The Weekend that can't be beat

Wow what a weekend! It's going to be hard to beat! So where to begin?! Friday afternoon after lunch the crew and Mama K's (our cook) son & cousin came with us to Hammock Bridge which brad Kim and I walked to a week ago that has the rope swing! It was a blast playing in the river and going off the bridge into the water. Mama K's son went 3rd and got the rope stuck up in the trees. So for about 20-30 minutes we were trying all sorts of Shenanigans to get it down. Eventually the rope was retrieved and we could continue on with our fun day. There were many belly flops and face plants, along with back flips and peace signs. We then hopped in the back of an old mans truck with his daughters to get a ride to town which was super nice not having to take the 40 minute walk back in wet clothes! 

After we got all cleaned up we went out to dinner and there I met the missionary couple serving there and just to show you how small this world is... They were my cousin Josh's grandparents! Crazy huh? Anyways dinner was Delish & it was my first time trying Lime Juice, and I must say I LOVED it! After dinner we walked down Burns avenue and talked to our local buddies Ras Tony and Ras G. So the Ras is short for Rasta and these two friends are the definition of Rastafarian. Ras G was high like always and Ras Tony was some how coherent and talking to us about his views on some horoscope stuff and then of course you can never not have a conversation without him explaining about how all you need is love and if we respect them, they Respect us. So whenever we see them we repeatedly pound out chest and say "respect man" an nod our heads. It's so entertaining. So at the end of that conversation Ras Tony asked Randy if he liked "Bob Marley" and randy was playing along and said yeah I love him. Then randy goes around to another part of the circle and while he is doing that Kyle, Kim, and I see Ras Tony roll up a joint and us 3 begin to laugh because we know who he is going to give it too.  He says some more stuff to randy and then gives him a fist pump and said no charge man and tries to slips randy the joint. Randy's face was priceless and we all lost it and kindly have it back to him. It was so great. Then we went to a Karoke bar and everyone there that sings means business! They take this stuff seriously and all sing two songs each! So we put our name down to do summer nights by grease and we had to wait for like 8 more people before our turn! I was shocked because it is not like that in the states. So while we're waiting, lo and behold our Rasta Homies walk in! Tony & G. 

Haha so they sat with us and said respect man with the fist bump like 15 times. Once it was our turn to sing we definitely embarrassed ourselves but then Randy brought down the house with a surprise Spanish saucy song! Everyone there was shocked and the ladies could not get enough of him because here was a white boy getting down and bailing this song. Seriously was the icing on the cake for the night! Then it was Ras Tony's turn and he sang a Bob Marley song of course and Ras G was in the zone just high on life and feelin the music. Then all of sudden It was Ras G turn and we all thought there was no way he could read the words let alone sing a song with how out of it he was. But he sure delivered and sounded great!  Next a lady then asked me if I could sing Adele, Rolling in the deep? I was like uh say what? I don't think I can. She said please just try! So I said sure. Luckily we left about a half hour after that and my song never came up. Phew! 

                                          

Alright Saturday was a loooong day. We woke up at 5:15 to catch the 6:00 bus to Belmopan to then catch the bus to Punta Gorda where the Belizian Chocolate Festival was! 6 hours later and lots of smelly people and crammed legs and we made it to Punta Gorda. Side note: one cool person I sat by for an hour on the bus was a boy named Kermin. He was a 18 year old village boy and we talked they entire hour mainly about religion and god! He said he has only been following Christ for the past 3 years and he was telling me how he helps out with ministry for the youth and helping people find Christ in their life! I really really enjoyed talking to him and hearing his conversion story! He is so focused on serving The Lord that he doesn't even want to work right now because he doesn't want anything to come between him and The Lord. So he said after his year commitment to fully giving his life to The Lord he will leave to go to college in Chicago and study music then return to Belize to continue uplifting his community through sports and Christian music! Isn't that amazing? So far with this trip I have learned the importance to talk to people and to learn their stories because you never know what you can learn from them and what the have to offer. Anyways I was really impressed with him.  So back to Punta Gorda and the chocolate! Lets just say I got a LOT of chocolate! It was so divine. Everything was made with real cacao powder and beans and it was just so pure tasting. There were performances going on and such throughout the day and one we saw all we could see of the chocolate we found a man who rents out bikes to ride around the city and along the coastline. Only $4.50 for 3.5 hours? We couldn't pass this up! I mean what better way is there to see this town? 

 

We headed off riding along the coast and into the town then back onto the coast then continued away from the city and into more the outskirts and we took one road down and we thought if we ride to the lodge that could be our end mark and then will ride back. Well half way down the road there is just jungle on our left side and we hear this crazy loud noise and it sounds like a dinosaur! I'm not even exaggerating! It was the loudest and scariest thing I have ever heard! Kyle begins to call back to it and it makes it's noise again, and they continue to go back and forth! We all were shocked and then it seemed to get louder and closer and we freaked and decided to get the heck out of there!! I felt like I was in Jurassic park and a dinosaur was going to come out and chase us. Shortly after Kyle said guys they are probably just howler monkeys! And we said we don't care and don't wanna find out! As we continued riding we asked a local an he said they are howler monkeys and that they are not dangerous! Kyle Kim randy and Kristina then wanted to go back and try to see some but Danielle and I were over it and rode back to wait for them there. 

