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From July 15-August 1, 2002, I taught a course
in applied linguistics for Belizean school teachers at the Faculty of
Education, University of Belize, in cooperation with the University of
North Florida.
Belize (see map) is tucked into the Caribbean
coast of Central America between Mexico and Guatemala.
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| The students were a
typically Belizean misture of linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. In
addition to standard West Indian English, the languages represented
included Creole English; Garifuna; Spanish; and Maya. |
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| Here a student
presents a summary of an article from our textbook to the class. The
students were very good at finding implications for education in Belize
in the articles, which were originally intended for North American
sudiences. |
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| At the end of the
course, the students provided us with a program expressing their
appreciation, as well as a buffet of Belizean foods. |
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| We ate lunch every
day in the student cafeteria. Lunch was usually stewed chicken and
either rice and beans or beans and rice (in rice and beans the two are
cooked together; in beans and rice, they're cooked separately). |
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| I stayed in an
apartment behind the Chateau Caribbean Hotel. In front of the hotel is
the Caribbean Sea; but there's no beach, just a rocky sea wall. Just
down the street is the Radisson Hotel. |
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| Belize City remains
the commercial center of Belize, even though the political capital was
moved to Belmopan to avoid the brunt of tropical storms. Historically,
Belize has identified more closely with the British West Indies than
with the Hispanic countries of Central America. The flags of the
Caribbean nations fly over this roundabout in Belize City. |
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| Belize City was built
on very low-lying ground, and drainage is a problem. Almost every
street has a drain running alongside. |
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Outside Belize City, at the village of
Bermudian Landing, is the Community Baboon Sanctuary (baboon is
the Creole word for howler monkey). The villagers, mostly farmers
practicing slash and burn horticulture, have organized to maintain the
monkey habitat by agreeing to leave forest areas between their fields
and also along the banks of the river.
Here Mr. Follett, the curator of the village
museum, tells us about some of the local wild plants on the way to see
the baboons. He attracted the monkeys to us by imitating the
distinctive call of the males.
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| A baboon, or
black howler monkey, eats fruit taken from one of the visitors. |
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| The monkeys weren't
the only ones that got to eat. This is a termite nest. Mr. Follett
assured us that the termites were good; I found them to have a minty,
fresh taste. |
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| The Belize Zoo is
located on the Western Highway on the way to Belmopan. The zoo houses
only animals native to Belize, including jaguars, tapirs, crocodiles,
howler and spider monkeys, macaws, and other critters. The toucan is
one of the national symbols of Belize. |
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| Near the Zoo is
Cheers, an open-air bar and restaurant. Here the waitress attends to
some members of our group. |
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| A bit further along
the highway, outside Belmopan, is Guanacaste National Park. Here I am,
in front of an enormous Ceiba tree. |
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| An open-air market in
Belmopan. |
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| Produce
includes the familiar and the less familiar. |
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| I met
this young lady in Belmopan when we stopped for gas. |
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| The Maya developed a
complex, stratified state society, complete with monumental
architecture, an accurate calendar, and the concept of zero, in
Mesoamerica long before the European states appeared. These are the
impressive ruins at Cahal Pech, near San Ignacio in western
Belize, which according to our guide Rubén means Place of
Ticks. |
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| Rubén explains
part of the ruin for us. |
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| Near San
Ignacio is a butterfly breeding sanctuary, established by a retired
couple from Michigan. Residents include the owl butterfly, and the
Jesuschrist lizard, so named because it can run across the surface of
water without sinking. |
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| Another denizen of
the butterfly sanctuary is this tarantula, which seemed to feel quite
happy with me, while another of our professors looked on skeptically. |
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| The Hummingbird
Highway between Belmopan and the Blue Hole. Speed bumps, sometimes
called sleeping policeman, are frequent and placed to slow down
traffic near villages. |
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| The Inland Blue Hole
is a cenote, or sinkhole near the village of Armenia on the
Hummingbirrd Highway. |
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| Outside Blue Hole,
Maya people sell crafts. |
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| An important ethnic
group of Belize is the Garinagu, speakers of Garifuna, an Amerindian
language brought from the Eastern Caribbean to Central America around
1797. Mr. Sebastian Cayetano is the director of the Garifuna Museum in
Belize City. |
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| The Garifuna Museum
houses artifacts and documents chronicling the exile of the Garinagu
from St. Vincent, which in Garifuna is Yurumein. The Garifuna
culture was formed in the 18th century on Yurumein by the
fusion of Arawaks, Caribs, and escaped African slaves. In 1797, to make
the island safe for settlers, the British transported many of the
so-called "Black Caribs" to Honduras, from where they spread to
neighboring parts of the Central American coast. |
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Belize is also famous for the cayes, small
islands, some no more than stands of mangroves, that are found within
the world's second longest barrier reef.
Cayo Hicaco, or Caye Caulker, is a 45-minute
water taxi ride from Belize City. The welcome sign provides a map of
the settlement.
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| The street that
connects the two jetties visible on the map above. The streets are
unpaved, and except for one or two trucks most vehicles are golf carts. |
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| Shopkeeper, Caye
Caulker. |
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| The Day of the
Iguana, Caye Caulker. |
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