Here's where I'm going to start in on my answers from the "Belizean Bingo" that my professors handed out to me before the trip. The first five questions and their answers are as follows:
Listening to another language - Can you identify vocabulary or expressions you hear in Spanish at the school or on the street?
I took Spanish for 5 years but for me, I'm a lot better at reading it than speaking it or listening for it. However, I did understand a few basic phrases when my teacher would use them with the students or their parents. On Family Day, I understood a few of the parents explaining that they couldn't stay because they had to go to work. I also had a short conversation with Jose in Spanish, with the very little I still remember. I asked him how old he was and when his birthday was. I also asked if he liked school. I think I may have messed up a little bit of the conjugation, but he knew what I meant and was able to answer me right away.
Grocery or Convenience Shopping - What did you forget from home or just plain need to purchase?
There was nothing that I forgot or just needed to purchase, but I did look around the grocery stores just to kind of get a taste of what they had and how much it cost as compared to US prices. A lot of the things actually transferred fairly well, but there were some items that I was just blown away by how much of a difference the prices were.
Beach vendors - What vendors did you see? What did they sell? Did you buy anything? If so, what?
We saw tons and tons of street vendors outside selling their stuff. For the most part, a lot of them sold jewelry they made themselves or some wood carvings. Everything there was very very beautiful and you couldn't help stopping and looking, even if you didn't buy anything from them. I did, however, buy quite a bit from these street vendors. By the time I left I had bought 3 ankle bracelets, a painted shell, a turtle made out of stone, and a bracelet. One of the street vendors also took my shells from my preschoolers and made the necklace for me.
Travel Challenges - What travel challenges did you face and how did you solve problems, issues, needs, or concerns?
This trip did not present very many challenges. I think the main one would be the fact that on the airplane I sat by people I didn't know, who weren't around my age. When I get in situations like this, I generally freeze up and don't talk. This made for some pretty awkward plane rides, especially on the way down. There was once when we were walking around San Pedro that we couldn't remember exactly where we were going. But we found certain stores that we remembered and once we found the clock tower, we knew where to go.
Exchange rate - Did you figure out the Belize exchange rate? What was the rate in comparison to US currency?
I did find out the exchange rate, however it still confuses me a little. If you exchanged currency at a bank or an ATM, the rate was some sort of percentage. For example, I exchanged $100 US dollars and got $170 Belize. But, if you were buying things with cash, it was a 1:2 ratio. One US dollar = 2 Belizean dollars. This was actually extremely helpful because all you had to do was double or half it and you would find your amount, instead of having to carry a calculator everywhere you went.
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