This was my last week at Tumul Kin and I can't even put into words how sad I am.
I'll start off with two weekends ago, when we went to the keys. We got up early on Sunday morning and went down to the docks. The group that was taking us to the keys are called TIDE and luckily Jon and Eddie live with the person who runs TIDE, so we got a good deal. The boat ride to Snake Key was about an hour long. The weather was perfect! This is the first Sunday that I've been in PG where it hasn't rained!! (Well besides the first weekend that we got here) We got to the key and it was paradise! I mean this little island and this beautiful white sand beach surrounding it was all for us! No one else was around. We all got settled and then into the water we went. Snorkling was so much fun. We saw tons of bright red and yellow star fish, squid, sea urchins, barracuda, parrot fish, jelly fish, sting rays, and the best was this giant tuna fish....it scared the pants off of Lana! I heard a scream and immediately thought reef shark and I turn around and it's just this giant tuna....LOL. We layed on the beach, read books, talked, snorkled, ate lunch, and just basked in the beautiful water. It was seriously paradise. Our lives rule!
The next morning I got up at 5 to meet the bus and prepare for classes and my observation. I had 2nd and 3rd form all worked out. The 2nds are going to be doing literature circles with "The Indian in the Cupboard" and the 3rds are going to learn about Reader's Theater and write one of their own. So exciting!
The highlights of the week were just hanging out with students for the last time and joshing around with them. I got a giant package from my mom with Valentines candy so I was giving out chocolate all week, if they didn't like me before they loved me now! There was a group of students from Toronto Canada that came to Tumul Kin so we moved Culture Night from Saturday to Friday night. Jen, who is my weekend roommate at Cristina's, came out to Tumul Kin to see Culture Night. We hung out during the day, with the other college students, and watched the Tumul Kin boys try to smooze their way with the ladies. Good times.
At Culture Night the 1sts did a hilarious skit about a man who dies and how they try to bring him back to life....it was great. Then the 3rd formers danced a few traditional dances, including punta! The marimba players performed, and the Toronto students did a step routine for us, impressive and the students loved it. Then the final show was the 3rds had an eating contest. The first half they had 4 competitors and they had to shove 4 bananas in their mouth. Whoever were the first two done moved on to the next round, a ramin eating contest...that was too funny!! Don't worry I have video of it to share! Then we danced the night away. I danced every dance and the Toronto students joined in....it was a hoot!! We danced marimba, harp, punta...it was all good. Jen even danced with us! This was definitely the best Culture Night that I had been apart of.
Saturday we all felt kinda weird because of the move of Culture Night. All my classes were going very well and I did a lot of teaching! Definitely in my element! On Saturday night we played monopoly, what else? On Sunday I went to all of the special classes and helped strip the jippy jappa for the baskets, then took pictures of everything. It was fun, again to just hang out and be with the students. Later that afternoon we had a community meeting. There were some public apologies for behavior issues. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Pablo was talking about how lucky they were as a school to have such good students and also good help. Then he started talking about how they were lucky to have me for these past two months and if I would like to say anything. Yeah....I started crying like no other. It just hit me all at once. I tried to thank everyone for everything and to express how much this experience has meant to me...I'm still not sure if they understood everything I said. Then when I was done I thought that would be the end but student after student got up and said something about how they appreciate me and how great of a teacher I had been, etc, I could not get ahold of my self, it was the most amazing thing. We were all crying by the end of it. To ease the saddness we picked rice afterward to help level us.
After the meeting we had sports so they had their running contest. I got to be the finish line judge. The boys had to run so far and then the girls had to finish it up. There were four teams that competed. One of my students, Selvin, beat everyone! He started the race and was the first to finish it! Apparently this is the second time he's done this. Then the played football and I watched and laughed. The girls had to play too and some of the boys took some time to adjust to the "new" players. LOL.
The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it Wednesday came and I had to say goodbye. It was a pretty quiet day and there wasn't as much talking as their usually is. I cried in all of my classes, saying goodbye, and we had a "free" day in classes to say goodbye. In 1st form, I got a class pic and video, and then we finished "The Giver" and then we learned and played spoons. It was a fun class. Then I had 2nd form. Again we took a class pic and video. Then we just chatted and they came up with a Tumul Kin Wish List. :D Then we sang for the rest of the class period. My last class was 4th form. We took a picture and video, went over homework, and then talked for the rest of the period. 3rds had their goodbyes the day before and we were supposed to go down to the river but it was raining, so we watched "Accepted" instead. :D :D
Saying goodbye to everyone was the hardest thing. They all gave me letters, that I CAN'T open until I get home. I had one student who cried all day and there was nothing I could really do to console him. I didn't leave until around 7, so I hung out with the students that stay at the school or don't leave until the next day. When I finally had to leave we dragged it out as much as we could. All of us were bawling and I had students clinging, asking me not to leave. Yeah it was so hard. Then Aurelio said we had to stop at his place quick so I could say good bye to his son Utzil. When I walked in all the staff were there! They threw me a surprise dinner! Cried again! It was a super emotional day....obviously. I brought a student Mathew back to PG for the weekend because he didn't have a place to stay. On the way to PG we all jammed out to "Who Let the Dogs Out?" and Celine Dione....good times.
It's been a super emotional rollarcoaster so far. This upcoming two weeks I'll be heading north to the Maya Temple Altun Ha, with Ellen and her fiance Eric. Then we're heading to San Ignacio, west side of Belize. There we are going to see the 1,000 ft. falls, another Maya Temple, Spanish Lookout, etc. The Cayo district is supposed to be amazing so needless to say we are super excited to ship out tomorrow (Sunday). After all that we are heading to the Keys and I'll be in San Pedro and Caye Caulker for a couple days before coming back to Tumul Kin for the torch run and meeting up with family :D So excited to see what the next few weeks have in store for me! I will definitely try to keep up the blog when I find internet!
Stayed tuned!
Shout out to Uncle Terry! Love ya and hope to see you when I get home!
Love you all who have been keeping up with the blog. I'll be home March 21 and I hope I get to see people when I get back! Love, Hugz, and Kisses!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Woa! It's been awhile!
Hey all you happy people!
