No Heels Allowed, Right....?

Yesterday, I reached out by email to my new friend....one of the ladies I met at Rolson's last week. Mary...affectionately referred to as Ms. Mary or her official title, Reverend Mary is a sweet, eccentric and lively 61-year-old Belizean newbie from Michigan (among other places). She responded to the email I sent and invited me to her initiation into the San Ignacio Chapter of the Rotary Club. I enthusiastically accepted the invitation.

"Those People"

A couple of years ago, a very good friend and colleague of mine invited me to a resource fair put on by a service organization.  Her organization had a table and she thought it a good idea for me to come. It was sometime in November, I remember, because it was cold out and I was dressed, trendy enough, for the weather. I had on a pair of jeans, heeled knee boots, a black puff coat with fur around the hood, big dangly earrings and a hat with the brim cocked to the side.

I walked to the table and was greeted by a white woman who asked me to sign in. When I finished, she handed me a paper with the word "Goals" written at the top.

I smiled politely. "Oh, I'm not a client, I'm a Social Worker."

A second of confusion passed across her face. "OH! I'm sorry. You don't have to sign in here, you can sign in on this piece of paper. Are you just here to check out some resources?"

"Yes." I said.

When I approached the mouth of the gymnasium, another white woman greeted me. "Welcome, welcome!" she said. "What goals will you be working on today?"

This time, a bit more stern. "I'm not a client, I'm a Social Worker."

3rd day...I think...I'm losing track of days already.

Its 5am and 80 something degrees. I went to sleep early last night....around seven. The heat drained me and I think every crease on my body was lubricated from the sweat. It seemed as if even when I stood still, I was dripping. My room doesn't have air conditioning but I've figured out a trick on how to manipulate the positioning of the fan so it doesn't blow the covers off of me at night or degrade my hearing.

I also went to sleep early because my bootlegged internet service (literally bootlegged from the Mexican Restaurant across the street), became too shoddy to endure any longer. The entire episode of the 70's group Heatwave's Unsung on TV One played perfectly....but when I got to Miki Howard, the damn thing started buffering every minute and a half. I even tried switching to the Fat Boys and Klymaxx....nothing. I threw my hands up in frustration, closed the windows, turned on the fan and turned out the lights. #irritation.

My First Day June 19, 2011

Taken from my camera phone #android

I got picked up in an “authentic Belizean family car”…an 87 4-door Subaru with two broken doors, and a broken steering column that allowed you to turn the car on and off while it was in motion. It took about an hour and a half to drive from Belize City, where the airport is to the town of San Ignacio, a quaint community of homes in various stages of completion built by their owners. On the way, we stopped at an outdoor market that was closing up for the day, but I had the chance to smell the amazing produce tropical places are known for. I was once told that you can’t smell anything in the produce section when you go to a grocery store…but an outdoor market!!?? The smells themselves were almost tangible. I saw a green onion the size of the entire length of my arm and avocados the size of both my fists put together. Flies were everywhere though, which I noted would be unsanitary in the States, but at the market, seemed commonplace. I guess in a tropical region, flying insects (even flies) are just as much part of the culture as the greenery.