My Trip Has Been Made

I have enjoyed everyday here in San Pedro. Each day has brought new challenges and experiences both in the school and in life here in Belize. Yesterday made my trip and I as I leave to go inland I have a sense of completion and success within me.
Yesterday began as usual. I got up, took a shower, and got ready for school. We left to begin our daily walk to school around 7:30 in the morning. We stopped by latitudes to get the morning usual. Wheat toast with butter and a pineapple pleasure smoothie from non other than the famous Latitudes. As I waited for the smoothie and toast to be made I confirmed our dinner reservations there for that evening. Being a daily customer I have gotten to know the employees at Latitudes very well. I would say we are on a first name basis but who isn't on this island? I organized a group dinner for the interns and grad students at Latitudes. For those students who work at Isla Bonita and the High School it is has been more difficult for them to enjoy the great food and hospitality at Latitudes due to schedules and locations on the island. I on the other hand have had the pleasure to stop by Latitudes sometimes more than once a day. After meeting the owner a couple times I asked him if he would be willing to stay open for dinner so that our group could come eat and enjoy a group meal together. P.J. the owner at the time graciously agreed and was so excited that we were all coming for dinner. I think this excitement came from the extra business we were bringing in to Latitudes as well as the fact that he was in the process of selling Latitudes to a couple in the states and this group event would be an extra selling point perhaps. Sure enough this past Monday morning I went in to give them the orders for the specific wraps and smoothies so that they could plan accordingly and get enough fresh tortillas for the event and found out that P.J. was no long the owner. That passed weekend he has sold Latitudes and is hoping to open future restaurants/businesses here on the island. Our group dinner was still on and everything was all set to go.
I headed to R.C. after leaving Latitudes in the morning and had a wonderful second to last day with my students. My teacher had them write letters and make cards for me which was a nice surprise. As we talked to them about today being their last day before break as well as my last day in the schools with them they all began to get sad. They emerged from their chairs like zombies calling me "mommy" as they moved closer and closer until I was swallowed up in the hugs and love that poured from them. This was one of those moments you live for as a teacher. Not just when kids hug you or say they will miss you but when all your students, even those that took you weeks or months to reach feel just as home if not more at home with you than they do at their own house. Those moments when you can tell they know you care. You look into their eyes when you are talking and just that undivided attention and connection makes their whole world brighter and you can see their whole face light up. This was one of those moments and my eyes filled with tears. Immediately my little munchkins saw the tears in my eyes and asked if I was sad and I told them they were happy and sad tears. This took some explaining how you could be happy and sad at the same time.
After school I walked back down the beach and back to Pedro's Inn. I dropped some of my things off and changed out of my school clothes before heading back down the beach to Latitudes. The dinner was not until 6:00 pm after our meeting but I had "class" at 5:30 to attend. Stay tuned for more about class. I got the dinner organized for the group and the date set and then had a once in a life time opportunity come up. I got to Latitudes and decided to try something new and ordered french toast. I was never a cinnamon fan back home and definitely did not like any type of food related to cinnamon. Put a little on the apple pie and besides that hold the cinnamon for me. Not the case here in Belize. Give me banana cinnamon waffles, cinnamon rolls from Pandulce Bakery and now I could add Latitudes french toast to my list! I got the french toast to go in order to get back to Pedro's in time and they packaged it up in a to go container along with some delicious syrup. Again not a fan of syrup in the states but boy is it delicious here!

... To be continued (lunch break is only so long). Stay tuned for the part that made my trip!

Small Groups & Short Stories

The other day in language arts we re-read the story we read the day prior that we had been discussing. In language arts this week my students are studying the message of a story and what lessons can be learned from text. These pictures were taken as my students worked on their story additions. The task was to write text that continued the story we read and changed the message of the story. An illustration to go with the picture was also part of their assignment. These students love to express themselves through the use of art and drawing so I find myself adding a visual art component to my lessons whether it is drawing a picture of a story, a picture of their environment for science, or decimals through pictures of dominoes in math. I have learned just how much fun dominoes can be in math and the many many uses they have. Tomorrow they will explore decimals through a different medium when we make our own individual abacuses.

Painting at Isla Bonita

This past Saturday I attended a fundraiser at Isla Bonita Elementary. The barbecue fundraiser was to help raise money for a family in need. Also on Saturday at Isla was a mural painting activity that I participated in. There is a cinder block wall that surrounds the school grounds and it has always been a faded yellow. The art director at this school, Natalie, organized an activity to paint the wall. The interns and the students painted a multicolored paisley/swirl design to encompass the school's personality and culturally unique population. Isla Bonita is one of the private elementary schools on the island. Class sizes range from 8-15 kids per class and there is one class per grade/standard. This picture was taken as we worked on painting the wall. Working side by side children of this school and my peers was a enjoyable way to spend part of my last Saturday on the island of San Pedro.

Meet The Dog Whisperer

TLC should come to San Pedro, Belize and start an island series of their show Dog Whisperer. This young man walks anywhere from 8-12 dogs at one time. Most of the dogs on the island have homes but wander the streets during the day and night begging for food as though they are homeless. Even though many of the dogs have homes unfortunately there is also a large quantity of dogs that do not. This man walks various dogs up and down the beach. North end to South end and they call him the "dog whisperer" because as you might expect he has a way with dogs. They do not fight when he is walking them. They walk on either side of him and stay in their place. If he stops they stop. The do not bark or growl at other dogs. It is very fascinating to watch him and his unique skill.

Babee pausing for a picture!

Beach Bums

Last Friday afternoon my teacher decided that she wanted to take the students to the beach for their creative arts lesson. The students were instructed to bring their shovels and buckets after lunch. The students lined up after lunch and we took them to the beach to play in the sand. Some took this opportunity more seriously than others. Many students were very into making sand castles and constructing masterpieces and others tried climbing the palm trees to get coconuts the minute you turned your back. It very interesting to me to see the level of excitement these children have for the water and the beach. You might think that this is a regular thing for them. Although you do see many of your students playing in the water (full clothed usually) most students do not have the luxury to enjoy their beautiful country in every aspect very often. When I talk to my students on Monday mornings about their weekends and what activities they did etc. most of them respond with stories about cleaning and helping their mom or dad (madre y padre). Even though it was a simple thing to just go to the beach and play in the sand, these students were overjoyed and were almost in tears they were so excited. It warmed my heart to be a part of this experience with the children and this very positive moment in their day.

Resume Update

A couple days have gone by and it is time to update my resume as it is rapidly growing. The longer I stay in Belize the more occupations I experience. This time it is an Infant I teacher. The other day the principal of R.C. came asked me to sub for an Infant I teacher whose Aunt passed away. The way the grades work here there is preschool (for those who attend) and then Infant I so this is a combination of our Kindergarten and First Grade. I had the pleasure of teaching 37 Infant I students. The age range was 4-6 years old. At first I was a little nervous to sub for this age group simply because for those students who come to elementary school with no prior school experience regular behaviors that would be expected of a student in school are foreign to these kids. This can be anything from sitting in a desk, not talking when a teacher is talking, to completing their work and keeping their hands to themselves. I had a great experience though and thoroughly enjoyed teaching these little munchkins. Luckily the class I was subbing in was so excited to have a new "teacher" and "miss teacher" as you are called here that they were very eager to please and complete their work. These are some pictures of the little ones hard at work practicing their letters, studying community workers, and practicing reading!