Splunking, Mayan Ruins and Rope Swings!

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!!

This week we went back inland for the trip with our group to the mainland. It was a very different week than the week with the high school, but exciting none the less. We left Saturday morning and went back to Belize City where we returned to the Belize Zoo. That night, we stayed at the Zoo’s lodge which reminded me of a summer camp. The nine girls in my room even stayed up late that night playing cards! We had dinner and breakfast the next morning there and then headed to the ATM tour.

Cave Entrance

The ATM is a cave system in Belize. Belize has some of the largest cave systems in the world, and the tour proved to be much more than I expected. I’ve been on cave tours in other countries before where they take you into one large cave, however, the ATM was very different. At the beginning of the tour you are given a very attractive helmet and headlamp and asked to swim in water over your head to the inside of the cave. The first part of the cave had some tight places to go through and some deeper water. Most of the cave had ankle deep water, however, toward the end of the tour the cave opened up into large caverns full of stalactites, stalagmites, and different types of rock formations! The tour was definitely an Earth Science teachers’ dream!

             In addition to the formations, the cave is home to so ancient Mayan artifacts, from where they had used the cave centuries ago. The Mayans believe that there are three parts of the world, the upper world, earth and the underworld. Therefore, they thought that the cave system was a connection to the gods of the underworld. Including pottery and other offerings, the cave has a few human remains, which are believed to be human sacrifices. Most of the artifacts have been calcified; therefore some have literally been engulfed by the cave. The tour was fantastic, and a lot more adventurous than I thought it would be.

After the tour we went to our hotel, Cahalpeech, in San Ignacio Town. Monday, Kathleen, Kyle and I spent the day exploring the town. The hotel where we were staying sits on the top of a hill overlooking the very hilly town of San Ignacio. We figured out quickly that the best thing to do was to walk down and then pay a taxi $7 to get back to the top because it would be a very steep hike back up. The city is interesting because it is one of the most western cities in Belize, close to the Guatemala border and has a river flowing at the bottom with only two major streets that are filled with hills. It reminded me of a very small Belizean version of San Francisco. We walked down to the river and found a group of boys jumping from a rope swing into the river, before walking back up to look at the shops and find lunch at a good local restaurant called Elva’s. That afternoon we sat by the pool for a little bit, before returning back down the hill for dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Han-nahs.

The following day, we got up early and went to the Mayan ruins of Caracol. In order to get to the ruins you have to endure a very bumpy car ride along the windy mountainside, because most of road on the way is unpaved. Along the way we stopped at a cave system to look at the massive cavern formed by a 'dead' cave. I learned that caves dye when they no longer have rapid water running through them, therefore they cannot make new formations.
Unlike Tikal, Caracol was home to a large population of the Mayan people, so we got to see homes of both the peasants and nobles. I loved learning about the history of the people that lived there and seeing the amazing temples that they created, but I especially liked getting to walk through the forest and see all of the unique animals!

After Caracol they took us to stop at the Big Rock waterfall on the way back. It was a steep hike to get to, but then was beautiful to see. Most of the people in the group went cliff diving off of the ledges of the waterfall which was a lot of fun!

Wednesday, myself and a group of eight other people decided to go to the neighboring country of Guatemala, to see a town called Flores. The town sits on an island inside of a big salt water lake. I was very surprised how drastically different things became as soon as we crossed the border into Guatemala. First, the money conversions become much more difficult, because seven quetzal are equal to one American dollar, versus the two to one Belizean to USA ratio. We drove through some very poor cattle farmland to get to Flores, but it felt like we were in a different world when we arrived. The island was not extremely large, but had a plethora of little shops and restaurants, and actually reminded me of a small town in Europe rather than Central America. We shopped a little bit while there, explored the town and had lunch ad a fantastic little restaurant called Cool Beans. It was nice to get to see somewhere so different than Belize. After spending a few hours there it was time to return for another great dinner at Han-nahs. (In case you decide to do this trip yourself, you should know that you have to pay 37.50 Belize to exit this country, and another 10 quetzal to exit Guatemala.)

