You Better Belize It!

Well, it's Friday night! Almost a week gone by since I have been home. Feels like longer actually... maybe because I have been doing so much. I anticipate the weeks will go by quicker now with a routine and lesson planning. On Thursday, we had a teacher's meeting. They were similar to our meetings back home, but I knew a lot of the things we learned already. We had to separate into groups and only another person and I did the talking. I think the heat gets to people because we all seemed a bit out of sorts. Many people also seem to be on "Belize time" because the meeting was supposed to start at 8 and it didn't until 9 and lunch was supposed to end at 1 and most of the people did not get back until 1:15. I sat in the room alone for awhile feeling kind of dorky. Oh well! I'll learn! I better not get in this habit because this would never fly in the States.

After the workshop, Andrea and I went to hang out on the pier. It was a bit windy so we didn't stay long but I got a little red. Then we went home and I went for a run, came back to have supper then did homework and off to bed. I was pretty tired. The heat here really gets to you. I started to get a little homesick so Andrea played some easy going songs and I felt better.

The next morning I felt much better. During the night there was the coolest and loudest storm, which made it really cool the next morning. We had a good morning talk and breakfast with Celia then ventured off to school. On Fridays there is a market thing so the streets were super busy. We made a mental note to take a different way next Friday! I had much more energy at school today and I felt much more comfortable. I like knowing the kids names so I made them all nametags. The whole day they kept asking for help. I really had to be firm otherwise when I really start full-on teaching they could really take advantage of me. I feel so bad being a grump and trying not to smile, but it will work out for the best. I probably will ease up around Thanksgiving time. The kids are so cute though, it's hard to be the bad guy. I also read them "Miss. Nelson is Missing" and they ate it up! Some kids skipped their snack break to listen to me read it again. They kept saying "beautiful book". I also brought spooky silly bands for the kids so I had to set the rules for me to be able to hand them out. I noticed that I started to talk Creole. In Creole your words are kind of longated (sp?) and they say "t" instead of "th". At home, I also speak Spanish more and more with Tia. She said I am doing muy bueno! :) Overall, the school day was fun!

After school we went to get a calling card and teaching materials. I will start doing lessons on Tuesday with sentence structure and beginning sounds. Should be fun. I wanted to work on the lesson tonight, but I had other homework that I needed to complete first.

Another good thing about my day was that I was able to talk to Cory on the phone! Hopefully I can call mom or dad soon.

Off to bed! MISS YOU ALL!!!