Day 9: People Watching

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. Casablanca

July 9th and my cousin's 50th birthday! It was her day and what she wanted to do was spend the day in San Ignacio, the nearest town to do a little cultural immersion and people watching. Enough of nature and ruins!

Off we went to town. All I could think about was Casablanca. It was dusty, it way noisy, it was full of life and people who ended up there from all over the world. Lebanese fleeing from their civil war, Chinese who now own all of the shops, Mayan, Creole, Hispanics, Garafauna, Hindus, Guatemalans working their way to a visa to the U.S. or Canada and more.

Belize reminded me of Canada in some ways. Canada is full of people from somewhere else just like Belize. And like Canada, Belize lacks a strong cultural identity. The picture is accurate - Belizian food? There isn't any food specific to Belize. There's food from other places but the country hasn't been a country for long enough to have a distinct identity. Like Canada.

Belize Trip Back Blips
Day 1: Lost Luggage and Laminai
Day 2: The Ruins of the British (and Mayan) Empires
Day 3: Journey to Chan Chich
Day 4: Jungle Oasis
Day 5: It's a jungle out here
Day 6: We win the Survivor reward challenge
Day 7: Floating down the river to infinity
Day 8: A Military Escort
Day 9: People Watching
Day 10: Toilet Humour
Day 11: Tikal Immersion
Day 12: Roxie and the Machete
Day 13: Communing with Tikal
Day 14: Slash and Burn
Day 15: Swimming with Sharks
Day 16: Passage of the Mangroves
Day 17: Exploring San Pedro
Day 18: Lost and Found