Impressions of the first 48 hours.

We are here. We have observed. We have played. We have worked.

Even with plans changing every turn of the head over the weekend, things are finally getting on track. The entire group is now here, and work has begun. I am amazed at some of the things I have seen so far.

During the night time drive down Hummingbird Highway from Belize City to Independence there were several well-kept houses with newer, nicer vehicles and there were several houses that would be shacks back in the states with older, beaten up vehicles. It was difficult to avoid some of the bicyclists on the road as none of the bicycles had reflectors. They did not seem to worry about it as that is just how things are; safety features that are mandatory back home just aren't as big of a part of life here. Lots of people were simply sitting on the side of the road in small groups every so often; was this a social gathering or simply just a place to rest along the walk from one place to another? Getting to Cardies Hotel was another big shock.

To be honest, I had low expectations about the hotel. Once entering my room, those expectations were shattered; this place is wonderful! The staff is courteous, friendly, and excited to please customers. One lady, Candy, knew every one's name on the first night. No service industry employees back home have ever impressed me in such a manner. Sunday provided another vastly different view of the country in Placencia.

Placencia is a tourist spot where lots of money changes hands. The town offers nice restaurants, gift shops, and loads of tourist excursions. I went with a group to snorkel off a small island. The weather was gorgeous and the company could not have been better. After the fun in the sun, there was a great opportunity to walk the island and converse with the group there. One of the guides wanted to stay longer on the island to relax and have a few drinks; he said, "What's the rush to get back? There's nothing to do back on land." That struck me as incredible. I had seen relatively (for Belize especially) poor on the Hummingbird Highway, relatively wealthy in Placencia and yet there is still "nothing to do" for locals. Heck, there were options back in Henderson, a town of 28,000 and a county of 48,000. To see even less available in a tourist area was amazing. The work day provided a great appreciation for being able to work under extremely limited ability due to resources.

The dental site setup team discovered that lots of important articles had been stolen from Gales Point. The missing items included two of the three compressors, three of the four dental chairs, a curing light, and a bag of dental tools. To think that people would steal from a group that is providing a vital service to the area says something about what happens when people are desperate in an area. There are certain things that I will never understand, and human behavior is one of them. The work day in Red Bank was an interesting view of the local populace.

In between fixing dental equipment and assisting the dental team, I spent the rest of the time keeping the kids occupied. Let's simply say today was the most soccer I have played in my life and the first time I have really played baseball since I was 13. Most of the kids were as sweet as can be and interacted very well. Some of the children were quite different; they often wanted to assert their dominance and broke the rules. To put it simply, it was typical male-male interaction for a group of pre-pubescent. I did feel bad when I had to kick a kid out of the baseball game for repeatedly breaking the rules and tripping base runners. Boys will be boys, I suppose, and I would know. The first work day is over and lots is ahead. I can't wait.

Thanks for sticking around for this lengthy entry.

-Justin