Oh Hi, Atlantic Ocean….

We're back in Wilmington! Sort of. Before most of us head off to places not yet known (for some) again. I still cannot believe the trip is over. I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life in San Pedro, and I will never forget the place, its people, or especially Isla Bonita Elementary School. I've talked about all of the above practically non stop since returning home. My family are hopefully  spending Christmas in San Pedro, so I'm already excited for that trip!

My mum kept telling me it was going to be such a "bump back to reality" coming home…..so far that  hasn't sunk in the way, though I'm sure it will when I'm actually at home in Chapel Hill, filling out job applications and preparing for an interview day on May 12th, next week. Right now I'm saying goodbye to Wilmington (again), and spending lots of time at the barn in between getting final assignments turned in and seeing friends. Some of the Belize cohort, including me, Jordan, Caitlin, Tori, Lauren, and Heather, had lunch at a Mexican Restaurant (haha!) today. Apparently we miss chips and salsa more than we thought! It was nice not getting a strange look when we requested separate cheques though.

Belize will always hold a special place in my heart, and I can't wait to see what the next chapter of my book of life is.

Next Stop…..?

Before coming to Belize, I had decided with what I thought was complete certainty that I wanted to teach in Northern Virginia, which is where I spent many happy summers. I thought I wanted to settle, finally for good, stateside. Belize would be my "last hurrah" before finding that so far elusive permanence I haven't really had since leaving home for college. Despite my seemingly certain assurances to my parents, sisters,  friends, and myself, that Belize was "it", looking back on it that nagging voice at the back of my mind hasn't truly left me since I left South Africa in 2011.

Spending the past five weeks in Belize has brought that nagging voice a lot closer to the front of my mind. While on that seemingly never ending six and a half hour ride on the "Chicken Bus" to Punta Gorda, the question constantly running through my mind was what if? What if I made the big move to Cape Town? What if I packed up myself and Belle and moved at the end of the summer? The big "what if" has been on the forefront of my mind since that bus ride. Maybe it would be the best decision I've ever made. Maybe it would be the worst. I suppose the only way I'll know is if I try. Teaching in Belize has more than ever made me realize my true passion lies in International Education Development. While I do love the teaching aspect of that very wide field, ultimately what I want to do is work with schools in developing countries to make them the best they can be. I enjoy the challenges achieving this goal entails far more than I enjoy spending ten hours writing one lesson plan. In fact, the one lesson my experience in Belize has solidified is that while lesson plans, technology, and blooms taxonomy all certainly have their place, at the end of the day - good teaching is good teaching. My partnership teacher in Belize is one of the best teachers I have ever worked with, yet she has no BA and no formal teacher training whatsoever, but instead has years of experience. I would love to get enough experience myself, and ultimately work with teachers like her to make schools in countries like Belize, and South Africa, the best they can possibly be. One of my favorite quotes is from Nelson Mandela, "Education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world," and it sums up my experience teaching in Belize, and my goals as an educator myself.

Zooming into Week 4….

I cannot believe how quickly the past month and a few days has flown! Tomorrow is the first day of our last week of "schooling" (as Dr. K just said). I feel like I've had the chance to do a little of everything here in Belize, from seeing a lot of the country, to meeting lots of people from all over the world, to teaching the most diverse class I've ever taught. Being here has definitely made me reconsider International Development, with an emphasis on Education, as a future career path.

I've thought a lot about my time in Cape Town, South Africa, since I've been here. Comparatively, Isla Bonita Elementary School is a lot smaller and less crazy than ACJ Pakade was. I've definitely accomplished way more in only two weeks of teaching than I would've done in the same amount of time in South Africa. Not having a language barrier makes all the difference in the world, but the school is also a lot more organized than ACJ. It has also made a huge difference having the support guidance of Dr. C and Dr. K, because they have already developed a strong relationship with the school, teachers, and even some of the students, whereas at ACJ I felt like I was starting from scratch.

Now I'm thinking ahead to next week….I'll be driving back and forth between Chapel Hill and Wilmington to get all my licensure paperwork signed, do my exit presentation which involves defending my portfolio to three UNCW faculty members, and go to our final (*tear*) presentation for the Belize trip. Not to mention I'll be applying for more jobs, and moving up to Northern Virginia. Phew! I have a feeling I'll be dreaming of Sunday Fundays at Caribbean Villas by this time next week….