Thursday it was time to return back to San Pedro, so we got up early to catch a bus to the Belize water taxi station. Three of us stopped in San Pedro to spend the day on the beach :)

Until next time,

AAA

Cucumber Beach

Day 3: High School Inland Trip

                The third and final day of the high school inland trip was fantastic! Once again, we got up early and drove back to Belize City to meet the group of juniors at the Belize Zoo. As a group we toured the zoo, which showcases a lot of the animals that are native to Belize.

                After the Zoo we went to Old Belize, which features a museum, zip-lining and a water park. The museum was really cool because it outlines the history of Belize, so I got to learn a lot more about the place that I’ve been living. It actually reminded me a lot of the Museum of Natural Science in North Carolina, but on a much smaller and historical scale. Then we went and watched the students Zip line and hung out at 'Cucumber beach' and played volleyball with the students until it was time to catch the ferry back to San Pedro!

Until next time,

AAA

Hot Mama!!

Day 2: High School Inland Trip

       Today was another very fun day! We got up again early this morning and had a fry jack and egg breakfast at the place we were staying. Then we drove back though Belmopan to get to Spanish Lookout in the Cayo district where we toured the Hot Mama factory where they make hot sauce. I learned that the difference in the pepper color is due to it’s maturity. As peppers grow they gain more of the chemical capsiacin, and therefore the more mature peppers will be hotter. Peppers start out green and then as they mature they turn into a bright red color. Therefore, the red peppers are hotter than green ones! At the end of the tour they let us try a few of their products. I bought some pepper jelly which makes an amazing dip mixed with cream cheese! I can’t wait to get home and try to make some!

     After the hot sauce factory we went and had lunch before touring Western Dairy’s. At the dairy they have an average intake of 15000 pounds of milk from dairy farms in the area. They then process the milk by pasteurizing it (which means heating it to a certain temperature and then cooling it quickly which I taught in Integrated Science 1 at SPHS) and then homogenizing it (which mixes it so that it is the same throughout which I taught in Physical Science at THS). After the milk is homogenized it has 40 days until it will spoil. In addition to milk, I learned how they make other products such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. And of course, I got some ice cream from the dairy! (In case you’re wondering Dad it was Chocolate Chip)
     Possibly the highlight of the day was the students crevice competition. If you do not know, crevice is raw shrimp, conch, octopus or fish that is sterilized with lime juice and then mixed with vegetables (onions, tomatoes and cilantro). The boys and girls competed to see who could make the best! We went to the market in San Ignacio where the students bought vegetables, spices and shrimp for the cook-off! The girls ended up winning because they had sliced the shrimp before adding lime juice, but the boys added carrots which made it fantastic as well!

All in all, today was a fantastic day! Time for me to go listen to the kids sing Karaoke at the place we are staying at!

Until next time,

AAA

Where the Oranges Grow!

(High School Inland Trip: Day 1)

Sunrise

As I’m writing this blog, I’m sitting on a school bus with about 30 high school seniors!

The trip began early at 6am when the boat that took us to the mainland left the dock. Once we arrived in Belize City we waited for a bus and then the lead teacher, Ms. Michelle said a prayer for our safety during the travel, and read a poem about perspectives. I found the poem really interesting because it talked about how important opening your perspective and trying to see each day with open eyes. I’ve loved this trip because it has really changed the way I look at the world.

Hummingbird Highway

After the prayer we rode on the bus on the hummingbird highway and drove through the Belize landfill, so the students could visually see where their trash goes, and the impact that it has on the environment. We also drove through the capital of Belmopan, and then into the lush green countryside.

Landfill

Then we arrived at the Petters Research Institute. This organization was started by Dr. Arlie Petters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlie_Petters) who is a native Belizean, but attended college at Duke University. We talked about a variety of Science and Math topics and were joined by volunteers from the Peace Corps who talked about conflict management, sexual awareness and opportunity. Then, Dr. Petters gave a talk about mathematics and physics. My favorite part was when we talked about stars. Did you know that there are over 7.5e18 grains of sands covering all of the beaches in the world? But, there are about 1.6e22 stars in the universe!

