Give it a go

I have made it to Belize! My journey here was a long but amazing one. After the two flights to Belize city, I hopped aboard a 6 person carrier plane to fly to Punta Gorda. I have never been more excited and semi-nervous of death in my life. I was sitting right behind the pilot as he started up the engines and our little jumper plane took off in a roar. Once we had reached a good height, my nerves flew away with the clouds. As I looked across the planes of Belize, I was taken back by the country side. It was so lush and green like miles and miles of freshly cooked broccoli. The water below us was the most amazing blue-green color I had ever seen. I felt like I was seeing a small secret paradise of the world. Once we landed, I quickly realized this was not where the vacationers were going. A ton of families and couples crowded our American Airline plane into Belize City but in Punta Gorda, it was almost all locals. As we hopped off our little aircraft, we saw a friendly man waiting on the runway for us. We pulled our bags out of the bottom of the plane and jumped into the back of a van. Hillside was about 6 miles away from the coast. We passed many little villages full of colorful houses, little restaurants, and all types of people. I learned later that Belize is inhabited by two forms of Mayan people, as well as people of creole descent. A lot of different cultures formed the land. When we arrived, a bunch of other students greeted us. 5 students were from the US, 1 was from Switzerland, 2 from England, and 1 from Scotland. There was a mix of PT, public health, and medical students. It’s funny how we immediately all clicked when talking about medicine regardless of our culture. Later in the night, we headed to a local bar to grab some food. As we sat around a little wooden table at a small shack like bar, we asked questions about each others culture and laughed about our educational experiences. We explained what a coffee pot was to Anja and Adam from England said she’d have to “give it a go.” Today I woke up and felt the humidity already forming a layer of sweat on my body. The weather would take some getting used to. Still, I was in a house full of awesome medical students from around the world and in Belize none the less! I could already tell treating patients here was going to be a trip of a lifetime with lots of sweat, accents, and amazing memories.