My Glasses Really Could Use a Good Cleaning

Life is a matter of perspective.  We can only see the world through the glasses we've been given.  Our upbringing, where we live, who we interact with, all affect how we see the world.  Though, I would argue that once in a while our glasses get dirty and it's up to us to make them clean and clear again.
After returning to the US, now nearly 9 months ago, I've realized how much and how easily those glasses can affect how I view the world.  A year ago my family and I were living on less money than we are now yet, we were wealthy by our community's standards.  In fact, there were times when I would feel embarrassed by my family's apparent wealth.  If we needed something, I mean really needed it, we could purchase it.  Yet, somehow it amazes me how little we did in fact need when we lived in Belize.  I sure do seem to think I need a lot more things now.
Since we've been back I realize how much I've grown accustomed to be surrounded by wealth here.  I live in a community in St. Louis that is comprised mainly of middle to lower middle class people.  We have a community food pantry about 1 mile down the road.  Wealthy?  Huh?  Middle and lower middle class don't sound wealthy to me.
We are a single income family of 7 surviving on a teacher's salary.  Our budget is TIGHT.  I look at our bills this month and they just don't match up with our income.  I've already found myself back in the routine of feeling "poor."  We need a new vacuum cleaner because the used one we recently purchased broke.  The check engine light has been on in one of our cars for two weeks now.  We're rehabbing our 80 year old bathroom and we've run out of funds to finish it right now.  Whoa is me!  Tuesday I found myself nearly brought to tears when I saw the fuel light pop up on my car--$75 for a refill.  And then as I headed right for the gas station it occurred to me--if I were in Belize and I needed gas for my car but didn't have the cash to fill up what would I do?  I'd do what everyone else of the minority of who are blessed to even own a vehicle in Belize would do--I'd shrug my shoulders, pull out my wad of cash and coins that I did have, and fill my tank with a few gallons of gas.  End of story, no fretting, move on.  There were Belizeans all over town whose car had become a permanent fixture on their lawn simply because they didn't have the cash for gas, insurance, or a small repair that was needed to run the vehicle.  But they also didn't worry about it either.  And here I am, nearly crying because my car "needs" a fill up and I know I'll be "paying" for it with my credit card.
  As Americans, nearly every single one of us are in the top 1% in the world when it comes to wealth.  Yes I said top 1%.  And even the poorest tier of Americans are still richer than 70% of the world.  All we know and all we see is wealth in the U.S.  By default, it dirties our perspective of what 'wealth' really is.  The glasses we view the world through sometimes trick us into thinking we're seeing clearly.  I think, I need to fix my car that's still running, I need to have a new vacuum cleaner, I need to finish rehabbing my bathroom now, and I need to fill up my gas tank because it's on 'E'.  I'm slowly (and sometimes stubbornly) beginning to realize that it's my Life Perspective Glasses that have gotten dirty and could use a good cleaning.
 What is really necessary to my family's survival and growth is not what I sometimes see as necessary.  We need a roof over our heads--check, balanced meals--check, clean water--check, and warm clothes--check.  Most other things are a LUXURY.  I am not entitled to non-necessities even if I think I am--even if everyone around me has those things that I wish I had to make my life simpler or more comfortable.
I recently read a quote that says, "we call it sacrifice when we go without the things our grandparents never even heard of."  How true it is--such different glasses we view the world through than just a few generations ago did.
I don't think it's possible for me to ever view the world without having at least a slightly skewed perspective.  I am who I am, I live where I live, and I was raised how I was raised.  In the meantime, I'm going to get off my pity pot, give my glasses a good cleaning, and try to live my life like the blessing that it is.  That just might mean we'll have to live for a while with a partially finished bathroom (which admittedly, reminds me of "home" in Belize anyway).  I'm sure it will also mean that my glasses will need to be cleaned over and over and over and over...but as long as I stop to give them a good cleaning once in a while, I think life will be a lot more clear to me--and I think I'll possess a far greater amount of contentment to boot.

