Last Days in Belize and Final Thoughts...

Hey Everybody, the end of the trip got a bit hectic and I wasn't able to write. First, I just want to say thank you all for your interest in the trip, reading the blog, and all of your support! And now, for the tale of our last 6 days...

"And my hands hold my heart, let love grow." - Mumford and Sons

Wednesday morning Justin, Liza, and I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed to go fishing off the island! We jumped on the boat with Captain John and headed out to do some reef fishing. Captain John took us to 3 good spots. The first spot was right next to the reef and the waves were-a-crashin', the boat was-a-rockin'. Everyone was feeling a little sick but we didn't let that stop us from catching some pretty gnarly fish.

I even caught a "lion fish" which is poisoness if its jagged body punctures your skin. I think it can even kill you. It's a bottom feeder so its that fish you hear about people stepping on... yikes!

The second fishing spot was a little off the waves so Liza and I started feeling better but Justin was down for the count- he slept the rest of the day! We caught a ton of grouper and snapper and lemon fish! Next we did some trolling for Baracuda! Liza and I both caught one and it was awesome. Those fish are a little tricky and they put up a pretty good fight! By the end of the morning we were feeling great with a TON of fish fillets to give Cruz to sell that evening.

After we got off the boat Kathy, Liza, and I went to get sandwiches from the man in the hole in the wall and went straight to the school to meet 2 classes of 4 and 5 year olds.

Justin stayed behind to go pick up our latest arrival to the gang, Geoff, off the water taxi. When we arrived to the school one class of 4 and 5 year olds came out, then another, then another, then another. Oh. My. Gosh. There were eighty 4 and 5 year olds running around. Taking the soccer balls out would have been a disaster. We played two fun games of chain tag and then we brought everyone in for our version of musical chairs. I had my speakers with me so we played music and all of the kids had to dance and when the music stopped they had to sit down. It was like a bouncing concert crowd of small kids all around me. The kids loved it and we had a great time.

Next we had the 8th graders come out for their second class with us but only girls. The girls played a fun shooting game and before we knew it time was out! Finally, we had the practice with the middle school teams. Every day we grew closer and closer to the kids and the practices just grew better and better. Mr. Coba was in meetings so I took the boys and Justin took the girls and we tried to teach them some tactical understanding of game- defending and attacking as a team. Once Mr. Coba came back out I went back with the girls and we ended with a fun scrimmage.

To celebrate the first night on the island for Geoff we headed to the local favorite, Waraguma. Great seafood. We had an awesome dinner and then Kathy and Liza turned in for the night while Justin, Geoff, and I checked out Ladies night at Wet Willies, needless to say, no cover for me :-) Wet Willy's is a bar located out on the water- you have to take the pier to get to it. It was just bought by Baltimore people a few weeks ago. We had an early morning of scuba diving and snorkeling so we didn't stay out late but really enjoyed some good music and tiny bit of dancing!
Thursday morning we woke up and pryed ourselves out of bed to go the Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chen- two of the more popular spots to visit off the island. When we got to Shark Ray Alley I threw my fins on and jumped straight in only to find 4 or 5 lemon sharks chillin' all around me and TONS of Sting Rays- huge sting rays! They are kind of mean looking!
The snorkeling was amazing and then we went over to Hol Chen and Justin and I went scuba diving while Kathy, Geoff, and Liza snorkeled. Justin and I waved up to the gang as we swam Eagle Rays, a ton of fish, eels, a beautiful reef, and even Conchs. Like the crustaceans that live in Conch Shells- that was wild.

Not your typical "deli"

When we finished up we headed to, where else, My Secret Deli. We're officially the best customers of this place. Food was awesome, of course, and then we headed straight up to the school for practice with the 4th grade. We weren't about to risk the debacle that was the crazy chaotic-ness of the 3rd graders we had earlier in the week so we got them organized into teams straight away and played a tournament for the entire class ending in a Penalty Kick Shoot Out! The kids had a great time- I think they enjoyed the format and organization of the time we spent with them. I gather they do not receive very much of that typically.

