Morning in Crique Sarco

Road to Crique Sarco in Belize...

Belize Roads...

Thought you might enjoy a quick clip of the roads on the way to the Belize City Airport. Don't get sick!

DAY 6: She made it!!

Yep, good ol' Suzzii the Suzuki made it to the airport. She even had a flat tire again this morning. The roads in Belize City were worse than last Wednesday. Sorry, I should have gotten some pictures. I pulled out my video camera, though, and got some great footage. It was just like I was piloting a boat! No joke! The roads were unbelievable!

I'm now hanging out in the George H.W. Bush Houston Airport...hmm..funny...the father of the current president the day before a HUGE election. Go figure!

I'm a bit cranky, not feeling too good and I'm so tired I can't sleep. 2 more hours to go and then I get on my final flight. Sure wish it was going into G'boro! The one and a half hour drive home at 10:45 pm is going to just plane SUCK! Sorry, that was the "cranky" side coming out.

Anyway, thanks to all those who followed this blog. I'll continue to update it from time to time of short video clips of the trip. I would have done more videos, but I left my cable at home!

Ok, time to people watch and hopefully then a nap!

DAY 6: Off to Belize City...

Ok, time to head back home!  I'm ready for good old Greensboro, but not too excited for the long layover in Houston.  Oh well.  I'm off!

Day 5: Photos of handing over school supplies...

I forgot to upload some photos for you all to see where the donated school supplies ended up. Sadly, school was not in session.  Little did I know that at the end of every month, the teachers collect their paychecks and leave the village.  So that means no Friday classes.  I was pretty sad about the fact that I couldn't be there when they were in school.  But what really matters is that they have a whole bunch of school supplies to use.  Either way, I was able to get a couple pictures. Thanks to all who donated items and/or money!

DAY 5: Suzzi the Suzuki not doing well!!

The day started with a satellite phone call to my middle school youth where they were attending a weekend retreat.  I was able to get them while they were at breakfast.  That was a great start to my day!  Then I headed over to Brainards house before getting some good bacon, eggs, bean and fried jack at my favorite local restaurant (it only has 4 tables).

After my belly was full, we headed to the surrounding villages near San Ignacio.  It was a great morning.  However, while we were heading back to San Ignacio, "Suzzii" the Suzuki got a fever.  Yes, she started overheating really bad.

So we had to pull over and cool her off with the little bottled water we had.  I'm a bit concerned that she's not going to make the hour and half drive to the airport tomorrow morning.  I plan on heading out really early tomorrow just in case something happens.

DAY 4: Picture link...

For more pictures, click on this link: Webshots

DAY 4: Crique Sarco and more...

So I'm back in San Ignacio after spending some time in the Village of Crique Sarco. While we where there we...

• Handed out all the school supplies...100 lbs of supplies, 300 notebooks, soccer balls, and more!
• Handed out bunches of candy (might need a dental team to come next!)
• Bathed in the Temash River
• Swatted about a bazzillian mosquitos and little, little bugs
• Slept outside in a hammock.
• laughed a lot...then laughed some more!
• played with the local kids
• took several naps
• ate amazing meals that included chicken, chicken and some more chicken.
• changed a flat tire on "Suzzi" the Suzuki.
• listened to Christmas songs coming from a LOUD stereo on Halloween Day. It was the only CD that Andres Bo's son had. He runs his stereo off of a battery because the only electricity they have is by a generator they run for a short time at night.

There was one serious event that did happened. A group of villagers from the village of Graham River came to Crique Sarco with a dead 6 month old child. But what made this situation even more amazing is that they actually hiked to the village from Guatemala. That's a 6 hour walk with a dead baby. They were in Guatemla illegally and had to come back into Belize.

According to Belize law a doctor must pronounce the date of a dead person before being burying. This means having to take anyone who dies in one of the remote villages to Punta Gorda - a 2 hour drive by bus.

By the time they got to Crique Sarco, they wanted to bury the baby in the village because of the difficulty in the formal Belizean process. Andres Bo is the speaker of the village and also made the decision to finally allow them to bury the baby in Crique Sarco.

So the men built a small wood box for the child. According to some who still practice ancient Mayan religion, they drilled a small whole in the box to allow the spirit to get out and begin it's way through the spiritual levels. Hmmm?

Long story short, it was very sad to see something like this, but very facinating to see how two villages interacted, and to see how they deal with the their dead.

Here are some pictures...

Andres Bo building the coffin.

Watching as they prepare the baby in the coffin.

Back from the jungle and going to clean up.  I thought I'd toss in some photos before I do that.  It was a great couple days down in Crique Sarco.  Some amazing and interesting stories to tell.  I'll get to the story telling later tonight.  Until then, enjoy some photos!

Beginning of the road to Crique Sarco.  I look like a GIANT next to the Suzuki!

Lunch time!

Bo Family this morning before Brainard and I left for San Ignacio.