Riddles

When in Belize, it's good to know riddles. Everybody loves them. Here are some I've heard so far.
What has one eye but cannot see?
What has teeth but cannot bite?
What has ears but cannot hear?
What can run but cannot walk?
Why can't shoes talk?
What goes up but does not come down?
What goes up as the rain come down?
What gets wet as it dries?
What do you buy for eating but do not eat?
What kind of key lives in the jungle?
What kind of key kicks hard?
You can see yourself inside but can never be inside. What is it?
What has four legs but cannot walk?
So there you go, I hope some of them stump you for awhile, but if you ever come to Belize you will be prepared and if you have any to share, please do! Loves and Hugs!

First week of December

Despite the hole in my ear and the three in my stomach, I believe I'm on a Peace Corps high. Last week was so great. I was constantly reminding myself, "this is Peace Corps, this is why I'm here." Of course every example is a small everyday happening, but I wouldn't want it any other way. When I first got home to Santa Teresa, I was greeted by nine baby turkeys. I guess it is baby bird season here in Belize as we also have ten baby chicks about to hatch and I see the cutust ducklings on my walk to the creek every morning. I also had a K'ekchi lesson the afternoon I came back from Sonia, Yona, and Sylvanna. Their mother was over visiting Miss Louisa and they came in my room to look at all my belongings. They started asking me the K'ekchi words for various items and went on to just point to and say what it was. My favorite part was when Sylvanna would point to something they used the English word for and say to me, "This is a BAG, say it Miss Amy, BAG." How adorable!
Other than observing classes I was able to help Ms. Max (Florentina) prepare and then teach PSE evening classes, and over my favorit subject: math, ratios and proportional parts even. I'm a nerd, I know. And while preparing the lesson, Florentina's cousin was telling us about the lodge where he worked, saying there were no guests for Christmas and how if we would get ourselves to Placencia, he would sponsor our Christmas vacation on a Caye. I'm doubting it will work out that perfectly, one of those too good to be true offers, but maybe someday I'll be able to get a deal from him. Back to teaching, my first opportunity besides subbing that one time. I think I need to work on my explaining skills, but a few of the students did understand, so that's good. Also, later in the week Martha told me they had ratio homework and she got a 100%. I asked if Mr. Ical had explained it better, but she said he just gave the assignment. Maybe I did better than I thought. Woot woot!
Then right after school on Thursday, Florentina asked if I would come over around 5:30 because her father wanted to talk to me. On the short walk home, two neighbor girls asked when I was going running again. To me, there's no time like the present so I put on my shoes and shorts and said, "Let's go now." We mostly walked, but those girls walk fast! They told me about their pet gibnut that was too small when their father captured it while hunting, so they're keeping it until it gets bigger. I told them to tell me before they make it into caldo so I can get a picture. We talked about the tourists that will soon be coming, a man who had recently killed himself. I want to say the older girl actually saw him in the house because she mentioned closing her eyes and still seeing him, maybe I should be more careful when asking who lives where. They also told me some village drama, oh my, and of course gave me a K'ekchi lesson. They asked what I liked to eat and kept talking about having flour (tortillas) and beans for supper. Then Rebecca told me that Celma was trying to ask if I would come eat with them. Sadly, I had to tell them, "next time," as I already had evening plans. When we made it back to their house, they showed me all their pictures and promised to bring me coconuts and ripe bananas to make some cookies. When I got home I changed quick to go over to the Max household. Mr. Mas thought I should eat before I went, but I knew better. Once I got there Florentina and her sister were baking tortillas. She said, "Hilan se ab (Rest in the hammock)." Instead I grabbed a stool and started to help bake. She was surprised I already knew how. We waited for Mr. and Mrs. Max to come home and ate one of my favorite meals- kahun cabbage. It's very delicious. Mrs. Max was just at a wormen's group meeting and I let her know I was interested in being involved and asked if she could let me know when the next meeting took place. Mr. Max was wanting to know from me if I was still interested in renting his house. As much as I like the house, I don't like that it's next to a bar, so my housing is still up in the air. I forgot my flash, so the three youngest walked my home. How sweet. When I got home there were people trying to use the phone. Usually I would just go to my room, but I knew the girls so I thought I would at least sit outside my curtained door, because here, that's not creepy at all. The girls wanted to play Pass the Pigs, which we did, and I absolutely love how their father wanted to join us so he could show us how to win. After a few games we played cards, and once Hillaria made it back from church we played Speed. I taught her how just recently because I have a hard time playing the same game over and over and over and over, which is what happens. She's already beating me. I need to get some more decks so I can teach them Jerry's game and Nertz.
The next day was Friday and durning break Mr. Chub was telling me about his evening plans of going to visit his wife's mother because it was her birthday. How I was talking to him durning break, I'm not sure, because all week during break I've been dragged here and there to play this or that. First baseball, which by the way is played with a huge stick for a bat, a tennis ball, and whatever can be found for bases. Then, duck duck goose. Then, volleyball. And mostly, football (soccer). First of all, it's way too hot to be running around and I get disgustingly sweaty, but it's so much fun, and really how can I say no? Plus, I want to learn to be a skilled football player, but it might be easier not wearing traditional K'ekchi attire. (yeah, I got a new dress made, sadly forgot to take a picture) Anyways, back to Mr. Chub's plans of going out of town for the evening. He surprised me by asking if I wanted to go along! Of course! We left after eatin rice and chicken and lemon cake. Yum! Happy Birthday Gloria! Her mother lived about and hour and a half away and I knew when I agreed to go I would be riding beneath the stars. This was my first Belizean ride in the back of a truck, but I'm not sure it counts because I had a cushion to sit on, but we did pick up a man on his way to San Lucas. I have to admit this made me nervous at first, but once he mentioned Lilly's name my guard went down and we had a nice conversation. We dropped him at his home and kept driving. I was glad I brought my jacket because little Ronda was chilly. I had another K'ekchi lesson from Nigel and Karen, and Karen was great about spelling out the words after saying them. When we reached the farm I was able to eat an orange and rest in the hammock while listening to the conversations around me. I don't know what I'll do when I'm back in the States and those conversations will be in English, it won't be as okay for me to just sit and listen. About 8:30 (past my bedtime by the way) we decided to head back bringing a chicken with us and some plants. I wasn't sure how a chicken would ride, but it stayed still, just like Karen after she passed out in the most uncomfortably looking position. I couldn't sleep though, I was too happy breathing in the Belizean evening air and admiring the beauty of the dark landscape and overwhelmed by the amount of stars.