Paying It Forward

     Do you ever give yourself a pat on the back?  I know I don't, or at least I very rarely do.  Rather, I often spend my time thinking about all the "not good enoughs" in my life:  I'm not active enough, I'm not helpful enough, I'm not thankful enough, I'm not nice enough, I'm not giving enough...you get the idea.  I very rarely give myself credit for the things that I do do because I always see the human weakness in them. Perhaps I brought dinner to a new mom but there are two other new moms I know whom I've neglected to help.  Or I finally sent that long awaited Thank You note but it should've been sent weeks sooner.  I think that's one of the biggest, most crippling things that hangs over my head--my inadequacies that really just make me human.
     I am not an Evangelical in the religious denomination sense of the word but try to live my life in an evangelizing way.  I try to live a life that sets an example to others whom I come in contact with because you never know who and how you are impacting others.  I think of that friend who said those simple words that led me to believe I wasn't parenting so terribly bad.  Or that person at the store whose smile was so big, I could see her joy radiating right into my own very being.  It's those things I try to remember when I go about my own daily ways.  I try to remember that although I may often see myself and all my imperfections, I'm still exactly who God made me to be.
     Tuesday was one of those rare occurances where I was confronted with that--while I'm nothing special, God proved that He still uses me just the same.  Back track two weeks and I was running around frantically trying to put together a care package for dear friends of ours who are missionaries in Belize.  I was wrapped up in the busyness of the season and kicking myself for not sending the package sooner so as to assure it would arrive in time for Christmas.  I ran into a friend of mine at a store and was telling her about the package I was trying to fill for shipment asap.  We then shared pleasantries and went our separate ways.  I hadn't thought much of it but aah, that's when God steps in.  Inspired by my continual (albeit at times "not enough") efforts to help those in Belize, my friend then went home and nominated me for a local news program's Pay It Forward segment.  The next thing I know, on Tuesday a news crew shows up at my door to hand me $500 to "pay it forward" in Belize!  I'm elated by all the possibilities that this money can be used for.  And really, I could not think of a better Christmas present but somehow I still allowed negativity to creep in.
     Obviously, I was very surprised by this attention, especially when I don't feel as though I deserve it.  But then again, I don't.  After all, it's not about me anyway and really, I've never viewed it as such. After they left, in spite of the fact that this news station found our efforts worthy enough to encourage, I kept thinking about all the "not enoughs".  I hadn't gotten service groups committed to delivering supplies for me fast enough, I hadn't mailed checks soon enough, I hadn't touched base with my contacts in Belize often enough. Had I really just allowed this great blessing to somehow feel like a failure in my own eyes??
      And then shortly after the news crew left I opened my mail and God had a little message for me.  In it was a Thank You note from a friend telling me how touched beyond words she was by a gift bag of goodies I'd left her a week back. Again, it was just something I thought I should've done sooner, but apparently did at just the right time.  I did it because a friend had given me the same bag labelled "Mom's Break" filled with different goodies and touched by that, I wanted to do the same to someone else.  Here I was already paying it forward and hadn't even acknowledged it.  Someone touched me, had an effect on me, and I in turn, touched someone else, had an effect on them, all without fully realizing--until that moment that is.
     It's the littlest things we do that set us apart from everyone else.  We are, or can be, a living example of God's love to others:  in our smile, in the words we speak, in the way we help others, and often times in the most discreet of ways.  We never know when God will use our actions to inspire or encourage others but let's try to live our lives in a way that leaves us open to that.  I'm nothing special, I'm not holier than though, I'm just a regular mom and wife who chugs away at daily life trying to set an example for others and often times failing in my actions.  That's ok.  God doesn't want me to be perfect, He knows I can't be but I tend to believe that He delights in our good works, even the simplest ones and He enjoys using us to bless others.  Mother Teresa is believed to have said, "we can do no great things, only small things with great love."  Let's stop allowing ourselves to be disabled by all the "not good enoughs" in our life and choose to live each moment of each day as an example of God's love.  You never know when or how you will impact others whom you come in contact with and you never know how that will in turn, impact others even.  So instead of reaching for a bar set too high, I'm going to keep trying my best to be the best example I can be.  Not great, not perfect, but hopefully an example that God can be proud of.  Because, I never know when, or how I will impact someone next.  And in the meantime, I will try to give myself this one time, a pat on the back.
     Thank you God for using me in ways I hadn't even realized.

