week two!

First of all, HAPPY BELATED 4th BIRTHDAY ANNIE!!!!
(I did, in fact, mail a card but who knows when that will actually show up...be on the look out!)

My first full week in San Ignacio has flown by! I have to tell you all that I have been very blessed with both the living arrangements that I have here as compared to some of my fellow trainees. Yes, it is unbelievably HOT...but I still get a shower and a flushing toilet. It's the little things that make it so much of a great experience.

The week started with language and technical training classes...they're long and sometimes tedious but they're generally keeping us all on task to learn what we need to be effective during the next two years. This week was more of orientation so hopefully they will pick up in the next few weeks. I did get my first youth group assignment and will be co-partnering with another trainee at St. Ignatious High School in Santa Elena. We're going to be facilitating a parenting teenagers course as well as helping to plan a teen leadership program.

By far the best part of my time here is when all of us trainees get together during what little free time we have. On Monday night, we went downtown to Eva's and played a round of trivia. I'm proud to say that my team completely dominated and we even came away with our 1st place cash prize. Our group also enjoys meeting up for ice cream or attending a pirated movie where we can sit in air conditioning for a while.

On Friday we all headed back to Belmopan for our daily session. This was the first time that I was able to see our other trainees that have been all over central Belize...exchanging stories with them was amazing and it seemed to be that most people were enjoying their time with their host families. This week was also my switch to my new host family. Miss Nalida is wonderful and the house is beautiful. She is amazing and has breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. waiting for us always and she continues to check-in and make us aware of Belizean culture.

I was surprised to find that the new bedroom I share has an air conditioning unit. I ran it the first night and completely FROZE. Apparently we do adjust to hotter temperatures. Needless to say, it is too expensive to run on a normal basis so we have two fans to replace it and that allows my roommate and I to sleep comfortably. Also, I have learned that you should never put on lotion prior to climbing our "hill" to Cahal Pech...you end up looking like you just jumped into a pool.

Tonight the San Ignacio group is heading downtown to check out our city's block party that kicks off September celebrations. Apparently it is the place to be...complete with music, drinks, and local/traditional cuisine. Tomorrow we've decided that we're going swimming at one of two pools that are at hotels (we pay 10BZ and can use the resort hotel for the day)...after a week of go-go-go....water just seems like the perfect way to relax before our week begins full blast again.

Hope everything is going well back home...keep updating me on what's going on in your lives!