As I started this week of teaching, I began to think about the differences in teaching here in Belize and teaching in Wilmington. One thing is for certain and that is the teaching here in San Pedro is a lot less stressful and little pressure exists. In Wilmington I would constantly be thinking about every lesson and every detail in every lesson to make sure everything was ready and perfect. Life is not as face-paced here as it is in Wilmington so all those worries have dissipated into the air.
During the school day teachers do not fret over making sure everything is done perfectly. They have so much confidence in their students and in the abilities that exist in the classroom. I have taken on this attitude during my time here and it has made teaching so much more enjoyable.
One thing that is certain is that technology is not readily available here as it is in Wilmington. I cannot Google something or print out worksheets easily; I cannot even look something up when my students have questions. I have had to be as creative as possible and utilize all the resources that I can put my hands on. It has made me appreciate teaching in a whole new way!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Pageants, Parasailing, and Paradise
As it was our last weekend here in San Pedro, we had to make the most of every opportunity. We started by going parasailing- my first time ever! We met someone from North Carolina who owns one of the "adventure companies" down here and so a whole group of us got to go out for the day. That is a relaxing thing to do and not at all strenuous- I mean we don't want to overdo it! While I was above the turquoise water and seeing the whole Caribbean Sea, we spotted sea turtles and stingrays. Beautiful!
What a better way to close the day than by performing in the Miss San Pedro High School pageant?! Of course we got asked to perform and share some of our "culture" with the people of San Pedro. We did shag dancing to “Carolina Girl,” a line dance to “Country Boys and Girls Getting Down on the Farm,” and a hip hop dance to “North Carolina” by Petey Pablo. It was the perfect “representation of our culture.” Everyone cheered us on and laughed with us.
The next day, as if we hadn’t had enough fun, we went on a catamaran for the day. Our entire group and a few close friends from here in San Pedro went to Hol Chan Marine Reserve where we swam with fish, turtles, eels, and of course in the coral reef. It is one of the breaks in the reef and absolutely beautiful! After that we sailed over to Shark Ray Alley. As you can imagine there were plenty of sharks and stingrays. That adventure didn’t last too long in the water with sharks all around us! We then sailed over to Caye Caulker for lunch and shopping. It was spectacular! While we were sailing dolphins came and guided us back home! The boat rocking and sun on my skin put me right to sleep as we glided back to San Pedro. Manellys to finish the day and it was perfect. I am going to miss this place!
What a better way to close the day than by performing in the Miss San Pedro High School pageant?! Of course we got asked to perform and share some of our "culture" with the people of San Pedro. We did shag dancing to “Carolina Girl,” a line dance to “Country Boys and Girls Getting Down on the Farm,” and a hip hop dance to “North Carolina” by Petey Pablo. It was the perfect “representation of our culture.” Everyone cheered us on and laughed with us.
The next day, as if we hadn’t had enough fun, we went on a catamaran for the day. Our entire group and a few close friends from here in San Pedro went to Hol Chan Marine Reserve where we swam with fish, turtles, eels, and of course in the coral reef. It is one of the breaks in the reef and absolutely beautiful! After that we sailed over to Shark Ray Alley. As you can imagine there were plenty of sharks and stingrays. That adventure didn’t last too long in the water with sharks all around us! We then sailed over to Caye Caulker for lunch and shopping. It was spectacular! While we were sailing dolphins came and guided us back home! The boat rocking and sun on my skin put me right to sleep as we glided back to San Pedro. Manellys to finish the day and it was perfect. I am going to miss this place!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
UnBelizeAble Week at School
This past week of school flew by! Now that I have been teaching full time all week, I am ready and prepared for what comes my way. Things here in Belize are not always exactly planned out well and so it is not that unusual for my teacher to be fifteen minutes late to school or ask me to teach on something that I don't have lessons for. The whole idea of being a "flexible teacher" has really been tested and grown during my time here. I have been bringing in new children's books for them every day and the first thing we do now is "story time." They had only a few books in their classroom that were torn or missing pages so an actual children's book was like gold!
We had PE class this week and it was the highlight of all the student's day. There is a sand/cement playground, but my teacher says she always takes the children to the beach because there is a breeze. So off we go to the beach for "PE." I made the children do some stretches and then had them play games that involved a lot of running, hopping, and skipping. They laughed and whenever tourists would walk by they would stop and say hello. The five minute walk back to school was an entire chant with the children shouting "hop two, three, four." People came out of their houses to come and see this sight and a sight it certainly was!
So many of the children are just starting to get used to us "gringos" that they don't want us to leave! I don't want to leave either and I told them I had to go home to graduate. From their sweet faces they said "Then you'll come back down here?" I can only hope so!
