San Ignacio

Belize is a traditionally Catholic country, and the Easter holiday is widely celebrated. The clinic was therefore closed on the Friday before and the Monday after the weekend. This left us a nice long four day weekend to do some traveling. Our group of 8 students left right after clinic on Thursday afternoon for a town in the Cayo district to the north near the Guatemala border called San Ignacio (see the map included in my first entry). We hopped on the James Busline that runs from Punta Gorda to the capital city of Belmopan. It was a surprisingly pleasant 4 hour bus ride. All of the buses here are All American school buses repainted in bright colors, a different combination for each bus company. We each had our own seat, and with all the windows down, it was breezy and a fun adventure. From Belmopan, we caught another busline west to San Ignacio for another 45 minute ride or so.

The first thing we all noticed stepping off the bus was how much more lively San Ignacio is than Punta Gorda. There were people out about on the streets, restaurants with outside tables and patios, a line of waiting taxis, and music projected from every store, restaurant, and vehicle. We had traveled from a sleepy coast town to a popular travel destination, and, I have to admit, it was a very welcome change. 

We booked our lodging thinking that we'd do our bus traveling on Friday, so arrived in town praying that our hotel would have enough room for 8 a night early. The owner of the Tropicool Hotel, Wally, was a great guy who squeezed us in. We felt so lucky that it worked out that I did not mind having to share a twin bed with the pharmacy student, Sara, for the night.

The next morning, we wandered over to talk with the tour company through which we pre-booked our tour to the mayan ruin of Tikal in Guatemala. After a discussion with the employees about what to bring, how to pay, etc, we asked what we should do for the rest of the day. The tour company did not offer any afternoon only tours, and there was nothing going on in town because of the holiday. The two employees we were talking with were a couple of younger guys named Andrew and Courage (what a great name). Andrew informed us that he was going to his favorite spot in all of Belize to go swimming for the afternoon. He then says, "I'd take you all with me, but I don't think you'd fit in my truck." Definitely a courtesy invite. But then Katie pipes up with "Oh, of course we'll all fit." And before Andrew could change his mind, Courage and the rest of our group were all piled into Andrew's Ford Explorer with a cooler of beer. We went swimming at a gorgeous spot in the river with turquoise water, small rapids, and lots of little fish. It was great and totally unexpected- which made it even better.

We got back to San Ignacio in time to watch the Good Friday processional. Four men carried a glass casket lined with flowers, a truck drove behind playing dirges, and the rest of the churchgoers and anyone else who wished to follow paraded through the streets. This was more of a celebration of Good Friday than I have had in my entire life.