Day 22 of 32

Thursday

When I woke up this morning the rain was coming down with a vengeance. Disappointing...I was suppose to hang out with my cousin Deon and his family in Belmopan, the capital of Belize. Reluctantly I got ready and prayed for a miracle.

The miracle came at 10:00 a.m. when the rain let up just enough for us to get my granny in Deon's car and get on the road. It was my first time visiting this part of the country, so I paid great attention to my surroundings as we went along. A striking realization hit me about twenty minutes into our journey. It was really green out here! After living in the United States for nine years I had forgotten how much greenery there is out in the world.

After an amazing lunch (Anna, Deon's wife, is a great cook!) Deon, Anna, Dayna (their daughter) and I left for Cayo. We had been hoping to go to the Xunantunich Maya ruins, but we were not sure if they would let us climb to the top since it had been raining and the stairs could be slippery. We tried anyways.

To our amazement it had not rained at all in that area, and we were allowed to climb the temple. I was thrilled! Deon use to be the CEO for tourism in Belize, so he is the perfect person to go site seeing with. He pointed out important details in the architecture that I would not have noticed otherwise. For instance, the freeze on one of the sides of the building is covered by an exact fiber-glass replica in order to protect the original for future archeological research. Another thing he pointed out was the beds in which people slept. Quite hard concrete!

Belize currently has a population close to 300,000 people. Deon explained that contrary to popular belief, this area was very densely populated prior to colonization. The first explorers would have encountered over one million Mayas living in Belize. Due to plagues and other illnesses, this number was greatly depleted by the colonization period.

The Maya people were very hierarchical in structure. The closer you lived to the top of the temple, the more powerful you are. I learned that although much has been discovered at Xunantunich, many of the "lower class" people would have spread out for miles from the temple, and therefore there are many more discoveries to be made in this area.

After leaving Xunantunich we got back on the ferry that brought us across the little river, and left for home. Stopping on our way to buy souvenirs and pineapple ice cream! I believe this was the most exciting day I had in Belize.