We have
so many different cultures and ways of life here, I don't know where to
begin.
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| Mennonite's Out Shopping |
LANGUAGE: The primary language of Belize is,
English. We also have Spanish, K'ekchi", Mopan Maya, Creole (Kriol), High
and Low German, Garifuna, Chinese and various other languages. They also speak
Kitchen Spanish, or what is better known as, Spanglish. It is a mixture of
Spanish and English/Kriol.
HOMES: In our village, Guinea Grass, you
will see homes built like a shanty with wood and cement homes that are being
built by family, living in the US. These cement homes are only built as the
money is sent here. Therefore, you well see rebar sticking out of a second or
third story. You may also see homes built out of a material, kind of like
bamboo. It's called pimienta, with a thatch or metal roof. Most have outdoor
toilets.
In the
Mennonite villages, you will see the old order homes built by them out of a
cement form that looks like brick, or homes of metal siding. They have no
electricity.
The
K'ekchi' and Maya villages will have homes like longhouses. These homes will
have dirt floors, rough wood walls and thatch roofs. Most of the time, it is
only 1 large room, where several families will sleep.
All of
these cultures of people build an out door kitchen. They will build a fire,
with blocks around it for placing their pots on. This is called a Fire Heart,
or in Kriol, "Fiya Haat."
The main
towns will have a mixture of these homes, with your well to do people living in
nicer homes, most of the time. Their homes would be more than 1 bedroom and
include an indoor bathroom.
ENTERTAINMENT: The children in our village love
to play marbles, soccer, jacks, jump rope, and a game where they'll take a
bouncy ball, throw it against a wall, clap once, catch it, then adding more
number of claps until they can't catch it anymore. Not sure what you call it
though. :)
The
Mennonite children's toys, bikes and games would be built by them.
FOOD: Depending on who's home you
are in, the meals will vary. Belizeans eat a wide
variety of foods. You will often find homemade flour tortillas,
johnny cakes, or fry jacks. These are generally served with beans. Also for
breakfast, you will usually see street vendors selling empanades,
(fried maize (corn) shells with beans, fish, chicken, or beef) tacos and meat
pies,
For the midday meals, you'll usually
find, beans and rice,
or rice and beans (cooked together), with or without coconut
milk, tamales, escabeche (onion soup), chilmole (black soup made
with black recado), stew chicken and various dinners featuring some type of
rice and beans, meat and salad or coleslaw.
On the weekends, at night, you'll usually find
a street vendor selling garnaches, (fried corn tortillas with
beans, cheese, and cabbage sauce) burritos, or tostadas.
In the rural areas, meals are generally
less extravagant; the Maya use recado, chicken soup and corn or maize for
most of their meals.)
I have heard that the Garifuna are fond of fish
and other seafood, cassava (particularly
made into hudut) and vegetables. I wouldn't know, I have yet to try it.
At 11:30AM, up until 12PM, you will find that
the children leave school to go home and eat lunch, then back to school for
1PM. Some businesses close at midday for lunch, reopening later in the
afternoon.
INFRASTRUCTURE:
There is one main,
two lane, paved road through the country. All others are dirt, filled with
sand, gravel and maul. Not very nice at all. :( We have sleeping policemen
(road bumps) for stop signs.
We live
in a village 8 miles from a main town. Those 8 miles feel long though. Our
roads are not paved and our vehicles tear up pretty easily.
TRANSPORTATION:
Buses are a common
means of transport. Each bus would have their fee to transport the person to their
destination. Bikes are the most common. Cyclers have the right of way. We also
have taxi's and private transportation as well.
The
Mennonite's will hire a truck to bring their handmade wares to the main cities
to sell. Their common mode of transportation is horse and buggy.
I believe that is all I can give you about the cultures and way of life here in Belize.
Our daily
lives seem normal to us and to me there is nothing "exciting" to
share, but if you have questions about it, I would gladly answer them.
Right now,
I can't think of anything else, but seriously, if you have ANY questions,
please feel free to ask and I will answer them to the best of my ability. God
bless you all and thanks so much for the prayers throughout the years.
Check out our church website: www.apcbelize.com
“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” ― Maya Angelou
"Don't Worry, Be Happy"
