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.