Drew Cogbill | Thesis Blog

This little trash stand is at the house accross the street from where I’m staying in Dangriga.  It’s sturdy and even a better solution for keeping dogs out of the trash as plastic cans are easily knocked over.

This sign is an ad for an area called Old Belize, which is located on the highway between Belize City and Belmopan.  It does a good job of establishing legitimacy for tourists.

Side note: I got a little sunburned laying at the Old Belize beach yesterday.

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?

The standard way to serve silverware, either metal or plastic, at a restaurant or take away is wrapped in a paper napkin:

Beers and sodas in glass bottles are always served with a napkin on top of the bottle:

Observation: since I was last in Belize, cell phone carriers have begun directly depositing pre-paid phone credit via electronic means versus selling phone cards.  There are even promotions to encourage this exchange (10% extra credit if you do it this way).  This seems like they’re priming to get people more and more used to their phone as a device for trading money, for mobile banking.

I want to perhaps get in touch with Galen University, a private university here in Belize, to see if anyone has particular interest in sustainable development, technology, and Belize/the Caribbean.

Development/Caribbean Research groups:
- Society for Caribbean Studies, UK
- International Association of Science and Technology for Development
- Caribbean Studies Association

Also, I bought drewcogbill.com today!

St. Lucia uses British outlets and voltage, but you will often see American outlets adapted because many of the good coming into the country have American prongs.  This picture taken in a community center in a fishing village called Anse la Raye, particularly well shows how readily people switch between them.

There is a given and understood social practice that after you take a picture on a digital camera, they are allowed to see it.  I saw this happen time and time again in St. Lucia.  Even when I took a picture of a toddler, he grasp out for the camera to see himself.

This is Sister Claire, a nun in her 70’s who runs a pre-school we did some work with.  The convent recently bought her a mobile phone, and though she claims she doesn’t understand how to use it well, she can easily make and receive calls.  Furthermore, she’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.