& Just like that before I knew it my time in Belize came and went. My time there flashed before my eyes and it's hard to believe that I'm already back home. My time in Belize now feels like a dream. I mean...Wasn't I just crying in the car on the way to the Airport to leave to go to Belize? I have no idea how those five and a half weeks went by so fast. I have been back in North Carolina for a week and a half now and have missed Belize every single day.
Now...There are a few things about Belize that I won't miss like:
- THE BIKE LOCK.
- The random catcalling.
- The bell ringing at Pedro's.
- Putting toilet paper in the trash can.
- Wearing sunscreen almost every minute of every day.
- The dust from the dusty roads always being in my eyes.
- Fearing I'll be eat up by Sand Flies anytime I'm outside at night.
But there are SO MANY things about Belize that I will miss (& IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER) like:
- Sunday BBQ.
- Eating fryjacks.
- The palm trees.
- The incredible sunsets.
- The beautiful blue water.
- The adventurous excursions.
- Relaxing at Caribbean Villas.
- Karaoke Nights at Pedro's with Raul.
- Going to the beach during the School Day.
- Being a 5 - 10 minute walk from the Beach.
- Relaxing in a hammock every day after School.
- Listening to Reggae Music while riding through town.
- Drinking Coke out of a glass bottle ALL THE TIME.
- All of the precious Standard Four Girls I love so much.
- Getting to eat Supper for only $4.00 (US) or less every night.
- The teachers at Isla Bonita that I had the opportunity to get to know.
- Each of the women I formed relationships with from the San Pedro Town Library.
- Always seeing familiar faces while walking or riding my bike around San Pedro Town.
- The students at Isla Bonita I got to work with (Nayeli, Dyanara, Lorena, Genieve, and Julio).
- Walking into the Standard One Classroom and hearing "HUG FOR TEACHER!" which was always followed by a hug from sweet Kevin.
As you can see the list of things I will miss about Belize DEFINITELY outweigh the list of things that I won't miss about Belize. & On that note I am reminded about the first day I was back in Wilmington after returning from Belize. I saw a man sitting in the Student Union On Campus after I finished eating lunch and on his Laptop was there was a Flag of Belize. I looked at him with a sad face and told him that I just got back from studying abroad in Belize. He asked me about my program and why I was there so I told him. It turns out he's from Belize (he was born in Orange Walk and lived in Belmopan) and is here studying at UNCW. As I was listening to him I talk I realized that I missed hearing the Belizean Accent as well. I just couldn't believe that my FIRST DAY back in Wilmington I ran into someone who was from Belize. I mean...What were the odds of that?
When I would see people after returning back from Belize people would ask me: "Are you happy to be back home?!" & I would kind of just look at them for a minute, scrunch my face, and shrug. That was too hard of a question for me to answer. Now don't get me wrong...I love North Carolina with everything in me but I wasn't ready to come back quite yet. I was perfectly fine with being in Belize. My time there just went by too fast and I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do. Which only means I'll have to go back one day and you best believe that I plan on it too. I am POSITIVE that my International Field Experience in Belize was NOT my one and only time there. I already have a list of things that I want to do the next time I'm in Belize (go paddleboarding, eat at Estelle's, go snorkeling off the dock Caribbean Villas, go snorkeling off Ramon's Dock, volunteer at Camp Starfish, visit Sarah's Classroom at Ambergris Caye Elementary School when her students are there, etc.) But anyway...It wasn't that I didn't miss everyone here in North Carolina. Since being back I've realized how much I've missed everyone and everything here but I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE IN BELIZE. I was just so busy since there was always something to do and so much going that I didn't have time to worry about missing home or the people who were here which is a good thing since I never got homesick while I was there. I'm so glad that I was able to make the most of the times that I had in Belize and am so appreciative that I even had the incredible opportunity to go there and was able to call it home for five and a half weeks. I may not have been ready to leave Belize but as I slowly adjust to being back home I can say it is good to be back home.
The main things I've had to adjust to since being back home were:
- Actually putting toilet paper in the toilet.
- The sun setting two hours later than what I was used to.
- Driving again (it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be).
- Keeping up with the hustle and bustle of my life here in NC.
One of my main concerns about coming home was having to get used to busy-ness of life here in the States again but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. I believe I was still on Island Time when I got back so I had to pick up my pace JUST A LITTLE BIT but I honestly believe (and hope) that a part of the Island Life ALWAYS stays with me from here on out for the rest of my life. I am not the same person now that I was when I left to go to Belize and I know that I've changed for the better. I may not be able to pinpoint all of the changes and things I have learned that are now a part of me at the moment but I'm sure as time goes on I will slowly but surely figure out the impact my time in Belize had on me and I'm looking forward to discovering what those will be. I honestly feel like I could just ramble on and on about the amazing time I had while I was in Belize but then this post would probably be even more confusing and all over the place than it already is (I hope you've been able to bear with me). I'll just go ahead and say that the five and a half weeks I spent in Belize were honestly the most incredible five and a half weeks of my life. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. I have officially left a piece of my heart in Belize but I look forward to the day that I'll be going back to visit again!
Now...A lot has also happened in the short time I've been back home. I have been catching up with friends and family, I went to the Dentist, I picked up the keys to my new apartment I'll be living in next year, I paid for my first month of rent at my new apartment, I picked up my Cap & Gown, I picked up my Summa Cum Laude Honor Cord, I tried picking up my Study Abroad Stole (they were out so hopefully they come in sometime between now and Friday), I finished filling out the Paperwork for my Teaching License at my Final Seminar, I celebrated my 23rd Birthday, I shopped for new dresses to wear for my Graduation Weekend, I attended my Neighbor's Wedding, and I also took my Cap & Gown Pictures. If that sounds tiring to you imagine actually going through it...I've been pretty exhausted since returning back to the States. & The thing is...The craziness isn't even over yet. I still have to finish up my Final Assignments, attend The Red Carpet Event where our Belize Cohort will be showing our Documentaries, Graduate College, move out of my current apartment into my new apartment, and celebrate my Graduation at my Graduation Party. By Mother's Day all of the Graduation Festivities will be over and I will begin getting settled into my new apartment before starting a Summer of work in the following week. It would be pretty accurate to say at this point that REALITY HAS OFFICIALLY HIT ME. I am graduating College and am one step closer to entering into the real world. Granted...I'm still staying in Wilmington for one more year to take more courses for a Licensure Add-On to my Degree and will technically still be a College Student but I WILL STILL BE A COLLEGE GRADUATE. & THAT JUST DOESN'T SEEM POSSIBLE. I feel like I just transferred here to UNCW and it's hard to believe that after a long, hard, but amazing three years here I am almost a Licensed Teacher. I have worked so hard to get to this point and I can't believe it's happening and as each day passes I continue to get closer and closer to achieving my dreams. I have been a basketcase of mixed emotions ever since the day I left Belize but I hope through it all that I'm able to soak up every minute (mixed emotions and all) and enjoy this huge accomplishment that I have acheived and will be celebrating this week.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Some Final Thoughts...
As my time in Belize came to an end our Cohort was given two questions by Dr. C to think about and answer. (I believe I was supposed to answer them before I left Belize but my last week there was my busiest one yet so it just didn't happen. Plus...I also wanted to have a little time to sit back for a minute and reflect on my experience in Belize before answering these questions so I waited until I was home to answer them).
The first prompt is: What have you learned from your partnership teacher that will help you be a better teacher in the US?
- One thing I learned while I was in Belize that I would like to incorporate in my classroom in the U.S. is to use some inspiration from the behavior management system that I have seen used in the classrooms at Isla Bonita. In the Standard One Classroom the teacher has what's called a PAWistive Daily Behavior Chart on the board at the front of the classroom that she uses. The Behavior Chart has seven levels that are: "Outstanding!," "Super Choices!," "Good Job!," "Ready To Learn!," "Slow Down!," "Think About It!," and "Parent Contact!" Each student has a clothes pin with their name on it and everyone starts at the ""Ready To Learn!" level each morning. Throughout the day the teacher moves the students' clothes pin on the chart (either up or down) depending on their behavior. I really like this chart because it is easily displayed for the students so that they know exactly where they are at behavior wise at any given point during the day if they have any questions or are unsure about it. I also like it a lot because some behavior management strategies that I have seen in the States are very limited in the sense that the kids have less chances to correct their behavior and I believe this Behavior Chart provides students with multiple opportunities to improve their behavior if they're not behaving as they should as well as it encourages students to continue behaving well so that they can be "Outstanding!" I mean...Who doesn't want to be considered outstanding?? Since I'm a Special Education Major it will depend on the population of students that I have in my classroom on if I can use this particular Behavior Chart or not but it is something that I would like to try to use one day. I probably wouldn't use it as exactly as it is because just like everything else in Special Education...I would have to adapt this Behavior Chart to meet my students' needs as well. With this Behavior Chart I would like to have small rewards with each level above "Ready To Learn" to provide an extra incentive for students to have positive behaviors in the classroom. This type of Behavior Chart will be a really good way to help teach my students the expectations that I have for them in the Classroom. This Behavior Chart may not work exactly as it was used in the Standard One Classroom for my future classroom but with some tweaking here and there depending on the students that I have in my class I am sure that I can use it as a starting point to help guide a Behavior Chart that I can use in my future classroom that I hope will help me to be a better teacher in the US. Classroom Management is one of the most important skills a teacher must have to teach their students and using a Behavior Chart is one component of Classroom Management.
The second prompt is: What is one thing you are going to tell people about your experience in Belize (what is the first thing that comes to mind)?
- I've seen quite a few people since I've been back from Belize and one of the first things they ask me when they see me is: "How was your trip?!" & The first thing do is get a huge grin on my face. I then pause for a minute trying to find the words to say and I finally say: "It was amazing. I had the time of my life there and I miss it so much. I wasn't ready to come back." & It's so true. I then proceed to go into AT LEAST a five-minute ramble (if not more) of how incredible my time in Belize was. In each of these conversations I have had about my time in Belize one of the things that I find myself coming back to and always telling people is that you can visit a country for a weekend or a week, but you don't truly get to know the people there or really experience their culture until you live and work with them for an extended amount of time (like five and a half weeks). I've only been out of the U.S. one previous time in my life before going to the Belize and it was to The Bahamas when I went for Vacation on a cruise with my Grandparents when I was in Midde School. Looking back on my vacation to The Bahamas and comparing it to my International Field Experience in Belize I was simply a tourist in The Bahamas and didn't get a genuine feel for how life in The Bahamas really is. Now while being in Belize...That was a completely different experience. (I'm of course thankful for both though!) I felt like I truly got comfortable living life there and almost fit in with all of the locals in a way. I remember I felt so clueless during my first week in Belize. All I had was American Money on me, it would take me a minute to figure out the correct amount of money to give the cashier (I always wanted to give WAY MORE than what was needed), I didn't know any of the streets or how to get ANYWHERE on the Island, I took pictures of EVERY LITTLE THING that was new to me, and honestly just seemed like a tourist (I was a temporary one anyway). By my fifth week in Belize all I had was Belizean Money on me, I would hate it when cashiers told me the cost of my purchase in US Dollars since I only had Belizean Money on me (I would then ask how much it was in Belize), I knew how to get around San Pedro Town (for the most part) and go to all of my favorite places, I was able to give directions to tourists, and I didn't take as many pictures around town because none of it was new to me anymore and I was actually living there. I remember my trip to Belize City with THE SPED Girls was VERY DIFFERENT during our fifth week in Belize compared to our first week in Belize. During our first week we went to Belize City with Dr. C and I took pictures of everything. During our fifth week in Belize The SPED Girls and I went to Belize City withOUT Dr. C and I almost laughed when I saw a tourist taking pictures while riding on the Water Taxi because I had already been there and done that. It was the moment where it hit me that I wasn't just a visitor to Belize anymore. I felt like I a part of Belize and I guess when you live there for five and a half weeks that kind of happens to you. It was a very humbling moment for me because I don't think I realized when I left to go to Belize how attached I would get to it. I mean...I knew I would fall in love with the country and leave a part of my heart there when I had to leave (since I always do that wherever I travel) but I did not expect to get as connected to the country and the people who lived there as I did and I am so glad I got to experience that. It is something I will always keep with me too because as I travel in the future I want to keep in mind that the Tourist Locations are neat and worth seeing but I want to make sure that I dig around and find some of the Local Places to see too because THAT is when you truly get to know a way of life that is different from your own. As of right now I have to say that is one of the main takeaways that I feel like I have been telling people about my experience in Belize and will continue to tell people about my experience in Belize.
The first prompt is: What have you learned from your partnership teacher that will help you be a better teacher in the US?
- One thing I learned while I was in Belize that I would like to incorporate in my classroom in the U.S. is to use some inspiration from the behavior management system that I have seen used in the classrooms at Isla Bonita. In the Standard One Classroom the teacher has what's called a PAWistive Daily Behavior Chart on the board at the front of the classroom that she uses. The Behavior Chart has seven levels that are: "Outstanding!," "Super Choices!," "Good Job!," "Ready To Learn!," "Slow Down!," "Think About It!," and "Parent Contact!" Each student has a clothes pin with their name on it and everyone starts at the ""Ready To Learn!" level each morning. Throughout the day the teacher moves the students' clothes pin on the chart (either up or down) depending on their behavior. I really like this chart because it is easily displayed for the students so that they know exactly where they are at behavior wise at any given point during the day if they have any questions or are unsure about it. I also like it a lot because some behavior management strategies that I have seen in the States are very limited in the sense that the kids have less chances to correct their behavior and I believe this Behavior Chart provides students with multiple opportunities to improve their behavior if they're not behaving as they should as well as it encourages students to continue behaving well so that they can be "Outstanding!" I mean...Who doesn't want to be considered outstanding?? Since I'm a Special Education Major it will depend on the population of students that I have in my classroom on if I can use this particular Behavior Chart or not but it is something that I would like to try to use one day. I probably wouldn't use it as exactly as it is because just like everything else in Special Education...I would have to adapt this Behavior Chart to meet my students' needs as well. With this Behavior Chart I would like to have small rewards with each level above "Ready To Learn" to provide an extra incentive for students to have positive behaviors in the classroom. This type of Behavior Chart will be a really good way to help teach my students the expectations that I have for them in the Classroom. This Behavior Chart may not work exactly as it was used in the Standard One Classroom for my future classroom but with some tweaking here and there depending on the students that I have in my class I am sure that I can use it as a starting point to help guide a Behavior Chart that I can use in my future classroom that I hope will help me to be a better teacher in the US. Classroom Management is one of the most important skills a teacher must have to teach their students and using a Behavior Chart is one component of Classroom Management.
The second prompt is: What is one thing you are going to tell people about your experience in Belize (what is the first thing that comes to mind)?
