December 31:
It rained last night and the ground was basically one big puddle. We went to sleep with rain pounding on the roof, and anticipation of a rainy day today.
However, when we woke up, although it was very dark and overcast, it wasn't rainy. We ate breakfast at Mrs. Chocs and got to hear Cleofo's grandchild crying again. He is 2 weeks old! It rained a bit during breakfast, so I moved our backpacks into the cab, but afterwards cleared up nicely. We walked about 2 miles over rough terrain (fairly large ditches and slippery rocks and fallen trees) to Pool 1. It had changed quite a bit from 2010, so we took some photos at the water's edge. We surveyed 3 plots and then walked back out again. We wore Dad out, and we had to stop every so often to make sure that he was indeed still following us. The last time Cleofo was at Pool 1, one of the guys in the group took a wrong turn and ended up lost for 1 1/2 hours until Cleofo and company found him. We didn't want to have to be locating Dad, so we waited for him. Earlier in the day, Cleofo and I examined a potential new site, and I called for Dad to follow us. It wasn't far from where he was, but Cleofo had taken an unusual path, so Dad ended up lost for awhile.
It was a bit chilly with the windows rolled down on our way back to Valley of Peace, and the weather was very nice overall today. We picked up Ernesto's family on the way back to Banana Bank, and I got to meet his 2-month-old daughter. So many babies all over the place! I am surprised how many babies the women of Valley of Peace pop out in their reproductive years. I think that Ernesto and Cleofo have about average-sized families.
Tomorrow is Cleofo's last day with us in the field before he has to go back to work for the logging company. I was very lucky to get him this trip. Usually, he works 15 days, has off 2, and goes back for another 15. This pattern repeats all year, according to him. However, with this being the holidays, he got off quite a bit of time and I was able to put him to work!
Dad is still playing Christmas music on my laptop, and still working to make his machete as sharp as possible. Tomorrow, we are switching rooms and moving to a house (next to the aviary) that I have never stayed in before. It should be fun!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Lazy sunny Sunday
December 29: evening update
Dad and I walked around the entire city of Belmopan and I was able to explore new markets that I have never seen before. Bonus: I found some amazing Taiwanese clothes at the markets there. The Taiwanese own almost all of the large markets in Belmopan, and it turns out that I had never been to any of these large markets before this trip. We also stopped off at a yard sale of sorts and I found some shoes. Poor dad! But he kept busy talking to everyone or standing just outside the door of the shops with his arms crossed and the classic "Bob look" on his face. For lunch, we ate at the Taiwanese shop: Veggie Garden, my favorite restaurant in 2010. It was all vegetarian and authentic, so I think poor dad would rather have had loads of Americanized-high salt- Chinese food, but I enjoyed it.
We took a bus back to the banana bank road, and it took forever to see which bus we should take. We ended up missing our bus twice and having to sit around for some extra time while the next bus arrived.
December 30:
Today was possibly our laziest day yet. I will be happy to get back in the field tomorrow, honestly. I finished up some odd jobs- like creating a new Compass2G site for the sections that I teach next semester. We also managed to send our laundry off for the nice ladies of Banana Bank to do. It was quite a load, and Dads stuff was SUPER stinky, so I hope those poor ladies make a good wage today. We should probably throw in a nice tip when we leave, or maybe just be satisfied that they drank some nice rum ;)
We also surveyed the organic garden at Banana Bank this morning. Some of the plants were too small or not grown in the US regularly, so I had to ask a nearby neighbor/gardener for his expert plant identification opinion. We said a happy goodbye to our upstairs neighbors who have been here since before Christmas as well. They like to stay up late and the little boys wake up super early, so sometimes I wake up to what sounds like a mini-elephant-herd stomping around on my ceiling. I am quite convinced that they walk around like Lucy Ball doing "slowly I turn". "Step by step, inch by inch....."
Right now, Dad has stolen my laptop again and is playing Christmas music. He has discovered the power of YouTube!
