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. :) 

From Wayo's Beachside Beernet

TIP #3: SUNSCREEN. And don't even THINK of skimping just so you get more of a tan. You will simply get a splotchy burn, everywhere.  


Getting here was awesome. We left a little after midnight on Thursday night, drove to the airport in Minneapolis, flew to Miami, flew to Belize, took a taxi to the shore, took a boat to Ambergris Caye, and dragged thirteen football/baseball bags FULL of sports equipment and books plus our personal luggage across the beach and finally made it to our hotel. On the flight over the ocean, looking out the window felt like the sky never ended. We probably could have high fived God. On the taxi drive through Belize, the cultural music made me feel like I was in a movie. And I'm pretty sure traffic laws don't exist but for driving on the right side of the road. My camera also died as soon as we got here, so I didn't start taking pictures until this afternoon. :( Sad.

Anyway, I'm in Belize. Weather is currently sweet and breezy. There are cute dogs running around everywhere. Everyone rides bikes. There are coconut trees. Holy crap.

Last night, practically as soon as we got here, Kelly, Kim (director) and I jumped into the ocean. As we were swimming around, minding our own business, Kim suddenly ordered us out of the water. Shark. After talking to a local, Jiggy (beautiful Belizian boy), we discovered it's not actually smart to swim at that time of day. Bullsharks like to chill out there and be fed. Then, our half of the group that is here all hung out together, exploring Belize night life. We're such a random combination of people and it was still really fun. They are all athletic and beautiful and fun loving. I'm interested, however, to see how the dynamic changes when the last seven of us arrive tonight. It was hard enough keeping track of eleven people last night that we will probably split up tonight. I will let you know how it goes. It is (obviously) beautiful here. Though I'm still not quite comfortable being myself, I'm having a lot of fun and starting to get to know people. However, these are not the purpose or meaning of this trip!

This morning, we all went down to Holy Cross Primary School (where we will be working all week) and began laying down the foundation for a playground. This consisted of pushing TONS of trash and and branches into a pseudo-swamp land and then burying it in the $3,000 sand we donated. It was hard work and, frankly, I'm not used to hard work. It was very good for me. :)

While walking to and from the school today, I found it interesting that we would walk past a beautiful building, a lot or beach full of trash, a cement building, more beautiful houses and hotels, then more trash lots in-between. Cleaning that will be my personal physical missionary goal while here.

So far, the rumors of Belize are also true. EVERYONE is always smiling. Everyone. I will find their secret and take it back home to you!