My Life In Belize

Excerpts of an interview with Mark Leonard, June 29, 2016
 
Chuck: Thank you for joining us, Mark.  Your posts have always been so genuine and colorful.  Please tell our readers how you happened to come to Belize.
 
Mark: It’s all because of the Rotary Club.
 
I was living in Northern California when a friend in my Rotary Club went to Belize on a contract and came back saying that Belize is looking for economic development assistance, so I went down...

I have been living in Belize for all of my 30 years, a descendant of many cultures.  My great-grandfather was a Scotsman who moved to Belize and married an African who became my great-grandmother.  Thus was created the blend of what I am.

I've had  opportunities to work with and for many foreigners who came to Belize, like my great-grandfather, to fulfill their dreams. With this exposure, I became interested about life in other countries and how the experiences of the...

So how did this all start?

 

So there we were.  Bored, in the jungle, and getting jungle fever.  We were looking to socialize over beers, snacks, and music, all while working out and having fun.  The solution (according to our teacher, who came from the UK) was obvious: line dancing.

 

First, we needed a venue, which turned out to be this open air restaurant / bar in the center of town called Hode’s place. Perfect!!

...

A bridge.  Some hills.  A river.  Interesting?  Taken individually, maybe not so much.  But wait!  If you can find all three together, then you almost have a match made in heaven.  I say almost.  Now if you throw in a town, then – and only then – you have attained nirvana!
 
To be sure, the third largest urban setting in Belize is not quite paradise.  However, San Ignacio sports enough merits for city sainthood, and that will do in...