Ben and I left South Bend last Monday for our mission trip to Belize and got back to South Bend Wednesday the 30th. I figured I would just kinda do a day by day format for this week, because it was so packed!

Monday:
Monday was our first day of travel. As it turned out, Mike Brubaker and Geoff Bornhoft were visiting South Bend that weekend and were leaving about the same time as us for MN anyways, so we got a ride with them. Praise God! We weren't able to cancel our tickets for a refund but we got our money back anyways because there were some major delays on what would have been our bus. Praise God! So we had a fun trip back and got home at around 6 to a loving family who wouldn't stop commenting about my new facial hair. Apparently they didn't like it. But they got over it and then I had some people over to swim and chat because I hadn't seen so many of them in a while. A good 15 people came over and we had some good times!

Tuesday:
I packed all morning... well for about 3 hrs until 3:45. I fell asleep expecting to get up in 45 minutes but didn't wake up until 5:30. We were supposed to be at the airport at 5 so we all rushed out of the house in Olson fashion and sped to the airport, arriving an hour late. The funny thing was that most of my church expected it! But we made it to the gate with plenty of time and flew 3 and half hours to Miami, changed planes, and flew an hour and a half to Belize! We got there at about 2 pm Belize time, met our Praying Pelicans Missions leaders (Jason, Heather, Jillian, and Gale), and hopped on our bus to head off to "lupper." We ate at a tourist joint called Old Belize, got back in the headed off to our first mission site. On our way there we had a bizzare experience. About halfway through the trip a small toucan tried to enter our bus. It hit the window edge, died instantly, glanced off a girls head, and landed slit open on her backpack. It was a pretty bird, but it made all the girls screamed and all the guys say "Where's my camera!?!" We disposed of it out the window and a little later came to an interesting natural phenomenon. Pointing downhill, the bus stopped, shifted gears, and began going in reverse. But our bus driver informed us that he was in neutral. The area was so magnetic that you actually roll uphill in neutral! Besides that the bus driver drove over 90 mph everywhere we went, it was awesome. Around 5:30 we arrived at the Hosanna House, our first mission site. The Hosanna House is a place for children removed from their houses for safety reasons. They all were plenty healthy and happy though! We had a tour, and then were sent out without much instructions to just hang out with the kids. I found a little shy kid sitting on the couch and proceeded to introduce myself and got his name, Mikey, and tickled him and threw him around and chased him until he warmed up to me. Then he wouldn't leave me! So I had a bunch of fun with him until we had to leave, playing futball, volleyball, and just messing him up a bit. But we left and went to check into our hotel. It was a little hotel, with the owners family on the second floor, and us in all the other rooms. We were about a block away from the ocean beach, and from the church we were working with. The rooms were decent, all concrete and tile, with AC! Praise God! So we had a team meeting, got all the names out, and got some logistics done. Bedtime was at 10, and we went immediately.

Our leaders: Gale, Jillian, Jason, and Heather.

Our hotel through the bus window.
The Toucan that killed itself with our bus!

Wednesday:
Still being on the Company Summer, we both woke up at 6:30 to do PT and personal prayer. Being so close to the ocean we ran the beach and did our push-ups and sit-ups there. It was much more enjoyable! After our Belizean breakfast of eggs, bacon, and these wierd almost tortilla like bread circles with mango jam, we went off to two different projects. While half of us went to help out with Vacation Bible School at the church we were helping, the rest went to the Red Cross building in Dangriga and sorted clothes in preparation for the next national disaster. In the afternoon we all came together at the Red Cross to help them with more preparation. Having recently suffered through a mudslide, the Dangriga Red Cross was looking to be more prepared for the next natural disaster. So we all split into groups of about 5-6 people and went door to door getting information such as how many people live in the house, where they were evacuating to, phone number, etc. This information will really help to get these people effective aid in the event of another natural disaster. At around 4 we piled into the bus and cruised back to the hotel for free time and dinner. During free time we were walking about and a man came up to us and invited us to his art gallery which had a lot of cool paintings and my favorite part, some hand drums! So I looked them over and really liked them, very original, so I bought a small one and then headed over to the church to lead our first service. There were a few Belizeans there but we made up the majority of the congregation. The service consisted of leading songs, performing skits, and then I gave my testimony. I focused particularly on prayer, so afterwards we gathered together in small groups and prayed with each other. After the service we had some time to socialize before heading back to the hotel roof for a team meeting. We talked about all we did, and about the question "What does it really mean to follow the Lord?" The general response was making sacrifices and giving up your own agenda for the Lord's. We finished with the next days itinerary and fell asleep exhausted.