- I've seen quite a few people since I've been back from Belize and one of the first things they ask me when they see me is: "How was your trip?!" & The first thing do is get a huge grin on my face. I then pause for a minute trying to find the words to say and I finally say: "It was amazing. I had the time of my life there and I miss it so much. I wasn't ready to come back." & It's so true. I then proceed to go into AT LEAST a five-minute ramble (if not more) of how incredible my time in Belize was. In each of these conversations I have had about my time in Belize one of the things that I find myself coming back to and always telling people is that you can visit a country for a weekend or a week, but you don't truly get to know the people there or really experience their culture until you live and work with them for an extended amount of time (like five and a half weeks). I've only been out of the U.S. one previous time in my life before going to the Belize and it was to The Bahamas when I went for Vacation on a cruise with my Grandparents when I was in Midde School. Looking back on my vacation to The Bahamas and comparing it to my International Field Experience in Belize I was simply a tourist in The Bahamas and didn't get a genuine feel for how life in The Bahamas really is. Now while being in Belize...That was a completely different experience. (I'm of course thankful for both though!) I felt like I truly got comfortable living life there and almost fit in with all of the locals in a way. I remember I felt so clueless during my first week in Belize. All I had was American Money on me, it would take me a minute to figure out the correct amount of money to give the cashier (I always wanted to give WAY MORE than what was needed), I didn't know any of the streets or how to get ANYWHERE on the Island, I took pictures of EVERY LITTLE THING that was new to me, and honestly just seemed like a tourist (I was a temporary one anyway). By my fifth week in Belize all I had was Belizean Money on me, I would hate it when cashiers told me the cost of my purchase in US Dollars since I only had Belizean Money on me (I would then ask how much it was in Belize), I knew how to get around San Pedro Town (for the most part) and go to all of my favorite places, I was able to give directions to tourists, and I didn't take as many pictures around town because none of it was new to me anymore and I was actually living there. I remember my trip to Belize City with THE SPED Girls was VERY DIFFERENT during our fifth week in Belize compared to our first week in Belize. During our first week we went to Belize City with Dr. C and I took pictures of everything. During our fifth week in Belize The SPED Girls and I went to Belize City withOUT Dr. C and I almost laughed when I saw a tourist taking pictures while riding on the Water Taxi because I had already been there and done that. It was the moment where it hit me that I wasn't just a visitor to Belize anymore. I felt like I a part of Belize and I guess when you live there for five and a half weeks that kind of happens to you. It was a very humbling moment for me because I don't think I realized when I left to go to Belize how attached I would get to it. I mean...I knew I would fall in love with the country and leave a part of my heart there when I had to leave (since I always do that wherever I travel) but I did not expect to get as connected to the country and the people who lived there as I did and I am so glad I got to experience that. It is something I will always keep with me too because as I travel in the future I want to keep in mind that the Tourist Locations are neat and worth seeing but I want to make sure that I dig around and find some of the Local Places to see too because THAT is when you truly get to know a way of life that is different from your own. As of right now I have to say that is one of the main takeaways that I feel like I have been telling people about my experience in Belize and will continue to tell people about my experience in Belize.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Week Five! (April 19th - 25th)
Day Thirty-Three: On Sunday I woke up at about 8:30 a.m. and just couldn't fall back asleep. I laid in bed until about 9:00 a.m. and decided to just get up and get ready. I got a Poptart, took it downstairs, ate my Poptart, and hung out at the Picnic Table until 10:00 a.m. when Jessica B., Casey, Tiffany, Sarah, Cyrus, and I all left to go to Sagebrush Church. After Church was over we all headed back to Pedro's. I then changed into my bathing suit and headed to Caribbean Villas with Jordon, Ali, Stephens, and Lauren. We all got lunch (which I was super excited about because I really wanted to have some Famous Sunday BBQ at Caribbean Villas before I left Belize) and we all got a free piece of Key Lime Pie since it was Lauren's 22nd Birthday. We were all sitting there when out of nowhere Tim (one of the guys who works for Peter at both Pedro's & Caribbean Villas) had a tray of the pies and started singing "Happy Birthday." It was so nice and needless to say I was glad that I ended up sitting with Lauren for Lunch. I mean...You can't complain about FREE DESSERT after a delicious lunch! Ya know? After lunch I got really tired and decided that it was time to lay out by the pool and relax. I spent the afternoon in and out of the pool, laying out, as well as taking a nice cat nap, and it was lovely. I also got to see a few students from Isla Bonita while I was there so that was neat too. At about 5:00 p.m. all of us laying by the pool decided to head back to Pedro's. Quite a few people were going to get Supper with Lauren for her Birthday but since I felt like I was able to celebrate with her over Lunch I got Supper with Jessica B., Brittany, Casey, Maddi, and Jessica M. at La Divina Providencia. After I got back to The Hotel from Supper I spent time in the Restaurant for a while working on my Blog before calling it a night.
Day Thirty-Four: On Monday I got up at about 7:30 a.m., got ready for the day, and left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. Once I got to Isla Bonita I ate my Poptart and then we had Devotion/Opening Assembly after the 8:30 a.m. School Bell rang. During the Assembly Miss Sharon told the School that Friday would be our last day and there was a collective chorus of "NNNOOO!!!!" from the students and it was the sweetest thing. But also sad too. It's all just so bittersweet. During the first Instructional Block I worked with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess's ABC's to help give her some more practice on reading Braille and she read the pages with Letters A through J which is A GOOD NUMBER of pages. We only worked for a little over an hour and she did really well. She was able to go through it faster on Monday as well as read a lot more of it before getting really tired compared to last week. I was so proud of her and was also VERY IMPRESSED that I could see progress in just the one week that I've worked with her on reading Braille. IT WAS SO NEAT. During the Second Instructional Block I worked with Nayeli in the Standard One Classroom. There was a Language Arts Quiz so I helped her with that and when she finished she reached out and gave me a hug and it was just the sweetest moment since I wasn't expecting it. I then worked with Nayeli on the Journal Assignment that was assigned to the Class. When Nayeli finished with that she gave me another hug which just melted my heart. I had only worked with her a week and had gotten so attached to her. For lunch I went with Ali, Stephens, Brittany, Casey, Maddi, and Jessica M. to Lilly's. After lunch I spent the Third Instructional Block with Standard Six and observed as they gave Presentations on their Projects about The Food Pyramid. Miss Sharon said I could work with Lorena after the presentations so I decided to just sit in her Classroom so I would know when they ended since I didn't figure they would take too long but the presentations ended up taking longer than I thought they would so I ended up not working with Lorena. There were three groups of students and two of them were not very knowledgeable about the content of what was asked of them so a lot of time ticked by while Miss Sharon gave two of the three groups some time to attempt to finish completing their work together. The Classroom was really hot and after sitting there for an hour I went to go refill my water bottle since I was pretty thirsty and I wanted to make sure that I was staying hydrated. During the Afternoon Break I talked with Mr. Jaime about working with Julio and Genieve after the break was over (Julio saw me after Lunch before the Third Instructional Block started asking if I was working with him since I wasn't sure) and Mr. Jaime said I could work with them.
During the Fourth Instructional Block I worked with Julio and Genieve on reading out of their workbook. Genieve was nice and said that Julio could pick what we read since she chose last time so Julio chose passages about sea creatures to read. We only had time to read half of it so I told them that we would finish the second half the next time we worked together. After we read the passage I read aloud the statements that were listed after the passage and we all looked back at the text to determine if the statements were true or false. We finished answering the questions just a little before 3:00 p.m. I let Julio and Genieve go back to their Class and I just sat in the Conference Room (where we worked on Monday) to kill some time before the Bell Rang at 3:00 p.m. so I could stay cool for a couple of more minutes since the room felt nice and chilly. A man who was coming to pick up one of the students in Standard Three Classroom saw me and asked if we were here volunteering at the Schools so I explained to him about how we were here in Belize for a Study Abroad Opportunity and then we introduced ourselves to one another. In our brief time together I learned that his name is Cliff and he is originally from Charlotte, NC. Cliff and his wife were both in the Military and have lived in Belize for 17 years now in a house that you can only get to by boat. Cliff has an adoptive granddaughter (who is the daughter of the caretakers of his property) who he was picking up from School. Cliff asked me when we were leaving Belize and when I told him on Saturday he was a little sad and said that it wouldn't be enough time to put everything together for a Party by Saturday since he wanted to have all of us volunteers over. I then got sad because THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLE AND SO NEAT. It's still such a sweet and genuine thought though and means a lot. Cliff gave me his card and told me to let him know if I ever come back to Belize and I will most definitely be taking him up on that offer. On Monday I left School at about 3:15 p.m. (I got caught up talking with Cliff but it was so worth it. I couldn't believe I was just sitting in Belize talking with someone who was from my neck of the woods and we knew of some of the same places that have changed over the years and it was just so neat.) I asked Cliff who his Granddaughter was he asked if I knew Gabby but I couldn't think of who she was. When Gabby came outside of the Classroom she said hey to me (while addressing me by name) and I felt so bad that I didn't know who she was. It's neat being a Special Education Major because I go into a multiple Classrooms and most of the students know who I am but it's also a drawback because so many students learn who I am but then since I only have a select few students from the multiple Classrooms that I work with I sometimes don't know who the other students in the Class are. It definitely has it's pros and cons. That I can't deny. When I got back to Pedro's I spent some time sitting in a hammock before our Group Meeting. Not too long after our Group Meeting I went with Jordon, Ali, Stephens, and Sarah to get supper at YJ's. When we got back to Pedro's I spent the rest of the night sitting in the Restaurant enjoying the Karaoke as well as being productive and getting some work done on my Blog for once before calling it a night so that was nice.
Day Thirty-Five: On Tuesday I woke up at 7:30 a.m., got ready, and then left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. I ate my Poptart while waiting for the School Bell to ring at 8:30 a.m. During the First Instructional Block I worked with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess's ABC's to continue giving her some more practice on reading Braille and she read the pages with Letters K through R. She was getting frustrated easily and tired sort of faster so I didn't want to push her too hard or keep making her work and not have her be successful because that would defeat the purpose of even working with her. During the Second Instructional Block I went into the Standard One Classroom and Kevin was too sweet because just as I walked in he yelled: "HUG TEACHER!" and came over to give me a hug. Nayeli saw it and got a little jealous and then came over to give me a hug. AND THEN Zachary came to give me a hug as well. The kids just continued to melt my heart more and more each day. Stephens was teaching Language Arts so I helped Nayeli to complete her Classroom Assignment. At one point I was sitting on the floor of the classroom and Viviannie (a girl who helps Nayeli in Class) hugged me, then Nayeli hugged me, then Kevin came and hugged me, and it was almost a dog pile of children hugging me and I felt so overwhelmed with love but in a good way. It was just a sweet and precious moment. For lunch I went with Brittany, Casey, Maddi, and Jessica M. to Pupuseria Saladoreno. During the Third Instructional Block I went back into the Standard One Classroom to work with Nayeli some more and assist her when needed. I couldn't work with Lorena like I had wanted to because her Class was having a Cook-Off. During the Break Genieve came up to me and told me that I couldn't work with her and Julio because they had Computer and I looked at her asking "Are you saying that or did Mr. Jaime say that?" but I already knew the answer before she told me that she was the one who said it. These kids think they're something else. I told Mr. Jaime was Genieve said and he just smiled and laughed. During the Fourth Instructional Block I went back to the Standard One Classroom so I could continue to work with Nayeli some more. I also got to teach Miss Seleni some signs that she can use in the Classroom. I left School at little after 3:00 p.m. and not long after I got back to Pedro's I was so tired that I had to take a short nap. When I woke up from my nap I ate a PB & J and then got ready to go on a Night Snorkel at Hol Chan Marine Reserve!
A group went snorkeling on Monday Night and I was part of the group that went on Tuesday Night. We got picked up at a dock not too far from Pedro's, rode to the Ambergris Divers Dive Shop, got our Snorkel Gear (fins, mask, and flashlight), got in a different boat, and then were on our way to Hol Chan! Once we got to Hol Chan we had to wait until the sun actually went down and it was so neat getting to see the sunset set while out in the sea. Once it started getting darker we all got in the water! There were three divers who went went a Dive Master and then the rest of us who were snorkeling were split into two groups with different guides. Not long after I got in the water somehow I used too much pressure when trying to turn my flashlight on and before I knew it the switch had come off. My guide wasn't in the water yet so I went back to the boat and it was definitely broke so for the whole snorkel I just stayed close to the guide and hung on to the lifesaver ring he had with him. It actually worked out to my benefit because I pretty much (for the most part) got to what the guide saw which included seeing A BLACKTIP REEF SHARK. Before we went snorkeling during our Briefing Session the guy was telling us about what we might see and as far as sharks he said we could POSSIBLY see a Nurse Shark. As soon as the guide saw the shark he started yelling "Shark!" and was so excited that he got water in his mouth trying to tell us there was a shark. Everyone else in my group was too far away to actually see it so I was the lucky one out of the 5 of us who got to see it so that was pretty cool. We got to see all sorts of other sea creatures too. We got to see conches crawling on the bottom of the sea, the beautiful coral, sea urchins, a big green sea turtle, quite a few fish, sting rays, AND an octopus! It was such a neat experience swimming in the sea at night with all of the various sea creatures in their natural habitat. It was pretty surreal. After being in the water about 45 minutes (which was plenty of time because I was always scared I was going to touch the coral and you don't want to do that or it dies AND the current was fairly strong at times which made swimming tough at times) we got back on the boat and headed back to Pedro's. Once I got back to Pedro's I showered because my skin felt so sticky after being in the sea. I then ate the rest of my leftover quesedilla from supper on Sunday Night while sitting in the restaurant at Pedro's working on my Blog as well as responding to e-mails before going to bed.
Day Thirty-Six:On Wednesday I got up at about 5:30 a.m. and got ready for the day. The SPED Girls and I all got up early so that we could catch the 6:30 a.m. Water Taxi to Belize City so that we could *... DRUM ROLL ....* GO TO STELLA MARIS AGAIN!!!!! After our first visit to Stella Maris during our first full week here in Belize we wanted to go back and visit because we just loved it so much AND we also wanted to go back so that we could get some footage for our Documentary that we will be completing. Dr. C tried getting in touch with Stella Maris all throughout last week to see if we could go visit it again and we didn't know up until Monday Afternoon (OF THIS WEEK) if it would work out for us to go. Needless to say we were getting a little nervous because it was our last week in Belize and we had absolutely no footage for our documentary whatsoever. Talk about cutting it close. But Megan, Brittany, Savannah, and I were all very excited to get to go to Stella Maris again because we had such a good experience and really enjoyed ourselves the first time we went. We all met by the Picnic Tables, Dr. C drove us to the Water Taxi, and we all boarded the Water Taxi. I don't do mornings very well and was struggling a little bit to keep my head up so I laid it down on top of my bag in my lap and took a little nap while riding the Water Taxi. When The SPED Girls and I got to Belize City we found a Taxi and he took us to Stella Maris. When THE SPED Girls and I got to Stella Maris right as we were walking in there was a little boy sitting on the stairs (who I recognized from being in one of the Classrooms that I observed the last time I was at Stella Maris) and he immediately smiled at me, pointed, and then signed "remember." I asked him (in sign of course) if he remembered me and he smiled and signed "yes." IT WAS THE SWEETEST MOMENT. & I couldn't believe it! I only spent a couple of hours in the Classroom about a month ago and HE REMEMBERED ME. It was just so neat! We got to Stella Maris around 8:30 a.m., found the Vice Principal (since the Principal wasn't there), and spent time with the kids playing before School started. Three of the girls who are deaf that I met and signed with the last time I was at Stella Maris remembered me as well. The School Bell rang and The SPED Girls and I went to the Younger Autism Classroom and spent time with them for about 45 minutes. We sang songs with them, talked with the teachers, and worked with the students on Math. At about 9:45 a.m. The SPED Girls and I went into the kitchen and got to help the Class that was in there cook their Creole Buns and as the teacher said, "It was sticky business." We left as they were putting the buns in the oven and then spent more time outside with the kids during the Break. After the Break I spent time signing with the Teacher who is Deaf that I spent time signing with during my last visit at Stella Maris before joining Megan, Brittany, and Savannah in the Library where we then spent time getting to know Marlin (the Librarian). After talking with Marlin we tried to go visit the Adult Autism Classroom but the Vice Principal was conducting an Observation so we spent some time hanging outside with some of the kids until the Lunch Bell rang. We spent a little bit of time talking with the Vice Principal after she finished her Observation and then thanked her for allowing us to visit Stella Maris. I don't know how many times I would have to visit Stella Maris until I felt like it was enough time but I can tell you that two trips that only lasted 4 hours each WAS NOT ENOUGH TIME AT STELLA MARIS.