Christmas Already

I have to say, it seems so strange to see Christmas trees for sale in the front of most of the shops and then decorations inside. It makes me laugh as I walk by in my skirt and polo. There are already lights on the palm trees in town and Christmas music blaring from the radios. All these reminders of the holiday to come and I wasn't sure how I would take having Christmas without snow, but one night while walking to church I realized I may have a comparable substitute. The field was absolutely full of lightning bugs!! I have never seen so many. Miss Louisa noticed me admiring the beauty and commented with, "You see all the Christmas lights?" I smiled and said, "There are so many!" She responded, "It's because it's almost Christmas, Miss Amy, that's why." So this year I may not wake up to glistening snow, but if I wait until dark I will see a glittering field.
I've also received my first Christmas package. Emily you are really on top of things. And don't worry, I'll keep the wrapped gifts for the 25th.

Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving this year with my new Peace Corps Belize Family at the lovely George Price Center in Belmopan! Since there were 80+ people attending, we split up the food responsibilities by district. Those of us in Toledo were responsible for potatoes, bread, and appetizers. This took some preparation the night before and a day of cooking. I was on the last shift before the meal so got to help with finishing the products. I put my deviled egg filling and sliced bread arranging skills to work. I also learned how to make corn fritters. It was nice to have time in the kitchen and I enjoyed working with the other PCV's on a project, no matter how small it was, together. Wait! This was not a small project. My goodness, it was quite the production. Feeding 80+ people! Plus the tables were beautifully decorated and we all had a chance to express our gratitude on a poster. I wish I would have remembered to bring my turkey hands from Cora and Conner. They would have been a beautiful addition. Megan and I decided to write "Ma sa li wa!" Which in K'ekchi means, "this food is nice." The floor was also open for anyone who would like to verbally give thanks. I couldn't keep from smiling as I continued to look around the conference room as we all enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal together. This is a new tradition in Belize, only the second annual, but I'm sure it's one that will stay for years to come. Hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving!! Gobble Gobble!

Children's Day

November 20th marked Children's Day, which is a day to celebrate the rights of child, so instead of sitting in classes we had a day of fun and games!! Oh how I love Belize! We met at the school for a quick assembly, which I enjoyed because I always like singing the Belizean National Anthem, "Land of the free by the Carib Sea our manhood we pledge to thy liberty..." Wow! I could almost keep going and write the whole thing, but it's pretty long, maybe I'll wait for a time I can post a video of the kids singing it. Anyways, after the assembly, we went to the field and started the races. First was the sack race, followed by the marble and spoon, then onto the three-legged race and needle and thread. All the supplies for the games were brought by the students. Some were assigned to bring the sacks, others the spoons. We also had an egg toss and football game before lunch. After lunch it was time for volleyball. The students were split into three houses "Toucan" "Jaguar" and "The Mighty Scorpion." The winners of each race added points to the score, but when I asked later how the winning team was awarded, this was indeed a silly question. "We're just the winners Miss Amy." During the day we had music playing and Kool-Aid to drink, it was so great and I can't wait until next year. It made think a day at the field would be a good summer, or even Christmas break activity, though. I'm sure I would just have to tell a few kids and the word would get around the village.

