Gallery • 11 Photos

Ritika Khurana

Belize welcomes its travelers at the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport.

The Metea L.I.F.E. Abroad program allowed students to experience mountains, coral reefs, orange farms, and ancient ruins.. A total of 10 people went on the trip to Belize, Central America, including 9 students and the LMC director Mrs. Amy Madzinski.

Each person had their own reasons for going on the trip. Sophomore Kashish Upadhyay claims her reason for embarking on this adventure was for the experience. 

“I chose to go to Belize because I found out I had an amazing opportunity to visit a different country with one of my friends,” said Upadhyay. “I also hoped to make new friends and experience new things, outside of just trips with my family.”

Senior Jaidyn Guthrie, in a similar way of thinking, wishes to experience new cultures in new places.

“I chose to go to Belize because I love the idea of international travel and learning about the complexity of other people’s cultures!” Guthrie said.

The trip advisor, Mrs. Madzinski, also shared her logical reasoning behind choosing Belize as the destination for this year’s trip.

“I chose a shorter, smaller trip with a lower price point than some of our longer summer trips, even knowing that kids usually have more time in summer than during a smaller school break,” said Mrs. Madzinski. “It was my first time solo-leading a group, so I didn’t want to choose a totally different time zone and go through a hard re-entry back into school and schoolwork.”

All three travelers also had different ideas of what the best part of the trip was.

“My favorite part of the trip was the bus rides to and from different activities and hotels because we got to see lots of different parts of the country: the wildfires, small towns surrounded by thousands of trees and animals, and the city life,” Upadhyay said. “We also got to learn lots of information about the country through our tour guide, Bernie, and go snorkeling, which I loved because the view underneath the ocean was breathtaking, and I considered it to be very fun with all of the people on the trip.”

Guthrie adds in other specific activities the group did that were her personal favorites.

“My favorite part of the trip was learning about the women’s center and how they live and still chose to live today,” said Guthrie. “We had the best food there and I really enjoyed the hands-on experiences of corn tortilla making and chocolate making. I also very much enjoyed the other excursions we did, such as zip lining the first day!”

As the tour leader for the Metea group, Mrs. Madzinski had a different view on the best part of the trip.

“My favorite part is getting to our destination and being someplace I’ve never been,” Mrs. Madzinski said. “I love watching students see the same things I am through their own eyes. You guys just see things a different way than I do, maybe because I have more life experience, but seeing certain things make students excited helps me get more excited.”

If you would like to experience a trip like this one, please visit Metea L.I.F.E. Abroad and consider taking any of the trips listed on their website.