Home

HOME-this word came to mean many things over our trip. There were times where Shawnee exclaimed "We're Home!" Once when we reached the van from our caving experience and again when we reached Monkey Bay later that day. What makes up a home? The first definition of home given is "a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household." Our major place of residence on the trip was Monkey Bay (3 nights out of the 9). But Monkey Bay was not the only place we considered home on our trip.

Home came to mean the place where I was going to lay my head at night, where I ate dinner and could take a shower (a cold one, but a shower nonetheless). Home became relative, it didn't matter where it was. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Belize, but on day 10 I was ready to go "Home" to my dorm on campus at Shenandoah University (mainly because I had gotten sunburned finally and it hurt to move).

Now that I'm "home" I find myself missing Belize. I miss hanging out with Billy, Trinidad, Malito, Michelle and Matt. I miss Pine Ridge, my Mayan host family, the rich culture of the Creole and Garifunas. I even miss my group I traveled with! Belize feels like home in ways that I can't even explain. Being back at Shenandoah I realize that I became a different person in Belize. I became bolder, more daring, I got in better shape and I got better at interacting with people. I will carry the many memories and experiences I had with me for the rest of my life. Now when I think of Belize it is like my home away from home.

This is why I feel I am truly a global citizen now.

To all of The Kahuna Cliques guides and friends in Belize, I hope you are doing well and taking care.
To The Kahuna Clique, I hope everybody is transitioning well and I miss you guys!

Love,
Leah Hawkins

Tobacco Caye Misses Shenandoah!

Michelle and Matt here,

Almost a week has passed since Shenandoah has left, and we are still energized by the group's stay with us at Tobacco Caye Marine Station. We could see from the get-go that the entire group was devoted to learning about the many cultures of Belize, experiencing those cultures in the various environments and ecosystems in which this country is blessed with, and effectively taking that education with them for the rest of their lives. We cannot express enough how wonderful it was to have such an infectiously eager group to work with in the water and on land. Thank you for putting such a good effort forth and thank you for having fun!

On the final day of their too-short stay, we were very sad to see them go, but were very thankful for the show that a pod of seven dolphins put on for the group (thank goodness they got the underwater morse code memo). We couldn't imagine a better sendoff for a very deserving bunch of young global citizens.

Thank you Shenandoah, and hope to see you again! :)

Billi & Trini

We truly enjoyed the time we spent with you..enjoyed your enthusiasm for everything planned...and for the unplanned!!! You have an effervescent contagouse love for all that is Belize...and it infected everyone around you...You all remained so very positive when faced with awkward or uncomfortable situations; such as facing the possibility of finding a scorpion in your shoe!!!!!You rose to every challenge and supported those who were not so adventures, helping to instill confidence....

Billi: Loved you all and hope to see you again some day..
Trinidad ; hey was grate to be with you to all the trip you went in Belize I enjoy it to I hope you guys enjoy to hope one day we see each other again peace and love
trini v.

I'm a global citizen!

Why do I feel I am now a global citizen, and how do I feel I am going to pass on this experience to my community?

A citizen is a member of a community or nation, with both rights and responsibilities (thank you, Wikipedia!). I am an official citizen of the United States of America. In a broader sense, though, I have exercised my rights and responsibilities to become a global citizen as I have invested time, energy, and my heart in the country of Belize. My passport and my school have enabled me to be a responsible traveler and get to know the country of Belize through ten days of absolute saturation in the environment and culture. I had the close company and resource of my wonderful traveling group, so I had a sense of cultural familiarity in the presence of other Americans, but Belize became more and more transparent the more we experienced it as a team.

Belize made it easy for this American to adjust to cultural differences by providing some buffers of what I already know. Communicating in Belize was no problem at all - although the flavor of other languages - like Creole, Spanish, and Mayan - was all around, everyone we worked with spoke English (and if they didn't, a kindly translator was close at hand.) The strong sun did require me to wear more sunscreen and drink more water than I do at home in March, but I know how to protect myself from more extreme environments - and we had good reminders from all our guides to take all precautions. I love outdoor activity, and so many things we did - hiking, caving the mind-blowing ATL caves, climbing up the Caracol Mayan ruins, zip-lining through the rainforest, observing animals in the Belize zoo, and snorkeling through an incredibly beautiful barrier reef till I had goosebumps - were outdoors.

