JUST A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS…

-looking up at the stars through palm trees
-fireflies
-riding my bike around town
-waking up to the sun rising over the ocean with a cup of coffee
-DAVIL (a Belizian singer)
-beach volleyball in Placencia, scratch that, ANYTHING in Placencia
-Moroco’s ice cream shop
-playing pool at Tony’s pub
-my teacher Cindy, I couldn’t have found a better match, we just laugh at the crazyness of everyday
-reading to my students
-watching my students play football (aka soccer to us), they not only get so excited but are super talented!
-dancing to Punta Rock
-coming back to PG after a weekend and feeling like I am home
-going to the market
-the pineapples and other fresh fruit

ANOTHER WEEKEND IN PARADISE!

So we spent another weekend in Placencia and yet again had an incredible time! It has been one of our favourite places to visit and just chill. Lots of the locals recognize us now and will call out, "Canadian teachers!" to us on the beach and we have definitely found our favourite spots and stick to hang out at and eat. The restaurant and bar Barefoot has been the one place we have fallen in love with, they have the best smoothies and food and a stage for live music. A great weekend of chillin on the beach, dancing, playing volleyball and all around just enjoying life!
And good news for the Fawcett Garage Band, I have a great new addition to the instruments, picked up some maracas and sent them back to Canada with Danae. I already got some practise in so watch out!
(one thing I have already realized with them, they are a lot more fun to play than listen to, just ask Trish and Katie)
Every time I go back to this place I can't belive how blessed I am do be in such an incredible place and meeting such incredible people. Ahhh... Belize...

COOKIN HUDUT!

Hudut is a traditional Garifuna dish and we were lucky enough to learn how to make it. Basically is it a creamy coconut milk soup with fish and plantains in it. Bernadette (the vice principal’s sister) took us under her wing and taught us how to cook it. She got a kick out of the fact that I wanted to bring this back to Canada to cook up. I wrote down the recipe and she is going to have us over one more time to cook it so hopefully it will be engrained in my head. It actually wasn’t that difficult; she taught me the little secrets to making it just right. Man was it ever tasty, except we were sweating up a storm in that hot kitchen!

DOUBLE DOUBLE PLEASE!

One thing that is always a guaranteed laugh is doubling on our bikes around town. Between us, it may or may not cause you to get your bike taken away, but when we see our students we jump right off... got to keep up that positive role model stuff! When Danae was down though we really had no choice... so much fun! For some strange reason I am usually the one to get doubled in the front, but I gave it a roll with Trisha and it is tough to control!

O CANADA!

On Snake Caye Katie and I decided to pay a little tribute to our wonderful country complete with singing the national anthem. This one is for everyone back home! We declared this island BALKJAM which is surrounded by the Kibbles and Bits beach.

GOING...GOING...GONE!

This is me going for a tube ride at Snake Caye, man was it a blast! He definitely doesn't take it easy on corners that's for sure! I think I might be feeling this one in about ten years...

SNAKE CAYE!

This is our tour guide Roberto. We were so lucky to find this amazing tour. One day when we were riding our bikes we saw his WILD THING boat complete with a tube and had to investigate the situation. I asked him what the deal was and he said that once he got a big enough group he would let us know and take us out. It worked out great because the day that he had enough people Danae was down so she got to come check it out too. Unfortunately it was one of our coldest days we have had yet but we still had an amazing time. The picture up top would be why they call it Snake Caye, there were quite a few Boa Constrictors which according to him only bite but are not poisonous. He was trying to convince us to take a pic with the snake but after we saw another 'smart gringo' get bit not once but three times by the snake, we figured one with him would do just fine! Another perk of the day was meeting the group that came along on the tour. They are filming a movie here called, The Enemy God and they invited us onto the set to help with costumes and makeup. Trisha and I, being Drama majors were pretty pumped to say the least so hopefully we are able to coordinate our schedules!

This is the cute lil hermit crab I got to know on the beach, we were staring each other down!

My friend Danae comes to visit!

My good friend Danae came to PG for a week to check out the Belize scene. It has been really neat to tour her around and show her how I have been living for the past 2 months. I have also enjoyed her reactions to everything around here because I feel as though I have already gotten accustomed to this way of life. It is funny because I have grown to take pride in being a part of this wonderful community and I was eager to show her all that this area has to offer. The other day a man was critisizing PG and was joking with me how I picked such a “dead and sleepy” town to do my internship. I instantly got my back up and defended this place which I now feel I can call home. The people here have been so kind to us and really welcomed us into their community. Being teachers it seems that the locals recognize that we are positively contributing to PG and they seem to respect that. I love riding my bike around town seeing familiar faces and stopping to talk to everyone. There is something about the slow pace of this town that I have adapted to and grown to love. We have even noticed a difference in how we go about every day activities such as like walking. Our school is probably about a five minute walk, but in the mornings now we take our time and it can take up to ten minutes. Katie and I were talking the other day how difficult it is going to be to adjust to life after Belize. We were laughing how overwhelming it will be to come home and go to a mall, I am dreading it. This is one of the many reasons this experience has been so beneficial, I am recognizing how I want to live my life and what should truly be valued. Quite often we don’t take time to stop and smell the roses and appreciate what we have around us.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

MJ meet MJ, this was my Valentine. My dad was scared I would meet a man in Belize and I am afraid his fears have come true...sorry dad!

