Three Weeks Down, One to Go...

Another week has come and gone. I can't believe this trip is already nearing its end!
Dr. Bonnie Higginson and Dr. Campoy came to visit this week and do some observations. Mine went surprisingly well but I was happy to see it finished.
I've been teaching more this week. 2nd form is reading The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White and working on Gerunds (ooo... Verbals!). 3rd form is doing a poetry unit and today we are beginning "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson (I love this poem).

This weekend is our big Tourist Weekend in San Pedro. A few of us have discussed going out fishing on Saturday with one of those packages where the people clean and cook whatever fish you catch that day.

Personally, I just want to kick back in a hammock and nap.

I'm sure some people are curious as to what's happening with the swine flu in these parts... to tell the truth I have no idea. Dr. Bonnie made me go to the doctor last night (Stomach issues, headache, and she was worried I had a fever) just in case. That gave me the opportunity to ask about the flu. They said that there are some people who have flu-like symptoms but there are no confirmed cases of swine-flu yet. I'm not too worried about it, to be honest.

Like I said, I'm only a week away from my return to Kentucky. I'm starting to miss it. Rice and Beans are good... but I'm ready for my parents' cooking (mmm... baked steak!).

Also, 9 days from now I will be a college graduate (even though I'm not walking at graduation, I'm opting to go to Lexington to spend graduation with some of my favorite people ever). I will be in Ashland on Friday and Lexington Saturday.

All you CCHS students get ready, I'll be back that next week (probably the 14th or 15th) to do a presentation (I promise I won't give a quiz...).

I need a summer job... badly. Any ideas?

I've become accustomed to "Belize Time" down here. Everything moves at a much slower pace. I've not had my cellphone on since I've been here (except once for 5 minutes to see if I had reception in Chetumal, Mexico... I didn't). So it is probably going to be a rude awakening when I get back home and everything is all "go go go go go".

I hope everyone is doing well!
-Amy

I fed a Jaguar this weekend.

So, I have had one of the most amazing weekend of my life, and I say that without any exaggeration whatsoever.
The weekend began Friday afternoon with a much needed nap. That night the group went to a place called Cactus Plaza to eat tacos and celebrate being done with our first week of student teaching.
Saturday morning we got on the road around 7 AM and headed straight for the Belize Zoo, about 2 ½ hours away. We get there, pay our fee and the man gives us a once in a life time opportunity. For a small donation to the zoo (US$10) we could go feed and play with Junior. Junior is a two year old spotted Jaguar. We immediately jumped on the offer. Junior is precious (well, as precious as a 115 lb. Jaguar can me). I got to feed him chicken legs and pet him.
The rest of the zoo was also awesome. I saw spider monkeys, black howler monkeys, many different types of cats, the Harpy Eagle (biggest eagle in the world), Crocodiles, Snakes, Parrots, Toucans, a stork with an 8ft wingspan, and so many other animals!
After the zoo we went to Xunantunich, a Mayan ruin site. That was almost as scary as climbing Lamanai except the climb has a few breaks in it. I was able to walk about the top and see from all sides (whereas on Lamanai I was too scared to stand up, it was a small top there). We visited another site, Cahahpech after that, it was more “residential” it seemed, I was able to go down hallways and look into rooms and such.

Saturday night we stayed at a place called Marta's in San Ignacio and ate in the restaurant of the hotel. The beds were soft, the A/C cold, and the showers hot. I was a happy kid.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Aerial Trek Belize to go Zip-Lining. We got into our gear and climbed to the first platform. Being short has its disadvantages in this adventure. The guy had to literally lift me up by the middle of the harness (he could do it one handed) and hook my center thing in. I didn't mind though, it was kind of funny. Zip Lining was scary and amazing all at once. We did a total of 6 runs, of varying lengths and speeds. At the end we repel off of the final platform, straight down, no rocks to push off of or anything. If you know me, you know I'm scared of repelling, I've had some bad experiences (all of which ended with me crying) So I was definitely nervous. It started off slow and then WOOSH! I went down fast. Needless to say I screamed, loudly, and in a pitch probably only dogs are able to hear. But once I hit the ground, safe in the arms of Kent [haha] (he was the one at the end of all of the runs to keep us from smacking into trees) I was ready to go again.

