Clark-Peterek Belize

La Palma

We woke up early Friday morning and loaded Transportes Casasola, an express bus headed for La Entrada.  Once in La Entrada we boarded Transportes Sultan Express and made our way towards the border of Honduras and El Salvador.  A few hours later we stepped off the bus in the colorful town of La Palma.

Surrounded by mountains, 10 km south of Honduras, lies this artist community in northern El Salvador in the department of Chalatenango.  Well known Salvadorian artist Fernando Llort moved to La Palma in the early 70´s for inspiration.  He started an artisan's co-op, La Semilla de Dios, working with the residents of La Palma to create his bright simple images, and developed an art movement that represents El Salvador around the world. Today 75% of the population in La Palma is involved in producing this unique art, on everything from wooden tables and chairs, crosses, bowls, boxes, seed bracelets, key chains, napkin holders, and clothingg.  Art is everywhere in La Palma.  Storefronts are brightly painted, murals adorn walls, and even the telephone poles and park benches display the art this community is so well known for. 

We have spent our time in La Palma walking around the town, taking pictures, eating pupusas, enjoying the beautiful weather in the park, and browsing the many artisan shops.  We visited La Semillo de Dios as well as the gallery of another famous Salvadorian artist Alfredo Linares.  Our visit to La Palma has been wonderful, and we are so glad that we decided to stop here.

Next we are headed south towards the Pacific for some time on the black sand beaches of El Salvador´s coast. 

Happy New Year!

After a few days at home in Punta Gorda, we packed our bags again and headed south.  We boarded Requena´s Charter across the Gulf of Honduras to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala.  From Puerto Barrios we headed towards Honduras on the Litegua Bus.  After a bus stop, a border crossing, and a few taxis later, we finally arrived in Copan Ruinas, Honduras.  

Copan Ruinas is located in western Honduras near the Guatemala Border.  Copan Ruinas is a beautiful little town with cobblestone streets and very backpacker friendly.  We stayed at the Iguana Azul, a very affordable and clean hostel with hot water.  The staff was friendly and happy to help.  We celebrated the New Year on the streets of Copan Ruinas with the crowds, popping fireworks, singing, and cheering.  Residents of Copan Ruinas love fireworks and New Years was like no other.  The celebrating went on through the night and into the morning.  

On New Year's Day we hiked to the Copan Ruinas Archaeological Park, about 1 km outside of the town.  The weather was beautiful and the walk alongside the road was very pleasant.  Declared a heritage humanity site by UNESCOin 1980, Copan has been referred to as one of the most artistically advanced and elaborate of all of the ancient Maya Cities.  We spent the day touring the site and museum.  The main plaza was quite remarkable and the many carved stelae and altars were impressive. The Hieroglyphic Stairway was amazing, displaying original ancient carvings.   The Museum houses original sculptures and carvings and was definitely one of the highlights of the day.  We had a great time exploring the Ruins. 

We spent the rest of the day walking around Copan Ruinas, enjoying the wonderful weather and good food.  Copan Ruinas was a great way to begin our trip through Central America.  We are now hanging out in the artist community, La Palma, in Northern El Salvador.

Christmas in Texas

This year we spent the Christmas Holidays in Texas.  John and I drove all over Central and South Texas, went to a wedding, saw a movie, went shopping, ate some good food, and spent some time with our friends and family.  It was a great trip, and we only wish it lasted longer so we could see more people.  Thanks to our friends and family for taking such good care of us and being so patient with us on such a short trip.  Next up Central America!

Happy Holidays

Hope your holidays are "Out of this World!" Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Places Around PG

James Bus Line

The James Bus Line is known as the King of the South, and provides bus service along the Hummingbird and Southern Highway in southern Belize.  “The People’s Champion” is based out of Forest Home Village and big supporters of Little Flower R.C.  and Forest Home Methodist School. 

All James Buses leave from the station before circling around town and heading north.  The station is located a street over from Via Franco’s and also serves as a pay station for electricity bills. 

If you come to visit us in Punta Gorda, you will be riding a James Bus.  We will take you aroud PG so you can see the bus station and all of the other points of interest we have featured in Places Around PG.  We hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about the place we call home. 

 

GRE

Last weekend we traveled to Guatemala City to take the GRE.  The Graduate Record Examinations, or GRE, is a general test that measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and critical thinking and analytical writing skills.

We took the water taxi across the Gulf of Honduras to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala.  From Puerto Barrios, we loaded onto the Litegua Charter Bus and headed to Guatemala City.  We stayed in an approved Peace Corps Hotel and spent the weekend taking it easy and getting our feel for La Zona Vida.   