I wish we could've stayed at Stella Maris longer but we needed to catch the 1:30 p.m. Water Taxi so we got lunch at the same Belizean Chinese Restaurant that we ate at when we visited Stella Maris last month and called the same Taxi Driver who drove us to Stella Maris to come pick us back up. We made it back to the Water Taxi at about 12:45 p.m. and then I got some Ice Cream Gelato while Megan, Brittany, and Savannah looked at some of the shops to kill time before it was time to board the Water Taxi. We got on the Water Taxi and sure enough not too much later I was so tired and just laid down on the bench (there was plenty of room without bothering anyone) so I took me a nap on the ride. I woke up just before our stop at Caye Caulker and managed to stay awake the rest of the Water Taxi ride to San Pedro but I guess I am unfortunately "unable to stay awake on Water Taxis for future reference" according to Brittany. Megan even has the picture of me sprawled out on our afternoon ride back to prove it. I wanted to walk on the beach back to Pedro's so I did just that and it was a good thing I did because on the path I took to get back to Pedro's I ran into Tamara, the woman I spent time with two Saturdays ago. It was nice because I wasn't sure if I would get to see her before I left Belize so I was glad that I ran into her. While I was talking to Tamara Dianela drove by on her golf cart and waved at me. After I talked with Tamara and as I was walking back to Pedro's Nikki was driving by me and stopped to offer me a ride so I got a ride back to Pedro's so that was nice. & It worked out so that I could verify our plans for Thursday Afternoon instead of having to send her a message on Facebook. As I got off the Golf Cart I could help but think that I JUST LOVE SAN PEDRO. I mean...I saw THREE PEOPLE that I knew within five minutes. HOW COOL IS THAT?! I love how similar San Pedro is to home. I see familiar faces almost everyone I go and have multiple times in a week ever since the first week I arrived to San Pedro and it's just the neatest thing. Back home I see people I know often around town and I love that I have been able to do the same thing here in San Pedro too. It's just been great. I got back to Pedro's at around 3:45 p.m. and spent time hanging out at the Picnic Tables since everyone placed at Isla Bonita Elementary School were meeting with Leslie to talk about our time here in Belize since she is working on a study to determine how the International Field Experience affects us that are here. After talking with Leslie I went upstairs, changed, and then left to go get Supper with Jessica M. at Neri's Tacos. Jessica M. and I walked to Neri's and then walked to The Office to meet our group to go on a Tour with the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary (ACES). Cyrus, Joe, Meghan, Tracy, Callie, Abby, and Tiffany all arrived not too long after Jessica and I did. We all met Chris and Helen (Well...We sort of knew who they were since they have been at Pedro's on a couple of our Friday Karaoke Nights) to go on the Tour. We had to be at The Office by 6:15 p.m. but we waited a little while longer until it got dark before going on the boat. (Sidenote: Chris is from England and has worked with ACES for the past 5 out of the 7 seven years that he's been living in Belize and Helen is a Graduate from UCLA who is doing research with a woman named Marissa who both got to San Pedro last week.)
It was REALLY DARK and kind of eerie riding around at night but it was a very slow and nice ride as well. We spent the ride sitting and listening to Helen and Chris inform us about crocodiles and answer any questions that we had. A group of people from our Cohort went on an ACES Tour Tuesday Night, I went with a group on Wednesday Night, and one more group would be going on Thursday Night. Mike (someone else who works with ACES) found a croc on Tuesday Night that had never been caught by ACES before so they chipped it and my roommate Jessica B. actually got to hold the croc while the microchip was put in him. Who ever is on the boat when a new croc is caught gets to name it and the Group on the boat Tuesday Night named the croc they found "Wiggle With It." After riding around for a while it was getting to a point where I wasn't sure if we were going to see a croc...I mean...I felt like it would be rare for EACH GROUP to be able to see a croc THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW. After no luck of seeing any crocs while Chris drove and Helen and Mike shined their lights out onto the water looking for a red glow (of the croc's eyes) Mike tied the boat up and Chris got out to walk through the maze. All of us sitting in the boat spent time talking and soon enough we heard Chris splashing through the water on his way back. Helen asked if he had any luck and sure enough I hear her say: "HE HAS ONE!" & There was Chris walking up to the boat with a little croc. The funny thing is it was the same one that they caught on Wednesday night but it was neat since people from our Cohort are the ones that got to name it! I asked Chris where he released "Wiggle With It" on Tuesday after they caught him and it was further down from where he found him so that was funny that he ended up right back in the same spot where they caught him on Tuesday Night. I told Chris that he knew where he would have to take the Group coming on Thursday Night and he just laughed. After Helen held the croc for a little bit and talked to us about him Chris taped the croc's mouth and we all got to hold him and take pictures with him. I even kissed him on the head! I was a little nervous to hold a croc but he wasn't too big and IT WAS SO COOL. I'm so glad we were given the spur of the moment opportunity to go on the ACES Tour because it was definitely another experience where I felt adventurous! It was just so neat. Plus I knew people who came to Belize last year went on an ACES Tour and I wanted to go. There is a girl named Miriam who was an Intern with ACES, stayed at Pedro's, and spent time with the Belize Cohort who was here last year. She actually came to Pedro's during out first and second full week here in Belize during her Spring Break to do some Research for her Master's Degree (well...she was here a little longer than originally planned due to her passport getting water damaged and she had to wait for her new documents to arrive before she could leave the country) but we all got to know her and I told her that I wanted to go to an ACES Tour so I was SUPER EXCITED when I found out that I was going to be able to on Monday at our Group Meeting! (& A Fun Fact about Miriam is she's from Canada but actually did her Undergraduate Degree at Wingate University which is only an hour or so away from my hometown. IT HONESTLY AMAZES ME HOW SMALL THIS WORLD IS.) After getting off the boat Helen gave Jessica M., Abby, Tiffany, and I all a ride back to Pedro's on her golf cart since we were the only ones who walked to The Tour so that was nice of her. & I thought it was neat that I got to ride a golf cart at three different times in one day. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. After getting back to Pedro's I spent some time eating free pizza that was going around while working on this good ole Blog Post before calling it a night. Wednesday sure was a long day and I felt pretty exhausted by the end of it but IT WAS SUCH A GOOD DAY.
Day Thirty-Seven: On Thursday I got up at about 7:30 a.m., got ready, and then left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. Right when I got to Isla Bonita Dr. C was there in a Golf Cart and asked me if I wanted to go to visit the Preschools so I of course said yes! (Dr. C was taking Maddi to visit them since she is an Early Childhood Education Major and offered to take me as well since I'm staying at Wilmington for one more year to complete the B-K Licensure Add-On to my Degree). I ate my Nature Valley Bar for breakfast on the Golf Cart ride to the Preschools. The first Preschool we stopped to visit was ABC Pre-School. ABC Pre-School was very colorful and had four classrooms. Maddi and I were allowed to check out any of the Classrooms we wanted so I walked up to one and the teacher let me go in. I asked her about her Classroom routine and how long she had been working there. She had been there for 15 years and was planning on leaving after this year ends. The more I talked with her she told me she chose to work at ABC Pre-School because she has a son with Special Needs so she wanted to only work in the morning. I asked her what special needs her son has and she said that he is hearing impaired. I was blown away. Of the four different classrooms that I could've gone into I went into the one where the teacher had a son who had a "disability." Wouldn't you know it. I just couldn't believe it. It cracked me up. That's just my life works and I love it! Just more affirmation that I'm in the right field. I glanced in one of the other classrooms, and stopped by Teacher Wil's Office to thank him for letting us look around the Pre-School. He was just so sweet. He told me that if I ever come back that I am always welcome to come visit. He may not have known it when he said it but I will be sure to take him up on that offer! After visiting ABC Pre-School we all rode over to The Little Angel's Preschool and visited them. We walked in, mat Marina, looked at the classrooms, and then Marina wanted Maddi to read a book we brought for them to all 50 or so of the kids. Maddi did a wonderful job reading to the Preschool and also sang "Five Little Monkeys Swinging In A Tree" to the kids and they really enjoyed it. I could tell Maddi enjoyed herself and I enjoyed watching her in action since I haven't really had a chance to observe in the Preschool Classroom at Isla Bonita. We talked with Marina for a few minutes to learn a little bit about Little Angel's and she started it 18 years ago. After we were done visiting Little Angel's Dr. C took Maddi and I back to Isla Bonita. Maddi and I really enjoyed our time visiting the two Preschools and I'm so glad that Dr. C took us! It was such a good experience. When I got to Isla Bonita Jessica M. was working with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess's ABC'c. Jessica and Dyanara were on the last page of the book when I got there so I just watched them as they finished working (Jessica also worked with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess' ABC's pages with letters S through V on Wednesday while I was at Stella Maris). After Dyanara and Jessica finished working on reading Braille I went with them to the Standard Four Classroom for a little bit and spent time hanging out and talking with Caroline (who is one of the sweetest girls that I have ever met). Carolina asked me if I could come over to her house for a sleepover and it was such a precious gesture and meant a lot to me. I just love that girl. At about 10:00 a.m. I went downstairs to spend time in the Standard One Classroom. On Wednesday when I got back from Stella Maris Stephens told me that Miss Seleni wanted me to teach the Class some sign language so I spent about 30 minutes teaching the students sign language that they could use with Nayeli.
It was kind of different for me because I'm not used to teaching a Whole Class of more than 7 students since I am so used to working with students 1:1 or in Small Groups. I also didn't really plan for the "Lesson" except by having a few signs I knew I wanted to teach the Class. I still feel like it went well and it always amazes me how quickly young kids are able to pick up signs. Within the hour I had one student signing to me and I saw a few of them even signing with Nayeli. For lunch I went with Jessica M., Maddi, and Casey to Pupuseria Saladoreno. During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on reading. I had her summarize the book that we read last week, she finished reading the last three chapters that we had left to read, and I had her summarize each Chapter after we finished it. I was getting worried that Lorena and I wouldn't be able to finish the book we started last week but I'm so glad that we were able to finish it and find out what happened. During the Fourth Instructional Block I spent some time in the Standard One Classroom for a little bit and then spent some time outside with both Standard Three and Four as they had P.E. I left School at about 3:00 p.m., sat at the picnic table for a few minutes, and then waited by the entrance of Pedro's since Nikki and Dianela were coming to pick me up at 3:30 p.m. Nikki and Dianela told me about someone they know on the Island who has a Special Education Classroom at Ambergris Caye Elementary School (ACES) so they took me to meet her and see her Classroom. The woman's name is Sarah who is from Massachusetts and she came to Belize for a similar Study Abroad Experience with her University while she was working on her Master's Degree. She came to Belize wanting to start/establish a Special Education Program here on the Island since there isn't one. When she started out the School Year she didn't have her own Classroom but ever since she got her classroom in January she had seen the students make a lot of progress. Sarah has three students in her class who have autism and one student who has a visual impairment. The Ministry of Education doesn't require for students here in Belize to have IEPs like it is required in the United States for students but she writes her own for the students and keeps a portfolio of their work. Sarah is hoping to have her class grow to at least seven students for next year. I wish I would've taken pictures of her classroom but I just spent all of my time listening to her talk and taking everything in. I can tell that she and I both have the same passion in advocating for children with Special Needs and I really enjoyed meeting her and seeing her Classroom even though her students had already gone home for the day. I hope that I can come back to Belize one day in the future and can go see her Classroom again. Nikki and Dianela took me back to Pedro's and I hated to say goodbye to them. Well...I hate goodbyes so I really said see you later because I'm 99% sure that I'll be back to visit Belize one day. Nikki and Dianela are just so sweet and I am SO GLAD that they took me to visit Sarah's Classroom. It was so awesome. After I got back to Pedro's I was so exhausted and just spent a little bit of time relaxing in a hammock before going to get supper. I went to Lily's with Lauren, Brittany, Savannah, Ali, and Stephens and after we ate they left to go on their Tour with ACES (the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary) and I left to go back to the Hotel. I was still so very tired and just spent some time hanging out in the Restaurant at Pedro's and finally went up to my room to get my Laptop, and went back to the Restaurant at Pedro's to work on my Blog while Trivia was going on since I was so tired and didn't have the energy to think about doing anything else. Plus I didn't want to sit outside and get eat up by any bugs since I didn't have any bug spray on so I just played it safe by staying inside for the rest of the night before going to bed.
As I was eating my piece of cake (that was very yummy and had the most delicious icing in the world that I have ever tasted) I was talking to Alfonzo (a family member of the Birthday Girl) and he thanked us (referring to all of us from UNCW placed at Isla Bonita) for coming and then I thanked him for being so open to having us here in Belize and he said: "Of course! We're all just visitors." It was so neat and so true. Those words really put things into perspective for me. I loved the mindset he had about us being in Belize and definitely want to keep it in mind for the future when I meet people visiting the U.S. from elsewhere (I was honestly not sure how Belizeans would respond to having us in Belize and I have to say that I have felt very welcomed from Day One). Alfonzo also told me that I was welcome to stay at his place (he rents out places) when I came back to visit. As I was leaving I thanked him again and he asked if I would be back. I responded "One day." and he responded to me: "One week." so I said that one day I would come back and stay for a week and couldn't help but laugh. Our exchange just cracked me up. While I was talking with Alfonzo Miss Seleni saw me and said that she had something for me so I went to her room and she had me a little treat bag with a glass to remember Belize by as well as a postcard with the sweetest note on it. As a Special Education Major I didn't have a Partnership Teacher because I worked with a few students in different classrooms so I wasn't expecting a Goodbye Gift of any sort at all. It was such a pleasant surprise and really meant a lot to me. I had so many students give me hugs and tell me bye before I left and it was definitely hard to leave School on Friday Afternoon. One of the nice things about being a Special Education Major is that because I was in and out of multiple classrooms I got to spend time with a variety of students and get to know both students with AND without disabilities so I really enjoyed that. All throughout the School Day I would have many students say hi to me and address me by name and even though I may not have known who each of them were (the drawback of being in multiple classrooms) it was still neat that they knew who I was and I will never forget that. I left School a little after 3:00 p.m. and took a shower once I got back to Pedro's since I was wet from going swimming with Standard Four at the beach. After changing I took a nap and then finally decided to start packing. At about 6:30 p.m. I walked downstairs to the Restaurant at Pedro's since Peter (the owner of Pedro's) was having a Farewell Party (with FREE All-You-Can-Eat Pizza for Supper) as well as Karaoke. Peter gave us a toast and told us that we were the best group that he's had yet. I had a blast dancing the night away to one final karaoke night (I honestly really love listening to karaoke and am going to miss the Karaoke Nights at Pedro's) and honestly couldn't have imagined spending my last night in San Pedro any other way. It was truly perfect (but it went by way too fast just like I knew it would).
