Spring Break

For our spring break Erica, Marieka, Arianna and I headed to Guatemala. Arianna has family there, so we went to visit them as well as "experience" Guatemala. It was quite an adventure to say the least. By the end of the trip we all agreed that God was probably using this trip to show us just how wonderful Belize is and how grateful we should be to live there. Belize doesn't smell like sewage and there aren't men walking around with machine guns everywhere. I think we were all ready to kiss the ground when we crossed the border back into Belize at the end of the week. :)

This picture was taken on the way to Tikal- Myan ruins about 1 1/2 hours from where we were staying. I wish I had a picture of the bus we took the day before from the border of Guatemala to Sainta Elaina. It was a 15 passenger van, yet there were 22 of us inside. Let's just say that you got to know the person sitting next to you quite well.

This is all four of us at Tikal. The ruin site is over 4km in size. It was amazing to see. We hired a guide who walked around with us for four hours telling us everything imaginable about these ruins. We climbed a whole lot of steps that day.

This is at Arianna's family's house. Erica, Marieka and I slept in that bed that you see right behind Erica. It was quite cozy. God totally used the living situation at this family's house to show us how much we take forgranted. This 8 person family lives in a house with just three double beds. They have running water only at night. The mother cooks in a kitchen with no electricity on a two burner coleman like stove. It takes all day to wash the clothes by hand in the outdoor sink. Yet, this house is filled with joy and love, despite the circumstances.

This is the family's kitchen. I was working on rolling out the dough for patties- they make for a great, nutritious deep fried breakfast.

We had lettuce eating contests.... I think the picture explains it all.

So while we were very ready to get back to Belize, we did have a fun time in Guatemala. We were shown extreme hospitality by Arianna's family and shown genuine love. It wasn't the vacation we were expecting, but God showed us that we make the plans by He directs our paths!

Home

I am back home. Christmas break was wonderful. It was a much needed time away. It was great to see family, to get some rest and to have some great friend time. Yet still, I was excited to get on that plane headed back to Belize, and I was even more excited to walk off that plane into the 90 degree heat of this amazing country. There really isn't anything I love more than 90 degree January days.

I was thinking today- something that I like to do occasionally- about where I was last year at this time. It is so neat for me to look back and see what God has done since then. Last January I was considering applying to MTW but had no idea where I wanted to go, I was getting ready to graduate and was basically confused by life. Not that I have much more figured out now, but I do know that it was God's will for me to be here in Belize. That is evident to me more and more every day. It is awesome to see how when I actually stopped freaking out about it God totally directed my plans. He brought me here, to Belize, for a reason. I could have ended up anywhere else in the world, but it was His will to bring me here. He knew that this was where I would be best used at the time. The people that are in my life now He brought across my path for His perfect plan to be accomplished. How cool is that?

I am so bad about stressing out about the future and about what God might have planned next for me. But when I stop and think about it I realize that He has never before left me stranded, and I have no reason to fear that He might this time. God is amazing and He has given me a life to enjoy.

I really am in love with life... Yesterday when I went to school for the first time since being back I went into my class room to clean things up. These huge ants had invaded my room- they were everywhere. One of my students, who was with me at the time, called them "flesh eating ants." She said that when they bit you it felt like they were ripping out a piece of flesh. That made me pretty determined not to be bit by them. Bug spray doesn't kill them, so we spent almost an hour stomping them all to death. We were running around the room trying not to get bitten and squishing as many ants as possible. By the time we finally killed the last one the whole floor was littered with ant bodies. Wendy and I laughed as we stood there staring at all the ants we had killed. When else do you get to chase a bunch of ants around trying to squish them? Things like this just make me laugh. Life is random....

Christmas Break

Today was the last day of school before our three week break for Christmas. It is hard for me to believe that four months of school have gone by. In ways it seems like I have been in Belize for so long, but at the same time if feels as if I have just arrived.

Mitchell- He is our next door neighbor and practically our child. He spends many a evening with us. He reminds me of my little brother, Caleb.

Today we had our Christmas party at school. Our homeroom all brought food, and we exchanged gifts. Then we took turns trying to beat the pinata. The kids made me try. Once they had me blindfolded they spun me around and around and then pointed me towards the tree. Then they started to yell in spanish "enfente" (forward) as I blindly ran into the tree. They seemed to think it was quite funny. Wonder why...

So that is permanent marker on my white board... Somehow the kids just can't remember not to use permanent marker on the white board. Oh well. I guess it is good for them to work on their scrubbing skills and for God to work on my patience.

Danery worked as our DJ for the class party. They are all about their reggaton.

Here are the boys (most of them at least) from 1A. The girls totally outnumber the boys.. However, I haven't heard the guys complain yet.

