Day One: I stayed the night at my Grandparents house on Tuesday Night and I went to bed at 2:00 a.m. I got up at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday Morning and my Grandparents took me to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. I was honestly a basket-case of emotions on Wednesday Morning. I had so many mixed emotions...I was nervous, scared, excited, anxious, and honestly just didn't know what to think or how to feel. All I knew was that I was overwhelmed and just ended up crying in the car as I was on my way to the Airport. I think I was so busy in trying to get through my Internship back in Wilmington and prepare for Belize as best as possible that I didn't feel prepared ENOUGH for Belize and the reality of what was I about to do (LEAVE THE COUNTRY FOR FIVE AND A HALF WEEKS AND ALL) FINALLY hit me. My Grandpa helped me get checked in at the Airport and then I was on my own as I went through security and sat waited to board the plane (I have only flown twice in my life and that was two and from New York City when I took a trip there with my Grandparents the Summer before my Senior Year of High School). I was still unsure about everything but once I got onto the plane I actually (and surprisingly) felt a little better. My plane departed at 6:50 a.m. and Meghan got to the Gate just as it was starting to board. Meghan and I were the only two people from our Belize Cohort who flew from Charlotte on the 6:50 a.m. Flight. Meghan and I didn't even book our tickets together and happened to be on the same row! The two guys who were originally on my side of the plane in my row with me moved to the back of the plane since there were open seats so Meghan came over and sat beside me and that was neat. The flight to Miami was about two hours and I was thankfully able to nap on and off during the flight. Our plane arrived to the Miami International Airport at around 8:45 a.m. so Meghan and I both got a yogurt parfait for breakfast and then met up with eight other people at our gate who flew to Miami from Raleigh. We had almost an hour long layover and then started boarding the plane a little before 10:00 a.m. Our plane departed at 10:20 a.m. and then we were on our way to Belize City! The flight took two hours but since there is a two-hour time difference between Belize and North Carolina we arrived to Belize City a little after 10:30 a.m. After arriving to Belize City we all went through Immigration and Customs and then had to wait to board YET ANOTHER PLANE. This plane was a smaller one called a Puddle Jumper with Maya Island Air and I was really nervous to get on it since only 10 of us could fit on it at a time but it actually ended up being a pretty smooth ride to San Pedro. It was also so beautiful and really neat to fly over the water.
We got to San Pedro not long after 12:00, waited for our bags to get taken off the plane, and then the group of 10 of us took two Taxis to Pedro's Hotel and Inn (our home for the time we're staying in San Pedro). We had to wait about 20 minutes to get checked in once we got to Pedro's but after we got checked in and got our bikes (that we are renting and will be using to get around the Island while we're here), we went to put our stuff in our rooms and then decided to walk around the Island a little bit to find some lunch. We were looking for a place called Caribbean Villas to eat at (the man who owns Pedro's Inn and Hotel ALSO owns Caribbean Villas) but we went the wrong direction so after walking on the beach for a while we all just finally decided to eat at a place on the beach we found called Blue Water Grill. We went the complete opposite direction of Caribbean Villas but Blue Water Grill ended up being such a good choice after a long day of traveling (that I really did not realize would be as long of a process as it was-But I survived!). I ate a Turkey Pita that was very yummy so I had no complaints about our lunch choice one bit. One of the fun things about the restaurant is it had a "I ❤️ Belize" Sign on the wall so we all took a picture by it before we left. I really liked that restaurant and am glad we treated ourselves to a nice meal since I had only eaten a yogurt parfait and drank water all day. After we finished eating we went back to Pedro's and just spent time hanging out by the pool as the rest of the people in our group slowly but surely started showing up (I was part of the group that was the first to arrive). When my roommate (Jessica B.) got to the Hotel I helped her take her bags to our room and then we both unpacked a little bit. Jessica B. and I had one our the first Education Classes that you take at UNCW together and she and I also live in the same On-Campus Apartment Building so she and I are both excited to be roommates while we're in Belize! At 6:00 p.m. all 26 of us went to the restaurant at Pedro's for complimentary pizza for it being our first night in town. I unfortunately didn't get a piece of the complimentary pizza since there was so many of us and it was gone before I even got up there. Thankfully Jessica M., Maddi, and Casey ordered a pizza so I was able to go in with them and get some slices of their pizza. Pedro's also had Karaoke on Wednesday Night so a good number of people in our group sang at least once and we all had a blast for our first night in Belize! I even sang to three songs ("Blank Space" by Taylor Swift, "Love Somebody" by Maroon 5, and "Goodbye Earl" by Dixie Chicks) so it was a lot of fun. My roommate and I headed back to our room at about 10:00 p.m. and decided to call it a night since it was such a long day.
