Liz: Day 36: Belize City

"You don't need to speak Spanish here. We speak English mon."  The reply after Otis told a man at the bus station "Gracias" for helping him.  To which Otis clenched his fist in the "Yes!!!" victory gesture.  The kids are in relaxation heaven today with over 100 channels on the tv, most of which are in English.  We splurged on a really nice hotel for our first couple nights in Belize and we're so glad we did.  After traveling all night by bus, getting swindled out of $100 leaving Mexico and finding ourselves in a completely different culture, it's nice to have a little bit of a buffer before jumping into the fray.

Belize City has a reputation for being dirty, rough and a good place to avoid.  We weren't planning on staying here but when the lodge we reserved sent us an invoice for $1650 US (for two nights) just hours before our bus left, we had to scramble for plan B.  Our experience so far on this trip has been the more expensive the room, the more dissapointing the food and the more nickel and dime-ing that goes on.  So far, I'm glad we came here.  The city is an interesting mix of people, a combination of Mayan and Carribean culture with a splash of Mennonite culture thrown in and on top of that, many of the stores are owned and operated by the Chinese (per our taxi driver.)  Behind those is a hint of British colonialsm, ie:  Earl Gray and Bigelow tea in our hotel room, a plumbing system that allows you to flush toilet paper, and English spoken as the primary language.

Random Toilet Trivia:  Did we mention that it's considered very rude to flush paper into the toilet in Mexico?  Because their septic systems can't handle the paper and it's expensive to dig up and replace the system, it's considered the equivalent of leaving someone's refrigerator door open.  A small garbage can is provided for the toilet paper. An exception is at some of the bigger resorts where they will post a notice saying "Please flush paper in the toilet." Back on track now....

It is stormy today in Belize.  Rain is splattering against our windows and the trees outside are blowing and making me feel like I'm underwater again.  About a hundred yards beyond that the Carribean is a choppy gray green.  Every once in a while a boat zips past.  Inside, the kids are comfortable in their jammies and Patrick is reading the Destination Belize magazine we found in our room.  Tomorrow we'll get out and explore but for today a nap and the view from the window are looking good.