We had other plans though so I will have to go zip-lining again another time.

After zip-lining was cave-tubing. Wearing nothing but my bathing suit, some shorts and flip flops we began our trek into the rain forest, with two guides, and carrying out inner tubes with us. We hiked about 45 minutes and came to a form in the road. Take the well worn path and start where everyone else starts or hike another 45 minutes up a hill and back down on a path that few have chosen and start at another cave system. We decided to keep hiking. After some falls and slides and trekking through the mud we finally made it to the entrance of the cave.

It was gorgeous! We began just lazily paddling (with our arms, not oars) down the cave and he said, we're going to go to my secret room. So we set our tubes and side and climb back into this cave and inside there is a small waterfall that is AMAZING. He then says, back over the waterfall is another of my favorite rooms. Only a few of us chose to go there, you have to climb along on your belly to get through. Oh man, the rocks were sharp (my knees look a little worse for wear)! But we got back there and there is this clay he says has never seen the light of day and is really good for the skin, so like good little tourists, we slather it on. I can honestly say it worked and my sunscreen-induced zits are now gone.

After that we go a few kilometers down river, stopping here and there to cliff-jump (I've pushed my body to so many limits this weekend, I'm surprised I can still walk)! The entire cave-tubing took a few hours and at the end we got to swim around in the river for a little while.

A stop for pizza afterwards (it was delicious) and we were on our way home. It was d a quite ride as everyone was exhausted!!

Like usual though, I put off lesson planning until the last minute so last night I had to finish my lesson plans for this week. But I got them done though and made it to bed around 9:45.

This weekend has been amazing!! I feel like my talking can't do it justice. I wish I could have taken pictures of the cave tubing, words can describe the way it looks coming out of a dark cave into the light and rain of the jungle.

But the weekend is over and it's back to school for me! I've got two classes to teach today, one at 1:00 PM and one at 1:45.

Two professors are in from Murray State for the next few days to do some observations, maybe they'll take us out to dinner? Haha... the food here continues to be delicious every time.

I will get some pictures up this evening at the Internet Cafe.

Hope you are well.

-Amy

The Half Way Point

Can it be that my trip is halfway over already?! Surely not! Alas.
Anyway.
Tomorrow is "Open Day" at school where there are no classes but booths are set up to display students' work from the past semester. Students present what projects and work they have done to their parents and the students who visit from the lower schools. Students are going to be dismissed early from classes today to give time to set up for Open Day tomorrow.

I have gotten together my plans for what I'm teaching next week. In 3rd form I will be doing a poetry unit and in my 2nd form class I will be doing the Sword in the Stone for Literature and Gerunds (I can't get away from them!) for the grammar portion.

I have the unit plans for both due on Monday (eek!).

This weekends' activities include Cave-tubing and Zip-lining in San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize as well as a trip to the Belize Zoo (Jaguars and Tapirs, oh my!).

There is a cockroach that has taken up residence in the dresser in my and Dara's room. I've decided to call him Henry. He's somewhat massive in size.

It seems all I do around here is eat. The food is SO good. Last night we made our third trip to Restaurant Mirasol (this time I got the traditional stewed chicken instead of the rotisserie).

Cafeteria lunch here at school isn't too bad. Yesterday I had nachos and Chicken Tortas (a bun with chicken, lettuce and mayo).

Hopefully I will get some more pictures uploaded soon (I've figured out how to get to facebook from school so trips to the internet cafe haven't really happened lately). I plan on taking a lot this weekend on our trip to San Ignacio.

Hope all is well with you all.
-Amy

Finally, some pictures!

So I was finally able to upload a few pictures of my time here thus far. This is by no means a full set, only a few highlights. At the current time I've got a few hundred to sort through. Enjoy!

Belizean Adventures

My first day of teaching in Corozal...

Well, I made it. I successfully got through my first day of student teaching at the high school here.
I am with a teacher who teaches 2nd, 3rd, and 4th form classes. The school is based on the British school system so they are like sophomores, juniors, and seniors, respectively. I will be working with 2nd and 3rd form classes doing Literature and Grammar. I was looking through the resource room and saw copies of Beowulf and got excited (haha) but I will not be teaching that down here... I guess Grendel will have to wait until I get a classroom of my own.

