Hey all....so this is a brief look at what we had to go through with in-service. So I had to fly into Bethel for our first in-service. The plane stopped in Quig...which is another village across the river...to pick up some more passengers. It ended up being a mom and her two daughters. They were saying good bye to their Dad and the two girls were crying like no other. Not going to lie, I teared up a bit. The mom and I chatted for the entire 45 min. flight about teaching (we're both teachers) and her telling me about the area. She worked as a guide for the fish camps for about 8 years so she was a well of knowledge!
When I got there I was picked up and brought to the district office to sign up for the teacher's union, get on pay roll, check that all my paperwork was in order, make sure I had my benefits lined up, and to get my new lab top :D By the end of it all I had the BIGGEST headache. I could hardly see straight. I chatted with a few teachers....you know...the whole awkward meeting new people situation. Finally I got to go to my hotel to get some ibprofin and take a mini nap. By the end of the night some of the new teachers sat outside to talk and I joined in and being ME made myself at home. That's were I met my new partner in crime...Amanda Frey.....who is also a new teacher in Kong.
The following days were full on information on the phase system for the curriculum, meeting new teachers, and getting to know the Yupik culture of our students. On the second night we got to go salmon fishing! It was amazing! I went with Amanda (new teacher) Eric (who is originally from the cities), Matt, and Capn Jeff. Tons of fun. Amanda had never really fished before and she got a big 'ol salmon! Good times. The best was that she didn't realize they have to bop the fish on the head to A. get them to stop wiggling around so they can get the hook out and B. to kill the fish. She was tramatized slightly and me being me....I laughed. :D The only other person that caught a fish was Capn Jeff. Amanda got to keep the fish so we were both excited to try that out when we got to go home to the village.
After three days of training Amanda and I headed back to the village. We came back to the village on a Thursday and had to go back to Bethel for more training on Monday. The whole time back we spent in our rooms trying to figure out our lives and decorate our rooms. We also cooked up the salmon and let me tell you.....fresh salmon is delicious! YUM YUM! Don't worry....I made sure to call Dad just so he knew that I was eating fresh salmon and he wasn't...tehe.
Then that Monday we went back into Bethel with all the staff and we got to meet all the staff at Kong. Training was exhausting but it was nice to see the other new teachers again and to get to know the new co-workers that are stuck with me for the next 9 months. Took a couple of classes on smart board, SIOP (don't ask) and bloggs. We also got to go to a fiddle dance. Let me tell you....there was NO fiddle but I did two step with a couple of elderly men. Yeah...that's right. Two stepping and waltzing. Gotta love it!
That's all the highlights of training. I'll continue with the village and the first week of school tomorrow. Promise.....I hope ;)
Love and miss you all. Wish you could be here to see the beauty of the tundra. It truely has been amazing so far. Coming up: first week of school, cross country (yeah!), throwing parties, and parent/teacher conferences. KISSES!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Photos from Belize
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you.
Hey all....this is a blast from the past...BUT a lot of my photos from Belize I saved in snapfish photos so now I'm sharing them with you! You can click on the link and look at the 500+ photos........perhaps browse is a better word for it. Enjoy! I know a lot of you have been asking and here they are....I'll put up the rest later.
Peace!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Dad's mini adventure :D
OK so I've neglected my blog....big shock....but I'm hoping to do better. It's been a crazy experience so far and it's bound to get even better.
Dad came out to the village with me and we both realized that I had no food whatsoever! None of my boxes showed up.....well not true. All my books did arrive. Which is important! BUT I can't eat them....so Dad and I had a bit of an issue. My principle is a saint and gave us some peanut butter ( I had a loaf of bread in my backpack.....don't ask) apples, and soup...which lead to a bowl as well cause I didn't have any! Let me tell you....it's a tad frustrating. My boxes are still somewhere....not where I am! I've been in the village since the first and no boxes yet. GAH! Any who....long story short....Dad and I had a wee bit of an adventure getting him home as well. Dad was supposed to leave on Sunday but the weather was not looking good. It was windy, rainy, etc. We sat in the school office for a couple of hours waiting for a plane to take him to Bethel but no one would land because of the conditions. Dad was a tad frustrated because he needed to get back to Anchorage....where some of his stuff was still at the hotel! and also to get on his flight home! We went to my place for a bit and watched "Meet the Fockers" (always a classic) and waiting. Then all of the sudden my principle was at my door saying a plane was landing in 5 minutes and that was the ONLY one for the rest of the day. Dad and I popped up and ran to the school....said goodbye....and Dad walked "briskly" to the airstrip, in the rain, hoping to catch a ride to Bethel.
My principle and I sat inside and watched Dad fly away. He got home safe and sound. He was supposed to leave Kong at 11:30 and wound up leaving around 6:30. Then I was on my own.....dun Dun DUN! (dramatic music...) actually it wasn't so bad. I put things away and started on lists of things I'm going to need (like FOOD) when I'm in Bethel, etc. The next day I went to Bethel for my first round of new teacher training in LKSD....woohoo!