So it's been forever since I last wrote and I'm not sure where I left off so I'll just bounce around and give you some highlights. For the Super Bowl *boo that the Steelers won :( we went to Ellen's "moms" place and watched. We had peanuts, coke, beer, and pizza...it was fabulous! I'm sure all the locals heard us hollaring and wondered what the stupid Americans were up to now.
I didn't think I would be doing much this last session because it was finals week. They reviewed all week and then Sunday through Wednesday were finals. There wasn't much prepared for "review" and it was a semi awkward week in teaching. Everytime I was told..."And now Ms. Garnet is going to teach the class...." I was first shocked and completely unprepared...and second I had no idea what they had done for most of the semester....no one thought to fill me in. There were a couple of awkward moments. I introduced "sparkle" to some of the classes to help them review vocabulary. That was fun! For those of you who don't know what "Sparkle" is...shame on you. We also started telling jokes, riddles, and learning hand jives. I will let you all know that I didn't start this....that was all Aurelio....but I did get a couple of students with some riddles. ;)
In the mornings we have started a new tradition that I like a lot and will cry when I have to leave. I usually show up to the library around 9-9:30 and read or prepare for class. Classes start at 10:30. Lately my 1st form students have been coming into the library and chatting with me. Now we read to eachother in the mornings. Their favorite book to read from is "Where the Sidewalk Ends." They love the poems and the library has two of that authors books so we take turns reading poems. I usually have a crows of 7-10 students listening in. It's so much fun!!
Another highlight was on Thursday night. The 4th formers are learning about debating and also about the land rights issue that is huge here in Belize. The 4th formers were given the assignment to write a speech as if they were going to address the cabinet on the land rights issue. They are also having a mock court case on the land rights issue here at Tumul Kin. I was picked to help out the side of the government....gulp! The 4th formers are on the side of the Belizean people. It was a lot of fun to watch the students and this coming Wednesday we are cross examining witnesses....I hope they take it easy on me! I'm a "famous" historian who knows all about the history of Belize....yeah it's hard to BS my way through this.
On saturday, instead of culture night we had presentations. Before dinner all the specialty classes showed what they had learned or made throughout the year so far. They showed off their jippy jappa baskets, their kuxtal (bags), the performing arts danced for us, and the marimba class all played different tunes. It was a lot of fun. After dinner I told a riddle to Ms. Heather and Mr. Pablo (Ac. Dir.) just to pass the time, before I knew it I had 15 students trying to figure out the riddle too! Before they could answer the 3rd formers gave presentations on the Queqchi, Mopan, and Yucetan Maya. These are the three Maya cultures that are present in Belize. It was so interesting! My favorite part was learning about the courting rituals. Mr. Pablo told us that if a young man wanted to marry a girl he had to go out into the jungle with her father and uncles and chop wood. They would call him "pig" and if he couldn't keep up with the chopping they would eventually pen him in with all the wood they would chop, like a pig! It was so funny to watch some of the boy's faces when they heard this! At the end of everything Mr. Pablo finally figured out the riddle....hahaha.
Saturday started the testing for English, it was the composition section. After that they all had testing everyday. I supervised a couple of tests for Mr. Pablo so he could go to meetings. Some of the students got to experience my "angry teacher" face during testing. Biggest pet peeve as a teacher; when students talk during a test! So I scared a few students and then all was peaceful in the land. On Tuesday night the boys wanted to learn spoons but come to find out that no one had a deck of cards...gah! So we decided on Monopoly. Holy Cow!! The boys really got into it! They were buying hotels and houses left and right! I don't know about you....but we usually never get that far! There was yelling, bagging, bargoning....so funny! Two of the teachers came to watch and were wiping their eyes they were laughing so hard. I had one student in the hole with the bank by over $3500! The rest of the students watched "white chicks" but we stuck with Monopoly.
On Wednesday I woke up, went to the library and came across a bunch of the boys clearing out this land right next to the snack shop! It was crazy...no worries I got pictures. All the girls stood on the sidelines while the boys hacked, raked, and threw debre everywhere! I'm sure it's good frustration management but I get super nervous seeing some of those students swinging machet's everywhere! After watching for a bit I did some planning....don't know if that will help, and then played more Monopoly after lunch! The boys really enjoy the game! I was just banker this time around. Then I went to the caves with my student Melisa and just relaxed in the water all afternoon....it was a hot day! When I got back the boys wanted to play again but we had no where to set up. So we waited until the commons area was free and set up. Half way through we all made dinner. Ms. Nat (the cook) left along with most of the other students. The only students still at Tumul Kin are either leaving on Thursday or stay at Tumul Kin. Usually they live a long ways away and it's cheaper for them to just stay at school. I got to help make flour tortilla's and help bake them! It was fun! Then we sat down and played Monopoly! I left at 10:30 and they were still going! It was down to just two boys and myself...I had 4 hotels! Two boys got knocked out. Too much fun!
On Saturday I have parent teacher conferences, Sunday going to the keys with the other teachers, and Monday I'm being observed by a supervisor (which may blow up since I don't really teach a lot....gulp!) Wish me luck all around!
That's about it for now. Yay for my cousin Jess who is getting married on Valentines Day! Happy Valentines Day to everyone...hope you eat a bunch of chocolate for me :D
Family: Need to know plans...email me or whatever. I lied...I get done on Feb. 25...so I'll going to make plans unless I hear different from you. Communication people!!
Love and Kisses to all...hope everyone is well and I hear you got a bunch of ice....dang....that sucks.... :evil smile on my face: Keep your chins up!
So it's been forever since I last wrote and I'm not sure where I left off so I'll just bounce around and give you some highlights. For the Super Bowl *boo that the Steelers won :( we went to Ellen's "moms" place and watched. We had peanuts, coke, beer, and pizza...it was fabulous! I'm sure all the locals heard us hollaring and wondered what the stupid Americans were up to now.
I didn't think I would be doing much this last session because it was finals week. They reviewed all week and then Sunday through Wednesday were finals. There wasn't much prepared for "review" and it was a semi awkward week in teaching. Everytime I was told..."And now Ms. Garnet is going to teach the class...." I was first shocked and completely unprepared...and second I had no idea what they had done for most of the semester....no one thought to fill me in. There were a couple of awkward moments. I introduced "sparkle" to some of the classes to help them review vocabulary. That was fun! For those of you who don't know what "Sparkle" is...shame on you. We also started telling jokes, riddles, and learning hand jives. I will let you all know that I didn't start this....that was all Aurelio....but I did get a couple of students with some riddles. ;)
In the mornings we have started a new tradition that I like a lot and will cry when I have to leave. I usually show up to the library around 9-9:30 and read or prepare for class. Classes start at 10:30. Lately my 1st form students have been coming into the library and chatting with me. Now we read to eachother in the mornings. Their favorite book to read from is "Where the Sidewalk Ends." They love the poems and the library has two of that authors books so we take turns reading poems. I usually have a crows of 7-10 students listening in. It's so much fun!!
