An UN BELIZE ABLE Finish!

Now that our time here in Belize is winding down, I thought I would finish up my blogging with a few final thoughts.

I first want to talk about this last week here on the island. I have really been focusing on finishing up some school work and concluding all of our professional experiences in my philosophy statement and teacher identity papers. On Wednesday I got the opportunity to substitute teach at Isla Bonita Primary school, which was so much fun. I taught a Standard 5 class—7th grade—and it made me really consider teaching at a younger level. I had to teach all the subjects for the day including math, science, reading/writing, social studies, and Spanish (ha you are safe to assume that we didn’t have Spanish that day!) I felt very in control and the students were so polite and respectful! They were quite different from the students at the high school! A change of scenery was also very nice! Other than this my week has been pretty standard. We are playing a few cooperative games in physical education and the students are really enjoying them!

Last night was our groups’ final dinner together and we are having a pizza party at Pedro’s—YUM! I needed to start packing because Jeanne and I have to catch the 7am boat out of here on Saturday morning….it is going to be one heck of a long day traveling! Our flight doesn’t land in Wilmington on Saturday night until 11 pm! GGRRRREEEAATT! No packing occurred though 

(I cannot WAIT to see Nat’s face when I exit the airport! There’s nothing like a classic reunion between best friends!)

And finally…I want to conclude this blog with a few words about my teaching experience here in Belize. I have expanded my knowledge on 3 crucial parts of teaching since I have been here…diversity, flexibility, and creativity. I definitely had touched on these three qualities while teaching in the States, but here in Belize it was a totally different level of each quality. I for once was the diversity. Flexibility was the most crucial part of the trip. And as for creativity…it wasn’t taken from the classroom like it is in the States…it is absolutely a necessity to teach in Belize. I know those are short and to the point statements but there is really no easier way to put how I grew as a teacher through these qualities. Teaching here in Belize was of course WAY different from the States, and I feel that through my blogs you all can see that. The culture and environment are no were near similar to the culture and environment that we are accustomed to—and don’t get me wrong, that was my favorite part! I think that having both internships really aided me in my knowledge as a teacher: classroom management, disciplinary actions, picking and choosing my battles, sharing knowledge with other teachers, and ESL teaching just to name a few of the areas I feel I have grown in. Yes my experience in the States was organized, put together, formal, and professional; but my experience here in Belize was the complete opposite and I couldn’t be happier to have experienced both worlds of teaching!

I have learned so much from the teachers and students here in Belize and I can only hope they learned something from me! Today’s final assembly was sad but I know that I will see all these people again! We have built life long friendships with the faculty and students here and I just know that I will be back to this island someday for a visit! They gave us very nice gifts with a ton of thought and love put into them! I couldn’t have been more blessed to come on this journey and I am very sad that today I have to close this chapter of my life and head back to the real world…

Viva la isla bonita!!!! Cheers!!!!

Legendary-Pageants-and Shark/Rays

I'll just go day by day...

Friday was a little bit different than most days for me because I had to go around with both the supervisors to all the schools on the island and promote the "Storytelling Contest" that the public library is putting on at the end of May. And of course the temperature was like 120 degrees and we were all three drenched from head to toe in sticky sweat! YUCK! But what an experience getting to see all the schools...it is amazing how much character each one has...from the religious schools supported by churches in the States, to the public schools that can't even get full support from the government! I couldn't believe my eyes half the time! Dr. K, Susan and I had great conversations that really got the wheels spinning in my head! I consider myself lucky that I got the chance to do this! Then after we talked to all the schools I went to Ambergris Caye Elementary where we have a few teachers, and taught a lesson on heart health to 4-5 year olds! This made me miss my College Park kids! Friday afternoon we had a staff vs staff futbol (soccer) match. And yes it was still like 120 degrees, but it was super fun and super exhausting! A few students even came to watch. Of course my team won :) just barely though! (They had to put me in goal towards the end so all the really good male teachers could work together to score haha). Friday night we went to our favorite place, Legends, to eat burgers and have a "legendary" night duhhhh!

Saturday morning Keri and I got up early and came up to the high school to see if Ms. Usher needed any help setting up for the pageant which was later on that night. When we got back to our rooms around 10 we both passed out until like noon! Saturday turned out to be a lazy day. We lounged around the pool, I caught up on emails, and we painted out tanks for our dance that night. Now the pageant was scheduled to start at 7pm, so of course being Americans we show up at 6pm ready to go...you know early is "on time" right? Well we all got a new lesson on the term "Belizian Time". To give you an example...at 830, TWO of the girls that were in the pageant were still not there...uh huh...feel our pain? So needless to say the pageant went until like 1230...but our dance was AWESOME! Everyone was dying laughing! I have the whole video and I will try and put it on here...we'll see how that goes.