OK that's my pre-training blog. I promise the training and more info on my village are coming! I need to get my pictures up-loaded, etc, etc. Love and kisses to all and you'll be reading more soon ;)
Dad came out to the village with me and we both realized that I had no food whatsoever! None of my boxes showed up.....well not true. All my books did arrive. Which is important! BUT I can't eat them....so Dad and I had a bit of an issue. My principle is a saint and gave us some peanut butter ( I had a loaf of bread in my backpack.....don't ask) apples, and soup...which lead to a bowl as well cause I didn't have any! Let me tell you....it's a tad frustrating. My boxes are still somewhere....not where I am! I've been in the village since the first and no boxes yet. GAH! Any who....long story short....Dad and I had a wee bit of an adventure getting him home as well. Dad was supposed to leave on Sunday but the weather was not looking good. It was windy, rainy, etc. We sat in the school office for a couple of hours waiting for a plane to take him to Bethel but no one would land because of the conditions. Dad was a tad frustrated because he needed to get back to Anchorage....where some of his stuff was still at the hotel! and also to get on his flight home! We went to my place for a bit and watched "Meet the Fockers" (always a classic) and waiting. Then all of the sudden my principle was at my door saying a plane was landing in 5 minutes and that was the ONLY one for the rest of the day. Dad and I popped up and ran to the school....said goodbye....and Dad walked "briskly" to the airstrip, in the rain, hoping to catch a ride to Bethel.
My principle and I sat inside and watched Dad fly away. He got home safe and sound. He was supposed to leave Kong at 11:30 and wound up leaving around 6:30. Then I was on my own.....dun Dun DUN! (dramatic music...) actually it wasn't so bad. I put things away and started on lists of things I'm going to need (like FOOD) when I'm in Bethel, etc. The next day I went to Bethel for my first round of new teacher training in LKSD....woohoo!
OK that's my pre-training blog. I promise the training and more info on my village are coming! I need to get my pictures up-loaded, etc, etc. Love and kisses to all and you'll be reading more soon ;)
Sunday, August 2, 2009
ALASKA!
Hey all! So Dad and I headed out to Alaska and it was an adventure! We left at around 8ish and it was a solid 5 hour and 15 min. flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage. The flight wasn't bad at all. Dad smoozed the airline and got an exit row seat so he could have leg room. Happiness ensued. Dad and I napped and read.
Once we landed we had a few issues finding a rental car. Dad wasn't quite sure if he rented a car or not so we went around to a bunch of the car rental places to see if we had a reservation or not.....slightly awkward. In the end we didn't so we had to get a cab. All the while we were dragging all our luggage around, which proved to be quite ridiculous and uncomfortable. We were sweating by the end of it. Finally we got to the hotel and took a few minutes to collect ourselves.
We went on walk about and took in downtown Anchorage. We made our way to JCPennys and took care of some things. Eventually we ended up in "Humpys" ......which is a nick name for the pink salmon.....sickos.....Anywho it was a funky bar/restaurant and dad and I enjoyed some nachoes and halibut. Good times. By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted! Dad fell asleep by 7:30 (10:30 ND time) I managed to stay up until 9:30...trying to acclimate.....and listened to Dad's snoring.
Day 2 involved getting a rental car and driving around Anchorage. Along the way we found a Wendys and Appleebees! Great town by our measure :P Dad and I got me set up at Sam's club and payed a butt ton of money to ship my food and all out to Kong. After that we stopped at Best Buy and dad harrassed them for a bit....cause he can....at one point the guy brought up google earth to help dad find a store.... :D Then we hit a sports apparel store. By the end of all that dad and I were very hungry. We finally found an A & W and enjoyed our lunch! We eventually went to a battery store to pick some things up for dad. We went back to the hotel to hang out for a bit. Later that night Dad and I decided to go to the movies and when we got there we had missed "Transformers" so we decided on "The Ugly Truth" Hilarious! Especially since I went with my dad!
Day 3 involved a road trip! Dad and I drove down to Seward to just experience the drive. It's gorgeous! We saw mountains, the ocean, glaciers....it was just incredible! When we got into town we putzed around, shopped a bit, and took in the sights. We saw some pictures of HUGE hallibut! HUGE I tell you! Then we grabbed some sandwiches and went back to Anchorage. It was about a 2 hour drive, so a fun travel day! After that we just packed and took it easy....we had to get up at 4am the next morning to head to Kong.
Day 4 Dad and I traveled to Kong. The airport was ridiculous and dad and I almost didn't get our coffee! That would have been bad for everyone! Once we got to Bethel.....we hit more chaos. It was a mad rush to get to the shuttle to take us to the other hanger for our flight to Kong. Once there it was getting into line.....waiting.....make reservations for the 5th time....waiting again. The flight to Kong was awesome! Small plane! It sat 4 all together (pilot included) It was loud but the view was too cool. The tundra is truely beautiful! Dad and I snapped some pics and tried to talk over the loud plane. Once we landed we met up with my principle. NICE GUY! He totally saved our lives. None of my food, clothing, etc have arrived yet. Yeah....none of it. So I had nothing....at all. My principle gave us some food, toilet paper, etc. Life saver! Dad and I unpacked what was there and got my house in order. Then we went over to the school to just take that in. Afterwards we watched movies and ate PB's...it was awesome!
Day 5 dad was supposed to leave at 11:30 but no one showed up. We wound up hanging out in the office for a couple of hours trying to find Dad another flight and figuring out if he'll make his flight back home tomorrow. It was pretty tense for a bit but he finally got out later in the day. It's been raining most of the day so he almost had to stay another night.