Geoff had already won over the kids in his short time, ready to coach or even step into play the games with the kids if they needed an extra player!
We had the girls team only in the middle school practice after school. It was really nice and we got a really good opportunity to teach them so great skills. This was definitely the most instructive we were with any of the kids throughout the week and the girls responded really well. At the end, I heard one of the girls say that she was tired but wanted to keep practicing and when I asked why she said, "because i don't want to go home, I don't like home." This seems to be a very common sentiment amongst many of the kids at Holy Cross, it is really Heart Breaking.
After we washed up we went and ate an awesome dinner at the Mojito Bar. This place was niiice. Great atmosphere, food, and mojitos... or so I hear, I'm not a big Mojito drinker but Justin was definitely hooked.
Friday morning Justin woke up at 5:00am to go diving the elusive Blue Hole of Belize. As for the rest of us, we slept in and enjoyed a lazy morning. We have been so on the go that we have had barely any chance to rest. After a late breakfast, we explored the town for a bit and then got ready to head up to Holy Cross. The kids had a soccer tournament Saturday so the coach wanted to play a practice game against the boys and the girls got a "rest day." This is typical of the soccer program in Belize. The girls seem to get pushed aside a little bit. I think that next year I would love to slant the camp towards the girls to give them a little extra attention and confidence/self-esteem building.
Anyways, the game was awesome. We played two 20 minute halves that somehow took 2 hours. 45 minutes to get the game started, and a 20 minute. We had a lot of fun playing against the kids and did not let up (as instructed). We beat them 4-0 with 2 goals from Geoff, 1 goal from me, and 1 from one of the teachers. Geoff got pretty beat up and had to take a seat at half time with a gashed open leg and hurt knee, poor guy.

We went to dinner at Caramba's the last night, a sure deal. Kathy, Geoff, and Liza hadn't eaten there yet and the food was awesome. A great way to end the last night. Promptly after dinner we crashed. What a week!
Saturday morning Geoff and I woke up early to grab breakfast and go take some pictures for him at Holy Cross. Geoff visit was coming to an end! Amazing how much you can do in just a few days! Once I got back from dropping Geoff off at the ferry Justin said, "He forgot his shoes!" Geoff wasn't going home- he was going for a month in Costa Rica! With no shoes! Oh no.

I jumped into a cab and high tailed it for the airport with only 15 minutes to try and meet Kathy and Liza before their puddle jumper took off! First airport, no sign. when I went to jump into the cab I gashed my leg on a jagged piece of rusty metal sticking out. "Do I have my tetnus shot?" (is that what its called?), is the first thing I thought. Next airport, there they were, hurrah! It was really nice to get to see Kathy and Liza before they took off for a hug goodbye!
And then there were 2. Again. Justin and I headed up to the school called "RC" for "Roman Catholic". They were hosting a soccer tournament for all the schools and our girls and boys were playing in it. There was no schedule, no one knew when they were playing, no water provided. It was futsal on a hard court (this is the only type of soccer they know how to play here).

We got there around 1 and left at about 5:30 and throughout the day we got to hang out with the kids between games and then cheer them on and give them some tips during the game! It was a lot of fun and a great way to end our time spent with them. The girls won the tournament! All their hard work in the past week paid off and the boys lost in the semis :-(

As we wished farewell to the kids, Justin and I embarked on our last stint of gift shopping through the stands in the town center. How exhausting! I was caught in the middle of a very intense haggling war between two vendors. Yikes. That was intense.

Sunday we woke up with no idea of the adventure we were about to have. We went to breakfast at this awesome new spot on the beach, well new for us. It had live music and awesome smoothies. Where has this place been all week! Come on, we find it on the last day! After breakfast we rented a golf cart and headed to the other end of the island. We had until 1:20pm to complete our adventure in Rojo, the red golf cart. Plenty of time to turn in the cart and get ready for the Ravens game at Wet Willy's. On the way we saw some incredible beaches and an entirely new side to the island. Less people, awesome hotels and condos. I thought, "next year, when I convince my parents to come, this is definitely where I'm gonna have them stay." We met some nice folks who told us that just a mile and a half up the road there is mayan ruins! Nice! They warned us that the road got a little bumpy but was fine.
That was an HUGE understatement, we were going through huge puddles that splashed up and over the golf cart drenching us!

