For spring break, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to San Ignacio, Belize to learn about food, culture, and society. Through this experience, I got introduced to many amazing new foods, as well as learned about some historical cultures, such as the Mayans and Garifuna people.

Stepping out of the airport in Belize was an exhilarating experience, as I was immediately met with the lush green trees, warmth, and music of exotic birds. Our first full day in Belize we got to go to a Mayan Women’s co-op, where their focus is to keep the Mayan culture alive and practiced as it was in the past. Here, we learned to make tortillas from scratch by grinding the corn, how to do embroidery, and how to make traditional Mayan pottery. We then had a traditional Mayan meal, where all the ingredients were grown or gathered within the co-op from the gardens and farms.

We then got the opportunity to travel to Hopkins, Belize, where we engaged with people of the Garifuna culture. We learned about their history, and how in St. Vincent where the Garifuna originated, their culture is lost and almost no one speaks the Garifuna language. The dish that they taught us to make was called Hudut, and it is a fish soup with a coconut broth, which was bursting with flavor from the numerous herbs added. After our dinner, we had a drumming demonstration where we heard traditional Garifuna music, with singing and complex drumming rhythms. Later in the program, we got to experience another Garifuna drumming demonstration, where we learned more about the Garifuna religion and got to partake in singing a beautiful Garifuna prayer.

Through all the cultures we interacted with while in Belize, I learned they have a very strong connection with food and their cultures, and that they are more than willing to share their knowledge with others. It made me reflect on my own relationship with food and my culture and made me want to learn more about my own heritage and practice more traditions than I do now.

This program developed my critical thinking and critical thinking, cultural awareness, and service-learning skills, and I would recommend studying abroad to everyone I meet. It is truly a priceless experience, and something you will remember for the rest of your life.

Going into studying abroad, I thought there would be so much work to do that I would not have free time. However, in my two experiences studying abroad, this was not the case at all, and I still had plenty of time to explore the country and culture on my own with friends. The cost was also something I was worried about, as I am from a lower income family, but there are so many scholarship opportunities for study abroad programs that it was not a problem at all.

Education abroad affected my academic pursuits, as it opened my eyes to a new way of learning, and it is definitely something I would do again in the future.

Name: Robin Petelin
Status: Freshman
Major: Criminal Justice
Hometown: Summerfield, Ohio
Program: Culture, Food and Society in Belize