The school down here is different from many schools in the US. Instead of the students rotating between classes the teachers actually rotate. I have two classes total I will be working with and they are in separate buildings.

My first day started with me getting to school at 7:30 AM (hmm...feels familiar) and meeting with my supervising teacher. From there I observed her three 4th form classes and went to Assembly (held every Monday) and lunch (mmm nachos!) and then my teacher said she had to leave (with her 3rd and 2nd form classes left to go). So...

I taught two classes, alone, on my first day here. I was so nervous! The students were nice and asked me lots of quesetions (the first in each? "Are you married?") So I talked to each class and had them introduce themselves and we did a bit of class work, but that is about it.

All the students got a good laugh out of my trying to pronounce their names.

I don't have any classes for the rest of the day so I get to catch up on my news and events and such.


To recap the past few days:

Saturday I went to Lamanai and visited the Mayan Ruins. We climbed the "High Temple" and oh wow, it was high. Going up was the easy part, it was the climbing back down that scared the crap out of me. All that is there is a rope to hold on to as you climb down. But obviously I made it okay, or I would not be typing this. My legs are still sore though! Yikes!

Sunday the group went to Chetumal, Mexico and did a bit of shopping at the mall and market and then went to Bacalar, Mexico and went to swimming and out to eat.
I was really excited because I thought I was going to have cellphone service in Mexico, but alas, I don't. Feel free to call and leave voicemails though, my dad is checking my voicemail and passing along the messages to me.

So far I am loving this trip. I've not had one bad meal or bad experience so far *knocks on wood*.

I have been taking lots of pictures and am starting to put together a big slideshow for all my students back at CCHS (I miss you guys!). I plan to go back there for at least a day and talk about my trip and what I learned (and where all I got to go and such). So far I've taken a few hundred pictures and am trying to figure out a good soundtrack for the slide show I'm doing. I'm going to have a lot to talk about (I hope!).

One thing I love about the weather here: I never have to style my hair or even brush my hair. Thanks to the humidity my hair goes straight into curls and I don't have to do anything to it! It makes my mornings much more relaxing (except this morning, Kathryn and I managed to burn the cinnamon sugar toast we made [no toaster, only an oven]). I need to learn to make rice and beans as well as stewed chicken (with a big helping of cole slaw on the side) so I can still eat it when I come home.

Anyway, I'm all out of things to say for now (has that ever actually happened before? Probably not...)

Hope you are doing well, also.

<3 Amy

Getting familiar...

Today I got to interview the Mayor of Corozal, Hilberto Campos. It was really interesting and I learned a lot about the town, business and development.

There are currently only four of us in Corozal, the other 7 went to Punta Gorda to go to a conference. Instead four of us are doing community projects.

Tonight we're cooking dinner (I think).

This weekend we are all traveling to the ruins at Lamanai and then to Chetumal, Mexico.

I spoke too soon saying I wasn't sunburned... I am, even on the backs of my hands! (ouch.) But maybe it will turn into a nice tan (or maybe fade away, who knows).

I've gotten used to smelling like Sunscreen and Bug Spray. As soon as I step out of the shower on goes the bug spray. There are tons of bugs, ants, mosquitoes, spiders, and many others. But they really aren't so bad.

I found out today that only a few days ago a 10ft. crocodile was caught in the bay only 200 yards from our housing. The New River is only 1 1/2 miles away and they think it got lost and turned around. They said it wasn't the first time that had happened. Hmm. Note to self: watch out for crocodiles.

By the way... the Chinese food here is amazing. Sorry August Moon and China Wok, you ain't got nothin' on this. It was soo good.

Pictures will come soon, once I find a faster internet connection.

Time to go explore the town (and hopefully find some ice cream).

<3 Amy

Another day, another internet minute...