Then we hit the mother of puddles, backed up the cart for speed, took a before picture, and then held our breath as we sped ahead. We made it through! and then... putter, putter, putter, dead, Rojo the golf cart was dead. Not only did we break down but this was in the middle of nowhere in an area that we know had Crocodiles, Coral Snakes, Vipers, and Rattle Snakes. Oh My!
Finally, in the distance a couple of bikers road up and helped us fix it enough to make it about 200 yards back down the road. Then we ran into a golf cart of Belizeans who really got into the engine and helped us fix it.

Justin pushing

A push from a few of the guys and we were off again. I was in the driver's seat since I was the weakest pusher and then once we got it going we were so scared to take the foot even a tinie bit off the pedal that we went full throttle the whole way back. Full throttle was like 10 mph haha. Once we hit the paved road Rojo got a little excited and started going mega fast and we were passing golf carts and bikes and cars, turning corners at full speed practically tipping the golf cart. haha. The entire time Rojo was making painful puttering sounds. If you can believe it, at 1:21 we puttered right into the parking spot in front of the rental place, thankful that we made it back in one piece and didn't have to pay the damage fee. What a ride!
Once we got back my eyes were BURNING from the getting splashed by the water and intensely staring down the street willing Rojo to make it back to town. There was no choice, a nap was out of the question, we had to watch the Ravens game. I'm not going to write about the Ravens game but I will say that it was a mood killer. At least the Sting Rays came up to make us feel better.

A little Sting Ray pet and a Belikin (the native beer) and I was ready to go grab a bite of dinner. We had our last meal at a new restaurant, Lily's and decided to go out with a bang and grab some Lobster tails! After we ate, we packed and got ready to go home and then passed out.
This morning we woke up early and went and got breakfast at our new spot and sat out on a table on the beach taking about 2 hours to eat, tan, and reminesce. We grabbed our bags, jumped on the ferry and went to the airport. What I took one last look back and then got on the plane.

I've felt more at peace in my heart than ever, but it weighs very heavily on me that we are leaving these kids. For this week, we watched out for them, took good care of them, had a great time. We walked Garyelle, my favorite 7-year old assistant coach, home every day. Who is going to walk Garyelle home now? The girls that don't want to go home after practice might not even get to have a lot of practices now because the coaches primary focus is on the boys- what are they going to do? Who will instill confidence in them and take the time with the kids? They are incredible, bright kids and if they were in the US they would have the education and means to create amazing lives for themselves but they don't have that opportunity in Belize.
They looked so sad when we left and I ran into two of the parents, Paulina, and another woman who sells jewelery in the town center and they were also so sad to see us leave. They said how much it meant to the kids, and please don't forget them, and please come back. Broke my heart. Paulina and I parted ways last night and hugged at least 7 or 8 times. I started tearing up. I've been feeling that way since last night. On the verge of tears. In Nicaragua and Belize what we have done in these communities and the many many relationships I have created with the kids and friendships I've created with the parents and teachers at Holy Cross and the Youth in Nicarauga have meant so much to me, and I don't want to leave. There's so much to be done, so much more we coudl do here. I want to be there for these kids all the time.

But then I think of my kids at home and it comforts me. I can't wait to see them. I realize that all the wonderful families and the community at home is what enables this whole trip to happen in the first place. The many donations of clothes and shoes fueled all of the soccer programs. It was amazing, you all are amazing. We are so blessed and these kids are so blessed to receive it. We can only build it up. Holy Cross wants us back for a longer period of time to work with other schools on the island and in addition to our already existing program in Nicaragua we are adding some work at an orphanage in Nicaragua to the itinerary for next year! I'm also looking into a school in Costa Rica to add to the trip. I had several wonderful people accompany me on this trip and help to enrich my own experience as well as having an amazing impact on the kids we worked with. I only hope that more people from home will want to come next year, parents, kids, whoever- all are welcome. Central America is a beautiful, wonderful, place on this earth and I cannot absolutely not wait to return. It is a truly life changing experience. I am coming back a different person. I can feel it in my heart and my outlook on life.

It will change you forever in the best way possible.

"And my hands hold my heart, let love grow." - Mumford and Sons