We had PE class this week and it was the highlight of all the student's day. There is a sand/cement playground, but my teacher says she always takes the children to the beach because there is a breeze. So off we go to the beach for "PE." I made the children do some stretches and then had them play games that involved a lot of running, hopping, and skipping. They laughed and whenever tourists would walk by they would stop and say hello. The five minute walk back to school was an entire chant with the children shouting "hop two, three, four." People came out of their houses to come and see this sight and a sight it certainly was!
So many of the children are just starting to get used to us "gringos" that they don't want us to leave! I don't want to leave either and I told them I had to go home to graduate. From their sweet faces they said "Then you'll come back down here?" I can only hope so!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Guatemala for a Day
Our inland adventure was truly an adventure. Every day had it’s own surprises and as Dr. Kubasko has said, “Life is an adventure- Embrace it.” Traveling in itself was crazy getting onto different buses and taxis. We drove through a wild fire like it was no big deal and put as many people on school bus as possible. The main attractions we visited were the Belize Zoo, Tikal, Actun Tunichil Muknal cave tour, Caves Branch, and River Tubing. All I can say is that each had it’s own amazing thing about it. We had to travel over the border into Guatemala for the day to Tikal and I forgot that every other country in Central America speaks Spanish so I had to dig deep for that! In all of this, the Mayan culture was such a focus and really where these tours and explorations originated from. I really appreciate that piece of history now!
We traveled into San Ignacio for most of our trip and it is a completely different place than San Pedro. Whenever we told people we were teaching on the “island” they would all tell us what a fun place, or that everything is so expensive, or its just so laid back. I really began to view San Pedro as my “home” during my time here and missed the turquoise waters and white sandy beaches while we were away. In our time there we met a few teachers at some of the schools. Hearing about their classes and comparing ours was interesting. I’m extremely thankful to be in San Pedro than in San Ignacio. It appears there is more poverty and crime in that area and why have that when you can be in a place that is laid back, comfortable, and enjoyable. But if you’re in Belize you’re in Belize and you will love it!
We traveled into San Ignacio for most of our trip and it is a completely different place than San Pedro. Whenever we told people we were teaching on the “island” they would all tell us what a fun place, or that everything is so expensive, or its just so laid back. I really began to view San Pedro as my “home” during my time here and missed the turquoise waters and white sandy beaches while we were away. In our time there we met a few teachers at some of the schools. Hearing about their classes and comparing ours was interesting. I’m extremely thankful to be in San Pedro than in San Ignacio. It appears there is more poverty and crime in that area and why have that when you can be in a place that is laid back, comfortable, and enjoyable. But if you’re in Belize you’re in Belize and you will love it!
The Easter Bunny Found Me in Belize
HS Band interviews and documentary
Easter Sunday- Living Word, Estels, packing
*privileges
Getting ready for our trip inland was exciting and worth the wait. We made it through Easter weekend and kept ourselves busy until the very last minute before we left. Natalie, Jeanne, and I interviewed Derrick and the high school band for our video. They had practice at their high school and we listened to them laugh and goof off as we got our video. This is coming together in a surprisingly good way and there is a fundraiser being planned for him. Things are looking good for him!
A Belizean Easter is a sight to see! After a leisurely Easter breakfast at Estels, we ventured over to the Living Word church. This day was full of performances from the youth with dances and skits. Everyone was joyful and Easter eggs were passed out with verses and candy. After the service, there was a potluck lunch with homemade Belizean foods. Delicious! Seeing the differences between the Belizean Easter and American Easter was interesting and makes you think about the privileges that we have back home.
We experience power outages frequently for many different reasons. People cannot pay, people cut the lines for intentional looting, or the weather factor. Can you really imagine? During the middle of school there may be no power for a while because the government increases the taxes and somewhere along the line someone cannot afford it. The same goes for the water around here. Believe it or not, even though we’re on an island, all of Ambergris Caye was without running water for three or four days. Something about no payments and lack of filters. Can you really imagine this more so than the power? Businesses suffered and people suffered including our smell!
Overall I’ve learned that people make do with what they have and if they don’t have it they don’t need it. What a great way to live and so unstressful. The Belizeans have a thing or two they have taught all of us and I am forever grateful for it!
Easter Sunday- Living Word, Estels, packing
*privileges
Getting ready for our trip inland was exciting and worth the wait. We made it through Easter weekend and kept ourselves busy until the very last minute before we left. Natalie, Jeanne, and I interviewed Derrick and the high school band for our video. They had practice at their high school and we listened to them laugh and goof off as we got our video. This is coming together in a surprisingly good way and there is a fundraiser being planned for him. Things are looking good for him!
