Getting there is half the fun!

Friday was a work day in the morning and a travel day in the afternoon. In the morning I got to complete data entry for the demographics and other quantitative data, and worked on some qualitative notes as well. Some themes are already arising. The first is that everything relates to a relationship; participants will tell me a story about their neighbors instead of answering the question. (Question: Do you think having a stroke can make people fall? Answer: My neighbor had a stroke and they had to quit work and their daughter had to quit work and take care of them and it was sad.) Also, people see worrying as a character flaw and therefore no one will say they are worried or fearful of falling. Because of such responses, I may not get to use the quantitative data, but I am still collecting it at this point. It’s a good learning exercise for me even if not useable for the research. But qualitatively, I think I will have some really interesting results and insights both for fall prevention in a developing country, and cross-cultural challenges.

"Sleeping Giant" - can you see the nose?
He also has feet! This is a well-known
landmark in Belize and is on some of
the currency here.

Traveling for the 2 hour bus ride to the coast on Friday was really fantastic. We got to see the beautiful mountains between where we were inland and the coast, and even some well-known natural landmarks. I now see what they mean when they say this country is sparsely populated. We passed some citrus production factories (I now know where our orange juice concentrate comes from!) and many orange groves. Surprisingly, very little coffee is grown here, and not in the areas where we have been. We arrived at Hopkins, a sleepy coastal town, where we are spending the weekend getting some R&R and planning for next week. We happened to come on Hopkins Day, the only time of the year this village really comes alive. The people here are Garifuna, a mix of African slaves dropped off on the coast in the late 1700’s, and the indigenous people. They retain the indigenous language. The music I have heard can only be described as reggae-rap, and the singers call out to the crowd in both English and Garifuna. I am enjoying beach life! The food is great, and the place we are staying is magnificent. I walk out my door and am on the beach. Yep, it’s the life.

We will leave Tuesday for Belize City, which is the old capitol and the most densely populated city of Belize. We will spend our last week there in PT/OT service provision and finishing my research work. I will probably post at least one more time from there. Thank-you for following my posts – it is encouraging to know that so many friends and family are thinking of me!