Dad and I walked around the entire city of Belmopan and I was able to explore new markets that I have never seen before. Bonus: I found some amazing Taiwanese clothes at the markets there. The Taiwanese own almost all of the large markets in Belmopan, and it turns out that I had never been to any of these large markets before this trip. We also stopped off at a yard sale of sorts and I found some shoes. Poor dad! But he kept busy talking to everyone or standing just outside the door of the shops with his arms crossed and the classic "Bob look" on his face. For lunch, we ate at the Taiwanese shop: Veggie Garden, my favorite restaurant in 2010. It was all vegetarian and authentic, so I think poor dad would rather have had loads of Americanized-high salt- Chinese food, but I enjoyed it.
We took a bus back to the banana bank road, and it took forever to see which bus we should take. We ended up missing our bus twice and having to sit around for some extra time while the next bus arrived.
December 30:
Today was possibly our laziest day yet. I will be happy to get back in the field tomorrow, honestly. I finished up some odd jobs- like creating a new Compass2G site for the sections that I teach next semester. We also managed to send our laundry off for the nice ladies of Banana Bank to do. It was quite a load, and Dads stuff was SUPER stinky, so I hope those poor ladies make a good wage today. We should probably throw in a nice tip when we leave, or maybe just be satisfied that they drank some nice rum ;)
We also surveyed the organic garden at Banana Bank this morning. Some of the plants were too small or not grown in the US regularly, so I had to ask a nearby neighbor/gardener for his expert plant identification opinion. We said a happy goodbye to our upstairs neighbors who have been here since before Christmas as well. They like to stay up late and the little boys wake up super early, so sometimes I wake up to what sounds like a mini-elephant-herd stomping around on my ceiling. I am quite convinced that they walk around like Lucy Ball doing "slowly I turn". "Step by step, inch by inch....."
Right now, Dad has stolen my laptop again and is playing Christmas music. He has discovered the power of YouTube!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Conclusion of our first week in Belize
December 28:
Overnight update: Dad caught an opossum outside our window in the garbage can. The poor soul could not escape, so, being the nice guy that he is, Dad decided to "help" him out of the can.
We spent the last day of the work week near Pool 6 surveying. We had a decent, if not steaming hot and humid, day in the field. We walked quite a distance to a mound, and then surveyed a non-mound site too. We walked back closer to the Pool (and our truck) and surveyed there too. Overall, I am accomplishing more than I had planned, so hopefully that is a good thing :) We had two casualties of the field: one of my "rite in the rain" pens (lost during the last turn of our first survey) and Dad's plant clippers (lost on the walk back to the truck OR in Ernesto's truck on the bumpy ride home). We got home as the cleaning ladies were finishing our room, so we got red fanta's from the cafe from "santa" (who told me his whole life story yesterday out of the blue).
We are now uber suspicious of the cleaning ladies because they took our rum on Wednesday. Here is the story: we got rum in our gift basket during the Christmas dinner at Banana Bank. Given that neither of us were going to drink it, we decided to give it to Ernesto later on in the trip. We put the bow that came with the basket on it and left it in the floor next to Dad's luggage. When we got back on Wednesday, Dad said "did you do something with that rum?!" We couldn't find it anywhere, although the bow was dropped on Dad's luggage, so we have evidence that it was indeed there at some point. Honestly, I think Dad put it somewhere and just forgot that he had done that (Mom, you can relate), but it could be that those sneaky cleaning ladies decided that since we hadn't downed that bottle so far that they needed to finish it off for us. At any rate, we did a quick inventory and, since only the rum........and not my laptop, camera, iPad, food, phone, or anything of value really........was missing, we decided that they could have it.
We pressed the plants and tried to access the internet, but it was down. So, we decided to make instant potatoes and watch a movie. We started with "The Campaign", but it was poorly pirated, and started at a point where there was a ton of language issues, so we switched to "Moonrise Kingdom". I think Dad liked it, but he didn't really understand it at times.
I got in a cleaning mood and cleaned up the counter in the bathroom and the top of the dresser (where Dad dumps garbage, tons of reading glasses, the food, etc.) Dad happily obliged me, and read his book.
