Belize Unplugged

When we were first told, before we left, that our electronics such as our phones and computers were going to be taken away for the duration of the trip, there were a variety of responses, however, the majority of reactions were along the lines of “You’re joking”, “No way” and “Over my dead body”. The weeks went by and then we were finally on our way to Belize. We all spent time cherishing their our social media, music and games. The moment we stepped out of the airport in Belize and into the hot, humid air, the first thing we did was drop our connections to the rest of the world into Ziplock bags which was then put into a duffel bag with the others. At first it was hard, not being able to talk to our friends and family, not being able to put our headphones on and shrink away, not even being able to check the time. But time passed and we became more focused on trying to swim - and not drown - in this new, albeit amazing, place that we were thrown into. In one week, we worked together, learned together, tried not to let the heat get the best of us together and, most importantly, created connections and made memories together that we most likely wouldn’t have made if we had our devices to escape to. On our final night in Belize, many of us reflected on our appreciation of being disconnected, “unplugged” if you will, and how refreshing it was compared to our regular lives where the internet is the backbone of many of our lives. Of course, the moment we got our devices back at the end of the trip, it was almost as if that was thrown out the window as we were all eager to see if the rest of the world went up in flames. When I look back on the trip though, I will always remember how real and unfiltered everything felt with the interactions, face to face, one physical human to another physical human, no screens attached. Nicole L, '21