Belize Navidad

December has been busy!We visited the Spice Farm and took a tour to see what all of my favorite spices look like while growing.

We loved eating cinnamon leaves so much that we bought a cinnamon tree addition to our family! His name is Leif.

The kids finished up with school and came out on an overnight clinic with me.

San Vicente

Arts and crafts came in handy when one of our patients had difficulty keeping track of her medications. Deirdre and a visiting physician made this pill box out of tongue depressors.

The kids were great sports and went swimming in the jungle river with me after dark. The stars are amazing out on the Guatemalan border and floating in the river you can look up and see jungle trees with an explosion of stars in between. It is magical.
We slept on the floor of the clinic in Jalacte underneath mosquito nets.

The next day, they made turkey gloves which served to amuse some of our smaller clients.

 Then, for our last weekend, we sailed with the Finneys and other friends back to the abandoned resort for some snorkeling and island fun. Deirdre and Brennan were a little freaked out by the sting rays and barracudas. We got to see spotted eagle rays, too!

 Then we sailed out further to West Snake Caye.

It was a beautiful send off.
We traveled on Tuesday and came back to the states. The kiddos are enjoying Christmas with their dad and I am enjoying time with my sister before heading out to Uganda in a couple of days. No internet there, so I will update when I return!
Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Run for the border...and beyond

A couple weekends ago, we took a much needed weekend away. We were late leaving on Friday evening and made it as far as the border town of San Ignacio. We stayed at Casa Blanca (no joke)

We had a lovely breakfast the next morning before heading to the border and on to the lovely Island of Flores in Guatemala. We left vehicles at the border and hopped in a large van with the Kelly family.

As we were nearing the causeway that goes out onto the island, I spotted a very unfamiliar sight to us - Pizza Hut. I told everyone to look out the window and I think every kid gasped and said"Oh my gosh! Pizza Hut!!" It was funny. The Peten region of Guatemala is considered to be one of the most remote yet is seemed very metropolitan as compared to Punta Gorda! We stayed at a lovely hotel...complete with swimming pool.

Flores was just an adorable little place to stay.

The next morning, we woke early and took off for Tikal, one of the larger Mayan ruins sites. We enjoyed walking through the jungle

Climbing temples

Jaguar Temple is in the background

Lord Chocolate!

And taking in the wonder of Tikal

View from Temple IV

We then went back to Flores for a lovely evening and returned the next day to Belize.

We decided to take a hand-cranked ferry to Spanish Lookout...

the Ohio of Belize

And then returned home.
Being the history nerd that I am, it is actually physically painful to not talk about these places in a bit more detail, but alas time is short. I am finishing up the courses that I am taking toward my MPH this semester and prepping for both the Community Health Worker training that I am doing this week on the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses and the Public Health Nursing course I will teach in Uganda in a few weeks. Busy! I am enjoying all of the things I am involved in, though!