The first 2 months

Finally, after 2 months living here and much pleading from my mom, I'm starting a blog.  Here it is, my first blog! I have so much to say I decided to go with a blog instead of mass e-mail so I can update little things as they come to me (and we all know I'll procrastinate and not find the time to sit down and write a long e-mail).

The first two weeks were very busy with preparing for school and experiencing 'firsts'.  Upon arrival I traveled to Pine Ridge National Park to meet up with the rest of the teaching staff on retreat there.  While there we visited a cave and swam in the pools (small waterfalls in a beautiful clear river).

Also, I saw my first tarantula!  This picture is of a tarantula outside the guy volunteers' house - ewwww, creepy!

We spent lots of time in meetings getting acclimated to teaching high school and teaching in a different country.  There are some major differences teaching here, like... the students don't have textbooks (except Math), the teachers don't have a curriculum really, or TEs.  The students stay in the same classroom for the duration of the day and the teachers rotate in and out throughout the day.  In the first 2 years (first and second form) the boys and girls are separated.  I've been given all of the first form Religion classes to teach, which is perfect for me!  There are 38 boys in each class and about 35 girls in each class.  Probably over a third of our enrollment are students from Guatemala that cross the border daily to come to school.


The classrooms are pretty nice for Belize standards.  They have cement floors, wooden shutters for windows, a chalkboard, and enough room for 40 wooden desks.
Some rooms even have lights, but most don't have them or they're not working.  The students are generally about 2 grades behind academically than those in the states.  I teach 1st form (freshmen) and usually teach on about a 6th or 7th grade level.  They're English skills are even lower.  The students are only allowed to speak in English at school but Spanish is definitely their first and preferred language.

Belize is a country with very different cultures in different parts of the country.  The official language is English, which is taught in the schools and most people speak fluently.  Outside of the schools and official things the people speak Creole in Belize City and other parts of the country and they speak Spanish the closer you get to the borders.  The mission, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, is in Benque Viejo, a town of about 3,000 on the western border.  Guatemala is thought to be slightly more impoverished and dangerous than Belize.  Melchor is the Guatemalan border town 1 mile from Benque Viejo and where many of our students live.

The heat, the heat, THE HEAT!  It was so stinkin' hot the first month.  Thankfully it's cooling off a bit now.  I would be sweating by the time I walked out the door in the morning.  Sleeping at night wasn't ever a problem but it was difficult to sleep past 6am even on the weekends because of the heat.  I shower at least once a day and in the the first month I didn't even mind the cold water.  (Now I'm beginning to really miss hot water!)

<---- me with the rash

 I developed a rash the 3rd day I was here, don't know what caused it and it's only come back (very faintly) once.   We can drink the city water without risk of getting sick, but not any water outside of the city.  One of the girls I live with had a parasite for a week or so, went to the doctor, was given meds and it took care of it.  Things like that are pretty regular around here, it's only a big deal for us gringos.
I drink so much water and still feel thirsty.  As far as food, most of you know I love Mexican food so I thought I'd have no problem adjusting to the cuisine here.  Well, we have oatmeal or toast for breakfast, chicken, rice & beans for lunch, and rice & beans and eggs for dinner.  A few days a week there are cucumbers or watermelon at lunch, which a wonderful surprise.  Needless to say, I'm still adjusting to the lack of fruits and vegetables in my diet.  Bananas and plantains are always in season, the avocados are huge, and there's very limited (and expensive) dairy products.

The culture here reminds me in some ways of the Indian Reservation in North Dakota where the SOLT mission is.  Religion is very much a part of the people's culture and mindset.  It's rare to find anyone who is not Christian.  The two primary religions are Catholic and Evangelical.  Like in the States, it's typical to run into people who don't understand the Catholic faith or Church teachings, or who have had things miscommunicated to them about the Church.  Some of these people are the very students we are teaching.  Like on the Indian Reservation, there is a lot of superstitious beliefs and folktales that are universally accepted as true.  Luckily not everything is the same as on the reservation, there is a great struggle with alcoholism but not much drug use beyond marijuana.  Many many many of our students are from broken families.  One of my boy's fathers went missing last year.  Another one works everyday after school and weekends to support his family because both his mom and dad are sick right now.  And another takes care of his younger siblings because his mom is working and living a few hours away.  Yes, these are my freshmen boys.  For some students school is almost a break from work, where they can have fun with kids their age and enjoy themselves a little bit.  The students and the community respect and look up to their teachers a great deal.  Of course this isn't always evident in the classroom ;o) but often I see my students out in town and they run up to me "Miss Betsy, Miss Betsy!!!" just wanting to say "hi" and get some attention from their teacher.  Some seem starved for one-on-one attention.  They love to just hang out and talk to us and ask us questions.  All in all they are great kids and I after only 2 months I'm love each and every one of them!  And I'm writing this on a Friday afternoon after an exhausting week of school, which means I really must love them.

On that note I think I'll finish my first post of my first blog.  I am far from sharing everything I've experienced thus far!  If you want to know about anything particular just post your question below or e-mail me.  You know me, I love sharing ;o)  Have a great weekend everyone!