Hasta Luego!

University is officially over for this seniorita! We finished at St. Peter Claver a week ago now. The school really went all out with their farwells. They planned a lunch with all of the teachers, presented us with certificates and shirts, sang to us, and put on a full afternoon of entertainment performed by all of our classes. The kids performed traditional dances, recited poetry, and sang for us. It was very thoughtful. The goodbyes were tough. My kids followed me home on my last day, and they kept asking when I was coming back to visit them. They didn't quite understand. We made some good friendships in Punta Gorda, and fell in love with the town, so leaving was hard, but we had a great last weekend. We even got to one last punta concert! Overall the experience that I gained by doing my practicum in Belize far exceeds the professional development that I would have received in a Canadian placement. It was incredible, and I could not be happier with how it all turned out.

Right now the girls and I are in Nicaragua, on our way to Costa Rica for our last month of travels before coming home for graduation. Graduation will be sweet, but the real world is a little scary. Thanks for reading everybody. Hasta Luego!

Lovin Guatemala!

Whew! I wasn't sure that I was meant to post this blog entry. It's been quite challenging trying to finding a computer that was working correctly.
We have begun the home stretch of our practicum now, with only a week and a half left. My mentor teacher has gone on what they call ‘long leave’, and has the rest of the school year off. There is a new teacher in my classroom now, and I am enjoying her very much. My class is responding much better to my management strategies since the break. We are having their annual sports day this Friday so I will update you on that next week, but for now, I want to give you a glimpse of our Easter break adventures!

The girls threw me a wonderful birthday on the 27th. They took me fishing, planned a surprise party with all our friends, got a scrumptious birthday cake made, and even worked it out so that my parents called me at the party on one of our friend’s cell phones. I didn’t suspect a thing and it sounds like they had fun planning sneakily in a one room apartment. It was so thoughtful and definitely a day that I won’t forget!

By the end of that week we were getting pretty excited about heading to Guatemala for two weeks. We definitely had some interesting experiences with the customs office, and the language barrier. Even the Spanish words we did know, we didn’t seem to be able to communicate properly. We felt like we were in a big game of charades as we dramatized everything that we were trying to say, regardless of how foolish we looked. Thank goodness numbers are universal, because we resorted to carrying a calculator around with us everywhere. Our first stop was San Pedro, a little hippie town on Lake Atitlan. This lake is surrounded by some gorgeous volcanoes, and the lake actually used to be a volcano itself. This is where we were introduced to skurfing! Every morning we started the day off with a good skurf, which is simply like wakeboarding, but on a surfboard. The weather was gorgeous, the accommodations were only costing us $3 US a night, and we met some really cool people to travel with.

From there we went to Antigua (right) for Easter weekend to take in their famous Easter celebrations. The city itself looked very European with cobble stone streets and just an overall romantic look and atmosphere. We celebrated Melissa’s birthday there by climbing Volcano Pacaya, which is about an hour outside the city. The hike was substantially tough, and we were surprised that no warning was given before signing up. There were lots of people that couldn’t make it up, and some that had to take advantage of the ‘taxis’ (kids on the volcano offering their horses as taxis). Once we reached the volcanic rock, we could see rivers of lava, and could feel the heat already. As we got closer, the heat coming out from the cracks between the rocks would actually burn us. I got a little nervous as some balls of lava would tumble off the river’s path, and look like they were coming towards us, but we got out just fine. That night we had a party for Melissa at the hostel complete with cheesecake, a large piñata, musical chairs, and of course some drinks.

When we were coming home that night, we passed a bunch of people in the streets who were beginning to make carpets. They worked all night, making these carpets, and then in the morning, the procession reenacting the stations of the cross paraded over them. The carpets are a symbol of thanks for gifts given and a sign of future faith. (The picture above is of the carpet in front of our hostel at night, and the one below it is the same carpet in the morning.) The processions were very impressive. It seemed like every male in the town was wearing a purple robe, and they carried floats to the beat of a band playing behind them. There was also a float with Mary on it, and women in high heels carried this thing all day. That night we saw the procession of Jesus lying in the tomb in front of the City’s cathedral. Thousands of people were standing watching with candles. It was very powerful, but it is also very hard to explain without making this entry a novel of details. (I have put more pictures of the carpets and procession at the bottom of this entry if you're interested.)

