It's the little differences...

It's the little differences in Belize that intrigue us...

Horses are used as lawnmowers. It's common to see a horse tied to the side of of property to maintain the grass height, not people using a lawn mower.  Of course, we did see a guy ride his horse carrying a weed-wacker.  As someone who owns a horse in Southern Nevada, I know how expensive it is to feed and maintain...not here.

They are passing a law which states "sagging" of pants is not allowed.  As a parent of a pre-teen, Amen!  Although this may seem like Belize is a "nanny style of government", it's not.  The Belize government pretty much stays out of the lives of the Belizeans.  You can typically find the local police unarmed, and it seems that they spend most of their time just checking for insurance, not running speed traps.

Groceries are cheaper.  Belize groceries on average are about 50% less than U.S. groceries, as long as you don't buy imported goods; which are heavily taxed.  They don't use preservatives in their food.  Tons of the fruit we buy in the U.S. are from Central America which then are coated with preservatives to last the months of process it takes to make it to the shelves of U.S. grocery stores.  In Belize, the fruit is FRESH.

Education is extremely important and advanced in Belize.  School starts when a child is 3, just like in England.  If a teacher sees any underage drinking or other such offenses, it can reflect on their school grades.  For primary eduction grades 1st-8th at he most popular Sacred Heart Catholic School, the cost to attend is $32 USD for the year. Thats $4 a month. For "junior college", 9th-12 grade for us in the U.S., the average cost is about $250 U.S. currency per year; which is a lot of money for most Belizean parents.  If the kids are not respectful, they can be held back.  It's about education, integrity, and respect. A typical Belizean kid is known to be excelled by U.S. standards, whereas a U.S. kid in Belize is known to be at a lower level of education.

If you are driving in Belize, and you see someone walking, it is customary to stop and offer them a ride.  In the U.S. if I am walking down the street and a strange car pulls up along side of me, I tend to put my guard up.

In Belize, lunch is considered the larger meal and is usually 12 - 3pm.  Dinner happens between 7-10pm and is lighter in portion.

In Belize, trash pick-up is run by the government and is FREE!  Diesel is CHEAPER than regular gas because it is not taxed to death as in the U.S.  More cars run on diesel in Belize.

Many Belizians cross to Guatemala to buy clothes and such.  A local Cayo mother was sharing with us that her kids school uniform shirts are $4 U.S. in Belize, but only $2 in Guatemala.

More to come, we are off to the district of Corozal tomorrow.  Cayo and it's people are very special to us.  We made many friends here.