Journal of International Experiences - June 2011

Belize.

It seems so long ago, yet it has only been two months since I embarked on a ten-day internship at the Institute for Sustainable International Studies in Belize, a place I yearn to return to. Here in Toronto, the cement is hard beneath my shoes. I miss the sand between my toes, the bright sun shining down and the stillness of the air as I walked along the beach in the village of Hopkins, Belize.

I miss the village life, where everyone knew one another and there were nods and smiles as I walked the dirt roads.

By comparison, city life back in Canada seems harsh.

Noise surrounds me wherever I go. Traffic whizzes by, cars and buses honking. People are lost in their own worlds, paradoxically isolated by technology, and friendliness must be actively sought after.

As I walk through Toronto, I cannot help but wonder about days long ago, when our ancestors walked the earth and animals were free to roam about, and things like busy roadways, a bustling downtown core and financial concerns didn始t exist. In Hopkins, children ran and played, making up their own games. They weren始t fixated on the latest fashions or video games, or planning the next thing to purchase.

They relied on themselves, a simplicity that has long since disappeared in our society of mass consumption, our soci-