Tikal and Flores

Crossing into Guatemala just a few hours west of Nabitunich is Tikal, the largest of the ancient ruins of the Maya civilization (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Tikal is stunning, not just its size but its complexity. Situated in the middle of lowland rainforest we walked through the massive canopy of ceiba, mahogany and cedar, some as big around as five of us could reach. We spotted two species of monkeys and were told of the five species of cats and over 400 species of bird that inhabit the park. Then there was the site. Gigantic ruins dotted the landscape like the spots on a jaguar. Many of them poked through the forest canopy and climbing to the top one could see a dozen others on the horizon. On one of the highest ruins we had a race to the top. Those stairs are much steeper than they look! Tikal is an incredible place for an imagination to wander – what happened here, what did the forest look like, what did the people look like, what happened to the Maya, why did the civilization collapse? Most of these questions we try to answer throughout the semester, but being there it shows the vastness and intricacy of the Maya empire.



Leaving Tikal we headed to Flores, a town on an island on Lake Peten Itza. We jumped on a boat and headed for our accommodations, a beautiful spot owned by local friends of ours with incredible views of the lake. It was here in Flores that the students had their first real taste of colorful Guatemala, the people, cloths, food, and culture of this unique land. We had a discussion with Rolando about Guatemalan history and the 30-year civil war that left over 200,000 dead. That’s the “official” number – many consider it to be closer to 1,000,000. Many poeple, mostly indigenous, "disapperaed", thousands were slughtered, and children were siezed by the military for training. This is considered the 5th largest genocide (ethnocide) in history. We discussed the involvement the US has had in the politics of Guatemala –the CIA’s overthrow of the democratically elected government in ’54 and the politically-motivated economic imperialism played out by companies such as the United Fruit Company (all so we can have cheap bananas). It’s a messy world and our trip to Guatemala exemplifies the lack of shalom God so desires of us. The students will consider this as most of them will spend their holiday in Guatemala this week. The others came back to Belize to relax and dive out at the cayes.

Spa Night

Everything stinks after a week at Cockscomb (not just our cloths). As the week of forest ecology came to close (quite regretfully) the veranda was transformed into a dimly lit refuge for relaxation. It’s time for the students to kick back and relax at the spa CCSP-style! With mellow music and an atmosphere designed to unwind, students walked around and visited the various stations – massage, facial, foot-exfoliant, and manicure/pedicure. With our natural recipes and skillful application, the night carried a tranquil tone – check out the six pictured above, Courtnay, Peter, Bethany, Lisa, Eva and Taylor. Watch out Chaa Creek – the Spa @ Nabitunich might be onto something here. Who needs to spend $300 on a little bit of oatmeal smeared on your face anyhow?

A Day in the Life….Forest Ecology

Birding Day One
19 March 2007 6:00 am 88% Humidity
20.5° Celsius Outside Aurora's, road to Cockscomb
Great Kiskadee Rufus Tailed Hummingbird Social Flycatcher
Orchard Oriole-nice Red-Lored Parrot Swallow Tailed Kite-nice
Roadside Hawk Pale Bill Woodpecker Crimson-collared Tanager-nice
Keel-Billed Toucan Grayish Saltator-nice Montezuma Oropendola
Passerini's Tanager-nice White Vented Euphonia-nice

Tropical Plant Family Summary Day One
Arecacea
This is a medium-sized, exclusively tropical family with 60 genera and around 850 species. Members of this family are trees or shrubs, and occasionally lianas. Leaves tend to be alternately arranged, very large (with supporting sheaths) and either pinnately or palmately lobed/compounded.
Small flowers are borne in often elaborately branched inforesences (some with over 250,000 flowers per inflorescence!), subtended by a woody spathe. Flowers are usually unisexual and 3-parted. Fruit is typically a drupe with a single seed inside.
Distribution: Lowland neotropics
Pollination: Insects (bees, flies and beetles)
Dispersal: Animal
Notable Members:
Attalea cohune (Cohune or corozo palm)
Cocos nucifera (Coconut palm)
Acoelorraphe wrightii (Palmetto, Honduran palm, Hairy Torn)


Cecropiaceae
Only three genera (and 170 species) are in this family, with one ( Cecropia) that includes more than 100 species. These species tend to be trees or shrubs, fast growing (gap specialist), with distinctive leaf scars along the trunk. Trunks can be hollow, housing beneficial ant colonies. Leaves tend to be large and either palmately compound or palmately lobed, a favorite food for sloths.
Flowers are very small and unisexual, with plants being either male or female. Flowers are very simple, lacking showy petals. Inflorescences are arranged in finger-like projections initially covered by a fleshy spathe. Fruit are small and dry.
Distribution: Throughout neotropics, lowlands to medium altitudes
Pollination: Wind
Dispersal: Wind or sometimes animal
Notable Member:
Cecropia peltata (Cecropia, Trumpet Tree)

After all this, we had class and worked on projects and went on hikes. The days were definitely filled with planned activities that kept us busy. Randy always kept it interesting, though, with his articulate lectures and vast knowledge of all things biotic and abiotic.
The week was not all work and no play. Our first day at Cockscomb Wildlife Basin was spent hiking up to Tiger Fern Falls. Despite the cooler weather and rain we made it up to the ridge and back down the other side to Tiger Fern. It took some staff to jump in first, but slowly the students warmed up to the idea of jumping into cool water on an already cool day. Pretty soon it was warmer to be in the water than out in the rain!
But then it was back to work again. Cockscomb again proved to be a magnificent spot to hold Forest Ecology. Interesting hikes, a vast array of ecosystems, and the ability to make a project out of just about anything made our time fly by. Unfortunately, we were unable to see any Jaguars on our trip this year (Well, we never see them.) despite three being spotted on trails and roads that we had traveled.


