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.

Feel Free to Comment!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to be a member to comment on my blog anymore. I changed a setting so that anyone can leave a note if they want to! I hope all of you on reading week are having a great time. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do:)

Continuation of Day 36....oops!

I know, I'm obsessed with the view from our balcony, but this one is pretty! This is at about 5:30 in the morning. We have a bed bug problem and despite our efforts to rid them from our mattresses, they are still there and sometimes I have troubles sleeping. At least this is what I wake up to.

Za three amigos before a night out in PG.

Katie eating her crazy soup in Guatemala. It cost 70 Quetzales (about $10 American), and it had every kind of sea food in it. They were even nice enough to take out the eyes of the WHOLE fish that was in the middle:)

An example of some Guatemalan money.

This is a picture of the iguana on our roof. He became our supper the following night.

Ok, so now you have to do some reading before more pictures...or you can scroll down:)


Belize vs Canada: 7 Differences in Teaching
1) The teachers here are under a lot less pressure. They do not have to meet as many expectations as our teachers back home, as their standards are a lot different here. However, this leads to number two.
2) Children fall through the cracks very easy here. They are given up on rather quickly if they do not show any initiative to do work. They can receive a mark of zero on every assignment and the teacher will pass them on to the next standard simply to get rid of them. Not only that, but minimal efforts are made and little extra help is offered to the struggling child.
3) There are not any special programs or attention paid to children with learning disabilities or physical disabilities.
4) Teachers are more respected here than they are in Canada. People support teachers and believe that they work very hard. It makes me a little disappointed about our current situation at home because teachers in Canada are under a lot more pressure and yet they do not always have the public’s support.
5) Racism is a problem in the classrooms. This seemed absurd at first, but one day I had a little girl refuse to work with a boy because he was black. Now, yes, they are all black, but some are darker than others. This little girl was Mayan or Indian, as they call themselves, and the little boy was Garifuna. I also have children who are Mestizo, Spanish, and Creole, and many who are a mixture of the cultures. It took me a few weeks to realize that they do stick together, as I see the Garifuna kids only hanging around each other after school hours.
6) All the standards (grades) seem to cover the same curriculum. Unlike their lifestyle, they seem to move through topics and lessons so ridiculously fast. The children are not able to grasp the concepts, and yet they move on. This causes the teachers to teach the same things every year! I am teaching standard 2, Melissa is teaching standard 3, and Katie is teaching standard 4, and yet many of the things we teach are identical. Unfortunately, we are having a tough time adding depth because each standard does weekly planning together (4 teachers in each standard), and you are not allowed to deviate from what the group plans. I can try to influence them to slow down and spend an extra week to solidify a topic, but keep I am the intern and have to be careful that I am not too pushy. I can’t come into this situation and try and change everything, but I am trying to help my kids while I’m here.
7) Art, physical education, and music are not actually given grades, and so they are also not paid much attention. In phys-ed they do things like wheel barrow races, sponge races, and 3-legged races. They also only have it once a week so the kids are CRAZY when they get to have it.

Belize vs Canada: 8 Differences in Living

1) There is no sleeping-in here. People in Belize get up at 5 or 6 in the morning, and they make enough racket that we get up and join them. However, this means that we’re also usually in bet by 10.
2) We don’t have any hot water. This means cold showers and boiling water for dishes.
3) People here have different priorities than at home. They may barely have enough money to feed their families, but they will all have a large stereo blaring music in their little shacks. Music obviously brings them happiness.
4) Life is slower. People walk slow, ride their bikes slow, service at restaurants is slower, and you can never really count on any shops being open because they all open and close at their leisure throughout the day. Sometimes it will be mid-day, prime business hours in Canada, and there won’t even be a shop open to get a bottle of water here. They seem to run on Belize time….if they say 10, they really mean 11:30.
5) We have to make powdered milk. Pasteurized milk is hard to come by, and when we do see it, it’s pretty expensive, so we stick to the powdered stuff.
6) There is not a lot of selection for food here. This makes us realize just how many products and choices we have in Canada. Food here is not processed and full of chemicals like back home. Rice and beans is the main staple. From there you get all your fish, vegetables, and fruit from the villagers that come into town to sell them. Even their beef is good, and it’s not pumped with chemicals.
7) We are close to the equator here so we have equal hours of sunlight and darkness. The sun rises and sets at 6. It is also just beginning to enter the dry season, and it was about 35 degrees the other day. Supposedly that’s still cool and the teachers say we don’t even understand what we’ve gotten ourselves into. Yikes!
8) And the most obvious one….we are having to adjust to being the minority. Everywhere we go people (mostly males) shout things at us or hiss at us (their mating call, I suppose you could call it). We draw (mostly unwanted) crowds wherever we go it seems. Whether it’s males, beggars, people selling stuff, or children. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but now it’s just part of the reality. We definitely enjoy riding bikes more around town. This seems to alleviate some of the gawking, but encourages some of the shouting. Slowly the people here are getting used to seeing us around, and so this will slowly diminish. That’s the one thing I miss….blending in.

A few of my kids. They're all a little camera shy, unlike Melissa's kids.

We are doing geometry in math, and this is three of my kids building 3-D shapes out of toothpicks and raisins. Wow did we have a fruit fly problem that day!

Day 36: Bike Races and Guatemala

This past Friday our school had it's anual bike race. The school is split up into houses, kind of like Harry Potter! Each house has a certain amount of students from each standard in it, and they all have a specific house color that they dress in on their fun days. They have challenges to earn points, and also get points for their house for things like being on the honour roll. Two kids were chosen from each standard from each house for the race. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of chaos! It was so hot out that some of the kids were collapsing after the race. Katie, Melissa, and I were the judges, and so after the first, second, and third kids would cross the line, we would have to chase them and find out the house that they belonged to, and what their names were. This was fine for the older kids, but one of the younger kids that got first was so overwhelmed by all of the people around him and the fact that he got first, that when I asked him his name, he just looked at me and said, "I can't remember". I waited a minute, but when he still couldn't remember, I took him to find a teacher that knew him. Poor little guy:)

This weekend is Katie's parent's last weekend with us, so we decided to go to Guatemala for the day. We went to a town called Livingston. It wasn't anything too special. Mostly just little shops to look in, and a nice hotel that we snuck into for a swim (sorry Chris!). It takes about an hour by boat to get to Livingston, and holy was the ride ever rough! Every place we go I always think about whether or not I would bring my parents, and this was a definite NO. We're lucky that no one jarred their back out of place on this ride. We are planning on spending a week of our Easter break in Guatemala, so we don't plan on basing our opinions on this short trip.