March 6th, 2010

It’s our last week and it’s already Friday night! I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by! I am so excited to come home but it will be impossible not to bring Elena home with me.

On Monday Jess, Dari, and I went to the beach after running a hundred errands in the morning. It was so gorgeous outside. How will I get used to not having a beach to swim in every afternoon? I love jumping off the pier after school. The water is so calm and clear. After I got out of the water, Jess was struggling to get out herself. I didn’t notice so I just went to lay down. Next thing I knew Jess was standing in front of me bleeding from her knees and feet. Haha. It’s a little rough getting out. Even at that pier we’ve found jellyfish and star fish. It’s just a little bit sweeter than Lake Superior…

Tuesday morning we got up early to leave for San Pedro. It was a long day of travelling but we wanted to see the Belize City Zoo so we had to take more buses and taxis and things. We got on the bus at 8 am from Punta Gorda. That bus brought us all the way to Belmopan. From Belmopan we had to jump onto another bus and that bus would take us to the Belize City Zoo.

The zoo was unlike any zoo I have ever seen in my entire life. When you’re walking it’s like walking through the actual jungle. Some animals aren’t even caged. Crocodiles aren’t even caged in. They sit around the water but if one decided to go crazy it could easily jump out. I was really nervous but it was intense in a good way. I felt like I was walking through the jungle on my own and discovering all the animals in their wild habitats. That’s what the zoo should be. There were these jaguars and pumas that were running around like crazy in their cages. The birds were the only animal that had a cage with a top on it. I swear those cats could climb up and jump out if they wanted to. The most intense part was the spider monkeys. I had seen the howler monkeys before. They are really loud but they are tiny and really cute so they didn’t scare me at all. Ty and Nate had them in their backyard all the time. I had never seen a spider monkey before. These monkeys were not in a cage at all. You could climb up to the top of the trees and just watch all the monkeys swinging from tree to tree. I stood there forever! It was unreal. I have never been so scared in my life. I could’ve sworn that they were going to jump into the tree I was standing on at any moment. There were over 8 of them and they were swinging around like crazy! A storm was coming and that’s when monkeys really get active so we saw them at the best time.

When we finished at the zoo we decided to head out to the highway again and get on the next bus that would take us to Belize City. Belize City was really run down. It wasn’t a very nice place at all. It was dirty and tons of people were asking for money or trying to sell you shitty stuff. Luckily we left quickly to get to the shore. We took a taxi and by the shore it was really nice. There are nice hotels there, casinos, and decent restaurants. We jumped onto a water taxi from there. It stopped first in Caye Caulker and then took us to San Pedro. When we got to San Pedro it was 7pm. Long day of travelling.

San Pedro was gorgeous. We stayed along the shore the two nights we stayed there. It was all white sand beach, clear blue water, sunny days. There were tons of people playing sand volleyball. The restaurants there were really nice. We were pretty exhausted from the trip so the first night we just ate and went to bed.

The next day I got so much sun! I love that I can actually get tan when I am down here. I don’t think Duluth sun quite does it for my ginger skin. We just relaxed the entire day. That night we went out to a couple of bars. It was the first time I have been around white people in so long. It was weird. I never realized how different we act than Belizean people. There were two big groups of people our age. One group was from a university in Kentucky. They were marine biology majors who spent a week scuba diving in San Pedro. The other group was a bunch of guys who were on spring break. Then there was a group of 50 year old ladies. They were having the time of their lives. They were dancing the entire night. Two of them danced on the bar. It was hilarious. They knew all the words to the rap songs. Priceless. I, of course, was dancing the entire night. I love dancing when I’m in paradise and when you only have one more night you have to do it!

The next morning we left and took the shuttle over to Caye Caulker. It was much more laid back and was more geared toward tourism. In the morning we just found a place to stay and relaxed. We stayed at a hostel. The first time I have stayed in a hostel. It was really fun to stay there and meet people our age that were from all over the place. I ended up playing in a little volleyball tournament with people from Atlanta, Texas, and Norway. It was awesome! There were a lot of people from Canada there too! The hostel was actually really nice. I felt like I was living in the 1960’s. It was great!

That afternoon we decided that we had better do some type of tour since we had to leave the next morning. We went walking around the town to find what types of tours were available. Caye Caulker streets are all packed sand and you can see down the street from one shore of the island to the other. It’s so amazing. It’s the cutest little town. I wish we had more time to spend there! Anyway, we found a little shack that had snorkeling tours for a half day. We set it up to go snorkeling at three local spots in the afternoon for three hours.  Jess and I were the only two people on the boat with our dive master, Bert. He was the best. He gave us water and snacks. We had our own boat, so we just got to run the trip on our own time. He got in the water with us and pointed out different marine life and fish. We saw conch, all kinds of tropical fish, moray eels, and a barracuda. The barracuda was scary because it has it’s mouth open, it’s huge, and it swims at the same height as we swam. I love diving down in to the water when I’m snorkeling. It’s the closest thing to being a mermaid that I will ever get to experience.

The first spot we went was just in front of the Great Barrier reef. It’s a surf out in the middle of the ocean that has tons of coral that reaches all the way to the top of the water. There is only an inch of water at the top, so we just swam all around it, looking at the different fish.

