Interview with an Expat in Belize: Belize City

Welcome to our Interview with an Expat in Belize series. Our goal is to offer a look at expats who live in different regions of the country, and those who have lived in Belize for different periods of time, both relative newcomers and long timers here in Belize.

The interviews in our Interview with an Expat in Belize series are conducted by email, and we ask the same 10 questions to each interviewee so that those who are considering making the move to Belize can readily see that different people have very different experiences here, depending upon where they live, their interests, and the many choices that we all have made before, during, and after our move to Belize.

This first interview in our series takes us to the commercial capital of the country, Belize City, where we meet a long-time expat who has lived in many parts of Belize and has a great story to tell.

Renee Wentz, a longtime expat in Belize City

Renee Wentz has lived full time in Belize since 2002. She was granted Permanent Residency in Belize in 2004 and started working the same day her passport was signed by the Director of Immigration.

Renee has been a naturalized Belizean citizen since 2013. She has worked primarily in tertiary education, and she does private counseling, as well as empowerment self defense programs around the country. She created the SHE Thing Self Defense and Personal Safety program shortly after she first arrived in Belize. During her many years in Belize, Renee has lived in a small village, a town, and now she lives in Belize City. 

Interview with Renee Wentz

Life before moving to Belize

Q1: Where were you living before moving to Belize? Also, please describe whether you were working, retired, or something in between prior to your move. In other words, what was your daily life like?

I was living in Madison, Wisconsin, and I was married and working a full time as an intake social worker for an organization for people with physical disabilities. I also worked part time as a spinning instructor and circuit training instructor and a personal care provider.

I volunteered at the humane society shelter and my 4 rescue dogs also were trained by my husband and I to be therapy animals for people with dementia in assisted living facilities; we did this on a weekly basis. I also served on the board of several organizations for people with disabilities and mental health issues. I was always busy.

Current location in Belize

Q2: Where do you currently live in Belize? And prior to moving here, what were the primary reasons for which you chose this area?

I currently live in Belize City. Initially, I lived in Copper Bank Village for about 4 years, but I moved because the roads were so terrible that I was spending a large amount of money on vehicle repairs, and it was stressful to get to work on time because I worked in Orange Walk.

I moved to Corozal Town in 2006 because I was able to take the bus and eventually got a job in Corozal. In 2011, I moved to Belize City when I got a job at University of Belize in Belize City and Punta Gorda.

Visits to Belize prior to making the move

Q3: How many times did you visit Belize before the move? Which areas did you visit, and how long was your longest stay in Belize prior to the move?

I first visited Belize in 1997. We made trips in 1998, 1999, drove down in 2000 with a dog as a test run with my husband staying for 3 months, another trip in May 2001 to rent a house, drive-down move with 2 dogs and some household goods in July 2001.

I went back to work for another 6 months and did two trips to fly down the cats. The final move was over New Year’s from Madison, WI, crossing Belize border 4 Jan 2002, with a breakdown in the middle of nowhere on New Year’s Day in freezing Mexico with a 1976 Suburban packed with musical instruments and two large dogs. An adventure!

Own a home or rent in Belize?

Q4: Do you own your current home in Belize or are you renting? Why did you choose either to buy or to rent? If you own a home, did you purchase an existing home or did you build here? What is your strongest piece of advice for someone looking either to buy or rent a place in Belize?  

I do not own a home. I don’t have any heirs. My husband and I split early, and it doesn’t make any sense for me to own. I need to be mobile to work.

The first year living in Belize

Q5: What were your greatest challenges or surprises during your first year living in Belize? What advice would you give to others to help the transition go smoothly?

Most of my greatest challenges no longer apply. At the time I moved here, I was 34 and most foreigners were retirees. That’s not true today. My biggest advice is to leave your expectations in your home country and be open to listening to how things work here.

The most frustrated people are those that come here and want to make everything like their home country. If you see something that you believe you would want to help change, please respectfully look for Belizeans who are already working for change in that area and see how you can support their work. Don’t start your sentences with, “Where I come from we do it….”

Belize Immigration Status

Q6: Describe your experience of acquiring long-term immigration status in Belize, whether that be as a QRP member, a permanent resident, a citizen, or as someone still waiting on residency. How long did the process take, and what challenges did you face?

Getting Permanent Residency was pretty smooth. A standing politician did offer to speed up the process for a fee, but I didn’t take the bait and always turned all my paperwork in myself. If anyone tells you that you don’t really need to complete something, I wouldn’t trust anything.

Getting citizenship wasn’t quite so smooth. I began the process as soon as eligible. I was teaching at the time and a student whose father was a player in one of the political parties offered to “push” my papers for me, carry them, and that I’d not have to do certain things.

Again I refused. It was coming up on election time, and this happens because parties are trying to get more citizens to become eligible voters. I was also teaching a critical thinking and writing class at the time, and I talked to my students about integrity, but also if you cheat on your paperwork and another party gets elected, who could say whether there will not be an investigation of all those people who got citizenship under the former party.

