Day 3- Lisa vs. Lloyd

So named because: We visited the Yalbac site only to get a man named Lloyd (who is very important) upset because not enough of us signed liability forms (he only had 5 awaiting us).  Lisa vs Lloyd vs the men who were getting in trouble because of us being in there.

We started out the morning with my alarm clock at 530.  We got our gear ready and reached the truck, only to find out that it was too wet to excavate!  But, Ernesto (driver #2) arrived promptly and we all set forth for Mrs. Chocs and breakfast.  We arrived at Mrs. Choc’s hut and ate: homemade tortilla, black beans mashed into a paste, eggs with tomatoes.  She also gave us our lunch boxes even though we would not be going all day to Yalbac: rice and beans with a piece of chicken on top (never could find someone to eat my chicken, so, I carried it around all day- still in the box right now).  We proceeded to her storage shed- which she built at someone’s house and the rent price is them being able to use the half of it that she doesn’t.  We picked up shaker screens, shovels, and 2 boxes of other equipment, and a guy named Stanley.  We all then went to Yalbac, where we encountered a man with a mean-looking machete and wearing white rain boots (think your sister’s kind), the guy who lifted the gate to let us in, and another guy peeing into a stream (I guess most visitors are male). 

We proceeded on to the actual site, with Stanley and Ernesto leading the way, wielding machetes to clear our path and toting shaker screens.  Steve and I were at the rear of the group and also carrying shaker screens.  Carl took the 4 shovels.  There were only 5 liability forms once we got there, so, only 5 people signed.  Luckily, Elle and Molly didn’t have to sign since they had previously been there.  But, there were others of us who were left.  We visited the mounds of dirt hiding Maya buildings and got to go inside a couple of looters trenches.  I almost convinced Steve that one out of the way temple was an insane asylum because of its lack of easy visibility.  Molly also convinced him briefly that a loud thud we heard was a monkey falling out of a tree.  Then, I proceeded to make Yeti jokes (for no apparent reason) and claim that, because of global warming, they had no other recourse but to head to the tropics and try to adapt before the entire species went extinct!  We finished most of our tour but were cut short by our second visit from our earlier comrades at the entrance to the Yalbac site.  They were getting it hard from said Lloyd, so, we returned in hopes that they would stop getting in trouble.  The rest of us who hadn’t signed an earlier form then all signed the same one. 

We went back to Banana Bank, changed into shorts and ditched the gear and all rode in Lisa’s truck back to Belmopan.  We took a bus there to San Ignacio and took taxis from the bus stop to Caral Pech.  We rode with the director of the taxi group in San Ignacio that we rode from, who was a woman.  It was raining, but, we toured anyway.  It was spectacular and very much still in tact.  It was mostly uncovered, with some temples still covered by dirt and trees.  Steve was the only one who remembered to pack rain gear.  So, we all kidded him about how it looked on.  We went to meet the taxis to take us back, but, they weren’t there.  So, we set out on foot.  They caught up with us when we were almost back and we were “persuaded” to ride the rest of the way, only paying ½ fare.  We shopped around the bus stop and I got stamps (but somehow forgot my postcards, so, I guess I will be mailing them later).  I also stood in the bank line to exchange USD for local currency.  It was a very long line.  We took a bus back to Belmopan and then further- to the entrance to the road leading to Banana Bank.  We walked 2 miles in and then Steve took a big rock and hit the gong to let people know we wanted to go across so someone came down and ferried us.  Some people went to the pool and we got new towels- but no new washrags and they took our old ones. 

Sidenote on shower: last night I was taking a shower and the cold was really getting to me.  So, I started thinking about the song “Singing in the Rain”, which somehow randomly turned into “Sunshine in St. Louis”.  Who knows?