December 29:
We decided to go back into Belmopan, but first we did dishes. Actually, he suggested it (GASP) and I asked about small steps (heating up the water, washing his stuff) until he eventually did his very own dishes! And then I did mine. We caught a taxi into town (he finally showed up today! And we have been wandering around town ever since. Our plan is to get Taiwanese food on our way out of town and even my ultra favorite drink: Bubble Milk Tea!!!
More updates to come!
Overnight update: Dad caught an opossum outside our window in the garbage can. The poor soul could not escape, so, being the nice guy that he is, Dad decided to "help" him out of the can.
We spent the last day of the work week near Pool 6 surveying. We had a decent, if not steaming hot and humid, day in the field. We walked quite a distance to a mound, and then surveyed a non-mound site too. We walked back closer to the Pool (and our truck) and surveyed there too. Overall, I am accomplishing more than I had planned, so hopefully that is a good thing :) We had two casualties of the field: one of my "rite in the rain" pens (lost during the last turn of our first survey) and Dad's plant clippers (lost on the walk back to the truck OR in Ernesto's truck on the bumpy ride home). We got home as the cleaning ladies were finishing our room, so we got red fanta's from the cafe from "santa" (who told me his whole life story yesterday out of the blue).
We are now uber suspicious of the cleaning ladies because they took our rum on Wednesday. Here is the story: we got rum in our gift basket during the Christmas dinner at Banana Bank. Given that neither of us were going to drink it, we decided to give it to Ernesto later on in the trip. We put the bow that came with the basket on it and left it in the floor next to Dad's luggage. When we got back on Wednesday, Dad said "did you do something with that rum?!" We couldn't find it anywhere, although the bow was dropped on Dad's luggage, so we have evidence that it was indeed there at some point. Honestly, I think Dad put it somewhere and just forgot that he had done that (Mom, you can relate), but it could be that those sneaky cleaning ladies decided that since we hadn't downed that bottle so far that they needed to finish it off for us. At any rate, we did a quick inventory and, since only the rum........and not my laptop, camera, iPad, food, phone, or anything of value really........was missing, we decided that they could have it.
We pressed the plants and tried to access the internet, but it was down. So, we decided to make instant potatoes and watch a movie. We started with "The Campaign", but it was poorly pirated, and started at a point where there was a ton of language issues, so we switched to "Moonrise Kingdom". I think Dad liked it, but he didn't really understand it at times.
I got in a cleaning mood and cleaned up the counter in the bathroom and the top of the dresser (where Dad dumps garbage, tons of reading glasses, the food, etc.) Dad happily obliged me, and read his book.
December 29:
We decided to go back into Belmopan, but first we did dishes. Actually, he suggested it (GASP) and I asked about small steps (heating up the water, washing his stuff) until he eventually did his very own dishes! And then I did mine. We caught a taxi into town (he finally showed up today! And we have been wandering around town ever since. Our plan is to get Taiwanese food on our way out of town and even my ultra favorite drink: Bubble Milk Tea!!!
More updates to come!
Week 1 Photos
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Panhandlers and other Belmopan adventures
December 27:
This was supposed to be a field day, and in fact Ernesto did pick us up at 6:30 as always, but in his "good truck". He was unable to get the part he needed for his work truck yesterday, and there was no guarantee that we would be able to enter Yalbac since the pass was made for his other truck. However, when we arrived at Cleofo's house, he was in bed sick. So, we decided, for the sake of the truck and Cleofo's health that we would take the day off. We surveyed Ernesto's garden, which was quite expansive. Then, we walked into his cattle enclosure and I got my photo taken with the big bull. As soon as Dad took the photo, the bull bolted up and almost knocked me over. But, I survived!
We returned to Banana Bank, got our going-to-town clothes on and I ordered a taxi. The regular boat guy took us across the river so that we could catch the cab, and then we waited for him to arrive. After waiting about 20 minutes, we decided to walk to the road and try to catch a bus. As we reached the road (after still not running across the taxi) we decided that trying to catch was futile since we didn't know when the next one was coming by, so we walked into Belmopan. Notice that this is the second day that we have walked the road from Belmopan to Banana Bank (which is probably +5 miles). Then, we walked into town, after passing by the Forest Department and the Institute of Archaeology.
