Suddenly I don't fell so bad for Minnesota.

It has been awhile since I have wrote, but I wanted to before I forgot all of what I have done lately. Last weekend, had a great Friday night enjoying what PG's nightlife has to offer. Saturday was our day of rest because we had to get up early on Sunday. The reason was because we were heading to Lubaantun to check out some Maya ruins and then to Blue Creek from some swimming. The ruins was an amazing sight! This is always something I wanted to do, and I took full advantage of it. At first, the guide we had spoke for what seemed like forever, and all I could do was sit and keep only a glimpse of what was to come. I felt like a kid being held back from a toy store. When he finished and was going to walk around with us, I broke loose and explored! All of the history, the culture, and simply the sight blew me away. I invisioned myself there (or what it might have been like) as people played games, cooked food, and harvested the land. There was also a story of the Crystal Skull. It was said that a skull made of 100% crystal and of perfect configuration to a human skull was found here. It was really interesting to read about since they only had tools made by hand, and certainly nothing that was capable of making this.

From there, we went to Blue Creek which was even better than the ruins! I had no idea what we were in for. We were also lucky enough to grab Garnet from Tulmulkin Village where she is doing her student teaching. We don't see her often so I am glad we were at full strength for this adventure. We followed this trail along a beautiful creek that was truly blue. When we arrived at our destination, it was a gigantic hole in the earth that I could not wait to climb into. It turns out that you swim through the entire thing! It was awesome!!! Perhaps one of the coolest things I have ever done! I know I will be saying that a lot while I am down here, but this was breath taking. As we swam with headlamps through this twisting cave filled with waterfalls we had to climb, unique rock formations, and a crew of 12, all I could do was smile. When we reached the end, the last waterfall was so intense that only a few of us could get up it. Garnet being one of them, reached the top, and I was helping others get up all of a sudden I saw a headlamp go down the waterfall and swirl around the bottom. It was so loud from the rushing water that I didn't know what happened. It turns out she slipped and fell down the rush to pop out where all the rest our team was. She was okay and we laughed about it later. Back to the top of the waterfall though...Four of us got to see the end and it was worth the climb. Three huge waterfalls came spilling out of the walls of the cave as though someone turned a faucet. We swam in there for a bit before realizing everyone else couldn't see us and were screaming for us to come down. Once we regrouped, we started our swim back. It was just as fun because the current was in our favor, and it made it a little easier to swim. When we reached the opening, Jon and I explored some other cave close by before we all jumped in our van back to PG. It was truly a day I will never forget.

As for teaching, I am loving that just as much. I have taught on my own for a full week now, and it is everything I planned for and everything I didn't. UMD really does prepare us well for this, but some things school cannot teach us...hence why I am here. I am learning aspects such as classroom management that I never could have gotten somewhere else. I have had some good classes and some bad ones. Thursday I had perhaps the hardest class ever. They were so energetic that I had a very difficult time controlling them. As I was reflecting on what had just happened to me, that is when I realized that I am glad I am here. The easy teachings do not do as much justice because they are not pushing me out of that sense of comfotability; however, the classes I am not preapred for yet really cause me to pull out the skills that I have learned, and use them in a way that pertains to a situation...in addition to some skills that I haven't learned that I am figuring out! We had our annual 3k 5k race on Friday which went spectacular. I have had a great time watching this culture perform sports because it is much different than how I perform them. For instance, students where running barefoot which I thought was amazing. My feet could never endure that for miles on end. Ouch! But, they all did well as they ran through the rain.

Speaking of rain!! It has been raining here for a week straight! Paradise uh? Well, it still is nice, but the rain has put a damper on everything. Teachings, after school activities, nightly plans, and our weekend have all been changed due to rain. We were going to go to Placencia this weekend, and I am gald we didn't. The roads become just as dangerous as snow covered ones because they get slippery and the pot holes get worse.

Finally, Friday night we went to a tribute to Andy Palacio. He was a man who came from a village in Belize and brought Garfuna and Belize music to the world. He was well on his way to becoming a very famous muscian world wide when he suddenly past away. Belizians really care for him and appreciate everything he has done for this country, so to honor his death, they paid tribute in PG last night. It was great! We all sat there and watched as they recited poems, danced to Garfuna music, listened to some of his band members as they played on stage, and even danced to traditional beats. I was mesmerized by all that was surrounding me. It seemed all too surreal. I know Lana got some great photos of this, so I will be sure to grab them from here later!

Keep reading for the latest, and thanks to all that have been reading. It is nice to hear your comments and glad to hear people care!


stay dry...or warm...or just happy!

eddie