5- New Digs
I moved from the Cornerstone house to the "Hi-Et" guest house today and. . .wow. There is hot running water. There is a bathmat. There are towels. There are curtains at the windows and a lamp next to the- get this, double- bed. The toilet flushes. The louvers on the windows are glass, so you can shut out the storm and let in the light. There are no mosquitos or spiders in the room.
I am in heaven :-D.
The folks at Cornerstone are still telling me I should have stayed where I was. I feel bad telling them that the conditions they live in are really not how I want to spend my last few days in the country. They've invited me for dinner tonight and to keep hanging out with them this week. I plan to do so- they're really cool people, even if I'm usually the only sober person in the room. I'm not sure if the invite is genuine or in the "picking up strays" sense of pity. I'll take them up on it anyway. I like them even if they don't like me.
I got a cold this weekend. It had been going around the people at Cornerstone and, lucky me, I got it from the guy N, that I'd been working with. It hit me hard on Friday evening when I was getting ready to head out for a big night on the town. It was C and A's last night- they're the girls on the natural healing program, and they'd decided to forgo the "Jungle Survival Course" over the weekend in favor of spending a few more days at the Cayes. They left for Caye Caulker Saturday morning. We exchanged information and agreed to keep in touch, but I felt bad about having to leave the party early.
I spent most of Saturday chilling out, first at my (suddenly empty) apartment and then by the pool with E and A, a couple of the Cornerstone girls. E is fantastic; she's a super-liberal anti-capitalist vegetarian. She's pretty much what I'd be if I'd reached my current political stance a few years ago. All idealism and radicalism, no common sense or tolerance whatsoever. Like a bucket of ice water down your back- she's great!
I was horribly sick all Saturday- I felt fevered and I was so congested that I could hardly swallow. But Saturday night my fever broke, and by Sunday morning I was feeling much better. I went to Xunantunich (pronn Zoon-AN-toon-eech) Sunday morning. It's the closest major Maya ruin to San Ignacio, and it was amazingly beautiful. I went to the top of the highest pyramid- called the Castillo- and meditated for a bout 45 minutes before anyone else even started to arrive. By 11 am, though, the crowds were starting to gather and the atmosphere was spoiled. I was also feeling hot and tired and still a little sick, so I headed out. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get any pictures. The rechargable batteries my dad sent along with his camera died permanently, so I couldn't get the camera working.
Sunday afternoon I was back at the pool with E and A. Sunday night, one of the local bars had a "movie night". They showed a poor-quality bootleg of Pirates of the Caribbean II. Entrance was free and I spent a couple dollars on a diet coke out of courtesy. The movie looked interesting but, honestly the video sucked so much that I think I missed some things. . .
This afternoon I think I'll rest in my new room for a bit, and then head out to Cahal Pech. It's just a short trip- a small Maya site in San Ignacio itself. I bought new batteries, so I'll get some pictures this time! I've been asking around about tours for the next few days, and the tour guides all say that they really won't know what's going out until 5 or 6 this evening, when people get back from today's tours. I have a couple of good possibilities, already though. A remarkable number of the tour operators around here are Australian, which I find interesting. I'd like to book a tour with a local guide, though, if I can. I much prefer the idea of keeping an actual Belizean employed in Belize.
I am in heaven :-D.
The folks at Cornerstone are still telling me I should have stayed where I was. I feel bad telling them that the conditions they live in are really not how I want to spend my last few days in the country. They've invited me for dinner tonight and to keep hanging out with them this week. I plan to do so- they're really cool people, even if I'm usually the only sober person in the room. I'm not sure if the invite is genuine or in the "picking up strays" sense of pity. I'll take them up on it anyway. I like them even if they don't like me.
I got a cold this weekend. It had been going around the people at Cornerstone and, lucky me, I got it from the guy N, that I'd been working with. It hit me hard on Friday evening when I was getting ready to head out for a big night on the town. It was C and A's last night- they're the girls on the natural healing program, and they'd decided to forgo the "Jungle Survival Course" over the weekend in favor of spending a few more days at the Cayes. They left for Caye Caulker Saturday morning. We exchanged information and agreed to keep in touch, but I felt bad about having to leave the party early.
I spent most of Saturday chilling out, first at my (suddenly empty) apartment and then by the pool with E and A, a couple of the Cornerstone girls. E is fantastic; she's a super-liberal anti-capitalist vegetarian. She's pretty much what I'd be if I'd reached my current political stance a few years ago. All idealism and radicalism, no common sense or tolerance whatsoever. Like a bucket of ice water down your back- she's great!
I was horribly sick all Saturday- I felt fevered and I was so congested that I could hardly swallow. But Saturday night my fever broke, and by Sunday morning I was feeling much better. I went to Xunantunich (pronn Zoon-AN-toon-eech) Sunday morning. It's the closest major Maya ruin to San Ignacio, and it was amazingly beautiful. I went to the top of the highest pyramid- called the Castillo- and meditated for a bout 45 minutes before anyone else even started to arrive. By 11 am, though, the crowds were starting to gather and the atmosphere was spoiled. I was also feeling hot and tired and still a little sick, so I headed out. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get any pictures. The rechargable batteries my dad sent along with his camera died permanently, so I couldn't get the camera working.
Sunday afternoon I was back at the pool with E and A. Sunday night, one of the local bars had a "movie night". They showed a poor-quality bootleg of Pirates of the Caribbean II. Entrance was free and I spent a couple dollars on a diet coke out of courtesy. The movie looked interesting but, honestly the video sucked so much that I think I missed some things. . .
This afternoon I think I'll rest in my new room for a bit, and then head out to Cahal Pech. It's just a short trip- a small Maya site in San Ignacio itself. I bought new batteries, so I'll get some pictures this time! I've been asking around about tours for the next few days, and the tour guides all say that they really won't know what's going out until 5 or 6 this evening, when people get back from today's tours. I have a couple of good possibilities, already though. A remarkable number of the tour operators around here are Australian, which I find interesting. I'd like to book a tour with a local guide, though, if I can. I much prefer the idea of keeping an actual Belizean employed in Belize.