I searched (hopelessly) for a swimsuit, leaving Dad sitting on many doorsteps (may I mention that I took a very short time, for a girl, in each store!). During one of these stops, poor Dad got taken by a panhandler. Sorry Mom, I did not fulfill my due duty as the female! Dad's work boots split, so he was looking for a cobbler. Sure enough, this guy knew a guy. Then, he stood around and talked non-stop while Dad's shoes were repaired. He took photos with Dad and me, asked me my age (which I refused to tell him), asked where we were from, what we did, why we were here and for how long, and asked me to write him so that he could write me back/send him my phone number/set up a videochat, etc. At this point, I was totally creeped out, but of course Dad was as laid-back as normal. When his shoes were finished (in about 20 minutes and for $2.50 USD!), Dad paid the panhandler (who at this point had given us his address and begged me repeatedly for contact - promising to be a good friend). At this point, unfortunately, another much drunker panhandler had approached and said something along the lines of "I will get him to pay me too! Pay me!" So, Dad and I took off for parts unknown as quickly as possible. Leave it to 2 fit Americans to outrun a drunk Belizian.
We had lunch at the Bull Frog Inn and then went to a business section, again looking for swimsuits. I ended up finding some child-size bottoms that would have worked nicely, but unfortunately the tops were either really really small or really REALLY large. So, I gave up. We walked back to the bus stop, very tired and having walked over 10 miles on a non-field day, and finally took a taxi back. Shortly, we will consume Mrs. Choc's lunch (plantains with rice and beans) and wind down for the evening. Last night, I had good luck watching an episode of Bones on Netflix in the room, with Spanish subtitles of course!
- - - - - - "Como todos nosotros en el Jeffersonian, el Dr. Brennan prefiere la ciencia en el tracto digestivo."
This was supposed to be a field day, and in fact Ernesto did pick us up at 6:30 as always, but in his "good truck". He was unable to get the part he needed for his work truck yesterday, and there was no guarantee that we would be able to enter Yalbac since the pass was made for his other truck. However, when we arrived at Cleofo's house, he was in bed sick. So, we decided, for the sake of the truck and Cleofo's health that we would take the day off. We surveyed Ernesto's garden, which was quite expansive. Then, we walked into his cattle enclosure and I got my photo taken with the big bull. As soon as Dad took the photo, the bull bolted up and almost knocked me over. But, I survived!
We returned to Banana Bank, got our going-to-town clothes on and I ordered a taxi. The regular boat guy took us across the river so that we could catch the cab, and then we waited for him to arrive. After waiting about 20 minutes, we decided to walk to the road and try to catch a bus. As we reached the road (after still not running across the taxi) we decided that trying to catch was futile since we didn't know when the next one was coming by, so we walked into Belmopan. Notice that this is the second day that we have walked the road from Belmopan to Banana Bank (which is probably +5 miles). Then, we walked into town, after passing by the Forest Department and the Institute of Archaeology.
I searched (hopelessly) for a swimsuit, leaving Dad sitting on many doorsteps (may I mention that I took a very short time, for a girl, in each store!). During one of these stops, poor Dad got taken by a panhandler. Sorry Mom, I did not fulfill my due duty as the female! Dad's work boots split, so he was looking for a cobbler. Sure enough, this guy knew a guy. Then, he stood around and talked non-stop while Dad's shoes were repaired. He took photos with Dad and me, asked me my age (which I refused to tell him), asked where we were from, what we did, why we were here and for how long, and asked me to write him so that he could write me back/send him my phone number/set up a videochat, etc. At this point, I was totally creeped out, but of course Dad was as laid-back as normal. When his shoes were finished (in about 20 minutes and for $2.50 USD!), Dad paid the panhandler (who at this point had given us his address and begged me repeatedly for contact - promising to be a good friend). At this point, unfortunately, another much drunker panhandler had approached and said something along the lines of "I will get him to pay me too! Pay me!" So, Dad and I took off for parts unknown as quickly as possible. Leave it to 2 fit Americans to outrun a drunk Belizian.
