Day 2- Under the Tarp or Manhood

So named because: of our crazy experience riding under a tarp in the back of a truck in the pouring rain. or named because of a conversation about castrated monkeys and asking if the guys would rather have their manhood or life.

I woke up to the sound of my new pocket alarm clock that I accidentally got at Wal-Mart for $1.  It woke Elle up as well, but, we both decided that Lisa would not have us go out in the torrential downpour that was the outdoors.  Unfortunately, I had an epic fail and left the alarm clock on Illinois time instead of changing it to Belize time, an hour before.  Luckily, Elle saved the day and we reset the alarm for 6am instead of the previous 5.  Lisa and Elle headed for a distant location and the rest of us stayed around Banana Bank and ate breakfast (fried bread with syrup, scrambled eggs-amazing for the non-scrambled-egg-lover as well, fresh pineapple and fresh orange juice).  It was all super amazing.  I took photos of everything I possibly could, even in the misting rain.

Once Lisa and Elle returned, at 830am, we all unloaded Lisa's gear from her truck and set it in our "lab"- open-air building.  We consolidated things and then, after much deliberation, she set about finishing an earlier project and I tried to figure out how a GPS works!- Which Steve, luckily, helped me with while trying to read "Jurassic Park".  At 930, we headed off for town.  I wore my "going to town hat", which everyone said was epic.  If you see pics of it and don't think so, well, you are just not really that hat cool :P  4 students rode up front with Lisa and 5 rode in the back, on special benches.  It was an amazing ride back there and we laughed so hard- fun group.

We got to town and some students used the bank; then we went to the hardware store and bought machetes.  We will learn how to use them later.  Steve also bought garbage bags for dirty clothes, which he plans to resale to the other students.  It was pouring down rain when we left the hardware store.  So, Steve and then the rest of us unpacked a tarp and proceeded to drape it over those of us in the back.  We sat on and under the tarp.  Tara has the only photos because the rest of us gave our cameras and valuables (aka machetes) to the people inside the cab.  Jose decided to create an exclusive Facebook group for those of us who rode under the tarp.

At the grocery store, we bought anything we had forgotten and a salty snack to help stay hydrated.  I bought Jalapeno Pringles- which are awesome btw.  We got phone cards- which are now just receipts with numbers on them- and ate at an internet cafe sort-of shop across the way.  Some of the group went to the pharmacy to get their extra malaria pills and got absolutely soaked.  We stayed in that same little group of shops until Lisa came back, a little under 2 hours.  We bought postcards, etc. at a little, what Mom would call, junk shop.  It had a little bit of everything.  I got some Belize plant books- which totally made my day!  Steve bought a soccer ball and played with some of the group and some local little kids.  We played for about an hour and a half, and ended up including a little boy about 3, who always yelled "pass me da ball, pass me da ball" whenever it came close to him.  The boys were good at soccer and the ball got stuck in a nearby tree twice, and the boys hit it out with rocks, and then they kicked it onto the roof of the grocery store when they moved to avoid the tree!  Steve still has the ball, so, it survived its rite of passage.  Steve also bought and gave out peanut MnMs to the kids, which we teased him about to no end.

We again rode home in the back of the car, adding one person, Elle.  Kayla misunderstood every other word and we again ended up laughing the entire trip.  Supper at 730pm: buns and butter, chopped veggies with dressing, cooked cabbage and carrots, mashed potatoes, and flan.

We have our alarm set for 530am and we head out no later than 6 if it is not raining.  If it is, we still proceed, just to eat breakfast at the VOPA (Valley of Peace Archaeology) site and meet people I think.  Molly was added to our room today once she and Carl arrived after graduating from LAS on Sunday.  That makes 3 in our room now.