It's been an adventure so far and I'm leaving for Bethel for the training tomorrow....I have a feeling more good times are around the corner! :D
Once we landed we had a few issues finding a rental car. Dad wasn't quite sure if he rented a car or not so we went around to a bunch of the car rental places to see if we had a reservation or not.....slightly awkward. In the end we didn't so we had to get a cab. All the while we were dragging all our luggage around, which proved to be quite ridiculous and uncomfortable. We were sweating by the end of it. Finally we got to the hotel and took a few minutes to collect ourselves.
We went on walk about and took in downtown Anchorage. We made our way to JCPennys and took care of some things. Eventually we ended up in "Humpys" ......which is a nick name for the pink salmon.....sickos.....Anywho it was a funky bar/restaurant and dad and I enjoyed some nachoes and halibut. Good times. By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted! Dad fell asleep by 7:30 (10:30 ND time) I managed to stay up until 9:30...trying to acclimate.....and listened to Dad's snoring.
Day 2 involved getting a rental car and driving around Anchorage. Along the way we found a Wendys and Appleebees! Great town by our measure :P Dad and I got me set up at Sam's club and payed a butt ton of money to ship my food and all out to Kong. After that we stopped at Best Buy and dad harrassed them for a bit....cause he can....at one point the guy brought up google earth to help dad find a store.... :D Then we hit a sports apparel store. By the end of all that dad and I were very hungry. We finally found an A & W and enjoyed our lunch! We eventually went to a battery store to pick some things up for dad. We went back to the hotel to hang out for a bit. Later that night Dad and I decided to go to the movies and when we got there we had missed "Transformers" so we decided on "The Ugly Truth" Hilarious! Especially since I went with my dad!
Day 3 involved a road trip! Dad and I drove down to Seward to just experience the drive. It's gorgeous! We saw mountains, the ocean, glaciers....it was just incredible! When we got into town we putzed around, shopped a bit, and took in the sights. We saw some pictures of HUGE hallibut! HUGE I tell you! Then we grabbed some sandwiches and went back to Anchorage. It was about a 2 hour drive, so a fun travel day! After that we just packed and took it easy....we had to get up at 4am the next morning to head to Kong.
Day 4 Dad and I traveled to Kong. The airport was ridiculous and dad and I almost didn't get our coffee! That would have been bad for everyone! Once we got to Bethel.....we hit more chaos. It was a mad rush to get to the shuttle to take us to the other hanger for our flight to Kong. Once there it was getting into line.....waiting.....make reservations for the 5th time....waiting again. The flight to Kong was awesome! Small plane! It sat 4 all together (pilot included) It was loud but the view was too cool. The tundra is truely beautiful! Dad and I snapped some pics and tried to talk over the loud plane. Once we landed we met up with my principle. NICE GUY! He totally saved our lives. None of my food, clothing, etc have arrived yet. Yeah....none of it. So I had nothing....at all. My principle gave us some food, toilet paper, etc. Life saver! Dad and I unpacked what was there and got my house in order. Then we went over to the school to just take that in. Afterwards we watched movies and ate PB's...it was awesome!
Day 5 dad was supposed to leave at 11:30 but no one showed up. We wound up hanging out in the office for a couple of hours trying to find Dad another flight and figuring out if he'll make his flight back home tomorrow. It was pretty tense for a bit but he finally got out later in the day. It's been raining most of the day so he almost had to stay another night.
It's been an adventure so far and I'm leaving for Bethel for the training tomorrow....I have a feeling more good times are around the corner! :D
Friday, July 17, 2009
New Adventure
Hello Hello!
So the rest of Belize was family time....But I did swim with a BULL SHARK while snorkling with my dad later on in the week.....intense man...INTENSE!!
The blog is still going to continue but I am back from Belize and am now preparing to teach in Alaska. I accepted a position to teach in Kongiganak Village, in Alaska. The population is around 425 people and I'm so excited to see what new adventures I will encounter at this new school. My Dad and I are heading to Anchorage on July 29th to pick up supplies and will be in the village on August 1.
I hope you are as excited as I am for this new adventure! It's gonna be good!!
So the rest of Belize was family time....But I did swim with a BULL SHARK while snorkling with my dad later on in the week.....intense man...INTENSE!!
The blog is still going to continue but I am back from Belize and am now preparing to teach in Alaska. I accepted a position to teach in Kongiganak Village, in Alaska. The population is around 425 people and I'm so excited to see what new adventures I will encounter at this new school. My Dad and I are heading to Anchorage on July 29th to pick up supplies and will be in the village on August 1.
I hope you are as excited as I am for this new adventure! It's gonna be good!!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Islands..to inland...and back again :D
Hey All!
Oker it's been a super long time since I've blogged so hang in there...but tons of awesome stuff has been going down!!