Day Thirty-Nine: Saturday was the day that came entirely too fast for me and I was not ready to face it whatsoever. I woke up at about 7:30 a.m., got ready, finished packing, and took my bags downstairs to wait to be taken to Maya Island Air. I ate a Nature Valley Bar for breakfast and then a little after 9:00 a.m. we and our luggage were loaded onto golfcarts and taken to The Airport to fly out of San Pedro. We waited to board the plane and left to go to Belize City at about 10:00 a.m. When we got to Belize City we got our bags, checked in, and the waited to board our flight to Charlotte, NC. We boarded at about 11:50 a.m. and then took off at about 12:35 p.m. We landed at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport at about 5:35 p.m. The reality of leaving Belize didn't hit me until the moment my plane landed in Charlotte. Even though I wasn't quite ready to be home I was thankful that I had a direct flight home and didn't have to get a connecting flight to Raleigh, NC like most of the other people in my Cohort on my flight had to do (Meghan and I were the two lucky ones who were already home once we reached the Charlotte Airport). After getting off the plane I got my bags, went through Customs, and then saw my Grandma waiting on me. It was my Grandpa's Birthday so we went out to Dinner at Chili's. We spent all Dinner just talking about Belize and it was such a nice way to be welcomed home after a long day of travel.
Day Thirty-Four: On Monday I got up at about 7:30 a.m., got ready for the day, and left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. Once I got to Isla Bonita I ate my Poptart and then we had Devotion/Opening Assembly after the 8:30 a.m. School Bell rang. During the Assembly Miss Sharon told the School that Friday would be our last day and there was a collective chorus of "NNNOOO!!!!" from the students and it was the sweetest thing. But also sad too. It's all just so bittersweet. During the first Instructional Block I worked with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess's ABC's to help give her some more practice on reading Braille and she read the pages with Letters A through J which is A GOOD NUMBER of pages. We only worked for a little over an hour and she did really well. She was able to go through it faster on Monday as well as read a lot more of it before getting really tired compared to last week. I was so proud of her and was also VERY IMPRESSED that I could see progress in just the one week that I've worked with her on reading Braille. IT WAS SO NEAT. During the Second Instructional Block I worked with Nayeli in the Standard One Classroom. There was a Language Arts Quiz so I helped her with that and when she finished she reached out and gave me a hug and it was just the sweetest moment since I wasn't expecting it. I then worked with Nayeli on the Journal Assignment that was assigned to the Class. When Nayeli finished with that she gave me another hug which just melted my heart. I had only worked with her a week and had gotten so attached to her. For lunch I went with Ali, Stephens, Brittany, Casey, Maddi, and Jessica M. to Lilly's. After lunch I spent the Third Instructional Block with Standard Six and observed as they gave Presentations on their Projects about The Food Pyramid. Miss Sharon said I could work with Lorena after the presentations so I decided to just sit in her Classroom so I would know when they ended since I didn't figure they would take too long but the presentations ended up taking longer than I thought they would so I ended up not working with Lorena. There were three groups of students and two of them were not very knowledgeable about the content of what was asked of them so a lot of time ticked by while Miss Sharon gave two of the three groups some time to attempt to finish completing their work together. The Classroom was really hot and after sitting there for an hour I went to go refill my water bottle since I was pretty thirsty and I wanted to make sure that I was staying hydrated. During the Afternoon Break I talked with Mr. Jaime about working with Julio and Genieve after the break was over (Julio saw me after Lunch before the Third Instructional Block started asking if I was working with him since I wasn't sure) and Mr. Jaime said I could work with them.
During the Fourth Instructional Block I worked with Julio and Genieve on reading out of their workbook. Genieve was nice and said that Julio could pick what we read since she chose last time so Julio chose passages about sea creatures to read. We only had time to read half of it so I told them that we would finish the second half the next time we worked together. After we read the passage I read aloud the statements that were listed after the passage and we all looked back at the text to determine if the statements were true or false. We finished answering the questions just a little before 3:00 p.m. I let Julio and Genieve go back to their Class and I just sat in the Conference Room (where we worked on Monday) to kill some time before the Bell Rang at 3:00 p.m. so I could stay cool for a couple of more minutes since the room felt nice and chilly. A man who was coming to pick up one of the students in Standard Three Classroom saw me and asked if we were here volunteering at the Schools so I explained to him about how we were here in Belize for a Study Abroad Opportunity and then we introduced ourselves to one another. In our brief time together I learned that his name is Cliff and he is originally from Charlotte, NC. Cliff and his wife were both in the Military and have lived in Belize for 17 years now in a house that you can only get to by boat. Cliff has an adoptive granddaughter (who is the daughter of the caretakers of his property) who he was picking up from School. Cliff asked me when we were leaving Belize and when I told him on Saturday he was a little sad and said that it wouldn't be enough time to put everything together for a Party by Saturday since he wanted to have all of us volunteers over. I then got sad because THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLE AND SO NEAT. It's still such a sweet and genuine thought though and means a lot. Cliff gave me his card and told me to let him know if I ever come back to Belize and I will most definitely be taking him up on that offer. On Monday I left School at about 3:15 p.m. (I got caught up talking with Cliff but it was so worth it. I couldn't believe I was just sitting in Belize talking with someone who was from my neck of the woods and we knew of some of the same places that have changed over the years and it was just so neat.) I asked Cliff who his Granddaughter was he asked if I knew Gabby but I couldn't think of who she was. When Gabby came outside of the Classroom she said hey to me (while addressing me by name) and I felt so bad that I didn't know who she was. It's neat being a Special Education Major because I go into a multiple Classrooms and most of the students know who I am but it's also a drawback because so many students learn who I am but then since I only have a select few students from the multiple Classrooms that I work with I sometimes don't know who the other students in the Class are. It definitely has it's pros and cons. That I can't deny. When I got back to Pedro's I spent some time sitting in a hammock before our Group Meeting. Not too long after our Group Meeting I went with Jordon, Ali, Stephens, and Sarah to get supper at YJ's. When we got back to Pedro's I spent the rest of the night sitting in the Restaurant enjoying the Karaoke as well as being productive and getting some work done on my Blog for once before calling it a night so that was nice.
Day Thirty-Five: On Tuesday I woke up at 7:30 a.m., got ready, and then left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. I ate my Poptart while waiting for the School Bell to ring at 8:30 a.m. During the First Instructional Block I worked with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess's ABC's to continue giving her some more practice on reading Braille and she read the pages with Letters K through R. She was getting frustrated easily and tired sort of faster so I didn't want to push her too hard or keep making her work and not have her be successful because that would defeat the purpose of even working with her. During the Second Instructional Block I went into the Standard One Classroom and Kevin was too sweet because just as I walked in he yelled: "HUG TEACHER!" and came over to give me a hug. Nayeli saw it and got a little jealous and then came over to give me a hug. AND THEN Zachary came to give me a hug as well. The kids just continued to melt my heart more and more each day. Stephens was teaching Language Arts so I helped Nayeli to complete her Classroom Assignment. At one point I was sitting on the floor of the classroom and Viviannie (a girl who helps Nayeli in Class) hugged me, then Nayeli hugged me, then Kevin came and hugged me, and it was almost a dog pile of children hugging me and I felt so overwhelmed with love but in a good way. It was just a sweet and precious moment. For lunch I went with Brittany, Casey, Maddi, and Jessica M. to Pupuseria Saladoreno. During the Third Instructional Block I went back into the Standard One Classroom to work with Nayeli some more and assist her when needed. I couldn't work with Lorena like I had wanted to because her Class was having a Cook-Off. During the Break Genieve came up to me and told me that I couldn't work with her and Julio because they had Computer and I looked at her asking "Are you saying that or did Mr. Jaime say that?" but I already knew the answer before she told me that she was the one who said it. These kids think they're something else. I told Mr. Jaime was Genieve said and he just smiled and laughed. During the Fourth Instructional Block I went back to the Standard One Classroom so I could continue to work with Nayeli some more. I also got to teach Miss Seleni some signs that she can use in the Classroom. I left School at little after 3:00 p.m. and not long after I got back to Pedro's I was so tired that I had to take a short nap. When I woke up from my nap I ate a PB & J and then got ready to go on a Night Snorkel at Hol Chan Marine Reserve!
A group went snorkeling on Monday Night and I was part of the group that went on Tuesday Night. We got picked up at a dock not too far from Pedro's, rode to the Ambergris Divers Dive Shop, got our Snorkel Gear (fins, mask, and flashlight), got in a different boat, and then were on our way to Hol Chan! Once we got to Hol Chan we had to wait until the sun actually went down and it was so neat getting to see the sunset set while out in the sea. Once it started getting darker we all got in the water! There were three divers who went went a Dive Master and then the rest of us who were snorkeling were split into two groups with different guides. Not long after I got in the water somehow I used too much pressure when trying to turn my flashlight on and before I knew it the switch had come off. My guide wasn't in the water yet so I went back to the boat and it was definitely broke so for the whole snorkel I just stayed close to the guide and hung on to the lifesaver ring he had with him. It actually worked out to my benefit because I pretty much (for the most part) got to what the guide saw which included seeing A BLACKTIP REEF SHARK. Before we went snorkeling during our Briefing Session the guy was telling us about what we might see and as far as sharks he said we could POSSIBLY see a Nurse Shark. As soon as the guide saw the shark he started yelling "Shark!" and was so excited that he got water in his mouth trying to tell us there was a shark. Everyone else in my group was too far away to actually see it so I was the lucky one out of the 5 of us who got to see it so that was pretty cool. We got to see all sorts of other sea creatures too. We got to see conches crawling on the bottom of the sea, the beautiful coral, sea urchins, a big green sea turtle, quite a few fish, sting rays, AND an octopus! It was such a neat experience swimming in the sea at night with all of the various sea creatures in their natural habitat. It was pretty surreal. After being in the water about 45 minutes (which was plenty of time because I was always scared I was going to touch the coral and you don't want to do that or it dies AND the current was fairly strong at times which made swimming tough at times) we got back on the boat and headed back to Pedro's. Once I got back to Pedro's I showered because my skin felt so sticky after being in the sea. I then ate the rest of my leftover quesedilla from supper on Sunday Night while sitting in the restaurant at Pedro's working on my Blog as well as responding to e-mails before going to bed.
Day Thirty-Six:On Wednesday I got up at about 5:30 a.m. and got ready for the day. The SPED Girls and I all got up early so that we could catch the 6:30 a.m. Water Taxi to Belize City so that we could *... DRUM ROLL ....* GO TO STELLA MARIS AGAIN!!!!! After our first visit to Stella Maris during our first full week here in Belize we wanted to go back and visit because we just loved it so much AND we also wanted to go back so that we could get some footage for our Documentary that we will be completing. Dr. C tried getting in touch with Stella Maris all throughout last week to see if we could go visit it again and we didn't know up until Monday Afternoon (OF THIS WEEK) if it would work out for us to go. Needless to say we were getting a little nervous because it was our last week in Belize and we had absolutely no footage for our documentary whatsoever. Talk about cutting it close. But Megan, Brittany, Savannah, and I were all very excited to get to go to Stella Maris again because we had such a good experience and really enjoyed ourselves the first time we went. We all met by the Picnic Tables, Dr. C drove us to the Water Taxi, and we all boarded the Water Taxi. I don't do mornings very well and was struggling a little bit to keep my head up so I laid it down on top of my bag in my lap and took a little nap while riding the Water Taxi. When The SPED Girls and I got to Belize City we found a Taxi and he took us to Stella Maris. When THE SPED Girls and I got to Stella Maris right as we were walking in there was a little boy sitting on the stairs (who I recognized from being in one of the Classrooms that I observed the last time I was at Stella Maris) and he immediately smiled at me, pointed, and then signed "remember." I asked him (in sign of course) if he remembered me and he smiled and signed "yes." IT WAS THE SWEETEST MOMENT. & I couldn't believe it! I only spent a couple of hours in the Classroom about a month ago and HE REMEMBERED ME. It was just so neat! We got to Stella Maris around 8:30 a.m., found the Vice Principal (since the Principal wasn't there), and spent time with the kids playing before School started. Three of the girls who are deaf that I met and signed with the last time I was at Stella Maris remembered me as well. The School Bell rang and The SPED Girls and I went to the Younger Autism Classroom and spent time with them for about 45 minutes. We sang songs with them, talked with the teachers, and worked with the students on Math. At about 9:45 a.m. The SPED Girls and I went into the kitchen and got to help the Class that was in there cook their Creole Buns and as the teacher said, "It was sticky business." We left as they were putting the buns in the oven and then spent more time outside with the kids during the Break. After the Break I spent time signing with the Teacher who is Deaf that I spent time signing with during my last visit at Stella Maris before joining Megan, Brittany, and Savannah in the Library where we then spent time getting to know Marlin (the Librarian). After talking with Marlin we tried to go visit the Adult Autism Classroom but the Vice Principal was conducting an Observation so we spent some time hanging outside with some of the kids until the Lunch Bell rang. We spent a little bit of time talking with the Vice Principal after she finished her Observation and then thanked her for allowing us to visit Stella Maris. I don't know how many times I would have to visit Stella Maris until I felt like it was enough time but I can tell you that two trips that only lasted 4 hours each WAS NOT ENOUGH TIME AT STELLA MARIS.
I wish we could've stayed at Stella Maris longer but we needed to catch the 1:30 p.m. Water Taxi so we got lunch at the same Belizean Chinese Restaurant that we ate at when we visited Stella Maris last month and called the same Taxi Driver who drove us to Stella Maris to come pick us back up. We made it back to the Water Taxi at about 12:45 p.m. and then I got some Ice Cream Gelato while Megan, Brittany, and Savannah looked at some of the shops to kill time before it was time to board the Water Taxi. We got on the Water Taxi and sure enough not too much later I was so tired and just laid down on the bench (there was plenty of room without bothering anyone) so I took me a nap on the ride. I woke up just before our stop at Caye Caulker and managed to stay awake the rest of the Water Taxi ride to San Pedro but I guess I am unfortunately "unable to stay awake on Water Taxis for future reference" according to Brittany. Megan even has the picture of me sprawled out on our afternoon ride back to prove it. I wanted to walk on the beach back to Pedro's so I did just that and it was a good thing I did because on the path I took to get back to Pedro's I ran into Tamara, the woman I spent time with two Saturdays ago. It was nice because I wasn't sure if I would get to see her before I left Belize so I was glad that I ran into her. While I was talking to Tamara Dianela drove by on her golf cart and waved at me. After I talked with Tamara and as I was walking back to Pedro's Nikki was driving by me and stopped to offer me a ride so I got a ride back to Pedro's so that was nice. & It worked out so that I could verify our plans for Thursday Afternoon instead of having to send her a message on Facebook. As I got off the Golf Cart I could help but think that I JUST LOVE SAN PEDRO. I mean...I saw THREE PEOPLE that I knew within five minutes. HOW COOL IS THAT?! I love how similar San Pedro is to home. I see familiar faces almost everyone I go and have multiple times in a week ever since the first week I arrived to San Pedro and it's just the neatest thing. Back home I see people I know often around town and I love that I have been able to do the same thing here in San Pedro too. It's just been great. I got back to Pedro's at around 3:45 p.m. and spent time hanging out at the Picnic Tables since everyone placed at Isla Bonita Elementary School were meeting with Leslie to talk about our time here in Belize since she is working on a study to determine how the International Field Experience affects us that are here. After talking with Leslie I went upstairs, changed, and then left to go get Supper with Jessica M. at Neri's Tacos. Jessica M. and I walked to Neri's and then walked to The Office to meet our group to go on a Tour with the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary (ACES). Cyrus, Joe, Meghan, Tracy, Callie, Abby, and Tiffany all arrived not too long after Jessica and I did. We all met Chris and Helen (Well...We sort of knew who they were since they have been at Pedro's on a couple of our Friday Karaoke Nights) to go on the Tour. We had to be at The Office by 6:15 p.m. but we waited a little while longer until it got dark before going on the boat. (Sidenote: Chris is from England and has worked with ACES for the past 5 out of the 7 seven years that he's been living in Belize and Helen is a Graduate from UCLA who is doing research with a woman named Marissa who both got to San Pedro last week.)
