All Dressed Up With No Where To Go

Having no money sucks. But it really puts things into perspective. Children here grow up having to ask for things and try to sell things in order to survive. I HATE having to ask people to pay for me, even though I know they'll get payed back. However, I can not make myself ask people for money to buy gifts for people. Kim has now also lost a debit card. Looks like I'll be passing out all the pretty shells I've  collected! I hope they are reminders of what my group has accomplished on this trip, the lessons I've learned, and of course, that I was thinking of my friends and family while learning them. Because I just spent the last dollar I could scrounge together on a coke (AKA my lunch). Most the soda here is glass-bottled. My mom would be so jealous!

We finally finished the swings yesterday – the playground looks BEAUTIFUL compared to what it was. The last day of work was optional, but it was satisfying to watch our whole group of eighteen filter in to finish it. It was awesome in an amazing and slightly depressing way to see it done. However, despite we just have the rest of today and tomorrow morning left, I’m sure our work here can’t be done. I have a feeling that Kim will be back soon. (However, not in August as we were originally hoping - hurricane season).  The rest of the day was kind of boring. It is frustrating when no one wants to do what you want to do. Yesterday was one of our guys’ birthday and it was supposed to be an eventful day. However, most of the guys partied pretty hard the night before so when I was ready to go eat and go dancing, everyone else was tired and just chilling. It was also the only night I got all dressed up – I borrowed a dress and even put hairspray in my hair! However, by the time we did get to the celebration, I was just sick of being around people. You know that feeling? All those hours of waiting around had just made me tired.  So I went to sleep around nine-thirty and had beautiful dreams about the top of Cinderella's castle in Disneyworld. Aside from finishing the playground, I felt like it was a pretty uneventful day. TIP #12: When you really have no ability to do what you want to do (ex. In Belize, I'm not allowed to walk around alone), one option is to grab a book, go outside, and let the party come to you. Someone’s bound to notice you eventually, or you’re at least bound to see someone or something interesting to occupy your time. That is what I wish I had done. 

Today, as our last day, has been the day of ultimate chill. It has been an absolutely wonderful way to end the week. I do feel bad though because in San Mateo, the impoverished part of Belize, work on building new non-trash roads is done on Sundays. However, we really have done a TON and it is the last day of spring break. Plus, I'm not exactly the greatest boulder-lifting candidate. It's so strange thinking that this particular journey of mine is coming to a close soon. Some of us are leaving our tennis shoes behind for the soccer team. I am included here. One more night left! I hope it is the best one yet.

I feel like my little pieces of advice thus far, though good ones, are still difficult and I am still working on following them the best I can. Thank you SO MUCH to those who have been following my journey. I have many more adventures to come though! There's the rest of the semester to complete, summer vacation, and hopefully a month long stay in Bali. Let's keep each other updated and adventure on together. 

Love and Peace from Ambergris Caye, San Pedro, Belize,

Debbi

PS: If I get a chance during a flight layover tomorrow, and if anything has really inspired me to do so, I may give another update about tonight's adventures. 

Where's My Horny Monkey?

I've been on the go for the last three days. I hope that what I've learned can be properly reflected as briefly as possible.

March 22nd
When we prayed before work, I volunteered to pray for the first time. It felt good. I hate to admit it, but I'm such a total space of a person, I sometimes go off in my own little world during prayer. The focus on each other and myself and our guide in the sky felt like nothing I've ever felt before. When I was little, I used to be very very religious. I still love the tradition and personal relation with God that goes along with Catholicism, but I've had too many unanswered questions and discrepancies to consider myself religious in the traditional sense any more. I've forgotten about lent and no meat since arriving here. I feel like I'm in a whole nother world despite the many American qualities this island does hold (it is a tourist destination after all).

