Say "Belize"

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Greetings again from San Ignacio, home to an imitation of the Brooklyn Bridge.
   There's an economist on this tour; his son works for Allan Greenspan.   The stock market is all his fault.  The standard joke around here is:  "Oh, I'm a long-term investor."

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SAY "BELIZE"

   One source traces "Belize" to a Swahili word meaning the number "two."   Supposedly, there are "beelee" rivers in Africa.
   "Say 'Belize'" is the local replacement for the camera cue to smile, "Say 'cheese.'"
   A T-shirt has "You better Belize it."
   I haven't heard so many bad puns since the Czech Republic, where I was looking to Czech a Czech mate.

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BEL-MEX

   One restaurant has:

BEL-MEX--burrito, rice and beans, potato salad.
BELIZEAN JUMP UP--fry jacks, refried beans, scrambled eggs.
SALBUTES
GARNACHES
AL AJO LOBSTER
SERE SPECIAL FISH SOUP (META-G)

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RELATHON

   There's the 23rd running of the Relathon, or relay-marathon.

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TOURIST TREE; HORSE BALLS; JESUS BIRD

   The "chaca" or "gumbo limbo" is called the "tourist tree" because its red bark is helpful for people with sunburn.
   "Horse balls" are a pair of things like small coconuts.  They were at the Mayan site I visited today.
   "Jesus bird" is a small bird that seemingly walks on water.  The official name is "jacana" ("jocana"?).
   That's it for colorful names of flora and fauna.