It was REALLY DARK and kind of eerie riding around at night but it was a very slow and nice ride as well. We spent the ride sitting and listening to Helen and Chris inform us about crocodiles and answer any questions that we had. A group of people from our Cohort went on an ACES Tour Tuesday Night, I went with a group on Wednesday Night, and one more group would be going on Thursday Night. Mike (someone else who works with ACES) found a croc on Tuesday Night that had never been caught by ACES before so they chipped it and my roommate Jessica B. actually got to hold the croc while the microchip was put in him. Who ever is on the boat when a new croc is caught gets to name it and the Group on the boat Tuesday Night named the croc they found "Wiggle With It." After riding around for a while it was getting to a point where I wasn't sure if we were going to see a croc...I mean...I felt like it would be rare for EACH GROUP to be able to see a croc THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW. After no luck of seeing any crocs while Chris drove and Helen and Mike shined their lights out onto the water looking for a red glow (of the croc's eyes) Mike tied the boat up and Chris got out to walk through the maze. All of us sitting in the boat spent time talking and soon enough we heard Chris splashing through the water on his way back. Helen asked if he had any luck and sure enough I hear her say: "HE HAS ONE!" & There was Chris walking up to the boat with a little croc. The funny thing is it was the same one that they caught on Wednesday night but it was neat since people from our Cohort are the ones that got to name it! I asked Chris where he released "Wiggle With It" on Tuesday after they caught him and it was further down from where he found him so that was funny that he ended up right back in the same spot where they caught him on Tuesday Night. I told Chris that he knew where he would have to take the Group coming on Thursday Night and he just laughed. After Helen held the croc for a little bit and talked to us about him Chris taped the croc's mouth and we all got to hold him and take pictures with him. I even kissed him on the head! I was a little nervous to hold a croc but he wasn't too big and IT WAS SO COOL. I'm so glad we were given the spur of the moment opportunity to go on the ACES Tour because it was definitely another experience where I felt adventurous! It was just so neat. Plus I knew people who came to Belize last year went on an ACES Tour and I wanted to go. There is a girl named Miriam who was an Intern with ACES, stayed at Pedro's, and spent time with the Belize Cohort who was here last year. She actually came to Pedro's during out first and second full week here in Belize during her Spring Break to do some Research for her Master's Degree (well...she was here a little longer than originally planned due to her passport getting water damaged and she had to wait for her new documents to arrive before she could leave the country) but we all got to know her and I told her that I wanted to go to an ACES Tour so I was SUPER EXCITED when I found out that I was going to be able to on Monday at our Group Meeting! (& A Fun Fact about Miriam is she's from Canada but actually did her Undergraduate Degree at Wingate University which is only an hour or so away from my hometown. IT HONESTLY AMAZES ME HOW SMALL THIS WORLD IS.) After getting off the boat Helen gave Jessica M., Abby, Tiffany, and I all a ride back to Pedro's on her golf cart since we were the only ones who walked to The Tour so that was nice of her. & I thought it was neat that I got to ride a golf cart at three different times in one day. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. After getting back to Pedro's I spent some time eating free pizza that was going around while working on this good ole Blog Post before calling it a night. Wednesday sure was a long day and I felt pretty exhausted by the end of it but IT WAS SUCH A GOOD DAY.
Day Thirty-Seven: On Thursday I got up at about 7:30 a.m., got ready, and then left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. Right when I got to Isla Bonita Dr. C was there in a Golf Cart and asked me if I wanted to go to visit the Preschools so I of course said yes! (Dr. C was taking Maddi to visit them since she is an Early Childhood Education Major and offered to take me as well since I'm staying at Wilmington for one more year to complete the B-K Licensure Add-On to my Degree). I ate my Nature Valley Bar for breakfast on the Golf Cart ride to the Preschools. The first Preschool we stopped to visit was ABC Pre-School. ABC Pre-School was very colorful and had four classrooms. Maddi and I were allowed to check out any of the Classrooms we wanted so I walked up to one and the teacher let me go in. I asked her about her Classroom routine and how long she had been working there. She had been there for 15 years and was planning on leaving after this year ends. The more I talked with her she told me she chose to work at ABC Pre-School because she has a son with Special Needs so she wanted to only work in the morning. I asked her what special needs her son has and she said that he is hearing impaired. I was blown away. Of the four different classrooms that I could've gone into I went into the one where the teacher had a son who had a "disability." Wouldn't you know it. I just couldn't believe it. It cracked me up. That's just my life works and I love it! Just more affirmation that I'm in the right field. I glanced in one of the other classrooms, and stopped by Teacher Wil's Office to thank him for letting us look around the Pre-School. He was just so sweet. He told me that if I ever come back that I am always welcome to come visit. He may not have known it when he said it but I will be sure to take him up on that offer! After visiting ABC Pre-School we all rode over to The Little Angel's Preschool and visited them. We walked in, mat Marina, looked at the classrooms, and then Marina wanted Maddi to read a book we brought for them to all 50 or so of the kids. Maddi did a wonderful job reading to the Preschool and also sang "Five Little Monkeys Swinging In A Tree" to the kids and they really enjoyed it. I could tell Maddi enjoyed herself and I enjoyed watching her in action since I haven't really had a chance to observe in the Preschool Classroom at Isla Bonita. We talked with Marina for a few minutes to learn a little bit about Little Angel's and she started it 18 years ago. After we were done visiting Little Angel's Dr. C took Maddi and I back to Isla Bonita. Maddi and I really enjoyed our time visiting the two Preschools and I'm so glad that Dr. C took us! It was such a good experience. When I got to Isla Bonita Jessica M. was working with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess's ABC'c. Jessica and Dyanara were on the last page of the book when I got there so I just watched them as they finished working (Jessica also worked with Dyanara on reading Dr. Suess' ABC's pages with letters S through V on Wednesday while I was at Stella Maris). After Dyanara and Jessica finished working on reading Braille I went with them to the Standard Four Classroom for a little bit and spent time hanging out and talking with Caroline (who is one of the sweetest girls that I have ever met). Carolina asked me if I could come over to her house for a sleepover and it was such a precious gesture and meant a lot to me. I just love that girl. At about 10:00 a.m. I went downstairs to spend time in the Standard One Classroom. On Wednesday when I got back from Stella Maris Stephens told me that Miss Seleni wanted me to teach the Class some sign language so I spent about 30 minutes teaching the students sign language that they could use with Nayeli.
It was kind of different for me because I'm not used to teaching a Whole Class of more than 7 students since I am so used to working with students 1:1 or in Small Groups. I also didn't really plan for the "Lesson" except by having a few signs I knew I wanted to teach the Class. I still feel like it went well and it always amazes me how quickly young kids are able to pick up signs. Within the hour I had one student signing to me and I saw a few of them even signing with Nayeli. For lunch I went with Jessica M., Maddi, and Casey to Pupuseria Saladoreno. During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on reading. I had her summarize the book that we read last week, she finished reading the last three chapters that we had left to read, and I had her summarize each Chapter after we finished it. I was getting worried that Lorena and I wouldn't be able to finish the book we started last week but I'm so glad that we were able to finish it and find out what happened. During the Fourth Instructional Block I spent some time in the Standard One Classroom for a little bit and then spent some time outside with both Standard Three and Four as they had P.E. I left School at about 3:00 p.m., sat at the picnic table for a few minutes, and then waited by the entrance of Pedro's since Nikki and Dianela were coming to pick me up at 3:30 p.m. Nikki and Dianela told me about someone they know on the Island who has a Special Education Classroom at Ambergris Caye Elementary School (ACES) so they took me to meet her and see her Classroom. The woman's name is Sarah who is from Massachusetts and she came to Belize for a similar Study Abroad Experience with her University while she was working on her Master's Degree. She came to Belize wanting to start/establish a Special Education Program here on the Island since there isn't one. When she started out the School Year she didn't have her own Classroom but ever since she got her classroom in January she had seen the students make a lot of progress. Sarah has three students in her class who have autism and one student who has a visual impairment. The Ministry of Education doesn't require for students here in Belize to have IEPs like it is required in the United States for students but she writes her own for the students and keeps a portfolio of their work. Sarah is hoping to have her class grow to at least seven students for next year. I wish I would've taken pictures of her classroom but I just spent all of my time listening to her talk and taking everything in. I can tell that she and I both have the same passion in advocating for children with Special Needs and I really enjoyed meeting her and seeing her Classroom even though her students had already gone home for the day. I hope that I can come back to Belize one day in the future and can go see her Classroom again. Nikki and Dianela took me back to Pedro's and I hated to say goodbye to them. Well...I hate goodbyes so I really said see you later because I'm 99% sure that I'll be back to visit Belize one day. Nikki and Dianela are just so sweet and I am SO GLAD that they took me to visit Sarah's Classroom. It was so awesome. After I got back to Pedro's I was so exhausted and just spent a little bit of time relaxing in a hammock before going to get supper. I went to Lily's with Lauren, Brittany, Savannah, Ali, and Stephens and after we ate they left to go on their Tour with ACES (the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary) and I left to go back to the Hotel. I was still so very tired and just spent some time hanging out in the Restaurant at Pedro's and finally went up to my room to get my Laptop, and went back to the Restaurant at Pedro's to work on my Blog while Trivia was going on since I was so tired and didn't have the energy to think about doing anything else. Plus I didn't want to sit outside and get eat up by any bugs since I didn't have any bug spray on so I just played it safe by staying inside for the rest of the night before going to bed.
Day Thirty-Eight: On Friday I woke up at 7:30 a.m. I
laid in bed for a couple of minutes because I didn't want to get up since it
meant that I would have to start my last full day in San Pedro and I just
wasn't ready to do that yet. I did finally made myself get out of bed and get
ready. I left Pedro's at about 8:00 a.m. with Maddi and Casey to go to Casa Pan
Dulce Bakery. I got two little pigs in a blanket and some sweet treat that I
have no idea what in the world it was. But at least it was good and to me that
was all that mattered. When we got to Isla Bonita the 8:30 a.m. School Bell
rang and it was time for Morning Devotion / Opening Assembly. It started out
just like it always does: The kids say a prayer, they sing the Belize National
Anthem, and then one Class does something for the whole School whether they
sing a song or do a dance (on Friday it was Standard Five dancing). Afterwards
Miss Addy (the Principal) announced it was our last day, had all of us who were
placed at Isla Bonita go up to the front, and the whole School sang
"Goodbye, Farewell" to us. I was definitely close to being on the
verge of years because of it too. It was just so sweet. During the first half
of the First Instructional Block I worked with Genieve and Julio on reading. We
read the second sea creature passage that Julio had picked out on Monday that
we ran out of time to read. After I took them back to their classroom I went
into the Standard One Classroom. During break I ate a delicious piece of
cheesecake and the during the Second Instructional block I spent the whole time
in the Standard One Classroom. The kids were taking a spelling test and since I
was just observing Brittany had me take Joel outside so that he could finish it
since he was refusing to work on it in class. After the Spelling Test I
reviewed with them the Sign language that I taught the Class on Thursday. After
reviewing Sign Language Brittany and Stephens played games with the kids and
also sang songs with them before lunch. For lunch I went with Stephens,
Brittany, Ali, and Lindsay M. to Lily's. After lunch I went with Standard Four
to the beach and spent the rest of the day with them there since that's what
they were doing because it was Jessica's last day and a few of the girls in the
class wanted me to go and had asked me if I was going with them so I of course
couldn't tell them no. At about 2:30 p.m. I headed back to School and got
to get a piece of cake from a Birthday Party for a student in the Infant Two
Classroom (she's the student that won the Miss Isla Bonita Pageant on last
Saturday).
As I was eating my piece of cake (that was very yummy and had the most delicious icing in the world that I have ever tasted) I was talking to Alfonzo (a family member of the Birthday Girl) and he thanked us (referring to all of us from UNCW placed at Isla Bonita) for coming and then I thanked him for being so open to having us here in Belize and he said: "Of course! We're all just visitors." It was so neat and so true. Those words really put things into perspective for me. I loved the mindset he had about us being in Belize and definitely want to keep it in mind for the future when I meet people visiting the U.S. from elsewhere (I was honestly not sure how Belizeans would respond to having us in Belize and I have to say that I have felt very welcomed from Day One). Alfonzo also told me that I was welcome to stay at his place (he rents out places) when I came back to visit. As I was leaving I thanked him again and he asked if I would be back. I responded "One day." and he responded to me: "One week." so I said that one day I would come back and stay for a week and couldn't help but laugh. Our exchange just cracked me up. While I was talking with Alfonzo Miss Seleni saw me and said that she had something for me so I went to her room and she had me a little treat bag with a glass to remember Belize by as well as a postcard with the sweetest note on it. As a Special Education Major I didn't have a Partnership Teacher because I worked with a few students in different classrooms so I wasn't expecting a Goodbye Gift of any sort at all. It was such a pleasant surprise and really meant a lot to me. I had so many students give me hugs and tell me bye before I left and it was definitely hard to leave School on Friday Afternoon. One of the nice things about being a Special Education Major is that because I was in and out of multiple classrooms I got to spend time with a variety of students and get to know both students with AND without disabilities so I really enjoyed that. All throughout the School Day I would have many students say hi to me and address me by name and even though I may not have known who each of them were (the drawback of being in multiple classrooms) it was still neat that they knew who I was and I will never forget that. I left School a little after 3:00 p.m. and took a shower once I got back to Pedro's since I was wet from going swimming with Standard Four at the beach. After changing I took a nap and then finally decided to start packing. At about 6:30 p.m. I walked downstairs to the Restaurant at Pedro's since Peter (the owner of Pedro's) was having a Farewell Party (with FREE All-You-Can-Eat Pizza for Supper) as well as Karaoke. Peter gave us a toast and told us that we were the best group that he's had yet. I had a blast dancing the night away to one final karaoke night (I honestly really love listening to karaoke and am going to miss the Karaoke Nights at Pedro's) and honestly couldn't have imagined spending my last night in San Pedro any other way. It was truly perfect (but it went by way too fast just like I knew it would).
