Too Much Fun!

Once again I am back, though this will probably my last one until next week Monday. So I have had class solid since last Monday. Like I told a bunch of you, their schedule goes 10 days in school and 4 out. So Wednesday will be the last day and we are free until next Monday. A lot has happened this week. I finaly moved into my room here on campus. I live with Pablo (Acedemic Director) and Roxanna (Vet and Farm Director). It's been really nice to have my own room and I have keys to both doors, so it's almost like I have my own apartment again. It's also awesome because I get to be closer to the students and really get to interact with them a bunch more!

After classes Roxy and I usually go out to the field to watch the boys play futbol. The students recently started their own team so they practice as much as possible. They also have to run every morning at 5 am, then go to practicals (which is working out at the farms) and then come in and go to class. The past couple of days I have had a lot of sore, and slightly cranky students. Most of the boys don't have shoes either....I hurt for them when I watch them block and kick during practice. One student of mine is an awesome goalie! He has Castillo potential! One of the younger students scored on his own team....poor guy....he's super small too. We all had a good laugh...he has yet to redeam himself but I'm sure it's coming.

I challenged my students a little more later in the week by reading "The Rave" by Poe. I knew this would be more challenging but I wanted to see what they would do. They all did very well with the poem! The imagery was difficult but the metaphors they recognized instantly and they participated well within class. Saturday night was "Culture Night" The students put skits together and they also dance. I was very excited to go! The 3rd form put on a skit about the avery (bees) and what they had learned throughout the unit. One of the students names was "Miss Garnet," I think she likes me :D I had a lot of fun and learned tons throughout the night. Watching the students dance was my favorite part! They danced marimba and Harp dances. The students tried to teach me, I'm super bad at it but I'm learning! Then they danced "Punta," this dance came from the garifina people that eventually settled here in Belize and is super popular among the students. We have two girls that are crowed the Punta Queens. I didn't have the guts to try it but I started a little bit. It's a mix between intense salsa and what we see on the dance floor every Saturday at Grandma's. LOL. It was awesome and two of the boys are dance champs! They were super fun to watch.... one of the younger boys was my partner for the marimba at the end of the night...what a brave fellow! Don't worry....I have photographic evidence of my suckiness :D The best part of the night was just hanging out and laughing with the students. They are really warming up and we had a lot of fun. They all told me I have to dress up in traditional Mopan clothes for the next culture night...so there will be awesome pictures to tag along with that!

Sunday was a very busy day! Sunday's are extra class day or bonus classes. They have class from 9-12 doing a specialty class like basket weaving, performing arts, marimba, etc. I had so much fun going from class to class seeing what their putting together. I spent a lot of time in the weaving class, watching my student Iris and how she made her basket. It has the same basic principles of making a dream catcher. My other student, Daniel, talked me through how they collected the materials to make the baskets. Next week they are going to take me out to show me how it's done....woot! and they are going to help me make my own! Double WOOT! Then Linda ( my professor) and the other student teachers came out! It was great to see their faces and we all took a tour around campus. We learned that when addressing Maya people you never say "Mayan" because that insinuates that they are dead or gone...and the Maya people are most definitely still around. Also you never say Maya ruins...it's temples...because the temples are still alive and still holy to them. We also got to see my student, Brendano, play the marimba. The cool part is that Brendano is blind. He plays marimba better than most I've seen play....for people who may get it....he's close to Carl Ostmo level...that's huge! It was an honor to watch him play, especially with my classmates to watch as well. After we watched other students and their activities and some of the students performed a marimba dance for the other teachers. Then they recieved a tour of where they make the honey, water, jam, and pickled peppers (tehe) that they made and sell here at Tumul kin. Linda bought to things on honey! All good stuff...and it's grown all here at Tumul Kin. If anyone wants anything...let me know!

After the tour at the school we (student teachers, Linda and Jim - another supervisor) went to the Lubaantun temple. Here is where they found on of the Crystal Skulls!! Indian Jones freaks can geek out now! It was so neat to walk through and learn about the crystal skull and the story behind it. Also we toured the temple and saw where they probably played games like Maya ball, etc. Very neat place and so open! We did a lot of snooping around and climbing on the temple. We ditched the tour guide about half way into it....what can we say....we like to just walk and take in our own impressions. Afterward we stopped for lunch, and by lunch I mean a coke and some cheetos. Along the way up to and away from the temple there were people selling a bunch are arts and crafts....mom you would have never left. Our tour guide makes whistles, he models them from the whistles found at the temple. I definitely got a whistle...they are super neat! We then headed to Blue Creek after the temple and lunch.

Blue Creek is the village where Kumul Kin is. OH Tumul Kin is Mopan for "A New Day" in case anyone was interested. Blue Creek has the largest cave system in the area so of course we took a tour of the caves. It is quite a hike to get the the caves. Combo of jumping and rock climbing but it was so beautiful in getting there. We stopped by the river and there was a nice dock to sit on. The water is so clear you could see ALL the fish in the river. It's protected land so you can't fish...darnit...but it was awesome to just look and see. We could also see bats hanging from the dead trees near the river. After about a 30 min, semi intense hike, we got to the opening of the caves. Breathtaking doesn't even cover it! It was so gorgeous...I didn't want to move...it was almost holy. I can say that my keens payed for themselves and thank you dad for the headlamp! Life saver! We swam through the caves. I mean saw....there was hardly any walking..and half the time we were against the current. There were some interesting moments getting over the full current areas to keep going forward. At the end it took a lot of muscle to get over this mini cliff with the rapid going through. We only got half of us up before the guide said...yeah too dangerous...we're turning back. I was at the top for awhile...then I went to go yell incouragement to a fellow peer and the current grabed me and pulled me down to the bottom. On the way I went face first into a boulder...ouch. I'm fine! Only scrapped up knees and a big smile when I popped back up...it was wild! All the guys said was that one moment i was there and the next they saw a light under the water....lol....they were a tad confused. We swam back...little easier going with the current....I must say that coming out of the caves gave us an even great view of the jungle! Again I'll have to use breathtaking and holy. We all chilled there for a bit, taking in the scenery, and of course took a Keens picture. Those babies saved our lives! Linda even got in on the pic!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I got back and chatted with some students and Heather and Rosemary. Everyone was coming back from the softball game that they had that afternoon. I watched the boys play futbal and joked around with the students. Had a frozen, chocolate covered banana...delicious! Toured the girls dorm and chatted with them a bit, then headed home. Cleaned my knees, took stock of the bruises (All well deserved!) and watched a movie with Pablo and Roxy. Great day indeed!

Thank you to all that have written comments! I love getting them! OH I almost forgot...there was a snake in the roof of my classroom on saturday! I was sure it was going to land on me! It stayed up there but I stood in the back of the class the rest of the day.

Dave- mostly they want to make the curriculum more condusive to ESL style, English as a Second language. Linda talked to the staff today about it and I'm going to be asked to look through and see where they need improvement and what ideas I can lend them. That's the short answer.

Hope you all are enjoying the cold...tehehe! This upcoming week we are headed to Placencia as a group! Dad I'll let you know how it is and Mom you guys have to let me know what the plan is. Still unsure if I'm staying here 8 or 16 weeks. Hopefully I'll have a meeting with Linda after classes on Wednesday and we can straighten it out. Love you all! Kisses!