Routine

We've had a settled couple of weeks since my last update, so I thought I should let you know what our routine is like here;

Obviously most of our week revolves round the ministry. There are groups every day except Friday and we are at most of them. Tana and I take a Tuesday off to do our study, some housework and to go into town (Punta Gorda, half an hour away) to get some shopping , and on Friday we try to do something all together like visiting a town a bit further away or a beach or even both! Recreational opportunites are a bit limited. There are no cinemas in Belize and shopping is about essentials rather than leisure, so mostly it's a case of finding somewhere to get something to eat and having a walk or a swim in a river or perhaps the Caribbean. Tough life, eh? Most of the more touristy areas are further north and out of reach for a day trip. We've been invited out a few times and have had some round to ours so we are getting to know the congregation quite well.

Anyway, you want to know about the ministry, I presume. Most groups are at 8 30 which reflects the fact that everything starts early here. Only some of the villages have electricity so I suppose they make more use of daylight. Groups sizes vary from 4 or 5 to around 15 at most. Either we will all have calls and studies to do or most of us will. If we are going a little distance, we make up car parties like we would do at home to go to the same area.

First call consists of approaching a house and calling a greeting if someone hasn't seen you already (houses are half-open in construction or they keep their windows and doors open). There's no need to come up with a clever introduction or anything. People are quite happy to see Witnesses and to learn about the bible. Virtually everyone speaks English (I've only met two or three that don't), but their levels of fluency and ability to understand a Scottish accent vary! They will listen as you read scriptures and will gladly take literature. Although most of them speak Kekchi as a first language (Kriol, a corrupted English, is next most common with just a few Spanish) many can't read it since they are only taught to read at English at school. We have some literature in Kekchi, but it's a more Guatemalan style of the language so some of the locals don't like it.

So it's no problem at all spending a couple of hours talking to half a dozen people or so who will invite you sit down, some times on a plastic chair or sometimes an upturned bucket. They, especially the men it seems, will often be lying in a hammock. I haven't conducted a study while in a hammock myself yet, but Emily and Ashley have. Tough life again!

The challenge is firstly assessing and adapting to their level of English and education in general, including taking local lifestyles into account (for instance it's no use comparing the Bible to a letter since none of them will ever have received one), then persevering through the frustrations of finding them at home again and in a position to study. They have a slower pace of life and don't really seem to be that bothered about a routine. If you make an appointment quite often you will go back to find that they have gone into town or are at the river doing their washing or in the case of men are away to their farms. Because they are all religious anyway it's hard to sort out who has a real interest in learning and who just enjoy talking about it. That being said, we all have several studies who are serious and enjoy what they are learning. One of mine came to the meeting on Sunday with his wife so that was encouraging.

It's quite a thing to be spending time with people who are so positive about the Bible and who really enjoy the magazines. We're glad we are able to be here even if it's just for a little time.

I hear you've been having hot weather in Scotland, that's good. Rainy season hasn't been too much of a problem yet. We get rain almost every night and occasionally in the day, but it's still just as hot! We also get thunder and lightning almost daily, which is fun. Beasties and bites are still a part of life but they are honestly not as bad as I feared they could get, so far anyway, but writing this just makes me start to notice all my itches!

Busy Week

Sorry that it's been a while since I posted anything. We've been busy entertaining our visitors from home. I hope Mark and Sarah are back safely now. At least you'll get better quality pictures from them!

We had a busy and enjoyable week together with them and Richard. We had avoided doing some of the local touristy things until they arrived, so it was the first time doing them for us too and they managed to get out quite a bit in the ministry with us as well.

Last Monday we took a trip to a nearby cacao farm and were shown how to make our own chocolate by hand using traditional Mayan tools. There was much enthusiasm for this, especially with the female contingent of our group. It's surprising how simple chocolate is if made by hand. You just have to roast the beans, remove the husks and grind till the cocoa butter starts to melt and you get a paste. Add sugar to taste and that's it! The owner told us that the oldest types of cacao are more mild tasting than those grown commercially because the big companies want a stronger and more bitter bean so that they can add more fillers and save money. Certainly although the chocolate we ended up with was around 85% it was a lot smoother tasting than 70% stuff you buy at home. We had a meal of chocolate chicken while we were there to round things off.

At the end of the week, along with Andy and Leticia Baker from the congregation, we took a boat out to Sapodilla Caye and spent a night on what can only be described as a desert island on the barrier reef. We each had a little shack looking out over the sea. Ours was in front of a shallow bay where a large ray (sting, manta or spotted, I'm not sure) would come and flap around several times a day. The water was your classic clear blue and the  snorkeling

 on the reef was excellent. And then on the way back, to top things off, we encountered a pod of dolphins that came and played with us for about 20 minutes, jumping out of the water, racing the bow of the boat and generally being charming. Quite an unforgettable experience! It shows up the weakness of digital cameras though. Because there is a delay between pressing the button and the picture actually being taken we mostly got photos of post-dolphin ripples! Andy got some video so I might ask him for a link of he puts any of it online. And you'll have to see what Mark was able to get on his camera.

So it was really enjoyable to have guests for the week, but it felt a bit strange to see them getting ready to go home and us not to be joining them. Homesickness has affected each of us at some time but we are managing. It helps when you have things you have to do here so you feel like you are needed.

Shame about Andy Murray by the way. Now we'll have to find someone else to be disappointed in! We watched most of the match on a repeat on Mexican/Guatemalan satellite TV in a sister's thatched house with chickens and various other animals wandering in and out whilst eating homemade burritos. Not quite the traditional Wimbledon experience!