We have now been in Belize for three days. The airport in Belize City is nothing like the ones we have in the U.S. This airport didn’t have gates or terminals. We got off the plane (there were only about two other passenger sized planes at the airport) and went inside to get our luggage. We had a little bit of trouble when getting our passports stamped because we didn’t have the address to where we would be living for three months. So that made things a little difficult. We finally got through and had to wait for a long time to get our luggage—this made me a little nervous. After finally getting our luggage and heading out to the front of the airport, we found our driver and he took us on the hour drive to Belmopan. The country is very flat and covered with palm trees. After an hour, we arrived in Belmopan. At first, it appeared as though it was a very run-down little town. Many buildings were in disrepair and there were people wandering throughout the streets. We turned onto a little road and stopped infront of a little white house. This is where we met our landlady and she explained to us that our new house was not going to be available until Saturday.
We got settled into the house and met Sharon (our landlady), her mother and her nephew, Steven. He has been a valuable asset to our being here. He showed us how to get to the Bullfrog Inn and gave us tips about getting around Belmopan. He has also been very helpful because he is a student at the school where Amy and I are teaching. There was a little bit of trouble/confusion because we were told by Ellen that we would have a week to get settled in and didn’t have to get to school until the 30th (for me, Amy and Ben) and the 1st(for Tara).
On Sunday, we slept in—we probably went to bed around 9:30, their time—and slept until about 10. We got up and had a tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and fruit. Afterwards, we went for a walk to find our schools and the embassy. We came across the market and bus stop and eventually found our way to the embassy. Compri is very close to the house we’re in now, but when we move, we’re definitely going to need to buy bikes. We got back to our house at around 1 and we all hung out, watched some tv and read our books. Our house has no air conditioning so we had to utilize the fans as much as possible. Later that day, we got a tour of the city. It’s a small “city” but it would still take about 40 minutes to walk from one side to another. After our tour, we went back for a dinner of rice and baked chicken. We all hung out for a bit more and then headed to bed.
Monday was our first day of school and Amy and I left the house at about 730 to get to school. We had Steve walk us there and the entire time he was freaking us out because he even said he wasn’t sure if school started today or not. We came up to the school and there were many students outside, so we knew school had begun. Students here wear uniforms, even though it is considered a public school. The boys were dark grey slacks, black shoes and white button down t-shirts. The girls were white dresses, white socks and black shoes. Both boys and girls wear the Compri patch on their left sleeves. There is a great amount of diversity in this school. There is a high Latin population, as well as Asian. The students here are so respectful of the teachers….it’s pretty nice, actually. They stand when the teacher enters the room and they begin and end every time they talk with “sir” or “ma’am.” The rooms are very bare, the only thing in them are desks and a whiteboard. The only problem that I feel I will encounter in my school is the fact that just about every student speaks Creole. It’s a fascinating language, but one that I clearly don’t know. I really want to learn some words and sounds cool when I get back to the States.
I don’t have a teacher yet, but I do have my very own desk space! And a drawer! I’m currently shadowing some teachers and by the end of the week, we’ll have a plan for me. I may actually end up having my own “class” of about 5 students and work with them on their reading. This makes me a little nervous because I’m not too strong in reading. But we’ll just have to see.
At the end of the day, we were all exhausted. We had a delicious dinner of rice, salad and barracuda (which is very good). I’m excited to see what happens in the rest of the week ☺
No comments:
Post a Comment