Sunday Funday! 

Island time. 

The great Cowfish hunt of 2014

Soon after we arrived in Belize, Dr. C told us the story of the cowfish she had seen in an aquarium at a restaurant in Charlotte. She had asked where they found it, and the waitress told her it came from the Caribbean. Though she dives every year in Belize she had never seen one before, so we decided  this year our goal was to find one. We even came up with a cowfish signal, which was making horns with our fingers, so we could inform the group if we saw one.

A picture of a cowfish found online. Isn't it cute?? 

Commence the great cowfish hunt of 2014! On day 1, the intrepid group consisted of its fearless leader, Dr. C, Lauren, Lexi, Jordan, and me. Our first day consisted of two morning dives, one called tackle box and the next out to the statue of Jesus Christ. The "tackle box" dive involved exploring underwater caves, and a close encounter for some members of our intrepid explorers with a nurse shark. Luckily everyone emerged from the cave and  the dive continued. Though we saw many nurse sharks, and lots of great fish, on this dive, the cowfish remained elusive. Flip, our dive master, informed us that the cowfish tended to hang out closer to the shore. Undiscouraged, we headed back to shore for our 45 minute break then back out to see the Jesus Christ statue. It was impressive, and again we saw lots of cool fish, but yet again the cowfish eluded us.

Not to be deterred, we scheduled another dive for the following day. Unfortunately this time we were down one member, but Dr. C, Lauren, Lexi and I headed out for what would be our best day of diving in Belize yet. With the waves at less than a foot the sea was smooth as glass. Lauren, Lexi and I only had one dive to accomplish our goal. Barely 10 minutes into our dive, I saw someone ahead making the horns signal. Flip came to investigate, and sure enough, there it was! The cowfish!  We had seen one! Later in the dive, others saw another one but that was towards the end so I was on my way up. We got back on the boat with big grins of satisfaction - cowfish mission accomplished! 

One of our cowfish!

A cave we dove through

Caves and sacrifices, oh my…..

Our next stop on our inland adventure was San Ignacio, where we had an extremely busy three days of tours. Our group went caving first, which was terrifying for me because I don't like feeling so confined. However it wasn't nearly as confining as I thought it would be, but the way in was challenging because we kept stopping to listen to our guide, which was very interesting, but the more often we stopped the more nervous I got. Caving included swimming, squeezing ourselves into unbelievable tight spaces, and climbing. Once we got to the end of the cave it was so worth it! After a challenging climb up to the next level  We saw some incredible Mayan artifacts from the sacrifices they left to the gods, mainly including clay pots and skeletons.

Liz and I on the top of a temple at Caracol 

On Saturday our group went to Caracol, another Mayan archeological site. Getting to Caracol is an adventure in itself. The last 20 minutes of the road is extremely rough and twisty, and requires military escorts because in the past they've had problems with tourists being jumped by Guatemalans trying to cross the border illegally. Since the escort started  Caracol is so big that only 10% of the site has been excavated. We climbed up 197 extremely steep steps to the top of the major temple. The views were beautiful. It is incredible to me that the Mayans built such magnificent structures with no modern technology or power tools!

Ziplining through the jungle in Guatemala! 

Soooooo scary! 

Sunday was our free day, and we chose to go to Guatemala for it! This time, 14 of us + Dr. C got on a bus to the border, which was only 20 minutes from San Ignacio. After a long wait we crossed the border (it was most of our first border crossing by land, and my firs in Central America) into Guatemala! Suddenly, everything was in Spanish. First we went zip lining at the base of Tikal, which is another Mayan site. Zip lining was amazing, once  I got over the height! We skimmed through and over the jungle on 8 different lines. After zip lining we went to Flores, which is a beautiful town on an island in a lake. In Flores we had an amazing lunch accompanied by even more amazing cocktails. We did a mad dash around the shops, because shopping is way cheaper in Guatemala than here on San Pedro. I got most of my presents…ahem…so certain people can get excited :).

Chocolate Farms, Drumming, and a long bus ride….oh my!

