Part 10, Birthday in Belize

I count myself incredibly lucky to have been able to celebrate my 33rd birthday on March 13th in Belize surrounded by some of the nicest people in the world.  The one low point of the day was having to say goodbye to Roger and Janet as they took a shuttle from Orange Walk Town to Cancun to catch an evening flight back to the states and back to life in Cedarville.  Before they left we were able to take one last photo of all of us at George and Irma's house in Yo Creek.

In addition to the unforgettable gift from Brian of our trip to Belize I was also given a very heart-felt gift from Dave and Sarah, a new chef's jacket (complete with my name embroidered on it) to use for my catering business.

Once we had said goodbye to Janet and Roger we had little planned for the day but were looking forward to watching a local cultural group perform traditional Mayan dances for us later in the evening.  We did agree that we would like to see more of the village so Lorena's son Aldomere set out to find enough bikes for the four of us to tour with him.  He was quite a determined kid and in about an hour had gathered five bikes for himself and the remaining Browders.  We set out toward the village of San Antonio just a few miles from Yo Creek.  Aldo was going to show us the river where he and his friends often go swimming.  He had told us before about crocodiles in the rivers and warned us not to swim on our own.  Aldo was also quite worried about Sarah biking so far.  She chuckled and assured him she would be okay but he didn't seem certain until I told him that everyone but me had done bike rides of at least 70 miles and as many as 100 miles.  The person Aldo should have been concerned about more was Dave who was riding Lorena's bike.  Every half mile or so if Dave hit a bump or accelerated too quickly the bike's chain would come off and he'd have to stop and fix it.  Or maybe Aldo should have been more concerned about Brian who had only the peg for the pedal but no actual pedal.  Or maybe Aldo should have been more concerned about me since I was the one who managed to get my front tire too close to the side of the gravelly road and sent the bike skidding into the nearby ditch while I somehow managed to leap free of the spill.  Despite our biking challenges, we all had a great time and we could see that Aldo loved pointing out things to us in and around the villages.

When we arrived back to the house from our bike ride we were treated to a wonderful lunch of Belizean tamales which are very different from Mexican tamales.  These tamales were the typical masa wrapped in leaves and steamed but they were also filled with meat and veggies and were quite moist.  Kevin joined us for lunch and planned to join us later in the day to watch the dancers and enjoy more of Lorena's cooking.  After lunch Brian, Dave and Sarah took a walk with Kevin to the school where he does his Peace Corps volunteer work to check out the computer lab he works in.  We really don't know how lucky we are to have the technology that we do in the U.S.  Internet service in Belize is quite expensive and the only reason there is any kind of lab at all in the school is because of funding from the South Korean government.  Though there is internet access at the school, Kevin said that if more than four students log on at once, the entire network will go down.  Brian thought that maybe some of the extra computer stuff lying around his office and here in our house might be useful to Kevin. 

While the others headed out I opted to stay home and read my book and get a shower.  I ended up hanging out with Aldo for quite a while and when everyone came home I was ready to party! 

We had another of Lorena's amazing dinners this time it was Belizean barbecue chicken - chicken marinated overnight in red recado and lime juice then grilled.  Delicious!  Irma's sister Lily even made some red recado for all of us to take home and use in our own kitchens.

After dinner we retired to the veranda and watched the sunset with Belikins in hand then the local cultural group performed some Mayan dances for us.  Two of the dancers were Lorena's teenaged daughters and they were both as sweet as their mother.  Lorena also told the group that it was my birthday and I was serenaded with Belize's very long birthday song that goes something like this....

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Maggie, happy birthday to you.

May God bless you today, may God bless you today, May God bless you dear Maggie, may God bless you today.

How old are you now? How old are you now? How old are you now? Happy birthday to you!

At this point you are expected to give your age then the entire crowd begins clapping and chanting the years until they reach your age.

Apparently after this there is often the chant, Y ya queremos pastel, y ya queremos pastel, aunque sea un pedacito pero queremos pastel. (And we want some cake, and we want some cake, even if it's a small piece, but we want some cake).   As everyone stands around the one to have just completed another year of life, they all chant Mordida, Mordida, Mordida! (Bite! Bite! Bite!) The birthday person is expected to take their first bite of the cake without any utensils with their hands at their back. Then of course customarily one of their best friends or family is sure to push their face into the cake or lift it up into their face for the same affect. All of this is done in great fun but other than the singing I was left without cake on my face.  I did have a beautiful sweet potato cake with cream cheese frosting made by Lorena but maybe it was because the villagers didn't really know me and didn't feel comfortable introducing me to this custom or because I was too busy talking to people that I didn't even cut into the cake until everyone had left I'm not sure.  Regardless, it as an absolutely perfect last night in Belize!

We learned later on that Roger and Janet's shuttle had a flat tire just south of Playa del Carmen which caused them to arrive to the Cancun airport after their flight was scheduled to depart.  Lucky for them, the flight was delayed anyway so they were able to catch it, but....by the time they arrived in San Francisco, their connecting flight to Reno was long gone so they spent the night in San Francisco and left for Reno the next morning.  Eventually they made it home to Cedarville.

Brian, Maggie, Roger, Janet, Dave and Sarah in the courtyard of the Lebard's home in Yo Creek Village.

My new chef's jacket from Dave and Sarah.

Lorena and Aldomere - they both took great care of us!

A bike ride to the village of San Antonio.

 

Next to the river in San Antonio.

Brian and Kevin on the veranda at sunset.

The birthday girl.

Brian on the veranda.

 

Sunset over Yo Creek.

The Mayan cultural group.

One of several dances.

The two youngest performers of the group who also happened to be cousins.

Three generations passing on the Mayan culture.

 

Lorena with her two daughters.

Looking on during the birthday song.