Check out the Ingredients!

We also went to the plant for the Citrus Products of Belize, in Dangriga, Belize, where they make fruit juice. We learned how they weigh the fruit, sort it and process it into juice that is proper for drinking. They even let us taste the orange juice before it was fully processed! It tasted very sour! Once the juice is processed, it is packaged into large containers where it is frozen to be shipped out to bottling plants. This was by far my favorite part of the tour. They took us into the freezer room, and the students and teachers that we are all with got VERY excited about being in the freezer room! They said that it was the coldest place that they had ever been, and asked me if I had ever been somewhere so cold. (It felt like at home during the winter!) I really never thought I would get the opportunity to tour a citrus plant in Belize!

Bus ride!

After the citrus plant we went back to the Petters Institute for ice-cream and the went to see the beach. There are more waves here than in San Pedro, because the reef does not slow down the waves as much. However, the waves here are nothing compared to the ones at home. We had dinner at our hotel, and then went to the local super market. I was surprised at how much food the students got just for one day! I'm sharing a room with four high school girls!

We have another early morning tomorrow!

Until next time,

AAA

300th Dive

Today was a great day! It was the end of my last full weekend in San Pedro (since I will be inland next weekend) and a very good one. It's hard to believe that I've been diving for ten years since I started! I've had a lot of great dives in the past ten years, but I have never seen dolphins hang around underwater like I did today. That's the great thing about this experience and diving, there is always something new and unexpected to be seen!

Until next time,

Ashton

Turtle Poop

Dinner... Yum!

This week has been great and really flown by! Monday I finally broke down and took Cipro for my stomach bug and felt completely better the rest of the week! We also discovered another cool place on the island that has great local food, so I had that for dinner twice this week! They serve panades (which are like fried cornmeal with either fish or chicken and onions on top), Garnachas (which is like a giant chip with beans, tiny sweet onions and cheese), and Tostadas (which is a hard shell, with cabbage, chicken, cheese and tomatoes). The best part about the little place is that the food is so unbelievably cheap! And Yes, Mom, I still picked all the veggies off! It was great to be able to really eat real food again!

Hunting Lionfish

Wednesday and Thursday, Nick and I stayed after school to take some footage for our documentary on the reef! It was really fun to talk to some of the students and we found out how knowledgeable they are about lionfish! Thursday was a really awesome day overall! I got observed and then filmed by a film crew from UNCW that are doing a documentary on how teachers that are studying abroad adapt to their environment. I taught a lab to the students in which they devised a way in which to dissolve sugar. It was really different than when I did the lab at home partially because it was the first time many of my students here had EVER been in a lab. It was really fun to be able to teach them their first lab, but if I had known that prior to doing the lab I definitely would have changed things a little bit. I also got a chance on Thursday to go with the students to a health fair to chaperone. The teacher decided that day to take the kids for their Life Skills class (can you imagine taking kids back home to the center of town with no permission forms!). The health fair was a very different experience than what I would have expected in the USA. They had various tents set up talking about things from the Water Cycle, Hygene, Drug and Alcohol prevention, all the way to HIV/AIDS. It was good to see that they were educating their public because Belize has the second highest rate of HIV in the world. People could even get tested on the spot.

Friday we didn’t have school because the track team and business school were both going inland, so there weren’t enough teachers to run school. Here, when teachers are absent they fill classes with other teachers who have planning, so it is not like you can easily call in a substitute. Can you imagine if a school in the USA decided to just close school?

HUGE Grouper!

Since we didn’t have school I went and did three dives on Friday and I’m going diving again tomorrow! Friday I saw turtles, and spotted eagle rays, and huge green morays! It was a great day of diving. We went to the South end of the island where we had 100 foot visibility and the reef was in great shape. Then we dove the reef in the middle of the island, and then the last dive was at Hol Chan, which is the national marine park. For the first time in my life, I saw a turtle poop! (If you're wondering, it looked a lot like dog poop.) I can't believe how many new, and simple things that I have experienced on this trip. I've really gotten the opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone!