We left Antigua, rode a bus to a town called Lanquin, and stayed at an amazing hostel called El Retiro. This was definitely our favorite part of the whole trip so far. It was so beautiful there, and the people were great. We got to float down the river in the middle of the jungle as villagers swam, and did their wash, and welcomed us. We went on a crazy cave tour where we felt like Indiana Jones. We climbed up waterfalls in this cave and slid down natural waterslides while trying to keep our candles above water. After that we floated down another river, and then hiked to a park called Semuc Champey (right). We hiked up this ridiculously steep trail to a lookout point above the pools that we were told were amazing. The view was well worth the hike. The pools waterfall down into each other so that we could swim in each pool, and then dive down, into the next one. We slept outside in hammocks at El Retiro for 4 nights, and were pretty sad to leave. The hostel there had ‘family dinners’ where we would all meet at 7:00 for the best food that we’ve had so far.

We left there on Thursday morning and bussed to Tikal, which is supposed to be the most impressive Mayan ruins around. I guess we were somewhat disappointed, but we had high expectations since the rest of the trip had been so good so far. The structures were impressive, but we were more excited about the wild life. We woke up at 3:00am that morning to go watch the sunrise on one of the structures. You could hear the jungle come alive as the sky lit up. We saw spider monkeys, toucans, parrots, and heard howler monkeys. We only stayed until about 11:00, as we were tired! From there, our adventure was pretty much over. We had to wake up at 4:00 the next morning to take an 11 hour bus ride back to PG. Guatemala was incredible. The culture itself is so different than Belize's. All the women wear their traditional outfit, and the men are not nearly as aggressive as in Belize. It was a very friendly country and it was cheap! It only cost us about $300 US for the full two weeks. The only downfall is that there was a lot of garbage around the towns. People litter constantly without giving it a second thought.

We thought it would be hard going back to teaching, but it felt good once we got back to PG. Today I was teaching my kids about rhyming words, and encountered quite the challenge. I had picked one syllable words for them to rhyme once they had grasped the concept, but their accent threw them off a bit. For example, I asked them to find words that rhymed with ‘bat’. Many of them chose the mystery word ‘shat’. I asked them what a shat was, and the word that they were trying to describe was actually shot, but when they say it, it really does sound like shat. We shall try again tomorrow! Adios!

The picture to the right is of the view from the top of our tough hike. Those are the pools I was talking about.

The picture below is of one of the processions in Antigua.

This picture is of the evening procession that took place in front of the cathedral. The smoke is actually incense.

This is a picture of the intense carpet making. I hope you enjoyed!

Day 88.....Last day being 22

Let me just say that today was a fantastic day! My kids were great, the weather was perfect, I got cards in the mail from my parents and grandparents, an early birthday email, and the funnest package I've ever gotten from my special little friend Andrea Hehr. Thanks Hehrball! It made my day and it was so fun to open! Tomorrow is technically my birthday but like I said to my mom, if tomorrow is a bust, I might just pretend that it was today:)

So I realized that I missed some very important events at St. Peter Claver in my last entry. Here's a little update:

Burning of the Hands:

Since St. Peter Claver is a Catholic school, we have a school mass every month, and because this month is during lent, they did things a little bit different than usual. For this month’s mass, all of the students were required to make two drawings of their hands. In their left hand, they were supposed to write 5 of their sins that they wanted to repent for. In their right hand, they were to write down 5 things that they were going to work on to be better people. During the mass, they collected everyone’s left hands, and then as a group we went outside and we burned all of the sinful hands. The picture to the right is of this ceremony taking place. It was actually a very neat visual for the kids and I think they recognized its worth.

Food Fair:

On the same morning as the mass, the town was having a food fair. At the fair, there were a bunch of booths set up that had a variety of different cultural foods that you could taste and buy. It was about a 15 minute walk from the school, and the fair itself was quite busy so I was worried about losing some of my kids as their behaviour is pretty unpredictable. However, they were really good and we had a great time. We even found a couple pigs that my kids were eager to name. Right away they yelled, ‘Miss! It’s Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web!’ Unfortunately I regretted asking what we should name the other pig. We all had quite a laugh when one of the kids said, how about Miss Trisha? Oh how I love the things that come out of children’s mouths. So we spent quite a bit of time with Wilbur and Miss Trisha, and the kids were heartbroken when we couldn’t keep him as a class pet. I think papier-mâché pigs will be next on the art list.