Another highlight was on Thursday night. The 4th formers are learning about debating and also about the land rights issue that is huge here in Belize. The 4th formers were given the assignment to write a speech as if they were going to address the cabinet on the land rights issue. They are also having a mock court case on the land rights issue here at Tumul Kin. I was picked to help out the side of the government....gulp! The 4th formers are on the side of the Belizean people. It was a lot of fun to watch the students and this coming Wednesday we are cross examining witnesses....I hope they take it easy on me! I'm a "famous" historian who knows all about the history of Belize....yeah it's hard to BS my way through this.
On saturday, instead of culture night we had presentations. Before dinner all the specialty classes showed what they had learned or made throughout the year so far. They showed off their jippy jappa baskets, their kuxtal (bags), the performing arts danced for us, and the marimba class all played different tunes. It was a lot of fun. After dinner I told a riddle to Ms. Heather and Mr. Pablo (Ac. Dir.) just to pass the time, before I knew it I had 15 students trying to figure out the riddle too! Before they could answer the 3rd formers gave presentations on the Queqchi, Mopan, and Yucetan Maya. These are the three Maya cultures that are present in Belize. It was so interesting! My favorite part was learning about the courting rituals. Mr. Pablo told us that if a young man wanted to marry a girl he had to go out into the jungle with her father and uncles and chop wood. They would call him "pig" and if he couldn't keep up with the chopping they would eventually pen him in with all the wood they would chop, like a pig! It was so funny to watch some of the boy's faces when they heard this! At the end of everything Mr. Pablo finally figured out the riddle....hahaha.
Saturday started the testing for English, it was the composition section. After that they all had testing everyday. I supervised a couple of tests for Mr. Pablo so he could go to meetings. Some of the students got to experience my "angry teacher" face during testing. Biggest pet peeve as a teacher; when students talk during a test! So I scared a few students and then all was peaceful in the land. On Tuesday night the boys wanted to learn spoons but come to find out that no one had a deck of cards...gah! So we decided on Monopoly. Holy Cow!! The boys really got into it! They were buying hotels and houses left and right! I don't know about you....but we usually never get that far! There was yelling, bagging, bargoning....so funny! Two of the teachers came to watch and were wiping their eyes they were laughing so hard. I had one student in the hole with the bank by over $3500! The rest of the students watched "white chicks" but we stuck with Monopoly.
On Wednesday I woke up, went to the library and came across a bunch of the boys clearing out this land right next to the snack shop! It was crazy...no worries I got pictures. All the girls stood on the sidelines while the boys hacked, raked, and threw debre everywhere! I'm sure it's good frustration management but I get super nervous seeing some of those students swinging machet's everywhere! After watching for a bit I did some planning....don't know if that will help, and then played more Monopoly after lunch! The boys really enjoy the game! I was just banker this time around. Then I went to the caves with my student Melisa and just relaxed in the water all afternoon....it was a hot day! When I got back the boys wanted to play again but we had no where to set up. So we waited until the commons area was free and set up. Half way through we all made dinner. Ms. Nat (the cook) left along with most of the other students. The only students still at Tumul Kin are either leaving on Thursday or stay at Tumul Kin. Usually they live a long ways away and it's cheaper for them to just stay at school. I got to help make flour tortilla's and help bake them! It was fun! Then we sat down and played Monopoly! I left at 10:30 and they were still going! It was down to just two boys and myself...I had 4 hotels! Two boys got knocked out. Too much fun!
On Saturday I have parent teacher conferences, Sunday going to the keys with the other teachers, and Monday I'm being observed by a supervisor (which may blow up since I don't really teach a lot....gulp!) Wish me luck all around!
That's about it for now. Yay for my cousin Jess who is getting married on Valentines Day! Happy Valentines Day to everyone...hope you eat a bunch of chocolate for me :D
Family: Need to know plans...email me or whatever. I lied...I get done on Feb. 25...so I'll going to make plans unless I hear different from you. Communication people!!
Love and Kisses to all...hope everyone is well and I hear you got a bunch of ice....dang....that sucks.... :evil smile on my face: Keep your chins up!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Schinanigans
OK I know that the title isn't spelled right but I also know that spell check wouldn't be able to figure it out so....there. I hope you all enjoyed my pictures! It takes forever to put them up so this will have to do for now. I wish I could put pictures of me and my students but I think it's not allowed so you'll all have to use your imaginations.
This week was awesome when it comes to student interaction, not so much with the teaching but hey what can you do. On Thursday, I believe, I was walking home after classes with some students when I saw one of my boy students shimming up a coconut tree.... I mean he just climbed right on up there! It was awesome to watch. He chucked down a few coconuts and they graciously offered me one. I looked at the thing and said, "OK exactly what am I supposed to do with this?" They replied, "You drink it miss!" I said, "Yeah, OK, how?" Mind you we are just talking about a regular coconut, fresh off of the tree. They replied, "You break it open and drink it miss.." I said, "Ah...and how am I supposed to go about breaking this thing open?" They said, "With a machet (machetti for those Americans that may not put it together)" This was said like I was the dumbest person in the world. "Yeah...I get that but I unfortunately forgot my machet back in Minnesota...the airlines really don't like it when you bring giant knifes on the plane." They all thought I was hilarious and they cut it open for me. I had fresh coconut juice with the boys and then they sliced it in half and we had the soft inner goodness too. It was awesome! During that time we all talked about movies and some of these students can quote movies nearly as well as I can....:tear: I was so proud! They would definitely fit right on in at home ;)
Then after dinner I stuck around to hear marimba practice. These three boys always play the marimba after dinner. I stuck around and hung out with some other boys that wanted to stay and we all laughed, and talked about Minnesota. They taught me, sort of, their national anthem and another dance called Sapatiado. It was great! On the way walking home they kept warning me about Tata Duende. I asked who that was and they told me that he is an evil little man that likes to steal kids while they are walking home in the dark at night. Now I've heard that he either smells really good or like garbage right before he kidnaps people, so I'm prepared either way. It's fun to hear, everynight when I go home, someone warning me about Tata Duende. Pablo has a cute little figurine of him at home, I need to find one!
