Those of you who read my blog may have clicked on Tom Barnett's blog link here on the right side of this page. I first heard Tom give a presentation at the Poptech conference in Camden, and was really blown away by his analysis of the US role on the planet, and much more. You can see his 40 minute presentation several years later at PopTech in 2006 if you go to http://www.poptech.org/ and drill through to the popcast archives. If you go to his blog at www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog you can click on a link to his presentation at the TED conference on the left coast. I say all this because I just finished reading his most recent book, Great Powers, America and the World After Bush. I agree with his assessment of how the U.S. should conduct itself for the good of the planet, and the dangers associated with some common world views, and urge you to read it.

I finished it, and then in about 8 hours over our holiday* weekend read a delightful book called How to Cook a Tapir. It is by a woman named Joan Fry who right out of college in 1962 married a cultural anthropologist, and headed into the forests of Belize on their honeymoon so he could study the Mayans. She was in way over her head, and her recently written recounting of the year spent there is really a delightful read. So if you go to Amazon.com, get her book too, I guarantee you won't regret it!

Then I started another book in my collection, The Black Swan. I'm far enough into it that I expect it to be a good read as well, though more in line with Barnett. I bought the Fry book from a weekend neighbor who is involved with the national museum of Belize, and since it cost me $30 USD( you can get it for $16 US on Amazon) I think she might have felt bad that I blasted through it so quickly. Yesterday she sent over an interesting book from her library called Home Cooking in the Global Village - Belizean Food from Buccaneers to Ecotourists by Richard Wilk. It is about the globalization of the food supply, which has been going on for hundreds of years, using Belize as an example.

A friend asked a while back why I chose to leave the US and move to Belize, and although I am still formulating my thoughts about it, there was a really good paragraph in the first chapter of the book that I quote here in full:



"To be honest, Belize initially attracted me not because it was typical of anything, but because it seemed such an unusual place - an English-speaking country in the middle of Central America, a melange of multiple ethnic groups who somehow peacefully co-exist. But as I have learned more about Belize, I have learned that underneath a unique local flavor and unusual history, it is connected to the world in exactly the same ways as all the other Latin American and Caribbean countries that surround it. Belize is therefore the perfect place to see the contradictions of globalization, to study the general and widespread processes that produce uniqueness. Even within the country, we can see the same paradox, since Belizean ethnic groups and subcultures always seem to be completely distinct and unique, while at the same time they are always connected to each other and thoroughly mixed. Somehow the traffic between groups, just like the constant globalizing traffic between countries, does not eliminate or destroy the boundaries and borders that keep the cultures apart and maintain their unique character. Distinction and commonality revolve around one another."



So aside from coming here because I had a family connection, it is a wonderfully diverse community, especially here in Placencia where there is a large community of ex-pats also in the mix of Garifuna, Caribes, Maya, Chinese, and others. Had dinner with a woman tonight who was originally from Vancouver, and was hitchhiking around Central America 16 years ago, stopped in Belize, and never left. Current president of the Rotary Club.


On an entirely different subject, we have definitely had a change in the weather. After several months of nearly unceasing winds of 10 to 20 knots, it is much quieter now. That has two effects: there are more bugs around, making the geckos quite happy, and it is hotter without the cooling wind. I finally got a remote control to operate the AC in my bedroom, but haven't used it and don't know if I will. It is nice to lie on top of the sheets and sleep unencumbered. Current temp is 86 degrees. That's it for now - time to lie on the bed and listen to music...

*Belize has lots of holidays. Yesterday (Monday) was Commonwealth Day, which I believe is celebrated throughout the British Commonwealth.