After an insane week of classes, our Christmas program and then class parties I am ready to crash. I fly home tomorrow morning. It is so strange to think about leaving. I pulled out my suitcase tonight from under me bed and just sat there staring at it. I am going home. It is so weird to say.

Island Style

San Pedro/ Cay Caulker

Island Trip!

Janelle and I headed to the islands for a long weekend of fun. The weather was amazing and the sun hot. We laughed endlessly, ate eveything in sight, showered in salt water, rode bikes everywhere, got sunburnt, pretended to be sailors and continually thanked God for the amazing life He has granted us.

Janelle and I rented bikes in order to get around San Pedro. We ended up riding all over the island racing each other to who knows where. Going fast to no where in particular.

This was on our sailing excursion off of Cay Caulker. We went on an all day sailing trip and went snorkeling in several different places. The reef was amazing, and we saw sharks, rays and tons of beautiful fish. The guy on the right was the first mate. He had quite a life, and we shared many laughs on this trip. "Pump it Up"

Beautiful San Pedro. Most people get around in golf carts. It is nice because the streets aren't overcrowded with cars. The golf carts are a bit expensive though to rent, so we just stuck to the normal biking. It is better exercise anyways.

So this is what your hair looks like after several days of salt water and no shampoo. Pretty sweet.... It stood completely up. I kind of didn't want to wash it even when I got home to Corozal and back to "mom" Erica who had my shampoo.

The boys trying to move the volleyball net poles. How many boys does it take to set up a volleyball net?  

Our Beach Cleanup Group- Sweaty and Dirty 

Beach Cleanup

Yesterday my homeroom class did a beach cleanup day. Out of a homeroom class of 32 students 14 of them were able to come, which was quite impressive seeing as most of them had to catch busses into town. And the fact that they were all at the park right on time was even more impressive to me. They actually told me that I was late because I walked up right after the bell rang 9 a.m. At first the kids were a bit hesitant at picking up any trash at all, but when I told them that I would buy the person who picked up the most trash a coke, suddenly picking up trash was fun.
An hour later we had collected 8 full bags of trash along the beach front. We were all dripping with sweat and filthy. I didn’t want to even think about what was on my hands. We found a dumpster to throw our trash bags in and then went to the “beach” to swim. The girls jumped in with their clothes on but the boys opted for playing volleyball instead. They all kept talking about how they wanted to see Erica’s and my house, so I invited them back to the house for lunch. Two loaves of bread, a 4 pound can of tuna, lots of popcorn and 2 gallons of Gatorade later they were all fed. They all crowded into our little living room pulling up stools, plastic chairs and sitting on the back of the couch. They were laughing and screaming and making fun of each other. They ended up putting on a war movie, and all 14 of them crowded around our little 12 inch TV. Only the boys stuck it out for the whole movie- they didn’t leave our house until after 2 p.m. The girls gave up after about an hour, frustrated by the boys’ extra sound effects and enthusiasm over the movie.
It was fun to have a full house though and for the students all to be here. Everyday I am more and more thankful for these kids. For Ervin, “the teddy bear” who makes me laugh every time I see him. For Ian, who has said less than 20 words since I first met him. For Samir, my “protector” and handyman. For Seleni, who calls me her “mom.” For Ruby, whose laugh is contagious. I am thankful for these and all of my students. For the way that they make me laugh, make me want to scream and make me want to be kid again.

Mexico

Last Friday Erica and I went to Mexico with our church for a football game against another church. The border is less than 11 miles away, so it is a quick trip. Once you get to the border you have to go through customs on the Belizean side (Non Belizean citizens get the privilege of paying a border fee) and then on the Mexican side as well. We went to the football game, which we lost, and then went with the church to the expo fair. It was almost 11pm when we reached the fair, yet all our Belizean church friends were still rearing to go- even the women with little children. The fair was great, and we rode rides, played games and wandered through the maze of booths, vendors and screaming auctioneers. It was around 12:30 am when we finally left the fair. Erica and I had decided to spend the night in Mexico and take the public bus back to Belize the next day. So the church dropped us off at our hotel, and we crashed. Our room had shutters to keep out the early morning sun, and Erica and I slept until 10:30am. That hadn’t happened since I had moved here, and it was much needed! We wandered around the town of Chetumal all day Saturday, enjoying the market and then going to the so called “mall.” It has been three months since I have been inside any store of substantial size as nothing like Wal-Mart exists in Belize. However, in Mexico there is a Sam’s Club, a Wal-Mart extension, a movie theater… and I could go on and on. Erica and I seriously just wandered around open mouthed. It was the weirdest thing to see after being away from anything like that for awhile. As nice as it is though, I really don’t miss it that much. Simplicity in life has actually become a bit more comfortable.
Sunday we went with our church to the town of Orange Walk to march in the parade of churches. All of the churches from Belize come together to march for about three hours. The churches create their own floats or dances and parade together throughout the town. It was a bit cooler than normal in the morning when we started marching but by mid day we were all roasting, and I had a nice shirt tan. It was neat to see all the churches join together though, and the whole weekend was a great opportunity for Erica and I to spend more time with people from our church and get to know them better. It is neat to see these relationships growing and them open up more and more to us.
After the weekend’s busy activities it was hard to get ourselves back into the school mindset for Monday. I started feeling pretty sick Sunday night and by Tuesday afternoon I had a nice cold and sinus headache and had lost my voice. My kids were so cute and were continually making fun of me for my deep raspy voice. They kept saying- “Miss! You sound like a man!” They were as cooperative as kids can be though and worked to listen extra hard as I whispered for all my classes. I was out of school Wednesday, but by Thursday I had regained enough voice to teach again. So I am on the mend from that thanks to Erica who, being the great room mate that she is, made me chicken soup and hot tea and took great care of me!