On Saturday the students decided that they wanted to read a poem for cultural night. It's called "Sonneys Lettah" and it's in creole. We found it in this Belizian book of poetry and short stories. It's great! The students decided that they wanted to act it out too, so we choreographed that! Too much fun! I also taught them spoons and we had a tournament, I was sadly beaten...dangit!
The students are all expressing an interest in learning hip hop so they had their first lesson today and they have decided that it's a lot harder than it looks but what to keep going. We are supposedly performing next culture night...we'll see.
At culture night this week, the 2nd form put on this cute presentation of the Yucatan culture. Then the 1st form acted out a story about Ananci the spider. Ananci is a collection of child stories. It was too cute and super funny! Then the 3rds performed the poem and I got to be a cop, woot! Thank God for my acting background....hahahaha. The last event was that the 1st form boys performed this fire dance, where they were swinging and twirling sticks with fire at the end. I was so nervous but it went off without a hitch and they did super well! Pablo put on rave sort of music and in a weird way it looked sort of like a rave with the fire and the pitch black night.
On Sunday I danced all morning in the performing arts class and played frisbee all afternoon with some students. At one point we were playing frisbee and football all at the same time...weird I know but we pulled it off! It was super hot and we all decided to go down to the river to go for a swim. I "slipped" into the water and I had three students yelling that they would save me....bah! What funny guys...LOL.....That water was fabulous! The boys were whining that the water was cold and I told them they hadn't experienced cold till they tried Lake Superior. I was just weird cause I wasn't cold. Along the river people sell crafts so I browsed with the students and just hung out, it was a good day!
Preparing to leave for PG on Wednesday, I left with Don Victor but I had to ride in the back of the pick up with the marimba. It was so much fun!! One of my students was convinced that I was going to die, riding in the back of a pick up?... and I had to remind him I wasn't made of glass and I had done this before....dork. It was so much fun, by the end of the drive I looked like Bridget Jones when she gets done in a certain convertible ride, but it was worth it. Wind in my hair, warm air swirling around me, and very few bugs to eat...perfect! It was great to be back in PG and all we did Thursday was sit in the sun and soak it all up....ahhh wonderful!
This post is sort of short and sweet and just highlights from the rest of the week I've had. I write more about the weekend when it's done :D Yay for the superbowl on Sunday! We are all heading out to a party at the Reef Bar to celebrate!
OK parentals. The clan is trying to make plans so I need to know what you are thinking for visiting. I may be in Guatemala when you decide to come out and how am I supposed to meet up with you....no cell phones and internet isn't exactly reliable. SO! Let's try to set this up. Please. Congrats to Nick with his goal and to the BW Blades and their 1st place! I wish I could have been there!!
Nick: also I have a student and we had a huge conversation about fishing, hunting, and videogames. You two should really meet! Though he speaks in creole half the time and it takes me a bit to figure out what he's trying to say. Cool kid. I wish you could come and visit me!
Dave: you should definitely check out ticket prices. Belize is beautiful!! I'm sure if you asked Cait she would let you know about travel plans and you could probably bop around with if you would like. I don't know, check it out.
My students really want to meet my friends and family so if anyone would like to visit during spring break, the students all say, "Come On Down!" LOL they are too funny! Hope all is well with all of you. I miss you and love you all!
This week was awesome when it comes to student interaction, not so much with the teaching but hey what can you do. On Thursday, I believe, I was walking home after classes with some students when I saw one of my boy students shimming up a coconut tree.... I mean he just climbed right on up there! It was awesome to watch. He chucked down a few coconuts and they graciously offered me one. I looked at the thing and said, "OK exactly what am I supposed to do with this?" They replied, "You drink it miss!" I said, "Yeah, OK, how?" Mind you we are just talking about a regular coconut, fresh off of the tree. They replied, "You break it open and drink it miss.." I said, "Ah...and how am I supposed to go about breaking this thing open?" They said, "With a machet (machetti for those Americans that may not put it together)" This was said like I was the dumbest person in the world. "Yeah...I get that but I unfortunately forgot my machet back in Minnesota...the airlines really don't like it when you bring giant knifes on the plane." They all thought I was hilarious and they cut it open for me. I had fresh coconut juice with the boys and then they sliced it in half and we had the soft inner goodness too. It was awesome! During that time we all talked about movies and some of these students can quote movies nearly as well as I can....:tear: I was so proud! They would definitely fit right on in at home ;)
Then after dinner I stuck around to hear marimba practice. These three boys always play the marimba after dinner. I stuck around and hung out with some other boys that wanted to stay and we all laughed, and talked about Minnesota. They taught me, sort of, their national anthem and another dance called Sapatiado. It was great! On the way walking home they kept warning me about Tata Duende. I asked who that was and they told me that he is an evil little man that likes to steal kids while they are walking home in the dark at night. Now I've heard that he either smells really good or like garbage right before he kidnaps people, so I'm prepared either way. It's fun to hear, everynight when I go home, someone warning me about Tata Duende. Pablo has a cute little figurine of him at home, I need to find one!
On Saturday the students decided that they wanted to read a poem for cultural night. It's called "Sonneys Lettah" and it's in creole. We found it in this Belizian book of poetry and short stories. It's great! The students decided that they wanted to act it out too, so we choreographed that! Too much fun! I also taught them spoons and we had a tournament, I was sadly beaten...dangit!
The students are all expressing an interest in learning hip hop so they had their first lesson today and they have decided that it's a lot harder than it looks but what to keep going. We are supposedly performing next culture night...we'll see.
At culture night this week, the 2nd form put on this cute presentation of the Yucatan culture. Then the 1st form acted out a story about Ananci the spider. Ananci is a collection of child stories. It was too cute and super funny! Then the 3rds performed the poem and I got to be a cop, woot! Thank God for my acting background....hahahaha. The last event was that the 1st form boys performed this fire dance, where they were swinging and twirling sticks with fire at the end. I was so nervous but it went off without a hitch and they did super well! Pablo put on rave sort of music and in a weird way it looked sort of like a rave with the fire and the pitch black night.