Last Monday, 13 of us and Dr. C left San Pedro for Punta Gorda, which is in Southern Belize. This trip involved a water taxi and 6.5 hours on a bus. Not just any bus, but a beyond crowded school bus. Some people sat 5 to a seat, others were crowded in from people in the aisle way. Some of us shared their seats with handcuffed prisoners on their way to court. The bus was not "express" by any means - it stopped basically anywhere people needed. There was one family who bought what looked like half their house with them! Finally, at around 6, we arrived in Punta Gorda.

The following day we experienced the Garifuna culture and learned how to drum! It was a lot of  fun, even for those of us who (ahem) may not have the best sense of rhythm. Those of us who did enjoyed showing off when we got to drum individually with our teacher whose name was, I kid you not, Ronald Mc Donald. That afternoon we went to lunch at a tiny place on the water, and I tried Lion Fish! It tasted like any white fish, and made me wonder why we aren't selling that in the States because they need to get rid of it anyway, rather than selling fish which are on their way to being endangered.

Wednesday was the day we had all been waiting for - chocolate farm! We started with a Mayan cultural experience at one of the archeological sites nearby the farm. Then our guide took us to his farm, which is a Mayan Chocolate Farm. It turns out, his farm was literally in the jungle. His chocolate is grown 100% organically. We saw what the beans look like directly from the fruit, and even tasted them. They taste more like fruit than chocolate! After that we had the most amazing lunch ever, with chocolate of course. Finally, we made our own chocolate using an ancient grinding stone. It was amazing to see how much sugar it took to make the pure chocolate even slightly sweet (65% is the lowest they sold), and definitely made me reevaluate chocolate candy bars we buy at home.

Jordan, Lexi and I petting Chocolate Pork, resident pig

Our chocolate lunch! 

Surprising Success

The past two weeks of teaching have flown by. Between teaching two grades, multiple subjects,  a field trip, and chaperoning a beach party, I was wiped out by Friday evening and cannot quite believe all we've packed into the past two weeks at Isla Bonita Elementary School.

How many students can we fit on one golf cart? 

I've been mostly surprised by my ability to teach whatever is thrown at me, whether thats creative writing (which I love), health class (which I have no experience teaching at all), or math (which was never my favorite subject at school), and at two different grade levels. During my US internship I only taught US history in Social Studies to students in grade 8. Here in Belize, we have been asked to teach all 4 core subjects (which are the same as they are in the states - Math, English, and Social Studies) as well as all "extras", including but not limited to PE, Computers, Expressive Arts, and Health. The only one we don't teach is Spanish but thats because neither Jordan, Caitlin nor I speak any! In the past two weeks I have taught lessons on area and perimeter, diseases from the environment, Belize history (which involved more of the kids teaching us than us teaching them), conjunctions, and creative writing. As well as much more besides.

Standard VI presentations 

I love the opportunities to try things I definitely wouldn't try at home, and the freedom, but also the challenge, of teaching with fewer restrictions than we face in the US. For example, last week I spent a few days with Standard VI after their exam. Their teacher wanted the classes to be more laid back and "fun", so I came up with a creative writing activity where they got to make their own books. Once the students understood the activity they seemed to really enjoy the opportunity to be creative, and not be forced to answer an exam question. I also had them watch CNN Student News and then further research and present on two of the topics covered. They amazed me in how quickly the two groups came up with a presentation, and with the discussion we had afterwords.

Bringing learning to real life! 

On Wednesday, Caitlin, Jordan and I chaperoned a field trip for Standard V to the Marco Gonzalez archeological site. After some minor details with transportation we all set off in our golf carts. The students enjoyed exploring the site and learned a lot from Miss Jan, who was our guide. We got to experience some Belizian wildlife I'd hoped to avoid, more specifically speaking, a tarantula I nearly stepped on.

Beach Party fun! 

On Friday the school had a beach party to celebrate the end of term! Because it was one of our students birthdays, our class had their own separate party organized by his family. The kids had a lot of fun playing games like pop the balloon, water balloon toss, easter egg hunt, and water balloon target practice. At the end of the day it started raining and we all ended up in the ocean with our students, who greatly enjoyed a splashing war.

Unbelizeable Life - playing catch up!

I had this blog post all written on Monday but then the upload got all messed up so I had to delete it and start over :), but it just means I'll do last weekend and today in one post.

Relaxing: Book, hammock, beautiful view.

