Approaching One Year

As I look back on the one-year minus one month anniversary of my arrival in Belize, I’m amazed at how many of my old ways I’ve forgotten and how many new habits I’ve adopted. Things that once seemed routine to me now seem out of the ordinary – like riding in a car, not to mention driving one! If all countries had the car density of Belize, our pollution – and oil – ills would be over! While I no longer depend on cars, I now take my bicycle for granted and use it everyday. Only one spill in a year, I think I’m doing ok. I was trying to balance a gallon jug of water on one side with a pint of milk on the other – while keeping both hands on the handle bars. I tilted too far to the water side and couldn’t recover in time to prevent a fall, albeit a graceful fall, I like to think. The children watching thought so, too, as they laughed gently with me. Routine as it may be for the other villagers, I still look on in awe at some of the things they carry on their bikes: A small college-size refrigerator. A wheelbarrow. A ladder. Or friends and family! I’ve seen little 9-year olds carrying three of their friends – one on the handle bars, one on the middle bar and one on the driver’s knee! My neighbor’s two young boys – ages 4 and 5 – ride everywhere together. Both can steer and peddle equally well. I have never seen them fall.

I see a lot more of my neighbors here than I did back in Virginia. For one thing we all live outside a lot more. My neighbor cooks outside, washes her clothes and dishes, bathes the children and even takes an afternoon nap outside. And when someone has a party, it takes place on the beach or in the shared space between our homes. While we refer to our yards, in practice, the boundaries between properties is vague and even when it is defined by a hedge or marker, still common practice is that anyone has the right to walk through anyone else’s yard at any time. And at party time, the guests always spill over into neighbors’ yards.

In addition to sharing outside spaces with neighbors, I also share my inside space with gekkos. They’re my friends because they eat the mosquitoes. Yes, I’ve made a few changes in the past eleven months!