This week (Wednesday- Friday) I get a once in a life time experience, I’m going to go inland with the Science students at the high school. Each year, the juniors and seniors go on a trip to visit their country and see some of the local business that they could look for jobs at, as well as some museums and national parks! Monday, the school is hosting all of the eighth graders, and so we are going in to proctor the exams. Then, on Tuesday, my class will be reading and responding to my letters that my students at Topsail High school wrote to them, and I will be teaching a first aid class. That means, that Thursday was my last REAL day teaching in Belize! That’s crazy! I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I teach while being here. I was really surprised at how difficult it can be to implement certain classroom management techniques when students are so used to one type of instruction. I was also very surprised and proud of myself at how flexible I have been able to be in such a different teaching environment!

I can’t wait to do my 300^th dive tomorrow!

Until next time,

AAA

It's Halftime in Belize...

I can’t believe that this amazing experience is half way over! I have experienced so much in the last three weeks, so I’ve decided to write this blog as a sort of reflection on my time here so far. Most importantly, I’ve learned a lot about myself and my abilities as a teacher.  I have learned that I can teach and live in an environment that is out of my comfort zone and do very well. I've even managed to not do laundry yet during my time here; don't worry though, I'm washing clothes tomorrow because they are starting to get smelly :)

As far as the educational aspect of this trip, I have learned a great deal about some things I want to do in my classroom at home, as well as some things I will not. For example, students in San Pedro are used to very direct instruction. They are phenomenal at memorizing information, and providing it on tests. However, they are not are not as good at explain information in their own words as many of my students at home. One thing I have definitely learned from the teachers here is how to gain respect from your students. The students really respect the teachers. They will ask permission before even thinking about walking into the teachers’ lounge. 

I’ve also learned a lot about the culture in Belize. I love this island because it feels like the TV show Cheers’ where ‘everybody knows your name’. On my way to school I get stopped by students saying “Good morning Miss Ashton”, and then by vendors on the way home who as “how are the teacher’s doing?” I have also loved the walk to school in the morning, despite the heat. We walk to school on the beach, and it’s a great way to wake up in the morning and really reflect on how you want your day to go. Plus it is a lot better for the environment than getting in a car. Although, on the island of San Pedro cars are hard to come by! Most people here drive golf carts, and only service vehicles and taxi’s are actual cars.

I’ve decided to add a few more pictures to this blog than normal, to hopefully give you a little taste of some of the sights that you might see during a day in San Pedro, Belize.

One of the best shore snorkeling sites on the island.

Can't go on a trip without a turtle picture!

Lunch time!!

A Coatimundi that someone has as a pet. I have also seen people with raccoons as pets.

Notice anything strange about this picture? (You might have to click the picture to enlarge it)

The major intersection in San Pedro.

Palm Tree's are everywhere!!

Cleaning fish after a long day fishing. Must be dinner time!

Maneli's has the best ice cream on the island!

Kristi doing a little shopping!

The walk back home after a great day in San Pedro. (Don't worry, those aren't ghosts, those are my friends.)

Time for me to go teach my last class for the day,

Until next time,
AAA

Stingrays, Starfish and Pig’s Tail!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, unfortunately, I’ve been fighting a stomach bug that was going around the group. I caught it late Tuesday night and was sick at home all day Wednesday, and have spent much of the time since then in bed. The good news is I’m starting to feel better!

A lot has happened since my last post! Tuesday after school I went and played volleyball with some of the guys from the high school! They are very good! Especially for the virtually concrete court that they have to play on! Afterwards, we met for dinner at a place called Wayo’s. The restaurant is right on the beach and they made grilled chicken, rice, beans and homemade tortillas for us! It was a fantastic meal!