Scouts Initiation Ceremony:

Our school has just recently started a scouts program. It’s a really great extracurricular group because they teach good values and it gives the kids something to belong to. Boredom is a problem in Belize. They need more programs for kids, and our school does a pretty good job of offering a number of after school activities. Our scout group was fortunate enough to be welcomed into the World Scouts Organization. Our school had a big ceremony that the Governor General of Belize attended. It was a long and hot ceremony, and my class was getting pretty antsy after watching for over an hour, but it was nice for these kids to receive some recognition for their efforts. Katie, Melissa, and I were actually invited to have lunch with the Governor General, which was considered a big honour. This little scout to the right is in my class, and he was the youngest boy involved in the ceremony. He felt pretty special that day.

There are lots of things going on this week, as it is the last week before our Easter break. We are having a ‘Miss Sport’ competition on Wednesday, as well as a sports day on Thursday. Report cards go out on Friday, and it sounds as though the parents are allowed to come into our classrooms throughout the day to discuss their child’s progress. This is an area that I feel a little bit nervous about. I have not had enough practice working with the parents of this community, so we’ll see how things go. I will try to put a blog entry up on Friday, but if I don’t get a chance, I guess I’ll have to update you in a couple weeks. Melissa, Katie, Katie’s friend Steph, and I are off to Guatemala for our two-week break. Have a Happy Easter!

~Dear God, for my birthday, can you please keep the cockroaches and scorpions away~

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

It seems as though after living here for almost 3 months, we have forgotten that we are still visitors in a strange country, and can be taken advantage of very easily. About a month ago we locked our bikes outside of a seaside bar just down the street from our apartment. When we were ready to take off, we were shocked to find that we would not be going for any joy rides that night. Katie’s seat was stolen, and Melissa’s handlebars mysteriously walked away. So this past weekend we were in Caye Caulker having breakfast on Sunday morning. Katie’s friend Steph met us there, so there were four of us. When we got the bill, we all pitched in our share, and left the money and bill sitting in the middle of the table. Amid our conversation, a man came and took the money off of the table right in front of us. We assumed that it was our server and since we were deep in a very intelligent conversation (I’m sure), we didn’t pay much attention. When we went to leave, the server stopped us and asked us for the money we owed. Some random guy came and stole our money right out from under our noses! Now that’s what I call bold (and stupid on our part). A third offense took place last night. Katie and I rode our bikes to the gym, which is about a 7 minute ride away. The owner has gotten to know us quite well, so he always leaves early and lets us lock up. So Katie and I are working up a sweat, singing away to some good tunes. Little do we know, our bikes are being thieved right outside the door. The door is always wide open and everyone always leaves their bikes parked right outside it. None of the locals would ever get theirs stolen, but once again, the ‘white girls’ as they call us, made an involuntary donation to the community. Bad things come in three’s….. so we’re done right?

As I said, we were in Caye Caulker this past weekend. It was a short visit, as we only stopped there on our way to San Pedro to visit a fellow Lethbridge intern who is teaching there. Laurie is teaching at a private school owned by an American. Apparently this lady moved to Belize, and did not appreciate the fact that her children were experiencing corporal punishment in the public education system. Since she had the means, she started up her own school. We are extremely happy that we visited The Island Academy. It was such a breath of fresh air to visit with teachers who use a variety of strategies and whose teaching styles are similar to our own. Although I have adapted to the teaching environment in PG, sometimes it is hard to feel like I am working at my full potential. Laurie is teaching Infant 1, and has 16 students in her class. Her teacher is from New York and is a wonderful mentor for Laurie. I’m sure that she has learned a lot! The school itself has about 80 students in it; most of which are American. It is a gorgeous school, and is situated right in front of the ocean on a beautiful white sand beach. Sunglasses are much needed! It is SO bright there because of the reflection off of the sand. The visit was a pleasant reminder and motivator to say the least, and we are very glad that our university supervisor encouraged us to make the trip!