P.S. if you are interested in viewing my story on the news, tune in to St. Louis' Fox 2 news on Thursday Dec. 27 at about 9:55 pm.
Here's the link to the story: http://fox2now.com/2012/12/27/pay-it-forward-kuhnert-family/

Somethin' to talk about

     We will be giving our first two presentations on our experience in Belize during October.  The first will take place at St. Dominic Savio church in Affton, MO on Sunday, Oct. 21 after the 10:30 am service in the church cafeteria (Feuerbacher Hall).  The second talk will take place on Wednesday, October 24 at 7pm again at St. Dominic Savio in Affton in the parish hall.  Both talks are open to everyone who wishes to come hear about our experience from the past year.
     Due to some obvious time constraints, we would love more than anything to focus on what it is that you would like to hear about.  If you have any questions or specific topics that you would like to see addressed please let us know.  Feel free to post a comment or you may email us directly.
     In the meantime, if you would like to have us present to your group, church, or organization, we are currently scheduling dates.  We are really excited about getting the opportunity to share with you on the amazing year we spent serving the poor in Belize.

You Gonna Eat That? Part 3

So now that we've touched on shopping and cooking in Belize let's talk about my favorite subject:  eating in Belize.  While admittedly, Belize isn't exactly the culinary mecca that it's northern neighbor, Mexico is, that doesn't detract from the fact that Belize has some really amazing dishes all its own.

     Latin American in location, yet Caribbean in much of its influence, Belize has put together its own meal time staples that rarely leave a stomach wanting for more.  It's almost as if its plates are a marriage of Latino and Caribbean, yet intermingled with some Indian influence (brought on by the Indians who arrived as indentured servants some 150 years ago).

     The absolute number one most popular dish in Belize, one that can be found available at nearly every party gathering, every restaurant, every market food stall, and on many weekly dinner/lunch tables is stewed chicken and rice and beans or sometimes beans and rice--the latter different than the former (and cole slaw on the side if you really want to get technical).  And if you're lucky, you'll find it served with one or two slices of fried plantain, yum yum.  There's just something about this dish that our family loves and whenever we feel like we need some true comfort food, we almost always cook up a batch of it.  In fact, when we returned back to the states, stewed chicken was the very first meal that I cooked our family.

     Chicken, being the most popular meat served in Belize, is also excellent served as curry chicken, BBQ chicken, chicken terkari, escabeche and fried chicken.  The best part about these dishes is that they can be found at any number of local restaurants for anywhere between $2.50 and $5 for a full meal, except for BBQ chicken which can usually be picked up by any number of roadside vendors on Saturdays for no more than $3 a plate.  

     But while chicken is the most popular dish, there are also many other great culinary delights that we enjoyed common to Belize.  Over the months we had opportunities to try fish such as jewfish & snook, gibnut (a delicious large rodent), armadillo, iguana (known locally as bamboo chicken), crab stew (made with the local crabs that run around the streets during rainy season), hudut (a garifuna stew with fish and a coconut milk broth and mashed plantains on the side) and one of my all time favorite dishes in the world--cohune cabbage (no cabbage involved).  

Crab stew made from local land crabs

Panades w/cabbage relish,
cohune cabbage & tortillas

     Every so often a local Mayan will come by, selling bags of cut cohune or even an entire "log" of cohune for about $5.  Cohune is a type of palm tree common to the area and by cutting down the tree and removing the heart you've got the basis for cohune cabbage--think hearts of palm but in large quantities.  The main spices are tumeric (locally known as yellow ginger) along with salt and pepper.  The cohune gets chopped up and boiled with a sauteed onion and spiced.  It's often cooked with chicken pieces and always served over rice.  Surprisingly simple, I find the dish to be nothing short of spectacular and I made it whenever I could get my hands on some cohune.