Day Thirty-Nine: Saturday was the day that came entirely too fast for me and I was not ready to face it whatsoever. I woke up at about 7:30 a.m., got ready, finished packing, and took my bags downstairs to wait to be taken to Maya Island Air. I ate a Nature Valley Bar for breakfast and then a little after 9:00 a.m. we and our luggage were loaded onto golfcarts and taken to The Airport to fly out of San Pedro. We waited to board the plane and left to go to Belize City at about 10:00 a.m. When we got to Belize City we got our bags, checked in, and the waited to board our flight to Charlotte, NC. We boarded at about 11:50 a.m. and then took off at about 12:35 p.m. We landed at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport at about 5:35 p.m. The reality of leaving Belize didn't hit me until the moment my plane landed in Charlotte. Even though I wasn't quite ready to be home I was thankful that I had a direct flight home and didn't have to get a connecting flight to Raleigh, NC like most of the other people in my Cohort on my flight had to do (Meghan and I were the two lucky ones who were already home once we reached the Charlotte Airport). After getting off the plane I got my bags, went through Customs, and then saw my Grandma waiting on me. It was my Grandpa's Birthday so we went out to Dinner at Chili's. We spent all Dinner just talking about Belize and it was such a nice way to be welcomed home after a long day of travel.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Week Four! (April 12th - 18th)
Day Twenty-Six: On Sunday I woke up at about 9:15 a.m. and got ready for Church. A group of us wanted to go check out Sagebrush Community Church so we got on our bikes and headed North. Sagebrush is located in the Paradise Movie Theater that is just past the Bridge on the Island. After Church Cyrus and Casey headed back to Pedro's while Tiffany, Abby, and I all went to The Palapa Bar and Grill since we were so close to it. Not long after we got there Brittany, Savannah, Sarah, Stephens, Ali, and Jessica B. all joined us. We spent time hanging out in the shade, laying out in the water in the intertubes, and had lunch. I tried some Fish Tacos and they were very yummy. We all left The Palapa Bar and Grill at about 2:30 p.m. to go back to Pedro's. Once getting back to the Hotel I spent time hanging out and since I was so hungry (and didn't feel like trying to figure out what to do for supper) I ordered myself a White Pizza from The Restaurant at Pedro's and IT WAS DELICIOUS. It's definitely the best pizza I've had here yet and I'm so glad that I finally tried it since I'm not a big fan of tomato sauce. After eating supper I spent time working on my Blog and uploading some more pictures to Facebook. I also worked on a Tentative Schedule for working with Students as Isla Bonita before deciding to call it an early night at about 10:00 p.m. I wanted to get some sleep since we had our first day back at School on Monday Morning but I ended up not sleeping very well since my legs got eat up by Sand Flies on Saturday Night while I was sitting outside (without enough bug spray on). I woke up twice in the middle of the night on Sunday Night, once at 1:00 a.m. and once at 5:30 a.m. It was honestly the worst night of sleep that I have had the whole time I've been here in Belize yet.
Day Twenty-Seven: On Monday I managed to get up at 7:15 a.m. but was pretty tired after not having a very good night of sleep. I got ready for the day and we all headed to School at 8:00 a.m. The School Bell rang at 8:30 a.m. for Devotion/Opening Assembly and then everyone was dismissed to their Classrooms afterwards. I spent the First Instructional Block working with Dyanara on reading Braille. I decided for us to read Dr. Suess's ABC and we read the pages for the letters A through F. It doesn't seem like much but Dyanara is still in the process of learning to read with Braille and it takes a little while for her to do it. She is also very tired afterwards but she always works so hard. There was a break from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. and for the Second Instructional Block I decided to observe a Class since all of the other teachers of the students I was going to work with for Pull-Out didn't want me to pull the students out of class until after lunch. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. I observed Miss Sharon as she taught Language Arts to Standard Five. We had from Lunch from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. and during the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on Reading Comprehension. I let her pick a book, had her read the first two chapters of it, and would ask her questions for her to answer about each Chapter after she read them. I misjudged my time and should have worked with Lorena later so I could've worked with Dyanara during Math but I just spent the rest of my day observing in Standard Five's Classroom. I felt like I didn't make the best use of my time I had at the School but at least I was able to live and learn. After School I stopped by the Pharmacy to pick up some more cream for my Sand Fly Bites on my legs (I got eat up during our Second Week here in Belize and was almost out of it) and then I hung out outside at Pedro's until our Group Meeting at 4:00 p.m. Dr. K and Dr. C went over some Assignments as well as Expectations for us during our last nine days in the Schools and told us that we get out what we put in. I was so exhausted from my first day back in the Schools that I took a cat nap after the meeting. After I woke up I ate my leftover Pizza from Supper on Sunday and spent the rest of my evening in the Restaurant at Pedro's and worked on two more Newsletters (one about our Second Week in Belize and one about our Third Week in Belize) to post on our Facebook Page to keep people updated on what we've been up to during our time here in Belize. I decided to call it a night early once again so I could be rested for another day of School on Tuesday. I took some Benadryl (I also bought it at the Pharmacy) in hopes that I could sleep through the night this time and I did thankfully.
Day Twenty-Eight: I woke up on Tuesday morning at about 7:15 a.m. and had a little trouble waking up due to taking Benadryl like I thought I would. But it was worth it because my legs looked better AND I didn't wake up once during the middle of the night because of my legs itching like I did on Sunday Night. I got ready for the School day and headed to School at about 8:00 a.m. I worked with Dyanara on reading Braille during the First Instructional Block again. This time we read the pages for the letters G through N of Dr. Suess' ABC. I thought during the Second Instructional Block I would just observe a random Classroom again but during Break I talked with Brittany and found out that a girl who is deaf in the Standard Two Classroom was at School. Her name is Nayeli and she wasn't at School at all on the first week we were at Isla Bonita. She only came with her Mom to pick up her Report Card on that Thursday. Brittany talked with the Teacher and asked her if I could come in and work with Nayeli and she was fine with it. I spent time observing for a little bit and then pulled Nayeli out to work on some Sign Language and see what all she knew. She knew most of her colors and Numbers 1-10 but she could use some practice on her alphabet. After working with me for a little bit she kept trying to get up and go back to the Classroom so after having her sign to me to request to go back we went into the Classroom. The Class was doing Language Arts so I worked with Nayeli for the rest of the Second Instructional Block before Lunch. I'm pretty sure Nayeli isn't used to working as much as I had her do with me because she was getting pretty frustrated with me at times but we both persevered through it.
After Lunch I went to the Standard Four Classroom and worked with Dyanara to help keep her involved during Jessica's Math Lesson. After the Afternoon Break I worked with Julio and Genieve on reading during the Fourth Instructional Block. It was my first time working with Julio and Genieve and was more for me to see what level they were at. I felt like I made better use of my time on Tuesday compared to Monday so that was encouraging because I felt a little defeated after I left School on Monday Afternoon since I felt like I didn't do much. I left School at about 3:00 p.m. and then stopped by the San Pedro Town Library for a little bit to visit with Brianne and Nikki. I got along with them while volunteering at the Easter Program and wanted to see how they've been doing since it has almost been two weeks since I last saw them. Plus I told them I would stop by at some point. Brianne did not realize that I was a Special Education Major and told Nikki so Nikki then told me about Camp Starfish which is a camp that she helped volunteer with and is a Two-Week Summer Camp for kids with disabilities. I found out about Camp Starfish a little before I came to Belize because I knew UNCW was having a Field Experience for it where Undergraduate Students can come and help out but I had no idea it was with the San Pedro Town Library until talking with Nikki. I already wanted to come to help at it and after talking with Nikki about it I REALLY wanted to come help at it even more than before. I know I won't be able to this upcoming Summer (considering I'm in Belize already now and I just won't be able to manage it financially) but I hope I can come ONE YEAR and help out at it. Actually...when I get my mind on something I am VERY DETERMINED and go after it 110% and I'm 99% sure that this won't be my only trip to Belize. I may have to work hard, save up money, and be patient, but I will do what I can to come help at Camp Starfish ONE DAY. After getting back to Pedro's I took a catnap, hung out at the picnic tables, went to get Supper at Neri's Tacos, and then spent the rest of my Evening inside the restaurant at Pedro's catching up on reading everyone's Blogs and writing on mine for a while before going to bed. I hated having to stay inside but after getting eat up by Sand Flies the way I did on Saturday (my legs honestly looked SO TERRIBLE) I felt like I had no choice and it really stinks since I'm missing out on spending time socializing with my peers but I have to do what I have to do since I'm scared to get eat up the way I did.
Day Twenty-Nine:On Wednesday I got up at 7:30 a.m. (I was dragging a little bit with getting back into the routine of going to School), got ready, and left to go to Isla Bonita at around 8:00 a.m. I ate my Nature Valley Bar for Breakfast once I got to School and then we had Devotion/Opening Assembly after the 8:30 Bell rang. I worked with Dyanara on reading Braille during the First Instructional Block. This time we read the pages for the letters O through T of Dr. Suess' ABC. During the Second Instructional Block I went into Standard Two Classroom to work with Nayeli again. I was afraid that I may have pushed her too hard on Tuesday and that she wouldn't want to work with me but she didn't get frustrated with me once. I spent time in the classroom helping her on the Language Arts Assignment and I pulled her out of the Classroom to work on Sign Language as well. I honestly think she's not used to having one-on-one attention and I believe she liked it as well as the positive feedback and praise that I was giving her when she was working for me. At 12:00 p.m. I went to get lunch at Lily's with Brittany, Stephens, and Ali. During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on Reading. We read two more Chapters of the book she chose to read on Monday and I would also ask her questions after we read each Chapter to measure her Reading Comprehension. As I was walking upstairs after working with Lorena, Julio saw me before I saw him and just ran to gave me a hug and asked if I would be working with him that day. It was a really sweet moment because on Tuesday when he had to work with me (and miss Computer Time) he was not happy about it at first so I was afraid he would almost resent me for it but the hug showed me otherwise so that made me feel good. During the Fourth Instructional Block I spent time in the Standard Four Classroom Observing and also talked with Miss Delmy about working with Dyanara on using her Braille Machine to type her Spelling Words. After the School Day ended at 3:00 p.m. I left to go back to Pedro's. I spent time hanging out at the Hotel responding to E-Mails as well as Registering for my Fall 2015 Classes that I will be taking in order to get a B-K Licensure Add-On to my Degree during the next School Year. After being (SOMEWHAT) productive, I walked with Sarah to go get Supper at YJ's and Jordon, Cyrus, Ali, Savannah, Lauren, and Britta all rode their bikes and met us there. Well...I shouldn't say Sarah and I walked all the way there because halfway there Felipe (a guy who works at Pedro's) saw us and gave us a ride the rest of the way to YJ's so that was nice. Sarah and I did walk all the way back to Pedro's though. We unfortunately didn't see any other people who work with Pedro's driving by us on their Golf Carts who could give us a ride after we ate Supper. After getting back to Pedro's I spent time on my Laptop putting together a Document with the Alphabet, Numbers, Clothes, and Colors on it so that I could pull it up on my iPod Touch when working with Nayeli at School so that I could point to each one and we could sign what thy each are. I was super excited about the work I did and was happy to have felt productive for once. I spent some time talking to Maddi and Jessica M. on the balcony before calling it a night.
Day Thirty: On Thursday I woke up at 7:15 a.m., got ready, and left at my usual time of around 8:00 a.m. to go to Isla Bonita. I ate my Nature Valley Bar for breakfast (I just don't have time to eat at Pedro's before I leave since I'd rather sleep as long as possible) and waited for the Morning Bell to ring. I was wanting to work with Dyanara during the First Instructional Block but she wasn't as School so I ended up working with Julio and Genieve instead. Mr. Jaime wanted me to work with them on Reading and Writing. On Tuesday Genieve said she wanted to read a Play and I told her that we could read it the next time we worked together and sure enough when we sat down at the Picnic Tables she opens up her book to the play saying she wanted to read it (I of course was happy because I wanted to take the full opportunity of letting the student(s) have a choice in what we read since she stated it's what she wanted to do because it would've been silly otherwise not to and force them to read something they weren't interested in.) After we read the play I asked them the Reading Comprehension Questions and we talked through them. After answering the questions Julio wanted to read the song "Go Tell It On The Mountain." Since I knew the song it just didn't seem right simply reading it so I sang the first Chorus for them so they could learn the tune of it, sang the first verse, and then they both joined in with me on the rest of the Choruses in between the verses afterwards. It was fun and I enjoyed it, especially because I knew they were interested in it and actually wanted to participate. It definitely made my job of working with them easier. After talking about what "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and what Easter were both about I then had Julio and Genieve write in their Journals 10 sentences about themselves as a way to practice their writing. After they wrote their sentences (with me helping to make sure they were correct) I had them read their sentences that they wrote as a way for them to practice reading as well as so I could learn more about them since it was only my second time working with them. As I was walking Julio and Genieve back to their Classroom Julio asked if we would be working again on Friday and I told him I wasn't sure but we would definitely be working again soon and that made me feel good to know he didn't hate working with me. I really believe these students thrive on the one-to-one attention since they don't get it often. During the Second Instructional Block I went into the Standard Two Classroom (Infant One, Infant Two, and Standard One all joined the Classroom as well) for a Dental Presentation. There were two dentists and they first showed the students a video before talking to them about taking care of their teeth, showing them the correct way to brush their teeth (apparently I've been doing it wrong all these years but thankfully I have a Dentist Appointment not long after I return to the States and I can double check), and provided each student with a toothbrush at the end of it. After the Dental Presentation the Class was doing a Language Arts Lesson on Letter Sounds and since Nayeli is deaf it was pointless having her in there (considering she can't hear and all) so I pulled her out so we could work on more Sign Language. For lunch Casey, Ashley, and I all got food at a Food Stand that is just around the corner from Isla Bonita and is located DIRECTLY IN FRONT of San Pedro High School. We took our food back to Isla Bonita and just ate it there.
