First loose tooth and Christmas.

I have been teaching seniors this week and suprivising testing. It has been a fun week; I have enjoyed every minute. I walked around and observed science classes and technical drawing classes. I also worked with a student, diagnosed with some disabilities, get caught up on school work. She is 20 years old and in high school. The way it works in Belize is that if a student fails they can keep coming to school as long as the parents pay for it. There are certain tests that each student must pass. The tests are in English and Math. I have learned a great deal about the school system. I also learned today that the lady that sells snacks to the students is in charge of cleaning the bathrooms. The money she gets for snacks is how she gets paid for cleaning the bathroom. There are some issues there. Biting my tongue-biting my tongue. 

Tonight I sang at a Christmas program for a school. It was fun and quite the experience. The children put on a great show. I met lots of people. I sat next to my best friend in Belize, Little Kevin😊.

Less than a week to go, then I will be home. 😜

After we got he from the program, Cayler got his first loose tooth pulled by big Kevin. He was so excited. And I finally got a picture of big Kevin. I had to beg. Yay!

Testing time at the school.

The semester is coming to an end here at OLOG High School. The students are testing and finishing up their missed assignments. I have enjoyed my time with he students and the staff. There is not much teaching going on, just review. There are some positive changes being made at the school and I see great things for these students and even better things for future students. They are putting up a structure over the basketball court so the students have shelter from the rain when doing activities. 

Before the tests begin, the school lets the students have a day to play sports and have music and dance. It was a very fun day. The dance and music was the best part. I will say it a million times over; The stuff these kids can do still amazes me. They were able to get speakers rented for the day and two kids brought in their computers full of music. I can't even explain the things that they could do wih the computers and the music.  The mash ups!!! I have never seen anything like it. While that was going on a couple of boys were on the mic beat boxing and rapping.....awesome. They tried to teach me how to dance like a Belizeian woman. It was fun. I have to say that I suprised them. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not impressed by them. I hope I can keep up with them and see what they have next in those lives. And, wow I learned soccer. 

As their semester winds down so does my time here. I am a little sad when I think about it. I want to come back someday. 

And last but not least, my Kevin calls me his best friend. He is 12 but is smart beyond his years and is already in high school. I may not have mentioned that before. One of his assignments was on descriptive writing. I had no idea until his mom showed me, but Kevin wrote about me. I took a picture of it. Of course, I cried. 

Past few days

IWell I apologize for my absence on here the past few days. My phone will not charge and so I am down to my iPod as the only technology available to me most of the time. I also took time for myself. No pressure was my motto. This weekend I did a lot of traveling. I went exploring by myself, and I enjoyed it. I met a several people and I just sat and had conversations with them. You learn a lot that way. They always asked many questions of me. I certainly didn't mind answering them. I finally got to visit San Pedro. It is beautiful and very busy. The beaches were great. There were a lot of tourists. I like Caye Caulker better. But it was nice to see something else. I explored the schools on the island and learned a great deal. I also met with Dr. August from Galen university and I learned about children's rights and the issues that are happening in the schools in Belize. I was shocked to learn some schools require $1.00 of them to use yet bathroom. So, think about this list of things students and parents pay for so they can go to school: books, uniforms, lunch, bathroom, snacks, school bus ride to school, school bus ride from school, and tuition for school. That's what a family has to pay for a child to attend a here school. I don't know how they make it.  I have a little over a week left here and I have learned so much. Life changing is the best words for it; that sounds like a cliché. But that is the truth. Trust, I have learned a great deal about trust. People are different everywhere. That is just a fact. It takes all kinds to make the world go around. I have said before, my host family is the best thing about Belize. The boys are amazing and will always be a part of my life. Daniela has become a close confidant. Me, I have learned a great deal about me. Things that need to change and things that I am so proud of. My country, I know it is truly a great place to live despite all the negative things that are happening right now, America is beautiful and awesome. Everyone should have to do something like this so they can  appreciate what they have and what America is. We are fortunate and we don't even know it. We need to stop, think and pray for the right things. For me,  I will be praying not for love but how to love. There is a huge difference. I believe that by doing that, all the relationships in my life will change for the better or just get better. I am grateful for the traveling I did and for the time spent with strangers that have added to my life in ways they will never know. The following pictures are of a few people along the way. PS I sat on the deck a s very fancy hotel in San Pedro and had a conversation with an old man from Wyoming. He bought me a funky monkey milk shake. It was amazing. We talked American politics. Nice.