This year's Thanksgiving was different than any I have experienced thus far in my life. I decided to not go into work because well...I wouldn't in the States so...I don't really have a good reason, I just didn't go in. I called my family and talked to them for briefly, they are still crazy as usual. As they were screaming and all talking at once I got homesick. I miss the chaos of my family on holidays. There is nothing in this world that compares to it.
After that I packed my bag and headed to the capital, which is about an hour away from me. All PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) were coming to the capital on either Thursday or Friday because the PC staff planned a Thanksgiving dinner for us on Friday afternoon. Each district (there are 6 districts in Belize) had to prepare something different. The Cayo area was responsible for appetizers so I made powder buns, which is basically the only thing I know how to cook. So the rest of my Thursday was hanging out at a volunteer’s house cooking, eating, and laughing with my new friends.
On Friday we had a brief training and then headed back to various houses to finish cooking. At 2pm we all headed to a cultural center where there was enough room for about 70 people to eat. Although it was suppose to start at 2pm, when you factor in Belizean time, it really is suppose to start around 3pm. And that is when we started eating, the food was amazing. It was such a good feeling to be sitting at a table, sharing a meal with people you have grown to know and care about. I still find it quite astounding that 3 months ago I hadn't the slightest clue who these people were and now I regard them as family. How things change. Anyways I would post pictures but I forgot my camera so I will once I thief them from someone. That was my Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and know that I was thinking about you!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Waffles
So when I got home from work I stumbled into the kitchen to find a pot of rice and beans (not beans and rice) for dinner. I feel the need to say that this is the same pot of rice and beans that I have been eating for the past two days. I'm seriously over rice and beans. Now beans and rice is okay but that wasn't on the menu tonight.
What is a girl to do? Be proactive. I made waffles. That is right folks, I made waffles. And not from a box. Nope!!! I took flour, baking powder, an egg, a pinch of salt, and milk, I mixexd it all up and TADA...WAFFLES. I am seriously amazed at how easy it is. Never in my life did I imagine making waffles from scratch. Before I came to Belize making waffles from scratch meant making it from a box. While I was waiting for the waffles to cook (which by the way I forgot to spray the pan so they turned out to be shreaded waffles, but thats not the point) I realized that my life would never be the same. If I went home now I would be a different person compared to when I left. For the rest of my life I will make waffles from scratch. Amazing. More will be revealed...
What is a girl to do? Be proactive. I made waffles. That is right folks, I made waffles. And not from a box. Nope!!! I took flour, baking powder, an egg, a pinch of salt, and milk, I mixexd it all up and TADA...WAFFLES. I am seriously amazed at how easy it is. Never in my life did I imagine making waffles from scratch. Before I came to Belize making waffles from scratch meant making it from a box. While I was waiting for the waffles to cook (which by the way I forgot to spray the pan so they turned out to be shreaded waffles, but thats not the point) I realized that my life would never be the same. If I went home now I would be a different person compared to when I left. For the rest of my life I will make waffles from scratch. Amazing. More will be revealed...
Saturday, November 15, 2008
I'm better now
So this is the blog I was going to post before my computer went to shit. I wanted to let you all now that I am an official volunteer. That's right folks!! I am moving on up. Swearing in was very nice, the ceremony was held at the Governor General's estate. Both my host families, the one from training and my new one, attended the event. Needless to say, I felt very loved. After the official event, PC paid for a banquet dinner for all volunteers, first and second. It was really nice and the food was amazing!! The first years (that would be my group) did superlative awards and well, I won" Most likely to extend a 3rd year". More will be revealed on that one!!
