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| Not exactly the ghetto |
South Hills area is a
pretty stable place. I grew up there. My upbringing afforded a background of
education and culture. To say it provided a limited sense of street life is a
gross understatement. I haven’t seen most other areas of Los Angles. But, I’ve
been to countries that most US citizens will never experience. To say it plainly, my life’s produced a person
of sheltered bombast when it comes to some things. One who wouldn’t have it any
other way. Look no further than this post for evidence.
Now, I’m going to talk about Belize. You could think that
the above paragraph has nothing to do with this. Or that it served merely as an
excuse to pontificate about my favorite subject. And you’d be right. At least
in part. Belize isn’t South Hills. Nor is it Poland, Luxembourg, or Europe in
general for that matter. It does happen to be located in Central America. That
was about the extent of my expectations as I boarded the plane.
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| Observing the cayes of Belize |
Upon arrival in Caye Caulker what I found reflected my
concept of Caribbean island culture. This isn’t surprising. The place happens to be
a Caribbean island. Still, I found some
aspects a bit novel. Caye Caulker attracts tourists. However, it remains
relatively undeveloped. The island has
three dirt roads. There’s one stop sign and a few stores and street vendors.
Pools are a rarity. The standard of living didn’t shock me. The way of life
stood out.
It’s impossible to spend any time at all on Caye Caulker
without noticing the prevalence of deadlocked bohemians who live there. ts
also hard to ignore the presence of what can go along with them: marijuana. I’ve spent time in countries where a third of
the population is addicted to opiates. This was my first experience being
anywhere near drug culture.
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| An island thoroughfare |
Drugs are illegal in
Belize. Caye Caulker’s local constabulary expends great effort making this
abundantly clear to anyone who visits by posting a sign on their office. We noticed the effectiveness of police measures
from our fist day.
My mother worked as a reporter for many years. She’s been to
some of the downtrodden neighborhoods that I’ve never seen. After our arrival
she pointed out a pair of sneakers hanging form an electrical line. “That means
you can buy drugs there” she educated. I looked around and noticed 6 other
pairs suspended in front of various establishments. The practice seems so
obviously unusual as to draw law enforcement attention. I’d still find in
implausible if I could think of any other ostensible reason why one would wish
to hang shoes from a utilities line.
The in-your-face-ness of it doesn’t stop there. After 8 at
night it’s difficult to walk down the street without being propositioned to
purchase some ganja. It’s so blatant that we thought it must be a police setup.
Then we saw the substance changing hands between a dealer and a boy of about 10
years. If you want it. You can get it.
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| Heading to the Blue Hole |
I ended up getting high before my time in Belize was up. No
drugs involved. The diving is noteworthy. It can act like a drug. To produce aforementioned
effect, take one Great Blue Hole and a dive tank. Descend past sharks to 135
ft. (40 meters). Remain submerged amid stalactites for roughly 6 minutes or
until the nitrogen in your blood starts making this underwater world seem
really slow and awesome. You can even add the Belizean booby reserve as a bonus
afterword! Minor side note: this process
could possibly be incredibly dangerous and may include negligible side effects such
as death. In fact, it would probably be a lot safer to just go back to Caye
Caulker and smoke some weed. Its not like
the cops appear to care anyway.
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| View from the balcony |
Don’t get me wrong. The ‘herbs’ aren’t the be all of Belize.
The coast is beautiful and the diving amazing. The street vendors too relaxed
to be pushy. The cuisine served seaside in front of peoples’ homes. These aspects seem to coexist with the shoes
hanging above it all. And yet, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. This
life is positively unique; what I saw seemed real. Almost too real in a way. Unbelizeable,
if you prefer the pun that’s used all over the island. I’ll always remember
Belize’s teaming reefs and the tropical view from our 3rd floor
apartment. But, what will always make Belize different in my mind is the
bohemianness going on in the street below.
Its nice for a change. Especially when viewed by this sheltered know-it-all.