The next stop was Manta ray Caye. There are a lot of tours that have been going out there for years and feeding these sting rays and manta rays so now they all sworm to that spot. It’s like if you knew that people threw out money at a spot in town. Of course you would always go there. So, we had to jump into water that was full of over 25 sting rays. They were tame. They would brush up against your feet, stomach, arms, and anything else they could find. One even swam between my legs… I was so scared when we first jumped in. Bert hadn’t fed them yet so there were only about five but when I saw them swimming toward me, I jumped up on Bert. I’m sure he was traumatized. He just laughed. I guess he gets that a lot. But then he was picking them up and letting me touch them and it ended up being really cool. At one point I just went under and looked at them coming. There were over twenty five of them swimming toward me in a school… It was amazing. They were friendly and so cool. They feel so soft and they don’t hurt you at all. I got to hold a giant sting ray. Now, more than ever, I really want to become a marine biologist some day. Let’s hope when I’m done teaching I can move somewhere tropical and become one. I need to. I think I was a mermaid in a past life! J

That night we of course went out to eat again and just hung out at different spots around town. We laid out in the hammocks on the water and watched the sun go down. It was gorgeous and really peaceful there. I will definitely go back someday to that place.

We left early in the morning. Got on the boat at 8:30 to head back to Belize City. From there we took a taxi to the bus terminal. Our bus came at 10:30. This time we would be on that bus all the way back to PG. It was a long ride and it only stops twice to let you off. One stop is a five-minute break. The other is a ten-minute break. It stops a lot to let people on and off and women will hop on the bus to try to sell their foods but we didn’t eat much of anything until about 3 in the afternoon. I got out at that stop and ran to the gas station. I bought some fresh sweet bread. That is SO delicious. I ate two HUGE buns and some cookies. That was my lunch. We didn’t get back into PG until 4:30 that night.

Elena was SO happy to see us. It’s going to be hard to leave her. She made us my favorite meal – mac and cheese, BB            Q chicken legs, and homemade tortillas. Love it! I was so sick of eating out. It felt great to get out. We watched a movie and talked all night.

This morning (Saturday) we are heading down to the market to get some fresh, organic veggies and then I’ve got a lot of stuff to do to get ready to go home. Tomorrow we’re going to a soccer tournament and church. Monday will be a day of packing and saying our goodbyes. Tuesday our plane leaves PG at 9:40 am. I am so ready to be home. I really hope Elena will come visit me someday. I’ll really miss her! I’ll miss PG in general. It’s really become home here. I don’t think I could stay much longer though. I need to catch up on everyone’s lives back home. 

February 28, 2010

I got sick this week. I got so sick that I went to the hospital. That says a lot. I started to really get worried that I might have something serious. I had parasites… Not cute! My stomach hurt like hell! I was at the hospital at 6:30 AM. I left at 11:30 AM. It was free, but it wasn’t the nicest place or the most efficient place. I really hope we don’t get free, universal health care in the US - now more than ever. Everyone was making fun of me for being sick. One day Ty kissed me then he backed up with a disgusted look on his face. I was like, “ What is it?” assuming it was just my hair in his mouth or something. He’s like, “It’s a parasite!” Not funny! Haha.

 

One night this week Ms. Olive invited me to go along with Nate, Ty and Lucy to St. Benedict’s for a special day. The teachers at the school had prepared a big dinner and party for them. They really appreciated all the work that they had done for the school and I can tell they will really be missed. If I did come back and work in PG I would want to be at St. Benedicts. It’s a small school with only five classrooms and the teachers are all very closely connected. They have a lot of responsibilities and they work so hard. I am glad I got to be there. Ty showed them the footage of his football games and they played music. We just sat around eating and talking for a few hours. Ms. Olive is so nice and Nate’s cooperating teacher, Ms. Martina is literally an angel. I love her!

 

I can’t believe my last week of teaching is over. It was unreal. The week flew by just like it always does. My students were so well behaved my last week. All my students were shocked that our time together was already over. Eight weeks sounded so long but I feel like I was just feeling like they were MY class and not another person’s class that I was teaching. This experience makes me so excited to be a full time teacher and have my own kids to teach. It’s insane how well you get to know all the kids and all their families. I think 18 students in Duluth will seem so strange compared to 30 kids here in Belize. I, of course, cried when I had to leave them. I made a big game to show all that they had learned and I gave them all prizes. I had hair ties, balloons, balls, pencils, sharpeners, and colored pencils and the kids in my class chose pencils over the majority of the other prizes. I also got a big projector and screen and put that in the room to show them a power point that I made of all the pictures I had of them. They were LOVING their pictures. They would all point and say, “That’s me. You see me?”  When the kids were leaving school for lunch I was just in tears. The entire class was crowded around me. I have never gotten so many hugs. I will miss those kids. Their smiles, laughs and hugs have been a big part of making PG home to me.

 

As soon as we left the schools I went straight to the house. I had just decided the night before (around 11) that I was going to go with Ty to Guatemala. He was planning to go with Howard and one of Howard’s friends but he wanted to see if I would go too. Knowing I had a half day and had to renew my visa otherwise I thought I might as well go. Jess decided to go to. So, right after school I got home and packed since I only had an hour before we would be leaving.

 

We went to Customs and met with Memo, Howard’s friend who was bringing us to Guatemala on his boat. We paid, got our stamps and headed out of Belize. No one looked at our bags, no one asked us questions. When we got to Guatemala no one checked our bags, no one asked us questions… kind of sketchy.