It just occured to me that I never told you guys about my new placement; better late than never. I am placed in a town called San Ignacio, which has about 10,000 people in it. It also has a sister city called Santa Elena which has about the same population. This is considered pretty large for a country that only has 300,000 people. So it turns out I am a urban volunteer. It wasn't really what I was expecting but it’s not that bad once I get over my expectations of living in a thatch roof hut. It is absolutely beautiful, all of Belize is gorgeous. Right now I am living with another host family until at least the first of the year, possibly longer. I was going to post some pictures but this computer won't let me so here is a link to my photobucket account if you want to look at some pictures: http://s477.photobucket.com/albums/rr139/TerraAnn25/
I am right next to, and I mean RIGHT NEXT to Cahal Pech, which are Mayan ruins. Its a two minute walk from my house to the ruins. On Sundays there is free admission for Belizeans (which would also include me). I am pretty sure this will be my new chill spot on Sundays.
Alright that's it guys. I promise I will do a better job at keeping this updated.
It just occured to me that I never told you guys about my new placement; better late than never. I am placed in a town called San Ignacio, which has about 10,000 people in it. It also has a sister city called Santa Elena which has about the same population. This is considered pretty large for a country that only has 300,000 people. So it turns out I am a urban volunteer. It wasn't really what I was expecting but it’s not that bad once I get over my expectations of living in a thatch roof hut. It is absolutely beautiful, all of Belize is gorgeous. Right now I am living with another host family until at least the first of the year, possibly longer. I was going to post some pictures but this computer won't let me so here is a link to my photobucket account if you want to look at some pictures: http://s477.photobucket.com/albums/rr139/TerraAnn25/
I am right next to, and I mean RIGHT NEXT to Cahal Pech, which are Mayan ruins. Its a two minute walk from my house to the ruins. On Sundays there is free admission for Belizeans (which would also include me). I am pretty sure this will be my new chill spot on Sundays.
Alright that's it guys. I promise I will do a better job at keeping this updated.
This would be me freaking out
Holy shit. *Sigh* Where do I begin.
Alright so this whole, "lets move to another country" idea is really biting me in the ass. Today was so rough. Well, it actually started last night. My computer is acting up. When I turn it on, it works for a few minutes and then it freezes up. I can't fix it because I know nothing about computers. It is amazing how that one little thing threw me into a depressed state. Today I thought I would try it again and still, the same problems. I have just decided to leave it turned off and eventually I will decide on what I want to do.
Anyways, it threw me off so badly that I was seriously questioning what I am doing here. Now don't get me wrong, I have asked myself that question before and thought about going home, but today I was REALLY considering it. This is some of what was running through my head:
Why the hell did you decide to do this? What is the point of you being here? Did you REALLY want to join the Peace Corps or did you just want to be challenged? If you just want to be challenged you could go back home and get a real job. I have a master's degree, I could get a job and start my life. I could find a place of my own, by actually looking in the phone book or online. Here I have to ask the post man, the shop owner, the guy on the corner if they know anyplace to rent. Seriously. My new conversation beginner is "Hi, my name is Terra and I'm a new PC volunteer. I've been in Cayo for about a month but am looking for a place to rent in January." I am now saying that to everyone and I do mean everyone. I have friends there, other people who I can talk to, other people that understand me. I could make a phone call to one of my friends without having to stare at the skype icon for an hour, waiting for it to connect, only for the connection to be lost the moment the phone starts ringing. But I could call someone whenever I want to. I could take a hot shower!!!!!!! I could take a bath! I could drive a car!!! And not have to carry an umbrella everywhere (its a necessity, you use it when the sun it too hot and when it rains, who knew). And this is the biggest one: Back home I at least thought I knew what I was doing.
So anyways guys thats what I was thinking up until about 2pm. I would go into my room for something and end up laying on my bed staring into space for a half and hour, not even remembering how I ended up in bed. But at 2pm I went to work and they were having a cooking class. The cooking class meets every week and this week they invited me to join in. I learned how to make powder buns and lasagna. It was fun! The women are great, even though I can't understand half of them. In Belize it is very common for people to speak 3 different languages all in one sentence. Its a combination of English, Kriol, and Spanish. For example: Gwail, meka bring mi da bocha (Girl, go bring me the bowl) One of my new goals is to learn Spanish. I have to admit, it is fun to listen to. By the time I was done with class I was feeling 100% better. I'm okay with being here.