A Belizean Easter is a sight to see! After a leisurely Easter breakfast at Estels, we ventured over to the Living Word church. This day was full of performances from the youth with dances and skits. Everyone was joyful and Easter eggs were passed out with verses and candy. After the service, there was a potluck lunch with homemade Belizean foods. Delicious! Seeing the differences between the Belizean Easter and American Easter was interesting and makes you think about the privileges that we have back home.
We experience power outages frequently for many different reasons. People cannot pay, people cut the lines for intentional looting, or the weather factor. Can you really imagine? During the middle of school there may be no power for a while because the government increases the taxes and somewhere along the line someone cannot afford it. The same goes for the water around here. Believe it or not, even though we’re on an island, all of Ambergris Caye was without running water for three or four days. Something about no payments and lack of filters. Can you really imagine this more so than the power? Businesses suffered and people suffered including our smell!
Overall I’ve learned that people make do with what they have and if they don’t have it they don’t need it. What a great way to live and so unstressful. The Belizeans have a thing or two they have taught all of us and I am forever grateful for it!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Mayan Adventure
Since Natalie, Jeanne, and I began our video documentary of Derrick we have found many new friends. Derrick has a high school band with his brother, Maverick, and two friends William and Lucio. They wanted to take us to an unexcavated Mayan ruin and as they always say "When in Belize..." So of course what do we do but rent bikes and go on our adventure. We pack our bags for the day and peddle several miles south on the island and then turn off into the jungle. All they kept saying was "go fast" so to us Americans that’s code for "What were about to do could be illegal." So what do we do but peddle fast! We have to put our bikes in trees so as not to be seen and we begin to trek through a mucky jungle. After I fell into the water I gave up on trying to stay somewhat clean and embraced to mud. We walked for half a mile and came up to a mound of dirt surrounded by trees and conch shells. This was it! There was broken pottery on the ground, stairs, walls, and wells. It was amazing to see all of this. The "guides" got us a little lost and after running from mosquitoes and eating almonds off the trees we made our way back. What better to end the day than going straight into the ocean to clean off with shoes on and everything!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Dancing in the Moonlight!
I am officially enjoying my Easter break this week. After hosting an “Easter Camp” at the library for the children in town, we are exhausted and relaxing. Every day we read to the children or with them, did arts and crafts, played games, and sang songs. On Wednesday, the last day of the camp, there was an Easter egg hunt in the library. It was so fun to watch all the children scurrying around to find the most candy and eggs. Children all around the world get this concept I guess.
We are also officially celebrities here in San Pedro. Today we walked into our usual grocery store and the man working told us we were in the newspaper. Granted I don’t know how much it takes to be in the local newspaper, but there we were on the last page! It was a story featuring the “teachers” hosting the camp at the library. Not only that, but we are known all around town now. People we know stop and offer us rides on their golf carts and we get good deals on things. Who knew teachers were appreciated so much!
Last night we went to eat dinner with Dr. Paul, the consul to Belize. He and his family were down here on their spring break and invited us to their place for dinner and dancing. You can only get there by water taxi so we got on and saw the most beautiful sunset as we rode the seventeen miles north. Dr. Paul and his family were waiting for us at the dock when we arrived. We ate the most delicious American meal that I have longed for- hamburgers, French fries, and ice cream. It was splendid! I think all of our plates were clean after that- rice and beans doesn’t give you the same satisfaction as a hamburger! After dinner we danced with everyone in the outdoor pavilion with the full moon reflecting on the Caribbean Sea behind us. Truly a beautiful sight!
We are also officially celebrities here in San Pedro. Today we walked into our usual grocery store and the man working told us we were in the newspaper. Granted I don’t know how much it takes to be in the local newspaper, but there we were on the last page! It was a story featuring the “teachers” hosting the camp at the library. Not only that, but we are known all around town now. People we know stop and offer us rides on their golf carts and we get good deals on things. Who knew teachers were appreciated so much!
Last night we went to eat dinner with Dr. Paul, the consul to Belize. He and his family were down here on their spring break and invited us to their place for dinner and dancing. You can only get there by water taxi so we got on and saw the most beautiful sunset as we rode the seventeen miles north. Dr. Paul and his family were waiting for us at the dock when we arrived. We ate the most delicious American meal that I have longed for- hamburgers, French fries, and ice cream. It was splendid! I think all of our plates were clean after that- rice and beans doesn’t give you the same satisfaction as a hamburger! After dinner we danced with everyone in the outdoor pavilion with the full moon reflecting on the Caribbean Sea behind us. Truly a beautiful sight!
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