God Bless Belize...

and their world-wide web...

Well, so much for the internet pirates doing their job. The internet at school is back down again, so I'm here at the Green Dragon Internet Cafe in Cayo (the "city" about twenty minutes from Benque) which is an odd hangout for american students, volunteers, backpackers and tourists. My favorite thing about the Green Dragon is that you can get coffee just like in the states. My least favorite thing is that sometimes backpackers have an odd philosophy on showering that can be smelled as soon as they walk in the door... But, this is Central America... Everybody sweats! (Not to mention the music choices... Everything from the BeeGees to Celine Dion to random spanish to the Star Wars soundtrack on right now).

So, I'm beginning my fifth week as a teacher! Last Friday my roommates and I celebrated our one month anniversary in Belize by going out for Chinese food. It tastes remarkably similiar to the Chinese food in the states, the only difference is that in the states there aren't any geckos running around the roof while you eat your sweet and sour chicken!

Let's see, what else? Yesterday my friends and I took a day trip to Pine Ridge, which made me miss Hilton Head in a sort of bizarre way. You drive through the jungle of Belize and end up in this spot with pine trees and waterfalls! The pine trees mixed with palm trees looked just like my backyard, minus the whole waterfall bit. It was gorgeous though, and the trip through the jungle to get there was fun too.

We had an interesting cultural experience last Tuesday-- it was Belize's Independence day. They celebrated a whole twenty three years as a country. They really live it up, they had a celebration in the streets with an odd mixture of "traditions" that they seem to have borrowed from other cultures. For example, there's a torch that is carried from the capitol to all the different towns to light the "independence torch" and a "Miss Independence" is crowned at midnight (she was in my homeroom, I was so proud of her!) and they perform different songs and dances. At midnight, they give a twenty one gun salute (they soldiers couldn't find their blanks so they played it on the drums instead) and raised the flag. This was followed by a very impressive fireworks display, which was rather ambitious of them considering the fact that the only fire truck in town was running around in one of the random parades, several miles from the location of the fireworks. They had parades all day which consisted mainly of people in cars. Cathleens favorite "float" was the "jump up truck" which is a truck with loud music that people dance behind... It was just cool to see how indpendence day is celebrated in a country where most of its citizens can remember the day that independence was gained!

School is going well, my students continue to make me laugh and sometimes cry a little, sometimes at the same time. As I've mentioned, their creativity and compassion is so incredible to wittness and the more I get to know them the more they surprise me in many ways. For example, today they presented projects on the parts of the mass. I was a little dubious as to whether they'd pull them off, they just didn't seem to be getting anything done in class. However, they handed in some very impressive projects today. I have no idea when they did them or how, but they were so proud of themselves! Another student has been telling me that she teaches Sunday school in Guatemala-- she's so quiet in class I would have never guessed! Then, there's also the heartbreaking stories you start to hear as well... About all the kids who havn't seen their parents in ten years because they've been working in the United States or who don't believe that God exists. So, the kids are also giving me reasons to pray more each day too!

Thank you so much for all who are thinking about me and praying for me and my students. This school continues to show me what God can accomplish!