Ray of Sunshine Travel

Week 8 has officially come and gone, and we’re well into Week 9 now – the time is definitely flying. I’ll try to keep this post a little shorter just in an effort to be a little more present here with the time we have left!

Monday and Tuesday we were back at school. I ended up working with the same class both days, which I really like – it helps to create deeper relationships with the kids. Probably my favorite moment was sitting with two little boys during reading time, listening to them sound out the words to an Amelia Bedelia book and cackle at her misunderstandings and antics. It really made me miss reading and what an impact it had on my life as a kid. Books are the best!!

Monday we also got to go to an altar night on the town put on by the church we’ve been going to. They have one at different parks each week, and this week we lucked out, as it one was pretty close to where we live. The goal is to do outreach and “take back” that area for the Lord. There’s a lot of prayer and worship, which is pretty awesome!

Unfortunately, I started feeling sick again after school on Tuesday, so I stayed behind while J and H and Mama went to house church. I did go with the team Wednesday morning to help mix up more concrete for the church we’re working on, but I was definitely not feeling great and was told to sit down partway through. It was really satisfying, though, to see the project we were working on finished!

Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and a good part of Friday I spent in bed, just trying to recover. The symptoms were extremely similar to the flu I had had back in the village, just (thankfully) without the fever. It was definitely disappointing to be sick yet again, and Thursday I hit kind of a low spot, just struggling with my purpose here and whether I was even supposed to go to South Africa next year for more missions. Thankfully, the Lord helped pull me out of that on Friday morning, and I feel confident that he wants me to go to South Africa in January and even hike the Appalachian Trail afterwards!

I also got to have coffee with Lauren Friday evening, which was really good – our “frate” back in the village was very short and interrupted several times by my little host brother, so it was good to dive a little deeper and not be so distracted!

The big highlight of the week was getting to see some Mayan ruins on Saturday! Our friend from the village who had given us the tour of the cave picked us up early that morning and drove us to the Xunantunich ruins.

We hit a small hitch upon arriving: the ferry that usually transports cars across the river was only ferrying people due to high water levels, and it was a mile walk up some serious hills to the ruins after you had crossed. Normally this would be no big deal for me, but since I still wasn’t feeling 100%, the two mile round trip walk plus probably another mile or two walking around the ruins really took it out of me. Nonetheless, it was so so worth it! The walk was pretty too, which helped, and it gave us more time to talk with our guide.

Even better, after touring we stumbled upon a monkey! It was the first monkey I’ve ever seen in the wild, and it was really cute!

We stopped in the visitor’s center but didn’t stay long, which I was kind of bummed about – normally I probably could have spent a good hour there! I think the group was pretty tired though, and honestly I was too. We did get to see some cool artifacts that they had on display.

After the walk back, we stopped at a little shop for some Cokes and some homemade Ideals that were so good before heading back home.

It definitely feels a little strange doing more touristy activities – we know we definitely look like tourists, but after 8 weeks here we don’t feel like one! It is really interesting to talk with true tourists and see where they’re from, but it’s funny how even the Americans feel so “other”.

The rest of the group went to a youth night at our church that night, but I was pretty worn out still, so I had an early night in. Sunday morning we had church, and then we went to sell tamales that night with Mama. We were pretty pooped after a busy weekend!

Here’s some other fun moments from the week that I didn’t already mention:

The kittens are getting so big and so fluffy!! We can cuddle them now, and it’s so good.

Mama made a pineapple upside down cake with a lemon base, and it tasted so good.

Here’s H sipping some coffee by our window…

…and J going a little nuts out of same said window!

And finally J with her adorable stingray sunburn.

Well, that makes another week! I know I sound like a broken record, but if you all could continue praying for health for the team through November 9, we would so appreciate it. We had someone else sick again this week, and honestly I’m pretty worried about traveling back home through several airports (read: germ hubs) and convening with the two other teams who have also been traveling through numerous airports for debrief, what with the blow my immune system has taken so far. I’ll be drinking my orange juice and praying!

If you could also be praying for a good last week here in Belize, we would really appreciate it. As much as I’m excited to get home and see friends and family, I’m trying hard to stay in the moment because I know I’ll really miss it here. And in case I don’t get another post done next week, prayers for safe travels on the 6th and 7th and prayers for adjusting to life back in the States would be much appreciated too!

Much love to you all – until next time!