Teaching Vitamins to the Class of 1G

Unfortunately, this is the point in the week where I started feeling sick, and spend a good portion of the rest of the week either teaching or taking naps in bed. Thursday, one of the teachers at the high school, Ms. Michelle, invited us to her house and cooked us dinner. She made split pea, pig tail, rice, vegetables, plantains, and curry chicken. Don’t worry, if you did a double take on that last sentence, you read it right. I did, indeed, eat pig tail! In fact, it was actually pretty good! It tasted like very, very salty ham. When I was sitting at dinner I was thinking about how incredible and special my experience in Belize is. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to many parts of the world, but here I’ve really gotten to know some of the people and learn about the culture of this awesome country!

Saturday morning the rest of the group went to the barely excavated Mayan ruins at the south end of the island. I decided not to go and rest instead because of the heat and the 5 mile bike ride required to get there. I went to the beach for a couple hours in the morning and then went back home to take a nap. When I woke up it was time to go to the high school for the Ms. San Pedro High School Pageant. Each year the high school holds a pageant for the girls at the school as a fundraiser. The pageant includes talents from the girls, a fashion show, as well as other acts like dances and singing from other students. Some of the costumes the girls had were very elaborate, and it felt like the whole town of San Pedro was at the pageant because of how crowded the auditorium was. 

Today was my favorite day! We had an excursion to Caye Caulker, which is the next island over.  On the way we got to stop and snorkel at Hol-chan Marine Reserve and Shark-Ray Alley. The reef was in fantastic shape! I saw a green moray, turtle, hogfish, nurse sharks and sting rays everywhere! After our two stop snorkel, we made it to Caye Caulker. I had a fantastic fish sandwich for lunch at a restaurant on the water named Rainbows, and then we went for a walk through the town. There were a few places to buy local jewelry and a really cool art shop where I got some gifts for people back home!

Tomorrow begins another week at San Pedro High School and new adventures!

Until next time,

AAA

The Sweaty Days at San Pedro High

The past four days have been some of the hottest days in my entire life, maybe even hotter than hiking up the Grand Canyon!

Saturday, the high school had an Intramural Track and Field meet. The school is divided into ‘houses’ with students assigned to each group. Throughout the year students within the school compete with one another to score points for their house. All of the student teachers at the high school got up early and went to work at the meet. Although we were asked to be there promptly at 8:00 nobody actually started showing up until 9:30. (It’s called Belize time). The meet was held at a local park and one of the teachers came the day before and pained lines on the dirt field. Some of the students that came were amazing athletes! Many of them are going this weekend to compete for the school in the national competition. I talked to a few kids who went last year, but aren’t going this year because they simply can’t afford it. I was also amazed at the number of students that were running without shoes or socks because they didn’t have running shoes. The biggest difference between students here and at home is that they aren’t upset about what they don’t have. If they don’t have shoes for the race, it doesn’t matter and they will run just as fast as the kids who have them. What amazed me the most was that many of the students ran 6-7 races that day, and although they were exhausted they kept competing for their house. The track meet was the beginning of the heat, and I don’t think I have fully cooled off since then. We spent about five hours out in the sun that day and I drank about a gallon of water due to the heat. All of us that volunteered now have beautiful tank top tan lines to prove it! :)

After the track meet we biked about 3 miles to get a place called Palapa bar. It is a restaurant out on the water with inner tubes and a beautiful deck to relax at. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see the ocean as I was when we got there! They had a chicken burrito lunch planned for us and watermelon juice. Watermelon juice is amazing! It tastes like watermelon in a glass because, basically it is! The area was also having an outbreak of Pica pica’s, which are little tiny jellyfish that make you itch when they touch you. Luckily, I didn’t get stung.

 

Sunday was also an exciting day, but a little bit less hot because I spent the morning diving! The surf has gotten stronger and created a surge underwater, which has made visibility a little murky. Nonetheless, I had two great dives and say rays, morays and nurse sharks. 

The classroom of 1G at San Pedro High!

The past two days I have been teaching at San Pedro High and I haven’t stopped sweating the entire time! You know it is hot when all of the local teachers are complaining about how sweltering it is. The average daily temperature for this time of year is a comfortable 82F, however, the last two days have been 91F, with the heat index making it feel like 110! The classrooms are like sweat boxes, since there is little breeze and the fan’s that the students have in their rooms can’t keep up with the heat. Today, I even sweated through my shirt that is supposed to be sweat proof! As I was writing this blog, one of the teachers came up to fill his water bottle and said, "Water is like gold!"