Sunday we spent the day on a catamaran...p.s. I WANT ONE OF THESE THINGS! We stopped at two different snorkeling locations...1st Hol Chan--it was really cool and there was a lot to see! 2nd--get ready for this--Shark Ray Alley. Yup I snorkeled with sharks and sting rays...cross that off the bucket list as well! I was so proud of myself! When I first jumped in the water I think I hyperventilated---and poor Viktor...I was latched on to him like a leach out of fear! But after my heart settled back to its normal beat I was able to do some snorkeling! Totally worth it! Last night we were so tired that everyone passed out super early! And now....

...its Monday morning...last week of school! I have a lot I want to get done this week, so I better get started!

5 more daysss.....

San Pedro Town? San Ignacio? or North Carolina?

Okay--So our blog topic for this week was to share where we would rather teach...San Pedro Town or San Ignacio, and considering I only spent 4 days in San Ignacio and couldn't wait to get back to San Pedro, I'm going to go ahead and rule out San Ignacio. Now according to my other blog you might think this is so because of my beach bum attitude...and you are slightly right, BUT I would have to say that one of the main reasons I would not want to live and teach in San Ignacio is because of the rise in crime there over the past few years. I also mentioned how I did not feel comfortable there and did not receive the "welcome" that we received in San Pedro.

Yesterday Susan and I went to a few schools to get the Public Library Storytelling Contest news out to a few principals, and one of the schools we stopped at was the Roman Catholic school. Now talk about structure. After visiting the school grounds and an actual classroom I was like WHOA I could definitely teach here. When Susan and I entered the room the classroom of young students all stood up and welcomed us with a polite "Good Morning" and then when cued all sat down and resumed their work. It was so different from the high school!

So in conclusion, if I had to choose between San Ignacio and San Pedro, without a doubt I would stay in San Pedro...but lets me honest with ourselves! North Carolina here I come. HAHA! Mama don't you worry...I'm DEFINITELY coming home :)

Yesterday's classes went much better than Monday's and hopefully today's will be productive as well! We just finished distributing the school supplies to the department heads and they were very thankful! Makes us smile to know we make others happy!

Today is Viktor's birthday and the poor boy really wants a steak so we are going to dinner tonight to celebrate! There is a cold front on the island so the temperature is only 100 instead of 110! AWESOME! I'm sad our last weekend is approaching but we have a few fun things planned that I cannot wait for!

Back to the ISLAND LIFE!

We were SOOO excited to get back to the island yesterday! Jungle life is cool and all but goodness I missed San Pedro! The mainland and the island are definitely two completely different places!

Cave's Branch was a ton of fun and the cave tubing was brilliant! Another really cool adventure that I can check off my bucket list! I could go on and on about all of our adventures in the jungle but the pictures will help explain those! Put it this way...I am a much happy person when I am by the beach! (I think I get that from you mama!)

It is crazy that we only have two weeks left here...time has begun to fly by! When we were on the mainland and people asked where we were from we would say San Pedro without even thinking...when you say that people do treat you differently though. The people on the mainland were a different bread. In my opinion they were more distant to us and not as polite either! I didn't feel comfortable at all...which is strange...but like I said we are finally back and so I am all smiles!
I also got the chance to talk to momma and dad while I was on the mainland...total bliss hearing their voices! Now only if I could get in touch with Katlyn! :)

Monday morning hit me like a ton of bricks when my alarm went off at 6 am. School is great and all but man today was one of the worst days! Physical education here is a bit different than it is in the states...okay okay WAY DIFFERENT! I am trying so hard to add some structure to the program but the teacher is just all out of sorts and is more or less best friends with all the students--which makes me being a teacher impossible, because they really just look at me and roll their eyes! So some frustration has set in but flexibility is key...supposedly...ha ha. Well hopefully the rest of this week will be a little better! I have a few projects I am aiding with here and so I am excited about getting those started!

