Setting the house on fire

Published: December 6, 2021 / Updated: December 6, 2021 Vilma Life in Belize

‘Who does this guy think he is?’ – I thought of Beno after spending the first 30 minutes with him.

I arrived to PG and got off at the last bus stop before the University of Belize (UB) branch in town, as per his instructions. I put my backpack on the bench and looked around, not seeing a soul, and thinking how the hell I’d be able to tell my host I was already there. No phone, remember? I saw 2 snack shacks nearby and marched into one of them. When I asked if the woman working there knew where my host lived, by giving her his full name, she told me she did not know. Now, being older and wiser, I’m thinking one of the two things happened there: 1) she didn’t know, as she didn’t recognize the name. The guy was simply known as Beno, or 2) she knew exactly who I meant, but she didn’t want to tell me. Oh, I wouldn’t be surprised! Trust me, there’s a lot of undercurrent in that town.

It’s a small place and in a way it reminds me of Alderney. Everybody knows everybody’s business.

Not having luck in the first snack shack, I marched to the second one. This time I asked the woman working there if I could use her phone (much smarter, eh?) and called Beno. He quickly answered and told me he’d be there in 5 minutes.

And there he was. Wearing his blue overalls, covered in grass (he worked as a gardener) he approached me, grabbed my heavy backpack and led the way to his house close by.

He talked non stop for about 20 minutes.

‘I am just looking for the right girl’ – he announced at some point, having talked about nothing but girls.

‘This guy is trouble!’ – I thought to myself then.

The funny thing was that he couldn’t take his eyes off the mirror the entire time he talked.

Beno looked himself up and he looked himself down, he checked himself from the left and he checked himself from the right. That made me smile. I couldn’t remember seeing a guy do that for a very long time, if ever!

Don’t take me wrong. I couldn’t take my eyes off him either…

But hey, who was I to say anything? If he was looking for the right girl, I was hoping he’d find one soon enough. In the meantime, I had a roof over my head and a couch to sleep on. I was good.

Once his short lunch break was over, Beno went back to work at the UB steps away from his house. The town was really small and you could easily walk everywhere. So that afternoon I set off to explore it.

That first night my couch turned into bed. Beno kept the only fan in the house in his bedroom, and I was not going to sweat myself to sleep.

That same night my bed turned into the mattress on the floor. The house I stayed in was a simple wooden house. And the roof was leaking. When the rain came and the bed started feeling wetter, Beno suggested putting the mattress on the floor and I happily agreed.

That night I hardly slept. Not only because of the rain but also because of the person lying next to me. The sparks between us could have easily set the wooden house on fire. The morning came too soon and I woke up with ‘he’s my host and I’m just passing by’ thoughts in my head. Was I exhausted? For sure. Was I hooked? You bet.

You better Belize it

Published: October 31, 2021 / Updated: November 8, 2021 Vilma Life in Belize

I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry once I found out (today) that Belize was mentioned in one of the ‘Breaking Bad’ episodes. I watched the show from the beginning to the end (and loved it, too) and did not remember hearing that. In my defense, I did that while collecting stamps in my passport. It would have been easy to miss one bit. Back then Belize was most definitely not on my mind. Fast forward three years, it was the only thing on my mind.

‘Oh no, don’t go there’.

I was reading the references of the couchsurfing hosts out loud, when Juanita’s sister spoke up while washing clothes and bathing her little girl at the same time.

Did you know that 5 years ago I didn’t own a cellphone? The last phone I had was the one I dropped into the washing machine when I still lived in Alderney. Needless to say, even after the tumble dryer cycle, the rice and the use of the hairdryer, it didn’t come back to life. So that was that.

Now tell me that spending a couple of years without a cellphone is not an attractive idea. It sure was to me. So not only I had set off to Peru not knowing the guy I’d be travelling with, but I’d gone without a phone too. I know, my poor family. But do give me some credit, please, I had my tablet with me.

‘How did you manage for over 3 years without a phone?’ – my friends often wondered. My Peruvian had his, thank you very much, so we were covered. Besides, I could do anything internet related on my tablet and we did manage to find and use some public phones when needed. On a very rare occasion. Where they still existed.

When my trip ended in Europe, I was still without a phone. When I went to Spain, I still hadn’t gotten one. And when I came back to Mexico, my tablet was my only means of communication. I remember my friends from the silver jewelry store asking how I could live like that, what if something happened? I didn’t think anything would happen.

Which brings me back to the moment I was searching for a host in the South of Belize.

‘No no, don’t stay with that guy,’ – Juanita’s sister volunteered.

Juanita was my second host in Belize. And her family was amazing. Before her, as I crossed the border, I stayed with a guy from Jamaica, still a friend today.

Juanita’s family was so much more than I could have ever dreamt of having as a couchsurfing host. The mother, the daughter, the sister, the husband, the kids… They instantly felt like family. And they are. Ask Juanita if she has a three year old in Mexico today: ‘She’s my baby, too!’ – my friend will tell you straight away.

It was my first time staying with them and the friendship was only beginning. I didn’t think anybody else in Belize could treat me so well, and I needed to plan my 30 day visit in the country well. Sure, Belize is small, but I wanted to squeeze in as much as I could within that time. So knowing my stops and finding my hosts was an important task at hand.

There was a big difference after I crossed the border. From the noise of the state capital in Mexico I came to a sleepy border town in Belize. The time seemed to have slowed down there. But I loved it! As I sat on the bus next to a local boy, I started chatting to him, and to every question I asked he’d reply: ‘Yes, Miss’ or ‘No, Miss’. Now this was something new to me. Nobody called me Miss before. This young boy just met me, yet he was so polite. ‘Why do you call me ‘Miss’?’ – I asked him. ‘Because I respect you, Miss’ – he replied without losing a heartbeat.

What I fell in love with from the start was the diversity of this small nation. Different ethnic communities live side by side in this country, they are all brothers and sisters. I found that heart warming after the racist attacks you kept hearing about in the States and kept hearing whispers about in Mexico.

As a tourism destination, it packs a punch, too. When my Peruvian and I were considering visiting Belize, we were warned by other travelers of this country being very expensive, and neighboring Honduras and Guatemala being able to offer the same or better for much less. So we skipped it then.

This time I was on my own and I was already here. But by then I had seen enough of pretty beaches and picture perfect Caribbean islands, so I was exploring inland only. I didn’t find sky reaching mountains or deep canyons. I did find small and simple things to explore, enjoy and appreciate. And I was welcomed by extremely friendly people.

There is a downside to living in Belize, too (that’s what I thought in the first two weeks). Buying food in the hot supermarket with limited choice of products is not fun. I was used to the blaring A/C and anything my heart wished for browsing the isles of Walmart or another big chain supermarket on the other side. But very soon I got to appreciate the local markets and the fresh produce. Less choice is better (that’s what I thought on week three). Life seems simpler that way.

I now know much more than when I first stepped into the country, though. There’s trouble, injustice, struggle and tears. There is all that. But then, then my journey was just beginning and to make sure I had a roof over my head was my top priority.

I kept re-reading the profile of the only host in Punta Gorda. One of the references kept jumping in front of my eyes: ‘I woke up and my camera was gone’, – some girl complained. I didn’t need drama. I didn’t want to wake up and find my things missing. That’s why Juanita’s sister kept telling me to stay away.

And so I listened.