 

The water was so wavy. I thought we were for sure going to die on that boat. Jess was buried in her life jacket. She held it over her eyes and didn’t look out. I was pretending it was normal and it was a ride. The mountains were off in the distance and it was absolutely gorgeous! We got soaked, but we lived.

 

Our hotel was 140 Q’s, which is Guatemala’s currency. In other words about $15 USD. Pretty classy joint. Ty, Jess and I shared a room, making it $5 USD. Each of us had our own twin-sized bed. Our shower was cement and had a hose handle. One temperature. Freezing.

 

Once we got checked in we headed out to get some beers and check out the city of Puerto Barrios. It was a lot like Tijuana in my opinion. It was full of shops. They had garbage all over the town. However, once you got close to the shore it was really nice. We went to a nice restaurant with a thatched roof and a pier going out from the center. I didn’t have any beers since I am still on my parasite pills but I did get a nice cheeseburger. No one there spoke any English. Not one word. Luckily, Howard brought his friend “Beef” who was fluent in Spanish. He was the only reason we could get a cab and get anywhere. I was actually happy to realize that I remember all the Spanish numbers and was to ask how much things were and easy little things like that. Thank God for Senora Bishop. J

 

We went back and relaxed at the hotel. Jess, Ty and I were all very tired. We were planning on just taking naps but none of us slept. We all sat on our beds talking for over 2 hours. We’ve all gotten close throughout this trip. The fact that we’re altogether and are all away from home makes us relate to each other easily.

 

Then we headed out to get some dinner. We went to Pollo Campero, which is basically a KFC. It was SO delicious. It’s unreal that the nicest, cleanest restaurant I have been in is similar to a Mexican KFC but I’m pretty sure that was by far cleaner than almost ALL the places I’ve eaten in the last two months. Then we headed out to a really nice bar. They had narrow piers that had little tables in private, fenced in areas. We sat out there and everyone had a beer (except me J). I was the cool, sober person. Luckily I’m fun when I’m sober. J Not to mention I was in paradise so obviously it was great!

 

From there we headed out to La Casa Madrid. It’s a nightclub out in Puerto Barrios. The parking lot was full of scooters and motorcycles. There were maybe 20 cars and probably over 55 bikes. It’s so different there. Even riding in the cab there is one line in the middle of the road. I still don’t understand if there are one or two lanes but people often pretend there are two. People go whatever speed they want. People pass when they want. It’s chaos.

 

Our Taxi driver came in with us. He was basically our little servant for the night. We paid him under $10 USD for the entire night. He drove us to the club, stayed there with us for 3 hours, and he drove us back. On top of that he got all our drinks for us and brought them out to us wherever we were dancing. I brought $50 USD, which is 400 Q’s.

 

This was the loudest place I have ever been. My purse was vibrating against my side. I kept checking my phone even though I was sober and my phone has been off for the past two months. Not normal. There were laser lights, Go-Go dancers, huge screens showing Spanish music videos, strobe lights, and a bunch of Guatemalan people. The dancing there was very different from the states. It was a blast dancing out there. I was the first one out on that dance floor. It was all couples out there. Not all men and women but instead of dancing in a big mess of people like in Duluth, people only dance one-on-one with another person. The six of us (Beef, Jess, Howard, Ty, the Taxi drive, and I) were dancing literally the entire night whether we were on the dance floor or just standing around. There was no way to talk so I figured we might as well dance. I felt like I was in a Jennifer Lopez music video. (“Waiting for Tonight”.) We were all sweating and laughing the entire night. It was a blast.

 

Walking out it was crazy to see everyone getting on their bikes and biking away. There were security guards with HUGE machine guns watching everyone walk out. He was really nice but it’s still scary to see someone just standing around with a giant gun in their hands. I hear weapons there are very cheap though. You can buy a grenade for $5 USD so I’m sure guns are pretty reasonable…

 

We saw a lot of people walking around with huge guns on their sides. They had the holsters but it was still odd to see that. I have always wanted to own a gun but I’m glad people don’t just walk around the US with guns like that. It’s scary. It makes you assume that you’re not safe without one. 

 

The next day we all got up early and walked around the “mall”. It was all outdoors. There were people making food, selling fruits, meats, spices, toys, clothes, shoes, and – randomly – neon, dyed chickens. They literally had crates of neon colored chickens and they were selling them to people for God knows what reason. People just picked out their neon chicken and the guy would snatch up the chicken, throw it in the plastic bag, and give it to them for 1 Q, which is 1/8 of a USD. I should’ve gotten one and set it free because how sweet would it be to walk around town and just randomly see a hot pink chick.

 

For lunch, we went to McDonald’s. Yup, I was excited. Haha. It was even cleaner than our Mexican KFC experience. I honestly never cared for McDonald’s much. I like their hashbrowns and their chicken nuggets but it’s not a place that I’ve missed. Now, I respect McDonald’s. They are putting clean restaurants up all over the world that serve food that is the same wherever you get it. It was delicious.

 

Then we headed to Livingston, Guatemala. It was another boat ride that we took from Puerto Barrios to Livingston. It took about 20 minutes. It was a calm day and we road along the shore so it was awesome to see everything that is around the border.