What makes my cultural experience different is the expanse of foreign nature and culture I was able to see. I got to spend time with colorful, unfamiliar wildlife I had never seen before, on land, air, and on sea. My group breathed the air of the underworld as we swam through the dark ATL caves and saw amazing Mayan artifacts, thousands of years old - and stood in the sunlight with complex Mayan ruins dating from 500 BC. Bumping by bus over unpaved roads, our destinations never took more than two or three hours - Belize is about 8,500 square miles, smaller than the state of Massachusetts, so experiencing a good chunk of this country was possible for our group to accomplish in a relatively small timespan.

It's significant to me that our group was treated so humanly by our guides. Monkey Bay, a wildlife refuge and our home base, allowed us guides who traveled with us to every strenuous, all-day activity, and provided us with some new ones, too. Our guides Trinidad and Malito drove us for hours, ate with us, talked to us, gave us advice, and joked with us. I think everyone in my group felt loved and intellectually enriched by Billi, our adventurous guide from Canada and a world traveler. Our home stays in the Mayan households gave us a clear picture of a couple days in a Mayan life. We ate and conversed daily with our families - the food was so amazing! - and I know I miss my host family already and can see their faces in my mind. This trip and experience was personal, not just academic or professional.

When I return to the United States, I'm foreseeing talking the ears off of my family, my friends, and the poor souls that happen to be in my company all about Belize and why they need to know about it. Though I hope my wanderlust-induced enthusiasm is infectious, I plan to do more to pass on the experience to my community. I would like to use the Kriol drum circle techniques in my music therapy sessions, and further discussion on the subject with my professor Dr. Rohrbacher, who is experienced in ethnomusicology. I would like to discuss the availability of priests in Catholic churches in Belize, as I'm now aware there's a shortage in some areas. I also want to be a resource towards those who wish to experience Belizian culture, so I plan on acquiring more knowledge through reading, research, cooking, listening to punta rock, showing my pictures, and general love for this beautiful culture which is, now, all I can think about.

Trip to Belize

I went to Belize on the GCP trip. Though there were meetings, emails, and literature, I still didn't know exactly what to expect. The unexpected is scary. The group I went with were a great group. We came together not knowing each other, but as time went on, we became close. I consider them my brothers and sisters - except we all get along.

I consider my self a global citizen because of my experiences. Sure, we did a lot of fun stuff, and saw a beautiful country, but we had a home family we stayed with in the Mayan village. That experience really opened my eyes and mind. My family had 9 children, a mother, father, 3 of their children. All of these people lived in one house that consists of 3 rooms. I have never seen poverty, let alone lived in it. These people cooked for us, and any food left over went to the chickens and roosters and dog and cat. This family shares one room to sleep in - everyone is sleeping on the floor, on mattresses or just blankets. They have broken down appliances, but didn't seem to care. The one grandson wants to move to a "big city". He had a lot of questions for us, and we had just as many for him.

I want to share my experiences in pictures, and telling anyone who will listen about my experiences. I also kept a journal, and after a few days to let this experience sink in, I want to write more in the journal. I think you can write what you see, feel and hear at the moment, but some times it takes a bit more time to really realize what you have experienced.

Jeanne Traylor
Division of Physical Therapy = Staff

Global Citizen

What does being a global citizen really mean??? Visiting another country for the first time, I had no idea what to expect, what to feel, what to learn. But after the first day, after talking to the people of this land and culture, who soon became some of the many friends I've made down here, I felt "right at home." I realized that this feeling got stronger and stronger as the days went by. That's what a "Global Citizen" must feel wherever he is.
When arriving to Belize, I promised myself to hold no expectations and no limitations. By doing so, I felt that I have achieved the greatest experience possible. I have learned as much as I can, I have met some of the greatest people here, and I was able to be apart of such a great group, whom I have considered as a family during this amazing week. Even though it has just been one week, our departure tomarrow, rather than feeling like we're returning home, I am having that second-thought, nervous feeling that is commonly experienced right before leaving home. I feel that I have finally achieved the experience and role of a "Global Citizen."

-Nadir
(Biology/Pre-Med, Undergraduate)

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