We had lunch at the Bull Frog Inn and then went to a business section, again looking for swimsuits. I ended up finding some child-size bottoms that would have worked nicely, but unfortunately the tops were either really really small or really REALLY large. So, I gave up. We walked back to the bus stop, very tired and having walked over 10 miles on a non-field day, and finally took a taxi back. Shortly, we will consume Mrs. Choc's lunch (plantains with rice and beans) and wind down for the evening. Last night, I had good luck watching an episode of Bones on Netflix in the room, with Spanish subtitles of course!
- - - - - - "Como todos nosotros en el Jeffersonian, el Dr. Brennan prefiere la ciencia en el tracto digestivo."
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas and Boxing Day in Belize
Christmas:
It was as you might expect it to be: super warm and sunny here in the tropics. I napped for a bit out by the pool and got too hot so I moved into the shade. We had some of Dad's precious market fruit for breakfast, and then chatted with everyone we could. I got in a nice videochat with Alex and Nina (for a bit) and then we were able to see Payton, Cassie, Nanny and Pa, Mom and the boys for a minute until our internet pegged out. Apparently there is a snow on in Southern Illinois, but we aren't feeling any of that here. For once, I miss Illinois winters. This feels too cold to be December!
We had a Christmas dinner with Banana Bank occupants, and they served up a big turkey, ham, yule log, potatoes, green beans and carrots, salad, rolls and their famous tea. Dad and I were plenty stuffed! Then, a little boy about 10 played his guitar and we sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". To top it all off, a Belizian Santa visited us with goody baskets! The people joining us for dinner were a bunch of travelers who had visited more Maya sites than I have, but no surprise. The woman graduated with a biology degree from UIUC in 1966, so we talked about the campus and the odd biology profs, the buildings, and everything else.
Boxing Day:
Back to the field. I saw Marcus again (Cleofo's son) and he now has a motorcycle and looks rather more like a teenager than the boy I remember. Cleofo, Ernesto, Dad and I surveyed a two mound sites and one non-mound site, and all before lunch! We uncovered another treefall near the first mound that produced a few good chunks of pottery. Nothing of real note, but better than I expected. Ernesto had to fix a part on his car, so he dropped us off early at Banana Bank and we took a taxi into town. Unfortunately, the holiday that is never recognized in the US is very prevalent here and almost nothing was open. So, we went back to Dad's favorite supermarket for more instant coffee and walked back the 5+ miles to Banana Bank. We were rather pleased with ourselves ;) Then, we pressed the plants for the day, and all before dusk. As I type, I am listening to a couple of teenagers telling racist jokes by the pool, and the birds in small cages near our room yelling and tweeting. I got one of them to talk to me earlier. I said "hi" and he said "bye bye". I felt like that was my Dr. Doolittle moment of the day. I better get this laptop back to Dad so that he can blast some more Christmas music in our room before the holiday is officially over in Belize!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve Eve:
We slept in! Until almost 8am :) I am currently among the ranks of the early to bed, early to rise, but this will all change on January 12 I am sure! Then, we called a taxi and went into town. Dad asked me, upon arrival in Belmopan, if his backpack screamed "tourist", my response was "every part of us screams 'tourist'!"
Quite a few places were closed for Sunday, but we managed to get into the Bull Frog Inn and snag some internet and coffee. Then, we walked to the Asian business section on the far side of town and visited some shops there. We passed a very drunk man, and Dad made us cross to the other side of the road to avoid walking next to him. We enjoyed shopping at the M&J Supermarket! Dad found some vienna sausages (of course) and instant coffee to supplement what we get from Mrs. Choc (of course) and I found some very fantastic shoes, and DVDs of "The Dictator" "The Campaign" and "Moonrise Kingdom"! We had lunch at the Happy Family Restaurant with a bunch of Amish field hands and a few families. Then, we walked all the way back to the other side of town to attempt to talk to the family, and they had already left for church. So, we had ice-cream, and Dad had another coffee, and we walked back to the market near the bus-stop and taxis. Dad loaded up on bananas, oranges, and apples. As we were on our way home, Dad had the taxi stop back by the supermarket and he bought a huge machete (which he is currently in the process of sharpening). Afterwards, we finally got a chance to chat with Mom and the boys.