This is the only time in my life where I am constantly up and down. My one friend Abbey (she is a 3rd year volunteer) explains it like this. "Right now you are bi-polar. You are going to have amazing highs and then have drastic lows. It might happen 10X a day, or once a week but it will happen. After about 6 months or a year it will level out, not go away, but level out." Right now I am okay with that. I just have to work through those low points and not dwell in them. I have to focus on the positives and keep things simple. If my computer doesn't magically fix itself then I will ship it to the States and get it fixed there. I don't want to do that but if I have to it wont be the end of the world. If I don't have a computer, the world will not stop turning. I WILL BE FINE. So guys I was going to post a blog about happy-go-lucky shit with pretty pictures, and I still will once my computer gets better, but for now you get this. Thanks for reading!! I love you all and miss you.
Alright so this whole, "lets move to another country" idea is really biting me in the ass. Today was so rough. Well, it actually started last night. My computer is acting up. When I turn it on, it works for a few minutes and then it freezes up. I can't fix it because I know nothing about computers. It is amazing how that one little thing threw me into a depressed state. Today I thought I would try it again and still, the same problems. I have just decided to leave it turned off and eventually I will decide on what I want to do.
Anyways, it threw me off so badly that I was seriously questioning what I am doing here. Now don't get me wrong, I have asked myself that question before and thought about going home, but today I was REALLY considering it. This is some of what was running through my head:
Why the hell did you decide to do this? What is the point of you being here? Did you REALLY want to join the Peace Corps or did you just want to be challenged? If you just want to be challenged you could go back home and get a real job. I have a master's degree, I could get a job and start my life. I could find a place of my own, by actually looking in the phone book or online. Here I have to ask the post man, the shop owner, the guy on the corner if they know anyplace to rent. Seriously. My new conversation beginner is "Hi, my name is Terra and I'm a new PC volunteer. I've been in Cayo for about a month but am looking for a place to rent in January." I am now saying that to everyone and I do mean everyone. I have friends there, other people who I can talk to, other people that understand me. I could make a phone call to one of my friends without having to stare at the skype icon for an hour, waiting for it to connect, only for the connection to be lost the moment the phone starts ringing. But I could call someone whenever I want to. I could take a hot shower!!!!!!! I could take a bath! I could drive a car!!! And not have to carry an umbrella everywhere (its a necessity, you use it when the sun it too hot and when it rains, who knew). And this is the biggest one: Back home I at least thought I knew what I was doing.
So anyways guys thats what I was thinking up until about 2pm. I would go into my room for something and end up laying on my bed staring into space for a half and hour, not even remembering how I ended up in bed. But at 2pm I went to work and they were having a cooking class. The cooking class meets every week and this week they invited me to join in. I learned how to make powder buns and lasagna. It was fun! The women are great, even though I can't understand half of them. In Belize it is very common for people to speak 3 different languages all in one sentence. Its a combination of English, Kriol, and Spanish. For example: Gwail, meka bring mi da bocha (Girl, go bring me the bowl) One of my new goals is to learn Spanish. I have to admit, it is fun to listen to. By the time I was done with class I was feeling 100% better. I'm okay with being here.
This is the only time in my life where I am constantly up and down. My one friend Abbey (she is a 3rd year volunteer) explains it like this. "Right now you are bi-polar. You are going to have amazing highs and then have drastic lows. It might happen 10X a day, or once a week but it will happen. After about 6 months or a year it will level out, not go away, but level out." Right now I am okay with that. I just have to work through those low points and not dwell in them. I have to focus on the positives and keep things simple. If my computer doesn't magically fix itself then I will ship it to the States and get it fixed there. I don't want to do that but if I have to it wont be the end of the world. If I don't have a computer, the world will not stop turning. I WILL BE FINE. So guys I was going to post a blog about happy-go-lucky shit with pretty pictures, and I still will once my computer gets better, but for now you get this. Thanks for reading!! I love you all and miss you.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Time for a little of nothing
So I am at the capital right now, waiting to meet my new host family. We had a tropical depression sweep through southern Belize and everyone below the bridge (the only bridge that connects southern to northern Belize) had to consolidate to the capital. It wasn't a big deal but it meant that we couldn't have our thank you dinner for our previous host families. Lots of host families. Anyways, it turns out that it was a good thing because the bridge is completely wiped out, not in need of repair, but in need of a new bridge. It will probably take over a week for that to happen but I am moving to western Belize and won't have to deal with the bridge anymore!