Well Ellen, Eric, and I showed up in San Pedro and went to Ruby's Hotel....not the classiest place in the world but it worked. After we checked in we went to look for food right away! We were starving! After that we lounged around on the beach for a bit and hung around in our room. I was hoping for a hot shower but low and behold....NO HOT WATER! After two solid months of cold showers, and then one hot shower in San Ignacio...I was ticked....I was teased by that one shower! We also didn't have a TV like in San Ignacio so we found up writing short stories to read to one another (wow we are nerdy English teachers) and told each other our favorite legends, etc. It was a nerd evening to be sure but we kept ourselves entertained. That day was election day and at 2 am that morning we heard a huge parade going through town declaring and celebrating the winner....GAH! Those of you that know me know that I hate politics and it was ironic that I escaped the US stuff just to land in it in Belize...2 am parade...not cool. The next day was a laze around day and we just explored the island and did a little bit of shopping. I walked around the island and made friends with some locals that I met, Ellen and Eric chilled on the beach. We met up for burgers and then signed up for snorkeling. The rest of the day basically just involved chilling on the beach and drinking at this awesome place called La Playa....super sweet bar right on the beach with big couches to hang around on. We had dinner at the Reef Restaurant and had another nerd night by contemplating the new Star Wars movies to the older ones....WOW!
OK the best day happened on Friday. We woke up and it was pretty crappy looking outside and we were supposed to go snorkeling at 2....eeekkk!! Well we went to breakfast and hung around town for a bit hoping for sunshine....and it came! We set out for snorkeling as planned. We went to Hol Chan and Shark and Ray alley! I can't even desribe what we saw...it was sooo awesome! At Hol Chan we saw three eagle rays....so beautiful! Two sea turtles...CRUSH! and tons of other awesome fish! At the end we get to just float around and explore by ourselves. Ellen and I were looking at some coral when I look down and there is a 5 ft. moray eel just sitting right below me....GAH! It was sooo cool! After that we went to Shark and Ray alley. We got there and as soon as the boat was parked we saw a big nurse shark come up to the surface....Eric wasn't too excited to get into the water. The guide chummed the water and we had 3 nurse sharks swimming around and about 5 southern sting rays chilling too. One sting ray was over 5 ft. wide...it was HUGE! The guide brought it right up to us with some fish he had and we got to touch it. Ellen was doing some pretty sweet matrix moves to avoid the stingrays's tail...teheh :D
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and we spent the rest of the night hanging out, reading, and just recaping the experience so far. On Saturday Eric left to go home and Ellen and I headed out for Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is very different from San Pedro....way more relaxed and I think has a friendlier vibe. We checked into Tina's Backpackers Hostel and if you're looking for a cheap place to stay in Caye Caulker....this is it! $10 US a night!! Super funky place too! When we got there, there were mostly people from Germany and Sweden hanging out. It's a great place to meet people. Ellen and I spent the next two days literally sitting on the dock or hammock, reading and talking about our teaching experience and what it will be like to go back to America....we're not looking forward to it...
After a couple of days we were feeling isolated and were not used to just doing basically nothing. We both realized pretty fast that we are not made to be beach bums. So we planned out a trip back to the mainland, specifically Belmopan. So on Monday we headed back to the mainland and after a boat ride and bus ride we wound up in Belmopan, the capitol of Belize. It was a holiday so we had a little difficulty finding a hotel. We wound up at this Chinese hotel and it was....special. We had a room that looked like a prison cell and Ellen and I were both convinced we wouldn't live to see tomorrow...it was so shady... Our taxi driver was the nicest guy and he drove us to the hotel and then drove us to the internet cafe and to a pizza place....such a sweetie! That night we washed our clothes in the sink....super ghetto! It was so funny...Ellen washed hers in the shower...I do believe that it was not really doing that much in the clean area but I didn't argue with her. We got our first hot shower since San Ignacio so for that I loved the hotel. It was so funny staying there and the owners wife yelled all day....just was yelling...in mandarin so Lord knows what she was saying....it was definitely an experience.
Ellen and I called our trusty tour guide, Jiovan, so take us to the ATM cave (Actun Tunichil Muknal) It looked super cool and we wanted to do it. So on Tuesday we got up early and met Jiovan. While eating breakfast he mentioned that we may be taking the tour with some other tourist...no problem for Ellen and I. The night before I was freaking out because Ellen was leaving on Wednesday and I was supposed to meet up with Sam and Lana (two other teachers) but they hadn't emailed me to let me know where they were at....so I could be by myself in Belize for almost a week....NOT good things. So we drive to the half way point to meet up with the other tourists. We walk to the other van and when we opened the door there were Sam and Lana!!!! How crazy is that!!! Fate is a funny fellow! We also met Sam's friend Mike and Lana's boyfriend Eric. The ATM cave was insane! We hiked for an hour, crossing three rivers...intense! Then we got to the cave and hiked, swam through this cave. I mean it was climbing through cracks in the walls and all these rock formations around us. At a certain point we had to put socks on and we saw actual pottery and human remains from thousands of years ago.....TOO COOL! There was a perfect skeleton on the top of this ridge, perfectly preserved, of an 18 yr. old girl. This is by far the coolest thing I've experienced while traveling!! On the way back our guide poked at a termite nest and we ate some termites...they taste exactly like carrots!! Too weird!
That experience took almost all day, we left at 8 and came back to Belmopan at 5. Then Ellen and I packed up and took another bus to San Ignacio. Sam and Lana were staying there and I needed to go there to meet up with them so off we went. That night Ellen and I checked into another special hotel and ate a great Italian dinner, Sam and Lana recommended the place. We were supposed to meet up with the girls later on in the evening but we couldn't find them. Turns out that they fell asleep...LOL. The next day we were heading out to Tikal, in Guatemala. That morning we all got up and had a farewell breakfast with Ellen at Pops. The two best places to eat in San Ignacio are Helens and Pops!