Who needs an oven

One day I came home from school to Miss Louisa kneading bread, yes bread. For all of you who know me well, you know how much I love bread and if you think of how many tortillas I've been eating lately and how long it has been since I've had fresh baked bread you can almost understand how excited I was. One thing that had me confused though was knowing we had no gas for our oven, so how on earth were we going to bake bread. As usual, I kept the question to myself and instead offered to help. We went through a few rounds of taking turns kneading, Miss Louisa, Martha, and I and the bread was then soft enough. I decided to give in and asked, "Did you get gas for the oven," thinking she must have without me realizing. The response was no, I'll cook it in the fire hearth. What? You can do that? I was intrigued, but sadly had a meeting to go to and missed out on the baking process. I came home to beautifully baked rolls, still warm, and very delicious.
Luckily, I was home the next time baking was on the daily agenda. It was Edwardo's 18th birthday and I had bought a cake mix in town so we could bake him a birthday cake. I wasn't sure what kind to get, but for some reason I am always craving chocolate so went for Devil's food. This became a joke in the Mas household, them making fun of me for bringing home the devil's cake (I did find out it was Miss Louisa's favorite though, so we'll be having it again in March). Over my lunch break we mixed up the batter and I was still trying to wrap my mind around baking in the fire hearth. I thought rolls were probably a little easier, but a cake?!? I put all trust in Louisa as she told me to put the batter in a large pot which she then put in an even larger one. Since I'm not very good at describing things, I'm glad I took pictures.
Now I know how to bake on a fire hearth and that anything is possible!

All I Want for Christmas...

So, we have a library, with many books, but one thing we are lacking are some magazines. Newsweek was suggested by my Standard 5 and 6 teacher and I think Highlights, or some other children's magazine would be great, not only for content, but also pictures. Even old magazines would be appreciated. We also could use some educational games, like Brainquest (oh, how I remember playing Brainquest) for learning centers and early finishers. And some letter tiles, you know, from old Scrabble games. -- This is for you Mom, I know we have an old game of Upwords that hasn't been played for maybe ten years. Throw those tiles in an envelope and send them my way!-- I love you all! Thanks for all the support. Hugs, Kisses, and Noseys!

Meet (some of) the Mas Family

Louisa Mas (37yrs old, maiden name Ishim ~corn in K'ekchi) Not only does she look young for her age, she acts that way, too. She's always wanting to play Pass the Pigs or cards as we're sitting on the floor under the solar light. She was even trying to make fish faces after I showed the girls how ridiculous I looked while biting my cheeks and puckering my lips. Miss Louisa has taught me how to bake tortillas and laughs as I try to pull them off the comal. She always separates my food before adding the pepper, making me feel quite special and a little like a young child. She claims she doesn't know English very well, but I love our after dinner conversations, ocassionally about God. She also has a beautiful voice. I had seen a Bichlebal Sa' Ke'kchi (Songs in Ke'kchi) book held by people at church and I asked if she had one. Yep! She was surprised to hear me sing in Ke'kchi, but really I was just doing my best to pronounce the words if I knew the tune. Really, I just wanted to listen to her though. (Side note: knowing the tune does not help as singing in Belize you follow the person with the loudest voice, not the music)

Hillaria Mas (10yrs old, aka Darlene) At first I thought they were calling her "darling," and I liked that so much I still pretend they do. I constantly find her in the pata (guava) tree and she makes me laugh more than anything, which is good because she likes when I laugh. Lately she's been obsessed with wanting to fight me, of course I play along. She kept telling me she was going to give me a black eye to take to Belmopan as she raised her fist and squinted her eyes. She also tells me all the time she'll only speak to me in K'ekchi, from now on. Then she talk talk talks only to stop with a "don't you understand me?" look.

Ionie Mas (3yrs old) Now this girl knows how to stretch. Every morning after my stroll I take some time to stretch my limbs and every morning Ionie is right their beside me, mimicking my every move. She's the sweetest sweetheart and most of the time only talks to me to repeat what someone has told her to tell me. "Amy, go eat. Amy, pass the pigs. Amy, etc."

Little ones

Here are the 4 year olds that have pre-school in the mornings. (Three year olds come in the afternoon). Miss Max, is their teacher and she is just out of high school, not even 18 yet. This is the first year for a preschool at Santa Teresa and about 40% of the children ages three and four come. Ms Max is impressed with how much her four year olds have learned already this year. After my first visit in the classroom, I thought I would be helping with creating learning centers, but to my surprise the room was transformed already. One thing we can work on is story time. I hope we can get some big books or maybe even make some!