 

Livingston was really cool. They had lots of stuff for sale all along the road. You just got off the boat and walked up this hill where they were selling all kinds of stuff. Ty was obsessing over buying this Rastafarian man hat. I was traumatized at first but he really wanted it so I just let it go. Once he bought this sick hat, he wouldn’t take it off. Jess was embarrassed but it was funny. We went and sat at this little restaurant and some guys came up and played and sang for us. They were Garifuna and they did some traditional songs that Howard and Beef asked them to play. I love how important music is in the culture down here. I love walking down the street and just hearing music everywhere! 

 

We didn’t stay in Livingston long. We got on the boat and went back to PG. It felt like we had been gone for much longer than 24 hours because we had seen so much! I’m glad we did that instead of just paying to renew our visas.

 

This morning we had to say goodbye to Ty, Nate and Mackenzie who all headed out to Costa Rica today. I think I’ll miss my phone for the first time, but I know time will go quickly. They will have so much fun. Now we have today and tomorrow to relax and Tuesday Jess, Howard, Dari (my running body guard) and I will head out to Belize City, Belmopan, San Pedro and Caye Caulker. We will cover a lot of ground and see a lot but I think it’ll be a pretty relaxed trip. We’ll spend most days just walking around, shopping, and laying out on the beach. I’m really excited to see the zoo! That’ll be awesome!!! I want to pet a tapir.

 

Looking at all the pictures that I’ve taken I’m shocked that I have seen so much and done so much. I am so grateful to my grandparents and my dad. I wish I was becoming something sweet so I could make enough money to take them here to meet everyone and see what I’ve seen. They will never know how much I appreciate the opportunity to be here. No one will ever understand what I experienced, how I’ve changed, and what I’ve seen. It’s something that will always be special to me in a special, private way.

 

I don’t know how none of those three cried this morning. I was crying when they flew away. I’m sure I’ll be a mess when I have to leave Elena. She doesn’t understand that she has become my family. I don’t forget family. I hope I will always keep in contact with her for my entire life and I hope I can come back here someday and I can stay with her again. 

February 23, 2010

This week has been very eventful. On Thursday night I found out that we weren’t having school on Friday at my school because all the teachers in Belize were doing a demonstration in Belmopan. If they don’t get raises after that they will go on strike for a full week and go from there. I was pretty excited not to have school!

On Friday morning I still went to the school just to make sure that I didn’t have school and to see what was going to happen when people showed up with their kids and the teachers weren’t there for work. The principals tried to avoid the families and almost every door was locked up when I got to the school. There were students there but not many. Most of the parents had already heard that there would be a demonstration. I told parents to bring their kids home since I don’t have a key to my classroom and then some students started to cry because their families aren’t home during the day. That’s when I became a babysitter. I just made desert with my students, colored with them, and then Ty and his class showed up at my house and we all walked down to the market. Sadly, there were no hog heads on display but we had fun walking around with all the kids.

 

At lunchtime I was able to bring the students home since everyone goes home for lunch. Then I had the afternoon off. Of course, it was a gorgeous day! I had the greatest time! I biked over to Dari’s house and we headed to the pier. There were some little boys down there swimming that were SO happy to have no school. They caught crabs, starfish, and a couple jelly fish. Luckily, nothing bothered me when I was swimming. The water there is so calm and perfect. You jump right off into the most amazing, warm water. I will definitely miss jumping in after school everyday.

 

On Friday night Elena, Jess and I went to watch Ty and Howard play basketball. We made Ty a big spaghetti dinner so he had a nice carb load like back in high school. I even made striped delight, which everyone here is in love with. The game was at the complex, which is a big building right across from our house by the airport. The building is basically just random steal and leaves as a roof and siding. Almost nothing in PG is soundproof. Walking up to the complex we could hear a man yelling into a microphone, tons of cheering and shouting, and music like it was a huge party. We walked in and I was shocked. People can buy beer there. People were dancing. They have a guy commentating throughout the game. I was the only one cheering against a dozen huge black guys. It was fun! The guys played really well but they lost to “Hollywood”. That team was crazy. They were all over the place cheering and making a scene. When the game ended, “Hollywood” – the entire team – run into a huddle, ripped off their shirts, and started jumping up and down singing. I felt like I was in a movie.

 

The game was definitely the place to be. We were there the entire night. We didn’t get home until after 11 and Ty was super tired so we just sat up with Jess talking and laughing until after 2. I really miss sports. I love going to games and cheering and analyzing what the team should do. I can’t wait until Carter starts skating!

 

Saturday morning Ty and I had to get up early to meet King. King is a man who lives right by St. Peter Claver. He literally lives in a shack with nothing in it other than random garbage and nuts that he uses to make rings and other art. He does have a huge library and he could have money but he literally doesn’t care at all about money or things. It seems that no one here really does.

 

King took us out to the middle of the jungle. He used to live out there on a farm. When we were out there we saw a monkey and a tarantula. King literally climbed to the top of a coconut tree and got us some coconuts to drink. It’s amazing how clean the water is inside the coconuts. At one point I thought that King was lost and we were dead. We spent the entire morning from 8:30 to 12:30 either biking or hiking through the jungle. It was so intense. I was literally afraid that we were lost but we ended up being perfect! It was so gorgeous out there and we could Cerro Hill, which is the hill that we climbed in the first week.

