STREAM ECOLOGY

Dr. Ed Boles taught stream Ecology this semester. A citizen of Belize, he had many insights that were new to all. The focus of the class was on community supported projects that were happening or had once happened around the watersheds of Belize. Our main focus was on the Sibun Watershed, which we toured by canoe and van. Our adventured started a little up river of Hells Gate, a beautiful karstic site that reminded us all of Swiss cheese. Though our time on the river was nice, rain inevitable put an end to our trip as our campsite was completely swamped. We made our way back to our main base via the bed of a sand truck. It was a rough ride and will probably be reported to parents as follows, “Dear Mom and Dad tonight we road standing up in the back of a sand truck down a dark road at high speeds. All is well.” After we dried off a bit the rest of the week went on as normal. Ed left us with a great deal to think about. Most of all he peaked our curiousity about our own local watershed and the work that is going on there. One thing for sure is that it will be hard to look at a stream and not think about it as being one of God’s great tools of renewal. The change brought on by the streams broad strokes over the landscape will always amaze us. What a mighty God he is.

OFF ON FALL BREAK

Time for fall break! Most students plan to explore Guatemala while others will come back to Belize to meet with family. Here are just a few things students will see in Guatemala. Stay tuned for more soon...

TIKAL, GUATEMALA

Just before we all headed off for fall break, we spent the weekend at Tikal, the largest and one of the most spectacular ancient cities of the Maya civilization. Located in the Peten district of Guatemala and about 2 hours from us here at Nabitunich, Tikal is a massive site with a fascinating history. The name Tikal most likely derives from Ti-akal, a Mayan name meaning "At the Reservoir”. Different than most Mayan cities, Tikal was not built close to any major rivers, lakes or springs, and the city had to live off of what was collected during the rainy season in a series of reservoirs throughout the complex. Being one of the major cultural and population centers of its time (200 AD), Tikal is situated in lowland rainforest, with jaguars, tapirs, toucans and monkeys lurking all around. There are thousands of ancient structures at Tikal and only a fraction of these have been excavated after decades of archaeological work. Besides the breathtaking ruins, a highlight for many was to watch the spider monkeys jump around from tree to tree. Below is a picture of Temple I, one of the largest structures at the site.

SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE!

Happy Birthday Leah Johnson! Happy Halloween! Happy Reformation Day! Tonight we had the toga party of all toga parties. With everyone in their nicest sheet, we came together for dinner (and chocolate cake thanks to Miss Martha) and a little Belizean-style watermelon carving (no pumpkins here). Breaking up in small groups, we really made these little melons come to life. We closed off the night out at Jared and Meghan’s house with a bonfire, smores, and all of the scary stories we could think of. Below is a pig that Jared and Meghan's small group put togther.

XUNANTUNICH

After weeks and weeks of waiting for the river to go down, we finally made it to Xunantunich (to access the site you take a hand-cranked ferry across the Mopan River). Xunantunich, our neighbor a mile or so west of Nabitunich, means “Stone Maiden” in Maya and the ruins carry over two thousand years of history. Artifacts have been dated by as far as 200 BC though the height of the civilization took place between 200-900 AD and was one of the major cultural, political, economic, religious, and agricultural centers in it’s time. The largest pyramid, El Castillo, rises 130 feet above the main plaza and offers an impressive panoramic view of the Cayo District and Guatemala. It is also visible in the distance from the Nab, something incredible to look at and think about as we walk to lunch or class. The Maya are one of the many diverse people groups in Belize and have left significant cultural and historical impacts on this country. They developed complex writing systems, were brilliant astronomers and mathematicians, carried out colorful religious rituals throughout cities like Xunantunich, and developed a calender as accurate as the one we live by today (the Maya calender ends 21 December 2012!).