After returning to the Nab, we took a trip up into MPR. We visited Chalillo Dam and then had a refreshing talk from two MPR Forestry Department individuals. They gave us a clear picture of how they would like to see the Pine Forests of MPR managed. They truly love their job and want to protect that area for the benefit of Belize. That Thursday night we were able to celebrate Dave Peters' birthday with a Blues Clues pinata. With a final smack, Dave not only broke the pinata wide open but also broke the handle of the broom. Lay off those pushups a little, Dave!
Spring '07 Forest Ecology, taught by Professor Randy VanDragt, brought fresh ideas to the course. These fresh ideas opened out eyes in new ways: not only to biological concepts about forests but also to the human impact on them. He brought up ideas and issues that were discussed during our two sustainable development courses and molded them into the perspective of a science-minded individual. The course was very well rounded and brought a lot of issues to our attention, issues that our generation will be dealing with. The students worked hard and it all paid off. But everyone was definitely ready for Spring Break 2007 by the end. Tikal here we come!!!

Time to Celebrate!

Dave Peters called it quits on his teenage years last night as we celebrated his 20th Birthday with a piñata! In Mexico, the piñata is shaped like a seven-pointed star. It represents the devil and the seven deadly sins - hitting it with the stick makes him let go of the good things he has taken hold of. Well, we found a big Blues Clues looking dog and stuffed it full of candy. Dave had the first and last whacks at it - here he is standing with the remnants.

Ice Cream, Chicken, Papaya, Sugar, and a Prison

Under the brilliant instruction of Jonathan Warner, we took a deeper look at Belize’s economic situation this week during the second week of Sustainable Community Development. We looked at several Mennonite-run agriculture initiatives like Western Dairies and Quality Poultry and we considered Belize’s connection to international commodities markets by visiting Fruta Bomba (a papaya export company) and Belize Sugar Industry. Traveling several hours north close to the Mexican border we did a homestay in Patchakan, a sizable, predominately Mayan village. Staying with our host families we met the people employed by these industries and heard from the local farmers who produce the sugar cane and package the papaya (100% of which is exported to the US). It was a great week of learning, tracing back to the roots those things we find packaged on our grocery store shelves. Is shalom possible amongst such a deeply economic-driven global market? Maybe, but maybe not. We’d prefer the farmers to give us their opinions.


On our way home we stopped by the Belize Central Prison for a tour of their facilities. Belize has the 5th highest amount of inmates per capita in the world, so we weren’t exactly sure what to expect with the tour. It just so happens that the Belize Central Prison, run by the Kolbe Foundation, may also be one of the most sustainable prisons in the world. The prison offers workshops like woodworking, cooking classes, jewelry making, brick making, agricultural production, tailoring, and welding to name a few. A prison run by a Christian foundation, really? Daily devotions are preformed via intercom, praise and worship songs are blasted from the speakers by the prison radio station Jeremiah 33:3, and most of the prison employees are Christian. No guns on the hips of these (Christian) security officers. It’s hard to count how many inmates we met that had a strong testimony because of their time behind bars. Matter of fact, the prison is employed by mostly inmates. It wasn’t until late in the tour we realized our guide was an inmate himself. To top it off, as we were leaving the room where the radio programs are produced, the inmate who controls the microphone asked to give us a quick shout out to all the inmates out in the prison yard. Clearing our throats we all crowded around the mic and sang the Doxology. It’s hard to explain how strange yet how incredible that moment was. We think they recorded our voices for further playlists!

Pictured in order: the group standing in front of mountains of fresh cane sugar at BSI, the group decked out at Western Dairies, chickens getting ready for slaughter at Quality Poultry, and a typical papaya field at Fruta Bomba.

Maya, the dog

This is our friend Maya. We like her an awful lot.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We’ve been blessed with amazing weather this semester. It’s been hot, sure, but we have also had several unexpected rains. Our garden is loving it! With lots of hard work and plenty of fair-weathered days, everything is growing huge and green. Soon enough the vegetables will be on the table. It’s easy to smile each time we walk past the rows of squash, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, and cabbage.

