I met Emily in Belmopan and we were lucky enough to get a ride to her village from one of the yoga instructors that ran an organic farm on Mile 21 of the Hummingbird Highway. Emily lives on mile 25 and unlike many villages that are more of a neighborhood kind of setup, this is strictly along the highway. Houses usually don’t go back more than 100 feet from the road and the village stretches for miles along the highway. Hence the Hummingbird Highway community name.
This place is covered with jungle and is considered in the valley. Belize is one of those places where anyone can grow anything but this place might be more of a paradise for anyone that cant grow things back home. Its so green and lush for as far as the eye can see.
We began my visit with a walk along the road. The reason? To let people talk. They are going to do it anyway, so instead of hanging out in her house, we might as well walk along the road and let everyone get a gander at the white bwai that Ms. Emily just brought home. She knew everyone in the village, but most of them wouldn’t recognize her other than her name. I was told later this was because I was there and people were nervous. Men wouldn’t even speak to her. I guess I was the great white hope that had come to steal away their only chance of marrying the white gyal.
After walking about 10 minutes in one direction, we agreed that it was enough because it was much of the same for miles on end. She showed me the church and the computer lab that she helps to run. The shed, which is a make shift bus stop, where her women’s group sells BBQ on the weekends. Simple life, nothing too crazy. Just like any other town. Not so much.
Before long, the characters of the village began to show themselves. Pedro is her right hand man. He lives across the street and is more progressive than most Belizeans that I have met. He believes in things like social friends regardless of gender and how it is not wrong to leave the village for something better if the opportunity comes. His wife is an amazing cook so we made the agreement to come back for dinner and then have a few drinks afterward.
Before leaving, I was fortunate enough to have Mike Scott pay us a visit. He is the white man who lives up on the hill with a massive house and has WOOFers stay at his organic farm. He invited us the next day for banana bread and coffee. After the 2 minutes of conversation, there was no way we could turn down this invitation.
We went back to Em’s house and had a beer while talking about what I had seen thus far. While sitting there, we had a neighbor of hers from a Mennonite family bring us fry jacks for no particular reason. They were delicious and it was only slight awkward to be caught drinking a beer by a Mennonite child.
Upon walking back across the street to Pedro’s house for dinner, I noticed that church seemed like it was about to begin. I asked if she went and she said no, but no one else does either. They only stand around outside and look in. We walked past and sure enough, there were about 3 people inside of a building that would easily hold 50 and then about 10 people were congregating outside the main door and the windows talking. I always believe that showing up is half the effort but maybe here it’s all you need. Emily says she constantly gets asked why she doesn’t go to church when she knows that they didn’t go either. They may have been present, but being there and being in the church are two entirely different things that her friends didn’t seem to understand.
Dinner at Pedro’s was amazing. Some of the best rice and beans I’ve had in this country so far. Pedro was busy putting on music and was inquiring into our music tastes. This is a normal occurrence here but this was a bit more animated. At one point he stopped looking through his CDs and asked, “You like Elton John? I like him.” Simply writing those words doesn’t show the amount of absolute happiness he had on his face by the sound of the words Elton John. While neither of us would admit to liking Elton John, we also wouldn’t say we dislike him. And so, for the next few hours, we were serenaded by Elton John while Pedro usually covered up all sound with is incessant singing and smiles. He was a happy man.
As you may guess, the ounces of liquid libations began to be consumed and the night was only beginning. It was obvious that music was the most important thing going on and we sat around the tv to listen. Of course, these weren’t just CDs, they were DVDs with music videos. This basically turned into a bout of singing between Pedro, Emily, and I. Some of the highlights were Michael Bolton, TLC, Meatloaf, Mariah Carey, Garth Brooks, and Warren G. I apparently need to start buying these DVDs in town because the whole NOW That’s What I Call Music 184 would rapidly go out of business if anyone from the States got their hands on some of these mixes. Never mind the fact that none of them probably have permission from the artists. Come on, this is Belize.
View from Mike Scott's house
The next morning we went to Mike Scott’s for what would turn into be a great adventure followed by hours and hours of rain. Mike Scott has lived on and off in the hills for about 30 years so he has the respect of those that live around him. He used to live in a small wooden shack that is something Peace Corps would never let us live in if we tried. By living here for 20 years, he has some street cred with the people. He isn’t just some rich white guy living on his money from the States.
He is an organic farmer that is slightly crazy and insanely nice. He invited us into his home for banana bread and coffee (real coffee, not instant Nescafe). After showing us every picture his family has ever taken, he wanted to show us the farm. It’s covered in plants and vegetables of all sorts. He showed us everything we never needed to see and tried to give us at least one of each to take home. 
Waterfall at Mike Scott's house
He took us to the waterfall next to his house and it was beautiful. He told us of plans to start a bamboo farm along the river and make things out of bamboo. He is about 75 and probably shouldn’t be making the hike down to the river again until there are stairs with a handrail built but you can’t tell him that.
On the way back to his house, he asked us as if he was sure, “You are eating soup tonight right?” What else could we say but yes? He took us to this random tree and started pulling branches off like crazy. He told us they were Meringa Trees and this was one of nature’s miracle plants. He said to boil it and use it as a broth in our soup. We had no idea what we were doing or what to do with all these leaves but what the hell? It wasn’t like he was going to take no for an answer. He even sent me packing with 2 more branches that I could plant in my house so I could make soup from home.
As I have said, we had no idea what we were doing, but we boiled it anyway. We added some garlic, onions, carrots, and other spices and set it to boil. I would have never guessed it , but we created something that was damn tasty. It tastes more like a spinach and was delicious. We prepared some rice and before long, we felt successful. I went from thinking I would throw the branches into the river to packing them in my bag and they are now planted in my back yard.
The only other thing that happened was the cold front. I’m not sure if this was a blessing or a curse. I got cold! It’s true, it probably dropped to maybe 60 degrees and was raining for about 24 hours. I still had only shorts and a t-shirt but it was the first time that I had chills in this country that is so full of night sweats that I had forgotten the sensation. I woke up in one of those cocoons that when you start to move, everything around you is cold and you swear that you’ll never move again. It was amazing.
Despite many efforts by Pedro and Mike Scott, the cold may have been the highlight of my trip to Hummingbird Highway. I left wishing I lived there for awhile. She had all that I wanted in terms of how people responded to her. Everyone smiled when they saw her, people brought her food all the time. She was welcome in everyone’s home. It was great. But then again, she only has about 100 people around her to meet and most of them do nothing but say bad things about her and everyone else as soon as you turn you back to them. I'm sure all these things happen in Yo Creek as well, but my community is probably around 2,300 people where Emily’s is only 100 or so.
I think I will eventually get to that level, it just takes more time. I may have to get out of the house more, walk around more, and venture farther than the school to get the “in” that she has. I may never get to that level, it may have something to do with gender, or that she is in a completely different part of the country with a different culture of people. I may not get there and that is OK. No Peace Corps Belize site is the same, and the more I travel around, the more truth that statement holds. Each is different, each has its own strengths, and each has its own weaknesses. Only time will allow me to find what those are in my own community. 
Isn't she lovely?
Our new temporary Country Director Bryan 