Other than that, not much is happening. I am super excited to meet my new host family and get to know my new community. I am really looking forward to start working with my counterparts, although it will be slow going. Everything happens here in slow motion, everything except consolidations.
I did have an amazing weekend. On Friday I had to head to Belize City to go to the doctor's office. I have had a nasty cough for over a month and started to get some sinus pressure too. I went to the doctor's, had some xrays and found out I have a sinus infection. I started taking meds and I feel 10x better. But I was scared shitless having to go to Belize City on my own. Ever since I have been in Belize I have heard about how dangerous Belize City is. In reality, my trip there was painless. No worse than Detroit. :)
I got home on Saturday at noon and was escorted by my host brother to their boat, which we took to the island they are care taking. So I got to chill with my other youth trainees on a private island all day and night. We had an amazing time. We played cards, ate great food (and cake), and showed some Belizeans how to make smores. Awesome. Then on Sunday we headed back home and hooked up with our youth group Melissa and I have been working with. We organized a beach clean-up that day and had a huge turnout. Over 90 people showed up which we successfully herded into a bus and then onto boats. It was quite a feat and wouldn't have been possible without the help of some local adults. So I spent Sunday afternoon on the beach, sweet. After that we, meaning the 5 youth trainees, plus a couple of trainees from different sites all meet at Chris' house for his bday dinner. More cake. Just a wonderful weekend all-around. Sometimes I am amazed that this is my life. Alright I will post pictures soon. Love and miss all of you guys!!
Other than that, not much is happening. I am super excited to meet my new host family and get to know my new community. I am really looking forward to start working with my counterparts, although it will be slow going. Everything happens here in slow motion, everything except consolidations.
I did have an amazing weekend. On Friday I had to head to Belize City to go to the doctor's office. I have had a nasty cough for over a month and started to get some sinus pressure too. I went to the doctor's, had some xrays and found out I have a sinus infection. I started taking meds and I feel 10x better. But I was scared shitless having to go to Belize City on my own. Ever since I have been in Belize I have heard about how dangerous Belize City is. In reality, my trip there was painless. No worse than Detroit. :)
I got home on Saturday at noon and was escorted by my host brother to their boat, which we took to the island they are care taking. So I got to chill with my other youth trainees on a private island all day and night. We had an amazing time. We played cards, ate great food (and cake), and showed some Belizeans how to make smores. Awesome. Then on Sunday we headed back home and hooked up with our youth group Melissa and I have been working with. We organized a beach clean-up that day and had a huge turnout. Over 90 people showed up which we successfully herded into a bus and then onto boats. It was quite a feat and wouldn't have been possible without the help of some local adults. So I spent Sunday afternoon on the beach, sweet. After that we, meaning the 5 youth trainees, plus a couple of trainees from different sites all meet at Chris' house for his bday dinner. More cake. Just a wonderful weekend all-around. Sometimes I am amazed that this is my life. Alright I will post pictures soon. Love and miss all of you guys!!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Weekend Field Trip
Hi everyone,
So I have had a very busy 2 weeks. Today is a holiday, St. George’s Cayes Day, so I do not have to go to training. I spent a good chunk of the morning helping my host family make 100 tamales, which they plan on selling at the football game tonight. I finally was able to escape to my room to get some of my stuff done. So let me catch up all up on my recent adventures in Belize.
Most of the week was consumed by my very boring training stuff, but on Wednesday (9-04) we had to make a garden. Now in case I haven’t told you all this before, Belize is hot, very hot. Gardening is not exactly something I would have chosen but it is what it is. So…I sweated my butt off, in fact I didn’t even know it was possible to sweat as much as I did. Then that weekend we took a field trip to a bunch of places all over southern Belize.
