A Great Day in Belize

Hello,
    Today was a great day!!  Currently, most students and chaperones are hanging out in the covered area at the base playing card games, joking, and laughing.  No children even appear to be slightly sick, which is quite amazing.

We started the day with a traditional breakfast of beans, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs.  Many of the students commented that, "the beans were quite tasty".  A handful of other students would not dream of even going near beans in the morning.   I am sure you know what side of the "bean" fence that your child is on.

At 7:30am, a group of 12 students headed towards Cayo Christian Academy.    Here, they started building the new shed and painted a flock of picnic tables.  Back at the YWAM Camp, chaperone leaders worked with their own teams on a variety of projects.  Students and their leaders painted, cleaned, dug, moved, and raked.  At 12:00pm, we headed out to pick up the Cayo crew and migrated towards the Mayan Ruins.

A highlight for all at about 11:00am was when an employee at YWAM found a baby viper, the 2nd most venomous snake in all of Belize.  Once terminated, students were able to hold the viper and snap pics with this little beauty.

We drove for 1.5 hours to get to the Mayan Archeological site. We learned today that it is now not politically correct to call them Mayan Ruins.  After crossing a river on a ferry (no triple-o burgers on this ferry), most students hiked the fully up-hill mile to the ruins.  There was no breeze, so we left a river of sweat in our wake.

As always, the ruins  site was spectacular.  Students climbed up the major structures at the site and were giddy running around the area.  Students learned about the violent sport of Maya Ball.  We were also able to see the Guatemalan military lurking along the border with their machine guns.   They weren't really up for a photo shoot with our students (we tried).

In 2013, we made a "U" with our students at the base of the largest building on the site.  This year we made an "N".  We added it up.  In 2021, our current grade 5s and 6s will complete Unity by making a "Y".  I am looking forward to that trip (and travelling with that group).

On the way down from the ruins, we came across a tree filled with a family of howler monkeys.  They entertained us with their climbing, swinging, and bathroom humor for nearly half an hour.

After the Mayan visit, we drove to San Ignacio for dinner at Hodes.  The dinner was fantastic.  All of us loved the setting and the meal.  We had a great time.  As students finished eating, they trekked around and opened coconuts, played basketball (Sam blocked a 9 year old with no shoes), and enjoyed the scenery around the restaurant.

We arrived back at the camp at about 7:30.  The devotion group lead us with a message based on Hebrews 6:10.    We then reflected on the day and are now getting ready to shut down for the day.  Tomorrow is a busy day running sports camps at the Cayo Christian Academy and students will be out in the sun for 5 hours.  We all look forward to swimming in the river tomorrow after our day at the school:)  Our SPF 200 sunscreen will be ready to go, but I sense we will see some uber-red faces in 24 hours from now:)  I child told me today that all burns turn to tans.  We are trying to shift that paradigm.

Blessings

MC