Last Saturday we went crocodile hunting with Miriam, who we know from Pedro's. She is interning for an organization called ACE (American Crocodile Education), and they do tours when they find crocodiles to get information from their database. Luckily, at least as far as I was concerned, we only caught baby crocodiles which we got to hold! They attempted to catch a 4-footer but it got away. I wasn't complaining. It was really cool to be out there at night too.


Last Sunday was "BBQ at the beach" day, which might be my favorite. I spent all day relaxing in the hammock with my book because we were told not to go swimming due to jellyfish. We rain into some of our students there, and got to watch them in a sailing regatta which was exciting! One came in 2nd and the other came in 4th out of 5. Her response to her place was, "I'm still learning so it's ok." Such a good attitude for an 8 year old. We could all take a lesson.

lunch on caye caulker

 Today we spent a day on a catamaran! We snorkeled, which was incredible. I saw more fish than I've ever seen even diving. Eagle Rays, Sting Rays, Sea Turtles, and a rainbow fish which was the most beautiful one I've ever seen. After snorkeling we sailed to Caye Caulker, which is a beautiful, much smaller island than Ambergris Caye (where San Pedro is). We had lunch at a place called Bambooze where the chairs swing! Then we wandered around, shopped a bit, and walked to the split swim hole, which was probably the clearest water I've ever swam in. This evening Heather and I went to get street food. Shrimp tacos are my new fave and only $5. Tomorrow, Beach BBQ day again then Monday - to inland we go! We're going to a chocolate farm, diving with whalesharks(!!!!),  then to the zoo, then caving. All that also includes spending about 12 hours on a school bus, which will not be that thrilling, but I'm sure very much worth it. At least I got plenty of practice in Africa.

Teaching Challenges in Belize vs. the US

Week one of teaching is over. Many challenges have been faced and some are on their way to being overcome. Others we are still working on. Firstly, I started off the week in Standard Six to find out they are reviewing for an exam all week so there is not a lot for me to do. I ended up in Standard 5, which has been an adventure to say the least.

The biggest challenge I have faced so far is reconciling my expectations for students with those of the teachers I am working with. Teachers here are a lot more direct with students whereas in the United States we are encouraged not to be. During my internship was that students in general education classes face challenges as general education students even if those challenges are not formally identified, and therefore they are not going to behave perfectly all the time. During my US internship one challenge I overcame was increasing my tolerance (greatly!) for noise and activity in the classroom. 30, or even 16 (the case in Belize) students are rarely going to be completely quiet in a classroom, and I have learned to allow a certain amount of "general" noise. The teachers I work with have much higher expectations of their students. I think we are working on meeting somewhere in the middle - they are learning to relax certain expectations they had, and I am learning to raise some of my expectations for behavior, which is not a bad thing at all.

Outside the classroom, life is really good here. I love riding bikes to school every day, and jumping into the pool to cool off in the afternoon. We've found some really great places for dinner, and school gives us lunch which is really nice. The best lunch was "Make your own taco" day where we got amazing fresh salsa and really spicy pulled pork and freshly homemade tortillas.

Happy April Fools Day from the island!

To sum it up….Day 2 of teaching was a success, school is over for the day, I'm by the poolside, and life is good.

The longer version….We started teaching yesterday. It was really good to have the 4-5 days to acclimate and get used to our new environment before starting teaching. We even got a dive in despite the challenging weather conditions and saw sea turtles and sting rays! One of us even had a closer wildlife encounter than intended and got bitten by a sea turtle….whoops. She's fine though.

Sea Turtle sighted! 

Day 1 I mostly shadowed my new partnership teacher, Miss Sharon, who teaches Standards 5 and 6 (Grades 7 and 8). The class size here is TINY - Standard 5 is the largest at 16. They have assembly in the morning MWF which is really cute, they all stand in lines and sing the national anthem followed by morning announcements.

Heading out of Pedro's for our first day of teaching! 

Day 2 I actually taught a Language Arts class on Conjunctions with no plans whatsoever because the teacher had to leave last minute. I started with going over their sight words - which they knew really well - then had them write sentences and stories using the sight words and share them. They loved sharing their sentences and stories with the rest of the class, which is new for me. By this time I thought Miss Sharon would be back but she wasn't so I jumped straight into conjunctions, which thank goodness is something from grammar that I remember. After going through a few examples and basic sentence diagrams they did some exercises in their books and wrote their own sentences. The rest of the day was spent in science, which I don't have to teach (thank goodness!) and health, where they planned the meal they will cook for a presentation on Friday.

