Hello Dad - From Your Brown Eyed Girls. We Miss You!

From Lamini with Love!

The Beginning - Not The End

The talk about this trip with Jen began over a year ago.  Since dad died on the 21^st of December and - one year later - was the “brouhaha” about the end of the world as the Mayan Calendar ended on that same day, it seems only logical that we be on top of one of the tallest and oldest Mayan ruins on the one year anniversary of Dad’s death.  Also, I kept teasing Jenn, that if the world did end, we should be as close to Heaven as possible so Dad could reach down, and I could push to ensure her admittance.

Despite a year of planning, in typical Schetnan fashion, nothing ever goes down as planned. We booked our boat with Reef Adventures directly and then had our hotel double book us with the Searious tours just to make sure we were covered.  I stopped by RA and confirmed with K-del on Thursday that we were all set.  He assured me it was all ready to go and to be at the end of the dock by 7 am. Cool.

At 7 am the next morning, we watched as the Searious boat (of which we were double booked) drive right by the dock. Not Cool. No worries, I assured Jenn many boats leave for the mainland at this time and our boat is probably coming shortly.  By 7:30, we were calling Searious.  They had no record of us. We moved quickly down to Reef Adventures to see what the heck happened and demand they take us personally, but they do not open til 8. In the meantime, I am lamenting to Jiggi (a friend from trips past) and his buddy as to what happened.  His friend said, “At this point, the only way to go to a ruin today is to fly. The last plane leaves at 8.”  It is now 7:55.  So, in Amazing Race mode, we book it to Tropic Air.  They are boarding the final Lamini flight. It is about $100 more per person to fly which was NOT in these unemployed budgets.  I looked at Jenn and she was tearing up….this is exactly why God created credit cards – what the heck!  I said, “Ok, book us.”

When I pulled out my wallet, I found no credit card.  I forgot that I had given it to Jenn 2 nights before, and it was still in her jeans. Unfreakingbelievable. I looked at the agent and said, “Listen, I work regularly at Holy Cross.  I promise to pay you upon return.  We are going as a is a tribute to our father.”  She handed us boarding passes.  Jenn did not even have an ID on her! 

Because of the date, all the ruins were expecting a huge surge of people.  In fact, some of them even hosted parties and camping the night before. Because we flew (and landed on a road that Jennie described as reminiscent of the gravel road leading into the Sherman church), we beat most of the crowds. After the amazing trip up the Belize river, we went right into the forest and Lamini < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamanai>.  When we got to the high temple, there was actually quite a crowd.  Our guide told us to wait a few minutes and then climb. He had our backs. When Jen and I got to the top, everyone was just leaving.  For a good 5 minutes, we were the only two on top!!  How does that happen?  The Holy Spirit!  We prayed, we spoke directly to dad, we hugged and then we just sat quietly and held hands. Dad was laughing at us – we heard him!

Crusing up the Belize River - Monkeys, Crocodiles, Anteaters...Oh My!

Belize Meet My Sister!

It has been a week and I have not found time to write.  Maybe it is more accurate to say that so much happens each day that I am not sure that I can adequately describe the Miracles on 18.0139° N, 87.9310° W latitude and longitude with words.

Before I left, someone back home asked me if it would be weird having my sister join me on this trip. I was confused. They went on to say, “Well, you have your own life and passions there; will your sister cramp your style?” That individual did not obviously understand the code of the “I’m In Girls.”  My sister is not only my best friend; she is my favorite travel partner in crime. I could not wait to introduce someone in my blood family to my families on Ambergris Caye.  so far, the only problem I have with her here is a lack of alone time to write.  Together, we just want to go, go, go.

The first couple of days, it was all about introductions – landmarks and people. People are fascinated by Jen as she “kind of” looks like Ms. Kim, and seems to know them before they even meet. As Jen has said numerous times, she is really enjoying putting breathing bodies to the stories and pictures.

Thursday night, we attended the famous Chicken Drop at a local watering hole. Basically it is chicken poop Bingo.  If the chicken drops on your number, you win.  And win we did – we left $50 richer. The center of the city was crawling with locals as a huge Mayan Celebration began around 8 pm. Dance groups, civic speeches, singing etc. continued until – I was told – until 5 am when the new Mayan Epoch was to begin. As I had already invested in a return ticket in January of 2013, I had faith the world was safe from any media manipulation that suggested the contrary. I needed to get to bed as 12-21-12 was a day that my sister and I had been planning for throughout the past year.