Red Cross Sign above the place where we sorted clothe

Thursday:
On Thursday we did PT again, ate another delicious breakfast, and began the day with a team meeting. There we learned how to have conversation with a mental picture to go along with it. which I won't actually go through because its quite long but it was basically a series of conversation starters. Next we took a trip to Blue Hole National Park and explored St. Herman's cave. It was a massive cave with a nice long "hike" through it. At the end we all shut our lights off and experienced absolute darkness, which was pretty cool actually, you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face! After that we took a little hike through the hills and went over to an underground river that came above ground for about 100 feet. It came up out of a cliff and then disappeared into a cave. We got to swim in the very cool water and explore the part where it comes up, swimming down about 20 feet with goggles to check out the underwater part, looking up and only seeing rock. After that we had lunch, and went back to the Hosanna House. This time we brought soccer balls to leave there with them, and my buddy Mikey was waiting for me outside the bus! So I got to hang out with him for the rest of that day. We went home in time for dinner, and some free time where we heard about this concert that was going to be happening that night at the park. So after dinner we headed out there to watch this concert. It turned out to be a reggae concert that started a lot later than we thought. We got there at 7 and there was music playing from the speakers from a DJ, but nothing live. But we brought a soccer ball and we began passing it around but in no time about 50 kids ran out and so a game of "keep the ball as long as you can" began. They were all incredibly good, some better than me, but at least 7 years younger! We probably played that for over an hour until the actual music started at 9. So we only got to see a couple dances and a rap and one actual song. But my favorite part was this huge handmade drum probably 2.5' in diameter, just like my new one but way bigger, which was really low toned, like a bass tone in techno. But after that we all went back to the hotel and had a quick meeting before bed.

A snake was eating a frog on our way to the cave!

St. Herman's Cave
View on the way back.

Hosanna House ending prayer.

Me and my drum!

Friday:
Friday was very similiar to Wednesday. We split up again in the morning and finished the clothes sorting at the Red Cross, and the others helped out at Vacation Bible School. Then we finished surveying the town in the afternoon. After arriving back to the Chealanor, we all took showers and headed out for dinner! We went to this Chinese place in Dangriga and had food family style. There was plenty and I got coke in a glass bottle! It was quite fun. Friday night we led another church service and once again made up most of the congregation. So a couple other kids gave their testimonies, we sang a a few songs, and had more time to socialize afteward. After our team meeting we went to bed quickly in preparation for the next day!

Beautiful Dangriga, Belize.

Saturday:
Saturday we got to do some physical labor. Half of us went to the beach in front of the Pastor's house and the rest went to the church to do some landscaping. At the beach we picked up trash and driftwood and built a fire for that evening. At the church they did some weed hacking, and then landscaped the dirt around the church to make the water flow away from the church instead of into it like it had previously done. While at the beach about 15 kids showed up just because they saw us and wanted to help. They asked, and we set them to work. They were great workers, picking up trash and sticks for the fire. I got a few kids interested in moving logs, so we all picked up some decent size logs, and they were straining with all their might to move these things! It was fun to see. Then Cody, Trevor, and I labeled ourselves the firemasters and set to work building a pretty sweet fire. After the beach I went and helped landscape a bit and then went and jumped in the ocean to cool off. Then it was lunch and free time the rest of the day! So pretty much everyone went and walked down main street of Dangriga. There was a market we went to where I bought a new wallet, and experienced a bit of bartering. Then while walking main street we stopped in a shop and got a rubik's cube but then Ben met a man named Armando and asked him where some cigars would be. He was very friendly but didn't understand so he brought us to his house and had his daughters in law translate for him, and all they had to say was "funto" and he knew what we wanted! So he brought us to a litte house with a shop in the front and the lady showed us these cigars she had, that were only 25 cents a peice! And yet they were good cigars! So we bought ten and went back to ask a friend if these were legit, afraid of illegal substances. But he said that we wouldn't have trouble getting them over the border. So he wanted some too so we showed him and a few other guys where they were, and they all bought some. The lady there even had tobacco leaves sitting out there for us, but we didn't get any of those. We weren't actually supposed to have tobacco, so we hid them away never to be seen again until we got home. After that we shopped some more until the lady from the shop came up to me on her bike and said she was looking all over for me as she presented my passport bag! I had taken it out to buy the cigars and forgotten it there, but she was kind enough to bike all over town to find me and return it! Praise God for her! After that adventure we had dinner (I believe it was lobster) and went to the fire! There were about 30 of us there and probably just as many kids from the neighborhood there too! We hadn't told anyone but the kids who helped us in the morning but a ton showed up and played soccer with us and sat around the fire roasting marshmallows. It just showed me how eager these kids were to do something, or anything really. But that was that night, and it was a joy to hangout with the kids.

Trevor, Cody and I moving a log for the fire seats.

The Kids who helped at the beach! (they eventually moved that log)

I could have bought 30 cigars with that!

The fire on the beach!
This cool guy had awesome pets called Quash, who when full grown can kill rottweiler. He trains them for fun, and are quite calm. I held one for a bit too!