Day 2 was also April Fools Day, which is apparently taken very "seriously" here in Belize. While waiting for school to start the kids were sharing the pranks they pulled on their parents, or their parents pulled on them. Then during writing practice they free wrote about April Fools pranks. One girl described a very detailed prank she'd like to pull on another intern, which involved a bucket above the door filled with sardines and mud, but then Miss Sharon walked in the door instead of the intern and she got detention. We all thought it was hilarious, even the other intern!

I love this poster from the Standard VI classroom. 

Lunch on day 2. We get given lunch which is really awesome :) 

View at dinner tonight - not too shabby! 

Officially on Island Time

Today we explored San Pedro Town with Dr. C and Dr. K as our guides. The day started out with one of the best breakfasts I've ever had at a tiny place called George's Kitchen just down the street from Pedro's Inn. It was $16 Belize (about $8 US) for a full breakfast. We tried these delicious tortillas called "fry jacks." Soooo good.

Belizian Breakfast! 

We reconvened at Pedro's and headed out again to explore. We walked down the beach and once we got past all the resorts it truly felt like how I imagined an "Island Town" would be. The beach was almost like one half of the main street, lined with restaurants and bars. "Front Street" is really vibrant and very realistic - nothing seems overdone or touristy. We also walked past the schools we will be teaching at, one of which is directly on the beach. The kids in the primary school were all outside for lunch. Some would buy their lunch from a street vendor and eat it sitting at the pier. Heaven! Dr. C and Dr. K also pointed out good places to eat and shop for meals.

Middle Street, San Pedro Town 

After such a late breakfast some of us weren't hungry for lunch so we went to Maria's Fruit Stand and got the most delicious pineapple I've ever had. Maria will also make amazing fresh fruit juice - no sugar or added preservatives!

Maria's Fruit Stand where we got lunch

When we finally got to our island home, Pedro's, I was SO HOT - the humidity is high here and of course most places do not have air conditioning. The first thing everyone did was jump in the pool, and I got an hour or so of pool time before my class. It was very strange watching a live class at UNCW while on an island off the coast of Belize….Luckily there is a good breeze today and the temperature has cooled off so now it is beautiful outside.

Livin' in an Island Paradise….

3….2….1

Countdown is over. Even as I type that I still can't quite believe it. I've been thinking about and planning for this trip since before I even got accepted onto the Masters program at UNCW, while I was still an undergrad student at the University of Edinburgh. Despite that I can't believe it, "it" is finally here. Tomorrow is our last day stateside before we arrive in Belize on Wednesday March 26th. Though I have travelled, lived, and even taught abroad (many times) before, I still have 43456098 things running through my head. Let's go back a few days….

In the last 48 hours I have finished my internship, said goodbye to my amazing school, partnership teacher, fellow interns, and most of all students in Wilmington, said goodbye to my friends, attended a horse show for the US Equine Rescue League, packed up my apartment, including my dog, attended a pre departure meeting, visited school to grade two last assignments/say final goodbyes,  said goodbye to the best arabian pony ever,  and moved everything (+ very confused dog) back to Chapel Hill. PHEW. Now I have to unpack/reorganize and repack for BELIZE! I can't wait to breathe that big sigh of relief Dr. K talked about when we arrive at Pedro's Hostel, which will be our home for most of the time we are in Belize.

The last time I  taught abroad was at ACJ Pakade (we never did learn what the ACJ stood for, though we asked) Primary School in Nomzamo Township, Cape Town, South Africa. I lived in Gordon's Bay, a small beach town just a few miles from the township. Then I interned near the beach in Wilmington. Is it just me, or is a pattern emerging here?  I've been thinking a lot about how my experience teaching in South Africa will compare to the one I'm about to have in Belize, and I will definitely report back on my findings in later blog posts. I'll leave you with some pictures, because after all, they do say a thousand words…

The Middle School I interned at in Wilmington, NC

ACJ Pakade Primary school in Nomzamo Township, South Africa 

We'll see what comes next!