Last Thursday I had a pretty unfortunate day. Over 4.5 months in a tropical climate, and I finally came down with my first strange illness. It was quite a day, and for those who are interested, I will relate my version, but it is clouded by a really high temperature and severe pain, so I am attaching a link to my sitemate Jeff's blog and his capable words. http://www.jeffinbelize.blogspot.com/
11.07.2006
10.31.2006
Boo
Halloween has always been one of my favorite heathen holidays. There is really no other point to it other than dressing up, having a big party, acting silly, and eating lots of sugar. Thankfully these things are also true here in Belize, at least in the world of Peace Corps volunteers who occasionally need a reason to gather and pretend that we are still Americans and that there is some normalcy to our crazy lives.
So me as the Belizean Tooth Fairy traveled to Cayo, 6 hours each way, to mingle with a coral snake, the Prime Minister (who had no pants on), superman, a witch, a few cross dressers, and a host of other weirdos. I got the farthest traveled award, not to mention the best dental work done out of aluminum foil.
Now it is almost November and there is a surprisingly refreshing breeze blowing through Toledo. I got a little chilly last night as the temperatures dipped into the mid 70's, so I went out and purchased my first blanket. Compared to last week of 100's, the mid 80's are feeling very very nice, and rumor has it that by Christmas I may see 60 degrees. One can only hope.
My sitemate, Jeff, was recently interviewed for his hometown newspaper in Manchester, Maine, and it was a nice article and worth a read. Here is the link
Taking to village life <http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/3254457.shtml>.
So me as the Belizean Tooth Fairy traveled to Cayo, 6 hours each way, to mingle with a coral snake, the Prime Minister (who had no pants on), superman, a witch, a few cross dressers, and a host of other weirdos. I got the farthest traveled award, not to mention the best dental work done out of aluminum foil.
Now it is almost November and there is a surprisingly refreshing breeze blowing through Toledo. I got a little chilly last night as the temperatures dipped into the mid 70's, so I went out and purchased my first blanket. Compared to last week of 100's, the mid 80's are feeling very very nice, and rumor has it that by Christmas I may see 60 degrees. One can only hope.
My sitemate, Jeff, was recently interviewed for his hometown newspaper in Manchester, Maine, and it was a nice article and worth a read. Here is the link
Taking to village life <http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/3254457.shtml>.
10.27.2006
Chalk Dust
Someone must have slipped something into my tortillas this week. On Monday, after a weekend of attending an all day meeting on co-management of a national park, I found myself teaching. In a classroom, all day, with 21 12-14 year olds in it. It gets better. I also did the same thing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Temporary insanity, you assume, or a was it a clever plan to get on the good side of the primary school in Blue Creek in order to secure the vacant teacher's house for my permanent residence.
Either way, I voluntarily agreed to take over the principals classes this week while he was at a workshop. If I ever had any delusions of being a teacher, this thoroughly dismissed them. It brought me back to the days when I had substitute teachers in school, because that is how I was treated. I was rarely listened to, got a tongue or two stuck out at me, and was challenged to lash them by one of the students. But other than that, it was fine. Or at least it was fine by me that I couldn't understand what they were saying to each other because it was all in Maya. It is too bad that they are not all that interested in learning, because the students are so far behind even other kids in Belize. So I stuck it out and tried to help the students who really wanted to learn, and there were a few.
Now the week is over, thank God, and I am on my way to Cayo to celebrate a truly American holiday. I am going as the Belizean tooth fairy, all I need now is a grill (if you don't know, don't ask).
Either way, I voluntarily agreed to take over the principals classes this week while he was at a workshop. If I ever had any delusions of being a teacher, this thoroughly dismissed them. It brought me back to the days when I had substitute teachers in school, because that is how I was treated. I was rarely listened to, got a tongue or two stuck out at me, and was challenged to lash them by one of the students. But other than that, it was fine. Or at least it was fine by me that I couldn't understand what they were saying to each other because it was all in Maya. It is too bad that they are not all that interested in learning, because the students are so far behind even other kids in Belize. So I stuck it out and tried to help the students who really wanted to learn, and there were a few.
Now the week is over, thank God, and I am on my way to Cayo to celebrate a truly American holiday. I am going as the Belizean tooth fairy, all I need now is a grill (if you don't know, don't ask).
10.14.2006
Mi Gattito, Ms. Missy
I was planning on getting a cat from the day I signed up for the peace corps, so when my neighbor and friend, Ms. Ofelia, told me that her cat had kittens, I was thrilled. How convenient, 4 little furry bundles to choose from just down the road from me. 6 weeks later, I eagerly picked one out and brought it home for my very own.
I named her Missy, mostly because the Mayan word for cat is mis and the younger children don't speak any English and they like to point at her and say, "Bella, bella, mis, mis." By the way, bella bella is what the two youngest have started calling me, which is pretty cute.
So now I have a really really scrawny, scruffy, needy kitten. I am sure it will get bigger and eventually become cute, but right now it looks like it has been through the ringer. I have been catching it some sardines in the river for dinner and giving it eggs and bread for lunch. I am going to try and make it a little bit fat, it for nothing else but the novelty of having a fat cat in a world of skin and bone felines. I want to get her fixed, but I was told that if you take your animal to the vet in PG to get fixed, you have about a 50/50 chance of getting it back. I'll put up some pictures of my little mis.
In other news, the heat is back, with a vengeance. I don't know what it is, but after the weekend in PG, someone turned the thermostat up and I have been hiding indoors, sweating like a champ. I am waiting, patiently, for this thing they call the cool season. Let me tell you, doing yoga is tough when you are sweating so much that you are pooling on your mat. Gross, is all I have to say.
Upcoming: Monday - my first community meeting with the entire village, kinda scary. Tuesday - begin teaching computer classes at the primary school. 2 computers, 1 teacher, 20 kids, you do the math.
I named her Missy, mostly because the Mayan word for cat is mis and the younger children don't speak any English and they like to point at her and say, "Bella, bella, mis, mis." By the way, bella bella is what the two youngest have started calling me, which is pretty cute.
So now I have a really really scrawny, scruffy, needy kitten. I am sure it will get bigger and eventually become cute, but right now it looks like it has been through the ringer. I have been catching it some sardines in the river for dinner and giving it eggs and bread for lunch. I am going to try and make it a little bit fat, it for nothing else but the novelty of having a fat cat in a world of skin and bone felines. I want to get her fixed, but I was told that if you take your animal to the vet in PG to get fixed, you have about a 50/50 chance of getting it back. I'll put up some pictures of my little mis.
In other news, the heat is back, with a vengeance. I don't know what it is, but after the weekend in PG, someone turned the thermostat up and I have been hiding indoors, sweating like a champ. I am waiting, patiently, for this thing they call the cool season. Let me tell you, doing yoga is tough when you are sweating so much that you are pooling on your mat. Gross, is all I have to say.
Upcoming: Monday - my first community meeting with the entire village, kinda scary. Tuesday - begin teaching computer classes at the primary school. 2 computers, 1 teacher, 20 kids, you do the math.
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