Trip to the states

This past month has been a little crazy and full of changes, but refreshing none the less. At the end of last month, my initial 6 months in Belize came to an end and I went back to Texas for the first time. My roommate, Camden, (or "John" for all of the San Pedrano's who couldn't remember "Camden") and I packed up our things and went back to Dallas by way of Cayo. We made it into a three day journey while we explored some of Belize's beautiful mainland before our flight to the states. By the time we reached Dallas, it was late at night and 40˚ due to a recent cold front. Needless to say, I was freezing! And on top of that, I had begun to experience culture shock in my own home town! I was in the place where I had grown up and it was so familiar to me, but it seemed somehow different. It was as though I was in a place that I had visited before in a dream, had I been gone for hours or days or years? 6 months is a very strange amount of time to be away from the entire country and culture that you are familiar with. Anyway, it took about a week before I warmed up (litterally!) to the idea of cars and having to wear shoes everywhere. So much land and distance between places. It just took some adjusting. The time there, however, was wonderful. I was blessed to be surrounded by friends and family almost all day every day. I tried to spend time with as many people as I could, but I was only there for 13 days, and that's just not enough time to really spend quality time with very many people. I think I did pretty good though considering the majority of my time was spent having my friend, Amber, put my hair into dread locks. That took about 2 hours every day for the full two weeks! And I am incredibly thankful to have a friend working on it who knew what she was doing! As the two weeks came to a close, we had a going away party for me, because Camden was back to stay. I was the lone ranger going back to San Pedro. I got on a 6 am plane and made it to the island before noon. Once again, believe it or not, I experienced culture shock. Even though I had spent 6 continuous months there and only 2 short weeks away, I had to get used to it all over again. Everything seemed so old and run down, but the sea looked so beautiful and refreshing. Everywhere, dirt roads that turn into lagoons when it rains and if something's not rusty or broken then it's not Belizean yet! It was another time of adjustment, although, I think the biggest adjustment was living alone. I moved into the one bedroom apartment across the hall from where I stayed last time. It was so strange to me as I unpacked Cam and Herby's things they had left behind, that they wouldn't be there anymore. It felt so similar to that first time I moved to Belize and my memory kept telling me the other two should still be there. It was a little lonely at first, but I soon got used to it. I jumped right back into my routine, playing music with Barrington and the Islanders and chilling at Melody's art gallery, making hemp bracelets and crocheting beanies in hopes of selling them. The island life is a simple one and I prefer it that way, but I really enjoy visiting home.