After saying goodbye to Ellen we drove off to the Guatemala border. After getting across we found a guy to drive us to Tikal and back. The drive to Tikal was two hours of very bumpy road but we were in a super comfortable van so it wasn't too bad. We found a tour guide and off we went. Tikal is an AMAZING maya temple in Guatemala! So beautiful and big!! We only saw about 20% of the city and only 70% is actually excavated! So cool! We climbed up one of the temples and when you looked out you could see jungle and the tallest temples peeking out of the jungle :D We also saw toucans and howler monkeys!! :D :D Lots of climbing up and down temples. After that we had lunch and our guide took us Flores Guatemala, that is like an island and the capital of that department. Flores we beautiful and we did some fun shopping! It kinda reminded me of Italy in a way...though they speak Spanish which was different for me coming from Belize. Highly recommend going to Flores Guatemala. We got back to San Ignacio pretty late, like 8:30 - 9, and we found food and then went directly to bed...it was a LONG day :D
The next day we headed out for Caye Caulker. We took a bus first to the Belize Zoo. It is a super funky zoo and if you have little ones I would recommend it. You see a lot of popular animals from Belize and it's in a fun jungle setting. We saw a Harpy Eagle and that bird is BIG!! Crazy looking but very beautiful. There are only 6 or so left in Belize, very endangered. After the zoo we headed to Belize City and caught a water taxi to Caye Caulker.
This is were the fun begins. We had a lot of difficulty finding a room for 5 people....everything was super expensive and none of the hostels could hold us. So after a bit we just checked in at the Rainbow hotel. Throughout all of our looking we had this guy, Bobby, offering us this house for $25 bz per person. We thought he was full of crap and told him no but he is a very persistant guy. After following us for like an hour and a half we finally told him "OK Bobby, we'll look at the house after dinner." Turns out the house is amazing and we rented it for two nights, after our first night. After dinner and looking at the house we went to sing Kareokee...and it was fun. I had to end the night early because my knee was killing me.
The next day we hung around the island and swam at the wedge, which is the local hang out. We also moved into our house, too cool. We ran into another teacher, Eddie! The world is so weird, and hung out with him as well. The island life is pretty fun when you have a group of people. We have just been relaxing and taking it easy. :D It's a tough life all around.
I think that's enough for one blog. I hope everyone is doing well back home and I'll be home in about a week....Yay....and boo all at the same time. Love and hugz to everyone and I'll write again soon!
Oker it's been a super long time since I've blogged so hang in there...but tons of awesome stuff has been going down!!
Well Ellen, Eric, and I showed up in San Pedro and went to Ruby's Hotel....not the classiest place in the world but it worked. After we checked in we went to look for food right away! We were starving! After that we lounged around on the beach for a bit and hung around in our room. I was hoping for a hot shower but low and behold....NO HOT WATER! After two solid months of cold showers, and then one hot shower in San Ignacio...I was ticked....I was teased by that one shower! We also didn't have a TV like in San Ignacio so we found up writing short stories to read to one another (wow we are nerdy English teachers) and told each other our favorite legends, etc. It was a nerd evening to be sure but we kept ourselves entertained. That day was election day and at 2 am that morning we heard a huge parade going through town declaring and celebrating the winner....GAH! Those of you that know me know that I hate politics and it was ironic that I escaped the US stuff just to land in it in Belize...2 am parade...not cool. The next day was a laze around day and we just explored the island and did a little bit of shopping. I walked around the island and made friends with some locals that I met, Ellen and Eric chilled on the beach. We met up for burgers and then signed up for snorkeling. The rest of the day basically just involved chilling on the beach and drinking at this awesome place called La Playa....super sweet bar right on the beach with big couches to hang around on. We had dinner at the Reef Restaurant and had another nerd night by contemplating the new Star Wars movies to the older ones....WOW!
OK the best day happened on Friday. We woke up and it was pretty crappy looking outside and we were supposed to go snorkeling at 2....eeekkk!! Well we went to breakfast and hung around town for a bit hoping for sunshine....and it came! We set out for snorkeling as planned. We went to Hol Chan and Shark and Ray alley! I can't even desribe what we saw...it was sooo awesome! At Hol Chan we saw three eagle rays....so beautiful! Two sea turtles...CRUSH! and tons of other awesome fish! At the end we get to just float around and explore by ourselves. Ellen and I were looking at some coral when I look down and there is a 5 ft. moray eel just sitting right below me....GAH! It was sooo cool! After that we went to Shark and Ray alley. We got there and as soon as the boat was parked we saw a big nurse shark come up to the surface....Eric wasn't too excited to get into the water. The guide chummed the water and we had 3 nurse sharks swimming around and about 5 southern sting rays chilling too. One sting ray was over 5 ft. wide...it was HUGE! The guide brought it right up to us with some fish he had and we got to touch it. Ellen was doing some pretty sweet matrix moves to avoid the stingrays's tail...teheh :D
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and we spent the rest of the night hanging out, reading, and just recaping the experience so far. On Saturday Eric left to go home and Ellen and I headed out for Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is very different from San Pedro....way more relaxed and I think has a friendlier vibe. We checked into Tina's Backpackers Hostel and if you're looking for a cheap place to stay in Caye Caulker....this is it! $10 US a night!! Super funky place too! When we got there, there were mostly people from Germany and Sweden hanging out. It's a great place to meet people. Ellen and I spent the next two days literally sitting on the dock or hammock, reading and talking about our teaching experience and what it will be like to go back to America....we're not looking forward to it...
