A Night in Red Bank

We had our first true Belizean experience a couple weekends ago.  We were invited by Ruffina (who lives downstairs) to come to her Mayan village for a day and meet her family.  Unfortunately Richard could not come with us because of some prior engagements (sadly that is why I hardly have any decent pictures to document the trip), but the kids and I set out for this adventure.  We start the journey with a 15 minute ride on the "Hokey Pokey" (fitting name) little water taxi.  This taxi runs in the lagoon behind our house and across the water to the larger village of Independence.  This is where a lot of the people who work in Placencia live as it is much less expensive.  Then we take a 5 min. taxi to the bus station and a 20 min. bus ride to the village of Red Bank.

As we ride along (standing room only) we can see the mountains rise in the distance and slowly grow as we near the village.  They seem to just petrude out of no-where almost like large bolders stacked up on flat ground and covered in a lush layer of greenery.  Skinny pine trees rise awkwardly along the road flanked in low growing weeds and a few palm trees.  We come to a dirt road that would surely be missed if I were driving myself.  It is unmarked and doesn't have enough ware for me to think that this is really the only road to Red Bank. The bus turns in and continues another 10 min. down the dirt road.   I begin to see several thatch roof houses and a cute hand painted sign "Welcome to Red Bank" signifying our arrival.  I see Ruffina ahead of us running out towards the moving bus.  The bus driver sees her as well.  I grab my stuff and riffle through my purse to find change...only $2bz ($1US).  We have Wilburt's (Ruffina's baby) walker in hand (as she had asked us to bring) and run to greet her.   She leads us back to her parents' house.  It is more of a small compound than just a house.  The kitchen is outside on a dirt floor covered by a thatched roof.  There are several hammocks and a few plastic chairs...this is where much of their time is spent together (understandably).  A small concrete house sits just adjacent.  It has two bedrooms with sheets hanging as doors and one large rather empty room.  One hammock hangs from the rafters here, a small shelf, a tv with a blanket hung over it, a table filled with bowls and dishes, a bench, refrigerator, and an unused oven is in the corner.  Water is piped in to their compound by one single pipe that is outside somewhere between the kitchen and house area. This is where they do dishes and laundry (if they aren't taking it to the river to wash).  They also have a outdoor shower set up here in a little wood structure.  The outhouse is a ways from all of what I just described and is a wooden structure with a dirt floor and two cement holes that go into the ground.

helping with dishes

roasting cocoa beans

Ruffina's mom grinding the cocoa

ground cocoa

Ruffina's mom is there to greet us...she welcomes us with a warm smile and hug.  I love it already.  The kids run around chasing hens and little baby chicks that run freely everywhere.  They scope out the mango trees and pick a few green mangos to munch on.  Lunch is already cooking in a pot on the mud hearth under the thatched roof.  After some chatting and baby holding a large plate of lunch is served....it is DELICIOUS and the kids gobble up every bit of it (rice and beans and a piece of chicken).  This has to be the most flavorful rice and beans I have had to date while here.  We walk around the village seeing mostly thatched roof houses and visit some friends that we had made previously.  Afterwards we get a lesson on the cocoa bean (eating the sweet tangy flesh around the bean, roasting and grinding the cocoa, and then making a sweet chocolate drink).  We all pile in the back of a truck and ride through the jungle to a beautiful large river, some waterfalls, and plenty of swimming holes.  The water is cold and refreshing and we have a blast swimming, jumping off rocks, and racing across the water. It feels like the mountains of Western NC a little and makes me thankful for a common ground (in many ways).  We return and should be jumping back on the bus to return home at this point, but it doesn't take much convincing to talk us in to staying the night.  At this point I still don't know where we will sleep, but we are "all in" and so grateful for the generous offer of hospitality.

Once again we gather around the hearth but this time to get a tutorial on making corn tortillas.  They can't really understand why my mother or grandmother didn't teach me to make tortillas and perplexed out how we have gotten by this long without this knowledge (Mom, a complete oversight on your part!!).  My favorite question of the night came from Ruffina's sweet father who asked, after finding out that we were staying the night, "How will your husband eat if you don't go home?"  I LOVED it...the realization that we live in two totally different worlds.  Sharing a meal with them was so precious to us all.  We can't wait to return.  We were given one of the two beds that night and felt so cared for and went to sleep listening to a little radio playing sweet church music in their Mayan language.   I hope the kids remember this forever...I will!

- Heidi