"Down in Mexico"

During our 5-day Royal Caribbean cruise, we made two stops; one in Belize City, Belize, and one in Cozumel, Mexico.  My Mom and I in particular are in a bit of a competition to see who can get to the most countries...so we chose this cruise specifically because Belize would be a new country for both of us.  Due to some very poor ship organization, I got to see much more of Belize City that she did, but at least we were both able to step foot in country.  We did some research prior to boarding and spoke with many of our Floridian colleagues who are naturally professional cruisers and determined that Belize was a rather unstable country, and no where for a toddler; so my parents got off the ship in the morning and then Brian and I got off in the afternoon.  We took a 2-hour tour of the city, first by a glamorous (sarcasm) horse drawn carriage, and second by an open air bus with a straw roof.  And we were correct, the city didn't feel real stable, however we felt in no way unsafe. 

Here are some interesting facts we learned on our ride (and some funny jokes from our tour guide):

• Belize was first settled by the Brits (anyone surprised?) and soon after they began bringing in slaves from Africa. Based on my knowledge of history, it sounds like many of the African slaves were impregnated by their British owners, eventually creating an eclectic cultural look referred to as Creole. Now Creole actually means "locally born people with foreign ancestry," and therefore not a true race.  I knew this going into the tour so it seemed weird to me that they kept referring to themselves as Creole.  However, other than Belizian, there is no way of identifying their race in a "politically correct" way...so there you have it...Creole.  Brian and I enjoyed observing the multicultural look the people had.  I think it may be the most diverse country I've ever been to.  We were on our tour when school let out, so we got to see an array of people.  At one point there was a group of girls walking; one who clearly had Asian heritage, another who looked fairly Hispanic, a girl who looked mostly African and one girl who has very light, nearly Caucasian skinned.  Pretty neat.  Everyone we spoke to had what we would call a Jamaican accent.  It was all pretty funny and reassured my opinion that our US "politically correct" way of identifying people is actually not correct at all.  These poor people who come to America from other countries and are labeled one way or another.  Oh, you must be Jamaican because you sound Jamaican...nope I'm from Belize.  Oh...you are African American because your skin is dark...nope...not African OR American...I'm from Belize.  Anyway...I'll step off my soap box about race identification now.  I'm looking forward to a time when race identification just goes away because we are all so mixed. :)
• The homes in Belize are very inexpensive. Here you see a water front home that would sell for about 90k.  Here also is the Tokyo embassy.
  
  
  
  
   
• There are two large Coca-Cola plants in Belize City, being the city's largest employer.  Their economy stabilizer actually comes from tourism, however.  It makes me hope ships continue to dock there!
• Marion Jones, USA Olympic track champion is from Belize and donated money to build a sports complex.  Here is the beginning work:

 

• We stopped at a museum that I remember very little about because the guide's accent was so thick.  I took away that they have little recorded history, the museum used to be the jail that they outgrew and that their national bird is a Toucan.  

 

• The downtown area is where we really saw the poverty.  It is hard to compare to the other countries I've been to...really Belize was quite unique! But...if I had to compare it to somewhere...I'd compare it to the downtown area in a city I can't remember the name of in Costa Rica.

• Gas prices are over $6/gallon (10 Belize Dollars)

• Most Belizian's have never been to the States because it is so hard to obtain a visa.  Our tour guide was telling us about how the only American establishment they have in Belize is Subway.  He said, "no Walmart, no K-mart, no Burger King, no Taco Bell...just Subway."  So I said..."How do you know of American establishments if you've never been there?"  His response, "Cable TV, mon, cable TV."
• "It's UnBELIZABLE.  You have to see it to BELIZE it."
• "Do you have stop signs here?"  Guide: "Ya. We have stop signs.  But we also have a saying here in Belize...if you can fit in, git in!"  Haha...we experienced some crazy foreign country driving in our open air bus. ;)

We had a lovely time visiting Belize City.  The city itself was quite small...I think I recall him saying only 6 square miles with 60 thousand people...so we really did see the whole city in 2 hours.  We had one really random stop at a green house and Brian go to try some berry wine and a tamale.  I wasn't willing to eat anything ashore to protect the baby I have growing inside me.

We scurried back on the boat just minutes before the last tender.  Here's us saying goodbye on the Belize City Pier, a photo of our ship from the pier and us tendering back to our ship.

 COZUMEL, MEXICO

Cozumel is an incredibly popular hub for cruises to stop, so this city new exactly how to handle us.  In some ways I feel like we didn't really get to see Cozumel, since we were surrounded by mostly other Americans, but we did get to see their buildings and their land.  I've been to Mexico two other times; one of them where we stayed in tents somewhere in the middle of a desert with no running water and were bused into a small town...so I don't think any other trip to Mexico will compare to that.  I do realize, however, that the country is huge, so to "see" Mexico, I'd have to take a tour through the whole countryside!

We felt totally safe taking Carly off the ship in Cozumel, so after breakfast we all headed out to experience Carly's first foreign country!!  I was completely and utterly excited about it, since foreign travels would be on a "top ten list of most meaningful experiences" for me!  20 months old and entering her first country!  I think I was 12 before I exited American soil.  So, so cool!  So...now Carly has been to one country, Brian's count is up to 5 and my count reached 22.  We walked the pier all together and then split up so Brian & I could go have a beach day.  We had to take a taxi ride to a public beach, and my mom didn't feel comfortable putting Carly in a taxi, so the three of them toured a very grand hotel plaza then headed back to the boat.  I was freaking out as Brian and I stepped in a taxi and waved goodbye to our daughter.  I was near tears and kept asking, "will she be okay? will they make it back on the boat?  how could I just leave my daughter in a foreign country?!"  Brian reminded me that my folks took care of me in our many overseas travels and that Carly would be fine.  Still, though...it was weird. 

We did not take the camera to the beach but did have a lovely time relaxing as a couple.  I enjoyed a few virgin drinks and we laid on chairs overlooking a beautiful ocean view.  There was also a pool we spent some time in and walked along the shore.  I'm really glad we got that time together. :)

Well there you have it...a near complete tour of Belize and very little info on Cozumel!  We had our informational day and our beach day!  Thankful for another safe overseas experience, for sure!