After a couple of days we were feeling isolated and were not used to just doing basically nothing. We both realized pretty fast that we are not made to be beach bums. So we planned out a trip back to the mainland, specifically Belmopan. So on Monday we headed back to the mainland and after a boat ride and bus ride we wound up in Belmopan, the capitol of Belize. It was a holiday so we had a little difficulty finding a hotel. We wound up at this Chinese hotel and it was....special. We had a room that looked like a prison cell and Ellen and I were both convinced we wouldn't live to see tomorrow...it was so shady... Our taxi driver was the nicest guy and he drove us to the hotel and then drove us to the internet cafe and to a pizza place....such a sweetie! That night we washed our clothes in the sink....super ghetto! It was so funny...Ellen washed hers in the shower...I do believe that it was not really doing that much in the clean area but I didn't argue with her. We got our first hot shower since San Ignacio so for that I loved the hotel. It was so funny staying there and the owners wife yelled all day....just was yelling...in mandarin so Lord knows what she was saying....it was definitely an experience.
Ellen and I called our trusty tour guide, Jiovan, so take us to the ATM cave (Actun Tunichil Muknal) It looked super cool and we wanted to do it. So on Tuesday we got up early and met Jiovan. While eating breakfast he mentioned that we may be taking the tour with some other tourist...no problem for Ellen and I. The night before I was freaking out because Ellen was leaving on Wednesday and I was supposed to meet up with Sam and Lana (two other teachers) but they hadn't emailed me to let me know where they were at....so I could be by myself in Belize for almost a week....NOT good things. So we drive to the half way point to meet up with the other tourists. We walk to the other van and when we opened the door there were Sam and Lana!!!! How crazy is that!!! Fate is a funny fellow! We also met Sam's friend Mike and Lana's boyfriend Eric. The ATM cave was insane! We hiked for an hour, crossing three rivers...intense! Then we got to the cave and hiked, swam through this cave. I mean it was climbing through cracks in the walls and all these rock formations around us. At a certain point we had to put socks on and we saw actual pottery and human remains from thousands of years ago.....TOO COOL! There was a perfect skeleton on the top of this ridge, perfectly preserved, of an 18 yr. old girl. This is by far the coolest thing I've experienced while traveling!! On the way back our guide poked at a termite nest and we ate some termites...they taste exactly like carrots!! Too weird!
That experience took almost all day, we left at 8 and came back to Belmopan at 5. Then Ellen and I packed up and took another bus to San Ignacio. Sam and Lana were staying there and I needed to go there to meet up with them so off we went. That night Ellen and I checked into another special hotel and ate a great Italian dinner, Sam and Lana recommended the place. We were supposed to meet up with the girls later on in the evening but we couldn't find them. Turns out that they fell asleep...LOL. The next day we were heading out to Tikal, in Guatemala. That morning we all got up and had a farewell breakfast with Ellen at Pops. The two best places to eat in San Ignacio are Helens and Pops!
After saying goodbye to Ellen we drove off to the Guatemala border. After getting across we found a guy to drive us to Tikal and back. The drive to Tikal was two hours of very bumpy road but we were in a super comfortable van so it wasn't too bad. We found a tour guide and off we went. Tikal is an AMAZING maya temple in Guatemala! So beautiful and big!! We only saw about 20% of the city and only 70% is actually excavated! So cool! We climbed up one of the temples and when you looked out you could see jungle and the tallest temples peeking out of the jungle :D We also saw toucans and howler monkeys!! :D :D Lots of climbing up and down temples. After that we had lunch and our guide took us Flores Guatemala, that is like an island and the capital of that department. Flores we beautiful and we did some fun shopping! It kinda reminded me of Italy in a way...though they speak Spanish which was different for me coming from Belize. Highly recommend going to Flores Guatemala. We got back to San Ignacio pretty late, like 8:30 - 9, and we found food and then went directly to bed...it was a LONG day :D
The next day we headed out for Caye Caulker. We took a bus first to the Belize Zoo. It is a super funky zoo and if you have little ones I would recommend it. You see a lot of popular animals from Belize and it's in a fun jungle setting. We saw a Harpy Eagle and that bird is BIG!! Crazy looking but very beautiful. There are only 6 or so left in Belize, very endangered. After the zoo we headed to Belize City and caught a water taxi to Caye Caulker.
This is were the fun begins. We had a lot of difficulty finding a room for 5 people....everything was super expensive and none of the hostels could hold us. So after a bit we just checked in at the Rainbow hotel. Throughout all of our looking we had this guy, Bobby, offering us this house for $25 bz per person. We thought he was full of crap and told him no but he is a very persistant guy. After following us for like an hour and a half we finally told him "OK Bobby, we'll look at the house after dinner." Turns out the house is amazing and we rented it for two nights, after our first night. After dinner and looking at the house we went to sing Kareokee...and it was fun. I had to end the night early because my knee was killing me.