During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on Reading again. We read two more chapters of the book that she chose to read and I continued asking her questions about each chapter to check for her reading comprehension. We had a few distractions and had to move where we were working because of the distractions but we thankfully got through it even though it was a little tough. I was hoping to work with Dyanara during the Fourth Instructional Block (I was thinking she would come to School late) but she wasn't there so I spent time Observing with the Standard Two Classroom outside at the picnic tables as they worked on an Arts and Crafts activity. They were cutting yarn to make hair for the sock puppets they were making. Just before the School Day ended I was talking with Miss Sharon about talents and how I wasn't talented since she was telling me about how people in her family are artists and musicians (her brother was there at the School painting pictures for the Miss Island Bonita Pageant) and she told me that "not all talents use your hands." I wish I could word everything she told me the exact way she said it because it was so powerful but I can't. I can only paraphrase it (roughly) but she told me that I put kids at ease and that they're drawn to me. I wasn't exactly sure what she meant at first so I just kind of looked at her a little puzzled and said, "You think so?" And she told me that she saw it and mentioned how the kids want to work with me. I have no idea when/where she saw it and/or what exactly I did or how I did it but by the end of the conversation I was literally almost on the verge of tears and I am not kidding. I was honestly speechless and didn't even know what to say to that. I just thanked her for telling me that. It honestly meant so much to me. Especially during this week when I have felt so clueless and unsure about myself since I feel like I have no idea what in the world I am doing. I left School at 3:00 p.m. and made a stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things before going back to The Hotel. When I got back to Pedro's I spent some time relaxing/catnapping in the hammock and then made a phone call home before going to get supper at Lily's. After getting supper we went to get some Ice Cream at this place that has BOTH Bike Rentals AND Ice Cream. How funny is that?! I just couldn't get over it. After I got back to Pedro's I then got ready to go to the San Pedro Town Library with Casey and Maddi for the Reading Workshop that Casey prepared a Presentation for. It had a nice turn out of about 20 people including teachers from San Pedro Roman Catholic School (RC), parents, the librarians (obviously), and 4 girls from Massachusetts who are here in San Pedro completing a Study Abroad Internship at RC through their College. It was really cool getting to meet them and learn about their Program and see the differences between theirs and ours. I also got to meet a parent who is friends with Nikki (the librarian I was talking with on Tuesday Afternoon about Camp Star Fish) because she is one of the founders of Camp Star Fish and has a daughter with Cerebral Palsy who actually went to Isla Bonita last year and worked with my friend Lexi who was here last year. I spent a good while talking with Nikki and Dianela and hope to see them again before I leave. After Maddi and Casey almost had to drag me away from Nikki and Dianela (once I get starting talking about something I'm passionate about it's hard for me to stop) we went to get some Ice Cream since Casey wanted some. We ended up stopping at a Frozen Yogurt Place called Yo Mama's Frozen Yogurt and I wasn't going to get anything since I already had Ice Cream but as I saw Maddi and Casey getting theirs I changed my mind and GOT A VERY SMALL BOWL OF IT. We spent time talking with the cashier (it was more of her talking to us about her two children) but it was still fun regardless. Maddi, Casey, and I headed back to Pedro's and then it was time to call it a night.
Day Thirty-One: On Friday I woke up at 7:30 a.m., got ready, and left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. I rode with Jessica M. and Ashley to Casa Pan Dulce Bakery to get breakfast before going to School. After we got to School I ate my Cinnamon Bun I got from the bakery and then we had Devotion/Opening Assembly at 8:30 a.m. I worked with Dyanara on reading Braille during the First Instructional Block and we read the pages for the letters U through Z of Dr. Suess' ABC's. During the Second Instructional Block I went into Standard Two Classroom to work with Nayeli. Earlier in the day I paid for get a BBQ Lunch for a Fundraiser so I stayed at Isla Bonita to eat my lunch with Joe, Dani, Maddi, Jessica M., Ashley, and Lindsay since we all got a lunch from the Fundraiser. After Lunch was over I saw Nayeli's Dad and talked with him for a little bit and asked him about how Nayeli communicates at home. He said Nayeli's Mom is working with her on Sign Language and he knows a little bit. I let him know who I was and that I was working with Nayeli on practicing Sign Language. I got his e-mail and am hoping to help give him some resources to use to help with Nayeli. During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Dyanara in Standard Four to help keep her involved during Jessica's Math Lesson about Circumference. The Math Lesson only lasted part of the Third Instructional Block so once I was finished working with Dyanara I went back to the Standard Two Classroom and worked with Nayeli some more on the Social Studies Lesson. After working with Nayeli for four days this week I have really fallen in love with her. She is just the sweetest girl and is so very precious. She is really picking up on the Signs I've been teaching as well as using with her, has been very receptive to working with me, and even initiated some High Fives as we worked on her Social Studies Classwork. During the Fourth Instructional Block I spent a little bit of time with Maddi in her Pre-School Classroom and then I just spent the rest of the Fourth Instructional Block in the Standard Two Classroom observing as well as helping Nayeli as much as possible. I left School at about 3:00 p.m. and spent some time relaxing in a hammock at Pedro's. I later got ready and our whole group had to meet downstairs by 5:30 p.m. since the Minister of Tourism was coming to Pedro's to meet us (briefly). We shook his hand, took a group picture with him, and then all headed to Elvi's Kitchen for our "Official Final Group Dinner." Elvi's Kitchen has a Mayan Buffet every Friday Night and IT WAS DELICIOUS. I had so much food on my plate that I could only eat one plate for dinner. There was no way I could get seconds of anything. I didn't have any room whatsoever. After our Group Dinner we headed back to Pedro's and enjoyed a night of Karaoke (per usual) before going to bed.
Day Thirty-Two: On Saturday I woke up at 8:00 a.m. and got ready. All of us that are placed at La Isla Bonita Elementary had to be at Lion's Den to help set up for the Miss Isla Bonita Pageant. The Pageant is something that the School puts on as a way to raise money for the School. We spent an hour (9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.) helping out and mainly spent time setting up tables for the booths for the four girls who were competing in the Pageant and then set up all of the chairs. After helping to set up Jessica and I were walking back to Pedro's when I saw Dr. C and Dr. K at the San Pedro Town Library. There were having a meeting with Nikki, Dianela, and another woman about the group that Dr. C and Dr. K will be bringing down to help out at Camp Starfish in the Summer. We were there for about an hour and it was really neat getting to be there and observe them discussing and planning for the Summer Camp. It was also good background knowledge for me because I really hope to come back sometime in the future and volunteer at Camp Starfish so it'll be neat to see the development of it from now until then. Last Summer was the first time that they had Camp Starfish and for the sake of the kids with disabilities that live here in San Pedro I hope it is something that only continues and grows in the future. After the Meeting I got to ride in the Golf Cart with Dr. C and Dr. K back to Pedro's. Since I had to go back to Lion's Den for the Pageant later in the evening I decided to eat a PB & J Sandwich for lunch at Pedro's and just spend all day hanging out by the pool. While at the pool I spent some time talking with Sally, a woman staying here at Pedro's, and I really enjoyed getting to know her. At about 4:00 p.m. I called it a day at the pool and went to get ready for The Pageant. Afterwards I went to get Supper at Lily's with Brittany, Lindsay, and Savannah. We had to be at Lion's Den by 6:30 p.m. to continue to help at The Pageant (as part of our Community Service and The Principal also expected us to be there to help) and we just went straight there after we finished eating Supper and got there a little early. Lion's Den looked like a completely different place from how we left it earlier that morning. Throughout the day all of the booths had gotten decorated as well as the stage. It was pretty cool how much they got done in just a short amount of time. I had no idea what to do to help when we first got to The Pageant so I spent a little while sitting down since I wasn't sure who to ask for directions of where to go/what to do from. Thankfully that problem was solved for me when Miss Crystal came over asking me to help her cut out some pieces of paper for the raffle. A little while after I finished that Miss Sharon asked me to help out with Jennifer's Booth (one of the girls competing in the competition) so I spent my whole evening at Jennifer's Booth with Maddi helping to sell snacks and drinks as well as running the money we made at the booth to the counters to be totaled. I enjoyed seeing the various students that I've gotten to know during my time at Isla Bonita dancing as well as participating in The Fashion Show. It was a long night but it was a neat experience. Dr. C warned us that the Pageant wouldn't start until a couple of hours after we got there and that it would run late and she was right. People started showing up to The Pageant around 6:30 p.m. but it didn't start until a little before 8:00 p.m. and it ended a little before 11:00 p.m. There were a few people hanging out in the Restaurant at Pedro's after getting back from The Pageant so a couple of us spent some time there before going to bed.
Now that my Fourth Week here in Belize is over I am feeling so many mixed emotions...I cannot believe we've already been here in Belize for exactly a month already. & On that note I can't believe we have a week left here in Belize. It honestly feels like we just got here. Time flies by so fast and I really just want it to slow down. I've been having an amazing time here in Belize but am also so sad that my time here is almost over...I have truly fallen in love with the town of San Pedro (I mean...How can you not love living on an island?) and have honestly gotten used to be here. I'm also not sure if what I'm doing here is making any difference at all...All I want to do is be able to help one student in some way and I have no idea if anything I have been doing and will continue to do will stick at all. I also feel like I have no idea what in the world I am doing and am just trying to make do with what I have. But I guess I can't worry about that and all I can do is just do the best I can with what I know and have learned during my time during my Program at UNCW as well as the materials I have and just pour into the students that I am working with as best as I can and just leave it at that. Also...I know I shouldn't be feeling stressed out (considering I'm in the most laid back atmosphere that I have ever been to in my life) but I am beginning to stress a little bit because our last week here will honestly probably be the busiest one yet as crazy as that seems. I have a lot of work to do as we finish our time here and the reality of having to return home in just seven days is also slowly starting to creep in which means I will have to face all of my responsibilities back home soon (Final Seminar, Final Assignments, Graduation, Work, etc.) but I just can't worry about that right now. I'm still in Belize and that is my priority at the moment. Everything waiting for me back in North Carolina will be there when I get there. I still have a week left in Belize and am just going to not worry about it and take one day at a time. Which honestly...It's all I can do anyway because when I wake up each morning I honestly never know how each day is going to turn out. (Which has been an adjustment but I'm getting there.) At this point I'm just going to make the most of my time left here in Belize and I want to make sure that I enjoy every minute of it! Mixed emotions and all.
Day Twenty-Seven: On Monday I managed to get up at 7:15 a.m. but was pretty tired after not having a very good night of sleep. I got ready for the day and we all headed to School at 8:00 a.m. The School Bell rang at 8:30 a.m. for Devotion/Opening Assembly and then everyone was dismissed to their Classrooms afterwards. I spent the First Instructional Block working with Dyanara on reading Braille. I decided for us to read Dr. Suess's ABC and we read the pages for the letters A through F. It doesn't seem like much but Dyanara is still in the process of learning to read with Braille and it takes a little while for her to do it. She is also very tired afterwards but she always works so hard. There was a break from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. and for the Second Instructional Block I decided to observe a Class since all of the other teachers of the students I was going to work with for Pull-Out didn't want me to pull the students out of class until after lunch. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. I observed Miss Sharon as she taught Language Arts to Standard Five. We had from Lunch from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. and during the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on Reading Comprehension. I let her pick a book, had her read the first two chapters of it, and would ask her questions for her to answer about each Chapter after she read them. I misjudged my time and should have worked with Lorena later so I could've worked with Dyanara during Math but I just spent the rest of my day observing in Standard Five's Classroom. I felt like I didn't make the best use of my time I had at the School but at least I was able to live and learn. After School I stopped by the Pharmacy to pick up some more cream for my Sand Fly Bites on my legs (I got eat up during our Second Week here in Belize and was almost out of it) and then I hung out outside at Pedro's until our Group Meeting at 4:00 p.m. Dr. K and Dr. C went over some Assignments as well as Expectations for us during our last nine days in the Schools and told us that we get out what we put in. I was so exhausted from my first day back in the Schools that I took a cat nap after the meeting. After I woke up I ate my leftover Pizza from Supper on Sunday and spent the rest of my evening in the Restaurant at Pedro's and worked on two more Newsletters (one about our Second Week in Belize and one about our Third Week in Belize) to post on our Facebook Page to keep people updated on what we've been up to during our time here in Belize. I decided to call it a night early once again so I could be rested for another day of School on Tuesday. I took some Benadryl (I also bought it at the Pharmacy) in hopes that I could sleep through the night this time and I did thankfully.
Day Twenty-Eight: I woke up on Tuesday morning at about 7:15 a.m. and had a little trouble waking up due to taking Benadryl like I thought I would. But it was worth it because my legs looked better AND I didn't wake up once during the middle of the night because of my legs itching like I did on Sunday Night. I got ready for the School day and headed to School at about 8:00 a.m. I worked with Dyanara on reading Braille during the First Instructional Block again. This time we read the pages for the letters G through N of Dr. Suess' ABC. I thought during the Second Instructional Block I would just observe a random Classroom again but during Break I talked with Brittany and found out that a girl who is deaf in the Standard Two Classroom was at School. Her name is Nayeli and she wasn't at School at all on the first week we were at Isla Bonita. She only came with her Mom to pick up her Report Card on that Thursday. Brittany talked with the Teacher and asked her if I could come in and work with Nayeli and she was fine with it. I spent time observing for a little bit and then pulled Nayeli out to work on some Sign Language and see what all she knew. She knew most of her colors and Numbers 1-10 but she could use some practice on her alphabet. After working with me for a little bit she kept trying to get up and go back to the Classroom so after having her sign to me to request to go back we went into the Classroom. The Class was doing Language Arts so I worked with Nayeli for the rest of the Second Instructional Block before Lunch. I'm pretty sure Nayeli isn't used to working as much as I had her do with me because she was getting pretty frustrated with me at times but we both persevered through it.
After Lunch I went to the Standard Four Classroom and worked with Dyanara to help keep her involved during Jessica's Math Lesson. After the Afternoon Break I worked with Julio and Genieve on reading during the Fourth Instructional Block. It was my first time working with Julio and Genieve and was more for me to see what level they were at. I felt like I made better use of my time on Tuesday compared to Monday so that was encouraging because I felt a little defeated after I left School on Monday Afternoon since I felt like I didn't do much. I left School at about 3:00 p.m. and then stopped by the San Pedro Town Library for a little bit to visit with Brianne and Nikki. I got along with them while volunteering at the Easter Program and wanted to see how they've been doing since it has almost been two weeks since I last saw them. Plus I told them I would stop by at some point. Brianne did not realize that I was a Special Education Major and told Nikki so Nikki then told me about Camp Starfish which is a camp that she helped volunteer with and is a Two-Week Summer Camp for kids with disabilities. I found out about Camp Starfish a little before I came to Belize because I knew UNCW was having a Field Experience for it where Undergraduate Students can come and help out but I had no idea it was with the San Pedro Town Library until talking with Nikki. I already wanted to come to help at it and after talking with Nikki about it I REALLY wanted to come help at it even more than before. I know I won't be able to this upcoming Summer (considering I'm in Belize already now and I just won't be able to manage it financially) but I hope I can come ONE YEAR and help out at it. Actually...when I get my mind on something I am VERY DETERMINED and go after it 110% and I'm 99% sure that this won't be my only trip to Belize. I may have to work hard, save up money, and be patient, but I will do what I can to come help at Camp Starfish ONE DAY. After getting back to Pedro's I took a catnap, hung out at the picnic tables, went to get Supper at Neri's Tacos, and then spent the rest of my Evening inside the restaurant at Pedro's catching up on reading everyone's Blogs and writing on mine for a while before going to bed. I hated having to stay inside but after getting eat up by Sand Flies the way I did on Saturday (my legs honestly looked SO TERRIBLE) I felt like I had no choice and it really stinks since I'm missing out on spending time socializing with my peers but I have to do what I have to do since I'm scared to get eat up the way I did.
