A Discourse of Tropical Seasons: The Cashew Tree

BELIZE—

We found our first Cashew fruit! Native to Brazil, the tree was brought to India in the 1500’s and spread throughout Southeast Asia, Africa, as well as Central America. It is now common around Belize and is used for a variety of purposes from food to medicinal. It’s also the only fruit with its seed placed on the outside of the fruit, strange right? Our campus is home to many different types of fruit trees; from limes, grapefruits, to mangos. The Cashew however is just coming into its fruiting season, and this first one was just so exciting we had to let everyone know!

La Ruta Maya

BELIZE—

La Ruta Maya! Early one morning we headed out to the nearby San Ignacio town at the crack of dawn to experience one of Belize’s most exciting community events, La Ruta Maya. Started in 1998, La Ruta Maya is a four-day canoe race across the country by way of the Macal and Belize Rivers. Participants vary in canoe experience; from international competing professionals to the laid back folks just seeking laughs and memories. The route was once the only means of transportation between the inland and Caribbean Sea regions of Belize. The race also serves as a commemoration of Baron Bliss day, a Belizean holiday in honor of Baron Bliss, who was a traveler that willed two million dollars to Belize (then British Honduras) in the early 1900’s.

With the river banks and the Macal river bridge loaded with shouts and applause, the excitement couldn’t be held in! Hundreds of canoes everywhere: some fast, some slow, some tipping over in the commotion, frantically trying to dump out the water for a 2nd try! We cheered until the very last boat went by and still made it back in time for breakfast.

San Ignacio was bursting with commotion as spectators crammed the lower bridge across the Macal River to send off the canoes in proper Belize fashion

Tropical Ecosystems: In your face!

BELIZE--

As our Spring Break travel week adventures came to a close, the CCSP 2011 crew regrouped, coming from all corners of Belize and Guatemala with stories galore and a recharge of R&R. We were now ready to take on a week of Forest Ecology with Dave Foster (Messiah College) spearheading the way.

Class didn’t spend much time in the classroom this time around. After one lecture at our Nabitunich campus home we were off to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Established in 1986, Cockscomb is unique in that it is the only wildlife sanctuary in the world established primarily for the conservation of the Jaguar (Panthera onca). While we didn’t happen to spot any Jaguars in our many hikes, there was much to behold in this astounding tropical patch of the creation. Our accumulative bird list from the whole week consisted of 139 species! Other exciting sightings out on the trail included Brocket Deer, Morlet’s Crocodile, Box Turtles, Gibnuts, and Agoutis. Thanks to David’s heat sensing camera traps, we were lucky enough to catch a Puma on camera! The week was indeed one thrill after another as we experienced the rainforest up close and personal. From scenic overlooks of endless hills densely forested to swimming holes, Cockscomb isn’t a place any of us will soon forget.

During a night hike, Heather Pagelkopf (Northwestern, '12) examines the intricate feather detail of the Common Paraque (Nyctidromus albicollis)

The bizarre Boat-billed Heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) perches over the swamp where it nests during the day, but will prowl the waters for food by night

On our way back from Cockscomb, we stopped in Red Bank at an organic cacao farm to see how cacao (used to make chocolate) is grown in Belize, along with many other traditional Belizean crops. This particular farm also happened to be near to where the Scarlet Macaws (Ara Macao) gathers at this time of year. How does the community incorporate eco-tourism along with their farms? How do these small-scale agriculture operations interact with the nearby rainforest? How do they benefit the community and the Belize market? These were just some of the questions we were able to contemplate and bring to life in the dialogue with the community of Red Bank.

One of the most thrilling moments of the week was the first glimpse of the Puma (Puma concolor) caught on David Foster's heat-sensing camera trap! Pumas are actually more rare than Jaguars in Cockscomb

The class wrapped up back home in the nearby mountain forests and on campus with a few more lectures to encapsulate the course and presentations from student projects that were completed throughout the week. Projects were diverse, ranging from leaf cutter ant studies, to fungi, to epiphytes, to of course birds. With the satisfaction of our final night of class looking back at our behemoth bird list, completed projects and field journals, countless laughs and memories, along with some sore muscles, Nabitunich was soon fast asleep with dreams of Jaguars prancing in our heads.

As we studied so many plants, we just had to try the wild blueberries we stumbled across in Mountain Pine Ridge forest reserve

A view from the top: The journey was just as inspiring as the photo

A Language that can Make Us Whole

Belize-

A Language that can Make Us Whole: Reading and Writing Environmental Literature.

Between the wisps of swaying branches on a sunny pastoral afternoon in Belize, Tityra birds murmur in the branches while the stories from the week still resonate in our minds. Stories by Henry David Thoreau Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, Wendell Berry, and our very own professor Fred Bahnson himself. These are just some of the many story tellers who took us on our literary journey this week. Fred brought much to the course, coming from four years of agricultural ministry at “Anathoth Community Garden” in North Carolina, he challenged us to realistically see Christian Shalom as an agrarian community.

Our mid-week excursion took us to Mountain Pine Ridge forest reserve, where we encountered a flood of both inspiration and scenic wonder that fused into class

As we entered into the week with an exuberant Monday, it didn’t take long to tap into the reservoirs of thoughts that we compiled two weeks ago during Reading Week. After that full week of reading, the discussions that now followed brought the text to life. From land ethics to agrarian visions, from stories to essays to poetry, Fred facilitated the way. Utilizing a variety of writers, as well as daily reflection on the Psalms, we listened, discussed, and even argued. Through all of it, we sought a language in the shape of God’s kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. How are we to resist what Bill Mckibben refers to as society’s dominant theme of “running Genesis backward, decreating”? Perhaps this plethora of literature contains glimpses of answers that we must prayerfully sift through. Perhaps the writings and words we’ve composed throughout the week do. Words, after all, shape who we are. Words shape stories, and as Barry Lopez reveals to us, “Sometimes people need a story more than food to stay alive”.

Night classes around a bonfire were exquisite venues for story telling and even a bit of good 'ol Irish fiddle! (Thanks to Fred's fine-tuned skills)

Digging into the Biblical Story

God and Nature 1 with Sylvia Keesmaat challenged us to think about the stories that shape us. What places in our culture tell us stories? What do these stories tell us about the earth’s value and our relationship to the earth? What does God’s story tell us?

From the first day of class, the framework of the Biblical story shaped our reading of scripture. Everyday we read scripture texts from across the Biblical story to see how different themes can be traced throughout the scriptures. Themes of creation’s voice, misuse of creation through idolatry and empire, and God’s plan of Sabbath and jubilee brought us a more complete understanding of what it means to be faithful Christians. We desire to be shaped by God’s story instead of the stories told to us by our culture. And with God’s grace, we will continue to dig in the garden in anticipation of the end of the story, the new heaven and the new earth!