Welcome to the jungle

This week’s blog is about privilege. I’ve never realized just how privileged I am. I was given an education without having to pay for it (with the exception of college). I have a family to go home to who supports everything I do. I think everyone seems to take their privileges for granted because they don’t even realize they are privileges. To start off with I’m talking down to bathing. Considering the week we’ve had. I’ve never thought of bathing as a privilege but I will never take it for granted after this week! I had to go 4 days without showering. Having air conditioning is also a great privilege. I know these aren’t the most important things, but they are things that are taken for granted back home and you don’t realize how nice they are until they’re gone. Having a nice place to sleep is also taken for granted. Not only have I thought about this while I’ve been here (and while sleeping in a screened bunkhouse in the jungle... hence the title of this post), but also while volunteering at the homeless shelter back home. Seeing people put in a lottery just to find out they have to sleep on the street was heartbreaking. Regardless of the privilege, it should never be taken for granted. This trip has definitely taught me that, along with a world of other things!

More Mayan Ruins

We went on the ATM tour today. The letters stand for the Mayan name of the cave, which I can’t remember at the moment, but regardless I’m speechless! I have no words to describe how incredible this place was! We hiked to the cave and then swam into it, climbing up rocks, swimming through the cave water; it was an extreme excursion. There were ceramic pots still completely intact. They were from thousands of years ago!!! There were also skulls and even one complete human skeleton, completely preserved. Her jaw was broken and she had an irregular pelvis. Our guide told us that this made researchers think she was brutally killed. There was also human remains that were in a form that made people believe it died in a kneeling position with its hands tied behind its back. I’ve never been so in awe of anything. The cave was so full of information. Our guide kept making us turn our lights off to get the full effect of how the Mayans went through the cave. They had torches and he used his light to show the shadows they would have seen. The fumes causing them to hallucinate made these even scarier. The echoes of the water flowing also sounded like voices. They believed that spirits lived in the caves, so I can imagine all of this to be petrifying!

Tikal!

We went to Tikal today. It is an old Mayan village. I was amazed by all of it. To see a village that was thousands of years old was hard to grasp. The fact that they built it all by hand was incredible! They didn’t even use wheels, so they carried every brick by hand. One of the temples was stories high! We worked up a sweat just walking up it. I can’t imagine building it. The guide said that People from a university uncovered it. You could still see grass hills that he said were temples that were still covered. I was also amazed at how exact the Mayans were with predicting. The whole sun alignment was interesting to learn about. Our guide informed us that the whole 2012 end of the world is not true!!! So not to worry guys. He said that yes it is the end of the Mayan calendar but it is a cycle, just like the 24 hours of a day; once it comes to an end it begins again from the start.

Day 18

We’re going inland tomorrow. I’m pretty excited. I think were all ready for a change in scenery. We’re going to the Belize zoo, on a tour of Mayan Ruins, and a few other things we get to choose from. I’m especially excited about caving! I think it’s going to be an awesome time! We’re ending the week at a resort in the jungle. It sounds pretty cool, but expensive. We’re going to sleep 4 to a room to save money for the week. Let’s see how it goes!

Day 17

We took the dogs out again today. The first one I took was only 7 months old, so she was a little wild. I was afraid she was going to quit breathing she was pulling so hard! After walking her for a while I went back to the other area to get a big dog out. There was one that had the same collar as Marly so I put her on a leash to walk. She was so sweet! I wish I could take her home with me! I didn’t want to put her back, but she was eager to go back once they pulled the food out. It was a great morning and made me miss Marly a little less.

Day 16

This week is our community service week. Among a few other things we arranged to walk the dogs at the shelter. All the dogs on this island look alike! The have the same light brown colored eyes, they’re all about the same size, and they’re black and tan. There’s not the variety you see back home. They were so sweet! Very excited to be out of the cages. One of them broke free from her collar and took off. Luckily we caught her. They enjoyed their stroll, and then it was time to put them back. Of course this wasn’t very organized. We got them all in the fenced area and took their leashes off. The gate got opened and they all took off down the street. Some of the girls were down there and caught them all! Once we got them all back in we had to figure out which dog belonged in which cage. We tried everything from calling the names written on them to trying to put them in. They clearly didn’t want to go in the crate that wasn’t theirs. It was very obviously when we found the right ones because they crawled right in. It was an eventful morning!

Good Friday

Today’s Good Friday, and this being a predominantly Catholic island, a lot of places are closed. I was also told that there would be a parade by the church with people carrying the cross and a coffin. I didn’t get to make it down there to see it because we were busy with the dogs, but I think that would have been interesting. Hanging out by the pool for the day. The waters out on the whole island since yesterday. I just want to shower!