The next day we hung around the island and swam at the wedge, which is the local hang out. We also moved into our house, too cool. We ran into another teacher, Eddie! The world is so weird, and hung out with him as well. The island life is pretty fun when you have a group of people. We have just been relaxing and taking it easy. :D It's a tough life all around.
I think that's enough for one blog. I hope everyone is doing well back home and I'll be home in about a week....Yay....and boo all at the same time. Love and hugz to everyone and I'll write again soon!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Travel Time!
Oh boy! It's been a fun couple of days!
So on Sunday, Ellen, her fiance Eric, and I got on a bus at 6 am to travel to Belmopan and then eventually San Ignacio. We had to get up at 5 am to get ready, say goodbye and get to the bus stop. The bus ride took quite awhile. It wasn't an express bus so we stopped a lot! About every 20 min. the bus would stop to pick up or drop off. If we took an express bus we would have traveled directly to Belmopan. We stopped in Dangriga for a 10 min. break and then went to Belmopan. We got to Belmopan at around 11:30. When we got there we were supposed to call a guy called Giovani. He is a friend of Ellen's home stay brother Howard. They worked together and Giovani was supposed to hook us up with cave tubing and zip lining. We called him at Belmopan and he picked us up, along with his tour partner Dion. They are the best tour guides in Belize!!! If you ever come to Belize, especially the Cayo District or San Pedro...look these guys up!
They picked us up and for $150 US they drove us to the cave tubing/zip lining place, bought us drinks, they were our guides through the caves and zip lining, and drove us all the way to San Ignacio; they also helped us find a hotel and a place to eat that night. LOVE THEM!! They are too funny! Dion loved the fact that Eric flew over 2000 miles to propose to Ellen. They definitely kept us entertained all day.
Zip lining was a lot of fun and Ellen conquered her fear of heights....well sort of. There were howler monkeys earlier in the day but we missed them...typical. The guides were super funny as well. All around good time. Then the cave tubing. While hiking to the caves we all got into a conversation about food and by the end of it we were all starving!! We've eaten things like armadillo, iguana (can only be female!) cocao, caldo, king rat, etc. The basic rule down in Belize if the animal is breathing, they most likely will hunt and eat it! The water was pretty chilly going into the caves but no one got hurt ( sorry mom..tehe..) Dion was a great guide and we had fun looking at the bats and how they make their holes in the ceilings of the caves. When we got out of the caves it was raining..... :( .... so we were a tad cold. We searched out iguanas and talked to keep warm. It was fun though, good bonding experience. When we got done I was almost blue but all in all it was a good day. When we got into town we found a hotel call the Casablanca and again...if you come to San Ignacio....Casablanca hotel! It's $75...belize...per night. For three people, that breaks down to $15 US....HOLLAR!!! And decent rooms! Hot water! Great beds and clean! It's a great little hotel....go now!
Anyways....so we got to the hotel and at first we could only stay the one night. Well we are planning on staying in San Ignacio until Wednesday, we need a place for two more nights. Then we met up with Giovani and Dion at this awesome restaurant called Hoya's (I believe) great food! We all chatted for awhile, had a few Belikans...and relaxed. We terrified the guys but explaining some of the winter sports we do in Minnesota...their faces were priceless!! Dion is a semi professional soccer player and he's convinced that if he's asked to play in Minnesota...he's going to be sick that month...tehe. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and found out there were some cancellations so we get to stay at the hotel all three night! It's a good day!! I took my first HOT SHOWER in 2 months!!! Can't even describe how wonderful that felt!! Then we went to sleep pretty fast...it was a long day!
On Monday we met up with our amazing tour guides once more and headed out to Xunantunich and horseback riding. Xunantunich is the most beautiful Maya temple I've seen yet! It's huge! We climbed to the top of the highest temple, The Castillo, and it's 180 ft. high. Awesome view! You could see Guatemala from the top. That was so worth the trip! Then we went horseback riding in the rain forest. It was the best trail ride I have ever been on! We saw howler monkeys, tik tree...which are used to make yachts, and saber trees. The saber tree is said to hold up Belize and it keeps the heavens were they are supposed to be and the underworld where it's supposed to be. It's on the Belize national emblem. It was some pretty crazy riding and if you haven't rode horse before...don't go on this trail ride. It was at the Banana Boat resort and they also had a mini zoo! I saw a jaguar and it was less than 3ft away from me!!! So beautiful! They had spider monkeys just walking around the resort that you could feed and just watch. They also had tons of different birds. A little deer was also there and all Dion and Eric wanted to do was eat it.....silly boys....tricks are for kids.
The trail ride was so amazing and I got a beautiful horse named Rain Drop. Eric got Glenda, and Ellen got Rocky and she was mighty testy. Tried to knock Ellen off a few times, wasn't quite used to the trail yet. We went through mud, rivers, fields, etc. Crazy fun! Again we drove home and had some dinner with the guys and just hung out. It was another awesome day! We are so glad that Howard hooked us up with these guys and they are going to help us out at San Pedro as well. Again we only paid $150 US for both tours and the trail ride was at least and hour and a half. Bunch of travel time in between and they bought us lunch. Great deal all around :D
Today, Tuesday, is our rest day. We are planning on just exploring San Ignacio and relaxing. Slept in and took our time. Tomorrow Giovani is going to take us to Belize City to catch the ferry out to San Pedro. There we are relaxing and snorkeling....gonna be good!!!