On Saturday morning we all went to Punta Gorda for their market, which is absolutely amazing. The market was anything spectacular, but the town is beautiful. We wandered around for a bit, meet up with some other current volunteers, went shopping, and attended a workshop about art and crafts. It was a really good visit and I hope that I will be placed near PG, or at least be able to visit the market a few more times.
After the market we traveled to Barranco, which is a tiny Garifuna village of about 130 people. It was the most serene place I have been to thus far. I keep thinking about how lucky I am to be able to see and experience some of these places. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
That night I spent the night in a Mayan Mopan village and ate dinner and breakfast with a family. In the village I was staying in, all the houses had thatch roofs and dirt floors, which is very common among the Mayans. We slept in a lodging center for tourists, which was pretty nice. The only problem was that we arrived when it was dark and the places didn’t have electricity so it was a little hard to get settled in. There were also outdoor latrines which are kind of scary at night time. We did have mosquito nets though so I wasn’t too worried about creepy crawly things in the middle of the night.
After breakfast we all headed to the Blue Creek Caves. It was about an hour hike to get to the caves, which at some points stopped being a hike and turned into rock climbing. To make matters worse all of the rocks are limestone, which are extremely slippery when wet. It was quite an adventure. Once we got there we were all in awe. As my one friend said, it looked like something from the Jungle Book.
We were all pretty exhausted from the Caves but we still had one more site to visit before we could head back home. Not too far away from the Caves was a Mayan Ruins site, which wasn’t exactly what I expected. I thought there would be these giant temples but the place we went to didn’t have anything like that. I didn’t realize how many different sites there are in Belize that has Mayan Ruins. I hope to one day visit them all. So that is about it folks. It was an wonderful, jammed packed weekend. Until next time!
Terra
MAYAN RUINS
BARRANCO
PICTURES OF PUNTA GORDA
Monday, September 1, 2008
Day on the water
Note: Blog was written on 8/31 but I couldn’t post it til today.
What an amazing day!! On Saturday my host family told me to invite all of the PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) in my village to go fishing on Sunday. So on Sunday, three volunteers, my host family, and I went fishing in the Caribbean Sea. My host dad took us on a quick tour of the area where we found the coolest island ever!! It is the smallest island I have ever seen but we all fell in love with it. The island use to have a house on it but a hurricane Irene tore it down years ago. The man who owns it put it up for sale and let me tell you, if I had $20,000 lying around, it would be mine. He let us out of the boat so we could walk around and wade in the water. Isn’t it just gorgeous?? Are you all insanely jealous? The perks of being in the Peace Corps!!
After the island we went fishing where I caught one tiny fish and the others caught a few as well. Chris, (a PCV) did not catch any fish; he caught a sting ray, which my host brother promptly clubbed to death and put back into the water. We were out there until dark and then headed back towards home. Watching the sun set from the Caribbean Sea and then seeing the stars light up the sky was breathtaking. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.
What an amazing day!! On Saturday my host family told me to invite all of the PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) in my village to go fishing on Sunday. So on Sunday, three volunteers, my host family, and I went fishing in the Caribbean Sea. My host dad took us on a quick tour of the area where we found the coolest island ever!! It is the smallest island I have ever seen but we all fell in love with it. The island use to have a house on it but a hurricane Irene tore it down years ago. The man who owns it put it up for sale and let me tell you, if I had $20,000 lying around, it would be mine. He let us out of the boat so we could walk around and wade in the water. Isn’t it just gorgeous?? Are you all insanely jealous? The perks of being in the Peace Corps!!
After the island we went fishing where I caught one tiny fish and the others caught a few as well. Chris, (a PCV) did not catch any fish; he caught a sting ray, which my host brother promptly clubbed to death and put back into the water. We were out there until dark and then headed back towards home. Watching the sun set from the Caribbean Sea and then seeing the stars light up the sky was breathtaking. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
