Dangriga

Dangriga is a southern coastal city in Belize, and it is also the mail cite for the celebration of the Garifuna People. Every year they celebrate with a reanactment of them landing at Belize. They come in from the sea on small boats. And there is a short ceremony, a parade and church mass.  Unfortunately it rained all day. So we stayed in the car for most of it to stay dry and safe.  We went to the reenactment and then to a Garifuna home. At the home of Mercy Sabal and her husband Sala Hindine I learned a great deal.  We stayed with them for the whole afternoon. Mercy is very colorful and active. She was doing a little celebrating of her own with rum and some other things that we would find illegal in the U.S.  She danced for us and sang. She played Dollly Parton while we cooked. I laughed hard and sang loud. I dropped food once and tried to pick it up. She said leve it for the dead they get their share first. I will never forget Mercy and all of he energy. She gave me good advice and showed me a whole lot about her culture.  We made a traditional meal and made a drum. The Garifuna people are known for their food, dress, and dance. I ate somethings that I would never have thought I would eat. I had plantines, muscles, pig tail, and coconut. I cooked a lot of the meal with Mercy's help. Sala helped me to make a drum from a bamboo tree, mahogany wood and sheep skin. They use sand and a stick to get the hair off of the skin.  They use sheep skin for peace and prosperity and tiger skin for war. They also make dolls that were two in one dolls. When little girls in the 180's would play with dolls they would have a  Garifuna face and in the slave owners would come by they could quickly flip the girls to a white face. This day was full of culture and firsts for me. There were so many people that had been celebrating for 24 hours. And they were every where. It was cool to see it. I was very tired after cooking and making the drum. It was very hard work. This was a very good day. 

All I can say is awesome.

Today was great!!!!! The teacher that I am co-teaching with all of the sudden got sick, and she asked me to take over.  The day had not started yet. At first, I just looked at her and I said "are you serious?" She said "yes I don't think I can." I jumped up and looked around, and I don't know where it came from but, I improvised and instantly started teaching.  I used some strategies that I have learned at WKU. It was so awesome. I am so happy. I just don't know where it came from. I was not prepared and I did it. And it was great. So, she let me do it all day. The students responded very well. Everyone participated. The students were engaged. And it was all on the fly!!!  And the teacher approved of what I did and was impressed.  I am so excited. 

Also, I have been brainstorming on how to help here and help students in Kentucky. I have figured out what I want to do. I will be challenging all of you to aid me on my project. You will be hearing from me. I have already spoken to the principal amd other administrators. We will be meeting with some of the people in the Ministry of Education here in Belize. I am on a role folks. I will be putting a proposal together and you will hear from me. 

And one more thing, tomorrow is a Belizeian Holiday called Garifuna Settlement Day. No school. Yay!! I will be traveling (with my shadows) down to Dangriga to participate in a celebration. I am excited. Stay tuned.