Drew Cogbill | Thesis Blog

Street signs in Belize City have a space for a small advertising token.  Belize has what seems to me to have a pretty high saturation of ads, meaning that in most, even small, populated areas there is advertising.

You see lots of  restaurants with Coke, Fanta, or Belikin (the local beer) signs.  One company handles the bottling of these and other available beverages.  I’ve heard that if you will use the signs, they will give it to you for free.

In store in Belize City with a Western Union depot, the largest, attention grabbing sign was in Chinese.  I didn’t have my camera, but thought that it was a significant observation.

I’ve been looking at the signage of Belize City recently, and will post more on that, but I’m particularly intrigued by this hand painted sign:

In my experience in other towns in Belize, you pick your main up at the Post Office, but perhaps here in Belize City there is some type of delivery service.  I’m wondering: what else beside mail would be slid into that slot? Why the exclamation marks?  Am I supposed to be excited about this?  Or has this Harry been receiving mail for another Harry? And if so, why is the Harry so much larger than the Longsworth?

This sign:

is on the front of this store:

.

I don’t know if this is a legitimate Payless or not, but they do have a nice selection of shoes. Beyond it being hilarious that you are not allowed into a store to buy shoes if you don’t already own a pair, I think there are deeper implications. In a way, this sign emphasizes how hard it can be to break out of a cycle of poverty to join the consumption class.

I’m in Belize City now and was walking around my neighborhood when this new house being constructed caught my eye.  After talking to the guys working on the house, I found out it’s a new office for Strukture Architects.