Day 79B - Belize, Part Deux

Finally, more Belize. I guess I've really only written about the road trip.

It's the rainy season in Belize, and the Crooked Tree Lagoon was full. I wouldn't call it flood stage, but one good tropical storm could send it there. How about a little history on Crooked Tree to start? The community is on a little island that's surrounded by a network of lagoons. Rain water from all over the Northern part of the country drains into this lagoon during the rainy season. During the dry season, it's a haven for water birds of all sorts. One can also find the endangered Jabiru stork hanging around in various sections of the lagoon, where depends on the season. The village is smack dab in the middle of Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, established in 1984 and managed by Belize Audubon Society. The village was actually there WAY before the sanctuary.

The village population is Creole, a mix of Scottish/English scallywags (at least that's my guess) and runaway/freed slaves. They've been fishing/farming the land for a good 100-200 years. You can imagine they were a bit miffed when all the sudden an outside organization came in and deemed their land a wildlife sanctuary. I expect they thought something like, WTF? Still, the coming of the sanctuary brought some benefits. A causeway was built that linked the village to the Northern Highway and allowed for modernization to occur at a rapid pace. Before the causeway, the villagers either had to take a canoe across the lagoon and then hike or ride a horse to catch a bus on the highway or ride a boat all the way to Belize City. And, that was in the 80s! No running water, no electricity, no phones. Now the village is like any other little developing village. Nice houses, most with running water, most with electricity, children running around with cell phones nicer than mine! It's a little mind-boggling to me. The causeway also brought tourism dollars into the community. It was a slow process, but tourism allowed for the development of local lodges and restaurants. All in all it's an adorable little community. Lots of gossip but lots of love, too. :)

This is where I found myself in the summer of 2004. Driving in, first time in Belize, dropped at a family's house and left to figure out how to make connections and contacts in the community. Somehow, in 3 months, I managed to gather enough interviews to write a thesis and make lifelong friends/family. I love this village, this country and this culture.

One of my favorite pictures from my research days. This family here is wringing the cashew nut from the cashew fruit. Cashews are a central part of the agricultural economy of Crooked Tree. Almost everyone has cashew trees in their yards, and every year in May, the village hosts a cashew festival. Cashews are great, but they are a pain in the arse to process.

Cashew fruit on tree. The fruit itself has a tangy, sweet, metallic flavor. Refreshing but strange.

To process the fruit, it's picked from the tree or gathered off the ground. The fruit is wrung from the nut. The nut is roasted over a hot, open flame. The shell is cracked open to get the the good meaty stuff on the inside. The shell itself contains a poison that burns and cracks the skin. Old timers just crack the nut with their bare, calloused hands. Younger folks wear gloves. White folks don't come near the nuts during this process; we're too fragile. :) After removal from the shell, the cashews are placed in a cast iron pot and baked from the top. This means a piece of metal is placed over the pot and coconut husks are burned over the top for heat. Many villagers cut corners and bake in the oven, but the best cashews are baked the traditional way, in my opinion. The last part of the process is removing a little skin on the outside of the cashew. Even this part kills the skin on the fingertips. My skin turns brown, and I peel the next day.

Taken in 2004, while I was helping to "pick seed." Look at all those cashews!!

Hand-processed cashews are like gold. You can't buy anything in the store that tastes like these cashews. They are non-oily, non-salty and sweet, so deliciously sweet. Hint: I may have brought some back as souvenirs. ;-)

Now, onwards to 2010. Wow, it's been 6 years? Also, mind-boggling. The lagoon was high, so this was my limo to the the front door of my cabin complete with my favorite bushy limo-driver.

Here's the cute little cabin I stayed in...it's actually Bruce's sister's house. She lives in Venice, Italy with her husband and visits once every year or two. This is an old picture, the house was added onto in 2007, but I forgot to take a recent pic.

The addition room where I did my workouts and hung a hammock to read in during the breezy afternoons.

My view during the workout. Water brings me peace.

My front drive. I LOVE that I was flooded in and completely isolated.

The little starving kitty that adopted me. Broke my heart to leave this little guy behind. I named him Tripod, because his third leg was a little stump.

I spent the majority of my time in this little cabin, but I did canoe over to the main village and visit with the family. I did my share of pickin' seed. I ate midday dinner with the family. Lots of fresh venison. YUM! I really didn't do much else. I live on island time when I'm in Belize. I learn to live a little more in the NOW while I'm there, because everyone else certainly does. The likelihood of someone showing up when they say they will is about 50%. The other 50% of the time, well, they get busy doing other things. And, when you get upset with them for not showing, Belizeans just look at you like you're crazy. They are saying, "What are you stressing yourself for? It's no big deal. I went fishing instead. Next time." :) I've loosened my Western mentality of early or on time...it's still in me, but I get less stressed about lateness in general now.

Wow, this post has gotten long. I was going to chat a bit about the Belize City market, maybe in another post. I think I'll wrap this up. Update on sickness. I came home, ate lunch, fell asleep for 3 hours on my sofa. Quite a feat in my hot, sweaty house. My body is very happy with me right now. Still feeling under the weather but refreshed from the nap. I think tomorrow may be another half workout. Hopefully, by the next leg day (UGH!), I'll be back to normal. Night, lovies!!!