     One of my absolute favorite things about living in Belize are the umpteen different adults and kids who walk or ride around selling different goodies door to door:  ice cream cones, bread buns, creole bread (similar in flavor to Hawaiian bread), johnny cakes, meat pies, coconut tarts, "fudge" (a gooey conglomeration of sesame seeds, chocolate and who knows what else), sticky buns, tamales (complete with whole chicken parts as filling), panades (fish, beans, or chicken style empanada), corn tortillas, and our absolute favorite--corn fritters.  All averaging about 50 cents a piece or less.  A lot of times moms would send their children out to sell their homemade goodies.  As much as possible, we would try to buy whatever the kids were selling because I knew that most times, the children could not come home until all of their items were sold.  It's no fun seeing a 10 year old out in the dark begging people to buy his last 4 buns so he could go home.  Consequently, kids loved coming up to our door to sell us mom's baked goods and we loved trying the new things they had to offer.  

     Belizeans use a handful of common spices, at least one of which can be found as a basis for nearly every dish cooked there. Recardo (what you may know as adobo) is a very common seasoning added to dishes along with curry powder, tumeric, chicken bouillon, ginger and coconut milk, all of which I learned to appreciate and administer accordingly to the appropriate dishes.  Oregano is used often in whole dried leaf form along with cilantro and culatnro (cilantro's flavorful and easy to cook with cousin).  Surprisingly, most Belizean dishes are not spicy--though habaneros are extremely common here and hot sauce is more common than ketchup--it's served on pretty much everything.  

Custard apple (tastes like a plum)

one of the many varieties of bananas

   Living so close to the tropical rain forest, fruits abound here.  Between the 7 of us, I would say we've tried more new fruits (and veggies) here than varieties we'd previously tasted in our past years combined.  Some were delicious additions to our palate such as custard apples, cacao pods, breadfuit (a starchy fruit similar in flavor to a potato), bilimbi (made into juice) and the multitude of banana varieties.  Many others, well, let's just say, we're happy to leave those in Belize.  I think that what I found to be most surprising is that there are so many local fruits available that not even all Belizeans are familiar with every variety, plus, our children could always be seen munching on a new fruit that a friend grabbed for them from a tree in their yard.

cashew fruit (the nut is seen encased
on top left fruit) this was one fruit we
did not care for

 

cacao pod:  you can eat the
white membrane around the
 cocoa beans

  Being that there are so many different cultures here in Belize, the foods reflect that.  The Mayans may offer cacao drink to a guest while the Garifuna people would probably serve cassava bread.  Each ethnic group has a few foods that are unique to them.  But, the different cultures serve up a lot of the same foods as well, with just slight variations in the spicing.  While the Belizean menu isn't as extensive as a foodie such as myself might hope for, there never seemed to be a loss of opportunities to try something new.  I could probably write an entire blog on each food group and the foods available in Belize. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed learning about a few of the different foods available in our host country and find yourself encouraged to both want to try perhaps something new and appreciate some of the amazing varieties that we do have available in the US.   

     

  

You Gonna Eat That? Part 2

               So now that you’ve had a chance to become acquainted with some of our shopping adventures in Belize, I wanted to touch on cooking and eating in Belize—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

                I knew cooking would be its own challenge when we moved to Belize, and though I welcomed the challenge at first, I soon found that I was a bit of a “slow learner” when it came time to getting a handle on cooking and eating in Belize. 

For the first few months, it would take me anywhere between 2-5 hours to put together a meal.   So, the first thing I wanted to do was find out how other Americans had been doing it in my area, to see what their typical meal looked like and how it was prepared.  Soon after we moved to PG, I’d arranged a visit with an American missionary “supermom” who managed to grocery shop once a week and put together some amazing meals.  Unfortunately, her family was operating on a budget that was quite a bit higher than ours and many of her meal ideas had to be altered for us or wouldn’t work altogether but I did learn a lot of tips on meal planning and cutting down my time in the kitchen.  Later I met, and became good friends with, a missionary mom whose family is similar to ours: tight budget (though a bit tighter than ours), 5 young kids, and two hungry adults.  They had recently adjusted their budget due to a drop in support and the mom quickly realized that food is one area where they could control what they were spending.    This amazing mom gave me the confidence to reorganize myself and my mindset that would help change the way I “thought” my family needed to eat.   But like I said, I was a bit of a slow learner.

