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Although he lives in the ancient Mayan village of San Antonio, Mai says, "I love rock and roll," as he blares the Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black" from one of three stereos in his bedroom.
Traces of U.S. pop culture are scattered throughout several villages in the Cayo District, and it surfaces everywhere from product advertisements splashed on public property to Top 40 songs blaring from the radio.
In the village of San Ignacio, 21-year-old Aaron Juan has a tattoo on his arm of a dog print with the initials "DPG" outlined in black. It is a remnant of the gang he and his friends formed when they were 14 years old, the Dogg Pound Gang.
"That was when Snoop Dogg had just come out," Juan says of one of the first well-known gangster rappers. "We all got tattoos because we used to hang out in this park in San Ignacio. We called it the Dogg Pound."
Juan himself is familiar with U.S. pop culture because his tour company, Maya Walk, caters to a largely North American clientele. But, he says, U.S. culture reaches Belize not through its booming tourism industry but through technology, particularly, cable television.
"You have kids watching MTV, dressing up like the people they see, using the slang," Juan says. "It's common in the younger generation."
International pop stars have also reached the village of Benque Viejo where Terrisita Moh, a blind woman, lives alone and uses the radio as background noise. Moh can recite every word of Janet Jackson's "All for You" and has a special fondness for country singers Kenny Rogers and Charlie Pride. Moh said that every day at 12:30 p.m. she listens to the international news broadcast. She is well informed about the terrorist attacks on the United States and the subsequent anthrax scare.
"Those people on the aircraft gave up their lives to save the White House," Moh reflects, "It's so sad."
Whether it is radio, television or newsprint, many Belizeans strive to keep up with current events. In Eva's Restaurant, a cafe in San Ignacio that caters to both locals and tourists, patrons can choose to watch a variety of channels, including MTV, ESPN and CNN. Everald Tut, a tour guide for Crystal Paradise Resort, says he watches CNN regularly and also subscribes to a Guatemalan newspaper, which he says, offers better coverage of world events.
"I read it every day," Tut says. "It's important to know what's going on in the world."
Both Tut and Juan say they have reason to be concerned with the events surrounding the World Trade Centers, as their livelihood hinges on whether or not U.S. citizens feel safe enough to travel. Juan says that 70 percent of his revenue comes from U.S. dollars and that he remembers September 11 because it was the day that seven out of 10 of his clients cancelled their tour. The other three were European.
"From that day on," Juan says, "things have been really, really slow."
Juan says many of the hotels and resorts in San Ignacio and its neighboring town Santa Elena are experiencing numerous cancellations. This loss in revenue trickles down to the restaurants, tour companies, gift shops and all the families of all the individuals who work within the tourism industry.
Marjorie Shaw, a professor of tourism at Sacred Heart College in San Ignacio, cautions her class of 20 aspiring professionals to keep abreast of the political climate in the United States.
"You'd better be informed," Shaw warns. "These are the events that will affect your future."
-- Laura Ciociola