Pat’s Wildways: My Mayan birthday

Bucko and I have been coming to Placencia, Belize for four years, three times a year, two weeks each time. We come to the same five-room beachfront hotel and always stay in the same room. In Placencia, people are friendly and welcoming. Everyone — the Creoles, Mayans, Mestizos, Garifuna, Mennonites, expats — all speak English. And I talk to everyone. Perfect!

Over the years, we have come to know Juanita and her daughter Reiny, who take a two-and-a-half-hour bus ride from their home in the Mayan mountains to and from Placencia a few days a week to sell their handmade baskets, jewelry, and other crafts. Juanita and I have been exchanging WhatsApp messages for quite a while now, sometimes photos of our daily lives, which interest both of us. So very different!

When we were in Placencia this past December, I took the bus back with Juanita to Indian Creek and spent the night in her home. You can see more about that in these past columns: Mayan Home and Chocolate from Scratch. And during the course of that visit, Juanita and I discovered we had nearly the same birthday, June 6 and June 8. We decided to celebrate together.

And wow, did we! Reiny took the lead in arranging a joint birthday party for her mom (Juanita) and me on Sunday, June 7, up in the village. As things developed, more than 60 mostly relatives were going to be there from Indian Creek and nearby villages. Some other close relatives who lived hours away were coming too. There were lots of messages ahead of time between Reiny, Juanita, and me to fill me in on the ceremony and with my two expat friends, Sandy and Ursula, who were joining me to coordinate the desserts, soft drinks, and disposable cups, children’s toys, etc. that we were bringing. Reiny was serving 100 pounds of pork in one pot of caldo and local chickens in another, all enhanced with herbs and veggies from their backyard jungle acres. And whatever else. Wow!

And then the fateful Sunday came! Ursula, Sandy and I arrived up in the hills around 8:30 a.m., luckily a quicker ride than by bus. As is a local custom, I understand, Juanita’s small home was cleared of furniture beforehand. When we showed up, the Sunday mass with the entire congregation, choir, and officiant, the instrument from the Catholic Church was in her house and the service had already started. I was outfitted in an amazing Mayan skirt and blouse and seated with Juanita at a birthday-decorated head table with a birthday cake with our ages, 52/74 (no secrets here) in front of us. The choir sang and the officiant talked primarily in Q'eqchi' (Kekchi) but a couple of hymns were in English, as was a warm welcome to me and a blessing directed at both of us from the pastor. Throughout it all, one man kept the copal burning, and the smoke from this incense blessed us all. It was a joyous service, never to be forgotten. I feel blessed to be included.

And then came the feast. A team of women worked to set out 60 bowls of chicken or pork caldo (Mayan stew). And of course, there was a steady supply of tortillas made on the spot and their own local chocolate drink made from their own roasted and ground cacao, and our Gatorade punch, both served from buckets. After people finished eating, Sandy’s cakes and tarts were brought out alongside the huge birthday cake, and Juanita and I posed behind the cake before it was cut. I walked around handing out saltwater taffy, which got mixed responses. Most adults and kids loved it. But Shawn, Reiny’s 4-year-old son, ran to her saying it gets stuck to his teeth. Later, I saw another girl playing with it like Play-Doh. Ursula handed out individual little puzzles to the kids and set up a play station with the kids for the large bubble wands I brought. They had only seen small ones and were delighted.

But then it was time to head down to Placencia. Juanita’s brother came down with us, saving him a long bus ride later. We all talked and compared notes and it seems the politics in Indian Creek are just like ours. People are the same the world over.

I’m glad these people are my friends!

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. Patandbucko@yahoo.com