Once they got back we went to dinner an then off to our hotel for the night! We stayed at the tranquility lodge and it was do perfect! Very small but in the jungle, and the sound of rain hitting the roof and birds chirping and everything was so peaceful & relaxing. Sunday we did a little group scripture study and all shared our favorite scripture then got ready to head to our next destination. PLACENCIA!! We waited for the bus for a half hour on the road and while we were waiting we did some real team bonding and Kristina plucked Kyle's & Brad's eyebrows! Seriously SO funny to see this site. Before we knew it the bus was here and a hour and 15 minutes later we were to the water taxi to take us to paradise. 

The water taxi was nice and short and once we go to Placencia it reminded me of Seattle and the houses all lined up  on water and that's how you have to get around is by boat. It's so beautiful! From there we were tryin to find the guy whose house we were staying at but he wasn't answering! We headed into the direction where his house was and then learned it was 13 miles away. Haha but then lucky us he called then and told us he would be in town around 5:00 to get us and then if we wanted we could get gelato with his kids and him then go to church! So we asked a friendly couple who owns a rental shop if we could leave our bags with them for two hours while we go walk around and eat before our host picks us up. They were more then happy to help out. We ate linner at De Tach which is on the beach and amazing food! I got a humongous burrito! Then we hadn't heard from Mckinley yet but he did say his land rover had a propane tank on the back so around five when he would be back in town look for that! So we wander around aimlessly and check out some shops and then all of a sudden we see the land rover stop in the road and I was like Kristina is that the car?! It sure was! So we met him and his adorable children and hopped in he car, put our bags on top and headed to get gelato! We had about an hour to kill at church so we took a walk down the "boardwalk" which is the Guinness book of world records as the narrowest Main Street! We got to know McKinley a little and interact with his kids and see the town of Placencia which is the  most adorable beach town! It was then time for church and it was a Nondenominational Christian church! First time going to one of those... Little interesting but good messages were given. It was then time to head to the house we would be staying at! We got there and all our expectations were blown out the water! It was right on the beach with a dock and patio out in the ocean, nice a roomy and just like something you would see in the movies! We were oooing and ahhing at everything and the kids went to bed and we talked with McKinley and then he said him and his wife were on house a hunters when they were house searching for their house in Belize. He has the episode readily available and we got to watch the episode of his family moving from South Carolina to Placencia. It was so interesting and how much TV lies to you! They didn't even end up moving into the house they picked on the show. Ha. After a late night of talking with brad and Kristina on the dock we all went to bed around 2:30 and Mckinley was so giving and let me Kim & Danielle sleep in his bed while he slept on the couch down stairs and the boys and Kristina were in the guest bedroom! And randy actually slept on the massage table in there! Ha. 

So Monday their nanny made is breakfast, which was super nice! Then we walked down to the resort and played in the pool, played some volleyball, played in the ocean and had so much fun kicking it with the family! His kids are 7, 5, 3, and 2 and they all were just so much fun!! They were not shy and we all played with each other like we had known them for years! I loved it! I wish they lived closer to San Ignacio so we could see them again! After that we had a little dance party on the porch and the 3-year-old girl Windsor was gettin down! She had moves like no other! It was then time to say goodbye and off to lunch and then back on the water taxi to catch the 4 hour bus ride back to San Ignacio! Unfortunately we missed the 4:30 bus by seconds and had to wait an hour and 15 minutes for the next one! Of course we were able to entertain ourselves at the nearby park with Frisbee and making new friends! The bus ride back did not seem as bad because the first hour and a half I had a seat ALL to myself! Score. So I got real comfy and laid completely flat on my back with my legs in the air spread out. (Probably let myself get too comfortable but Kyle was behind me and Randy was diagonal from me so I didn’t care if they saw me like this. I completely passed out and once we got to Dangriga, I was woken up by a stranger and for those who know me, when I get woken up unexpected it is quite the show! It took me a little bit to figure out who she was, where I was, why she was waking me up, and what she wanted from me. She politely asked if she could sit with me. So I scooted over and brought everything together and realized OH MY GOSH I can’t believe Randy didn’t wake me up earlier because all those people in the back who passed me saw me legs wide opened, and passed out and didn’t have the guts to ask to sit by me. So that bus was PACKED! Literally had 3 people to the seat and the aisle were full of people standing! I thought it was going to tip over when we turned! Finally made it safe home and crashed! It was a great weekend and I will definitely be returning to Placencia someday and meeting up with the Mckinley and his kiddos!