Day Two: I slept so well on Wednesday Night. I was actually surprised by how well I slept but was not complaining by any means since I did not sleep very much between Tuesday and Wednesday before arriving to Belize. I woke up at 7:00 a.m. but it was still early so I went back to sleep and finally got up at 8:30 a.m. I was meeting a group of people (eight including me) at 9:00 so I got up, got ready, and we all got our bikes and begin exploring the island on our free day. We were trying to find a fruit stand but did not have any luck. We did however find a Restaurant called San Pedro Melt Cafe which was a restaurant that was literately ON THE BEACH. (How I always end up in a group who ends up in a different place than the one they originally tried looking for I'm not sure. HAHA.) The group I was with sat outside and we had SUCH A BEAUTIFUL VIEW of the beach from our table. It was so nice. I got a Banana Rama Smoothie and some French Toast with bacon for breakfast and IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. It was the perfect portion of food and tasted so yummy. After eating breakfast my group and I rode our bikes to the Fruit Stand, we stopped at a Market, and then we dropped off the food we bought back at the Hotel. Afterwards we rode our bikes to the Caribbean Villas and we spent four hours laying out by the pool at the beach. It was so nice and I enjoyed getting to spend such a long time relaxing on Thursday after the long day of traveling on Wednesday. At about 3:00 some of us were getting a little hungry so we decided to go find the taco stand that we heard was cheap and yummy but they weren't open. This time we actually found the place we were looking for but their hours were from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. so we just decided to go back to the Hotel to hang out for a little while. I spent time laying out by the pool and ate some of the snacks I bought at the Market to tide me over until supper since I was pretty hungry. At about 5:30 I left with a group of people to go to the Neri's Tacos (the Taco Stand we tried to go to earlier). I ended up being the only one in my group who knew where it was so I ended up leading the rest of the group there. I ate a BIG BURRITO and had a coke for four Belizean Dollars (which is only TWO AMERICAN DOLLARS) and could not believe it. It honestly blew me away. I thought it was incredible eating a meal that cheap. After spending a good chunk of money on two meals here it was on nice to pay barely anything for something that was so filling. I definitely found the place where I will be eating supper on most evenings. You just can't beat the price!! After eating supper I went back to the hotel with a few people and we all hung out outside and played the games Heads Up to kill time before the Trivia Night started in the restaurant at the hotel. Trivia Night started at 7:30 and ended at about 9:00. I didn't play but it was entertaining to sit and watch other people play. I barely knew the answers to many of the questions so it was a good thing that I didn't play. After Trivia Night was over my roommate and I (as well as many other people) decided to head back to the Hotel and call it a night.