San Pedro itself is completely different from Punta Gorda, which makes Laurie’s experience even more different from our own. It is a very touristy island and it reminded me of Mexico. I didn’t even feel like we were in Belize anymore! Everything is so expensive in San Pedro and it’s very easy to be anonymous. It is impossible to be anonymous in PG! Most people drive golf carts around the island, but there are vehicles as well. We stayed in an interesting hostel there (below) that reminded me of a horror movie at first, but it served its purpose and we had a good time. We enjoyed the shops and bustle for a short time, but as usual, we were happy to return home in PG. Thanks for having us Laurie!

Still Cool on Day 77!

My teacher tells me that we should be counting our blessings because the dry season has not yet hit in full force. So far, it’s stayed around 30 degrees and is quite tolerable. We’ve only had a couple days when we’ve been sweaty disasters. On those days the kids are so irritable and uncomfortable that it makes life miserable for everyone. Supposedly by now Belize is usually at least 10 degrees hotter. We’re thankful for the cool weather!

Last week on Friday we went to visit a small school in Punta Gorda called St. Benedicts. This school only has 3 classes in it: infant one, infant two, and standard one. These little guys were so cute and they absolutely loved all of the stories that we read to them. They were crazy about the Robert Munsch books that we brought, and their teachers confirmed that they’re quite the little bookworms. So at first it was great and we were having fun, but within a couple hours, Katie and I were extremely happy that we were not doing our practicum with the little ones. Wow do they ever have a lot of energy! They were constantly on the go and dealing with those children is a lot different than dealing with the age group that we have at St. Peter Claver. I feel like teachers at the lower level still talk to their students in what I would call a ‘baby voice’. I can only sustain that for so long. Anyways, it was a great learning experience and I can honestly say that the teachers at that school are inspiring. They work very hard for those kids and have the most patience I have ever seen! Melissa was quite keen on the little ones so who knows, maybe she’ll look for a kindergarten position once we graduate, but Katie and I will stick to the older ones! The above picture is the kids working in the garden that their school has built. The school only has about 75 students in it.

To the left is a picture of one of my physical education classes. The kids are rather hectic during these classes because they only get to have PE once a week. My class always wants football games to be boys against girls, and since there are many more boys than girls, I decided to help the girls out on this particular day. We still lost.

The picture to the right is actually one that I meant to put up last time, but forgot. It is the one of my class in their Charlotte spider caps that we made. They still enjoy attempting to wear them during class time.

The picture below is the sports complex where basketball games are played every Friday night. They aren't quite the same as the Pronghorns' games, but they do require police supervision because the crowd tends to get a little rowdy. It's usually not the men either. It's the women creating the ruckus!

PG in a Nutshell

I know that I just posted a big whopper last night, but I wanted to show you a good view of what the town looks like that we're working in. This first one is looking at the sea side, or front view of Punta Gorda. You can see our school in the top right hand corner. It's the beige building. The only one that is 2 stories. The second one is of the back view of Punta Gorda.

Life is still rollin good on day 68!

Good evening everybody! Here's a short update of our adventures.

This past Friday was the annual running marathon at St. Peter Claver School. It’s more like a race around the block in 35-degree heat, but 'running marathon' sounds better. This event was a lot less chaotic than the bike race, although children were still collapsing at the finish line. Most of the kids were running in bare feet, and the pavement was very hot that day. I couldn’t imagine doing that myself. Katie, Melissa, and I were the judges as usual, and things went pretty smoothly.
Saturday was my teacher’s birthday, so Friday night she had us for dinner to celebrate. We had a traditional East Indian dish that was very good, and her birthday cake was a Belizean traditional black cake. It’s not nearly as sweet as the other birthday cakes we’re used to having down here.
Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go out to the set of The Enemy God. Some of the makeup crew came and found us last Tuesday night to ask if we would be able to come out and give them a hand. They were feeling very short staffed apparently. It was a neat experience, but after leaving, I was rather happy that I chose to pursue education instead of drama. The actual process of filming is not nearly as glamorous as it looks onscreen, and they call it drama for a reason…..because there’s lots of it between cast and crew! It was a really neat experience, and we’re very lucky to have gotten the chance to participate in some of the ‘behind the scenes’ action. I especially enjoyed learning some new tricks! The film is about "Shake", who is a powerful shaman of the Yanomamö people. His desire is to use his power to heal and protect his people. Tracing his life and the life of his community over 40 years of their history, Shake tells how he and his people grapple with new ideas that come from the outside world and the challenging decisions they make in order to maintain their identity and survive as a people. We'll be looking for the finished product!
Saturday night we went to a football game (soccer) under the lights, and we spent the rest of our weekend swimming, relaxing, and doing a bit of work too. 9 weeks down, 5 to go! (Here are some more pictures below, and an update on my professional development project.)