We finished painting the school! YAY! (only took out a few wasps nest in the process...eek).
Went and swam in the bay last night which was nice but choppy.
Last night we decided to walk into town in the evening to buy cokes and a deck of cards. Probably not out brightest plan, but we went in a large group. It's not the people you need to watch out for...it's the dogs, they're somewhat insane.
Anyway, this was just a quick update, I think some of us are going to jump in the bay.
Hope everyone is doing well!
<3 Amy

Seriously... I'll get pictures on here at some point.

First Post from Belize!

Well, here I am, I've made it! I'm in Corozal, Belize.
The journey here was relatively uneventful. Two plane rides and a 5 hour drive through Mexico (including a pit stop to use a bathroom with out TP or a toilet seat...HA). I didn't get to see much of Cancun (sorry, Todd, I don't have much to report on that)
The town of Corozal is small and laid back.
Our first night we went out to eat (Rice & Beans, Plantains, Stewed Chicken, and Potato Salad... MMMMmmmmm....)
We also did a bit of grocery shopping (fruit, juice, eggs and salsa [the essentials]).
We figured out how to turn the a/c on (and subsequently flooded our apartment over night, but got it cleaned up! )
The first full day (Easter) we went to Church and laid out and swam at our Murray State person's hotel (she's only here a few days) and then went out to eat again (Fried Fish & Chips, salad).
I'm so glad I'm drinking caffeine again, it's wonderful!
Today we painted a preschool and after this we're going to explore the town I think.
I don't have a lot of time to post (this costs money, ya know :-) ) so here is a list of thoughts:
OMG the heat (but it's not so bad)
The gecko that lives in our apartment is named LiveText.
Spanish TV is hilarious.
I get more channels here than I do in Murray (the one time I turned the TV on)
Coffee here is great.
The water to shower in is actually warm at times, which is nice.
I definitely didn't over pack like I thought I did. I spend most of my time in tank tops and shorts.
The people are really nice.
The food is amazing.
I love it here.
I start teaching at the community college (really the high school) next week.
Sorry for the lack of pictures (Yay dial up!)
This weekend we're going to some Mayan Ruins and Chetumal (sp?) Mexico to hang out I believe.

<3, Amy

Heading to meet the msu bus that's taking us to the Nashville airport! Belize, here I come!!

It's finally here!

My student teaching in KY is now complete. I'm definitely going to miss it! My final day was spent mostly talking and eating. My First Block class had donuts. Second Block we had Dairy Queen. Third Block was Pizza and Fourth Block was cookies and desserts. I was definitely on a sugar rush by the end of the day (which led to my inevitable crash, falling asleep in Hilary's car as we ran errands yesterday afternoon). 

I loved student teaching and am definitely going to miss my classes and students (Yes, it's true :) ). 

They all signed a big poster for me and wrote notes so I hung it up on my wall. 

I had fun and I feel like I learned so much. I definitely became more comfortable standing up in front of a class. No matter how many education classes I had to take (which was a lot), student teaching by far has been the best learning environment yet.

In Belize news...

The MSU shuttle bus to the Nashville airport leaves at 2 AM, only 14 hours to go!

In that 14 hours I have to:

Fill out one more online job application

Pick up transcripts

Mail all of my other job applications

PACK

That's right, I haven't packed yet. I've made my lists of everything I'm taking, but I haven't packed them up yet.

I did, however, find out that my first week in Belize I am doing a project on local businesses and education, health care, and culture down there. (I know I've been doing grammar too long, I just looked at that sentence and thought: Ugh, I would hate to diagram that.)

Moving right along...

Last night Sara and Erin planned at going away party for Dara and myself, it was definitely a blast.

I definitely couldn't ask for better friends.

Anyway, I suppose I should actually start doing productive things today (after I catch up on the latest episode of Castle, of course). 

A week away

I'm a week away from going to Belize and I'm really starting to get excited.

I'm also incredibly stressed out because there is so much to complete before then (job application type things and completing student teaching in Kentucky).

Student teaching so far has been wonderful and I've loved [almost] every minute of it. Waking up that early was hard at times.

I'm currently home on Spring Break trying to get things together. I've got clothes and shoes and toiletries and teaching materials together. All that's left is to get back to Murray and make it through the week.

Hopefully I will be able to update every once in a while during my stay in Corozal, Belize. 

Stay tuned...