Entry 1

Please accept my humble apolgize for not getting the blog up soon. I have been quite sick and just today am able to spend the posting what the student have written. So here is the students weblog Entry 1.

Brian

Blog Post 3/20/08 –Steven Blondo

WOW! What a day. I don’t think I have ever had a more eventful day in my entire life. Got up early and got to the airport (my bag was 51 lbs!! But the woman there told me it was ok, so I didn’t have to pay J), and then we took off for Miami. When we arrived a few hours later, Sarah Q met up with us (she had to go on a different flight from a different airport, ALONE. I would probably freak out if I had to do that…(especially since she wasn’t planning on doing that in the first place) Anyway, we got on the next flight and headed for Belize City, Belize! Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy all day long, so we haven’t experienced that summer weather we were all hoping for just yet, but I know it will come soon. I suppose the biggest thing of the day for the entire group was what happened next. We went to baggage claim and, after waiting there for probably an hour or so, discovered that at least 8 (myself included) were missing at least one bag. 2 people were missing both of their bags. Now, going on a mission trip and missing a variety of personal bags and mission bags is definitely NOT a good thing. However, we were able to take our minds off of it on the way down to the hospital by singing a few (and by that I mean about 30 or so) good praise songs. Our first destination was, as usual, the WD Dairy. For those of you who do not know what that is, it is Mr. Show’s favorite ice cream in the world (except for homemade, he says). It is owned by some Mennonite residents and they have amazing ice cream, along with pizza and drinks, etc. Of course, my favorite just so happens to be Cayo Twist, but we haven’t made any excursions there yet. After we all had our fill at the dairy, we went to Buena Vista with 10+ gallons of ice cream in tow. As soon as we stepped off the bus, Sarah shot off to all the kids that she knew. There had to be at least 12 kids that she knew quite well, and many more that remembered her. We served ice cream to all the people, and then headed off for Bullet Tree to take a quick glance about how our projects currently stand and what we need to do. In order to get there, we had to go over a steep hill. Now, as the roads in Belize are mainly dirt in that area, and with the rain falling all day, it was a mud pit. Unfortunately, when we were about halfway up the hill another car crested the hill, coming the other way. Ralph had to swerve over to the side in order to let them pass, but then we got stuck. After about 5 minutes and an AMAZING display of driving skill, we were able to get over the hill with the only side effect being mud covered tires. First, we stopped at the Spencerville SDA Church in Bullet Tree. Since we have left, grass has grown around the property and different things have been planted, so it looks fantastic. My highlight of the day was right after that. There is a family who lives right next to the church, the de Vasquez’s, with 5 kids who are some of the nicest people on the planet. Vanessa L, Cassie M, and I ran to meet them and many fond embraces were shared. It was indescribable to see them again after such a long time. Of course, we had to leave eventually, so we hopped back in the bus, swung by the school there, and then came here to the hospital for dinner. DINNER!!!! After eating the food here again, I was euphoric. It was a perfect day! Oh wait, what about our bags….ya.. Well, we had worship and then I went to Lin’s in order to buy some things so I could get through the next couple of days without my bag. When I came back to the hospital, guess what was waiting there? Yep, you guessed it! All of the bags that were missing were sitting there, eagerly awaiting their owners. Although we got off to a pretty bumpy start, I have no doubt that this trip is going to be UNBELIZEABLE! ~Steven Blondo