AXED Field School- Day 1 and transit

Hola from Central Farms in Cayo!
Bright and early Friday morning we arrived at the El Paso airport, most of us anyway. One member of our team didn’t hear her alarm and had her phone on silent. Luckily she was able to make the flight to Dallas one hour later and just make it onto the flight to Belize City. Yesterday we made it through customs without any trouble at all and we got to the University of Belize Central Farm where we are staying. For dinner last night we had rice and beans, stewed chicken, potato salad, and fry plantain with spice cake dessert.
Today we woke up at 7 and had breakfast at 8 of homemade tortillas, beans, eggs, bacon, cheese and papaya. We went to the market, this is best described as a combination of a flea market and a farmers market. There we ate papoosas (which are homemade tortillas filled with beans, cheese and chicken before they are cooked), tamarind, tamale, and plantain chips. DELICIOUS. This is where we did most of our souvenir shopping for all of you back home.
Today after the market we went to a Mennonite community and ate there, we had pierogies.
At the community we visited a field of beans attacked by thrips, then a chicken producer (also eggs), then we went and ate ice cream. Next we went to the store and got hand tools for the gardening class at the Ag high school we are going to later this week. The last stop was at a small dairy where we watched them milk and the wife filled some of our water bottles with raw milk. We came home to the dorms and ate dinner of t-bones cooked with vegetables, rice and potatoes washed down with cold watermelon juice.
After dinner we had a presentation my Arnoldo from the Friends of Conservation and Development organization here in BZ.

Monkeying around at Community Baboon Sanctuary

Hello! Here's an update from the Primate Behavior students at Community Baboon Sanctuary from this morning. The famous Emil Gamez is their guide!



Hey Everyone! This is Steph Lichtenberg. It is the morning after our first day even though yesterday was mainly a lot of travel; the moment we stepped off the airplane … Belize just had this amazing, salty smell to it. I will never forget it. Everywhere you walk here, actually, has its own smell. The BCS is just amazing. You can smell the flora along with the “original Belize scent” (maybe I will make it into a candle scent). The Cabanas where we are staying are so cute; they have a hammock in the front (which I will make use of!) and best of all, you can hear the howlers. Though, they are loud (famously) I slept very well with them. On our bus ride to the BCS we encountered our first howlers. I had always pictured them too high up in the canopy to even spot, but they are just everywhere here! The people here are so friendly and I really am starting to understand how special the BCS really is. Collin explained yesterday that how the BCS came into being here and that this amazing interworking network might not be able to work anywhere else is really starting to make sense. After dinner last night, we put on our night gear (deet!) and traipsed through the forest with Robert. Though we didn’t “see anything” the experience was just amazing. Robert, knowing I hate spiders, taught me how to spot spider from 50 feet away. I am excited for today; we are canoeing and watching the howlers from the canoe (as they prefer habitats along the river). I am totally ready for whatever is ahead!



Hello all, it’s Robin. Today we are planning on going to canoeing and I am super excited. Yesterday we went on a night hike and got to figure out how to identify spiders, which look like glitter in the jungle at night. There are lots of mosquitoes and bugs but so far I haven’t got bitten yet. Hi to my family I love you.

Hello, it’s Mari. Its so exciting to be here. It’s amazing. Saw some monkeys, went on a night hike, ate some creole food, took a cold freezing shower, went on an early morning hike, and ate some termites. We’ve done so much in the short time we’ve been here. The people are awesome and the environment is amazing. We’re gonna eat breakfast and then go canoeing! I can’t wait. One mosquito bite so far and hope I’m not gonna get bit anymore.

Hello there everybody. So far, Belize has been fantastic with really wonderful weather, food, animals and people. Today we’re going to go canoeing and do our first real howler observations. Yay! The jungle out here is gorgeous. The best way for me to describe it is to just imagine you’re in Jurassic Park. I’m partially expecting a dinosaur to burst out of the foliage (which would make for a fantastic story), but I’m perfectly happy to look at all the other wildlife here, like the unicorn cows that only have one horn. Hope everybody is doing well at home!
Tiffany

WE ARE HERE!! Both classes have arrived safe and sound at their respective destinations. Will post more later.

Good morning, Belize!

We are headed to Belize!

Both class met at NMSU ~4:30 this morning and are on the way to the airport. Look out Belize - here we come!

(message to Yvonne's family: she made it! We are all on board to Belize!)

Check back for updates to this blog. We'll post pictures and stories throughout the week.

Welcome to the Belize Field School, 2011!

Hello everyone and welcome to the NMSU Belize Field School blog, 2011!

Dr. Brenda Benefit is leading a Primates/Anthropology class.

Dr. Brenda Seevers is leading an Agricultural Education and Extension class.

Both classes fly to Belize to participate in a week-long field course over Spring Break. Check back often for updates and photos and stories from students on the trip!

Thanks!
Kristi