As I was laying in bed trying to sleep, I heard very loud Christmas music. It started out very loud, and then got a little softer, and then ramped back up again. I could hear Dad shuffle around in his bed and I didn't want him to get agitated at those crazy people playing Christmas music super late at night (like around 8pm), so, I finally got irritated enough and grabbed my flashlight, slipped into my flip-flops and prepared to let them have it. As I was reaching for the door handle, I noticed that Dad had my computer hostage on his bed and was clicking through Christmas music. The culprit was my very own father!! So, naturally, I made him turn it down.
Christmas Eve:
It was another work day for us, so Ernesto picked us up at 630am. Cleofo and his son, Marcus, had torn down Mrs. Choc's kitchen, so we ate breakfast inside his house. The new kitchen should be finished soon! We tried to locate the mound that I had surveyed in 2010 (M73) that was farthest away from Yalbac. Unfortunately, due to the overgrowth, it was impossible. We then decided to survey a mound close to Yalbac. Again, it took forever to find. Even with a mound ~100-200m from the main site, it took us 3 hours to find it. Dad, all the while, was hacking around with his blunt machete. We managed to survey the final ceremonial mound by late afternoon and we headed back. At the moment, Dad and I are preparing our fantastic Christmas Eve dinner extravaganza. We are having four cheese instant potatoes and I am adding Ramen noodles to the menu. Dad is making the potatoes and (of course) reading all the instructions loudly to our room, with no intended audience. We will have ourselves a Merry Christmas yet :)
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Return to Belize
I am FINALLY in Belize again! After waiting over 2 years, I have finally re-entered the borders of this fair country and have continued doing my research in Classic - Modern Maya Botany. I will try to write more tomorrow, but, only because I know that my Mother is waiting, I will write a short update tonight :)
Dec. 20: I thought that I was going to fly to Belize. "Thought" being the key word here. Actually, I got a call from an automated voice at 2am (which I didn't get until I woke up around 5am) saying that my flight from STL - DFW had been canceled. So, I spent 1 1/2 hrs on the phone with the international end of American Airlines trying to get my flight rescheduled. The best I could do at first was an overnight layover in New York (NOT), and then the second best was a flight on Dec. 22 with a promise of a two-day extension on the other end of my trip (try, I can only be in Belize over Winter Break and not a day over!), so finally she found us seats on a couple of planes for the 21st (the end of the world!), so I got those reserved. Mom called American Airlines and spoke to someone about getting my Dad and I free space in a hotel since our new flight was scheduled to fly out at 6am, and we would have to leave our house at 2am to get there on time! When they weren't of any use, she asked to speak to a supervisor and finally got our room (of course).
We drove to St. Louis and I spent over 3 hours in the airport trying to get the vouchers for our room and get checked in for our flight. Unfortunately, American Airlines had canceled almost all of their flights (or so it seemed) and I was standing in line with a bunch of Indian travelers trying to (and failing) to catch their rescheduled flight to get to their connecting flight home, and a bunch of overly friendly Army boys in basic training ready to talk smack about their drill sergeants and sweet things about their mothers. Then, after waiting for those long hours in the economy line, Mom came in and went to the "first class only" line and got instant service. Who knew that cutting in line could be so easy and quick?
Dec. 21: Dad and I took the 4am shuttle to the airport and got checked in. We flew from St. Louis to Dallas (where we had a short 1 1/2 hr lay-over) during which I took a nap in the sun like a fat orange cat, and then woke up in time to stand in line at Starbucks and end up being one of the last to board because I NEEDED that coffee. We flew to Houston, where we met up with another Maya archaeologist who studies in the Peten. I read his son's t-shirt, which said something about a Guatemalan Maya trip in 2005, and asked about it, which led into a discussion of who exactly I was and who I was studying under (yes, I still look young!) and where I was working. From there, we flew to Belize. Ernesto picked us up from the airport in an intensive but short-lived downpour and we went on to Banana Bank. We checked into a 4-bed room with a nice partially-dividing wall (which helps shield the snoring from my awesomely loud (and loudly awesome) Dad. It is kind of funny to me because, in 2010, the room we are staying in was "the boys room".