On Sunday I danced all morning in the performing arts class and played frisbee all afternoon with some students. At one point we were playing frisbee and football all at the same time...weird I know but we pulled it off! It was super hot and we all decided to go down to the river to go for a swim. I "slipped" into the water and I had three students yelling that they would save me....bah! What funny guys...LOL.....That water was fabulous! The boys were whining that the water was cold and I told them they hadn't experienced cold till they tried Lake Superior. I was just weird cause I wasn't cold. Along the river people sell crafts so I browsed with the students and just hung out, it was a good day!
Preparing to leave for PG on Wednesday, I left with Don Victor but I had to ride in the back of the pick up with the marimba. It was so much fun!! One of my students was convinced that I was going to die, riding in the back of a pick up?... and I had to remind him I wasn't made of glass and I had done this before....dork. It was so much fun, by the end of the drive I looked like Bridget Jones when she gets done in a certain convertible ride, but it was worth it. Wind in my hair, warm air swirling around me, and very few bugs to eat...perfect! It was great to be back in PG and all we did Thursday was sit in the sun and soak it all up....ahhh wonderful!
This post is sort of short and sweet and just highlights from the rest of the week I've had. I write more about the weekend when it's done :D Yay for the superbowl on Sunday! We are all heading out to a party at the Reef Bar to celebrate!
OK parentals. The clan is trying to make plans so I need to know what you are thinking for visiting. I may be in Guatemala when you decide to come out and how am I supposed to meet up with you....no cell phones and internet isn't exactly reliable. SO! Let's try to set this up. Please. Congrats to Nick with his goal and to the BW Blades and their 1st place! I wish I could have been there!!
Nick: also I have a student and we had a huge conversation about fishing, hunting, and videogames. You two should really meet! Though he speaks in creole half the time and it takes me a bit to figure out what he's trying to say. Cool kid. I wish you could come and visit me!
Dave: you should definitely check out ticket prices. Belize is beautiful!! I'm sure if you asked Cait she would let you know about travel plans and you could probably bop around with if you would like. I don't know, check it out.
My students really want to meet my friends and family so if anyone would like to visit during spring break, the students all say, "Come On Down!" LOL they are too funny! Hope all is well with all of you. I miss you and love you all!
Pictures!
Here are some fun pictures of the group at the Reef Bar, takenthis Thursday. The woman in the picture below is Joan, she
owns the bar, is british, and a hoot!!
A few pics lower are from last night (Friday) the girl on the far right is Jen and it was her 25th birthday last night so we had to take her out. The picture of the water is the view of the pier from the Reef.
Below that are some pics from the group at the Maya Temple Lubaantun and the view from my window...jungle :) enjoy!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Weekend
Hey All!
Wow I can't believe how long it's been since I last wrote on here....almost a week! There hasn't been as much going on as the first week but still some fun highlights!
This weekend did not go as planned. We were supposed to go to Placencia but it rained all weekend! I first arrived in PG on Wednesday night. Don Victor, the schools community liason and also boy dorm "manager" gave me a lift into town...bless him! When we got into town I immediately saw Mr. Sershaw (came into town with Linda, my instructor from Duluth) and Andy. They pointed the way to Ellen and off we went. Eventually we ran into Ellen (man I love small towns) and we both headed to Kristina's so I could drop my stuff off. Along the way we talked about how teaching was going and comparing how our experiences were a like and different. It's a slight walk to Kristina's and by the time we got there my back was killing me! I had to bring my big backpack because I needed to do laundry before we headed out for the weekend. When we showed up Kristina came out and said,"I thought I recognized that voice.." Yeah I get that a lot! She didn't get my message that I was coming into town but she was super cool about it and I went to put my things inside. I also met Kristina's friend, Jen, who also graduated from Duluth and is living in PG with Kristina until April. So I got to chat with her for a bit, she's super nice! Ellen headed home and I went with Kristina to go have dinner with Linda. Kristina lived with Linda part of the time that she went to school in Duluth so they are pretty close. We went to dinner at the Mangrove and it's the best resturant in town!! It's super small and intimate but the food is to die for! We chatted and I asked Linda some questions I had about student teaching. After that we said goodbye to Linda, who was flying out tomorrow, and headed home for sleep. I was so confused for Thursday and Friday because I didn't really have anything to do! No school, while everyone else was, and no big assignments that needed to be done. On Thursday, after lots of debating and chatting, we decided to not go to Placencia. It was supposed to rain all weekend and we decided to save our money and spend it when it was going to be a nice weekend. Turned out to be a great decision. The rest of Thursday I did my laundry, ran some errands in town, and met with Ellen again to go over curriculum and compare and contrast. Also just to blow off steam...the whole "teaching out of a book" is driving us both a little batty.
Friday the big plan was to go to an Andy Palacino memorial concert. Before that I went into town to run some errands, by myself. It's so weird for me to be in a small town! I'm used to this tiny little village. And to walk around by myself and feel a little iffy about it. In Blue Creek I can wander anywhere and I'm fine but in PG it's a little different. I don't like that I can't walk around town and feel 100% safe...it's annoying. Anywho...getting back to the topic. Sam and Lana (two other teachers from Duluth) had some students involved in the concert. So they came and picked me up and we headed out to the concert. Andy Palacio was a native of Belize and brought Garifuna music to the world and to a completely new level. He died just last year I believe. So to start off the concert they held a traditional Garifuna opening ceremony. It symbolizes the welcoming of the crowd, along with the ancestors that went before us. It's beautiful! They use three giant drums and everyone is singing and moving in a circle. Tons of color! Then they did a candle light procession in honor of Andy Palacio and that was gorgeous as well! After that they had people performing poems or songs of Andy's, Sam and Lana's students read a cute poem. Other talked about Andy and performed some of his music. It was so great because out at Tumul Kin, it's centered around the Maya culture. I only have 4 Garifuna students and they are as Maya as they can get. It was fun for me to see the other major culture in Belize and see some of the Garifuna traditions. After the concert we headed to the groups new favorite hang out, the Reef Bar. It's so funny because there is a Reef Bar in Duluth as well, must be fate! The bar is owned by this crazy British woman who is a hoot! And her chef is amazing! It was a fun night of hanging out, talking about teaching, meeting some locals, and dancing some punta!
