Memories of a Spring Break.
“Hey, we should all go on a trip together for spring break.”
“We should go to Belize!”
“That would be so much fun!”
“You all should come after school and we can get things booked.”
And so one sunny day after school, the youth girls of United Center showed up and we planned an unforgettable spring break. We booked our tickets out of Kansas City to Belize City and reserved a resort for six days. It so happened that sadly my co-teachers were not able to make the journey with us; so it was only four girls that piled into that Chevy Trailblazer the morning of March 1 and trekked the three hours to KC at four in the morning. Airport parking, shuttling to the airport, a little Messenger coffee, landing in Dallas/Fort Worth, transferring to our gate, boarding for BZE, landing in Belize, going through customs, receiving our luggage, getting a taxi to the water taxi, and the two hour boat ride with the warm sun shining on the clear blue water was easy breezy and beautiful. But where is our golf cart? The resort said that one would be waiting for us. No golf cart. Panic, anxiety, uncertainty, PRAYERS, calmness, and one very kind man later, we were in a six passenger golf cart with all our luggage safely wedged in the back. It really seemed that Caesar was our guardian angel. He could feel our anxiety and was constantly telling us, “Hey welcome home. You made it. It will all be just fine!” A fuel stop and a 50 minute drive on a very bumpy road later, we spotted the La Beliza Resort sign. When we arrived, we were shown into a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with lots of windows, a huge kitchen, and a deck with soft chairs and an immaculate view of the ocean. A pier stretched out across the shimmering clear water and palm trees waved gently in the breeze. Our travels had rather exhausted us so we drove to the nearest eatery and had Coke Zeros while we waited for our takeout. We sat around our table and tucked into our first and last official meal of the day. Catching z’s quickly became the most important thing on the schedule!
Day 1: (an average day in Belize) I awoke to the sounds of rain pattering against the windows around 6:30. Oh please, it’s vacation! Why am I awake? It turns out that I was up every morning before 6:00 am and I got to watch the sunrise nearly every morning! By 7:30, there was no sleep to be had for me. I grabbed my journal and journaled in the beautiful sunshine on our deck, the breeze ruffling my hair and sound of the sea echoing in my ears. A perfect place for devotions as well. What is even my life? We took a shopping trip to a very tiny grocery store where the man barely spoke English. Breakfast was our next big thing on the itinerary. Four chefs in the kitchen equals delicious food and good laughs and breakfast around the table is a good time. We cleaned up somewhat because the beach and the ocean were calling our names. We stopped at The Farmhouse Cafe in town to grab beverages and caffeine for my caffeinated girlies. We bumped along in our golf cart, Cici through the mangroves on a strip on pavement toward Secret Beach. Don’t think white sand beaches. Belize is known for having quite rocky beaches and you sit up on chairs instead of laying in the sand. The water is almost crystal clear and many hours were spent splashing about and having an entirely enjoyable time! Sunburns were acquired for some and tans for others. Covered in the crust leftover from swimming in the ocean, we bumped all the way back to our resort to shower and get ready for a cute little supper. Supper was from a shack consisting of the most phenomenal carnita tacos I had experienced. The chairs were cushioned, the music was too loud, the colorful string lights twinkled, the moon shone brightly, and the girls and I had some conversations I will cherish. All together a very solid first full day.
If I wrote down every single day, they would all seem to run along the very same lines. It seemed to always be early mornings, watching the sunrise and having devotions, grabbing sun rays and being mermaids in the ocean, eating good food, and going to bed tired and happy. And how could I forget? The trip was entirely made up of meaningful conversations, belly laughs, and simply making memories with these girls I didn’t know at all nine eight months ago and who have become such important people in my life. Now, I will try to speak on just a few impressive topics.
Let’s stop to ponder the water. If you look far out, it seems that the crashing turquoise waves seem to drop of the edge of the world. The water is so clear that you can easily see the white sand. It is just beautiful!! It was perhaps the clearest water I had ever seen, even more so than that of Puerto Rico. It was just the right temperature that felt cool when you need to escape the heat and just right to simply float for hours. One evening called for a sunset swim and it felt better to be in the ocean than on the beach.
