Oh, Be-lize

I have some friend visiting Belize at the end of this month, and so was talking to him about the possibilty of Hurricane Emily hitting there. It made me realize something: I don't have an idea of what Belize is like, where it is besides in the Carribean, or anything. Which made me feel very stupid and American. We are so ignorant of our surroundings outside the little box we inhabit. Granted, we live in a large country and so memorizing the state capitals took half of 5th grade (not a problem most nations deal with). But I think it's really a choice to remain ignorant of places in South America, Asia, and what we think of as lesser nations. My last boyfriend referred to them as 3rd world nations if they weren't one of the G8. Yes, he was an idiot (and remains so to this day) but it points out something very insidious: Americans don't think we need to learn about these places because they're beneath us. So, here is some info on Belize. It's larger than I thought. And it looks like the hurricane might swing into the Gulf of Mexico, which is good for my friends on vacation but super sucky for my family. C'est la vie. And here is Indonesia. Cause I don't know much about them, either. Except they are portrayed as trouble in the Western Media. I wonder if Western inlcudes Australia & New Zeland? Hmmmm.