 

In the afternoon we went and found some sea glass. It’s just washed up bottles by the salt water and it’s made to use jewelry down here. We made some pretty sweet jewelry sitting right outside that afternoon. The water was great and swimming couldn’t be better! Then we had stuffed fry jacks and had a few beers here at Elena’s. We are trying to spend as much time together as possible! That night we went and Ty and Howard had another game. It wasn’t nearly as crazy as the first night but it was still fun! I honestly think I had more fun watching them than they had playing.

 

When we came home we played cards – which we’ve done every Wednesday night – and Jess was the worst. I literally don’t think she won a single game of pitty pat. I love that game!

 

Sunday we just went to the beach again. I will never be sick of that. Then we went with Elena to see her son and husbands graves. I have talked to her so much about all of that and she is so amazing. I can’t even believe how many times I have cried when she isn’t even crying telling me about the death of her son and husband. I was so happy that she asked us to go with her. Church was rough that night. It was so long but Elena was happy that we were there and it was the last time that Ty, Jess and I will be with her at church.

 

It’s still unreal to me that this is our last week. I am so sad. I have a feeling that going home is going to be more of a culture shock than coming here. It’s so hard to imagine having a phone and a car and the internet and a million other things. Shopping… It’s crazy!

February 15th

Time is going so quickly. We’ll be coming home before we know it. I can’t wait for our last week. Traveling will be so amazing! We are planning to go to Caye Caulker and San Pedro with Dari and Howard. They will be great tour guides and free tour guides!

Thursday night we all got together and went out to eat at Waluco’s. Their food is amazing. Karaoke and pool were also a big attraction. Elena came out there with us and it was a perfect, clear night. We took the food over to the pier and ate out there. It felt so nice to be outside by the water with the stars above us. From here, there are tons of bright, orange planets glowing. It’s gorgeous.

On Friday all eight of us volunteered at St. Benedicts Valentine’s Day carnival. They had the army come out and make these booths out of leaves and sticks. It was so amazing. They also had beer tents out there, big grills, and it was all full of games and food for the kids. There were buses from St. Peter Claver that brought more kids out to this school. I can’t even imagine how much money the school made that day. It was amazing! I worked at one of the games and it was so busy that I was literally dripping sweat… Pretty gross but really fun. I honestly think the kids down here are more adorable than anywhere else.

Ty and I left early from the school on Friday because we went to Placencia together for Valentine’s weekend. It was the perfect day. We got there early. The bus wasn’t too full and the water taxi is always fun and relaxing to ride on. I couldn’t even believe how gorgeous it was. It felt like I was seeing that town for the first time, not the third. When we got there we immediately got outside in our suits. The water is so great there. It was perfectly calm. It was nice to be alone. We didn’t even realize how different it is being in a group because we’ve been used to it. It’s nice to make plans with one other person and not have to worry about anyone else.

Friday night we went out to eat at RumFish. It was so delicious. We had conch fritters. I can’t believe that I even ate it, but it was one of the greatest things that I’ve eaten since we’ve been down here. After dinner we went out to the Tipsy Tuna. The bar is inside and completely enclosed, but they have sand floors. It is so fun to listen to the live music down here and play pool and drink some Belikin and Lighthouse. I was so relaxed. Everyone is so friendly when you go out. Ty and I literally talked to every person in that bar and they are all down to earth and have great stories to tell.

Saturday morning we, of course, got up early and got some breakfast. Ty got a stuffed fry jack again. Those are so good! I hope to God that I know how to make those by the time I leave here. Then we went and rented a couple scooters. It was so fun to get to drive a vehicle. We looked like big white nerds, but it was fun! We stopped out at this resort that was far away called Turtle Inn. It was unreal. They have all thatched roofs and parts of it are sandy and have trees like you’re outside. It’s nuts! Ty and I went and got two beers each and it was $50. We did get to walk around there and see these places that are thousands of dollars for free, but we didn’t expect that! People don’t care what you do down here. We were driving back toward town on the scooters and there were a couple Mayan women looking for rides in to sell their little trinkets and Ty pulled up to me and said we should pick them up. I thought it was a great idea so we slowed down and asked them if they wanted to jump on the bikes. They thought it was hilarious but really fun. They were sweethearts and it was fun to cruise back into town making even more of a scene than when we left.

This weekend was an Art Festival down in Placencia so we walked around and looked at all the little art stands. I didn’t see much that I needed, but everything there was interesting to look at. These families are so talented! There was also a beer tent with live music and they had flame dancers. I love walking around in Belize. No matter where you are there is music playing. My life is a musical.

Saturday night Ty and I took a boat out to the island and had dinner out there. I could’ve died on that dock. I guess it got messed up from the earthquake a while ago, but it was completely uneven and there were boards missing. The boat ride over there was free and the food was really good. The bartender made friends with us and bought us a drink. It interesting that everyone we’ve talked to seems to have lived in the states at some point or had part of their family living there. They all come back to Belize. I think I will too!

Sunday morning we got massages. That place is so amazing. They had a new room there that was a screened in porch. There is a pool behind there with fountains that we could hear. They play relaxing music. Alli would love it in Placencia. Next time I come, she has to come with me.

