Belizean Birthday

Sorry for the delay in updating...its been a busy week and this will be a short update at that. Over the past week there's been a bunch of celebration and partying in honor of Belize's 28th Independence Day. Here are a few of the highlights of the weekend:

On Friday night, San Ignacio had Belikin fest so once we hopped the bus, we headed straight to the carnival area...the night was a blur, but I can tell you that it ended with a delicious basil omelete! Also, let it be said that Belizean ferris wheels (one of which I had the privilage to ride) spin at ridiculous speeds and should not be attempted on a full stomach. HOWEVER, if you like the lose-your-stomach feeling from rides...this one is perfect (just dont pay too much attention to the missing bolts or the fact that the wheel is operated via a homemade clutch system).The carnival fun was topped off by the group enjoying some delicious cotton candy!!

I enjoyed some free time at Blue Hole national park on Sunday where I got to swim in the freezing blue-green water and hiked through some brush that was full of mosquitos! I'm happy to report that none of us in Youth Development procured a bot fly...yet. The night ended like a typical 4th of July...lots of partying and FIREWORKS (which we watched from the rooftop of ProBelize's office).

The daily routine hasn't changed much, training everyday and hanging out as a group or attempting to relax at home once our work is over. I'll admit that living in San Ig

nacio gives me a great advantage to enjoy a ton of perks: i.e. seeing a movie in air conditioning, ordering food at a restaurant that resembles something close to American dishes, having wireless internet connections, etc. but I often forget the niceties when I feel completely stressed with the work schedule we have.

This weekend I'm helping facilitate a training session to parents of Belizean high school students at St. Ignatius (in Santa Elena). My co-facilitator and I were able to observe the last session and realized that we have a lot of work to do to make it beneficial to participants. Number one on the list: make sure to have a Spanish translator! Its completely ridiculous to run a session entirely in Kriol when more than half of your participants only communicate in Spanish (yes, this was how our counterpart facilitated...and she didnt quite understand the lack of involvement).

Fingers crossed that the activities we have planned work out and the session goes smoothly...other than that...not much new going on. Hopefully I'll have the chance to update again soon with more interesting stuff!