Day Three: On Friday I woke up at 7:45 a.m., got ready, ate breakfast, and went downstairs to meet the whole group and our directors at 8:30 a.m. Dr. C and Dr. K briefed us on what the day would look like. We would be going to two Schools and then have the rest of the day free while Dr. C and Dr. K went to visit the High School to see if anyone would be placed there. Before I came to Belize a lot of people asked me what I would be doing here and all I could tell them was that I would be volunteering in Schools because that was really all I knew. Coming here to Belize was definitely something where I didn't know what all I would really be doing until I got here which has been and still kind of is tough because I'm a planner and LOVE knowing what exactly I'm doing when so it's been interesting to learn to be more flexible and go with the flow (thankfully my Internship in Wilmington prepared me to go be a lot more flexible than what I used to be) while I've been here. At our Departure Meeting on Monday Dr. K told us that our International Field Experience here in Belize would be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from our Internship in Wilmington. Before our group headed out to the Schools on Friday Morning Dr. C and Dr. K gave us some advice and guidelines to follow about expectations of us while we're here, about going to the schools, and interacting with people while at the schools. One of the things that Dr. C and Dr. K told us that stuck out to me the most was that Belizean people are very relational people and personal relationships usually form before the professional relationships do. I was very happy to hear that because in the few jobs that I've had I have always enjoyed the ones where I've formed both a personal and professional relationship with my coworkers more compared to the ones where I only had professional relationship with my coworkers. To me there's just something about having that personal component to the relationship that makes me feel closer to someone and in turn be able to work with them better. Our big group split up into two groups to head to our first school. One group followed Dr. C and one group followed Dr. K. I was in the group with Dr. C. The first school we visited was New Horizon Seventh Day Adventist School. When we arrived to New Horizon the Principal and Vice Principal came to welcome us and the Principal was so so happy happy to have us there (his words when he spoke to us, not mine). He told us about the school and let us explore it a little bit. I really liked New Horizon. It had all of the Classrooms on the outside so there was a big courtyard type area so it made it seem big and open however the classrooms are fairly small with large class sizes. The Principal said that they have a little over 500 students enrolled there. New Horizon is a public school that is run by Seventh Day Adventist so one group of students were in the Chapel for Devotion. (Just as a side note: Schools can be considered public as long as they accept any students and the teachers are paid by the Ministry of Education. Most Schools here are run by a Church and there are not many state-run Schools at all.) While at New Horizon I talked with Dr. C a little bit and learned that the only requirements for teachers in Belize is for them to have a High School Diploma. I was curious about the qualifications of teachers in Belize and only about half of the teachers here actually have a College Degree. Dr. C also told me about the few colleges here in Belize as well.
One thing we learned about the Schools in San Pedro are the grades run differently here than they do in America. There is Pre-School, (there's no such thing as Kindergarten here) Infant 1 is our equivalent of First Grade, Infant 2 is our equivalent of Second Grade, Standard 1 is our Equivalent of Third Grade, Standard 2 is our equivalent of Fourth Grade, Standard 3 is our equivalent of Fifth Grade, Standard 4 is our equivalent of Sixth Grade, Standard 5 is our equivalent of Seventh Grade, and Standard 6 is our equivalent of Eighth Grade. And the "Grades" here do not depend on age like they do in America; it depends on if the students can pass the tests of knowing the information required for each grade here. The second school we visited was La Isla Bonita Elementary School. We didn't really get to learn much about the School itself by the Principal since there are so many of us there and it was very busy with the group of students who were outside for recess and the group of students getting lunch. The people who will be placed at La Isla Bonita Elementary will learn more about the school when the Principal speaks to them on Monday Morning. La Isla Bonita was gated and fairly small and tight-knit but still very nice nonetheless. I liked it as well. I have a friend from UNCW who came on the Belize International Field Experience last year who was also an Adapted Curriculum Special Education Major (which is what I am for those who didn't know) and was placed at La Isla Bonita Elementary. My friend had the opportunity of working with a student at Isla Bonita who I was hoping to have the opportunity to work with as well but when Dr. C and I talked to the Principal of the School she said that the student hasn't been at school since First Term so I'm not sure if I'll be seeing her or not. The Principal said that she would see if she could get in contact with the Student's Family and would let Dr. C and I know. After exploring Isla Bonita we all had the rest of the day free so I followed a group of people to see where the Bridge on the Island was. We didn't go over it but we stopped at this Park Area just before it that was absolutely stunning. It was so beautiful that it honestly took my breath away. We hung out there for a brief moment and took pictures (of course) and then all decided to go find some lunch. I went with a few people Neri's Tacos and got six tacos and a coke for Three Belizean Dollars (which is only $1.50 American Dollars.) I could honestly get used to eating meals for that cheap and will honestly probably be getting my meals at Neri's Taco on most days. After eating lunch I went back to Pedro's Hotel and decided to rest in my air conditioned room for a little while after a very hot morning of bike riding in the sun.
