And Finally

So it's back to Scotland, then. We've all really loved being here with all its ups and downs. Highlights for me are working on watchtower-picture territory, people's positivity towards the Bible, the hospitality and help we got from local brothers, staying on a desert island, really being close to the jungle, seeing the girls becoming part of the familes of their studies, swimming in rivers and the warm ocean and feeling really useful in the congregation.

Things I won't miss: Bites, inadequate shops, cockerels, speed bumps.

Things I will miss: The good friends we've made, Bible studies, tortillas fresh from the fire-hearth, thunder and lightning, riding in the back of the pickup, the abundant greenness, the sound of birds and insects first thing in the morning and the sun over the Caribbean.

Has it been worth it? Definitely. I would say to anyone that spending some time serving in another country, especially one as fertile in both senses as this is something to do if it's at all in your power. The lessons you learn and the experience you gain will last for a long time after the suntan fades. Will we come back? We hope so but there are a lot of factors to weigh up. It would be very sad to think we wouldn't see Belize or the brothers again.

For now it's a lot of sad goodbyes, a busy couple of days in NYC then a lot of happy hellos again.

Thanks for reading this blog

Ricky

Wildlife

We are almost ready to leave Belize now, in fact by the time I post this we may already be on our way. But I did promise earlier that I would write about the animal life round here so I'd better keep my promise (with the caveat that this is all based on limited information and you'd get more accuracy from Wikipedia!)

Scary animals - Depends on your point of view I suppose. I've sadly not seen any snakes at all while here although one brother had to kill a small boa which he found in his bedroom in the middle of the night! All the locals say there are plenty in the bush. We have seen quite a few tarantulas but I don't consider them scary, quite cute actually. And we've had several scorpions in the house, including one on our toilet seat! Scorpions do this trick of flattening themselves to the ground if they are scared so you think they have been squashed but you get a surprise if you try to pick them up! Their sting is no worse than a bee apparently. 

We also have bats in our attic which we hear squeaking and (I presume) rats up there which we hear scurrying during the night. Sometimes we even hear a fight between a bat and a rat, but we've no idea who wins. At least we normally have the fan on at night so that covers over the noise a bit. Obviously if we were here permanently we would do something about them!

Jaguars and pumas are rare and very seldom seen even by rangers. There are some crocodiles at the mouths of rivers but problems with humans are rare also.

Less scary - We see a lot of lizards - the ubiquitous geckos, which actually give off quite a loud birdlike chirp and leave annoying droppings in the house, Jesus lizards, the ones that run on their back legs and can skim over puddles, hence the name and iguanas from a few inches long up to two metres. In fact we shared some iguana tail for lunch on one of our preaching trips so there's at least one less than when we arrived.

Theres a lot of vulture-like birds referred to as "John crows" by the locals which hang around and deal with roadkill, and the slightly more attractive hummingbirds which came often to the tree in our front garden when it was in bloom and frequent the feeders which several brothers have out for them.

As for the other trademark Belizean animals- tapir, gibnut, spider and howler monkeys etc- I'm afraid the zoo was our only encounter with them.

Domestic  - Livestock live in and amongst the homes here. Chickens and ducks will wander freely through homes and we were often having to slow down to avoid free range pigs! Cows are fenced in and horses are usually tethered but sadly we've seen a few quite overworked ones. While it's nice to have animals wandering around the sound of cockerels literally all through the night can be quite wearing.

Insects - There are five main biting insects - mosquitos, red bugs, doctor, sand and botlas flies -which produce bites of various sizes and itchiness on various parts of the body. I'm not sure if I really want to talk about it! But actually down here is less bad for mosquitos and sandflies than other parts. You get used to a level of irritation but there are times when you've picked up a few too many and it beginds to drive you crazy. Being hot and sweaty doesn't help, either.

Ants almost deserve a category all of their own. They are everywhere! We have a leaf-cutters' nest near the house and a trail in front of our steps which often has a procession carrying their incredible loads. It seems that any rock you turn over has ants underneath it. Some of them bite but only a little. There are some nastier ones which we've kept well clear of fortunately. By keeping the house clean you can minimise the numbers coming in but it would be a full time job to be insect free. 

I really enjoy being so close to nature on the whole and it'll be strange to go back to home and its more "sterile" feel. Maybe we'll go over to the west and get some midge bites when we feel nostalgic!

Mennonites

We at long last went out to Pine Hill, the Mennonite village in our territory today. Mennonites are one of the religious groups that to some extent reject modern technology and live in a relatively isolated way. There is a wide range of views about how strictly they should do this, and in Belize it ranges from little more than an average fundamentalist in the UK to the more conservative Amish-like communities of which Pine Hill is one. Members have to agree not to use a phone or have a driving licence, for example.

Ever since we arrived we've regularly seen 
Mennonites riding in their horse and carts taking produce to the market or supplies back home. The men all have full beards and the women wear head coverings and blue dresses. They don't like having their pictures taken but we managed to sneak a few from a distance. 

 Bill Taylor, one of our elders, has helped them out quite a few times when they've had medical emergencies or otherwise needed help that they couldn't get from within their community, so they are quite happy to talk to him and us along with him. We went to one farm where only the girls were home but they were willing to show us around a bit and got a horse out to demonstrate their water pump made from old transmission parts. 

The community as a whole feels much like I imagine farmland a couple of hundred years ago felt. Everything is so quiet and settled, but you can hardly imagine how much work it must be on a daily basis. 

Mennonites have actually been behind an agricultural revolution in Belize over the past few decades and almost single-handedly introduced dairy and poultry farming here. They have a business acumen that makes them quite an influential group in the country, but that's particularly the more liberal groups in the North. Pine Hill just wants to be allowed to go about its life in relative peace. As always when you meet such different cultures, there's something to be learned from their simple lives and hard work. Doesn't mean I'd want to live there, though!