Life

Our Shower. We have rigged it with duct tape so that the cords will stop falling down and shocking us. It is really quite scary looking. The Belizeans call these type showers "widow makers." Wonder why...
These ants won't leave our kitchen. We have tried everything from sprays to bleach to boiling water.... We have just decided that they can stay.
This is Cinty's. Basically the Belizean's Wamart. It is packed with anything and everything you might need. The problem is just finding it.
The outside of Cinty's. We seem to go there at least once a week for something.
Our kitchen. We had just finished rearranging. I was trying to put in hooks on our shelves. It wasn't too successful.

Truck Driving and Ruin Climbing

Everyday on the way to school we drive past the unexcavated ruin in the village of San Wakine. It is more like a huge hill in the middle of a sugar cane field. The brush is high and thick all around it. The girls talked about climbing it for weeks, and Erica and I finally decided to give in to their request. Friday, after school, we lathered on the bug spray, and I drove the truck through the cane fields. It has been months since cane season ended, so the path was all grown up. The brush was as high as the truck. I prayed the whole way that we wouldn’t get stuck in the potholes on our way to the base of the hill. The girls were so excited. The “ruin” was extremely over grown. We climbed up grabbing on to vines, branches, rocks and anything else we could find. By the time we reached the top of the ruin we were scraped, sweaty and laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. The view from the top was amazing. We could see the mountains of Mexico, the bay of Corozal and the many sugar cane fields. It was breathtaking. The climb down was even more fun than the climb up. We ended up just sitting and sliding most of the way down. The girls would literally dive straight into the brush and just roll. It is times like these that are priceless. The relationships with the girls and the times we have shared are just incredible.
Last weekend one of my students, Heidi, came over in the morning and spent the whole day with me. She sat and talked to me while I graded student’s tests and then we went and got Belizean barbeque for lunch. The whole time she was just spilling her life to me. It is amazing how open and honest these girls are. We ended up going down to the beach and playing volleyball until we were both burnt to a crisp. I had errands to run and she tagged along for those. We went out to one of my other student’s, Carlo’s house, and picked oranges at his house. We filled up a five gallon bucket and a huge sack with grapefruits and oranges. Heidi served as my translator between Carlos’ 10 brothers and sisters and me. I love being apart of my student’s lives outside of the normal school day. I am learning from them and just continue to treasure these relationships.
Erica and I had a “party” this weekend. It was Erica’s birthday on Tuesday, so we invited a bunch of different people over for a get together on Saturday. A few of the teachers from school came, some of the missionary families, next door neighbors and town friends. Our little house was full of people. It was a fun time, and I couldn’t help but feeling like Belize is really home. My house here feels like home. Corozal Town feels like home. These friends here feel like family. One of our neighbors stopped by Saturday morning, and I invited him to our party and told him it was Erica’s birthday. Literally two minutes later, he came driving back by with a birthday cake in hand. It is little things like this that continue to amaze me.
This evening we went to Carlos’, one of my students, house, for his little nephew’s baptism. Catholic baptisms are quite a huge deal, and they had musicians, dancing and tons of Belizean food. Erica and I ate escabeche, a spicy onion soup, complete with chicken feet. This was the second time today we were served chicken feet. This afternoon for Sunday lunch we had tamales, which is ricotta and chicken wrapped in a half cooked corn tortilla which is then wrapped in a banana leaf. It is definitely not one of my Belizean favorites. When you cut into them you never know what part of the chicken you may find- the gizzard, neck, feet. They are like cracker jacks- you never know what prize you will get when you look inside!
So yes… life continues on day after day. Each one is new and different. Each one presenting new challenges, new laughs and new trials. God is good.