Frocks and Cave Funks

So when we got back from Tikal last night, Tess and my only goal was to find crocks to wear on the cave tour today...and we did. The only thing is that they were fake crocks, so in view of the fake-ness we named them our loyal "frocks". Good news--they held up extremely well throughout our tour today! There are no words or pictures that could describe our experience today. It was utterly amazing; probably the best thing that I have ever done! We took a bus ride up through the Mayan hills and finally arrived at our destination. It took a 45 minute hike through 3 river beds and luckily no poisonous snake encounters to get to the cave's opening. We swam, hiked, and climbed our way through the cave looking at ancient artifacts and skeletons on the way. My favorite part of the tour was that there was only one glimpse of sunlight in the whole cave! So yes we were flashlight helmets so that we could see...but for one part of the tour we turned off all the lights and our tour guide lead us through about 200 meters of the pitch black water. CRAZYYYY!

Now after two strenuous days of hiking and climbing, I cannot wait to lay out by the pool tomorrow and relax my muscles! Friday we are headed to Cave's Branch where hopefully we can do some cave tubing! I cannot believe how fast this week has gone by!

Resort Hotel---WHATTTT?!

Ok so we left yesterday morning to go to San Ignacio (which is on the mainland) and we are staying in a resort hotel which is like a palace compared to our accommdations in San Pedro!
Yesterday was a lot of traveling but today we went to Guatemala and toured the 3rd largest Mayan ruins in the world--uh huh, thats right, check that off of my bucket list! It was truly amazing and overwhelming to think that these large pieces of rock used to be a home to someone. If you know the way my mind thinks you will understand when I say this was "over my head". I have tons of pictures and so I will be sure to post some to show you a bit of how amazing it was!

On a more serious note:
As we drove through Guatemala, we were able to see how "3rd world" these countries really are. A lot of times I try and put myself in other peoples shoes and imagine what my life would be like...but when we were driving I honestly could not imagine living in the conditions that these families in Guatemala and Belize do. Sound shallow? You have no idea how ignorant saying that makes me feel, but it is the honest truth! These homes were literally pieces of wood laid up against each other--no lie! I just feel sooooo priviledged to live where I do and own what I do. We frequently forget how lucky we really are. I mean I complain about not having a washer and dryer, a dish washers, and a little things like this...driving today we saw people washing their clothes in a river that I would not dare even swim in. It is definitely an eye opener! And a dryer--try hanging your clothes on the line out front...sometimes we need a good wake up call!

So random fact Tuesday consists of me learning today that the Mayans did not predict the world to end in 2012...dumb Americans. All they predicted was that their calendar would start over! I am so glad that other countries actually do the research! And it is reliable because the tour guide is a genius when it comes to the Mayan stuff--he went to school studying Mayan's and their history/lifestyle!

Tomorrow we are going to the an ATM tour which consists of swimming/hiking through caves...loveee itt!!

Nat- 3 1/2 more weeks lover! I miss you so much! Give yourself a huge hug and kiss and consider it from me! Maybe we can skype when i get back to the island!? Ill email you!

HAPPY EASTER and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

It was harder than I imagined to spend Easter away from my family! But I did get through it by spending it with my new wonderful friends that I have made on this trip! I have to say that I have been very blessed with the group of girls that I have spent my time with over the past few weeks! Everlasting friendships have definitely been made!

Yesterday (Saturday) Tess and I laid out in the morning and just relaxed! Of course each day I "planned" on doing work but it never seemed to happen...hmmm. Around 1 we went to the superintendent's house for lunch--rice, beans, and ribs--which was delicious! The group of 6 of us that went winded up staying over there until like 430 playing soccer with the little ones! Right when we got back to Pedro's, Jeanne and I went to play volleyball with the locals again...which is always a good time! Last night we winded up going out for a little bit and actually met some really cool locals! They are all so nice to us once we tell them we are teachers! They really respect teachers around here, especially because we are American teachers.

Today we went to a local church and it was another awesome experience! I saw a few of my students do plays and stuff for the Easter service, and it was cool to see them in that setting. I really enjoyed the service, it was unique, but I am just glad we got to worship today! The preacher was just a man who one day felt led to preach and he did...no seminary school or anything of the sort...just a good christian man! They also fed us lunch and that pot luck kind of meal made me feel at home! After our tummies were full we laid down and took a nap...a 3 hour nap...ops! We have been packing and getting things together for our trip this week inland. I have a little bit more packing to do tonight and then we are going to watch NEMO! YAYYY!

I'll post mid week and let you know how the inland trip is going! I am interested to see how different the mainland is from San Pedro...every local says it is a way different environment! Should be neat to see and compare both places!