This little girl was used as an extra in the film. Katie and I got her all ready to go. She was pretty shy.

Oh the joys of having so many little creatures. This little 'friend' was found in our bathroom the morning before we went on set. Luckily, it was the first we've seen, and hopefully the last.

This was another little creature that was just chillin outside of our favorite local restaurant.

Professional Development Update:

So far things are going very well with the project. My teacher was just telling me yesterday, how she’s noticed a big difference in the kids’ English since I’ve been there. Besides all of the reading, she says that it helps that I do not speak Creole, because the kids are forced to speak English to me all the time.
The reading program is going well, although not as many students are participating as I would like. I am hoping that I can change that this week. The picture to the right is of the reading chart that I have made and put up in the class. Each child is encouraged to read at least 15 minutes per night. Their parents are supposed to sign a sheet indicating the amount of time spent reading. This was a challenge in itself, since some of the parents cannot read and write themselves. The chart helped to motivate the kids more because they get to measure their progress. Each box that gets colored in is equal to 75 minutes of reading (15 per night for a week). I have been approached by a few parents who have told me that the reading program is really working for their child. Apparently that’s all that some of my kids want to do now. I can tell that their writing is improving as well.
In addition to the program, I began a novel study with my class a couple weeks ago. We are studying the classic, Charlotte’s Web. The kids really enjoy the book, and their comprehension seems to be improving. I have found a script version of Charlotte’s Web, so I am hoping that we can perform it as a reader’s theatre piece once we are finished the book. For art each week we have been making a costume piece for the characters in the book. Last week we made spider ‘caps’ to represent Charlotte. The kids who play each role will get to wear the appropriate piece that they have made. The picture to the left is a little dark, but the kids are wearing their spider caps in it. They loved the activity! As many of you probably know, Charlotte’s Web has now been made into a video, and it is available at one of the stores here, so I am hoping to show it to my kids.
The picture to the right is of my class holding a thank you sign intended for the school who donated the books to us, and the company who financed the shipping. I hope to send them a copy of this picture.

Day 60

Hey everybody! It hasn't been too long since my last entry but we've had a couple events that I thought I could add to the 'ol blog. Our school had a spelling bee last week while Melissa's friend Danae was down for a visit. We were the judges for the contest so the pressure was on! Katie wasn't seen as neutral because one of her students was in the contest, so it was up to Melissa and I to keep track of the words spelled correctly, and the points each student earned. We only had a couple bumps along the way so we did alright. Danae was the official time keeper and the principal introduced her as an International Spelling Bee Judge who was flown in from America. It was cute. The two kids who won go on to compete regionally, and then nationally if they win there. They have a chance to win a laptop computer if they win at the national level. This is a picture of the four of us at the contest.The teachers had a workshop this past Thursday where all of the teachers in our district came to learn different strategies to teach reading and writing. We were not able to participate in the workshop, but instead, made everybody lunch! It was interesting and we all enjoyed learning how to make a traditional Garifuna dish. I don't know the proper spelling, but the dish was called Hudut. It's a kind of soup made from coconut milk. There's fish and vegetables in it, and you eat it with mashed up plantains. Plantains look like bananas on steroids. The picture to the left is of us peeling the plantains. They were really hard to peel so we had sore thumbs! They peel easier when they are yellow, but these ones were green. Altogether we probably peeled over 100 of them. The other girl in the photo's name is Musanda. She is the librarian at the school. So after they are peeled, they are boiled, and then we mash them in a really big version of a spice grinder. All of our pictures of this process were really blurry, but in this one below, if you look at the bottom of the picture, you can see the large grinder. You really had to put your back into that chore, and so Katie and I passed that torch onto some young boys who definitely worked up a sweat!

This past weekend we just went to Placencia again. We figured Danae's Belize experience would only be perfect if it ended with Placencia, so we met her there after school on Friday. It was beautiful out on Saturday and we found a 60ish year old man who had a volleyball net with him. So we set that up and played some games against some local guys. We ended up winning overall, but it was great fun and they were good sports about it.