Day Twenty-Nine:On Wednesday I got up at 7:30 a.m. (I was dragging a little bit with getting back into the routine of going to School), got ready, and left to go to Isla Bonita at around 8:00 a.m. I ate my Nature Valley Bar for Breakfast once I got to School and then we had Devotion/Opening Assembly after the 8:30 Bell rang. I worked with Dyanara on reading Braille during the First Instructional Block. This time we read the pages for the letters O through T of Dr. Suess' ABC. During the Second Instructional Block I went into Standard Two Classroom to work with Nayeli again. I was afraid that I may have pushed her too hard on Tuesday and that she wouldn't want to work with me but she didn't get frustrated with me once. I spent time in the classroom helping her on the Language Arts Assignment and I pulled her out of the Classroom to work on Sign Language as well. I honestly think she's not used to having one-on-one attention and I believe she liked it as well as the positive feedback and praise that I was giving her when she was working for me. At 12:00 p.m. I went to get lunch at Lily's with Brittany, Stephens, and Ali. During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on Reading. We read two more Chapters of the book she chose to read on Monday and I would also ask her questions after we read each Chapter to measure her Reading Comprehension. As I was walking upstairs after working with Lorena, Julio saw me before I saw him and just ran to gave me a hug and asked if I would be working with him that day. It was a really sweet moment because on Tuesday when he had to work with me (and miss Computer Time) he was not happy about it at first so I was afraid he would almost resent me for it but the hug showed me otherwise so that made me feel good. During the Fourth Instructional Block I spent time in the Standard Four Classroom Observing and also talked with Miss Delmy about working with Dyanara on using her Braille Machine to type her Spelling Words. After the School Day ended at 3:00 p.m. I left to go back to Pedro's. I spent time hanging out at the Hotel responding to E-Mails as well as Registering for my Fall 2015 Classes that I will be taking in order to get a B-K Licensure Add-On to my Degree during the next School Year. After being (SOMEWHAT) productive, I walked with Sarah to go get Supper at YJ's and Jordon, Cyrus, Ali, Savannah, Lauren, and Britta all rode their bikes and met us there. Well...I shouldn't say Sarah and I walked all the way there because halfway there Felipe (a guy who works at Pedro's) saw us and gave us a ride the rest of the way to YJ's so that was nice. Sarah and I did walk all the way back to Pedro's though. We unfortunately didn't see any other people who work with Pedro's driving by us on their Golf Carts who could give us a ride after we ate Supper. After getting back to Pedro's I spent time on my Laptop putting together a Document with the Alphabet, Numbers, Clothes, and Colors on it so that I could pull it up on my iPod Touch when working with Nayeli at School so that I could point to each one and we could sign what thy each are. I was super excited about the work I did and was happy to have felt productive for once. I spent some time talking to Maddi and Jessica M. on the balcony before calling it a night.
Day Thirty: On Thursday I woke up at 7:15 a.m., got ready, and left at my usual time of around 8:00 a.m. to go to Isla Bonita. I ate my Nature Valley Bar for breakfast (I just don't have time to eat at Pedro's before I leave since I'd rather sleep as long as possible) and waited for the Morning Bell to ring. I was wanting to work with Dyanara during the First Instructional Block but she wasn't as School so I ended up working with Julio and Genieve instead. Mr. Jaime wanted me to work with them on Reading and Writing. On Tuesday Genieve said she wanted to read a Play and I told her that we could read it the next time we worked together and sure enough when we sat down at the Picnic Tables she opens up her book to the play saying she wanted to read it (I of course was happy because I wanted to take the full opportunity of letting the student(s) have a choice in what we read since she stated it's what she wanted to do because it would've been silly otherwise not to and force them to read something they weren't interested in.) After we read the play I asked them the Reading Comprehension Questions and we talked through them. After answering the questions Julio wanted to read the song "Go Tell It On The Mountain." Since I knew the song it just didn't seem right simply reading it so I sang the first Chorus for them so they could learn the tune of it, sang the first verse, and then they both joined in with me on the rest of the Choruses in between the verses afterwards. It was fun and I enjoyed it, especially because I knew they were interested in it and actually wanted to participate. It definitely made my job of working with them easier. After talking about what "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and what Easter were both about I then had Julio and Genieve write in their Journals 10 sentences about themselves as a way to practice their writing. After they wrote their sentences (with me helping to make sure they were correct) I had them read their sentences that they wrote as a way for them to practice reading as well as so I could learn more about them since it was only my second time working with them. As I was walking Julio and Genieve back to their Classroom Julio asked if we would be working again on Friday and I told him I wasn't sure but we would definitely be working again soon and that made me feel good to know he didn't hate working with me. I really believe these students thrive on the one-to-one attention since they don't get it often. During the Second Instructional Block I went into the Standard Two Classroom (Infant One, Infant Two, and Standard One all joined the Classroom as well) for a Dental Presentation. There were two dentists and they first showed the students a video before talking to them about taking care of their teeth, showing them the correct way to brush their teeth (apparently I've been doing it wrong all these years but thankfully I have a Dentist Appointment not long after I return to the States and I can double check), and provided each student with a toothbrush at the end of it. After the Dental Presentation the Class was doing a Language Arts Lesson on Letter Sounds and since Nayeli is deaf it was pointless having her in there (considering she can't hear and all) so I pulled her out so we could work on more Sign Language. For lunch Casey, Ashley, and I all got food at a Food Stand that is just around the corner from Isla Bonita and is located DIRECTLY IN FRONT of San Pedro High School. We took our food back to Isla Bonita and just ate it there.
During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Lorena on Reading again. We read two more chapters of the book that she chose to read and I continued asking her questions about each chapter to check for her reading comprehension. We had a few distractions and had to move where we were working because of the distractions but we thankfully got through it even though it was a little tough. I was hoping to work with Dyanara during the Fourth Instructional Block (I was thinking she would come to School late) but she wasn't there so I spent time Observing with the Standard Two Classroom outside at the picnic tables as they worked on an Arts and Crafts activity. They were cutting yarn to make hair for the sock puppets they were making. Just before the School Day ended I was talking with Miss Sharon about talents and how I wasn't talented since she was telling me about how people in her family are artists and musicians (her brother was there at the School painting pictures for the Miss Island Bonita Pageant) and she told me that "not all talents use your hands." I wish I could word everything she told me the exact way she said it because it was so powerful but I can't. I can only paraphrase it (roughly) but she told me that I put kids at ease and that they're drawn to me. I wasn't exactly sure what she meant at first so I just kind of looked at her a little puzzled and said, "You think so?" And she told me that she saw it and mentioned how the kids want to work with me. I have no idea when/where she saw it and/or what exactly I did or how I did it but by the end of the conversation I was literally almost on the verge of tears and I am not kidding. I was honestly speechless and didn't even know what to say to that. I just thanked her for telling me that. It honestly meant so much to me. Especially during this week when I have felt so clueless and unsure about myself since I feel like I have no idea what in the world I am doing. I left School at 3:00 p.m. and made a stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things before going back to The Hotel. When I got back to Pedro's I spent some time relaxing/catnapping in the hammock and then made a phone call home before going to get supper at Lily's. After getting supper we went to get some Ice Cream at this place that has BOTH Bike Rentals AND Ice Cream. How funny is that?! I just couldn't get over it. After I got back to Pedro's I then got ready to go to the San Pedro Town Library with Casey and Maddi for the Reading Workshop that Casey prepared a Presentation for. It had a nice turn out of about 20 people including teachers from San Pedro Roman Catholic School (RC), parents, the librarians (obviously), and 4 girls from Massachusetts who are here in San Pedro completing a Study Abroad Internship at RC through their College. It was really cool getting to meet them and learn about their Program and see the differences between theirs and ours. I also got to meet a parent who is friends with Nikki (the librarian I was talking with on Tuesday Afternoon about Camp Star Fish) because she is one of the founders of Camp Star Fish and has a daughter with Cerebral Palsy who actually went to Isla Bonita last year and worked with my friend Lexi who was here last year. I spent a good while talking with Nikki and Dianela and hope to see them again before I leave. After Maddi and Casey almost had to drag me away from Nikki and Dianela (once I get starting talking about something I'm passionate about it's hard for me to stop) we went to get some Ice Cream since Casey wanted some. We ended up stopping at a Frozen Yogurt Place called Yo Mama's Frozen Yogurt and I wasn't going to get anything since I already had Ice Cream but as I saw Maddi and Casey getting theirs I changed my mind and GOT A VERY SMALL BOWL OF IT. We spent time talking with the cashier (it was more of her talking to us about her two children) but it was still fun regardless. Maddi, Casey, and I headed back to Pedro's and then it was time to call it a night.
Day Thirty-One: On Friday I woke up at 7:30 a.m., got ready, and left to go to School at about 8:00 a.m. I rode with Jessica M. and Ashley to Casa Pan Dulce Bakery to get breakfast before going to School. After we got to School I ate my Cinnamon Bun I got from the bakery and then we had Devotion/Opening Assembly at 8:30 a.m. I worked with Dyanara on reading Braille during the First Instructional Block and we read the pages for the letters U through Z of Dr. Suess' ABC's. During the Second Instructional Block I went into Standard Two Classroom to work with Nayeli. Earlier in the day I paid for get a BBQ Lunch for a Fundraiser so I stayed at Isla Bonita to eat my lunch with Joe, Dani, Maddi, Jessica M., Ashley, and Lindsay since we all got a lunch from the Fundraiser. After Lunch was over I saw Nayeli's Dad and talked with him for a little bit and asked him about how Nayeli communicates at home. He said Nayeli's Mom is working with her on Sign Language and he knows a little bit. I let him know who I was and that I was working with Nayeli on practicing Sign Language. I got his e-mail and am hoping to help give him some resources to use to help with Nayeli. During the Third Instructional Block I worked with Dyanara in Standard Four to help keep her involved during Jessica's Math Lesson about Circumference. The Math Lesson only lasted part of the Third Instructional Block so once I was finished working with Dyanara I went back to the Standard Two Classroom and worked with Nayeli some more on the Social Studies Lesson. After working with Nayeli for four days this week I have really fallen in love with her. She is just the sweetest girl and is so very precious. She is really picking up on the Signs I've been teaching as well as using with her, has been very receptive to working with me, and even initiated some High Fives as we worked on her Social Studies Classwork. During the Fourth Instructional Block I spent a little bit of time with Maddi in her Pre-School Classroom and then I just spent the rest of the Fourth Instructional Block in the Standard Two Classroom observing as well as helping Nayeli as much as possible. I left School at about 3:00 p.m. and spent some time relaxing in a hammock at Pedro's. I later got ready and our whole group had to meet downstairs by 5:30 p.m. since the Minister of Tourism was coming to Pedro's to meet us (briefly). We shook his hand, took a group picture with him, and then all headed to Elvi's Kitchen for our "Official Final Group Dinner." Elvi's Kitchen has a Mayan Buffet every Friday Night and IT WAS DELICIOUS. I had so much food on my plate that I could only eat one plate for dinner. There was no way I could get seconds of anything. I didn't have any room whatsoever. After our Group Dinner we headed back to Pedro's and enjoyed a night of Karaoke (per usual) before going to bed.
Day Thirty-Two: On Saturday I woke up at 8:00 a.m. and got ready. All of us that are placed at La Isla Bonita Elementary had to be at Lion's Den to help set up for the Miss Isla Bonita Pageant. The Pageant is something that the School puts on as a way to raise money for the School. We spent an hour (9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.) helping out and mainly spent time setting up tables for the booths for the four girls who were competing in the Pageant and then set up all of the chairs. After helping to set up Jessica and I were walking back to Pedro's when I saw Dr. C and Dr. K at the San Pedro Town Library. There were having a meeting with Nikki, Dianela, and another woman about the group that Dr. C and Dr. K will be bringing down to help out at Camp Starfish in the Summer. We were there for about an hour and it was really neat getting to be there and observe them discussing and planning for the Summer Camp. It was also good background knowledge for me because I really hope to come back sometime in the future and volunteer at Camp Starfish so it'll be neat to see the development of it from now until then. Last Summer was the first time that they had Camp Starfish and for the sake of the kids with disabilities that live here in San Pedro I hope it is something that only continues and grows in the future. After the Meeting I got to ride in the Golf Cart with Dr. C and Dr. K back to Pedro's. Since I had to go back to Lion's Den for the Pageant later in the evening I decided to eat a PB & J Sandwich for lunch at Pedro's and just spend all day hanging out by the pool. While at the pool I spent some time talking with Sally, a woman staying here at Pedro's, and I really enjoyed getting to know her. At about 4:00 p.m. I called it a day at the pool and went to get ready for The Pageant. Afterwards I went to get Supper at Lily's with Brittany, Lindsay, and Savannah. We had to be at Lion's Den by 6:30 p.m. to continue to help at The Pageant (as part of our Community Service and The Principal also expected us to be there to help) and we just went straight there after we finished eating Supper and got there a little early. Lion's Den looked like a completely different place from how we left it earlier that morning. Throughout the day all of the booths had gotten decorated as well as the stage. It was pretty cool how much they got done in just a short amount of time. I had no idea what to do to help when we first got to The Pageant so I spent a little while sitting down since I wasn't sure who to ask for directions of where to go/what to do from. Thankfully that problem was solved for me when Miss Crystal came over asking me to help her cut out some pieces of paper for the raffle. A little while after I finished that Miss Sharon asked me to help out with Jennifer's Booth (one of the girls competing in the competition) so I spent my whole evening at Jennifer's Booth with Maddi helping to sell snacks and drinks as well as running the money we made at the booth to the counters to be totaled. I enjoyed seeing the various students that I've gotten to know during my time at Isla Bonita dancing as well as participating in The Fashion Show. It was a long night but it was a neat experience. Dr. C warned us that the Pageant wouldn't start until a couple of hours after we got there and that it would run late and she was right. People started showing up to The Pageant around 6:30 p.m. but it didn't start until a little before 8:00 p.m. and it ended a little before 11:00 p.m. There were a few people hanging out in the Restaurant at Pedro's after getting back from The Pageant so a couple of us spent some time there before going to bed.
Now that my Fourth Week here in Belize is over I am feeling so many mixed emotions...I cannot believe we've already been here in Belize for exactly a month already. & On that note I can't believe we have a week left here in Belize. It honestly feels like we just got here. Time flies by so fast and I really just want it to slow down. I've been having an amazing time here in Belize but am also so sad that my time here is almost over...I have truly fallen in love with the town of San Pedro (I mean...How can you not love living on an island?) and have honestly gotten used to be here. I'm also not sure if what I'm doing here is making any difference at all...All I want to do is be able to help one student in some way and I have no idea if anything I have been doing and will continue to do will stick at all. I also feel like I have no idea what in the world I am doing and am just trying to make do with what I have. But I guess I can't worry about that and all I can do is just do the best I can with what I know and have learned during my time during my Program at UNCW as well as the materials I have and just pour into the students that I am working with as best as I can and just leave it at that. Also...I know I shouldn't be feeling stressed out (considering I'm in the most laid back atmosphere that I have ever been to in my life) but I am beginning to stress a little bit because our last week here will honestly probably be the busiest one yet as crazy as that seems. I have a lot of work to do as we finish our time here and the reality of having to return home in just seven days is also slowly starting to creep in which means I will have to face all of my responsibilities back home soon (Final Seminar, Final Assignments, Graduation, Work, etc.) but I just can't worry about that right now. I'm still in Belize and that is my priority at the moment. Everything waiting for me back in North Carolina will be there when I get there. I still have a week left in Belize and am just going to not worry about it and take one day at a time. Which honestly...It's all I can do anyway because when I wake up each morning I honestly never know how each day is going to turn out. (Which has been an adjustment but I'm getting there.) At this point I'm just going to make the most of my time left here in Belize and I want to make sure that I enjoy every minute of it! Mixed emotions and all.
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