Coming back on the bus is always interesting. We left earlier in the day so it was not as packed-thank God! I just can’t believe that I haven’t driven in two months. That’s nuts. I hope I remember how to when I get back. Here I just bike everywhere. I bike to the beach, the boys house, school… literally everywhere. Otherwise we just take public transportation like the bus or water taxis. There are very few cars in this town.

I think what I’ll miss is just how easy life is here. Everything is slow and laid back. No one is rushing. There aren’t a million people everywhere…

One thing I am excited for it working again. When I was working at the Valentine’s fair I was dripping sweat but loving it because it was a little job for me. The best part of a job – a paycheck – will be nice too.

We are planning out the last week of traveling. I really want to go to the zoo and pet a tapir! That is my goal. I think we’ll be hitting San Pedro and Caye Caulker. It should be really great. I am going to spend my last night of the trip here with Elena. I know I will be crying on my last day. I am already dreading it. I have been planning my last week of teaching. My last day will be amazing. Ever since I brought in pictures of me and my Grandpa Jerlow with the high snow they are obsessed with my grandpa coming to visit. They made Valentine’s for John. J They are so cute. They can’t understand that he isn’t going to be visiting. I wish that everyone could come and see these kids!

February 10th

It has been so crazy busy! We are teaching so much more now, and it feels great! Teaching is so challenging. I can't even believe how different one day is from the next. I just want my own classroom so bad. I hope I get one soon! :)

My observation last week went well. John was happy to see that I am much more comfortable in my classroom, which is definitely true. I know and love my kids more every day.

I have been going on runs with Dari (one of our body guards down here). He has been telling me so much about Caye Caulker and I think that we are going to head down there once we are finished with our teaching. That and a tour of Guatemala is our plan as of now. Ty and I are heading to Placencia again for Valentines Day this weekend. Hopefully do something out of the norm and fun down there! I can't wait. For sure we are going to get another massage! :) Can't wait!!!

Last weekend we  had a lot of families down here visiting. We went out to Waluco's and the Sports Bar on Friday night. We did a lot of karaoke at Waluco's. They were supposed to close at midnight but they stayed open later for us to continue our concert haha. It's funny because this is such a small town that literally we know half the people everywhere we go and people will know at least one of us just about everywhere. It's a really good feeling. Felix, who owns the sports bar, was glad to see us when we got to the Sports Bar later that night. Again, Mackenzie and I were the two white girls that all the black girls just watched make fools of ourselves. Apparently white girls can't dance.

Saturday morning we all headed out early to go snorkeling at the Snake Caye. It was gorgeous. Nate had an underwater camera so I'll have to get those pictures from him. Literally HUGE starfish and gorgeous colors. There was a purple plant that glowed. It was amazing! The water here is so warm too that we can just go in our swim suits! I felt like a mermaid so obviously I had the time of my life. We stayed there all day but then we had to take the boat home because it got cool outside and it started raining. The man driving the boat got lost and we didn't realize it until it had been a half hour, we were all freezing, and we saw that we had literally CIRCLED the island... Not a great moment. We all laughed though! We made it home!

Saturday night we didn't really go anywhere. We stayed at home and relaxed. 

Sunday morning Elena woke us up with homemade fry jacks for breakfast. God, I love her! Sunday we somehow convinced Felix to have a BBQ and celebration for the Super Bowl. We got some other people from PG that we know and people that are down here through other programs and we had a bet going with some cards... I don't know how it works. I didn't win. Ty set it up! It was fun though. I was going to win until they scored in the last minute of the game. I was disappointed!

Our friends that we made when we went snorkeling ended up being chefs. They are sweet. They have the most interesting love story. They've been married for 5 years, they are 9 years apart and they are doing this 5 month world traveling tour together. Just them, backpacking around. But we told them that Elena has all this great stuff for cooking and we decided to have them over Monday night to cook a delicious feast. It was awesome. BBQ chicken, steak, rice with corn, salsa... YUM! I love eating here. Honestly it's amazing.

This week has been going slowly for me. I don't want to go to school tomorrow! Friday we are all going to be at St. Benedicts (Ty and Nate's school) doing a carnival for Valentine's Day. That should be fun and easy. I am excited!!!

Elena got a card from my mom and she honestly hasn't stopped showing people and smiling. I like getting mail too... :) so send me some mail anytime! 

Love you all!

February 1st Blog

February 1, 2010

 

This has by far been the busiest I have felt since we have been here. Now that I’m teaching full time I am doing a lot more homework and a lot more planning. It’s fun to be the full time teacher though, especially when Ms. Patricia isn’t in the classroom. When she’s not there I really get to have fun with the students and teach my own way. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in a long time. I am getting observed for the last time on Thursday and I am really hoping that my professor will come during my language arts lesson.

Thursday night there was a huge storm here in PG. I understand now why this is called the rainforest. It’s the most intense rain that I have ever witnessed in my life. The rain will come down so hard that you can’t even see. It’s like a white out except with rain. It’s so loud here too! It’s the worst at the school because we have a tin roof and the only way to get air flow is to keep the windows open. It was really hard to teach with all the noise. Also, we only had 22 students there out of 31 because many students have no way to get to school unless they walk and students that arrive wet are lashed by their teachers.

