Off to Belize!

We have made it to Belize. It was a long day but it feels great to be here. We ended up leaving Sioux Falls around 12:30 am on Friday and arriving at the airport in Minneapolis around 4: 45am. A couple of us girls had troubles on how to get our boarding tickets because we did not know how to scan our passports. We must of looked like we were struggling because we had the Crown College guys occer team trying to help us out too. After getting all our luggage checked in and getting our body scans we were in the terminal area waiting for our boarding time for the plane. We did not have to wait very long....about 20 minutes. I was in the last group to board the plane because I was toward the front. When I boarded I tried fitting my suitcase in the overhead bins but it didn't quite fit so I had to take some stuff out and stuff it into my backpack.....then it fit just fine. The plane ride was a lot of fun, I was sitting by the aisle and by a couple from Minneapolis who was going on vacation to Belize. Once our plane landed in Miami it was time for food as we were all pretty hungry and we had a couple hours before we started boarding for the plane to Belize. To waste time we walked around to look at all the eating places before making a decision to finally eat, I chose a chinese place which was really good. After we ate and hungout in the airport for a while it was time for us to board the plane and I was one of the first ones since I was toward the back of the plane this time (my suitcase fit good this time- no troubles). Once we walked off the plane to Belize we had to walk into the airport from outside for baggage claim. After getting all our bags we had to go through customs and get them checked. We had a man who is refered to as Buddha pack up our bags on a couple carts to take to the three taxis we would be taking to get to the water taxi. The taxi driver in the car I was in was named Floyd who was a funny man. He told us all about Belize, his family, what different things stood for, and answered any questions we had along our way. I thought he drove like a maniac at first but what I came to find out from our ride was that they do not have driving laws on passing. You just honk your horn and pass or when coming up to a street you honk so they know your coming and do not stop. When our taxi ride was over we arrived at a place to get our tickets for the water taxi to take over to the island (Ambergris Cey). We had to wait for about an hour for the time of departure so we visited the different shops around the area and changed into cooler clothes since it was hot and humid. We got on the water taxi and were packed like sardines in the boat. The trip was about an hour and fifteen minutes long so Chase and a friend he made named Justin who was about 8 years old played card games to pass the time. The ride was windy and bumpy from the waves but it was a great experience. When we arrived at the island around 4:30pm we gathered our bags and started off for the hotel carrying all the bags. It did not last long since they were so heavy so we had a taxi take the bags and we walked to meet them at the hotel (The Tides). Once we arrived at the The Tides Hotel we got to check out our rooms and then decide what we wanted to do the rest of the day. I decided to go swimming with Kim and Debbie in the ocean from the dock in the front of our hotel. We got in the chilled water and were just hanging out trying to just float when a surprise came. About 5 minutes after getting in the water Kim said get out of the water as fast as you can right now. As I turned my head to see why she said that I saw a fin sticking out of the water about 15 feet away so I started moving out of the water a little faster. Once we all got out of the water safely we decided we should probably just swim in the hotel pool instead. After our fun swimming adventure we decided to go to meet the other people in our group at Central Park for supper to eat from the mamma sietas who have local vending tents up. I got ready and walked to the park with Debbie and Ann. When I got to the park for supper I had a delicious chicken burrito and then joined the rest of the group to walk around town and check out all the different shops on the beach. We ended up hanging out at the house where the boys in our group are staying and then walking on the beach for the rest of the evening which was a blast. This was our first day adventure adn we had a great time! More to come soon!