Five things we learned about the Maya in Central America

Who doesn’t know the game in which one person says a word and the other one completes with the first thing that pops into your head? I have no idea about the purpose of the game, except to prove that you have a dirty mind. Until a year ago, if you’d asked me to play and threw the word ‘Maya’ at me, I’d probably have replied ‘the bee’.

What about you? Be honest. Unless you’ve visited Central America or have a degree in history, you likely don’t know much about the Maya. Continue Reading →

Ethnicity in Belize: a salad with different ingredients that all add something to the mix

Imagine a handkerchief of a country, barely 350.000 souls strong, where any of the following could happen:

-A Latino speaks with a thick Caribbean accent: “Hi, my brotha! Wassup?!”

-A Maya bar owner turns on Bob Marley’s Greatest Hits, but switches after a couple of songs to old-fashioned Spanish music.

-With a backdrop of Cohune palms and banana trees, two white men with woolly beards work the field with an ox.

-In a small town shop, a young Chinese boy translates a customer’s English into Chinese for his mum, the shopkeeper.

-A black guy leans out of a bright blue church bus and shouts: “God bless you! Welcome to Belize!” Continue Reading →