Unbelizeable!

I believe I became a Global Citizen when I experienced the song and dance of the Creole culture of Belize. A Creole drumming group came to entertain us one night at Monkey Bay around the bonfire. Earlier that evening, the head drummer talked to our whole group about this history of music and drumming in the Creole culture and from his native tribe in Nigeria. He then taught the group the three different types of sounds the drum makes and a few easy rhythms. That night around the bonfire, two young girls did traditional and ceremonial dances to the rhythms of the drumming group. They made sure they got everyone up to dance and even taught me some of the moves to one of the songs. The group played different songs from many different African countries and tribes. I wish that I could experience the song and dance of every nation and culture the way I was given the opportunity to experience them through this GCP trip. This trip and experience has inspired me to learn more about global music and dance to broaden my perspective of my craft.

I am planning on sustaining this amazing experience in many ways. First and foremost, I will be using my journal where I have been recording the many adventures and excursions of the trip. The journal entries are not just sequences of events, but a record of the many things I've learned about Belize culture and more. I will also be using the many photos I've taken to share with friends and family through prints and Internet resources like Facebook. I not only want to share my experience orally but through visual aids as well. Another visual aid I'll use to sustain my experience are the souvenirs that I will be bringing back for myself as well as gifts for others. However, of all these great resources to sustain my experience, nothing will be as fulfilling and satisfying to me as keeping in touch with my Mayan host family. I hope to keep in contact with them through letters and email as often as possible. They let me into their home and into their lives and I can only thank them by doing the same. There hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about them since we left Maya Centre. I hope to do anything I am able to do to help them in times of need through encouragement and more tangible things like care packages. I don't believe that this trip will be hard to sustain in my memory. An experience like this stays with people for a very long time.

-Shawnee Baird
Sophomore Musical Theater Major
Kahunah Clique