The rest of the weekend was kept in doors. Literally all we did Saturday was sit on the couch and watch movies...nothing else we could do in the rain. Sunday some of us met up that evening to have dinner at the Mangrove...YUM...and chat about what we might do after we're done teaching. We have a rough idea but we know it will probably change about 20 times before we have it down. I was super nervous about the bus ride home on Monday. I had to take a bus from PG to the "Dump" is what they call it and then from there hop onto another bus to Tumul Kin....yeah just a tad bit nervous. The bus left at 6 am, so I had to be up by 5 am to walk down there and be on the bus in time. It wasn't too bad but super cramped! I realized that I hadn't been on this type of bus for about 6 years...yeah it was kinda fun! Luckily Lydia (money lady)and Mrs. Natividad (cook) both were on the bus and they both work at Tumul Kin so I felt a lot better. The bus for Tumul Kin was almost an hour late! Lydia and I joked that it must have been my fault, we Minnesotan's brought the rain and now the bus was late! The students almost went home but the bus eventually came. Wheew! That was an adventure, let me tell you!
This week has been going pretty well so far. On Tuesday the 2nd Form students had a movie night to raise funds for a class trip. Obviously I went to support them and they were showing "Transporter 3" so I was definitely there! These kids appreciate movies almost as much as I do..:tear:..it's so great! I walked a student who lives in the village to and from and found out that she's a Bon Jovi fan! Yeah we are best buds now! The movie night was fun and it was hilarious because all the students were cold and I was sitting there going, "are you serious?!" One student, Irael, stole my sweatshirt for the night because he was freezing! I just had to laugh at them. He wouldn't give me my sweatshirt back until right before the boys dorm and I had to promise to give him my sweatshirt when I left. I spose! He's adorable. Then on Wednesday they finished up a softball game. It was so much fun to watch! They don't use gloves...at all...talk about hard core! The best was when they got frustrated at the umpire..or whatever...they all started yelling in three or four different languages! It was hilarious! I could only understand every 10 words because they are yelling in Queqchi, Mopan, Creole, Spanish, and English! I had a student, Mirium, sitting next to me and she's just screaming in Spanglish! Good times all around :D Yesturday went pretty well. The best part was that we have been interviewing the 3rd form students for "jobs" as practice for the "real world." They all have been doing so well and my two trouble students, that always tend to be on behavior contracts, aced the activity!! I was so proud I thought my face was going to split into two!! Yay them! They are starting to really get it :D The rest of the day I chilled in the library. That night though I watched a football game (they spell it the same as us, just different sport) with Pablo (acedemic director), Thomas (computer director) and Filiberto (1st form core teacher). It was Belize against Honduras. So funny!!! Belize lost 2-0 but it was fun to watch the game with native Belicians. There were no Maya men on the team and that's why Belize lost...apparently :D
I thought I would share some cool customs I've learned throughout the past week. I don't know if I've mentioned it but everytime someone leaves the table they say, "Thank you everyone." and that's towards anyone in the room, whether at school or at home. Also they say "good night" to mean good evening...that messed me up a few times. Also we noticed that all the Maya woman we met had these beautiful gold earings. I wondered if it was a tradition, or if the girls got them at a certain age or whatever. Apparently the tradition started that the grooms would give their wives earings instead of a ring. The earings symbolized that they were married. Then it was an heirloom that would be passed down to the youngest daughter. It's lost most of that now and you can buy them anywhere but I thought it was a cool tradition.
An interesting question that Ellen and I came up with while talking is if there was any support in the schools or communities for students who are gay. We learned a lot in our Human Relations class last semester ~Thanks Helen!~ and we are very curious. I have a lot of boys out here who like to target some students that they are "gay" and needless to say whenever they pull those behaviors around me I stop it pretty quickly. One student was considered gay because of his pants and I reassured the students that a persons pants does not regulate a persons sexuality. When I posed the question to a couple of people I found out that there is no support whatsoever to any students if they are gay. There is apparently a huge underground group but for the most part the students were on their own. That didn't surprise me but I am concerned for students. [ Helen if you have any advice or think I'm going about something wrong please let me know! Your wisdom is always welcome!]
My biggest challenge right now is my teacher. He just turned 23 and has had no teaching training what so ever. Because of this we tend to butt heads on how he runs his classroom and he is very apprehensive about giving me full access to teaching the classes. I really don't think I'll be able to fully teach any classes while I am here. I'm super frustrated most days and I know part of it is because he has had no training but I feel like all I'm learning is how to help him with techniques I already know. Everytime I try to ask him things or introduce something I am ignored and he rolls right over me. Needless to say I'm quite frustrated but I'm trying to look at his perspective and to get as much teaching in as possible...it's not always easy!
That's pretty much been my week so far! More will definitely come after this weekend. The internet has been something of a butthead right now and isn't working full force, it took me over an hour to just pull this page up to write my post! So in other news I will only be here for 8 weeks (two months) Linda wants me to experience other types of teaching and I support that but I feel like I'm going to just get into my groove and then I'm leaving. I feel unsettled because I'm going to put so much into it but it won't fully come together because I'm leaving so soon. And I'm missing Maya Day! Boo! So I will be back in the US by March 23. So family, even friends, come visit me because I'm free to do whatever from March 5-21! Let me know!
Miss you all a ton and I love reading your comments! Puts a big smile on my face! Oh cait...wonderful comments! I giggled a lot! Pretty sure my students think I'm nuts everytime I read my comments and giggle...it's not common I guess....Kisses to all! Stay warm...tehehe :D
Wow I can't believe how long it's been since I last wrote on here....almost a week! There hasn't been as much going on as the first week but still some fun highlights!