We were privileged to get to experience the ocean in all its glories from the lens of a snorkel one day. We booked an all day snorkeling trip with all the amenities, and at eight o’clock in the morning, we were boarding a boat with 14 others. The corals were beautiful and we got to see so much ocean life. Sea turtles are “ocean cows or sheep” because they simply meandering across the ocean floor “grazing”. Swimming with sharks is an unforgettable experience for some. Dearest RJ was so excited to be swimming with sharks that she gave a little scream. We had to hurriedly tell the people on the boat that she was safe and okay and that she was just excited! Who knew stingrays were so squishy and that tarpaulin aren’t actually trying to devour your hand but they simply want the sardine you are holding. The expense wasn’t that great and it was highly worth our time and I can’t recommend it enough. If you ever get to Belize, please go snorkeling. It is the most marvelous!
The food. Well, I’ll try my best not to overuse adjectives here. It was amazing! The fruit was the sweetest; the avocados were detectable. Every morning was spent in the kitchen with the girls preparing up eggs, sausage, avocado toast, fresh fruit, and juices that tasted so much better than home. That was one of my favorite parts of the trip. What good memories were made in that kitchen! Stewed chicken with rice and beans are the food of this country and after a day of snorkeling, it tasted absolutely phenomenal. Of course, the Coke Zero in the glass bottle paired nicely. A favorite meal that we had was carnita tacos with fresh salsa and chimichurri from a tiny taco stand along the road. One thing about the people of Belize is that they are very relaxed. Relaxed as in, your food takes 45 minutes to an hour to be ready. For those who are used to the speedy food delivery in America, it did seem to take forever, but it was usually very worth the wait.
The people. Think of being completely relaxed. Now think of living every day of your life completely relaxed. “Island time” is a real thing. If you were out and about around seven in the morning, there would be hardly any people around. Belizeans seem to be quite friendly and helpful people. If you were in a bind, there was always a willingness to help. The waves and whistles we got when we bumped by in our golf cart were funny to some. Every shop owner was ready to help you get what you needed and even more when you didn’t need it:) All around good people.
Comments worth remembering (Belize Edition):
Our taxi driver asked us if we’d be back soon. “We’d love to!” We said. “Did you find a Belizean boyfriend?” We giggled. The answer was no. “Well then you won’t be back very soon.” Angel said with confidence, “If you got a Belizean boyfriend, you’d be back in three days to a week!”
“I am going to miss you American girls!” A random man that saw us carrying our luggage to the water taxi.
“This is one of fourteen stoplights in the country of Belize. Belizeans love their speed bumps and roundabouts.”
“You girls look a little more red than this morning.” “Like boiled lobsters.” From the people on our snorkeling trip.
“Do pretzels and a Canada Dry count as lunch?” The main source of sustenance on our travel day.
“This place is like the zoo and I love the zoo!” One of my travel companions about Belize.
“Do you think this food had some extra pizzazz?” About our favorite tacos from the small taco stand.
A whistle rings out toward the golf cart full of girls. A resounding round of barking is blasted back at the fellow who chose the wrong group of girls to catcall.
Here are some interesting facts about a travel day. Let’s discuss modes of transportation. In one day, we drove a golf cart, sailed the sea in a water taxi, wummed in a taxi/vehicle, flew in an airplane, boarded a bus, and did much walking in between. We should have somehow fit in a bicycle or scooter!
Customs getting back into the US are so much easier when you use the Mobile Passport Control app and get to skip all the lines. Without that blessed app, we would possibly have missed our flight.
When you are traveling with healthy travel companions, they pull an apple out of their bag when they are hungry while sitting at your gate. Or Chomps. Or something else that you didn’t think could make it through security. And then you are the only one who must pay the exorbitant fees for the subpar airport food! Lesson learned: apples can go through security just fine.
A few British and Japanese passports were spotted in the Belize City airport. The accents were fun to listen to.
Driving the three hours home from Kansas City, our driver had to pull to the side because it was raining so hard. It was eerie when all of our phones got tornado warning alerts and it is dark so you can’t see the tornado. The sirens were screaming all around us, but we said our prayers and powered through. The next morning we were told that we drove right through an area with quite impressive “tornado-ish” winds, the lowest in a tornado category!
More than anything, this trip taught us that God is always watching out for His children. We had many answers to prayers and felt so very safe and protected the entire trip. The thought was voiced that our guardian angels’ wings must have been ragged by the time we reached Galva and home sweet home. It was so very worth every dime spent and gray hair gained for the memories we made along the way. And I am sure I missed some important facts and details, but I hope this gives you just a tiny glimpse into the chaos and joy that was spring break in Belize!