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Work 4 Peace,Hold All Life Sacred,Eliminate Violence! I am on my mobile version of the door-to-door, going town-to-town holding readings/gatherings/discussions of my book "But What Can I Do?" This is my often neglected blog mostly about my travels since 9/11 as I engage in dialogue and actions. It is steaming with my opinions, insights, analyses toward that end of holding all life sacred, dismantling the empire and eliminating violence while creating the society we want ALL to thrive in

Monday, October 05, 2015

Largest recycling project in Belize: or white people...



Before we get to the next ruin, and snuggled deep into Mayan land, on the side of the bumpy dirt road there sits a huge white monstrosity oddly shaped and colorfully painted that has a sign boasting it is the largest recycling project in Belize – which might not be saying much as there doesn’t appear to be any recycling program in Belize.

We pull into the driveway and are greeted by a dog and, surprisingly, a white womon, who we learn is originally from England. She fascinates us with the story of at least 25,000 plastic bottles comprising the walls, floors, ceiling of this building – as with all the buildings on this land – along with a few tires covered by local cement.

It's an earthship house. In Belize. A few tenths of a mile from the ancient ruins. And in the middle of scattered Mayan houses and communities. Which is why we are surprised to see a white person living here.

The ‘beams’ in the ceilings do have steel rods in them thru the plastic bottles – it is quite amazing really. She has 3 white children who are attending Mayan schools in the nearby village.

She touches on her previous purpose of the building: she wanted to make it into a school for Mayan children but confesses rather angrily that there is too much red tape and it didn’t work out.

Now she wants to show Mayan children how to build a house like this with all recycled and local materials.

I’m pondering why this womon isn’t showing all the tourists, ex-pats, and foreigners invading Placencia how to build a house like this.

How much wealth does it take for a white het couple to move their three children across the world, buy sacred land in the middle of a large, ancient Mayan community, build several small houses and one huge house, and then have a burning desire to teach Mayan’s how to replicate their project?

I wonder if the Mayan people have said this is the house they want to build and live in.

Placencia and south

We are staying in an air bnb-type apartment in Placencia that is a narrow strip of land bordered by the Caribbean Sea and the other side, a lagoon. We are told by the Spaniards who own this house that dolphins, crocodiles, and turtles inhabit the lagoon.

We travel south to visit two Mayan ruins within a rain forest. As we get closer to the ruin, contemporary traditional Mayan housing becomes more abundant: the wooden planked walls with thatched roofs.

As we enter the ruin, we see rows of steps leading up to walls made from placing rectangular stones so securely on top of each other that here they are over 1000 years later.

The first ruin we visit is a smaller one but where huge stones, maybe 15 or 20 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 2 feet thick stand with ancient carvings from top to bottom, called a "stela" are on display. These carvings have been interpreted as various goddesses and gods.

It is a magical place with magical remains!