We arrived in Patchakan late in the afternoon. It is a small village like many others we drove by on the Northern Highway, which runs from Belize City to Corozal Town. Somewhere along the way, people began speaking more Spanish than English, which makes communication just a bit more difficult for me. The first picture is a view of the kinds of roads I am talking about, even when I say highway, in this part of the country. The second picture is a view of Ishmael’s yard and a corner of his house. Connor is staying with Ismael, while I am staying across tow– well I shouldn’t say across town, so across… village? Yes, across village. Anyway, its really neat. The houses have electricity, and the family I’m staying with (a woman named Diana, her two children, and her husband) have wifi, so that worked out nicely for me. The houses are interesting, they are pretty simple, but they also have a lot of shutter windows that they leave open that provides nice fresh air. It’s a lot like being outside. Also, I found out it’s rainy season, so storms will be coming frequently. Upside, its cool. Downside, its humid and there will be mosquitos maybe. Anyway, there are a couple of local shops that sell Coke products, which come in half-litre glass bottles and also have real sugar in them and therefore way better than what we have. We visited Jacob’s Farm, a Belize Project sponsored- rehabilitation center for alcoholics run by Ismael, before dinner. There is a tank of red tilapia there that was the beginnings of a failed project. We then returned to Ishmael’s for dinner, which was fried chicken and rice, which seems to be the big meal here. I then went to bed because dear lord I was exhausted.
Side note: The plants here are interesting, there are palm trees everywhere, fresh fruit, and sugar cane is the main crop around here. We are also near a swamp that is full of crocodiles, so that’s exciting. We are also quite close to Mexico, and Ishmael and one of his sons, who is my age and looking at going to a pre-med program, frequently cross the border to go to Chetumal, which is only a few hours away from Merida, which is relevant to Centre students studying in the Yucatan. Anyway, they go to the movies there, and apparently it is the cool place to go. Things are cheaper but there is also more to do, so win-win. Ishmael’s son is looking at school there.
chrisbrittain 