Here are the Infant 1 and 2 children. Mr. Coh is their teacher and has been teaching for six years. I loved how they started their day when I was in their classroom, with a song, of course. "Hello _____, Hello ______. It's so nice to see you again. With a 1 and a 2 and a how do you do? It's so nice to see you again." What a great way to feel you belong. I think we need to remind each other more often how it really is nice to see them. I was surprised by how they all wanted me to check their work and was glad they weren't as scared of me as the preschoolers were. We'll just say I have a few new best friends that like to draw me pictures and walk me home.
And here are the Standard 1 students. Mr. Perez is my most experienced teacher besides the principal, I believe and I can tell. He uses many great strategies and wasn't about to have me simply observe. He kept asking what I was going to do while in his classroom and wondered if I knew any phonics games we could play. The only thing I could think of off the top of my head was to sing the I like to eat apples and bananas song. This was a hit! Before we sang it though, I asked the class for the vowels and vowel sounds. When I asked what word made the long a sound, they all said, "Miss Amy!" I also started some diagnostic reading assesments with this group and will continue with the rest when I get back from Belmopan. Most of the students were reading at a pre-primer level and even the ones who read better could only comprehend the primer passage. I look forward to seeing improvements as I spend more time here.

Little Bits of Life

I love these delicious tuts (K'ekchi word for nuts). They fall of the tree and you crush them between two rocks. Hillaria loves to crack them for me. Probably because she saw how much trouble I was having on my own.

I have come to love shilling bags of water. 12 oz for 25 cents. Quite economical! (You can also get two bananas for a shilling.)


Funny how I live in Belize and still bank at Scotia.

Nephtali: "Miss Amy Miss Amy" as he comes and grabs my hands
Me: "Good morning, Nephtali! How are you?"
Nephtali: "Five years old!" everytime
Oh! My heart has been captured.


This is the puppy I have unofficially claimed as my own. His name you ask? Marshall. Given to him by Martha and Hillaria. I'm not sure why since the other puppies were named Steven Seagal, Rambo, Jackie Chan, and Van Damme. I guess that's appropriate, especially since raising dogs in a village is a survival of the fittest. I'm glad Jerry has outlasted the weaklings and is still in good company. Marshall and Steven sure do like to fight though. Oh! And the dogs don't really lift their legs to pee. Strange I would notice this, more strange I would post it, but it's so odd. They just squat down a little and go.

How do you wash your car in Belize? You drive down into the river a bit so you don't have to carry your bucket so far. I had to look twice out the window of the bus when I saw this.

I absolutely love that they make their own brooms here in Santa Teresa. It's the coolest thing ever.

One afternoon during break I was reading in the office when a swarm of girls came in. After they awkwardly looked at me for awhile I got out my pen and drew up a game of Hangman. They loved to play and I threw in a K'ekchi word (chabil, which means pretty, beautiful) to catch them off guard. That was quite some time ago now, but they still bring it up. They also like to hear me sing "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly..." And sometimes when I'm walking around the village they'll start singing as they pass me, "she swallowed a spider..."


My first Maya dress, made in school uniform colors so I can wear it to work and everyone loves when I do. "You are K'ekchi!" The PCV in another village has even been asked when she's going to get a dress like mine. I'm so excited my aunt is a seamstress. I may ask to watch her next time so I can learn and make my own.

One of the morning songs the students sing at school is "Thank you God for giving us..." Every once in awhile I'll here a student break out into song and insert "Peace Corps" when I'm around.

All these things make me smile, and then that smile bursts and I start laughing.

Loves and Hugs!

Library... before

Here are some before pictures of the library. Of course our after dreams may not reflect the actual accomplishments, but I thought it would be a good idea to show where we started.

School Fair Marathon

Of course with any major event, the first step is preparation. We had a follow-up meeting just days before the fair to finalize some important details. Most of the conversation was about rice and ice. Everyone was to bring 5lbs of rice and counting 10 people, that's 50lbs of rice which seemed like a lot to me. Another concern was keeping the drinks chilled. This is something I normally wouldn't think twice about, but here in Santa Teresa, it's quite the ordeal. Buying blocks of ice from another village about an hour away, washing bins to use as coolers and using a generator to power a refridgerator for the day. Mind you, THE other generator was being used for the sound system. After all the logistice were straightened out, the meeting was over. Fast forward a couple days and that brings you to another step, advertisement, only this was unplanned and on the spot. While Mr. Chub and I were driving back from Punta Gorda, we saw the radio manager of the closest kLove station. We stopped to talk and before I knew it were sitting in the studio broadcasting to kLove listeners in the area that indeed there was a school fair marathon in Santa Teresa on the 1st of November. And now to the day of the main event. First, to describe a school fair marathon. A marathon is a day long soccer tournament where teams from neighboring villages come early to register and stay and play until they lose. There was a $20 entrance fee and the top prize was $300 plus a trophy. The reason "school fair" was added you ask? So we could have Monday as a holiday. Oh Belize! And the best part, that wasn't confirmed until not even a week before. But since it was a fundraiser for the school and probably the biggest one (we ended up raising $2000) and all the teachers were working and it was a "school fair", Monday equaled a holiday. Now, how the marathon went. I was surprized to see truck full after truck full of teams show up and even a bus! I kept thinking I should have told the PC Gibnuts about the day, I wonder if they would have come. There were about 16 teams and things got a little heated when one of the Santa Teresa teams was disqualified for having a player who was registered on another team. (This is still an issue and there's some trophy drama along with it, but I hope it gets cleared up soon.) I'm not sure a marathon would be a marathon without a dispute in the rain. Did I mention it rained most of the day? Oh yes, and the games went on. The other Santa Teresa team ended up getting 2nd so one trophy and some prize money stayed in the village. I know I wish I could have helped more than I did, but they already had everything under control, maybe next time.