This weekend did not go as planned. We were supposed to go to Placencia but it rained all weekend! I first arrived in PG on Wednesday night. Don Victor, the schools community liason and also boy dorm "manager" gave me a lift into town...bless him! When we got into town I immediately saw Mr. Sershaw (came into town with Linda, my instructor from Duluth) and Andy. They pointed the way to Ellen and off we went. Eventually we ran into Ellen (man I love small towns) and we both headed to Kristina's so I could drop my stuff off. Along the way we talked about how teaching was going and comparing how our experiences were a like and different. It's a slight walk to Kristina's and by the time we got there my back was killing me! I had to bring my big backpack because I needed to do laundry before we headed out for the weekend. When we showed up Kristina came out and said,"I thought I recognized that voice.." Yeah I get that a lot! She didn't get my message that I was coming into town but she was super cool about it and I went to put my things inside. I also met Kristina's friend, Jen, who also graduated from Duluth and is living in PG with Kristina until April. So I got to chat with her for a bit, she's super nice! Ellen headed home and I went with Kristina to go have dinner with Linda. Kristina lived with Linda part of the time that she went to school in Duluth so they are pretty close. We went to dinner at the Mangrove and it's the best resturant in town!! It's super small and intimate but the food is to die for! We chatted and I asked Linda some questions I had about student teaching. After that we said goodbye to Linda, who was flying out tomorrow, and headed home for sleep. I was so confused for Thursday and Friday because I didn't really have anything to do! No school, while everyone else was, and no big assignments that needed to be done. On Thursday, after lots of debating and chatting, we decided to not go to Placencia. It was supposed to rain all weekend and we decided to save our money and spend it when it was going to be a nice weekend. Turned out to be a great decision. The rest of Thursday I did my laundry, ran some errands in town, and met with Ellen again to go over curriculum and compare and contrast. Also just to blow off steam...the whole "teaching out of a book" is driving us both a little batty.
Friday the big plan was to go to an Andy Palacino memorial concert. Before that I went into town to run some errands, by myself. It's so weird for me to be in a small town! I'm used to this tiny little village. And to walk around by myself and feel a little iffy about it. In Blue Creek I can wander anywhere and I'm fine but in PG it's a little different. I don't like that I can't walk around town and feel 100% safe...it's annoying. Anywho...getting back to the topic. Sam and Lana (two other teachers from Duluth) had some students involved in the concert. So they came and picked me up and we headed out to the concert. Andy Palacio was a native of Belize and brought Garifuna music to the world and to a completely new level. He died just last year I believe. So to start off the concert they held a traditional Garifuna opening ceremony. It symbolizes the welcoming of the crowd, along with the ancestors that went before us. It's beautiful! They use three giant drums and everyone is singing and moving in a circle. Tons of color! Then they did a candle light procession in honor of Andy Palacio and that was gorgeous as well! After that they had people performing poems or songs of Andy's, Sam and Lana's students read a cute poem. Other talked about Andy and performed some of his music. It was so great because out at Tumul Kin, it's centered around the Maya culture. I only have 4 Garifuna students and they are as Maya as they can get. It was fun for me to see the other major culture in Belize and see some of the Garifuna traditions. After the concert we headed to the groups new favorite hang out, the Reef Bar. It's so funny because there is a Reef Bar in Duluth as well, must be fate! The bar is owned by this crazy British woman who is a hoot! And her chef is amazing! It was a fun night of hanging out, talking about teaching, meeting some locals, and dancing some punta!
The rest of the weekend was kept in doors. Literally all we did Saturday was sit on the couch and watch movies...nothing else we could do in the rain. Sunday some of us met up that evening to have dinner at the Mangrove...YUM...and chat about what we might do after we're done teaching. We have a rough idea but we know it will probably change about 20 times before we have it down. I was super nervous about the bus ride home on Monday. I had to take a bus from PG to the "Dump" is what they call it and then from there hop onto another bus to Tumul Kin....yeah just a tad bit nervous. The bus left at 6 am, so I had to be up by 5 am to walk down there and be on the bus in time. It wasn't too bad but super cramped! I realized that I hadn't been on this type of bus for about 6 years...yeah it was kinda fun! Luckily Lydia (money lady)and Mrs. Natividad (cook) both were on the bus and they both work at Tumul Kin so I felt a lot better. The bus for Tumul Kin was almost an hour late! Lydia and I joked that it must have been my fault, we Minnesotan's brought the rain and now the bus was late! The students almost went home but the bus eventually came. Wheew! That was an adventure, let me tell you!
This week has been going pretty well so far. On Tuesday the 2nd Form students had a movie night to raise funds for a class trip. Obviously I went to support them and they were showing "Transporter 3" so I was definitely there! These kids appreciate movies almost as much as I do..:tear:..it's so great! I walked a student who lives in the village to and from and found out that she's a Bon Jovi fan! Yeah we are best buds now! The movie night was fun and it was hilarious because all the students were cold and I was sitting there going, "are you serious?!" One student, Irael, stole my sweatshirt for the night because he was freezing! I just had to laugh at them. He wouldn't give me my sweatshirt back until right before the boys dorm and I had to promise to give him my sweatshirt when I left. I spose! He's adorable. Then on Wednesday they finished up a softball game. It was so much fun to watch! They don't use gloves...at all...talk about hard core! The best was when they got frustrated at the umpire..or whatever...they all started yelling in three or four different languages! It was hilarious! I could only understand every 10 words because they are yelling in Queqchi, Mopan, Creole, Spanish, and English! I had a student, Mirium, sitting next to me and she's just screaming in Spanglish! Good times all around :D Yesturday went pretty well. The best part was that we have been interviewing the 3rd form students for "jobs" as practice for the "real world." They all have been doing so well and my two trouble students, that always tend to be on behavior contracts, aced the activity!! I was so proud I thought my face was going to split into two!! Yay them! They are starting to really get it :D The rest of the day I chilled in the library. That night though I watched a football game (they spell it the same as us, just different sport) with Pablo (acedemic director), Thomas (computer director) and Filiberto (1st form core teacher). It was Belize against Honduras. So funny!!! Belize lost 2-0 but it was fun to watch the game with native Belicians. There were no Maya men on the team and that's why Belize lost...apparently :D
I thought I would share some cool customs I've learned throughout the past week. I don't know if I've mentioned it but everytime someone leaves the table they say, "Thank you everyone." and that's towards anyone in the room, whether at school or at home. Also they say "good night" to mean good evening...that messed me up a few times. Also we noticed that all the Maya woman we met had these beautiful gold earings. I wondered if it was a tradition, or if the girls got them at a certain age or whatever. Apparently the tradition started that the grooms would give their wives earings instead of a ring. The earings symbolized that they were married. Then it was an heirloom that would be passed down to the youngest daughter. It's lost most of that now and you can buy them anywhere but I thought it was a cool tradition.