Dec. 22: First field day. Ernesto picked us up bright and early and we ate breakfast with the lovely Mrs. Choc. Cleofo was able to get off work (because it is the holidays) and he could help me in the field! We got our passes to go into Yalbac and the guys hacked away at the jungle so that the poor gringos could walk. We resurveyed behind the mound excavated in 2010 by the UIUC field school. My has it changed! So many downed trees and intensive undergrowth. It is tough to survey but exciting. Sure glad to have my biologist-Dad in tow to help with sampling, identification, and of course a reality check to my fast-pace mentality. I really think that Dad was born in the wrong country - he really would have worked well here in this slower-paced environment. And, bonus, he is the right height ;)
Photos to come when I am not at Banana Bank :)
-Colleen
Dec. 20: I thought that I was going to fly to Belize. "Thought" being the key word here. Actually, I got a call from an automated voice at 2am (which I didn't get until I woke up around 5am) saying that my flight from STL - DFW had been canceled. So, I spent 1 1/2 hrs on the phone with the international end of American Airlines trying to get my flight rescheduled. The best I could do at first was an overnight layover in New York (NOT), and then the second best was a flight on Dec. 22 with a promise of a two-day extension on the other end of my trip (try, I can only be in Belize over Winter Break and not a day over!), so finally she found us seats on a couple of planes for the 21st (the end of the world!), so I got those reserved. Mom called American Airlines and spoke to someone about getting my Dad and I free space in a hotel since our new flight was scheduled to fly out at 6am, and we would have to leave our house at 2am to get there on time! When they weren't of any use, she asked to speak to a supervisor and finally got our room (of course).
We drove to St. Louis and I spent over 3 hours in the airport trying to get the vouchers for our room and get checked in for our flight. Unfortunately, American Airlines had canceled almost all of their flights (or so it seemed) and I was standing in line with a bunch of Indian travelers trying to (and failing) to catch their rescheduled flight to get to their connecting flight home, and a bunch of overly friendly Army boys in basic training ready to talk smack about their drill sergeants and sweet things about their mothers. Then, after waiting for those long hours in the economy line, Mom came in and went to the "first class only" line and got instant service. Who knew that cutting in line could be so easy and quick?
Dec. 21: Dad and I took the 4am shuttle to the airport and got checked in. We flew from St. Louis to Dallas (where we had a short 1 1/2 hr lay-over) during which I took a nap in the sun like a fat orange cat, and then woke up in time to stand in line at Starbucks and end up being one of the last to board because I NEEDED that coffee. We flew to Houston, where we met up with another Maya archaeologist who studies in the Peten. I read his son's t-shirt, which said something about a Guatemalan Maya trip in 2005, and asked about it, which led into a discussion of who exactly I was and who I was studying under (yes, I still look young!) and where I was working. From there, we flew to Belize. Ernesto picked us up from the airport in an intensive but short-lived downpour and we went on to Banana Bank. We checked into a 4-bed room with a nice partially-dividing wall (which helps shield the snoring from my awesomely loud (and loudly awesome) Dad. It is kind of funny to me because, in 2010, the room we are staying in was "the boys room".
Dec. 22: First field day. Ernesto picked us up bright and early and we ate breakfast with the lovely Mrs. Choc. Cleofo was able to get off work (because it is the holidays) and he could help me in the field! We got our passes to go into Yalbac and the guys hacked away at the jungle so that the poor gringos could walk. We resurveyed behind the mound excavated in 2010 by the UIUC field school. My has it changed! So many downed trees and intensive undergrowth. It is tough to survey but exciting. Sure glad to have my biologist-Dad in tow to help with sampling, identification, and of course a reality check to my fast-pace mentality. I really think that Dad was born in the wrong country - he really would have worked well here in this slower-paced environment. And, bonus, he is the right height ;)
Photos to come when I am not at Banana Bank :)
-Colleen
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