That night all 8 of us that are on this trip from UMD together decided to hang out at our house. We were sitting around with the lightening, rain and thunder and I thought it would be fun if we all told ghost stories. Out of the 8 of us, 6 had really scary, personal ghost stories. Of course I believe in spirits and ghosts so I was completely terrified. As we are telling the stories, the power goes off. I screamed. Everyone was huddled together. None of us knew where the candles were kept and the only light we had was a tiny light from Ty’s watch. We found 2 candles but we all were super scared.

Friday us girls took a half day because we were heading back to Placencia for the weekend. I honestly think I could move there someday. It is the most gorgeous place. Alli Moore and I should live there together. She would love it here. There are all these cool little shops and restaurants there that are just her style. The cool new place that we found is called, “The Secret Garden”. There is a little bridge that is has a cloth ceiling that hangs down creating the entrance. Then there is a menu and a little outdoor restaurant. The sink is all rocks and there is a spigot like a hose that comes out of an old teakettle. The bar inside has handmade jewelry for sale and behind the restaurant they had a spa. Perfect.

Friday night we all went out to eat, got ready together, and went out to the Purple Space Monkey to listen to some live music. We also discovered a gelato shop that we visited 4 times in two days. J I had chocolate and peanut butter and banana and chocolate chip… So delicious. Definitely not coming home skinny.

We spent the rest of our time there relaxing in the hammocks under the hut, kayaking, swimming, playing volleyball on the beach, and walking around to different shops around the town. It was so amazing there. One fun thing that Mackenzie and I did was go back on Sunday morning at 9 to get massages. It was a couples massage haha, but it was really fun. We got to go back to the secret garden and go into this little hut. The ladies came and gave us massages with the lights off, the best smell possible, and they massaged every inch of our bodies. They massaged our butts, our stomachs, around our eyes… It felt so good. That was the best hour of my life.

We thought again that the boys would have a crazier weekend than us, and this time we were right. Not to our surprise they didn’t make it to Guatemala as they had planned. In fact, they almost came to see us in Placencia. When we got back Ty had left me a little note and stopped by which made the day that much better. I was anxious to go over to his house and see him.

We had to hurry home on the bus because Elena was singing with the women’s choir at the church Sunday night. As soon as we got home we got dresses on and headed to the church. Elena was so gorgeous. She was wearing all her jewelry, she worse a new dress, and Mackenzie put makeup on her. Mackenzie and I, on the other hand, were still covered in grease from our massage. Elena sang beautifully. She wants Mackenzie, Jess and I to sing with her next weekend and we most likely will. Mackenzie and I got up this week and talked about how much we love it here, how much we are learning from this experience and how much we value Elena and the love that she has shown us. We struggled to get up for that speech though. Not because we were nervous, but because this Spanish family refused to stop singing a million songs. The father always gets up and sings. Then, he calls his daughters up. Then, his daughters remain up there to sings. In addition to the usual menu, the father and mother sang a little duet this week. Mackenzie and I tried to get up before them, but we were harshly rejected. Then, we thought they were done so we started walking up, realized they weren’t coming off the stage, sat awkwardly in the second row and were literally laughed at by everyone in the church. I couldn’t stop laughing enough to even move in to let Mackenzie’s other butt cheek onto the pew.

I really miss everyone and wish that everyone could be here experiencing everything that we are seeing here. It’s amazing. I will come back to Placencia someday and I would LOVE if everyone and anyone could come with.

January 24, 2010

January 24, 2010

 

This weekend has, again, been amazing. I honestly can’t even describe how great it was. Gerry and Dan, our professors, were in town and are in town until Wednesday. They came and observed my teaching on Friday. I was so nervous for them to see my lesson. I did well on my observation though. My class was really good that morning. After they observed me they came over to my house and had lunch with me. They talked about what I did well and how I can improve for my upcoming lessons.

 

Friday afternoon we immediately went to the beach. We do that every day! As soon as school is over, I am completely gone! I just think about how gorgeous it is and how much I want to be outside. We bike everywhere! We swim everyday. It’s gorgeous out here! I feel like a bad teacher sometimes, but it SO hard to be a good teacher when there is so much to do outside. Planning for lessons isn’t my favorite thing to think about. I do love the kids though! They are so much fun!

 

One day we all played football after school in the water. The water at one of the piers is only up to your waist so it’s perfect for playing. We tackled each other and ran like hell. It was tiring but it was the most fun.

 

Friday night we went out here in Punta Gorda. We went to Waluco’s with our professors and we sang karaoke. The boys are pretty talented. The three of them have gotten really close. Too close… J Then we went out to the sports bar and, of course, danced. Mackenzie and I were the only white people dancing and all the black girls were looking at us laughing.

 

Saturday we went on a day trip with our professors. Gerry got UMD to pay for one day of fun for all of us. We all went out to the cacao farm. It’s only 40 miles away but it takes SO long to get anywhere. None of the roads here are paved and usually on those roads it’s so choppy that it’s hard to drive over 20 miles an hour. When we got there it was SO HOT AND SUNNY. It ended up being fine though. It was an organic farm that makes chocolate. Pretty amazing. Juan, our tour guide, took us through and we all harvested our own chocolate plants. Ty broke one in half and there was this wet, nasty, brain in the middle. Not at all what I thought it was going to look like. Juan harvests all the cacao by hand and then they crack the fruit open. They use the beans that are inside the fruit to make the chocolate. The bean is just like a peanut. We had to crack the shell and then put the chocolate down. Then we had to winnow the beans and then we had to grind it down until it turned into a liquid. It was so cool to see how the whole process worked. I feel bad eating chocolate after seeing all that goes into it. Juan was SO smart about farming. They care so much about all the animals and plants that are on the farm. He grows other fruits for animals to eat so they will stay out of the cacao plants.  He also does the farming at the same farm that his dad started. He names the chocolate after his mom and does the tours to teach people about the ancient ways that Mayans would harvest and make chocolate.