An interesting question that Ellen and I came up with while talking is if there was any support in the schools or communities for students who are gay. We learned a lot in our Human Relations class last semester ~Thanks Helen!~ and we are very curious. I have a lot of boys out here who like to target some students that they are "gay" and needless to say whenever they pull those behaviors around me I stop it pretty quickly. One student was considered gay because of his pants and I reassured the students that a persons pants does not regulate a persons sexuality. When I posed the question to a couple of people I found out that there is no support whatsoever to any students if they are gay. There is apparently a huge underground group but for the most part the students were on their own. That didn't surprise me but I am concerned for students. [ Helen if you have any advice or think I'm going about something wrong please let me know! Your wisdom is always welcome!]
My biggest challenge right now is my teacher. He just turned 23 and has had no teaching training what so ever. Because of this we tend to butt heads on how he runs his classroom and he is very apprehensive about giving me full access to teaching the classes. I really don't think I'll be able to fully teach any classes while I am here. I'm super frustrated most days and I know part of it is because he has had no training but I feel like all I'm learning is how to help him with techniques I already know. Everytime I try to ask him things or introduce something I am ignored and he rolls right over me. Needless to say I'm quite frustrated but I'm trying to look at his perspective and to get as much teaching in as possible...it's not always easy!
That's pretty much been my week so far! More will definitely come after this weekend. The internet has been something of a butthead right now and isn't working full force, it took me over an hour to just pull this page up to write my post! So in other news I will only be here for 8 weeks (two months) Linda wants me to experience other types of teaching and I support that but I feel like I'm going to just get into my groove and then I'm leaving. I feel unsettled because I'm going to put so much into it but it won't fully come together because I'm leaving so soon. And I'm missing Maya Day! Boo! So I will be back in the US by March 23. So family, even friends, come visit me because I'm free to do whatever from March 5-21! Let me know!
Miss you all a ton and I love reading your comments! Puts a big smile on my face! Oh cait...wonderful comments! I giggled a lot! Pretty sure my students think I'm nuts everytime I read my comments and giggle...it's not common I guess....Kisses to all! Stay warm...tehehe :D
Monday, January 12, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Having Fun!
Hey all!
The days are literally flying by! Hopefully this weekend I will get a visit from all the other student teachers that are in PG. Linda will be joining them. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked how long I will be teaching here. Everytime I say, "about two months." I see very long faces. When I mention four months I get a "good!"
Quick shout out: Every year Tumul Kin has a Maya Day. They put a lot of work into this celebration. Right now preparations have already begun and they are looking for sponsers to help with the financial end of things. It takes a lot of money to put together. The events go over 13 days, because 13 is a very important number in the Maya culture. If anyone knows anyone who would be interested please email me (mayox034@d.umn.edu) and I will send their official letter requesting their help.
So anywho...the days are flying by. I'm still not into my room that will be on campus. I will be living with Pablo and Roxanna. Pablo is the acedemic director and Roxanna is the farm director and also a vet. Both are very nice! Pablo keeps giving me looks when I talk about leaving....lol. The door is not yet fixed to my room so I'm still living with Aurelio and Esther. Their son, Otsille, has been sick the past couple of days so we have a very crabby two year old on our hands. He loves to watch "Spirit" from Disney. I must confess I'm a fan myself....now. I have found a family that appreciates movies as much as I do! Ah people after my own heart! Aurelio and I have already started to teach together and everyday I have been reading to the classes. I'll pick a poem or short story. They are loving it so far....lets hope it doesn't go out of style. Aurelio and Pablo have asked me to help them redue their English curriculum and to give as much feedback and advice as I can. Needless to say I'm a tad nervous but it seems to be going well so far.
The students have been awesome! First and third form are very energetic and love to talk...perfect! There is a lot of good energy coming out of those classes and they are progressing very well. Second form is a very small class, only four students. They are a quiet group but love to laugh! I think we will get along quit nicely and they are very bright. Fourth form is going to be the challenge. They are not enthused to be in English and tend to not say anything. No worries guys.....a few more days with me and they won't be able to stop talking. OH BONUS!! I already have some students hooked on William Wordsworth! Awesome!
That is it for now. Love to you all! Hollar to Helen! Hope it works next time!
The days are literally flying by! Hopefully this weekend I will get a visit from all the other student teachers that are in PG. Linda will be joining them. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked how long I will be teaching here. Everytime I say, "about two months." I see very long faces. When I mention four months I get a "good!"
Quick shout out: Every year Tumul Kin has a Maya Day. They put a lot of work into this celebration. Right now preparations have already begun and they are looking for sponsers to help with the financial end of things. It takes a lot of money to put together. The events go over 13 days, because 13 is a very important number in the Maya culture. If anyone knows anyone who would be interested please email me (mayox034@d.umn.edu) and I will send their official letter requesting their help.
So anywho...the days are flying by. I'm still not into my room that will be on campus. I will be living with Pablo and Roxanna. Pablo is the acedemic director and Roxanna is the farm director and also a vet. Both are very nice! Pablo keeps giving me looks when I talk about leaving....lol. The door is not yet fixed to my room so I'm still living with Aurelio and Esther. Their son, Otsille, has been sick the past couple of days so we have a very crabby two year old on our hands. He loves to watch "Spirit" from Disney. I must confess I'm a fan myself....now. I have found a family that appreciates movies as much as I do! Ah people after my own heart! Aurelio and I have already started to teach together and everyday I have been reading to the classes. I'll pick a poem or short story. They are loving it so far....lets hope it doesn't go out of style. Aurelio and Pablo have asked me to help them redue their English curriculum and to give as much feedback and advice as I can. Needless to say I'm a tad nervous but it seems to be going well so far.
The students have been awesome! First and third form are very energetic and love to talk...perfect! There is a lot of good energy coming out of those classes and they are progressing very well. Second form is a very small class, only four students. They are a quiet group but love to laugh! I think we will get along quit nicely and they are very bright. Fourth form is going to be the challenge. They are not enthused to be in English and tend to not say anything. No worries guys.....a few more days with me and they won't be able to stop talking. OH BONUS!! I already have some students hooked on William Wordsworth! Awesome!
That is it for now. Love to you all! Hollar to Helen! Hope it works next time!
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