Sunday:

First thing Sunday morning was breakfast and Sunday School. I was put in charge of leading the adult class. I must say it was a little weird telling 40 somethings and older how to live their lives, and there were no Belizean men to be seen. But we studied Esther together and I probably learned more from them than they did from me, but I got through alive. After the kids returned from Sunday School, we started church. We were expecting things to be a bit different, but plans changed, and it was all right anyways. After church they fed us all right there in the sanctuary and we got to socialize until we went back to the hotel before some more free time. It was at this time that a my brother and company came into our room looking for the place to buy some cigars, since they couldn't in America. I wasn't about to show them, but Ben gave in and so a few minors bought some cigars. Unfortunately the adults knew about all the cigars but didn't care about all of us of legal age, but when they found out the minors had some, well they had to do something. But we went to the hospital soon after that and I met some kids and a cool old guy who had surgery on his foot, and he told us all about Belize. He was poor and was telling us about the bad social security they had there, and said that if you can't make it on your own, you won't make it at all. Then we went out to dinner again at a nice hotel directly on the beach outside of Dangriga a bit. So we ate dinner on the beach, took a bunch of pictures and hung out. I got to chill with my buddy Kyle who I had met in preparation for this tripm so it was fun. After dinner though I was made aware of the cigar situation. The adults were talking it over, and I didn't know what to do. But at the evening session, our Praying Pelican leader asked everyone for them, so I brought them to him later, and then talked to our leader. She made sure my parents would know, and that was the end of that. I wasted a good $7.50 on those cigars, but oh well. So I packed for our vacation day and went to bed, only a little disappointed about the cigars.

Kids in church.

Family picture outside of the church. Christmas card right there!

Group Picture

Monday:

Monday was fun day. We woke up early and went to watch the sunrise over the ocean. It was a bit cloudy but still incredible to see the colors on the clouds. Then we went back to the hotel and packed up the bus and left by 6. We ate breakfast on our two hour bus ride, and arrived in Belize City at 8 for our water taxi. We took our 45 boat ride out to Caye Caulker, an island located in the world's second largest barrier reef! We immediately picked up some snorkling gear and headed out to the coral. The guides swam us through lots of coral and fish and it was great until my mask started leaking so I couldn't stay underwater for long, and then I got stung by a jelly fish, no fun. Overall it was tons of fun though, and I saw some stuff I will probably not see again for a really long time. Then we got back into the boat and drove over to another spot where there was about 30 stingrays swimming around. So we all hopped in the water and got to swim with the sting rays. The guides had bait to keep them happy and used it to actually catch them. One picked one up and was holding it so I asked for a chance and he let me hold it in my arms! After we finished with the stingrays we got back in the boat and went and checked into our hotel. It was a pretty nice place with a few hammocks in the shade which were my favorite. After checking in we went out for lunch and explored the island town. I went to a couple shops, walked along the beach, and bought some Fanta. By the end of the day I bought a t-shirt, hot sauce for the guys in South Bend, and some gifts for my siblings. That night we had a group meeting and did a washing of our feet like Jesus did, and then went out to dinner one last time! After dinner our leader Bonnie brought us out to ice cream and we got pulled over by the cops for having too many people on our golf cart! They just told us to get off. There were no cars on this island. Everyone walked except the tourists who drove around golf carts over big bumps and drive all crazy. It's really fun. After ice cream all the seniors went and drove around in the golf cart. We kinda just drove for a while but then near the end we made a race course and timed ourselves. Eric and I won the races, without too much competition from the girls. After that we star gazed and there were a TON of stars, probably 3 times as many as i had ever seen before! Practically no light pollution!Monday morning in Dangriga sunrise.

The Hotel beach with hammocks next to the water!

Here's a bunch of pictures from snorkeling. Enjoy!

Lunch some peeps!

Tuesday:

Tuesday we got up early for the sunrise again but this time I watched it from the hammock. Same thing too, cloudy but colorful! Then it was breakfast and an early start back on the water taxi. We got to Belize city with plenty of time before our flight. So we got through security and sat around till we boarded our plane via stairs! We got to Miami with a 4 hour layover, and my bags weren't even searched. I could have easily got the cigars in! So we ate lunch there and played MOW and "The Hand Game" until our plane came, just a little late. We hopped on that plane and got home at about 12. I said hi to my family, unpacked and proceeded to fall asleep without an alarm set on accident.

Tuesday morning sunrise at Caye Caulker from the hammock!

Wednesday:
The Fossen's were going to pick me up at 6, but I woke up and looked at the clock and it was 6:06. Luckily the were late so I packed quickly and was out the door by 6:20. We got dropped off at the Megabus and rode that to Chicago. Once in Chicago we got to walk across town to the train station. It was actually really fun despite the heavy bags. We walked next to the Sears tower and many other huge buildings. We got our tickets and boarded the train and arrived in South Bend at about 9! It was two days full of planes, automobiles, and trains!