As beautiful as the culture is on this island though, I could never live here. We taught and performed theater for some of the kids in the classroom. It was their first time ever learning anything about it. Theater is nonexistent here and unnecessary for this culture. That is probably why I don't feel very connected here. This is also a very small island - I feel very isolated. However, I definitely want to come back in the fall when Kim brings another mission out, if finances allow. I've been teaching several children, between the ages of 7 and 11, how to read and write. They legitimately want to learn, but its hard in a school with no sound proofing and developing organization. They would not survive without volunteers like us. These teachers have the patience of saints, and hate their jobs. What amazes me is the fact that they don't hate it for the classroom work (which is chaotic) but for the anxiety they feel for the children after work.

March 23rd
This boy, Alexis, taught us how to make the jewelry. All the locals are constantly selling it on the streets. They are so talented it's ridiculous. His mother is a thief, his sister has been beaten so bad that she cannot speak clearly anymore, and he is so smart, the adults of the island respect his opinion. I bought so much jewlery from he and his sister (who share the money with their mother, but keep enough to take care of the family) its just silly. I even accidentally bought a boy bracelet for whoever wants it! I have a strong feeling he is going to make some major influence in his life.

March 24th
The kids' swing set went up today. I can't get over what a change it's going to make. The school doesn't have access to any machinery to create and level the land. Everything we've done has been done by hand. The last few days, one of our major jobs has been sifting sand to create cement so that their week old wooden septic system may be protected from the water. It was also my afternoon off today to go snorkeling. When we got back to the hotel, the guys in our group were telling us to hurry as fast as possible. Apparently, they'd been told that if we got there an hour early, we'd get to snorkel for an hour longer. No one told me and I still had to find an ATM to pay for the trip. My friend Aaron and I sprinted through the streets barefoot, praying not to be late. I had grabbed the card last minute with my key, both in my hand. Finally, by the time we made it there, we discovered that my card was gone.

I was bawling by the time I got back the hotel. We're all poor, no way am I going to make someone pay for me. I used the hotel cleaning lady's phone and canceled the card right away. It is gone forever. So I was at the hotel with the wonderfully amazing workers calming me down and Aaron comes on some random bike back up the beach to me saying that the snorkeling people would take pity on me and take me along for free. I am so grateful, but now I have to borrow from Kim for the rest of the trip. She is the most generous woman I have ever known.

I've been working on this blog too long. More to come later.

Aloe Vera is My Best Friend

So I'm generally a graceful person, right? I mean, I dance and stuff. And wear skirts and heels. (Though on this trip, I look pretty make-upless and sportsy. Which is totally awesome.) Here is the list of my injuries thus far:
Sunburn behind knees, on shoulders, and on chest
Sun blisters on ears
Scratch on chin
Scratches on leg
Fiber glass infected foot

(On girl today tried to tell me she wasn't going to wear sunscreen tomorrow. I set her straight pretty quick.)

(Also that is not the girl pictured to the above right. This is Alivia. She's cool stuff. Currently, we are shivering outside--it's a breezy night on San Pedro.)

Therefor I present to you TIP #7: Come prepared to almost die. A simple first aid kit could be your best friend. I know that aloe vera is mine right now. My idea of an ideal kit:
Lots of bandaids
Neosporin
Medical tape/gauze
Alcohol wipes
Tweezers
Tums (I've never used them, but you never know!)
Benedryl
Advil
Sunscreen
ALOE VERA

Today, we truly began carrying out the purpose of our mission trip. We walked to Holy Cross Primary School at eight and received a tour. None of the classrooms have sound proofing or window panes. There are four hundred and fifty students to eighteen teachers. These teachers have nothing more then a high school education. The school is continuously being built over swamp land and foundation like the one we're working on. Which is built on trash. The school has to keep turning children away.

-Then, we toured the community around the school.
-They don't have a trash removal system on this island. Everything must be done individually.
-A majority of this community cannot afford electricity or water.
-Only when my pictures hit facebook will you even be able to begin to comprehend this. (Stupid computer won't let me upload them just yet).

