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!