Quite of few people went exploring around the Island and some people went to go to Caribbean Villas. I didn't have the energy to explore the island and since I spent about four hours at Caribbean Villas on Thursday I decided to spend time relaxing at Pedro's for the day. I worked on my Blog (this post to be exact) and uploaded some pictures on Facebook so that everyone could get an idea of where I'm at and what I'm doing here. I honestly want to spend the least amount of time on technology as possible while I'm here because I don't want to miss a single thing since I will never have the chance to be here on this exact trip EVER AGAIN for as long as I live. At about 6:00 p.m. a group of fifteen of us went to eat Supper at Pinneapples for Cyrus' Birthday. Jessica M. and I split a Rasta Pasta and it was the perfect amount for the both of us. Had we ordered something for ourselves it would have been too much food for one person and also a little bit more than what we would've like to paid for just one person. After we left Pineapples we went back to the restaurant at Pedro's to hang out and they had karaoke again so it was a good time. I sang "22" by Taylor Swift with Abby for Cyrus' Birthday since he was turning 22 and I also jumped up with three other girls and sang "Wide Open Spaces" by Dixie Chicks." At about 9:00 p.m. everyone in the restaurant got together ad sang to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey and it was recorded for a guy who spent about 18 months here at Pedro's and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so that was a very neat experience to be a part of. I also spent time talking with a man named Florence who owns part of Caribbean Villas so it was neat getting to learn about him and how he ended up in Belize. Florence also told me about the San Pedro Sailing Club which is located just in front of Caribbean Villas. Other than that I spent my evening just watching everyone else sing karaoke and it was very entertaining. At about 11:00 p.m. my roommate and I were pretty tired and decided to call it a night. That was the latest I had gone to bed while I've been here.
Day Four: On Saturday I woke up and spent a little bit of time outside in the shade. At about 11:00 a group of us were ready to go to the Palapa Bar and Grill on the part of the island past where the bridge is. It was this neat place that was on the water and had intertubes you could sit in the water and just relax. I decided to stay in the shade (I'm trying to be cautious and do everything I can to NOT get sunburned while I'm here since I'm so fair-skinned) and enjoyed the view of the water as well as the nice breeze that kept me cool. I wasn't starving but I was a little hungry so I was boring and just got some cheese fries to eat since I couldn't find anyone to split anything with me. I ran into the same problem I had at Pineapples on Friday Night. Most items on the menu were more than what I wanted to pay for and/or some of them would be just too much food for me to eat since I didn't have a huge appetite. Plus I knew we were having our Group Dinner later in the evening so I really did not want to stuff myself for lunch and not have any room for my Supper. I left the Palapa Bar and Grill with a small group of people and got back to Pedro's at about 2:00 or so and spent time hanging out by the pool (in the shade of course) for a couple hours. The ride to the Palapa Bar and Grill was nice but the ride back took a lot out of me since it was so hot and was a good trek. While hanging out at the Pool we all got an E-Mail from Dr. C with our School Placements and I found out that I placed at La Isla Bonita Elementary School. I honestly didn't mind being placed at either school but I sort of hoped that I would be placed at Isla Bonita and I honestly had a feeling when I was New Horizon on Friday Morning (as much as I liked it there) that I wouldn't be placed there.