Then, we returned to the school and began work. Half of us continued to work on the playground's foundation and the rest of us helped out in the classrooms. This school is constant choas and noise, everywhere. The teachers were grateful to have us because the extra help is super necessary. In one class that I was helping in, a couple of the kids could not even speak, read, or write English. Yet, they were being expected to copy down words off the board from the back of the classroom through the chaos. It took the whole time period, but I taught them how to spell their names. It was an amazing experience, knowing truly how much of communication is just physical, considering the language barriers. I feel ultimately accomplished. It kind of makes me consider teaching. I've considered it in the past--teaching, directing, and choreographing all kind of go together in the same boat. Who knows what my future holds? I'm only a freshman after all.

We also plan on presenting our donations pretty soon. Tonight we tallied up EVERYTHING. I only remember this because it's what I worked on, but we have five hundred and fifty-eight books collected. Plus a ton of sports equipment. Wow. Thank you, South Dakota spirit!

Later, after work, a couple of girls and i walked around for at least an hour trying to find a good cheap place to eat. It was magical! I had two glass bottled cokes (my mom would be jealous), a papaya-strawberry milkshake, and Papusas, which are kind of like fried, unbroken, filled pitas. When I remember the name of this sacred establishment, I'll let you know. Chill, local, and great service.

All in all, today was an amazing day. I'm glad I packed very few clothes and no makeup. I actually packed the least of anyone on the trip. I'm NOT judging, but I feel like many of the girls aren't getting as much as they could be from this trip from how much time they spend working on their appearance. Don't get me wrong, we teased a couple of those creepy looking drunk old lady make-upless singers at karaoke last night, but all that truly matters is being comfortable with yourself and making the best of your time as you can. But really, just do what you need to to enjoy yourself the most. If that takes a little make-up, go for it. No big deal, sistah. Or brotha. Or whateva.

Does that even make sense?

PS: I finally feel like myself again. :) 

A Sense of Adventure

Saturday, we worked uber hard laying foundation for the playground. I hope we get somewhere with it, because it certainly doesn't look like much now. But, we took a breather today anyway, then, start our regular all day work schedule tomorrow morning. I'm really excited to meet the kids of Holy Cross Primary. We're teaching them theater!!

Since we did have the day off today, we got up at six, took a water taxi back to the mainland, had a breakfast of fry jacks, and toured the Mayan Ruins. It was SO AMAZING. Since dumbass Debbi forgot her camera, I'll probably just steal a couple of pictures from other people's albums later on. TIP #5: Bring a waterproof camera everywhere, always. After the ruins, we went hiking and then tubed through caves. I will never feel the same on the Lazy River again. The water was fresh, clear, and sparkling. On the hike to our tubing spot, I again felt like I was in a movie. Jungle vegetation is HUGE. And everything has its own mystery purpose which holds the jungle together. I also ate termites. Which means I must be in a movie. They were minty. (Kept my sense of adventure! Even when they tried crawling back up my throat...) Which leads to TIP #5: When in a foreign country, it is massively important to enhance your cultural experience by partaking in cultural customs. Like the termites. Also, today, when we went Cave Tubing, we learned that it happens to be cultural custom to cliff dive into the river. I forgot my Sense of Adventure and didn't give it a go. Don't forget about this sense! It is just as important as hearing, taste, touch, and smell... if not more important.

When we arrived back on San Pedro, I discovered that the ATM isn't accepting my debit card. I warned my bank in advance, so I have no idea whats wrong. And none of us can use our phones. Its a little frustrating because I will probably run out of money soon and already had to depend on Kim to pay for our tour today. So, TIP #6: Budget in advance to a trip, but leave a lot of room to stretch. Then, bring that cash with you. This is usually discouraged so you don't have so much cash on you that it might be stolen. I don't care though because I hate technology and it usually fails me.

I had my first ever Pina Colada tonight. Win!