BARTON CREEK OLD ORDER MENNONITE COMMUNITY

This weekend we visited an Old Order Mennonite colony called Barton Creek and they asked us not to take pictures. Wanting to respect their wishes, here is the best picture we can give you.

how refreshing
to live without electricity, running water,
to get around by horse and buggy,
to spend the morning hoeing
fields of cabbage and plowing the fields
for next years potato crop.

sitting on the porch at night
hymns are sung from almost every direction,
from almost every farm house.
as the day comes to a close, the farm animals quiet,
we sit in a circle in the grass,
telling each other stories of home.
the younger children, restless,
whisper to each other in german.
the older ones stretch their bare feet into the grass
glancing back and forth between the sky
and whoever is speaking.

and then silence, pure silence
as the family heads to bed.
the stars shine brighter than usual,
the night and the moon, the dewy fields glisten.

working a farm means waking up hours before the sun,
four a.m., maybe five.
i crawl out of bed later than the rest,
they are already up, working—
milking cows, collecting eggs for breakfast,
shaking fresh cream in a mason jar for breakfast butter.
inside the flame of the candle gives off just enough light
to start cooking.

outside the moon is still bright on the pasture.
and the songs of the simple people
echo through the hills of Barton Creek.
breakfast begins with silence, a long,
unanticipated silence.
silence broken with a prayer.

and breakfast begins again as we get up from our knees.
bowls are passed around the table
full of oatmeal, bananas grown in the sideyard,
the morning’s collection of eggs,
fresh baked bread with butter from the cow’s utter and
honey purchased from the penner family
a few farms down the road.

with our stomachs full for the days work,
we finish breakfast with scripture,
a hymn of thankfulness,
and a time of silent prayer.
amen.

the rest of the day we work, mostly.
but first we are shown the greenhouse,
the horse that powers the saw mill,
the barn, tools, and sugar cane press,
the family’s canning room.

walking through the fields
we see the beautiful, perfect, rows
of broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, hot peppers.
like members of their own family
these people talk, caress, send their vegetables
with such care.

finishing in the fields we head back to the house
for cold mint tea and bananas.

written by Taylor Kirkland

GOD & NATURE

Could it be that contemporary ecological degradation is a result, in part, of us not knowing our place? Steven Bouma Prediger writes in his book, For the Beauty of the Earth, “We care for only what we love. We love only what we know. We truly know only what we experience. If we do not know our place – know it in more than a passing, cursory way, know it intimately and personally – than we are destined to abuse it.” Much of what we do and think about at CCSP is fundamentally about relationships – between people, place, and God. The past two weeks the students have been taking God & Nature, a class designed to help students develop a theology of creation that understands humans as stewards of the earth. We spent the first week with Sylvia Keesmaat, a New Testament Biblical scholar and long time CCSP faculty, talking about and reading the biblical narrative with new eyes. The second week was with Rolf Bouma, an environmental ethicist and director of the Center for Faith & Scholarship in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Though we considered topics like deep ecology, eco-feminism, the “wilderness” debate, and animal rights, the week is designed to help us understand better what it means for us to understand scripture and offer Christian responses to current environmental problems.

COCKSCOMB BASIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Scarlet Macaws and Jaguars we wish but Tapirs yes oh my!!!! That was the order of the week as the CCSP crew made there way through Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. The wildlife was rich and student’s spirits were high. Lead by Eric Lindquist of Messiah College we had a successful go of Forest Ecology. We spent three days having our eyes opened to God’s creation. Lectures and mini investigations were the order of the days while the nights allowed the students, staff and professor to unleash their inner child and look with utter amazement at the things that go bump in the night. Jaguars were high on the list, especially after Bart Harmsen gave us stunning look into jaguar research that is spanning the Americas. Though none were seen we know they have a powerful presence in the basin as their footprints dotted every trail. Our hopes remained high throughout our time and our commitment paid off, as we were all able to at least see the majestic mountain cow on three separate occasions. Though this is a 400 lbs creature its ability to evade and disappear silently into the lush Broadleaf Forest astounded us all. No trip to Cockscomb would be complete without a visit to Tiger Fern. Here is a picture of students enjoying the cool waters after a long hike up.