The real catalyst for quick change happened about 2 or 3 months after we moved to Belize, and of course it hit me in the head like a 2x4.  I had been in the kitchen cooking up some Chicken Curry (a common Belize dish).  As I stirred my skillet full of simmering chicken, the 11 year old neighbor looked on.  As she peered over the stove top, she looked at my pan and then looked up at me and said “you gonna eat that?”  I replied, “yes, we’re having this for dinner.”  And then she said, “no, you gonna eat all of that?”  That’s when I realized, panged with guilt, that I was cooking a skillet full of chicken for my family but it was an unreasonably huge amount of meat—an amount that I thought we needed.  At this point my family definitely wasn’t stuffing ourselves at meals but I also now realized that meat did not have to be such a huge part of the meal.  No one around us is eating anywhere near this much meat, not even middle to upper class Belizeans, nor is the missionary family (whose family is the same size as ours), and they also are not wasting away to nothing.  And so began my most important cooking lesson in Belize. 

Now, what had previously been enough meat to feed our family one meal (plus a lunch or two for a few people the next day) could be stretched to cover two meals by simply adding more starch (namely rice), homemade breads, and veggies.  It took some getting used to—we still felt hungry after meals, craving more meat, for a short while—but so soon enough, I got a handle on it.  Meal prep began to decrease (even more so if you include the fact that I was regularly making a meal to last two days), tummies were satisfied, and the weight we had dropped the first few months began to get put back on.  Meat was no longer the star of the show, just an important sidekick, and our plates really did appear to be a lot more balanced and healthy.  More importantly, I was cutting back on our spending and feeling a lot more in solidarity with those whom we were in community with.  Though admittedly, my family still cannot eat as much rice as a typical Belizean does at meal time—usually at least a pound per family I would guess. 

Best of all, I now was getting a better opportunity to cook real “Belizean style” and open up my family to a world a great food and tastes—some of which are still favorite dishes in our house.   (And which will be the discussion for the 3^rd and final part of this blog topic.)

Charlie helping knead the dough:  a new common activity at our house

Getting ready to cook up the string of Red Snapper that we'd bought at the market

You Gonna Eat That? Part 1

          While we may be living in the US now (2 weeks and counting), our blog posts do not have to end right?  We have a lot of reflections and observations that have been made and are still in the making and would love to continue to write about them as time permits.

           Since we’ve been back, one of the more basic questions that has been asked of us is “what did you eat in Belize?”  So, I thought some might find it interesting if we wrote about some of our food adventures—shopping, cooking, and eating the foods of Belize.  In an effort to keep from droning on in one post, I will write about each separately and break them up into a couple of different posts. 

When we first moved to Belize we felt like we’d faced a lot of food challenges.  It took some major adjustments learning to cook for a family of 7 with limited ingredients, virtually no prepared foods, no snack items, and limitations on when ingredients can be purchased.  At first, it felt like we were never getting enough to eat—chicken is the most affordable and widely available meat for purchase and the chickens here are significantly smaller than their American counterparts.  It would take me at least two hours to prepare even the simplest of meals and everyone seemed to be asking for more at meal’s end.  But, as time wore on so did my ability to adjust and improvise and my family began to reap its rewards.  One of their favorite things about Belize became my cooking.  

Shopping for food began the first challenge.  Meals have to be planned in advance because if it involves the use of any vegetables or fruits, then they must be purchased at the market which is only open during the mornings.  Back up meals must also be planned should a few necessary ingredients not be available for purchase that day.   Cabbage, carrots, and onion are staples there but beyond that, there is no guarantee that what I wanted to purchase would be available at the market.  Saturdays, Fridays, and Wednesdays are the busiest days at the market as those are the days in which buses run from the villages and the Mayan women come in to sell some of their produce.  The Mennonite farmers also come in most often on those days, especially on Saturdays.  Mennonite produce is often, though not always, superior in flavor and quality as they practice more developed farming strategies here in Belize.  They are also the only ones at the market that have any dairy products:  usually cream or a salty non-melting cheese.

 In addition to purchasing produce, fresh fish and pork (and sometimes beef) can also be purchased at the market.  There is a building at the end of market row in which you can select and purchase fish or seafood from one person and take it to another to have it cleaned.  The building is adjacent to the sea and has a dock that heads straight to the fish market’s back door.  The fishermen head straight from their boat to the market and it is not uncommon to find fish still flopping about as I am making my selection.  The best bargain to be had is what is referred to as a string of fish.  For about $5 you can purchase about 10 small red snapper that have already been cleaned and are strung together on a palm leaf.  We’ve done this several times but in all honesty, the fish are so small that there are quite a few bones in them and my kids found that to be really bothersome. 