At about 5:00 I decided to get ready for Dinner and ended up walking over to Caribbean Villas with Meghan, Tracy, Callie, and Jessica M. Everyone had to meet at Caribbean Villas by 6:30 so we all sat down at the two rows of tables they had set up for us once everyone was there. They started us off with a chowder that had conch, carrots, and potatoes in it. The conch was okay (I had tried conch fritters earlier at Palapa Bar and Grill) but I ate them first to get it out of the way so I could enjoy the carrots and potatoes. After the soup they brought us our entree which could have been a choice of either fish or chicken. I decided to play it safe and got the chicken so it was chicken covered in some kind of mushroom sauce (that I scraped most of it off since I don't like mushrooms), vegetables (I only ate the broccoli and carrots out of it), and mashed potatoes. (& If you couldn't already tell I'm a picky eater. The food I would be eating was honestly one of my main concerns as I was getting ready to come to Belize because of how picky I am.) I did get to try a piece of Tracy's fish and it was alright. I'm glad I went with the chicken though. We got to enjoy some music during our Dinner and at one point the singer got Dani up and had her dance the "Sexy Chicken" Dance in front of everyone. I was sitting at the end of a table and tried to avoid eye contact with him once he said he wanted someone else to come up and sure enough I hear: "The girl in the red dress." I hesitantly turned to look at him and he was waving me up so I reluctantly stood up and walked over to him. He asked for my name and where I was from. He then asked if we had mosquitoes where I'm from and asked how big they are. Then he had me do "The Mosquito" which consisted of he and I both just swatting at mosquitoes that weren't there along with the rhythm of the music. It was fitting for me though since I hate mosquitoes with EVERYTHING IN ME and they just LOVE ME. Ironically though I haven't gotten bit once yet while I've been here which has been nice. Hopefully I didn't just speak too soon and it'll stay that way. I would really like to not get bit here. I got to sit down after "dancing" and Cyrus and Jordon were both called up the dance as well. It was very entertaining having us all up in front of everyone dancing and definitely caused laughter. After the entertainment they brought us out a piece of key lime pie for dessert. I was already stuffed but managed to eat every bit of my piece of pie anyway and it was good. Immediately after everyone finished their dessert everyone stood up to leave and we all headed back to Pedro's. I walked back to Pedro's with Meghan, Tracy, Callie, Jessica M., Maddi, and Casey. We got back probably just a little before 9:30 so Casey and I walked over to the Pool for a minute to see if anyone was hanging out at all and there were a people who were. My roommate and I did not stay up much longer before deciding to go back to our room. Before we got to Belize Dr. C told us that we would be wanting to crash about 9:00/9:30 every night and I honestly did not believe her until we got here but she was exactly right.
It's hard to believe that we've been in Belize for four days already...It hasn't hit me yet and still feels like a dream. The time feels like it moves slower here and the days have gone by relatively slow for the most part so far but I am not complaining one bit because I know that the next five weeks are going to go by so fast and I'll be back in North Carolina before I know it so I want to enjoy every minute here as much as possible! There hasn't been too much structure the first four days of being here in Belize which has been an adjustment for me because I am a planner and VERY "Type A" but I'm slowly but surely trying to adjust to being able to just relax and not have every single part of my day planned out with no room to breathe or think (which is what I'm used to feeling like back home). I believe Saturday was the first day where I have truly felt the most comfortable here in Belize. I was walking around and riding my bike around San Pedro on Saturday and I realized that Belize has honestly started feeling like home a little bit so I believe that's a good sign. Especially since I'm living here for a little over a month and all. Now...I have no idea what I will be doing while I'm at La Isla Bonita Elementary School so that's a little tough for me. I feel out of my comfort zone not having a clue what I have to do and will do yet but I know that I will figure it out and just have to take one day at a time. Before we went to visit the Schools on Friday Morning Dr. K told us that when we signed up for this trip we all said that we wanted to have a transformative experience and transformation does NOT come easy. I don't know what to expect over the next five weeks but I'm looking forward to seeing what is in store for me during my time here in Belize! Ready or not, here goes nothing...
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