The Travel Bug Strikes again and its name is Belize.

I wanted to do something special for my 26th birthday. Something a little more meaningful then trying to drink 25 beers like the year before. My best friend Melissa Wyman (who from here on out will be referred to as Wyman, the Wyman, or unless I am lazy or slightly intoxicated, her name may shorten to a more simple W) and I wanted to get out of dodge, thats Burlington, Vermont, and spend some of our hard earned bartending money on a trip somewhere, anywhere, as a last hoorah in 2009. For me the trip also symbolized the end of a quarter century of my life, and the beginning of a whole new life i had yet to create.
Wyman and I had been talking about traveling outside of Vermont the entire summer of 2009, mostly while laying next to each other at the beach. We talked about the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Bahamas, even Morocco for potential placed for us to crash, but none of those placed really hit the “fuzzy, I must experience this place before I die kinda feeling.”
Our friend Kate recommended Belize. Our friend Mandy and she had been there last year with Kates parents, who run a study abroad program in San Ignacio, Belize. We looked into it.
Belize had everything we wanted, adventures in the green jungles, wild animals (T), history and archeology (W), rockin’ nightlife, and islands with white sandy beaches. The main language in Belize is English, so we wouldn’t have to worry about any language barrier. The Guatemalan border was only a few hours away, so we could visit the Mayan Ruins on a day trip. Seemed well rounded, safe, even for a third world country, and completely feasible financially.
On November 3rd, we decided we HAD to go to Belize, and not even twenty four hours later, we had booked our flight out of Burlington for December 2, 2009- December 10, 2009. And this is how we do. Happy Birthday to Tara and Happy New Year to both of us!

My pre-trip birthday celebration was amazing. My friends are the best. Since we were flying out the day of my birthday, my friends and I celebrated my birthday at midnight on December 1/2. Audrey made me a cake. Wyman got me an idea book (she thinks i am smart). I got a FREE T-NOONS Jagermeister! shirt. Chris gave me gummy peaches. Di a CD. Steezer gave me a Super Special Elvis Happy Birthday Production. And nothing kick flipped me back.
We managed to get to the plane on time. How? Beats me. Vicki rolled us out of the car at the airport and took a few pictures incase we were sold into the Belizian sex slave industry.
I forgot my camera, my license, and my mind back at my apartment. Good thing Wyman had my back, and I pre-packed my passport the night before. Sober Tara even hooked up Drunk Tara by leaving Drunk Tara a note reminding her about the half turkey sandwich in the fridge.
On the plane, at 6:30am, I drank $5 mini bottles of wine next to businessmen and made fun of everything in sight in my head.
The lady next to me had a dog in her bag! and spoke no English at all. I tried to get her to play Hangman with me. She wrote in “betty” in my four slots. I was kinda pissed because I thought I had a really good word. I mean, who would have guessed the “X” in taxi? I got over my disappointment by convincing myself she was calling me a “Betty” instead of Betty being her first name.
The stewardess and I were tight at that point ‘cuz I am pretty sure I was her best customer. Whenever I ordered another mini wine, she would say, “Be back with that in just one hot second, Sweetie.” LOVED HER.
They said Happy Birthday to me over the intercom and I tried to hide, but I had nowhere to go. And WELCOME TO BELIZE!

I will spare you the intimate details that involve me vomiting on the Tikal Ruins in Guatemala the day after my birthday and going on a boat with a complete stranger, to get to the part when I realized I wanted to change my life and I wanted it to involve helping endangered species.
In the middle of the week, we left San Ignacio in the mainland to head to the Islands of Caye Caulker and Caye Ambergris. There were many starving dogs strolling the streets. It was so sad.
We stopped at the Belize Zoo on the way. The Belize Zoo was started in 1983 when 17 animals were left from the filming of a natural history documentary. Since then the Zoo has grown and now features over 100 animals all indigenous to Belize; many endangered.
The story of the Jaguar, Pat the Cat, really did it for me. I also couldn't help but think about the SNL skit "Whats that? It's Pat."
Pat the Cat was a cattle killer and being tortured by the local towns people. On the brink of death, the people from the Belize Zoo took her in and nursed her back to health. She successfully completed the Problem Jaguar Rehabilitation Program to learn how to be less aggressive. She passed away two years ago, but not until after she gave birth to a little baby jaguar cub. "Junior" was raised in captivity, is non-releasable, and has become a very important "education jaguar." His role is of a jaguar ambassador and addresses the important subject of jaguar conservation. There is a collage of his life near his cage at the zoo with a picture of him hugging his trainer like a a baby would hug his mother.
I thought of Cooper. I thought of being a mother. I thought of Cooper. I realized I wanted to stick to animals and looked into an internship at the Belize Zoo. Kids freak my out anyway. Knowing that I could never bring Cooper back and forth with me to Belize, began thinking of other ways I could travel and save animals at the same time. And what animals did I want to work with? With no real strings attached in my life, now would be the best time to do this sort of thing, and if i didn't take advantage of this opportunity, I knew it would haunt me forever. Thats a little dramatic. But I knew for sure i would regret it.
Belize lit the fire under my ass to get moving again. I always thought I had more to offer the world then a micro brew and a burger, but didn't know what it was until this experience at the zoo. I convinced myself that although the fast paced, work hard, play hard attitude of the restaurant business is a fun and noble way to make a living, its not the only fun and noble way to make a living. I was ready for a new challenge. And I didn't want it to involve Fish N Chips.