Hopefully it will start to cool down soon, but if not at least there is an ocean out my window! 

Until next time,

AAA

Chicken Drop and Chow

    One of the biggest differences between here and the USA is lunchtime. Instead of having a cafeteria where all of the students go for lunch there is a cantina on the edge of campus where they serve one food. There’s also a Chinese restaurant, convince store, and a street vendor that the students can eat. They stand at the concrete fence at the edge of campus and yell their orders over the fence.

Best Pupusaria!

    Speaking of food, I’ve eaten some phenomenal food here already! The first day at school I ate at the cantina, chicken, rice and beans. I’ve since eaten donuts at the convince store, and chicken chow mien, fried chicken fingers, and chicken burgers at the Chinese restaurant. My overall favorite meal is pupusas! It’s basically two pancakes filled with your choice of meat, beans, cheese and vegetables. The place we go to get them has the best banana smoothies, and I can spend seven dollars and have an entire meal! It’s fantastic! Another fantastic meal I’ve had is shrimp nachos at a place called Hurricanes that is sitting on the water.

Hurricanes

Last night a few of us went to a Chicken Drop out on the beach. Yes, you read that right, a chicken drop! Its basically where they have a board filled with numbers. You pay a dollar and get a ticket for the drop. They then take a chicken, spin it in a circle three times, hold it up and down three times and then blow on its butt. Afterwards, you basically wait for the chicken to poop, and whatever number it poops on, that person wins $100! A few of the chickens didn’t need to go, so they brought out backup chickens. When three chickens wouldn’t go they brought out a rooster. I can honestly say that I never thought I’d pay to watch a chicken poop, but life surprises you sometimes.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday,

Until next time,
AAA

Classroom Comparison.....

All of the lab supplies at the school.

    Check it out! We're in the newspaper! 
Monday we started teaching at the schools! I observed all day Monday and Tuesday and then started teaching some on Wednesday! San Pedro High School is very different from Topsail High School! I guess the easiest way to explain the school in Belize is to describe a typical day in the life of a teacher. Actually, describing a ‘typical’ day isn’t very easy. Each morning the teachers’ shows up and go to their desk in the ‘teachers lounge’. That’s basically where the teachers go in between classes and spend all of their planning time. (This is about the point in the day when I start sweating because 97% of the school does not have ac). The teachers’ lounge really creates a feeling of community of between colleagues, because all of the teachers see each other throughout the day unlike in US schools where you only see the teachers that are on your wing of the school. Once the bell rings the teachers go to their homeroom class and take roll before proceeding to their first period. This is where you notice a drastic difference between US schools and Belizean Schools… Teachers move around, not students! Students are divided into classes based on their grade level. They stay in those classrooms all day and their teachers come to them. Each classroom consists of between 30-40 students, a chalk board and desks. I actually wrote for the first time on a chalkboard on Wednesday! Everywhere you see desks. The only time that the students leave this room is if they have a computer class or a lab. There is one lab for the entire school, so it is very hard to get time in the lab. In the morning students have three classes, followed by a ten minute break, two more classes, a 35 minute lunch, and three more classes in the afternoon. Their schedule changes daily by week, therefore classes on Monday are always the same, but they change on Tuesday. This schedule really keeps it interesting.

      Generally, students in Belize act very differently than students in America. Students are used to a lot more direct instruction, copying notes from the board, and a lot more homework. I thought I was very laid back as a teacher in the USA, but I’ve learned during my time in Belize that I am not. It is not uncommon here to have students getting up, moving desks, or talking during class. At first I thought it was strange, and wanted to yell at them in class to quiet down. But I’ve since realized it’s a cultural difference. Students here are naturally louder. When they want your attention they yell ‘Miss! Miss!’ When they have questions, or concerns in class they speak up, and voice their opinions. Some of that might have to do with the fact that the same students are in the same room with one another throughout the entire day everyday! It’s going to take me some getting used to the roar of the classroom while teaching, however, I love the fact that the students are so willing to speak up and provide opinions.

