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Dora's Wedding
San Antonio, Toledo
August 27, 2006
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This is the tale of three sisters -- Sandra, Dora and Elise. These three girls of Mayan ancestry were born in the
village of San Antonio, Toledo. The Toledo District of Belize is largely populated by a scattering of Mayan villages.
As soon as you cross the Stann Creek / Toledo District border, evidence of the Mayan culture is everywhere.
Elise is Diane's employee at Treasured Travels, and Dora is an employee of Tina's at Tina's Backpackers Hostel.
Both are high school graduates. Dora recently took time off from work to have a baby. While she was away, her
younger sister (who started third form yesterday) took over Dora's job in the interim. Meanwhile, Dora and her
daughter's father decided to tie the knot. The girls invited us to the wedding. Curious about the Mayan culture, the
Toledo District which I have only visited once after Hurricane Iris and out of loyalty to the girls, we planned a trip
down to Toledo. Our first stop was the town of Punta Gorda down by the sea.
Punta Gorda is a picturesque town set along the sea front in Toledo.
Elise poses in front of the Seafront Inn in Punta Gorda. This is a beautiful strip of seafront.
The seafront is so pretty I imagined what it would be like to live here and to have easy
access to the spectacular cayes in the Sapodilla Range. The scene below is a downtown
scene.
There is a huge Guatemalan influence in the goods sold in the downtown stores in Punta
Gorda.
Mayan women dressed in their typical Maya clothing are everywhere in Toledo.
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The colorful bus from Bol's bus service which serves San Antonio, the village we are
heading to.
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Finally, after a stop for some last minute shopping in Punta Gorda, we head to San
Antonio Village and Mr. Eriberto Assi's farm.
Eriberto's farm is about five to eight acres in size and sits on the top of a hill looking down the
roadway. It is well manicured and well kept.
On his farm is everything anyone could ever need to feed off of forever. There are over sixty
fruit trees and about as many vegetable plants. In the distance behind the chicken coop you
can see sugar cane trees. Close by is star apple, coconut tree, etc. Between the trees in his
yard, the chickens he raises and the game meat caught on the property in traps, Eriberto says
he has never had to pay for food since as long as he can remember. In fact, he sells his fruits
and vegetables to others for extra money to be able to afford to send his girls to school.
He has put three of his five children through high school, and the final two are still in school.
Eriberto says that one day an American came up the hill to visit him and exclaimed :"Eriberto,
you are the King of the Hill. Everything you need is right here. You never have to leave this
hill if you never want to."
And that, says Eriberto, is how he feels... like a KING with an endless supply of fabulous food.
Home-raised chickens roam under the fruit trees eating the excess fruit left under the
trees for them. The palm tree the chickens are under is called a Jippy Jappa tree. The
heart of the palm is extracted much like heart of palm from a coconut tree and made into a
scrumptious local dish called a "cabbage". Local people in Punta Gorda also do a similar
dish with the heart of the cohune tree called a "Cohune cabbage." It is traditionally eaten
with rice.
In addition to the jippy joppa tree, you can see plantain trees and in the foreground the
trees are "Coco" trees. "Coco" is a locam yam type ground food.
It rains pretty much every day in Toledo making for an excellent agricultural area.
Perhaps this is the reason why the picturesque district with incredible natural beauty has
not taken off as a tourist destination.
Inside the hut, Pia, Eriberto's wife and the mother of the five children, prepares some
home-made tortillas for the family. Wherever you go in the Mayan community you will find
these stools about four to six inches high on which folks squat. In this instance, Pia is using
one of the stools to sit on while she moulds the tortillas on the low table which is near the low
fire hearth which is used to cook the tortillas. From her perch, she pretty much has control of
her area allowing her to multi-task.
In the foreground is a bowl of "caldo" or chicken soup which will be served with the tortillas.
Elise poses with her father and mother. Says Elise "I tried to buy my mother a stove but she
didn't want it." To which Pia replied "For what do I need it? So I have to spend money to buy
kerosene? This fire hearth works quite fine for our needs."
Minerva, Nerina and I enjoy some "Caldo" with Pia. All the Mayans in San Antonio speak their
native tongue -- Mopan Maya -- plus the Queen's English. They are all fluently bilingual.
While we ate, baby Flora Vinencia slept soundly in her little cozy hammock hanging close by.
In the entire time we were there, I hardly heard this baby cry. Fast asleep in the just-her-size
hammock, she is cozy and cuddled and feels secure as if still in her mother's womb.
Whenever she has to go to another room or go outside, Pia would unhook the hammock and
string it across the top of her head allowing the baby to lay on her back. Cozy, and with the
warmth of her grandmother's flesh close by, the child hardly ever cried. Most Mayan babies
are carried this way until one year of life. Many Mayan parents do not know what "colic" is, and
most Mayan babies do not suffer from the illness that afflicts many Western babies..
A snapshot of the baby fast asleep in her cozy little hammock.
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Across the street from Pia and Eriberto lives Felix's family. Felix will be the groom at the
wedding. These are some of his family members some of who will be in the wedding party.
Up the hill in San Antonio Village is the most beautiful church I have ever laid eyes on. It is
made of stone inlaid with some of the most elaborate stained glass windows I have ever had
the chance to see.
A sample of one of the many stained glass windows scattered through the beautiful stone
church.
We agree that there is enough help to decorate the church for the wedding so Sandra will
accompany us to a small waterfall nearby.
Click HERE for page 2 of Dora's Wedding
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