Well we experienced our first Belizean school dance and it was definitely an experience to remember! We noticed that Valentines Day is kinda a big deal here; it was more like Valentines week. It was a ‘rag day’ at the school, which means that the students don’t have to wear their uniforms and pay money to wear red. Practically the whole school was dressed in red and everyone was squeezed into the parish hall where we had the dance. These lil gaffers sure know how to move their hips and some of them got a little close for comfort. The other teachers didn’t seem too phased by the whole thing, some just laughed at them pumpin and grindin so we kind of let it slide. It was funny though to see some really young kids busting it out to the Punta Rock…aye caramba!
They had a blast though; I stayed away from the mass amount of sweaty puntaing kids and just watched from afar. My students were pretty cute cause they are just entering into the awkward ‘boys taller than the girls and starting to notice each other’ phase. Lots of fun enjoyed the music, especially our new fav artist DAVIL! We are still on the lookout for his CD to bring home.
PS- the three of us girls laid low and stayed home on the night of Valentines Day, Trish and Katie were great Valentines for me! Danae and I went out for a belated romantic candlelit dinner at Muchaco Hill hotel in the jungle.

HELLO OUT THERE!

I figured out how to adjust the comment feature on my blog so anyone can comment now. Feel free to drop me a line!

Professional Study for PS3

Professional Study:
Katie Balkwill
Trisha Delwo
Melissa Jamieson

Topic:
Encourage reading in and outside of the classroom, among students whose first language is not English.

Goal:
- To excited students about reading
- This will help students to:
· Have greater confidence in reading
· Improve reading comprehension
· Improve spelling and increase vocabulary
· Improve grammar and increase ability to correctly use punctuation and conventions
· Communicate ideas with greater clarity
· Improve oral speech
Plan of Action:
- Gather and ship a variety of reading materials from Canada to ship to St. Peter Claver
- Read to students on a daily basis
-Find stories that appeal to students (both picture books and novels)
- Implement silent reading in class
- Establish an at home reading program
- Set up an in class library
- Ensure weekly visits to the library by entire class
- Assist and participate in after school reading program

You can’t direct the wind but you can adjust the sails. Anonymous

Always learning...

Creativity challenges:
Being a Drama major and loving to teach creatively I have found this to be my biggest challenge here. The students aren’t encouraged to think outside of the box and I am having a hard time keeping my teaching under these guidelines. This practicum has taught me how we take a lot of things for granted in our education back home. It is not only assumed but expected (rightly so) that no students will slip through the cracks and be left behind. With up to 40 kids per class, no aids, lack of funds and resources this is near impossible for the Belizean school system. I have been doing all I can to work one on one with the students who are really falling behind, several are at this level and still do not know how to read or write the most basic concepts. It is extremely difficult to watch these students struggling and only be able to do so much. I have accepted that I need to be patient and realistic about what I am hoping to achieve with these students. Since there are so many students and limited time I simply can't work one on one with them as much as I wish to, so I will simply have to do my best!
One thing I have noticed here is how highly respected teachers are in the community. Everyone is well aware how crucial education is for Belizians, whereas back home it is simply assumed that everyone will receive the proper education. My students have such an incredible grasp of how important reading and writing is to their future and are so mature about thinking. These kids are well beyond their years and I am inspired by them every day. I hope that I am teaching them as much as they are teaching me!

YOU BETTER BELIZE IT!

Our beach masterpiece!

PLACENCIA AKA PARADISE

This picture pretty much sums it up! This is Placencia, a peninsula an hour and a half bus ride and water taxi away. We are pretty sure that we will be spending lots of our weekends here. That little cabana behind Katie is called Barefoot and it has the best food and fruit drinks we have had since we have been here. We just hung out and play volleyball all weekend. It is quite a bit more touristy, but there is something to be said about being more anonymous for a change. The picture below of Trisha with the stick has a funny story to it. As most people know Trisha is not a fan of dogs and this whole Belize trip has not helped the situation at all. There are stray, rapid dogs everywhere and we have had some locals save us by kicking them in the face. While Trish and I were walking along the beach there were about six dogs who were walking towards us, looking super sketchy. I grabbed a coconut to defend us and Trish grabbed a massive stick. I took this picture of Trish after our getaway, she did not want to put down the stick even after we were well out of the range of the dogs. I couldn't stop laughing and naturally needed to take a picture!