Visitors Visitors All Over the Place

It was so great to meet Wes and Peggy from TFABB!! I'm happy I'll be seeing more of them and was surprised how interested they were in my adjustment. Plus, they brought me candy! How great to be in a place where people are FOR me. I was way off thinking this Peace Corps experience was going to be done on my own. They were supportive of my project plan ideas and commented on my relational skills. Again, positiveness filled the air. I'm excited to finish up what I can in the library this week and move on to outcome indexes, checklists, and baseline data next week. Then onto reflecting with Mr. Chub, making sure he's the one giving me direction-it is his school- and after that... word walls, diagnostic reading assessments, learning centers, and the 6+1 traits of writing. Woot woot!
I was so excited about that I almost forgot to mention the other visitors of the day. The Roman Catholic Manager came to the school for a community meeting mostly addressing the importance of pre-school. Before the meeting we were having a conversation in the office, well, he was talking to Mr. Chub and I was listening, about some needs of the school. The National Library Service was brought up and the fact they helped with furnitures made Mr. Chub take note. There's also a possibility of librarian training if it is open to the public which I am all for. The larger meeting was in K'ekchi, but I did my best to pay attention and even wrote down a few words to ask for translation later. I need to do that more often, just carry an exercise book with me at all times and continually ask people to teach me a new word. Hey! After two years, I should have quite the vocabulary. Soon I'll be giving you a lesson.

It's Official!

Okay, so I've been a volunteer now for awhile since swearing in was on October 22, but this was my first opportunity to update my blog. And as a forewarning, from now on, posts will be sporadic and timing will be off. I'll do my best though. Okay, back to swearing in. My last week of training was in Belmopan and honestly, I did not want to leave Santa Teresa. I like my village and feel so much at home here, but I knew it was pretty important to go, so I thought I better. (Actually, I don't think I had a choice.) We did some final paperwork and of course had to practice for the ceremony so it all went well. And I must confess, even during the rehearsal I got goosebumps realizing the significance of being where I am. And of course, got a little teary eyed at the actual ceremony. Roger German gave our vote of thanks and mentioned fulfilling one of his life-long dreams and how he was sharing the moment with his new family. I would say our group is pretty close, plus it's pretty amazing there are still 40 of us here, we hope to stay just as solid. But back to living your dreams. I'm not sure I'll ever get over how neat this experience has been and I'm just getting started. I can't imagine what's to come. After the ceremony we had lunch, creating a little Maya Mopan circle. It was nice to see Miss Carmelina, Mr. Fransico, and the Cus family. We had an afternoon break when the 1st years took on the 2nd years in a game of football. We lost, but it was fun. The evening was spent at the US Embassy. Ambassador Thummalapally was very friendly and hospitable, informing us that his next job would be working for Peace Corps. It's nice to have such great support from important people.

Maya Mopan Visit

The other night I wne to go visit my Maya Mopan family. I was a little nervous as the visit was without warning. I wondered how awkward it would be, but at least I had a picture to give Miss Santa of the both of us in Belize City. While walking towards the house, one of the neighbor boys that always played cards with us said, "Chepe is waiting for you." (Chepe is what they call Jose', Jr.) How funny! Then, he turned around on his bike to go tell everyone I was coming. I went into the house, gave a round of hugs, and handed Miss Santa the pictures. I told the kids I came to play cards so we did. While playing, Shirley ran across the street to give me a hug, so great to see her, too. She kept going back into the house, coming out to ask me questions for Miss Santa. "How long are you staying?" "Are you staying the night?" "Why aren't you staying the night?" "When are you coming back?" After playing cards for awhile I was fed some eggs, cheese, and of course, corn tortillas. Plus, I had a coke! I got a K'ekchi lesson, being quized with vocabulary by little Jose' and Carolina was telling Miss Santa I lived in Santa Teresa, which has no electricity and that I bathed in the river. I was asked what I had been eating and tried my hardest to use my K'ekchi. "Cua, arin, aros, kenk, chilan, cuiy, wech, tul, papai, ramen, calaloo, mulb..." (corn tortilla, flour tortilla, rice, beans, chicken, pork, armadillo, plantain, papaya, Ramen noodles, calaloo, eggs..." They also asked about my phone number because they had tried calling. Awww. How sweet. I told them I didn't have cell phone service and wrote down the community phone number. I guess this really surprised me. I almost didn't go becasue I thought it would be uncomfortable, thinking I would wait for more time to pass. But they were already wanting to see how I was doing. The connections was deeper than I realized. When I had to leave I gave another round of hugs, stating I would be back in a month. Carolina even walked me back to the resource center where I was meeting Greg and Kevina to catch a cab back to Belmopan. What a beautiful night!

