Just Belize: 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Mexico Story

Some other PCV and I had planned this great Mexico trip to for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) for the end of October through the first week of November. We were so excited for it, until Hurricane Rina came!! The entire north volunteers got consolidated to Belmopan a few days we planned to leave. We figured it was going to be hopeless to salvage our trip! But, mother nature cooperative with us and there was a glimpse of hope.

Our initial plan was go to Oaxaca, Mexico, which is said to be one of the best places to go for Dia de los Muertos. However, that had to get nixed and our new trip took us to Merida, Mexico. It was such a great time with Hanna, Meredith and Melissa. Here are some pictures from the trip!

The views from our hostel from the balcony.

The Catholic church in the main plaza.

Catrina at Dia de los Muertos.

Gumby has gone International! Viva la Gumby! :)

Sweets for Day of the Dead.

Franciscan monastery in Izamal, Mexico.

The Monastery.

Dancers in front of the Independence Plaza dancing a wedding dance in Merida.

Also, this past weekend the volleyball team I play on, we had a tournament in Belmopan. I didn't play much at all, which was fine with me because I am so out of my element on that court. But, it was a good time with both the girls and boys teams. Our boys team kicked butt in the tournament! They went to the finals but lost in the third game to Belize City. Such a great game to watch!

And starting next week I'm going to be coaching the girls hs team at Muffles HS. This should be a lot of fun and I can't wait. I just hope these girls know what they are in for, right EHS girls!? LOL

Relaxing in Tulum before heading home!

Progresso sleepy beach town.

In Tulum swimming in the sea with Hana and Meredith.

Miss you all! Have a great Thanksgiving with family and friends! Love ya! xoxoxo

Thursday, October 06, 2011

The Busy September Story

I’ll try and keep this post short, sweet and to the point because a lot of craziness occurred in September.

Literacy Day was September 8, and our District Manager and I went to Santa Martha to watch the students do presentations on Literacy. The younger classes recited the alphabet, the other students told stories and even the parents were involved and read stories in Spanish and English for the whole school.

Students reading the Alphabet from Infant II

Literacy Day at Santa Martha, outside under the tree.

St. Georges Day was September 10, helped with WID/GAD booth in the center of town and saw all the festivities too. The Mayor of Orange Walk spoke, the BDF (Belize Defense Force) showed off their moves and a little parade concluded the ceremony.

Christen attending our booth :)

The BDF getting after it.

The following week I attended the Young Patriots in Belize Award Ceremony in Belize City. Awards were given to Belizean youth in a variety of fields, which included Academics, Athletics, Special Education, Entrepreneurship, Music, Theatre Arts and many, many more.

Later that same week our District Education Staff helped organize the Annual Children’s School Parade for all the town schools in the morning and later that afternoon was the Youth School Rally for all the High Schools. It was a really long day but a great success.

Performances by the Youth of Belize.

The Youth Parade in Orange Walk Town

The following week was Independence Day Celebrations! Tuesday we had friends come down from Corozal, Belmopan and PG. We all celebrated Belizean style, watching the sun come up Wednesday morning. On Wednesday, we watched the afternoon parade with everyone. We even got free goodies tossed to us from the roof of the apartment we were on! And I met my neighbor the owner of Cuello’s Distillery/Caribbean Rum, so needless to say it was a great 48 hours!

The OW Independence Parade!

There was a big loss here this month too. Belize’s National Hero, George Price passes away the end of this month. Many people attended his funeral and services to remember him. And the last Monday of the month is going to a national holiday in Belize now to honor him.

This past week our staff helped with a Disability Awareness Competition in town. It was a wonderful event that our Special Education Officer headed. A friend of mine, Jay, a fellow PCV even came up to help MC the event for us.

· Some things that I have coming up in the next few months:

- Every Wednesday, I am going to be at Santa Martha Gov’t School working with them on computer classes, helping with a girl’s football team and making a World Map with them. I’m really excited for all these undertakings.

- The end of this month (Oct.) a few other PCV and I are going to Oaxaca, Mexico for Day of the Dead/Halloween!! Can’t wait for a little vacation!

- Also, this month I am in the process of getting SCUBA certified! Way stoked on that!

