San Ignacio, Belize

Well, I made it to Belize and am two days deep into training to be a Peace Corps volunteer.  I still don't have any idea where I am going in the country for my job site, but I will be updated my webpage rather than sending out mass emails too often.  Training has so far been an awesome experience and I have been meeting some great fellow volunteers.  Belize is a wonderful country and the people have been so welcoming.  

 

What I do know about where I am going to be  working is that it is going to be very very rural. Probably no regular electricity or indoor running water.  So much for evenings spent watching DVD's on the laptop.  I am really excited about the next few weeks here in San Ignacio, on the border with Guatemala.  We move in with host-families on Friday and then spend three weeks living and learning about the Kriol language before going out into the country for our job specific training.  Once we move into our villages, we must live with host families for the first three months, then we have the option to move out on our own.  As a small business developer, I will probably be working with an ecotourism project or cooperative in the southern part of the country, possibly Stann Crekk District (check a map).

I best be going.  This free computer in a bar is quite popular.  Much love and of course, peace.

 

Shella B.

Masters of Public Administration
Evans School of Public Affairs
University of Washington
Peace Corps Masters International
Belize: June 2006 - August 2008

http://students.washington.edu/shellab

Half-way there: Atlanta

Seven dollars is a small price to pay for wireless Internet access at my last stop in the United States.  I sit in the Atlanta airport with just 2.5 hours separating me from that flight that will take me to my home for the next two years.  The plan for arrival is a quick pass-through Belize City before heading on to San Ignacio, a small town on the Guatemala border where we will be doing our "basic" training for the next month.  After that, the 40 of us will be splitting into groups for our technical part of our training.  I will spending time with the 5 other Small business advisers as we travel around Belize learning to do our job.  Around that time we will be told what part of the country we will be living in and will begin the appropriate language training (note: Belize has 5 different major languages, with English being spoken by most). 

After the whole training experience, we move to our home village and will live with a host family for the first three months at site.  This will be a great opportunity to learn more about Belizean culture and to practice our language skills.  I am really looking forward to arriving in Belize and learning more about the people and culture, and maybe even do a little work.  I have some pictures of my 4 hours of site-seeing in Belize and as soon as my batteries are charged, I will post some random shots of me with a few monuments.  Unfortunately the president, despite his letter in my Peace Corps invitation packet, was not available to greet our group. 

By the way, my training group is a most excellent collection of committed folks, with a large cohort from Seattle including a fellow Pacific Lutheran alum.  Our time together in D.C. was very short, so I am sure as we get to know each other I will have more information to share and pics to post.  Best wishes.

Departure Confirmed

After a wonderful couple of weeks of sleeping late, eating home cooked meals, and cherishing micro-brewed beer, I have a departure date. I leave for staging in D.C. this Friday, the 23rd, at 10am.  We then depart for Belize on Monday, June 26th.  Yes, that means I will miss Hoopfest in Spokane, perhaps my favorite spectator event that this city has to offer.

I am mostly packed and ready to go, but I keep having these dreams that I am going to forget or lose something.  I will do my best to send out updates when I know where in the country I will be living and what I will be doing, as well as putting pictures up for all to enjoy.