Why I love Santa Teresa

I've realized I can have this as all my titles, so from now on, it's a given.

I would tell you this precious little boy's name, but when I went to visit he was only three days old and didn't have one yet. I was so happy to go meet him and even got to hold him, but absolutely loved the reason we went. Miss Louisa told me about our neighbor who had just had a baby so she was planning on making some tortillas to give to their family, "that is what we do here." I'm lucky to live in a village where people take care of each other.

Standard 6

These are the Standard 6 students along with their teacher, Mr. Ical. Standard 6 is equivalent to grade 8 and the final class of primary school. At the end of the school year, these students will take their PSE (Primary School Exam) to see if they can go on to secondary school. Different schools require different scores. So this test is very important. Most of the students must write support letters as there is a fee to take the exam. So much pressure at such a young age. The teachers are offering extra classes (I might help with the math!) after school each day to help the students prepare. You may wonder what happens to those who cannot afford continuing their education or to those who fail the PSE, but keep in mind, children are only required to be in school up to age 14, so some are finished on the day of their 15th birthday. This contributes to the fact that about 40% of students finish primary school here in Belize. I hope to see all these Standard 6 students at Santa Teresa Roman Catholic School taking the PSE in June and going on to secondary school!

The 12 reasons my placement is the best for me*

*to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas

The first reason my placement is the best for me
Santa Teresa is a great place to be.

The second reason my placement is the best for me
Ma sa aachol
Santa Teresa is a great place to be.

The third reason my placement is the best for me
Miss Liz paved the way
Ma sa aachol
Santa Teresa is a great place to be.

4. Working with TFABB
5. PIGS ON THE LOOSE
6. Safe roads to run on
7. Library in progress
8. Living with the chairman
9. Welcoming churches
10. School staff is willing
11. Health center's open
12. Bathing in the river

Now some descriptions
1. In general, just being in Santa Teresa makes me happy.
2. It's a Ke'kchi community, so my chances of continued learning are high.
3. The volunteer before me was well respected.
4. Teachers For A Better Belize is a start up program with the goal of helping schools in the Toledo district. This is the first year, so Santa Teresa will be a model program. I'm excited to work with TFABB.
5. There are pigs everywhere! And you all know how much I like pigs.
6. I have motivation to wake up and put on my running shoes. Not only are the roads free of vehicles, I love seeing the sun rise through the palm trees.
7. The library is full of books already. Now we're working on a check-out system. Some of the students made the pocket cards and I started gluing them in the books and recording the books in a registery. During break, all my volleyball girls came looking for me and I gave them glue sticks to help- 15 minutes of "Can I have a book please, Miss?"
8. The Mas family is a very wonderful. I will soon dedicate a whole post to them with pictures!
9. I've been to the Baptist church twice and the pastor gives quite a good message in K'ekchi then translates in English.
10. The staff at the school actually likes when I visit their classes and have given me some ideas of where to start.
11. There's a new clinic staffed by a doctor from Cuba every Monday through Friday.
12. No explanation needed. :)

Two Truths and a Lie

I live in the jungle.
I live in a thatch house.
I live in a village of 200.

I go to bed at 8pm.
I sleep in a hammock.
I wake up at 5am.

I have tasted gibut.
I have tasted armadillo.
I have tasted iguana.

I finished reading "Searching for God Knows What."
I finished reading "Lovely Bones."
I finished reading "I Was Told There'd Be Cake."

Oh how I love Santa Teresa. Funny how it was the village I easily was wishing for someone else, but now that I'm here I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I know my site is the best! The first person I met from my village at the counterpart workshop was my host father, the village chairman. He told me about his family and how he will teach me to catch a green iguana and take me fishing in his handmade canoe. (He is a licensed tour guide, so if you come visit me...) Next walked in the principal of the school and I couldn't help but notice he had a smile on his face at all times. He told me about his family, the village, and the school which made me excited to leave the workshop and get home. Yes, Santa Teresa became my home away from home in no time. Already am I greeted with, "Hello Miss Amy," by everyone who passes. My host family speaks in K'ekchi, translating only when I'm not understanding something important. I'm far from the conversation level, but there is hope. After giving me a Bible in Ke'kchi, my host father said, "in a month's time you will be Ke'kchi." Since I was already planning on reading from Genesis to Revelation. I can now do it in two languages!
Now, back to my little game. I'm pretty sure you've guessed correctly. I tried not to make it too hard. Yes, I live in the jungle of Belize. The scenery is beautiful. Yes, I live in a thatch house. No, Santa Teresa has a population of about 520, but I'm pretty sure there are only 10 last names. Yes, I go to bed at 8pm. No, I do not sleep in a hammock, but I do take afternoon naps in one. Yes, I wake up at 5am. Yes, I have tasted gibnut. I like it better in stew than smoked. Yes, I have tasted armadillo. It is very tasty, but beware of the scales. No, I have not tasted iguana, but I'm sure I will. Yes, I have finished "Searching for God Knows What." No, I have not finishe "Lovely Bones," but I'm on my way. Yes, I have finished "I Was Told There'd Be Cake." I really enjoy reading and have the time, so if you have any suggestions send them my way... literally. Hehe! :D Or just let me know and I can look for them. Loves and Hugs!

