Sad Plane Thoughts

3:15 pm, January 31, 2010

The remainder of the mission trip was so busy and exhausting that I haven’t kept up with writing about it; even posting about it, since the Internet has been down at The Tides. I know this upsets Jon. He sent Bill Orr a text because he was getting worried [I couldn’t use my cell phone in Belize; you can rent one at the airport and buy phone cards but I didn’t want to pay so much].

I am writing this in the plane to ATL from BZE. I will describe the rest of the trip, but first I want to talk about my feelings right now. My heart is crushed. From the poor to the not-so-poor, the Belizean people are so warm and genuine and welcoming. I never felt like a white interloper, or a tourist, or a stranger. In Belize, [on] La Isla Bonita, I felt loved and at home. I have made so many friends in the course of one week: the children Meredith, Jonathan, Lionel, Alex, Rodel, Kevin, Darwhyn, Chris, Aliya, Gisele, [Ralston,] and so many others; the adults Rafael, Mario, Sayed, Adolfo, Argennes, the staff of Holy Cross, Mr. Cruz, Omar, and more. I still can’t believe I am gone from that world, and I have cried a lot in the taxi, in the airport, and especially on the plane watching the last of this green paradise recede through the window. I will miss the dark skin, lovely language, and happy genuine smiles of the people [I know I am definitely crying at this point; the stewardess was concerned for me].

I will miss the land, too; the clear blue turquoise water, the sweeping hull of a boat, bobbing and docked on the Patojos’ pier, the palms and coconuts, the dogs everywhere, and the happy children on bicycles and on foot. Truly, the future of Belize is its children, and they have a rich and yielding field to reap if they sow the right seeds in the right places. What a promising land! [That was so arch poetic!]