As my plane landed in Belize City and everyone began to unboard the plane, I was greeted with the hot and humid air. As I went through customs, I started to meet the other students I would spend the next 18 days with. All the airport workers were very nice and welcoming and it made the stressful customs experience not so bad. Once all the students arrived we got on a bus to drive 3 hours to Big Falls, our first stop of the trip. On the bus ride over I grasped how the locals truly live and it was pretty difficult to see. We arrived at Big Falls and it was not what I expected at all. It was a small guesthouse with bedrooms and a kitchen, but no air conditioning and very little running water. We started to introduce ourselves to the group and met Dr. Steinberg and the TAs. We spent two days at Big Falls and during our time we did a few land activities where we really got to immerse ourselves in the Mayan culture. It was so cool to see how knowledgeable these locals were and willing to welcome new people.
After our time at Big Falls, it was time to head to Lime Caye. Before we left for the trip, we were warned the Lime Caye was in rural conditions and that there would be no service. We got on the boat and took the hour-and-a-half ride over to the island. When we arrived we were greeted by the island caretakers and their sweet family. We were shown to our room where we would be staying for the next 5 nights. It was separated girls and boys and the rooms were very small with no air conditioning and again very little running water, but an amazing view of the ocean. Despite the sleeping conditions, Lime Caye was definitely my favorite spot of this whole trip. Since no one had service, we all got super close in such a short amount of time. This was the place where we also got to start working on our research projects and snorkeling every day. The snorkeling here was like nothing I had ever seen before. I started to really be able to spot different species of fish and all the different types of coral we were looking at. The island was very spread out but no matter where you went there would always be a friendly face to talk to and it was nice to have a break from our phones.
To wrap up the trip, we ended out Southwater Caye which was the place with the best amenities yet. Everyone got a room with air conditioning and running water that was not limited to 2 minutes. We also were able to have cold water for the first time since we have been on the trip and it was much needed. On this island, everyone was a little more separated but that did not stop us from still hanging out all the time. At Southwater, we really got to focus on our research project and start putting together our final presentation. We were still snorkeling, journaling, and having lectures every day, but now we had to focus on our final presentation. It started to become real that the trip was almost over and I would have to leave my 25 new friends in such a short amount of time.