"You are a good Ke'kchi."

This was inside a card given to me by little Jose'. He also wanted to make cards for Grace, Greg, and Kevina telling each of them, "You are my best friend," and drawing the best pictures. I also got a nice note from my cousin, which I thought was worth sharing, so I'm glad I got the chance this morning before heading down to PG. Here it is, word for word.
"Hi AMY
I hope u enjoy being here in Maya Mopan and in our family.
I never new that if a person can appear in our family for five weeks like you. You were a great person, hard working and was very intrested to no our culture and language. I was so glad that u were here so we can have some fun together and u even teach us things. It was a great pleasure for u to be with us as part of our family. I hope u enjoy being with us and that u will always remember us, wish good luck for us and also pray for us as just how we are going to do.
I wish u the best where ever u go and that the good Lord be with u always.
So thank u once more for being a nice person, and I am proud of u that u are learning some k'echi words and I expect more at 2 years time or maybe even the best. I'll miss you a lot!
From Supper Mario"

Pictures!

So yeah, there's a picture of me and my host brother and sister on our porch. One of me and Shirley. A couple from the zoo. One from the parade. And my host dad peeling an orange the Belizean way.

Site Assignment!

I never know how to start my entries, so I guess this is as good as any. I love reading all your comments; it's so encouraging. A big thanks, too, to all of you who have sent me letters. I absolutely love checking my slot at the office on Fridays and seeing letters from home. I've been pretty busy I guess. Last night while eating dinner at Friendship restaurant I saw a calendar and thought to myself, “That's funny, they already have their October calendar up.” Then I realized it actually IS October! Crazy to think I've been here since August. I called my sister to wish her a happy early birthday since I won't have the chance next Saturday and Cora answered. She asked me if I was still in that place. I told her, yes, I'm still in Belize and she responded with, “Awww... Bummer.” What a cutie. She was happy I called though and I was happy to talk to her. And speaking of nieces, I now have one in Maya Mopan. I was wondering why I felt connected to my little neighbor girl right away. The first time I met little Shirley, her smile went straight to my heart. Then one night I went to church with her and her mother I was given more family information. I'm still not entirely sure how everyone fit together, but I've fully accepted I will never completely understand what's happening around me for the next two years. Wait... when have I? Anyways, the aunt-niece connection stands true even here in Belize with host families. And about going to church, that's a story in itself. I decided to go even though I wasn't sure my host mom really wanted me to go and my little brother kept telling me they would be mean and kick me out, which was very confusing since I was going with family. Once I got there my eldest host brother welcomed me as his “friend” wishing me the best, which was the first time I ever heard him talk since he's never around the house and when he is, stays in his room. It was a nice gesture and he also was translating the sermon which was about being happy in your heart because of the Lord. I was very happy and absolutely loved singing the worship songs. It was one of those moments I couldn't even sing because I was overwhelmed with joy, reminding me once again how much I love being in Belize. Also during the service I was asked to come up and share my testimony, how's that for on the spot? I asked if I could just share a favorite verse, so I recited 1 John 4:12 “For no one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete within us.” Even though most of the congregation couldn't understand what I said, they clapped anyways. I wish I would have been able to share a verse in Ke'kchi, which I may be able to do sometime because I was given a pamphlet with a few verses in Ke'kchi. Woot woot! Language training has been going pretty well. Most of mine is outside of class with my host family and I sometimes I can pick up on a few words, like after getting a sunburn they were making fun of me and I knew it. I also have fun playing “Ani xk'aba...” with little Jose, asking each other the name for different things. One time this even drew in a crowd. Of course we were sitting on the veranda while people were coming for tortillas, but while waiting most of them were listening and word even got around to Grace's host mom that I knew my Ke'kchi. Ha ha! I wish, but someday, especially since I'm moving to Santa Teresa. Yes! I got my final placement site! I'll be living in Santa Teresa which is a Ke'kchi village of about 400 with no electricity, but access to running water. When we went to visit the site they were thatching a house and we also took a look at the brand new corn mill. The community seemed very nice and the school was super excited to have their volunteer. I have boxes waiting for me. Plus, I'll be working with a women's group for my secondary project who just received a $30,000 ($15,000 US) grant to be used for a solar powered computer lab. There are endless possibilities and I'm getting more excited by the minute.

