It is currently 7:40 a.m. here and I have been up for a good two hours. It is a gorgeous morning here in Belize and I have come to really enjoy the fact that I have trouble sleeping in after my internship back in the states. I enjoy waking up here first thing in the morning, coming down across the street, sitting at the picnic tables under the palm trees, and beginning my day by checking my email, blogging, loading my pictures from my camera from the previous day, and listening to San Pedro wake up.
Planes begin to take off around 6:00 a.m. here and the TropicAir airstrip is directly behind Pedro's Inn where we are staying. The airstrip is a dirt path and quite an experience that adds to this journey we are taking here in San Pedro.
For lunch yesterday a few of us discovered a great find called "Latitudes Cafe" and it was a cafe/deli along the beach right past the elementary school I am assigned to. They had amazing wraps that came with homemade pasta salad which was delicious. Different from the traditional past salad back home that is made with a mayonnaise or sour cream base, this past salad had a thin dark base to it similar to that of a soy sauce in a way. They also had bottle water for an inexpensive price so that was nice to find! We ate lunch and paid and then met at the picnic tables next to the public library outside before all walking into the elementary school some of us are assigned to.
Yesterday we had a chance to go to the schools to meet our teachers and get assigned a grade level. I am at the local Roman Catholic school and was assigned to 3rd grade. I am very excited about 3rd grade and have already begun to think about all the challenges and triumphs ahead that I will face not only teaching in another country but also another grade level. Back home I was at Eaton Elementary School in Wilmington, NC in a 5th grade class. I had a wonderful experience there and really grew to love 5th grade. I have an eleven year old sister back home in Washington, D.C. and found it very interesting to teach students her age and compare and contrast the 5th grade curriculum and classroom dynamic of two 5th grade classes in two different states. My younger sister goes to school in Northern Virginia and she found the idea of me teaching children her age interesting as well.
Commonly referred to as "RC" here, the Roman Catholic school I am assigned to is new to this partnership with UNCW and I feel very lucky to be part of the group of students paving the way for future Belize Interns from Wilmington, NC. The school has 896 students and is K-8. There is a courtyard in the middle of the school and I was amazed at the size of the school compared to some other elementary schools we have seen. It is quite large in size. The principal was extremely welcoming and seems to have a positive vision for the school and her students. They had a futbol (soccer) tournament yesterday evening among all grade levels which is a new event for RC. The principal said she hopes to connect with other schools next year and have this be a town-wide event!
Upon completing our visit to the schools the group from RC went with Dr. K and Dr. C to Maneli's for ice-cream and oh boy was that a bad idea. It was sooo good. The ice-cream is nice and creamy here and very fresh tasting. Having traveled abroad before with my family, this ice-cream was the closest I have found to Italian gelato in Italy. I have a feeling I will be a frequent visitor to Maneli's and even more because they have mint-chip ice-cream and cake cones! My favorite!!
In the afternoon we had a meeting with Dr. Kubasko and Dr. Catapano. We discussed our experiences in the schools. Possible questions or concerns and also about what we anticipate finding in our experience here. We talked about the differences we see in behavior management her in Belize as well as the differences in classroom materials and resources from that of our classrooms back in the states. At this seminar we also discussed our service hours that we are required to complete while here and possible venues to give back to and opportunities we have.
After our meeting we all walked to "The Reef" and had a fabulous meal. Laura, the travel agent from Romantic Travel, set up a dinner for us at this restaurant and it was delicious. For an appetizer they brought us chips and salsa and then for our meal we had the choice of grilled chicken or fresh snapper with a tomato, onion, and cilantro relish on top, served with slaw and beans and rice. There was a fresh lime to squeeze over the fish and my plate was definitely clean at the end. This was very yummy!
Some students went with Dr. Kubasko to get icecream and others went with Dr. Catapano to stop by a local convenient store to find underwater cameras, notebooks, and other forgotten items back home.
This morning we are meeting with a representative from the Humane Society to discuss dog walking opportunities for those homeless animals that are locked up in cages all day. I am excited to help out with this organization and get those puppies out and about and sniffing fun smells! There is a dog whisperer here that walks anywhere from 5-8 dogs at a time it looked liked and I think I might need some tips from him on how to keep control of some of the dogs because boy are they excellent runners here. Seeing these poor dogs makes me very thankful that my black lab puppy Koa is safe back home, loved and cared for. If I can help provide that to any other animal while I am here teaching, sign me up!
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