Bright and early Monday morning we headed to Instituto Guatemalteco Americano for the exam.  We were ready, and by noon, we had both finished the test, received our scores verbal and quantitative reasoning sections, and were on our way.  We are both satisfied with our scores, and we are now onto the next step of applying to Graduate School.  We spent the rest of our time in Guatemala eating great food and shopping.  Tuesday morning, we began the journey back to Punta Gorda.  

Relieved to be home, we soon got the news that Tropical Depression #16 was on its way to Belize. Peace Corps took necessary precautions to ensure our safety and consolidated all Volunteers posted south of the Sitee River to Belmopan. The tropical depression has dissipated, but there has been some flooding and high water levels in various parts of Belize.  Everyone is safe, and we are currently awaiting news of when we will be allowed to travel back south. 

Welcome to Cayo

Last week John’s mom, Penny, came to visit.  We started off her trip with a couple of days in the Cayo District.  This included a tour around the area, some great restaurants, the San Ignacio Market, the largest outdoor market in Belize, Cayo Twist, the best soy ice cream in Belize, and a trip to the Maya Ruins of Caracol. 

Our trip to Caracol took us through the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve.  In early 2000, Mountain Pine Ridge suffered an infestation of the Southern Pine Bark Beetle, causing great destruction.  Luckily the forest was not destroyed, and the area continues to recover through reforestation programs and natural regeneration.   Our tour made a stop at the Rio Frio Cave, one of the many caves riddled across the Mountain Pine Forest Reserve.  After the Rio Frio Cave, it was back on the long bumpy road to Caracol. 

Caracol is one of the most magnificent and extensive sites in Belize.  Deep within the Chiquibul National Park, it was discovered in 1937, and given the name Caracol, Spanish for “snail,” for the many snail shells found in the area.  The name the ancient Maya gave to the city was Oxwitza, which means “three hill water.”  We toured around Caracol, learning about the various structures, temples, stela, altars, plazas, the ancient ceiba trees, sacred to the Maya. These trees are enormous.  The site is pretty impressive with the largest structure, Caana,  or “sky place,” towering 43 meters high.  The view from Caana was amazing. 

After our hike through the jungle and a quick bite to eat, we headed back to San Ignacio, with a trip to Rio on the Pools.  This was a great place to cool off and go for a quick swim, but it was soon  time to head back, as it began to rain quite heavily. 

Although we got some pretty heavy rain, our trip to Caracol and the rest of the Cayo District was great.

Welcome New Trainees

Yesterday we welcomed 43 new Peace Corps Trainees to Belize.  We met the Trainees at the Belize City Airport and welcomed them as they stepped off of the plane.  We enjoyed spending the afternoon getting to know many of them and  sharing about our lives here in Belize.  We are so excited to finally have the new group here, and we look forward to the next year serving together. 

Gibnuts vs. Corozal

We recently made the long trip north to Corozal Town for a Gibnuts Futbol Match.  After a 9 hour bus ride across the country of Belize, we arrived in the beautiful district town alongside the Corozal Bay between the New River and Rio Hondo.  Corozal has a Mestizo influence and the majority of the 10,000 residents speak Spanish.   We hung out with our fellow PCV's and got to know Corozal a little better. 

The next day we were ready for the game.  The Gibnuts were decked out in their new uniforms and ready to play.  The sun was hot and the competition was fierce.  The Gibuts lost, but their spirits were not broken.  For several 2nd Year PCV's, this was their final Gibnuts match, as many of them were about to COS. 

After the game, we made the short trip with our fellow Peace Corps Volunteers across the border to Chetumal, the capital city of the Mexican State of Quintana Roo.  This mid-sized city has a population of around 200,000 people. We visited the mall, saw Batman at the movie theater, and ate some great food.

It was quite the trip. We had a great time, and we are looking forward to the next Gibnuts match and our next trip to Chetumal. 

St. John’s Cathedral

Located on the south side of Belize City at the end of Albert Street is St. John's Cathedral, one of our last stops we made with Aunt Roberta.  St. John's Cathedral is the oldest Anglican Cathedral in Central America and one of the oldest buildings in Belize.  The main structure was built between 1812 and 1820 by slaves with bricks brought over as ballast in the hulls of British ships.

St. John's has regular church services, and while we were touring, the Cathedral was being set up for a wedding.

It was great to see St. John's Cathedral, as it is an important part of Belizean History.