Caye Caulker (Again) – Day 4: Independence Day
CAYE CAULKER (AGAIN)
Day 4: Independence Day
September 21, 2022
Fully rested and recovered, I wiped the crust from my eyes and stretched out – ready to take on another beautiful day in paradise. And that’s when it dawned on me… it was my last day in Caye Caulker. I had no idea how to feel about it.
I had literally never been happier than I had been here – leaving the island felt almost inconceivable. But I had to. I had done all I wanted to do, and then some. Of course, I wouldn’t be mourning just the island. It’s all the wonderful memories I had made with the most incredible of people. But that’s life. It was time to move on. It was time for me to make more wonderful memories with other incredible people. And as difficult as that would be, I needed to do it. In the meantime, I still had one full day ahead of me. Trying to forget all about it, I got out of bed and headed downstairs.
It didn’t take much for my mood to be lifted. Right in front of Roy’s resort was a rum punch stand, where we’d be hanging out during the morning festivities. By that point, the parade was already in full swing. At the very front was a fire engine, blasting its siren out loud. This was followed by a crowd of people, all clad in colourful costumes – much like you’d expect at Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro. Behind them were floats and golf carts covered in Belizean flags. Then followed more crowds, more golf carts, and so on and so forth. We stood there, just taking it all in and handing cups of rum punch to anyone passing by.
More Insights on Belize
The crowd was meant to go all the way to The Split and then come back, at which point we’d all join them – or at least, that was the plan. While chugging one rum punch after the other, I was introduced to Ishmael, a VIP who works directly with the Prime Minister of Belize. He compared his job to Chandler’s on Friends – which means no one’s exactly sure what he does.
To put it simply, his job involves working within the public sector to improve the private one, so they can collaborate and grow together – as in the case of digitising infrastructures like healthcare. This, he said, means he gets to travel quite a lot to discuss strategies with other countries and follow their lead. Our conversation was quite tangential, to say the least. One minute he was talking politics, the next, sports. What caught my interest the most, of course, was the former.
He told me all about how the Belizean government is currently in court with the Guatemalan one over the ownership of Belizean territory. To make an ultra-long story short, the whole deal started way back during the Spanish Conquest. With the Spanish Conquest came the unification of various countries in Mesoamerica, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica – with the territory of present-day Belize being, at the time, split between Mexico and Guatemala.
After major conflicts with the Brits, the Spanish and British governments came to an agreement: while Belize was to be ruled by Spain, the British could use the land for importation and exportation, given its importance as a trading route. When Spanish control over the region weakened, the land that is now Belize came under British authority and was later named British Honduras. Jumping from one hand to the other, the original ownership of the land couldn’t be definitively proven. With the Guatemalan government claiming it inherited Spain’s sovereign rights over the area, the dispute remains unresolved to this day.
“Can you imagine being born Belizean and identifying as such, only to be suddenly told you’re now Guatemalan?” Ishmael asked me, allowing me some time to reflect on it.
Cultural Shift
This led us to the topic of culture loss. I mentioned how, during my short lifespan, I’ve seen such a dramatic change in my own country. While most of it can be attributed to Westernisation, it’s also due to the fact that travel and immigration have become so accessible over the past few years.
Amongst the many changes, I used languages as an example. Back when I was a kid, most of us grew up being taught English and Maltese at home, while watching Italian TV for free – just like that, we’d grow up knowing at least three languages before even going to school. Now? Now kids watch Netflix in English, with some parents completely foregoing teaching Maltese to their children because it’s practically useless outside our tiny island. A pity – not only because its such a beautiful tongue that is an integral part of our culture, but for many other reasons. Like the fact that growing up bilingual confers a plethora of advantages, from helping one learn other languages more efficiently to aiding brain development in general.
Whilst Westernisation might be the case for us Maltese, he added that the same phenomenon can be seen with Belize’s local Indigenous Mayans and Garifuna, who nowadays are often seen wearing American-style casual clothes instead of traditional attire – likely because it’s more comfortable, cheaper, and easier to manufacture.
He ended this subject with a phrase that’s since stuck in my head: “Everyone deserves development!” We might find it bizarre that the Mayans are eating burgers instead of corn, that the Garifuna are eating pizza instead of hudut, and that they’re losing their culture – but really and truly, why shouldn’t they? Their culture isn’t entertainment for the masses, and if they want to join the wave of progress, who are we to judge? After all, it’s not necessarily a matter of cultural loss – but of cultural shift.
The Fun Goes On...
All lost in the conversation, it took us a couple of minutes to realise that the parade had already passed us by. We joined the rest of the gang at the spot where the concert had been held the day before. There, we were met with an explosion of colours as people threw bagfuls of red and blue powder into the air – kinda like what you’d expect at a Holi festival. It was simply incredible being there, seeing how strongly Belizeans feel about their country and their culture.
In between worrying about whether the powder would actually stain my clothes – the very same ones I had to make do with for eight months – and trying to find the Bloodclaat Gang, I found myself covered in soap and bubbles at Sports Bar’s very own foam party. There I found Becca sprawled on the ground, being wiped clean by a bunch of kids. I joined her without a second thought, with them jumping at the opportunity to cover me in foam and wipe me down too. It’s definitely one of my most cherished memories – they were so, so cute!
And, to top it off, one of the girls was the daughter of the nicest couple we’d met on the North Island during our hike. We’d come across them at their street stall and promised we’d return for lunch – only our hike had lasted a couple of hours longer than expected. Anyone else would’ve left, but they actually waited for us. The barbecue steak was mouth-watering to say the least. Seeing them again was simply heartwarming!
Whilst the festivities continued late into the evening, we had different plans in mind. The 21st also marked my last night on the island. Being all out-partied and exhausted, we opted to spend our final evening together at the resort – having a couple of drinks and a couple of laughs – trying to forget all about the following day.