La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge

This weekend a bunch of students and staff celebrated Baron Bliss Day by taking part in La Ruta Maya! This is no ordinary race, certainly not for the faint of heart. It is a rigorous 4 day, 170-mile canoe race starting on the Macal River in San Ignacio and ending in Belize City on the Belize River. Although we only had a chance to participate in 3 days of the race, the three teams, Team Climate Change, Team OUA (Over-competitive Under-prepared Americans), and Team Granola Corps. paddled an impressive 145 miles. That’s the distance from Philadelphia to Washington D.C., Seattle to Portland, or Los Angeles to San Diego - all in three days! I think everyone agrees it was some of the most enjoyable pain they have ever experienced. Along the way we set up camp at designated spots along the river, enjoyed our rice and beans and loads of bananas, and headed to bed early. Don’t know how much we slept, folks were up at 3:30 blaring music getting ready for the race. But despite the endless bends in the river, the hours and hours and hours of rowing, the rains storms on the 2nd and 3rd day, the crazy amounts of pain in the arms, back, and neck, and the sun burn, I think everyone would say it was one of the coolest things they’ve done yet. Certainly not something to do again, but a really great time. The picture above is at the start of the race, before we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Below we see Team Granola Corps (second boat in) paddling hard off the start.

Reading Week

The books are piled up this week during Reading Week. To catch up on the reading for the rest of the semester, the students have this week to study everything from global corporacy and the effects of the liberalization of financial markets to mineral cycling on oligotrophic soils. Good stuff. Most everyone is resting up, also, for the big race this weekend…

Martz Farm

As the thermometer continues to rise, so does the students desire to visit the beautiful waterfalls of Belize. This weekend we visited Martz Farm and had a good look around. The Martz family knows everything about their farm, the plants, the trees, the birds, the animals. Many of the plants on their farm have medicinal uses - it’s like having a drugstore in your backyard. As we made our way through the forest we came to a series of calcium waterfalls that cascade down into the Macal River several hundred feet below. The bird’s eye view from this point was incredible. It’s kind of wild to hike down waterfalls. Once we reached the Macal we boulder hopped upstream until we found a good place to cross the river. To get across you have to swim upstream against the current so you don’t loose any ground! As the group made our way across we hiked up and explored what we had come here to see - a system of waterfalls a quarter mile in length that spilled crystal clear water into the Macal. The water was chilling, coming straight from the Mountain Pine Ridge, but refreshing on this hot Belizean day. As we hiked up the numerous waterfalls, we stopped for a swim at the pools of each. At the end of the day we got to do it all over again, heading back the same way we came. This is certainly the most enjoyable waterfall trip yet. Check out the students at the base of one of the falls.

God and Nature 2

We were happy to have Bret Stephenson back teaching God and Nature 2. Bret taught the course from a more philosophical angle. In large, the class was an exercise in deconstructing Platonic dualisms that have shaped our reading of the Biblical story. Among other things, we discussed the paradox of wilderness, eco-feminism, and the problem of suffering. A lesson learned?: how inescapably dualistic we are in our thinking. May our minds be renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit…

Mid-week we had some serious celebrating to do. As Lisa turned 21, we celebrated with a good ol' fashion pool party. It was like a childhood memory - boys doing weird flips and who knows what into the deep end of the pool, races across the length of the pool, a see-how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath contest (the winner: Peter Lion @1:57), and cold drinks by the pool side at the end of the day.

Springfield Mennonite Community

No cars. No TV. No electricity. Just peace and quiet. Women in bonnets and wintry frocks. Blond men with blue eyes, suspenders and cowboy hats. Shy, staring children speaking in Low German. Welcome to the Springfield Mennonite community! In case you’re wondering, Belize has a sizeable Mennonite community. The first wave of about 3500 Mennonites settled in Belize in 1958. Today, Belize has both progressive and traditional Mennonite communities. The progressive, many of whom come from Canada, speak English and use tractors and other mechanized equipment. The more traditional groups--like the Springfield Mennonites-- avoid all forms of modernization in order to preserve a simpler way of life. On Sunday morning we arrived at Springfield in time for church. Attending a Mennonite church is an experience in and of itself; not only do the women sit on one side and the men on the other, but the sermon lasts for a few hours and is delivered by a few different people (men of course). After the sermon, we had a question and answer time. It was both fascinating and challenging to learn about their way of life and, in particular, their commitment to non-violence and simplicity. The church in North America could certainly learn a thing or two from their faithful witness in this regard. After a delicious dinner, we hit the sack in order to rise at the break of dawn. Some of the guys went out to help in the fields while the girls helped in the kitchen or relaxed on the porch. All in all, it was an eye-opening experience. We won’t soon forget the hospitality of our Mennonite brothers and sisters. They asked that we not take pictures, and we didn't. This shot is from a similar community in northern Belize.

God and Nature 1

Is heaven the place where we spend eternity? Is it a good thing to be “left behind”? Could it be that the faithful end up where there’s “weeping and gnashing of teeth”? These questions are not typical for a Bible study. But then again, the first week of God and Nature was not a typical Bible study and Sylvia Keesmaat was not a typical teacher. We spent the week exploring the biblical foundations for an ethic of creation care. Sylvia helped us to read the biblical narrative with new eyes. It was a little disconcerting to discover that texts we had always taken for granted as meaning one thing could in fact be saying something completely opposite. We carried on the tradition of the bedtime story, capping it off with smores around the campfire on the last night. More than anything the class afforded us the time to marvel at God's creation, to see how beautiful His fingerprint is on the created earth.