Opposite the fish market is the meat market.  It is a small tiled room with about 6 stalls.  Here you can purchase pork at $2.50/lb for any piece of the pig.  There are 3 basic parts to the pig to order:  shoulder, butt, and rib.  I order what I want of the 3 and let the butcher know whether or not I wish them to be cut into “chops” and approximately how much meat I want in pounds.  The butcher then proceeds to bring the meat over to his chopping log and hack off the desired amount with a machete.  Since pork is double the price of chicken, I did not purchase it often but over the months I did learn that when I did buy pork, I could have the skin removed and get more meat for my money.  Many people here cut the skin off themselves and fry it up for a snack of chicharron (essentially pork rinds). 

There is one store, Balona’s, which we referred to as the “Chicken Store.”  It is the only air conditioned store in town and they have freezers full of chicken and turkey, though they do have other typical American style meat cuts, most of which we felt were over our budget to purchase.  They also sell ground beef here in 3 forms:  ground steak, ground beef, and ground meat.  The cows in Belize are bred differently to withstand the heat and consequently the beef here is very tough.   Ground meat, whatever that may be, was $1.45/lb and fit most in our budget so that is what we most often ate of the 3.  Surprisingly, it was also consistently the most reliable in flavor and texture.  I found that on the occasion that I would purchase ground beef instead, it would sometimes have a gritty texture and a strange flavor.  Even a simple meal of spaghetti with meat sauce would be almost unpalatable.

Basic grocery items can be purchased at any of the dozen or so Chinese owned grocery stores, known locally as “the Chiney.”  While a dozen shops sound like a good amount of grocery choices for a town of only 5000, they all sell virtually the same things and each is about the size of a 7-11.  Though it never fails, when I have a specific item I need, I usually have to hit at least 5 or 6 stores before I can find it in stock.  Most Chinese stores are open from 9 to 9 and even over the past year, more and more are staying open on Sundays and during lunch hours.  Much of the food here is close to or past its expiration date and it is my understanding that many items have arrived via the black market.  It’s not uncommon to see items from Sam’s that have been broken down into smaller sizes to be resold here.  You can find US brands here in everything from shampoo, to cereal, to cake mix, to spaghetti sauce but expect to pay at least double what it costs in the US.    Sliced bread is also available but without any preservatives, it is usually dry and crumbly by the time we use it.  Eggs can be bought here individually or by the tray and are never refrigerated.  You can also purchase raw pigs feet by the pound which is stored inside the shops in vinegar inside 5 gallon buckets and served up with tongs into plastic bags.  All stores sold dry beans, flour, rice, and sugar which come in 100lb sacks but are rebagged into 1 to 10lb bags for individual sale.  These items are some of the only food items which sell for less than in the US.  Though, the stores would often run out of sugar because of the occasional sugar plantation strike and the smuggling of sugar across the border (which can be then resold for a higher amount in both Mexico and Guatemala).  Famous advice from every expat I met living in PG, “if you see something at the store that you’ve never seen before, or that you really need, then buy it because you might not ever see it again or not for some months at least.”  So true.  Welch’s grape jelly was often for sale and we went through a lot, as pb& j sandwiches were a lunch staple in our house however , at one point, it was about a month and a half before I could find it on the shelves again. 

It’s been quite a change since moving back to the US and finding myself once again inside mega grocery chains with all their snacks, choices, and availability (and freezing cold a/c).  While I do enjoy the selection, I’m also trying to remind myself that fresh foods over canned goods, homemade items over processed foods, and simple fruits over snack foods really has been rewarding over the past year.  It’s maintaining the balance of the good of both which I hope to continue with in my grocery shopping “adventures” here.  

Got any ID?