This was the cabana we stayed at on the beach. It was the first place that we have been at with a hot shower so we took full advantage of that situation!
It would be safe to say that this was one of our best weekends yet, I keep having trouble wrapping my mind around how incredible this trip is and the fact that I am in Belize....

THE BIKE RACE!

BIKE RACE…WHEW WHAT A BLUR THAT IS!
So, not to brag or anything but the three of us were the official judges for the annual bike race at the school, kinda a big deal…
How it works is the kids are divided into different houses (just like Harry Potter) and have all the different standards in each house. They compete in various events throughout the year and can earn points for their houses. So this bike race was another opportunity for the students to earn points for their house, each standard had about ten students racing. It was hilarious, such a gong show! So clearly none of these kids are wearing helmets, actually it was rare for them to even be wearing shoes. It happened to be the hottest day that we have had yet and we were pretty much soaking wet by the end of the afternoon. It wasn't very far but they were exerting themselves so much that lots of them were fainting once they got off their bikes at the finish line. I was in charge of marking down the names for all the kids who came in second place so we would run up to them, the person with water would, someone to take their house name and another teacher to grab their bike. These poor kids were so overwhelmed and exhausted by the end of the race some of them couldn’t even remember their names, or would try with their last bits of breath to spit it out. Since they slammed on their breaks at the finish line we had a couple of rear ending situations, and overall a handful of kids were taken to the hospital for stitches, which conveniently is right down the street. But we had a lot of fun and were happy that we could be a part of it, the kids had a total blast which is what it is really all about, they got so pumped!
Rumor has it there is a marathon coming up and I can’t imagine how the fainting situation will go for that…I will keep you posted on how everything pans out...

THE BALKWILL SURPRISE!

On their last day here Katie's parent's planned a surprise for us. They took us to a resort nearby that was breathtaking. It was in the middle of the jungle and right along a beautiful river. We went canoeing and felt like the only people in the world, you were surrounded by lush jungle and we were keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife. Trisha and I stumbled across a baby crocodile (that was what we guessed it was anyway, we ruled out dinosaur..) but aborted that situation quickly because we figured a mad mama wouldn't be too far away. We watched the sun set from up top of this resort and it was perfect, the food and drinks were incredible and it was a textbook Belize day. Thanks mama and papa Balkwill!!

KATIE'S PARENT'S COME TO VISIT!

These pics are from Livingston, Guatemala. On the water taxi over there our driver stopped at this lagoon and showed us where this family lives, so neat! It looked a lot like Swiss Family Robinson style. We noticed these signs warning us about Coconuts falling all around the hotel and thought it was pretty funny, man that would hurt.

There is Katie eating the

Livingston soup, they are well known for it and it's actually amazing once you get past all the randomness inside. Katie's parents came to PG for 10 days and we had the most incredible time! It was so nice having them here and it made us feel like real locals to show them all the hot spots in town (all thought it wasn't long till they started showing us the ropes). It was Katie's dad's birthday while he was here so we had Ms. Martinez (the vice principal) make one of her delicious cakes. It is to die for, baked from scratch! I can't believe how much birthday cake we have had since we have been here, it seems like we are eating that stuff at least every week. Can't say no though!

This picture is from Village Life, an event that took place in PG while they were here. Basically it involves people from the surrounding villages coming to PG and showcase dancing, singing, food and crafts. It was really interesting to see such a culturally rich festival. This dance was called the Deer Dance (I think that was the name) and is well known for a village close by. Their costumes were amazing but I can't image how hot it must have been under there!

LIFE IN PG WITH MY TWO FAV LADIES!

Katie and I all duded up and ready for school, this is in the morning pre-sweating bombs. Everyone around here asks us if we are all sisters since we are the only Caucasians in town.

Well here we are about half way through our internship in PG, so hard to believe how quickly time is flying by.
SAD DAY FOR MY BIKE…
As I mentioned in my earlier blog our big purchase here has been our bikes and we love cruising around town in them. When we bought them we were warned several times to make sure we locked them up, especially since we are such an easy target here. One of the locals even described the theft problem as, “they will steal the milk out of your coffee”. Well, on Friday we went out for a drink after school with another one of the teachers and locked our bikes to a pole outside. When we returned my handle bars and Katie’s seat was stolen, interestingly, Trisha’s beautiful purple bike was untouched by these sneaky thieves, they must have known better than to mess with the Trisha myster!
Katie and I bought our new gear and are almost ready to roll again, I have been doubling with Trisha in the mean time which has been good times, and it’s pretty common here.