Words can’t express the adventures, memories, and joys that the Belize study abroad group had. I look forward to meeting with our group one more time in a few weeks to relive the experiences. A two week trip in paradise (oddly enough almost every hotel we stayed at had paradise in its name) felt like it flew by but in another way, it felt as if we were there for a month. One of the things I miss most of all are our meals. We ate every meal together as a group and it became like a Thanksgiving family meal every time (the ones that you look back on and cherish 😉 )

The trip started off with a few visits to Mayan ruins where we learned so much of Mayan history, culture, and their uses of the land for every aspect of living. One of my favorite lessons was learning about the different medicinal plants. We also learned that the Mayans had vast amounts of books and libraries. As many other ancient cultures, they respected nature and took care of it. The ecosystem around them dictated their religion, shelter, food, clothing, recreation, etc. On one of our visits to get to a ruin, we actually had to drive down an old logging road. I had always seen roads in photos and spoken of them in lectures, but had never been on one in person. As I looked around the dense jungle as far as the eye could see, it was so unfortunate to think that people created the road to deforest and destroy a natural habitat to millions of plants and animals. However at the same time, it was amazing how the jungle seemed to almost be healed and had become a vibrant ecosystem again since logging had stopped in that area for a few years.

As I look back on the trip, I have two very memorable experiences. One was when the group went to a hidden Mayan ruin/cave. It was called the Offering cave because it was a site for human sacrifices. As a group we had to hike about 10 minutes up a hill in the jungle to the entrance to the cave and then we started the trek down the cave to the bottom where pottery and human bones were found. It was absolutely amazing to think how the Mayans got these massive pots down into the cave. The entire group had to help each other to get down there because it was so physically demanding and we weren’t carrying a thing on us. How the Mayans did it and kept the pottery intact is still a mystery. We were able to see the sacrificial stone where they would place the person’s head. The stone was still sharp and all you could do was stare at it and imagine how many people died in the exact same spot that you were standing. Even with all these things around us, one of the most amazing things to me was our group. Here you have a group of students that barely know each other and they were working as a family. They were constantly looking out for one another, encouraging one another, and even physically carrying one another through this cave. It was a beautiful site to see unity and true humanity!

The other experience was when we were in Hopkins and went snorkeling. Many of the students had never been snorkeling before and it was priceless to see their faces when they saw coral and so many species of fish for the first time (not being in an aquarium 🙂 ). It was the moment that every instructor looks for when what is being said in the “class” becomes real and the student gets to experience it first hand. It was also a bonus that we saw an enormous (probably 7-9 feet in length) spotted eagle ray swimming in the water. It was so serene and it makes you realize that as a human you are just a small part of this vast world.

I look forward to many more study abroad trips and I hope to return to Belize in the near future!