30 Things That No Longer Surprise Me!!

1. All the dogs walking around.
2. People whistling at us as we walk by.
3. Strict classroom discipline and students asking if I am going to lash them.
4. Not flushing toilet paper.
5. Belize time. 6 o'clock means 7 o'clock.
6. Can be a teacher or even a principal right out of high school temporarily.
7. Polly the talking and laughing parrot.
8.Colorful houses.
9. Eclectic mix of houses.
10. The heat. 70 degress is now freezing.
11. Chickens on buses.
12. Using machetes to cut the grass.
13. The language.
14. Random businesses. You could paint a sign on something and it could be a taxi, grocery store or what have you.
15. Kids riding and sometimes sleeping on bikes with their parents.
16. Hot water is hard to come by.
17. "Good Night" as a greeting. "A next one" for another. "Makobe" means lovesick. Subject/verb agreements.
18. Being called "Miss" or "Teach" by everyone... even people I don't know around town.
19. Lack of resources for teachers.
20. Bugs.
21. Vehicles drive right next to you.
22. Selling food out of buckets.
23. Garbage lying around.
24. Reuse of bottles and wrapping a napkin around them to clear them of any rust.
25. Kids eat suckers, or "sweet" for morning snacks.
26. The food in general.
27. Planes flying closely overhead.
28. Punta music and punta dance done by young children.
29. Having to teach all of the specialties like music, P.E.,art and so on.
30. The tiny little garbage bags that everyone uses.

Yup- another weekend in Placencia. Can't get enough of that place.

The beach. Magical.

These kids followed us everywhere. I gave them stickers and let them write in my planner. They thought it was the greatest thing.

The Belizean pepper sauce that is found everywhere. Every table will always have salt, pepper & Marie Sharp's.

Cruise ships are not allowed.

Milk is always stored on a shelf.

Sunset.

Friends!!

Star gazing...

Going for a run along the sea. Perfect.

Beth & I having lunch.

Sun setting as we were taking the boat home.

Eating at Boneville, a Christian Cafe, With Teachers and Friends!

Haley, Beth, Me, Teacher Janice, Teacher Bethany & Andrea

The Students

Students reading at the reading table.

The plant mobiles that the students created as one of my culminating activities.

The students' pen pal letters to my class back in Wisconsin.

A letter.

Week 7 of Teaching

Well today was the last Friday that I will ever be in PG! Only four days of teaching left. I almost can't believe it that I made it this far. My week was good overall, but it did seem to drag on a bit.

Monday- Taught my lessons which went well for the most part although the kids were a little chatty. I have become pretty attached to the students now and I know it's going to be sad leaving them next Thursday, but once I'm finished... I'm finished with school!! Finally. That night I just did lesson planning.

Tuesday- I only had to teach one lesson today because another student teacher taught a lesson. Kind of a boring day.

Wednesday- Had my last observation and it went well! My supervisor and I talked about my successes and challenges and it made me realize how much I have done and gone through. It felt very rewarding. That night Haley, Beth and I watched part of a movie.

Thursday- My lessons went extremely well today and the kids were listening so well. I feel like I control over the classroom and feel like I know my place. This was the last day of regular school for our host brother and sister so we bought them some candy and watched TV with them. I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me though because there were two LOUD dogs and roosters going crazy right outside my room. That is definitely something I will  not miss.

Friday- Made it through the week. Today was pretty relaxed at school. My science lesson worked out well. We were learning about plants and did a final culminating activity. Felt good to wrap things up. I enjoy Fridays because everyone seems so much more peppy.

Weekend in PG

This weekend was pretty chill… Saturday morning I got up, had some good pancakes and then got ready to go on a hike. About seven of us got a ride out to “Sarah’s Hill” and hiked up the pretty steep hill. It was neat and I was even breathing pretty hard, so it was kind of a workout! When we reached the top I could see all of PG, the sea and neighboring villages. It was neat to see PG from a new angle! On the climb down I went pretty fast and only slipped a couple times. I don’t know which was more challenging… going up or down.  When we got to the bottom, our host mom picked us up and I went back to the house to have a little lunch.

After lunch two girls and I went to a hotel, the Coral House Inn, to hang around the pool and just relax. It turned out to be a beautiful day. At the hotel we even met a couple who was staying there from Brainerd, MN! It really is a small world. Once I got home, I showered, ate, did a little homework then a couple of us went to birthday party for one of the people from the Peace Corp that is living down here. It was nice, but I was tired so I left rather early.

Hike on Sarah's Hill

This morning I went for a nice run, ate breakfast and then went with Haley and Beth to the Coral House Inn again. I love that place because it is so peaceful and they play good American music. It reminds me of home in a way so maybe that’s why I like it. It was cloudy all day so we just made lesson plans and did a bunch of homework. Overall, it was a productive day.

Week 6 of Teaching

The end is in sight! Less than two weeks of teaching left and only 7 instructional days. This week was a good one. I taught more and most of my lessons went very well. Every night was the same... came home and planned lessons, ate supper, planned more and went to bed. The week went very quickly. I've actually looked forward to going to school each day and when the day was over I was a little bummed because I enjoy being around the kids. The highlight of my week was Tuesday...

In our class, there is one student who is diagnosed with cancer. He was in school for about two or three weeks when I first started, but then he had to go up to Merida, Mexico to receive treatments. He wasn't doing so well for awhile. They couldn't find his vein at one point to take his blood or give him treatments or something. He was doing well one day and the next he would be doing bad. My teacher said that he told his mother that if he has to take anymore pills he would rather die. This was coming from a 7 year old. So everyday our class offered our prayers to him and we always reminded them to include their classmate in their prayers at home. Well on Tuesday after our class sang our gospel songs my teacher exclaimed that she had good news. She told the class that the boy was feeling much better and the doctors finally released him from the hospital. She proceeded to tell them that he would be coming home on the 9:30 am plane that very morning! Then she had even better news... our entire class was to pack up in two vehicles (all 21 children and us) and meet the boy at the airstrip to welcome him home! I actually got goosebumps when she informed us of this.

So, we had the students make welcome signs. Many of them wrote, "Welcome Back", "I love you", and "I miss you very much". It was so cute. After the kids made the signs we went outside to pack half of the kids in my teacher's van and the other half would go in a pickup truck. I had two students sitting on my lap with another adult in my seat. It was so crammed and very illegal if we were in the States but it was all good here. It then ended up that my teacher's van would not start so our truck had to drop us off at the airstrip and then the driver went to pick up the other kids. Once everyone arrived we waited for the plane to arrive. When it did the kids were cheering for their classmate and waving their signs. The little boy looked in shock that all his classmates came to welcome him back. It was one of the most precious things I have ever witnessed. They all gathered around him, took pictures, hugged him gently and gave him their pictures. After that all 21 students, myself, my teacher, the driver and a lady from customs all piled in the little pick up truck. There were kids everyone. Some sat in the back and some in the cab. The driver thought it would be funny to stop abruptly every once in awhile to give a little jerk. The kids were laughing and we all made it back safely. The whole time I was just thinking how crazy it all was but so neat. I was feeling sick and tired that day but after that my mood changed drastically.

Leaving the school...

Packing in the van.

A little tight...

He landed!!!

Watching him walk out...

The group. :)

EVERYONE getting into the truck.