Belize ITE 2019

Hi all, Today was a great day for sight-seeing, exercise, and fun! We started today off with our last breakfast at Cardie’s and said goodbye to the wonderful staff there. Then, we headed to Monkey Bay for canoeing down a river! After a bus ride through an orange farm to the river, we each partnered up with someone and started our journey. We stopped along the way for a dip in the water, which felt AMAZING. During the end of our ride, we rode through many groups of butterflies, and trees, which were absolutely beautiful. After our very strenuous canoe trip, we made our way back to Cheers for a very delicious lunch. I had a chicken quesadilla that hit the spot! After lunch, we made our way to the Belize Zoo. Though we didn’t get to go into the jaguar’s cage, we were able to see more than one jaguar roaming around and being the big cats that they are. I even saw some of my brave classmates hold a boa constrictor! The Belize Zoo was so neat and different from the zoos back home. I

             When I first thought about applying to come here, I was very apprehensive because I didn’t know what to expect. I literally waited to the last day to apply. Everyone I talked to that has come before me has told me how life changing the experience is, but I didn’t understand what they meant until now. I don’t even know how to explain this to anyone who hasn’t had this amazing opportunity has been. Today was the most emotional of all. My students all wrote me individual cards to tell me goodbye and made me a sign that I WILL be hanging in my own classroom soon. We were lucky enough to be able to have lunch with all of the staff at San Pablo today and there were many speeches, gifts and tears. These teachers were incredibly generous using their own time, money and resources to make and give us amazing and thoughtful mementos from this trip. It took everything in me not to cry from all of the love and respect that was in that lunchroom today. I truly hope to be able to return

Thankful. Grateful. Blessed. Those are the four words that came to mind today as I sat in lunch with the teachers, in the gloomy classroom during a storm with minimal lighting, and more certainly when I said goodbye to my teacher and talked to my students about what we had planned for the last day. Today I am thankful for being able to spend 5, almost 6 days fully emerged into a classroom where I felt nothing but appreciated. I am even more thankful for the relationships that I made with students, especially those who took more effort. I am grateful for the students that I met. I am especially grateful to witness  the progress that these students have made, more specifically in writing over the 5 days. Being able to share with the faculty in the school the writing that these students have done and discuss the growth that had occurred was truly amazing. These faculty members are so eager to learn, and I don’t see them hindering the progress that these students have made. Lastly I

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Don’t take sand with you to the beach” -Melvin ( the head tour guide ) wow. today. Just wow. I am reflecting on this day enjoying the peace of a silent secluded beach with few of my peers. As the sounds of waves approaching the shore and palm trees bustling are the only noise filling my senses and overwhelming me with a tranquil mindset. We woke up bright and early to go get our Kentucky fried skin on. I can successfully say each of us have suffered from a sun burn in some location on this day. After two boat rides we made our way to an island about the size of a 10yard wide and 60 yard long football field. This beach was occupied by us and a few other snorkelers. We divided off into groups of four with one guide per group, so mom and dads, we were well supervised and guided. Jumping in the water all I could think about was the sound of my breath huffing through the snorkel, my pruny fingers, the sight of the crystal blue water and salt seeping into my mouth

After singing off key, dancing despite the lack of coordination, and laughing until our stomachs hurt last night, waking up this morning was ROUGH. Coffee was absolutely necessary. Nine of us ladies joined Dr. Finch to an early morning church service at Red Bank. Experiencing a religion we surround our lives around with a different cultural twist was truly beautiful. God’s love showed no limit this morning as the preacher, who is also my coordinating teacher, preached in both Cache and English. One of the most memorable experiences so far this trip!  To add to a wonderfully spent morning, today was resort day. Yes, with 21 females in Belize, we have got to get our tan on at some point! The afternoon started with a delicious lunch on the beach. And for the ladies who didn’t get the shrimp quesadilla- you done messed up! The rest of the afternoon was open to multiple pools, kayaking and swimming in the ocean, biking, reading, card games, and so much more. Stories were told, jokes were

Today was adventurous for all of us! The whole group were able to finally sleep in a little bit and then went straight to a hike. (And I mean a REAL hike up) After I took numerous breaks, we all were able to gaze at the gorgeous view of the mountainous jungle. The next adventure was going zip lining. It was a lot of people’s first time and there was a little encouraging that had to be done, but everyone made it across in one piece. The views were breathtaking while flying across the air. Our last excursion was river tubing. This was a nice relaxing ride through the river with some rapids to push us through the 45 min ride ... also the amazing guides who pushed us out of rocks and down the river. I was so excited to be able to experience Belize through activities with this amazing group that pushes each other to get the most out of this extraordinary trip!  -Kesley Today was the first day without seeing our students, and it was so sad not waking up to go see them. However,