Sorry no pictures

My neighbor is so sneaky. She’s known I’ve wanted another skirt for quite some time, but doesn’t want me to be over charged because I’m white. So the other day, she had one of the students find me at the school to go talk to her. She had me come in the house and look at the skirt, whispering her plan of buying it if I liked the colors and having me pay her back in the evening. “They said $85, but I got it for $50, don’t say anything to them though.” She’s so funny, and such a sweetheart. Bacilia is the same girl who when she made my first skirt, along with one for Cora, instead of payment asked me to pray for her. And a few weeks ago she made my day by inviting me to go along with her to try buying a chicken. I’m not sure why she asked me, maybe she just didn’t want to go alone. I’m so happy she did though. Life is better when done together.

My new favorite Q’eqchi question… Ma chaab’il li k’utank? Is the day beautiful.

I wanted my visitors (Mom and Jerry, then Nick, Joanna and Beth, and now Lauren…also Mikah and Larka from last year...) to write their own adventures about their trip for me to post on my blog, but I’m not sure that will ever happen. Mom loved the food and I was happy she had the chance to try all my favorites, from kahune cabbage and gibnut to sesame seed candy and plantain chips. Jerry couldn’t get enough of the beach and Garifuna drumming. I was a little more nervous for Nick to come, first of all because all the villagers would think he was my husband, not understanding boys and girls can be just friends, but I stopped that rumor by saying, “Maybe he’s looking for a Q’eqchi girl.” This really made everyone laugh especially since we also went to another village close by for a couple nights. I got to do a few new things while Nick was visiting, snorkel in Placencia, see the unexcavated Maya site in Poite – Pusil Ha’, hike in Silk Grass, explore Caracol and ATM caves, all of which were AMAZING! We planned a little before he came, but of course, things just seemed to fall into place how they were supposed to, or so I thought, so I was relieved to hear him say after that, “everything was better than expected.” When Beth and Joanna came I kept saying, “Welcome to my life.” The week was a whirlwind of emotions for sure, but overall wonderful. They got to see the waterfalls of Santa Teresa and the cave in Blue Creek. Crazy I’ve been here a year and a half and this was the first time going to the cave there. We chartered a ride from a man in the village and took whoever would fit in the back. I was sitting in the cab, but the whole time hoping Joanna was enjoying herself as much as I know I would have been, sitting in the back with everyone, all part of the experience, and I guess that’s why I wish I knew my visitors favorite memories. We also went with the school children on their field trip to ITVET, Lubaantun, Nim Li Punit, and the Belize Lodge. Look for that post in a month or so. Ha ha!

Reading groups are still going well! One of the most rewarding projects I’ve done here. Retesting second term showed improvement at every level, the number of students in standard II reading below grade level cut in half from 14 to only 7. Woot!

I’ve tried making soap with a couple ladies in the village. Key word – tried. Petrona and Elena were both such good sports though, laughing along with me, even wanting to try again. The second time with Petrona was a little more successful, only our idea of soaking the pinz leaves in oil did not go well, so we added in ginger after smelling the two together before mixing. And with Elena the spoon I was using caused a crazy chemical reaction with the lye and water, then the pan, too. Eek! The soap was boiling with no heat underneath!