Cornflakes

Some like them hot.

The other morning I was greeted by my host brother with a question of whether or not I liked cornflakes. Yes, indeed! Not much beats a bowl of cereal and milk especially when you haven't had it for a month. I was pretty excited when I walked into the kitchen and saw the box sitting on the table. My host mom got the biggest bowl out of the cupboard of course and opened the box --side note-- the bag had a huge slit in the side even though it was new, I'm wondering how common that is. Anyways, back to my breakfast. I didn't see any milk around except the can of evaporated milk which scared me a little, not only because I was curious as to how cornflakes would taste with evaporated milk, but she was opening the can with a knife the size of her forearm. The can was safely opened and yes, she did pour the syrup like substance over my cereal. But before I could decide exactly how I would choke it down she blew my mind again, pouring boiling water from the stove in the bowl as well. Ha ha! I guess there's a first for everything. And so you know, I had hot cornflakes again today, and I think I like it.

Cockroaches in the latrine...

...I'm not sure I'll ever be comfortable with you there.

It's been a busy week! Starting with a visit to the Toledo district to check out some of the potential placement sites. There are more sites than volunteers, but only four K'ekchi sites, so a few of us have a pretty good idea of where we are going. Plus, the four villages were pretty close to each other which makes me happy. As we were driving through the first K'ekchi village I got butterflies in my stomach, picturing myself there. How exciting! There was something great about each site that made me glad I was not the person deciding where I would be placed. I don't think I could do it. One of the schools was very small, only three instructors teaching two grades each. Another school already had boxes held for their Peace Corps Volunteer and had written on the calendar that we were coming to visit that day. The last school we were able to visit was very large with multiple classes for each level. The village was more like a town, it even had a computer lab with internet. We drove past the fourth site, so that's exciting in itself, not knowing what the school was like. We also went to a few Creole communities and honestly, I'm so happy I know I'll be in a K'ekchi village. Something about the Maya people makes me want to work with them. Plus, all four future sites are pretty close to Punta Gorda. Isn't it beautiful? I'm pretending that's my bicycle leaning against the palm tree. I can't wait to get a bike!
On the way back from Toledo we had a two hour delay at the bridge. It rained so much the night before that the only bridge back to Belmopan was flooded all day. Luckily we were able to cross and get home. I wouldn't have minded staying another day in PG, but we have so much to do in training that losing a day would have been hard to make up, especially since the day after our field trip was market day. The four of us trainees along with Miss Carmelina went to the market to practice our K'ekchi purchasing skills. Then, we helped make the turkey soup. I was surprised how good cassava is, and also warned about the pronunciation. I can't remember the two terms right now, but it's a horrible story, I'll just tell you the word for cassava is similar to younger sibling. After our first meal as a training group, we were going to watch a movie in K'ekchi, but instead we worked on our teacher training projects. Next week we'll be doing a workshop for teachers in Georgeville as an entire education group on classroom management. I get to talk about consistency and the importance of focusing on the behavior and not the child. I'm hoping to find the movie and watch it soon.
I went back to Miss Maria's house (my host sister with the four little boys who lives across town). It was good to see my 9 year old tutor, Freddie, but the comment I'll never forget this time wasn't as light. Maria's youngest son is maybe 8 months old, and she was asking me (of course it was translated by cousin Mario) if I would want to take Junior back to the states with me. Really? I couldn't imagine her actually wanting to give her child away to a stranger and hold back tears every time I think about it. My response to her request was I'm living here for two years, plus I don't know how to raise a child. So I guess Mom was right in worrying about me falling in love and bringing back an adopted child.
Thursday was a holiday. I went to the ceremony and saw the parade. During the ceremony the speaker was talking about the schools and how 60% of teachers in Belize are untrained. This reminded me of my reasons for coming. After the parade was a party at the park including a punta dancing contest and a greasy pole competition. Some guy greased up a pole with lard, putting a flag at the top and a group of four men climbed up on each other trying to get the flag. There was only one team competing, but they got the flag on the first try without needing the fourth man. Oh Belize, I love you so.
I spent the weekend in Belmopan with a current PCV. We went to Belize City, and yes, it was a lot better going for fun. I really enjoy meeting current Peace Corps Volunteers. I love hearing about their time in Belize and also their life before PC. Plus, Melissa had great resources for my Teacher Training session on comprehension strategies. What are the odds. During the weekend I also went to a bird rescue farm owned by a couple from Wales. It is illegal to own a wild bird in Belize, but many people do and clip their wings, so once they are rescued, they have to grow new wings and learn to live on their own. The farm was beautiful and so were all the birds. The couple was very nice and invited us to come back anytime.


So yes, life is good down here in Belize. Hot, but good. It's crazy to think Nebraska weather is cooling down and soon the colors of fall will be all around. I know I'll miss the seasons, but I also know I love what I see here.