Hope everyone is good back home and hopefully I can find an internet cafe there keep you guys posted! Stay warm...I know I am ;)
Love ya all and miss you! Only...what....14 days till I see la familia!! Excited!
So on Sunday, Ellen, her fiance Eric, and I got on a bus at 6 am to travel to Belmopan and then eventually San Ignacio. We had to get up at 5 am to get ready, say goodbye and get to the bus stop. The bus ride took quite awhile. It wasn't an express bus so we stopped a lot! About every 20 min. the bus would stop to pick up or drop off. If we took an express bus we would have traveled directly to Belmopan. We stopped in Dangriga for a 10 min. break and then went to Belmopan. We got to Belmopan at around 11:30. When we got there we were supposed to call a guy called Giovani. He is a friend of Ellen's home stay brother Howard. They worked together and Giovani was supposed to hook us up with cave tubing and zip lining. We called him at Belmopan and he picked us up, along with his tour partner Dion. They are the best tour guides in Belize!!! If you ever come to Belize, especially the Cayo District or San Pedro...look these guys up!
They picked us up and for $150 US they drove us to the cave tubing/zip lining place, bought us drinks, they were our guides through the caves and zip lining, and drove us all the way to San Ignacio; they also helped us find a hotel and a place to eat that night. LOVE THEM!! They are too funny! Dion loved the fact that Eric flew over 2000 miles to propose to Ellen. They definitely kept us entertained all day.
Zip lining was a lot of fun and Ellen conquered her fear of heights....well sort of. There were howler monkeys earlier in the day but we missed them...typical. The guides were super funny as well. All around good time. Then the cave tubing. While hiking to the caves we all got into a conversation about food and by the end of it we were all starving!! We've eaten things like armadillo, iguana (can only be female!) cocao, caldo, king rat, etc. The basic rule down in Belize if the animal is breathing, they most likely will hunt and eat it! The water was pretty chilly going into the caves but no one got hurt ( sorry mom..tehe..) Dion was a great guide and we had fun looking at the bats and how they make their holes in the ceilings of the caves. When we got out of the caves it was raining..... :( .... so we were a tad cold. We searched out iguanas and talked to keep warm. It was fun though, good bonding experience. When we got done I was almost blue but all in all it was a good day. When we got into town we found a hotel call the Casablanca and again...if you come to San Ignacio....Casablanca hotel! It's $75...belize...per night. For three people, that breaks down to $15 US....HOLLAR!!! And decent rooms! Hot water! Great beds and clean! It's a great little hotel....go now!
Anyways....so we got to the hotel and at first we could only stay the one night. Well we are planning on staying in San Ignacio until Wednesday, we need a place for two more nights. Then we met up with Giovani and Dion at this awesome restaurant called Hoya's (I believe) great food! We all chatted for awhile, had a few Belikans...and relaxed. We terrified the guys but explaining some of the winter sports we do in Minnesota...their faces were priceless!! Dion is a semi professional soccer player and he's convinced that if he's asked to play in Minnesota...he's going to be sick that month...tehe. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and found out there were some cancellations so we get to stay at the hotel all three night! It's a good day!! I took my first HOT SHOWER in 2 months!!! Can't even describe how wonderful that felt!! Then we went to sleep pretty fast...it was a long day!
On Monday we met up with our amazing tour guides once more and headed out to Xunantunich and horseback riding. Xunantunich is the most beautiful Maya temple I've seen yet! It's huge! We climbed to the top of the highest temple, The Castillo, and it's 180 ft. high. Awesome view! You could see Guatemala from the top. That was so worth the trip! Then we went horseback riding in the rain forest. It was the best trail ride I have ever been on! We saw howler monkeys, tik tree...which are used to make yachts, and saber trees. The saber tree is said to hold up Belize and it keeps the heavens were they are supposed to be and the underworld where it's supposed to be. It's on the Belize national emblem. It was some pretty crazy riding and if you haven't rode horse before...don't go on this trail ride. It was at the Banana Boat resort and they also had a mini zoo! I saw a jaguar and it was less than 3ft away from me!!! So beautiful! They had spider monkeys just walking around the resort that you could feed and just watch. They also had tons of different birds. A little deer was also there and all Dion and Eric wanted to do was eat it.....silly boys....tricks are for kids.
The trail ride was so amazing and I got a beautiful horse named Rain Drop. Eric got Glenda, and Ellen got Rocky and she was mighty testy. Tried to knock Ellen off a few times, wasn't quite used to the trail yet. We went through mud, rivers, fields, etc. Crazy fun! Again we drove home and had some dinner with the guys and just hung out. It was another awesome day! We are so glad that Howard hooked us up with these guys and they are going to help us out at San Pedro as well. Again we only paid $150 US for both tours and the trail ride was at least and hour and a half. Bunch of travel time in between and they bought us lunch. Great deal all around :D
Today, Tuesday, is our rest day. We are planning on just exploring San Ignacio and relaxing. Slept in and took our time. Tomorrow Giovani is going to take us to Belize City to catch the ferry out to San Pedro. There we are relaxing and snorkeling....gonna be good!!!
Hope everyone is good back home and hopefully I can find an internet cafe there keep you guys posted! Stay warm...I know I am ;)
Love ya all and miss you! Only...what....14 days till I see la familia!! Excited!
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