My How the Time Flys

Hey All!!

Wow...OK....a lot has happened in a very short time. Well the second day in PG was just as amazing as the first. I got up early, after a big night singing away to "The Piano Man" among other classics, and headed towards Kristina's sisters place. My fellow teachers Sam and Lana liver there. We ate breakfast and then headed into town to go shopping. I really wanted a bag to carry all my crap in and Sam needed sunglasses and a hat. We wound up running into Andrew (another teacher). We're pretty sure that is going to be the theme during the trip...running into Andrew. He tends to wander. We all bopped around town for a bit but it was so hot that we decided to go swimming. Again there was jumping off the pier. One of these days I will be able to take a picture so you all have a visual. There were a couple of local boys there and they played a great trick on Lana. They kept telling her is wasn't safe to swim off the pier because there were barracudas and sharks. They must of over heard us talking about sharks. Lana got out of the water in a hurry. We tried to tell her they were pulling her leg but she didn't believe us. The boys saying all this were about 14 years old. Then another local boy showed up and when Lana asked about the barracudas and sharks he just laughed at her. LOL. We laughed but she wasn't impresses....at all. We stayed there, basking in the sun, and eventually ran into the rest of the group. We had plans to go kayaking at 2 so the girls and I went off to find food before we headed out. I got to eat Chinese! Judy this is when you become jealous. It was fantastic! We were stuffed to the gills by the time we ended up back at Celia's place to go kayaking.
Celia works for a company called TIDE and they were the ones that took us out onto the river. I can't recall the rivers name at the moment but I will ask my teacher and get back to you all. Anywho....the trip was amazing!! We started off on this wide part of the river but eventually it got narrower and narrower! We were in the heart of the jungle and it was crazy! We saw crocodiles, monkeys, crabs, and different types of birds. It was beautiful! I thought Baloo from the Jungle Book was going to join us at any moment. Sam and I entertained our guide by singing away in the jungle. Those who know me know this isn't a big shock. We could only go so far on the river and when we reached our end point we got out of the kayaks and swam around. It felt good to swim in fresh water! Lana refused to get out of the Kayak because of the crocodiles. LOL. The rest of us looked for veins that we could swim on to fall into the river but unfortutately there were none to be found. Next we paddled all the way back to where we started and then kept going until we reached the ocean! That was super cool as well! I wanted to just sit out there for awhile but everyone else wanted to get going.
After kayaking our biggest challenge was figuring out how I was going to get out to Tumul Kin. No one really knew what was going on. We walked from Celia's place out to Kristina's sisters. Neither Kristina nor her sisters were home. They all went out to the farm. So the girls and I hung out with their home stay sisters and watched the Disney channel. It's a tough life I have to say. When Kristina got back we walked to her place and there I met Esther and Aurelio. They had come from Tumul Kin to pick me up!! I could finally go out there and see what I was going to be doing for the next 8 weeks! We stopped and ate and there I found out that Aurelio, Esthers husband, is my teacher I will be working with! We definitely chatted a lot because I had tons of questions. They also brought their two year old, Otsile, along for the ride. I could tell that this was going to be fun!
Esther and her husband have been housing me ever since. They really are very nice people and their son is tons of fun. The next day I went to Tumul Kin for the first time and it's a great school! There is another Peace Corp. volunteer working here so there is someone I can talk to if need be. Her name is Heather and she is from Florida. Esther took me around the school and I met the staff. I thought names were difficult before.....WHEW!.... I have my work cut out for me. I also watched, and assisted, Aurelio with two classes. The classes here go from Form 1 to Form 4. 5th Form is like an independent study. Form 1 is like a freshmen in high school and 4 are like seniors. They offer a lot of cultural classes, like Maya history and Maya language. The two dialects spoken in Belize are Mopan and Queichi. There is a lot to see, no doubt about it. They also have a farm on campus and they learn about farming and farm animals while at school. They even have bees! They produce their own products that they sell to the public, honey and jam are two of the products. Aurelio is also helping to start up a radio station here on campus. There is a lot to see. My first day I also met the US ambassador for Belize! yeah.....weird day.
I had a meeting yesturday with some of the staff to see what I can do here in Tumul Kin and what I want out of the experience. We decided that I would obviously help Aurelio out with the English aspect, because he teaches English, and I would also help out with an after school study program and with an arts program that deals with acting and dancing. How perfect is that!?!?! Eventually I will be moving out to campus but the door is broken and the bed has to be moved so Esther and Aurelio have to put up with me until that is done.

Well I'm going to be late for class so this is adieu.

P.S. Dee....I'm on it! No worries. Dave....you're a dork and I write these at the speed of light so screw you! Hey to the family, yes I to am glad that I have not been eaten yet. Though I do have tucan's outside my window everyday....yeah heart of the jungle! Waren.....tell the fam I miss them and I miss you tons! Everyone I missed....sorry I'm writing fast! Peace All!