Today was hot. We accomplished a lot today: There was a successful trip to the hardware store (see the picture) more wiring, installed doors, and did more painting, but you heard all about this sort of work yesterday… and the day before… So, let’s talk about something new: the food.
You may have heard of previous HANDS team mention that generally there are two options: 1) rice and beans, or 2) beans and rice. Obviously, these people have not been working on Presbyterian Day School in Cristo Rey, Belize. Our food has been wonderful! We eat a ‘North American’ style breakfast at the hotel, complete with Belizean coffee. At the worksite in Cristo Rey, we are fed by a wonderful woman named Rita. Rita cooks the meal at her home down the street and around the corner from the school, and we walk over there for lunch and dinner. She has cooked our food over a wood fire, sometimes while joyfully talking on her cell phone. Rita has a grandchild attending Presbyterian Day School, and her own children attended PDS previously.
Rita has treated us to various combinations of chicken, rice, beans, coleslaw and so on. We have had jerk chicken, we have had delicious tacos, stew with tortillas, chicken fried rice, chicken dumpling soup, empanadas, and spaghetti with sausage. This is not an exhaustive list – just a taste of the variety we have experienced. With each meal, we have been enjoying Belize’s own ‘Marie Sharps’ carrot based hot sauce with habanero pepper – it provides a pleasant, flavourful heat. To drink, we have had a variety of juice flavours – one of the most unique beverages must have been rice juice. In short – the food has been a real treat for us.
We have also been very well fed spiritually. We have had well prepared devotions every evening. This evening, we were reminded – with words from Philippians 4 – to keep our minds on things that are: true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. We are also to constantly give thanks to God for his plentiful gifts – and refrain from complaining. This experience in Belize has left us with much to be thankful for – especially the food.
Tomorrow is our ‘cultural day’; we will not be working at the school, but experiencing other aspects of Belizean culture.
Prayer Requests:
- Praise and thanksgiving for our awesome Lord
- Thankfulness for the health and safety that has surrounded our team so far
- Thankfulness for all the progress we have seen so far
- Forgiveness for any time we have complained
- Continued health and safety for the remainder of our time in Belize
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