I think I’m starting to hit a wall
We’re all getting pretty tired. It’s the middle of week three, and all I want to do is sleep. It’s hard, we’re past the half-way point and everything isn’t quite as new and exciting. Rice and beans with stewed chicken have definitely lost their appeal, people here eat them everyday, usually for lunch and dinner. I think that’s why I had diet coke and poptarts for lunch, I just needed some familiar tasting junk food from the States. The week will be over soon, though. We don’t have anything going on on Friday, so Thursday afternoon Elizabeth, Hannah, Bryan, and I are leaving for Placencia. We’re spending all day Friday and Saturday there, and then coming back on Saturday night, because Sunday morning is community day, an event organized by all of our projects to show the town what we’ve been doing these past 3 weeks.
Even though I’m tired, I don’t want to leave. I only have about 10 days left in Belize, and I think going back home is going to be a kind of reverse culture shock. I have been making secret lists in my head of things I can’t wait to have again in the States (trash cans, recycling, air conditioning, ice, fast internet, refridgerators), but it’s still going to be a pretty big transition to go home. Interacting with the culture here and meeting Belizeans has really put some perspective on my own lifestyle and situations. I’m also reluctant to leave because I feel like we’re making a lot of progress with the POWA women. Just little things, I saw one of the POWA women on main street today, and she said she missed the seminar this morning because she got a job cooking, and she opened a savings account at the bank (they get 6% interest compounded quarterly here just for a regular savings account, it’s fantastic) and is putting money in it to save for emergencies. How exciting is that? It’s stuff we take for granted in the States, growing up in America we just breathe capitalism in, but here teaching small things like keeping track of expenses so you know where your money’s going, or opening a savings account and making a savings goal, these conceptgs make a really big difference. I just want to go deeper with things, so many of the women have fantastic business ideas but a lot of barriers to achieving them. Available capital and loans is a big part of the problem, I think an organization like POWA would be a terrific candidate for microfinance loans, but that’s not something you can just do in 3 weeks. Our projects in Dangriga are all continuations of each other, there will be a group from the U of A that comes next summer to work with POWA more, I think I’ve just started to get really personally attached to the women and their stories.
So the conclusion is I’m tired but it’s wonderful? I want to go home but I don’t want to leave? Not quite sure how I’m feeling, but it’s a great experience. I’m about to leave to go teach at Christ the King, and I think the rest of my afternoon is free, so I might sneak into the kitchen tonight and see if I can help out the ladies who cook. They make amazing food and told me I can help anytime I want to, I’m definitely going to have to take them up on the offer.
2 years ago