Well, I did everything but the nationality test and kept waiting to get called, and I also called in to check on when I would be called. My file was lost for almost 7 years. My advice here: make a copy of every single piece of paper that goes into your file so you have a dummy file. They’ll tell you that you only need the receipt, but that’s not all. Eventually, my file was found. I took the test and got 100%.

People at the swearing in didn’t know the national anthem. Some were bragging about not qualifying but getting in anyway. It was another election year. A few short months after the election, one of the first things that happened was that files were pulled, lists were made, and a Senate inquiry was made into Citizenship.

This made it very difficult when I went to get my first Belize passport which I needed for a school trip to Nicaragua. I eventually had to see the Director of Immigration because a supervisor was giving me a difficult time because I got my citizenship during the same time when all of the false files were discovered.

When I sat down the Director said. “Didn’t you used to live in Corozal? We called you the dog whisperer of Corozal because you walked all those big dogs with one hand in a straight line, and we called you the karate lady of Corozal because you teach all the women to defend themselves.” I told him that was me. In 5 minutes, he pulled my file and told the supervisor, “Give my friend what she needs. She’s a Belizean.” My advice: don’t cheat and treat people with respect. It will get you far anywhere you go.

Belize Lifestyle

Q7: What are your favorite things about the community in which you are living in Belize? Be specific about the types of activities you enjoy, the people, the environment, or anything else you care to mention.  

I see the same people everyday because I go out almost daily to the shops, and we greet one another. People are helpful on the city bus if I’m going somewhere that I’m not familiar with.

Because I’ve been in tertiary education for about 20 years in Orange Walk, Corozal, Belize, and Punta Gorda, and have taught self defense all over the country, I know people everywhere. Many of my former students work in Belize City. I hear “Miss Renee!” almost everywhere I go.

So a ride to Belmopan or Dangriga or San Ignacio often ends up with someone I have met along the way being my seat partner. I’ll get on the bus with a book, but hardly ever get any reading done. My favorite thing about the environment of the country is just the variety that exists, within hours you can be in the jungle, the forest, the beach, the bay, anywhere that suits your mood.

Current Lifestyle Challenges in Belize

Q8: What are the downsides to the community in which you currently live? Are there any aspects of daily life which you find to be challenging in this community?

Probably the biggest downside is convincing people that Belize City isn’t as dangerous for foreigners as many believe it to be. I’m street harassed here every day. But the absolute worse street harassment I ever got was in Corozal and Orange Walk.

The violence in Belize City doesn’t come for foreigners. That’s going on in areas foreigners should know to avoid and if you don’t know, ask. It’s like any urban center anywhere around the world. For me personally, the biggest downside is the cost of rent as it’s more expensive to rent a house with a fence, and there are more stray dogs in my neighborhood which means I can’t safely walk my dogs in the whole group like I used to when I lived in other areas.

Reality vs expectations of Belize

Q9: Do you think that your lifestyle in Belize is about what you had expected, very different from what you thought it would be, or somewhere in between? Tell us a bit about your expectations prior to moving to Belize and how daily life here differs from what you had expected. 

I expected to be a scuba instructor in Hopkins. This was before any of the large resorts were built that had scuba diving, and there was only one scuba company run by a British couple. They offered to train me to be a dive master as I have Rescue Diver certification. My life didn’t turn out that way because my now ex-husband had decided he didn’t want to live in Hopkins, but Copper Bank, squishing that expectation.

What would you have differently for your initial move to Belize?

Q10: Now that you are living in Belize, what are the one or two things which you would change about the way you made the initial move if you could go back and do it again? For example, would you ship more or fewer personal items, bring a car, rent instead of buying right away, or perhaps purchase instead of renting?

I probably would have bought a lot in Hopkins 20 odd years ago when prices were low to have somewhere to go on holiday, even if I wasn’t going to live there full time. Otherwise, I find it detrimental to look backwards and imagine what could have been different. I never dreamed I’d develop a self defense program, and now I also teach internationally.

And as far as stuff goes, there’s really few things you can’t get in Belize now. You can even find decent manual can openers now, so I’d not worry so much about stuff to bring. Follow the rule most people advise about purchasing: rent for about a year while moving around and seeing different parts of the country to know where’s your place.

Final thoughts on Interview with an Expat in Belize: Belize City

First, I must thank long-time Belize expat Renee Wentz for the time and effort she put into answering our interview questions and for being willing to be first out of the gate in the series.

I lived and worked abroad for a large portion of my adult working life, but I have only been in Belize for a little under five years, so for me, reading Renee’s longer-term perspective on aspects of life as an expat in Belize is really interesting.

I hope the Belize FAQs readers who are doing their research concerning a potential move to Belize will benefit from the differing perspectives we hope to present here in our Interview with an Expat in Belize series.

Please sign up for our weekly updates to make sure that you don’t miss the next edition of the Interview with an Expat in Belize series or other new articles concerning living in Belize. Finally, for a full list of all of our previous articles, check out the Belize FAQs’ Blog page.