5.30.2017

Today began much like any other day, except instead of leaving Las Cuevas on foot to hike through the Chiquibul rainforest, a van pulled up to drive us across Belize back to the airport.

We made two stops on our way: a gift shop called Orange Gallery and a restaurant called Cheers. I bought plenty of Belizean hot sauce to bring home (safe to say I’m hooked), but was kind of disappointed that there weren’t any machetes. As far as lunch goes, I made the most of the $40 Belizean dollar limit we were given, eating three different entrées. Never underestimate the stomach capacity of a small human.

Once we got to the airport, we swiftly made our way through some very lax security. There was wifi at the gate meaning that five days of messages streamed in, which I proceeded to ignore except for the ones from my family and closest friends. I was definitely not ready to reenter reality.

The plane ride was quick and painless, but claiming my bags was quite the opposite. My luggage emerged on the conveyer belt with the zipper broken and articles of clothing tossed about. Thankfully nothing was lost and I made my way to my hotel and then to Target to purchase a new bag.

It’s crazy to think that less than 24 hours ago I was at Las Cuevas and now I’m back in Houston.It’s funny because I feel like I’m going to still have my eyes peeled for ants in my daily life. It feels so odd being at the hotel airport, like it’s some acclimation period between rainforest and city. Although I’m going to miss Belize and the great friends I’ve made on this trip, I’m excited to finally go back home to Miami.