     It was nearly 9 pm on Friday when Andy and I managed to sneak away and hit up Asha's Culture Kitchen, a quaint restaurant and bar down by the sea.  There were a few groups of diners there but the real reason we came--drumming.  Tonight a friend and an acquaintance were here (along with a little help from Andy) to whoo us with their high energy West African/Creole rhythms.  Emmeth Young and his friend Boombay, originally hale from Gales Point, Belize--a small lagoon-side village about 35 miles south of Belize City.  Gales Point is a creole village and Emmeth has been playing it's rhythms on various handmade drums ever since he was a young boy.  He's good; arguably one of the best drummers in Belize (and likely beyond).   Our friend Emmeth made his way down here with his family 2 years ago and has called the Punta Gorda area home ever since.

L to R:  Andy, Emmeth, and Boombay playing the rhythms

     I've had the privilege of hearing Emmeth play dozens of times over the past 13 months, many times he's played with my husband, some times solo, often times w/various tourists who'd like a "turn" at the drum, but what I remembered about Friday night is that the sound is taken to a whole new level when he plays with Boombay.  There's just an unmistakable energy when the sounds come rippling from the head of the drum when these two Belizean Creole men play together.  It's a sound that tugs at my inner core and gets me excited--here I am, sitting in an ocean side bar, in Southern Belize, listening to some of the most amazing, authentic drumming in the world.  That's pretty awesome.
     The interesting thing is that it's not just the drumming itself that I love so much.  And after it being some months since I'd last heard Emmeth and Boombay playing together, it suddenly dawned on me--it's the culture.  Emmeth doesn't just play the music, he owns it--the drums, the clothes, the food, the hair, the life style.  It's creole (with its West African undertones) right down to the core.
     One of my most favorite things about Belize is that it is a confetti mix of cultures here, yet not quite in the same way that the US is considered a melting pot.  Here, the people hold tight to the ways of their people, whether it be the Creoles, Garifunas, Mayans, Latinos, Indians, Mennonites or Chinese.  They all have their own foods, clothes, dress, and language.  In the small town of Punta Gorda alone, on any given day, one can find 8 different languages being spoken.

Garifuna girls dance and process with offertory gifts

     On the second Sunday of every month my church celebrates garifuna Mass.  It is bar none, my favorite time to attend mass here.  The Garifuna are a Black Carib people whose concentrations exist in just a handful of villages along the Central American Caribbean coast.  They too have their own clothing, language, food, and spirituality.  Somehow that culture is able to intertwine with Catholicism in a way that makes for a powerful and energizing Mass.  The drums beat and the choir sings and though I don't know the language myself, I feel moved when I sing along to their songs, I feel connected to both God and the people.  The entire congregation is united, pinkies clasped as we all sing and move to the words "Waguchi Bungiu, lidan sun fulasu,"  the first line of the Lord's Prayer--my all time favorite version of the Our Father ever. Though certainly not everyone in the congregation is a Garifuna, the ones that are can easily be spotted on Garifuna Sundays.  Sure many of them are wearing their traditional clothing, but it's more than that.  It's obvious to me when I observe them that they feel a certain connection and a pride as they recite the prayers and songs in Garifuna.  They move more passionately, they seem to listen more intently and it reverberates throughout the entire church.  The whole place just seems to feel more alive with the Spirit on those Sundays, and more connected to each other.
     It's that very same thing that gives Emmeth and Boombay a better sound I think--it's cultural identity.  Cultural pride is something that no one can take away from you--you'll always have it whether or not you are surrounded by others of the same culture.  It's always a part of someone and is a huge part of what makes people who they are (if they choose to hold on to it).  I love that about the people here.  The different cultures all co-exist and they all seem to thrive so well in Belize.  I suppose in some ways I am almost a bit envious of that.  I'm a typical American woman who is made up of such a varied mixture of backgrounds that I would say I have little, if any, cultural identity.  Most of all though, I enjoy seeing it alive in other people.  It's certainly one of the things that makes Belize so great and in some ways, I think it makes the melting pot of America pale in comparison.  Blending together can be a good thing but standing out, being a part of and belonging to something is what makes this such an amazing world we live in.  In a lot of ways, I think it's the heartbeat (or drum beat if you will) that beats in such a way that the the whole world can dance to the rhythm--from West Africa, to the Caribbean, to the Orient, to the highlands of South America--everyone is dancing to their unique dance.