Scandals in Paradise

It has been over a year since my move to Corozal Belize and there are countless lessons I have learned here.  One of those particular lessons has been how important the culture of gossip is in this town among the expat community.  Rumors are such a prevalent occurrence that any person who is considering making Belize their home should be prepared and aware of it.  I had no idea this was the most popular form of entertainment amongst the majority of expats here before I made the move – I suppose I should have had an idea since it is such a small country and I am fully aware of how small-town gossip works.  I didn’t realize immediately that gossip was running rampant most likely because we didn’t know many people right away – we were too busy trying to get everything together to open our bar.  Once the bar opened the flood gates crashed open and we were quickly learning the gossip du jour which was updated and re-told to us depending on who came in to the bar that night.

I made a few friends right away who would inform me what was being said about my mom and me – since we were new and nobody really knew us the possibilities were endless.  If I spent too much time with one person I was surely sleeping with him or if I didn’t spend enough time with the next person there must be problems between us.  Since I ended up going through a divorce early on while here the rumors flew as to why that was happening – basically if anything out of the ordinary was occurring with someone people would just make up a story.  A lot of times there would be absolutely no basis whatsoever for what was said and once it was said then it must be true.  I recently learned that the gossip around the district was that my mom and I were con artists who came here to target rich single men – wasn’t there a movie with that very same plot?  It is absolutely crazy what stories will start to fly around and cliques are quickly formed among the expats based on these rumors.

Owning a bar magnifies the gossip – we will get multiple people coming in telling us the same story, with a different twist, over any given week.  It is extremely hard to not get sucked in unless you really isolate yourself from the expat community.  It can be very hurtful to hear a rumor which is completely false going around about you but unfortunately that is part of the way of life around here for the expat community.  Everyone talks and everyone gets talked about so just remember when contemplating a potential move that gossip is a way of life here and you will have to get used to it to enjoy your life here.  Roll with the punches and don’t care what is said about you and your life will be far easier and enjoyable in this little paradise.