That's about it for the update. I put together another little list of differences, and some pictures at the end again. Hope you enjoy the read!

18 Little Details:

1) People here would never greet each other by saying hi or hey. They always say good morning, good afternoon or good evening, and starting at about 5:30, they say good night. This was a little strange sounding to us at first since we only say good night when we’re going to sleep in Canada, but we quite like it now. Also, they would never ask, ‘how are you?’ like we always do. Instead, they say, ‘ya alright?’

2) When we walk down the street, men make this hissing noise at us. It sounds just like a snake (ssssst, ssssssst), and if we were to do it back, we would be sending them a frisky little invitation. Katie’s tried it out a couple times and she says that it worked out alright for her. (just kidding Katie;)

3) The big dipper is upside down here.

4) The food is GREAT. My Mom thought that I would come back skinnier……sorry to disappoint you Mama.

5) Body image is opposite to what it is in Canada and the US. They don’t really like skinny women. They say that us three are nice and shapely, but that all the girls that have come from the states have looked like sticks. Of course there are all shapes and sizes everywhere, but most of the women here are rather voluptuous. That’s why they’re so good at Punta dancing. They’ve all got something to shake!

6) Whenever a DJ or band is playing Punta Rock, they’ll chant out, ‘back it up, back it up, back it up’, and that’s a challenge to the girls to see who can shake their booty the best.

7) People don’t understand sarcasm here. That is still tough for me because I often tease people by using sarcasm. When I forget and they get confused because they take things literally, I actually have to say, no no! I’m just teasing you. Then most of the time they’ll catch on and laugh.

8) They LOVE Celine Dion here.

9) The Birthday Song is so long here. They have 4 verses for it: happy birthday to you, how old are you now, we wish you many more, and may God bless you today….phew!

10) They don’t have bathing suits. They don’t wear them, nor will you ever find them on sale anywhere. The locals swim in their clothes.

11) The pineapple is fantastic. It’s not acidic like the ones we can get at home. It’s really sweet instead, so I can eat as much as I want without a sore mouth!

12) I’m more flexible here. Our workouts at the gym remind me of Andrea Hehr’s bikram yoga stories – we’re literally soaked because it’s so hot, and so our muscles are a little more stretchy.

13) Teachers here get rewarded for their years of service. For example, my teacher is leaving 2 weeks before me because she has been teaching in PG for nine years, so they are giving her 3 extra months off for summer (5 months total). My poor kids are losing she and I within 2 weeks. It makes me sad to think about.

14) They don’t give grades for music, art, or physical education.

15) They need dental education and sex education very badly. There are lots of smiles with gold front teeth, and lots of young girls with babies.

16) They don’t have any major painkillers here. If you get into an accident or injure yourself badly, the hospital can only give you Advil.

17) So far, food allergies are unheard of among Belizeans.

18) Quarters are called shillings; loonies are simply dollars.

I don't know if you can see this picture very well, but the ants in this picture are quite big and they are leaf cutter ants. They are nocturnal, and so whenever we see them collecting leaves during the day, it tells us that it is going to rain that night.

This is a picture of down town PG. The clock doesn't actually work, but there's a little playground where lots of people always seem to be hanging out.

This is just a really cool flower.

This is a picture of the village that Danae got to visit. We drive by these villages all the time, but she was able to get out to visit and take some photos.

Again, this is a photo that Danae took, but this is a type of fruit that grows here. The women use those red seeds for lipstick.

That's all for now. Good night!

Day 53: Half way done already!