     Classes are organized very differently here. For example, soil profiles and types are covered in biology, radioactivity and electrons are covered in physics. While the subject that concepts are placed in is different most of what we teach is similar. I will be teaching an integrated science class for first year students, which is basically like a mix of science from different content areas. They cover some biology, chemistry and earth science. Right now they are learning about nutrition, so I taught a lesson on vitamins. The other class that I will be teaching is a Biology class. Right now they are learning about different ways of collecting population data. Today we spent three hours outside creating line transects of the shoreline. They by far have the BEST natural environment for teaching a biology class. Literally, we walked outside with our materials to the beach to collect our sample data!

Time to go play a round of volleyball with the San Pedro High School Men’s national champs!

Until next time,

AAA

Right Foot in the ocean; North, Left food in the ocean: South

Hope you all had a great St. Patricks Day! Thursday we explored the town a lot more! We walked around, and found out where all the good restaurants and our schools were at. This island is unique because 50 percent of the population is under the age of eighteen. We think a lot of schools in North Carolina have a large amount of growth, however, the growth of the island is remarkable. We were only able to have a quick meeting with the schools, and then we came and found a local bakery . We spend a couple of hours at the beach before our meeting that afternoon. I went snorkeling at the end of the Ramon’s Pier and saw my first lion fish of the trip L I talked to the dive shop there and they said that they have began killing them when they see them and that the government has passed a law allowing the spear fishing of lion fish. That night we had a meeting as a group to talk about our plans for the trip and after wards I went with Jessie and Katy to a local stand and had stewed chicken, rice and beans for dinner. Because it was St. Patrick's day that night we went and listened to local music at the place we were staying. It was funny because about half of the ‘local’ music was actually American songs. Friday all of the Interns who were going to teach at San Pedro High School met and stopped at the bakery on the way to school. You can get delicious pastries for about 35 cents US! After we stopped at the bakery the school was only a few blocks away. 

This is the view from right outside the high school. The wall on the left is the school grounds.

 

San Pedro was having what they called ‘open day’ which was the perfect first day. It is basically where they showcase all of their projects that they have created throughout the semester. The highschool is home to about 450 students, typically having between 30 and 45 students in each class (which is actually very large for a high school in Belize). The students are divided into three ‘forms’, first, second, third, and fourth. The students all wear white uniforms with the school badge on them, and the girls wear a scarf to denote what form they are in. Open day at the school was very exciting! It really showed us how involved the students are in what they are learning! Basically, you walk around the classrooms and the students present their projects. There were different rooms, such as Science, Social Studies, Business, English , Spanish and Math. I thought it was great that they teach so bilingually, having both Spanish and English classes in school. Some of the students actually did their projects on the lionfish invasion, and there was a plethora of very interesting science experiments! I also found it interesting that the students learn about plate tectonics and religion in their social studies class. They don’t just teach Roman Catholic, which is the dominant religion in the area, but all religions. After the open day was over we went and had quesadillas at a place on the beach, right next to the school before a quick trip to the beach. Friday night we had a large group meeting and then dinner at a place called the Reef. I had snapper for dinner and it was so good! 

The high school Auditorium.

Today Casey, Katy and I got up and went diving early with Amigos Dive Shop. We went to two sites, one called Victoria’s Canyon, and the other was Mermaids Ledge. They were both great dives, filled with nurse sharks, free swimming morays, angelfish, trunkfish, puffers and a turtle. The DM actually fed the sharks and they were so used to the human interaction that he held them and played with them like a guitar. While it was really cool, I didn’t like the fact that they were so used to the human interaction. 

San Pedro High. The science labs are on the 3rd floor.

Students presenting their project on lion fish. The picture on the right is the view of open day at the school.

I can’t wait to start school and meet my teacher on Monday morning!

Until next time,

AAA