March 2024 - THE ROVING DOCTOR

III.II.I – Gearing Up

III.II.I GEARING UP Islander lifestyle be damned. Something much better was in store for me. Something my friends and I had been planning for months on end was now just around the corner. Something… Okay, I’m done with all the suspense. As soon as exams were done and dusted, we were gonna fly off to Nepal! But it wasn’t just […]

Added on March 25, 2024 Belize , A Year in the Life

I.II.I.IV – Caye Caulker: Day Four

CAYE CAULKER I.II.I.IV- DAY FOUR 12/09/22 I woke up to the bitter realisation that I had lost my nipple piercing sometime the day before. By that time, the wound had already practically closed. In not wanting my nipple to look misshapen and scarred, I took the very wise decision of repiercing it myself – with the blunt metal stud itself. […]

Added on March 21, 2024 Third Year , Change

III.I.III – Rose-Coloured Glasses

III.I.III ROSE-COLOURED GLASSES I was never a summer person. You know how everyone just goes bonkers at the simple mention of the season? Not me. I’m a sucker for autumn. I think I have Gilmore Girls to thank for that – is that a more autumny TV show out there? There’s just something about autumn that makes me feel as […]

Added on March 18, 2024 Belize , A Year in the Life

I.II.I.III – Caye Caulker: Day Three

CAYE CAULKER I.II.I.III- DAY THREE 11/09/22 The following morning, Roy went to work early and I, bursting with giddiness, made my way to…. drum roll… Scuba class! I’d lived in Malta; an island surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea on all sides, since I was nay but a zygote. I’d been fascinated by all things marine since I was a kid. […]

Added on March 14, 2024 Third Year , Change

III.I.II – Moving On

III.I.II MOVING ON And life went on. I now had all the time in the world for my studies and for myself. The second semester of our third year in med school is renowned for its trials and tribulations, so this ‘freedom’ seemed to be god-sent. The catch? The ‘me time’ soon started taking over the study time and before you […]

Added on March 11, 2024 Belize , A Year in the Life

I.II.I.II – Caye Caulker: Day Two

CAYE CAULKER I.II.I.II- DAY TWO 10/09/22 The following day was one I had been looking forward to for many months. I’d be going be a snorkelling tour at the marine reserve of Hol Chan; a protected sealife sanctuary that draws in millions of tourists annually! At 9AM sharp I was to be found at one of the tour companies’ stalls […]

Added on March 7, 2024 Third Year , Change

III.I.I – Back

III.I.I BACK I arrived back home in one piece, unprostituted and as sober as ever. I had been expecting to come back a different person, and that I did. Only I couldn’t quite recognise what was so different about me. On the outside I was still the same; though lighter and my skin now perfect, shiny and tan in the […]

Added on March 4, 2024 Belize , A Year in the Life

I.II.I.I – Caye Caulker: Day One

CAYE CAULKER I.II.I.I – DAY ONE 09/09/22 A two-hour ferry ride away stood my first destination in Central America – an island called Caye Caulker in Belize! With a fresh breeze and sea spray in my face, I felt reinvigorated. The melancholy of leaving Mexico behind soon turned to exhilaration as I was about to step into another country. And […]

Added on March 4, 2024 Belize , A Year in the Life

BELIZE – PEOPLE

BELIZE PEOPLE POPULATION Whilst around 50% are Latino, more than 25% of the population is Creole; descendants of sub-Saharan African slaves who were brought to British Honduras for labour. In addition, Belize is also home to Mayans, East Indians and the Garifuna; people with mixed African and American ancestry who used to live in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent. […]

Added on March 4, 2024 Belize , A Year in the Life

BELIZE – LAND

BELIZE LAND GEOGRAPHY Belize is a rhombus-shaped country that’s around 23,000 kilometres squared in size. Found on the north-eastern coast of Central America, the country is bordered by Mexico on the north, Guatemala on the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea on the east. The north is mostly flat and is dominated by forests, swampy areas and coastal plains, […]