As of this week, we have already been at St. Peter Claver for 7 weeks. We get two weeks off at Easter, so this marks the half way point; only 7 weeks left of teaching. It feels like we just started and we’re a little shocked that it has gone by so fast. We have fallen in love with Punta Gorda and leaving will be very hard. Everyone that we run into at the market and on the streets already ask us when we are planning on coming back. This first picture is of us with our Mom and Dad….aka, Katie’s parents. They really spoiled us when they visited, and it was so nice to have them around. On their last night here, they planned a surprise for us. They took us to this secluded resort about half an hour from PG. It was beautiful, and because it wasn’t open to the public yet, we were pretty much the only people there. After we had dinner, we walked down to the river where we went canoeing until sunrise. The river was so calm and quiet, with thick jungle on either side. Once in awhile we could hear an animal moving or crunching on plants, but the jungle was so thick that we couldn’t see what we were hearing. It was only Katie, her Mom, Melissa, and myself, and we felt like we were the only people on earth. We got into a few creepy spots where we knew we were in Croc territory, and Melissa and I actually encountered a baby croc, so we were sure to skid-addle out of there ASAP. It was a wonderful surprise. Thanks Chris and John! We miss youJ
The following Tuesday our University supervisor Erika came to visit and see how things were going. It was nice to share our experiences and get some feedback on the things that we have been doing with the kids. We are working on a professional study that I will go into in detail at the end of this entry, and so it was great to have Erika’s support on that project. We celebrated her birthday while she was here, so hopefully we made it a memorable Belizean birthday for her!
Last weekend we went back to Placencia for an art festival. The talent that comes out of this country is amazing. If I had a way of bringing some of the paintings home, I would. Melissa and I have promised that when we finally ‘settle down’ we are going to come to Belize again to find art to fill our houses with. This picture is of the cabana that we stayed in. It was right on the beach, and it was cheap too! To the left is a picture of me reading in front of our cabana in the morning. I didn’t think anyone else was up, but Katie’s sneaky with the picture taking.
So Valentine’s Day is a HUGE deal in Belize. We are noticing that all holidays or birthdays evoke large celebrations here. It wasn’t Valentine’s Day, it was Valentine’s week. They wish each other a happy Valentine’s Day all week long, and had the final celebrations for it this past Saturday night. Our school had a V-day dance on Wednesday afternoon. It was quite humorous to watch and also a little crazy because even the young kids Punta dance, and Punta is a little provocative for 7 year olds to be doing. They don’t understand that it’s sexual though, they are simply imitating at that age. This is a picture of my kids on V-day.



This weekend, Melissa’s friend Danae came to visit! We showed her around the town Saturday, and then went on a trip to Snake Caye on Sunday. It was actually a pretty cool day, but we made the best of it in between shivers (good thing we brought rum)! Purely by coincidence, 12 crew members from a movie that they’re filming outside of Punta Gorda came on this day trip with us. We got talking, and they were thrilled to hear that Melissa and I are drama majors. The film is called The Enemy God, and they have invited the three of us out to the set either this Friday or Saturday, or both depending on whether or not we can get the day off school. It sounds like they do a lot of prosthetic work, and they have said that we can help them with the make up if we like. It should be an awesome experience so hopefully everything works out!
This first picture is of the boat that we took to the Cayes. As you can see by the name, Wild Thing was the theme song for the day. The second picture would be why it’s called Snake Caye. This is a boa constrictor. We went snorkeling and did some tubing too! That’s all for now, here are the details on our professional study.

Professional Study:
To encourage reading among students whose first language is not English.
Rationale: My students have very poor reading and writing skills. They do not use proper English when they speak or write, and they need substantial practice with grammar and punctuation. Encouraging them to read more at a young age will help them to improve on these skills, and better their education in general.
Goal: To excite students about reading.
This will help students to:
- have greater confidence in reading
- improve reading comprehension
- improve spelling and increase vocabulary
- improve grammar and punctuation
- communicate ideas with greater clarity
- improve oral speech
Plan of Action:
- gather and ship a variety of reading materials from Canada to St. Peter Claver
- read to students on a daily basis
- find stories that appeal to students (both picture books and novels)
- implement silent, partner, and oral reading into class time
- establish an at home reading program
- set up an in class library
- ensure weekly visits to the library by entire class
-participate and assist in after school reading program

* So far, I have been able to set all of these plans in motion. I use the books that we had donated, and shipped on a daily basis. My students have also been asked to read at least 15 minutes per day with the at home reading program. So far only about 50% of my students are participating, but we will be charting their progress starting at the beginning of this week, and hopefully this will encourage the other students to participate. My students love being read to, and they get very excited about Robert Munsch books. I use his stories to exemplify writing conventions, as well as elements of a story and story mapping. Last week I introduced Charlotte’s Web to my class, and I will begin reading the novel to them this week. They are used to reading picture books, but it is important that they begin to use their comprehension and imagination skills to piece stories together in their minds. I will be giving updates of this professional study on my blog to meet our requirements.