Hope all is well with everyone! Enjoy the photos…talk to you soon! J xoxo

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Dog Story

So of you may have heard that I got a little black puppy a few weeks back, unfortunately it went missing a few days later during an episode of monstrous fireworks for September celebrations. Feeling awful and upset that it went missing, I started putting up “Lost Dog” signs the very next day and through the weekend. This was quite comical for most Belizeans because if a dog goes missing in Orange Walk, it’s left to find his own way home.

When I arrived to work on Monday, a gentleman at the office said he saw my dog by a school near our offices. I was so elated to hear that! However, I thought again, “There is no way my dog made it all the way over here! It’s so far away from my house!” However, the gentleman was insistent that it was Teo saying, “It is the exact dog in your picture, she was just over at the school.” I thought what the hell why not, it could be her, doesn’t hurt to check and see. We walked over there and found no little black puppy named Teo! L

Then as we were walking back to the District Education Center, a little green car comes zooming by us and stops abruptly and man reaches into his back seat and hands me a puppy and says, “Here is your dog in the picture! I found her for you.” I look at the puppy excited and then realize it wasn’t Teo. I tell the man, “That is not my dog, it looks like her but it’s not my dog in the picture.” Again he says, “Yes, this is your puppy from the picture, take her, it’s your puppy!” Again I told the gentleman, “Mister, this is NOT my dog, she is really cute but it’s not Teo!” Then the gentleman just handed me the puppy through his car window and drove off. And my next thought was, “Is this for real! He just handed me this puppy and drove off!” I couldn’t just leave this little black puppy on the side of this busy road. So I took her back to my office and took her in as my own now.

Koa!!

I am still looking for the other puppy, Teo and still hoping I will come across her on the street or under a car. The new little puppy is a cutie though. I named her Koa and is your typical puppy that whines and cries when I leave to work but over joyed when she see me walking down the street to come home.

Still Looking For Teo!! :(

Keep you all updated with how things are going with Koa and any new leads with Teo. As for now, Koa and I will be holding down the fort in our little yellow home on Mejiba Street! J …………........................... ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....

Soo this blog was supposed to go out last week but just with the craziness it didn’t happen! And you should be glad because the dog story continues!! A couple days ago I went running in the morning on my usual route, when I got back Koa was relaxing on the far side of the patio porch taking in some R&R. When I went over to give her some TLC, I looked up and saw this tiny white and brown puppy lying next this broken piece of cement next to my house. I couldn’t believe it; the puppy is only probably 5-6 weeks old (I’m guessing). I have no idea how it got into my yard because it’s fenced in all around and I can’t even fathom the thought that this little butterball hobbled all the way into my yard from who knows where without being seen or heard. Whatever the case, she ended up in my yard. So of course I took her in and she is doing quite well and Koa and her get along quite well. With the help of another PCV we named her Guya.

The New Edition...Guya!

The two pups are keeping me busy, but there are great! So funny to watch the wrestle around together and play. Each has their own unique personality already; Koa the playful, loving puppy and Guya the independent, crazy one who doesn’t take any $%&! from Koa. Oh my goodness! I sound like a proud Mom, LOL!!

The Pups enjoying a nice nap together! :)

Well, no more dog stories for now. Talk to you all soon! J

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The School Year is HERE in Belize!

Excited for it and to finally get out and see some of these schools in action! J

I have been slowly getting my new little house in order this past month! I am so excited to be on my own and now I have a place I can call home. Still have a lot of little things to do with it but I am settling in very well and enjoying the peace and quiet and cooking on my own! J I am really getting into cooking the Belizean food which isn’t that much different Mexican, rice and beans and tortillas, which I can totally do! So if you come to visit be ready for some homemade tortillas and crockpot beans!

I had the opportunity this month to play in a futbol game in Trinidad, a small village in Orange Walk to the West of us. So, this game came about through a fellow PCV, Kevin, who lives in Yo Creek and the girls’ team needed some extra players for their friendly match against Trinidad. Of course I was all over that, and I’m so glad I played in it! Little did I know until I got to Yo Creek that Kevin and his neighbor had been hyping me up to everyone in the village saying, “This American girl who looks Belizean is going to play with us and is really good!”… Of geez! Expectations now! Haha. So, we all piled into a little car and headed to Trinidad for 7pm game but as usual it didn’t start till about 8pm (Oh! Gotta love Belizean Time). When I showed up to play with the team, I felt like I was playing with my Estancia HS girls’ team, it was great! They were all about 15-18 in age, some playing in boots and many playing barefoot. These girls were very feisty, rough, and tough little players. We ended up winning the game 3-1 and the girls all piled up in the back of a pick-up back to Yo Creek cheering and chanting the whole way home that they had won…which is completely normal to do in Belize.