 

After that we got to go back to Rio Blanco. It was so fun to go back there with everyone. I’m so glad that we’re all together. We have such a fun group. We all got to jump and swim together. It was a blast.

 

Sunday (today) me and Ty had to get up early. His class had a confirmation acceptance program this morning. Church started at 7:30 this morning so we had to leave his house by 7 to bike down there. I got to meet some of his students and help them get their pins on for the church service. He will be such a good teacher. I’m really proud of him. He makes me wish that I was a better teacher! I think at some point we’re going to try to co-teach for at least one day.  (I also want to go and observe Mackenzie and Jess.)

 

Then we had to get back to our houses to get ready. Elena’s son, Howard, brought Ty, Nate, Mackenzie and I to Blue Creek today. There are waterfalls, hiking trails, and caves there. We have been wanting to go SO bad. We had to drive there through the bumpy, dirt roads. It took a long time but when there is jungle all around you there is a lot to see and the time flies by. The house next to the beginning of the trails is where the tour guide lives. He had other plans for the day so he couldn’t take us through the caves at all, but he let us take his headlamps and go swim through there anyway. Elena packed us lunches and we had all out towels and stuff there so Howard staying with our stuff at the entrance of the cave.

 

It was honestly UNBELIEVEABLE. There were waterfalls leading up to a cave that was in the middle of huge mountains that were covered in a thick rainforest. The water was perfectly clear and you could see the fish swimming around. The cave didn’t even look real.

 

It wasn’t scary at the entrance but once we got into the first area we were already scared. If you have seen the movie, “The Descent”, you know what being in a dark cave is like. It’s terrifying. Between the four of us we had two headlamps and one regular flashlight that Nate was just carrying and swimming with. The water there wasn’t deep but we had to swim if we weren’t climbing for the most part. The water was unbelievably clear and clean. I can’t believe how gorgeous it was in that cave. We got to the point after the first 20 minutes that if we turned off our lights there was no light in sight of us. Anywhere. There were waterfalls in the cave too. We could hear them and we wanted to get to them so bad. It was absolutely amazing! I have never in my life been so scared and had so much adrenaline. At one point I was so scared that I literally started crying a little bit. I just went under water and didn’t say anything to anyone. Haha.

 

When we got back to the entrance and we could see the light we had SO much energy and adrenaline rushing through us. We were pretty excited that we made it. I just wish there would have been a way that we could’ve gotten pictures inside that cave. It’s something that I will never be able to explain to anyone. I am for sure taking my family on vacations like this someday. I don’t know why anyone would bring their kids to Disneyland over a vacation where you do insane things. This country is so gorgeous and there is SO MUCH TO DO. It only costs $10 to go to these parks and you could easily spend an entire day there without trying. We were in that cave for about 2 hours swimming and when we got back we climbed up the side for a couple victory pictures. We mooned the camera for one picture. It reminded me of being back at home and mooning everyone. J

 

When we got out we ate our lunches and fed the fish that were swimming all over. There were well over twenty fish in the little area right in front of us. I was glad we fed them once we were out of the water.

 

I was already freaked out when we were swimming through the caves and climbing up the waterfalls in the pitch black but when we started hiking back Nate noticed a rope swing. The rope swing went out over water that was deep enough but you’d have to make sure you swung out far enough and landed in the right spot. Nate went first. Even he was really nervous. He of course jumped though. Then Ty went up. I honestly thought he was going to die. He went out and came back twice. He almost fell off the ledge. He was shaking and flipping out. I wasn’t even sure he’d do it at one point. We all died laughing watching the video of him once we got home, but he did end up jumping and it was pretty sweet. Mackenzie wanted to go too and she was of course shaking but it didn’t take her long to jump in. I had zero intention of jumping. Watching them scared me out of it. There was no way. But once they all said I should do it or I’d regret it I thought I’d better at least get up there and see how scary it was. Honestly, WAY less scary when it was me. I was still nervous though. I went in though and it did feel good! It’s fun to challenge yourself and have your adrenaline going out of control. Plus, how often do you get a chance to rope swing into a waterfall in front of a cave in the middle of a jungle… So sweet!

 

I could honestly NOT be happier with the way we’ve been spending our time here. We have already seen so much. It’s insane! Next weekend us girls are planning to go to Hopkins. We have no idea what we’re going to do there, but it has white sand beaches and it’s supposed to be amazing there so we’re going. Nate’s parents are coming to visit so the boys are going to Guatemala. We’ll all go there soon though!

 

By this Friday we’ll all be half done with our teaching here. It’s so insane. I am going to be taking over all the subjects after that and I can’t wait! I want to really have fun with the kids. The hard thing is trying to have fun with them but still get through everything I need to teach. I can’t even believe that I’m in charge of thirty-one seven year olds. Scary!