Revisiting More Tomorrow
More Tomorrow village, small and silent on the surface, is located in the Cayo district of Belize. As a child I lived in its primitive land with my mother and three siblings. The elephant trees towered around the village; creating a fortress. Mud clung to my shoes and splashed reddish-browns up my legs. Mosquitoes sung in my ears and sank into my flesh, sucking my blood. Sweat burned my eyes and river-water teased my dry mouth. But now, as the adult, all I can do is try to remember the village, people, and its spirit. I am inhaling the sweet aroma of the past--sugarcane and wet bark fill my nostrils. Invisible limbs pull me into its void. Mangroves tangle into my hair, wrap around my skin, and take root into my mind. I want to live, breathe, and die in the land of the free, by the Carib Sea.
As I prepare for my trip to Belize this summer, I browse the web for updates about the country. I glance at a tourist brochure that encourages me to "Buy cheap land in Belize!" I mention this to my mother over the phone and she slips into her familiar Creole, "dehn change wahn latta ting," I inquire about what has changed and immediately regret asking. My mother, a Belizean, continually complains about the "development" of the country. As a native she is eligible to buy land, but is not satisfied with the government's decision to sell Belizean land to the highest bidders first--foreigners. "Belize sell lan' to anybady, da jus' bout di money now." I want to understand if the government considered Belizeans before foreigners in the past, but she comments that economic development was and still is more important than what the Belizean people want or deserve. "Ecanamic grot blind di leaders and both di land and people di suffer."
As I tell her that I want to visit More Tomorrow when I come home she tells me to, "tek wa camera, dehn change wa latta ting." I wonder how a place so drastic in extremities, so wild and so hidden, could ever change. It can change and has, but not in my mind...
...its past lingers inside me and sways to the rhythm of my beating heart.
As I prepare for my trip to Belize this summer, I browse the web for updates about the country. I glance at a tourist brochure that encourages me to "Buy cheap land in Belize!" I mention this to my mother over the phone and she slips into her familiar Creole, "dehn change wahn latta ting," I inquire about what has changed and immediately regret asking. My mother, a Belizean, continually complains about the "development" of the country. As a native she is eligible to buy land, but is not satisfied with the government's decision to sell Belizean land to the highest bidders first--foreigners. "Belize sell lan' to anybady, da jus' bout di money now." I want to understand if the government considered Belizeans before foreigners in the past, but she comments that economic development was and still is more important than what the Belizean people want or deserve. "Ecanamic grot blind di leaders and both di land and people di suffer."
As I tell her that I want to visit More Tomorrow when I come home she tells me to, "tek wa camera, dehn change wa latta ting." I wonder how a place so drastic in extremities, so wild and so hidden, could ever change. It can change and has, but not in my mind...
...its past lingers inside me and sways to the rhythm of my beating heart.
Maryum, i liked how you gave us more to hang our hats on here. a little personal history and a little more about More Tomorrow, the place, as it was then and some details about the political/cultural changes you might expect when you travel there this summer. i will look forward to hearing more about it after your visit.
ReplyDelete