Diary 16^th Dec 2009 & Images from Belize

Wednesday

Mavis had baked small around flat scones, their golden tops covering an area of little more than a golf ball. Fried mixed up egg with some green vegetable but I wasn't watching to see exactly what Abel was putting into the frying pan. However it was delicious and I wished there had been more of it.

I told her that I wanted to get a SIM card for my phone. "I have a spare phone that I don't use so you can use that some card if you want." Mavis offered.
"Yes please Mavis." I said, "that would really be very convenient and whatever credit is left then it you’ll be able to use when I go back to England."
"Okay let me go and get it." she said leaving the breakfast table and are going to get her mobile phone. I put my chip in her phone for safekeeping and installed the Belize SIM card in my Nokia. I checked that it was working okay and she told me I could buy credit for it at the local supermarket.

After breakfast I went outside to the balcony to smoke a cigarette. There I noticed he had a young man of indeterminate age called Mark was hanging around. He told me that he was cleaning the yard for my cousin but I could see no evidence of him doing any work nor did I understand exactly what yard he was supposed to be cleaning.

Abel had given Mark a breakfast and he was sitting on the balcony eating it. I chatted to him and mentioned that I was looking for someone to accompany me to Belmopan. I pointedly asked him if he knew of any lad around who was out of work and had nothing to do for the day. He said he didn't think so because most of them were working. However he offered to go with me himself and asked what time I wanted to go. I told him that he was working for Abel but he said that the yard didn't have to be done right now it could be done later. I came in and told my cousin that he'd offered to go with me and I had said it would be okay and does he have any problem with that? Well Mark's a druggie said Abel and it's crack cocaine he uses said Mavis but he should be all rights and capable to go to Belmopan.

However I didn't want to upset Abel's tasking so I suggested it would be better if we went after lunch around 1230 he agreed. When I was leaving he was at the gate and opened it for me then asked if I could let him have $4.00. I told him that I didn't have any money I was going to get some later in the day and I would see him at lunchtime.

I went over to see Brenda immediately after breakfast. I told her about Mark and the first thing she said was that he is a crack-head. We chatted with Joyce her sister who lives next door and I asked if her son Devon was about. I have spent time with him on my last occasion and hope that he might be free. She told me that he was in America right now.

Brenda suggested Godwin might be willing to go with me and offered to phone to see if he was free. She called and found out that he was available and willing to go to Belmopan. I spent time chatting to Brenda, telling her about my journey and the hassle that I'd had in America. Shortly afterwards Gottman arrived.

We shook hands and he said it was good to see me again. "Do you remember the time we went to the casino on your last visit?"
I didn't but told him that I did. I told him the reason that I wanted to go to Belmopan and that I was happy to have him accompany me. Godwin told me that he would go over to his house some hundred yards down the road on the other side to change into some suitable clothing as he was wearing shorts and T-shirt. I left Brenda some 30 minutes later and picked him up at his house. "Are you ready to go now?" I asked.
"Yes I am. My wife is at work and I've made arrangements for my children to be collected from school by my mother. So we can leave whenever you're ready."

Godwin is an invalid who suffers from sickle cell and is only able to work odd jobs that come his way. First we stopped of at the small supermarket at the end of the road to buy some beer. I love Belikin beer which is the leading domestically produced beer in Belize. It is a light lager beer brewed in Ladyville and the label features a drawing of Mayan temple at Altun Ha. As far as I know the name of Belikin comes from the Maya language and means "Road to the East".

We chatted about this and that on the hour long drive to Belmopan. We drove into the capital city and found the passport office, parked the vehicle and established where to submit my application. I was greeted by a very good looking young man who took my passport, affidavit and application form and told us to wait while he went off to deal with it.

He returned some 20 minutes later to tell me that he couldn't do the passport because I need another document.
"What other document do I need?" I asked.
"You need to let me have your Nationality Certificate." he told me.
I explained to him that I didn't have this document as when I first applied for a Belizean passport in the United Kingdom there was no requirement to have one. He explained that one would have been made and put on file and that I should go to the next office to see a Mr Pulida who will make a nationality certificate for me.

I found Mr Pulida and explained to him what was required. He told me that I would have to come back in the afternoon as he had appointments right now. I asked at what time I should return and he suggested that I come back immediately after lunch around 1330.

We left the passport office in Godwin suggested we go out to see his brother-in-law José where we might get some lunch. We drove a few miles west to Roaring Creek and spent the next hour eating rice and beans with some meat and soft drinks at his brother-in-law's house.

I had tried calling José Sanchez's phone a number of times but a woman who speaks Spanish only kept answering it. I explained my problem to Godwin's brother-in-law who speak Spanish and asked him if he would call this woman to find out what was happening. After making a phone call he told me that the woman said that she bought the phone from José and it was now her phone. I was somewhat surprised but there was nothing I could do about it so that was that.

I was a bit peeved that I had not been able to meet Joe and when I learned that he had sold his phone I asked José's daughter who was sitting at her computer and using the Internet if I could use it to send a message to Joe on Yahoo. She handed over the computer to me and I sent a message that they hoped Joe would get the next time he logged on giving him my Belizean telephone number and asking him to call me.

We returned at 1315 and Mr Pulida explained what was required. He brought out some huge ledgers that were about 18 inches square and 3 inches thick. All the entries were in date order and I had the date of my original application. I thought he would look at the records and obtain the certificate of nationality number from the book. However he pointed out that it would take far too long to go through the registers, that made no sense to me, and told me I should complete another form. Without even opening one of the books he again told me it would take too long to go through the existing registers to find the original and that a new application would be the simplest solution. I didn't understand but I completed the document he gave me. He checked it and he told me to take it across to the taxi rank where the Justice of the Peace, Mr Baptiste, would be able to sign it for me. Godwin and me left the office and went across the Market Square. We found the JP, an elderly gentleman looking rather unkempt and wearing spectacles and a trilby hat, sitting beside the taxi rank where he had a table and his book work laid out as though it were his office.

After explaining my predicament to him he agreed that the system was completely crazy. He looked over my documents and said, "I see you had your first Belizean passport 22 years ago. Now you're telling me that I need to sign a form to say that you are the Belizean citizen all over again. Can't they find the original documents?"
"Apparently there are a lot of registers and Mr. Pulido thinks that the easiest way is to make a fresh application." I told him.
"Um hu” he said.
He asked me to questions about my father and upon giving him the information he signed to say that I was a Belizean citizen. Godwin and Lee thanked him and I took the documents back over to Mr Pulida. Next I had to pay the cashier my BZ $40 fee and take the receipt to him. Having done that I handed him the documents expecting him to then tell me that I could go and submit my passport application. Nothing is simple in Belize however and he told me that he had to get the signature from one of the directors before I can take the matter forward. He told me to call him on Thursday afternoon and he would do everything he could to make my passport ready for me to collect on Friday.

We left Belmopan and on the way back to Burrell Boom we stopped off to visit his sister where she works. After a short chat with her we came back directly to Burrell Boom village.

It’s been an interesting day-to-day and I returned to my room around 2200...