Life here in the Oh Dub has been good; we often go frequently to Enramada, the best ceviche in town! You can get a plate of ceviche ranging from $5-$25 and it is so good! I also recently got to see a youth basketball game outside on a completely refurbished court right in town one evening with another PCV basketball fan. It wasn’t the best basketball, but I loved their effort and their very flamboyant theatrics I’m sure they learned from watching NBA players like Kobe, Dirk or Blake Griffin, but it was fun seeing all these young guys playing and enjoying themselves out there. Some of us PCV have been getting together for dinner/game nights and I think it is going to be turning into a monthly thing here in Orange Walk (I swear this is like college all over again!).

Work has slowed down a little, which has been nice because the past month was so busy. Recently, we have been doing follow-up sessions on the QCFS Initiative with teachers who missed the other workshops and other schools who want to know what this is all about. They weren’t nearly as intense and long as the other workshop which was very nice! Me and the other PCV who works here at the District Ed Center are fitting right in here with our staff and work partners, we got invited to lunch at one of our fellow staff members for beans, torts, and pork chops! It was so good and a nice treat from our daily PB&J at lunchtime.

With school staring right around the corner (Sept. 5) and having such a busy last couple months I decided to treat myself to day out to Caye Caulker. But, before me and another PCV headed out there we went to the Grand Opening of gym a friend of mine just opened, a young, enthusiastic Belizean 19 year old entrepreneur! Then off we went for some nice relaxing in the sun with some good food. You are going to die when you here this…for only $17.50 BZ we got a whole lobster, shrimp kebab, and barracuda steak with rice, salad, bread and cake! We also took some kayaks out and cruised around the island for a little bit. It was definitely nice to get away even for a little while and I guess we are sort of lucky that we have these little oases off the coast of Belize to go get some R&R when we need to! J

Some other little happenings and quirky things going on:

· Lately I have noticed that I am eating more and more treats/sweets than usual and even drinking more soda!!! So unlike me, haha. But, I have to tell you, having the best bakery in town doesn’t help at all. This bakery, La Popular, has the best sweet bread, treats, donuts, homemade bread, and any other sweets you can think of. As for the soda, you can never pass up the Coke with the real sugar in the glass bottle! J
· I’m in the process of applying and getting involved with the HIV/AIDS committee for Monitoring and Evaluation with some other PCV. As well as, the WID/GAD committee through PC. The WID/GAD committee works with Belizeans of all ages to promote education and participation in women’s empowerment as well as educating Belizeans about the role that gender plays in society and empowering them to make positive life choices and overcome pre-existing assumptions.
So, I’ve noticed and I am not the only one when riding the buses here in Belize, the bus drivers have sole command of their radio/CD player. And they play whatever they like, but the thing with the reggae music is quite interesting. Every time Bob Marley comes on the speaker everyone on the bus is singing loud and proud and in unison his words. It’s the neatest thing, it just goes to show you how much Bob is loved around the world! J
· I’m getting a PUPPY!!!!! One of our Peace Corps Staff, Jaime, got promoted and is leaving to Guyana and has these puppies she sort of inherited from her Belizean neighbors in Belmopan. The dog has gone through a little rough patch, she thinks it got hit by a car and wasn’t going to make it but it bounced back and is getting better. I think all it needs is a little TLC. J I went to go see her and she is a very shy, timid little black mutt. Her name is Tayo, and I hope to get it up here to OW in the next couple weeks! J
September Celebrations are HERE! So, what I hear is that the month of September is just a month of parades, rallies, celebrations, parties and not much work gets done at all. There is Independence Day, St. George’s Day, Literacy Day, School’s Parade, Children’s Rally and many more celebrations. I can’t wait to see all these festivities and celebrations! J

Wow! That was a long one. Well, I hope you all are doing well! Miss you all everyday and hopefully I’ll see your faces soon. Enjoy! J And pictures are on their way too!

Love ya,

Nat