Week One

I can't believe we've been here exactly one week. It feels like it's been so much longer, but at the same time, time is kind of flying by..

This week has been busy, I don't even know where to begin. Monday feels like so long ago. We've spent most mornings this week in the school's computer lab, installing new software, getting rid of old software, basically just trying to get as many computers as possible to work consistently. There's a pile of old laptops and several desktops that we haven't even touched yet, so it looks like it'll be an ongoing project.

Other than that we've been doing various things around the school. I watched over a couple of study periods and helped administer a spelling exam in one of the classes. Ben and I both got a chance to be Caye Caulker's librarian this week. The actual librarian is a teacher at the school, so she's needed someone to cover at the library the past three afternoons because of her exam schedule. I covered Tuesday and today, and Ben covered on Wednesday. It was surprisingly enjoyable. It was a nice break in the day to just sit back, read, and meet some interesting people (both locals and tourists alike). One little boy, Eldon, is in the library everyday. Today, he showed me all his card "tricks". He's pretty adorable, so it wasn't too hard to play along.

It looks like I'm going to get to teach my class as an elective next semester. (Yaaay!) I think it's going to be called 'Leadership Project' or something along those lines (not my idea..). This weekend I'm going to come up with a sales pitch for my class to present to the students next week before they have to choose their electives. Since the school is so small (bigger now, but still pretty itty bitty.. but more on that later), I will probably only have 10-12 students, which sounds manageable. I'm looking forward to getting started and seeing how the curriculum works out here.

I mentioned that the school is bigger now; that's because Ocean Academy got 10 or 11 new students from the island's other high school this week. OA only had about 30 students to begin with, so it was a pretty big deal. With 40 students now, it seems like the school is pretty much at max capacity. There are only 3 classrooms, plus a computer lab, and hardly enough desks and chairs for everyone.

Oh! Something kind of awesome: I get to learn to scuba dive! Scuba is offered as a P.E. option at the school, and conveniently enough they need a supervisor in the class. Scuba diving is one of the things I was hoping to be able to learn in Belize, so I'm super psyched that I get to do it for free through the school.

I'm still getting used to island living. The pace of life is definitely much slower here. I've been told to "go slow" by people on the street more than once (I haven't quite gotten rid of my "city walk" yet..). Nothing is hurried, and punctuality doesn't seem to be especially important. No one ever looks like they're going anywhere in particular; they're just going. The people here are really friendly. (Maybe it has something to do with the stress-free lifestyle, and the fact that shoes are always optional). People say hi/good morning, etc. to people passing on the street, even strangers. It's definitely a refreshing change.

I feel like there's so much I could talk about, but it's all just a big scrambly mess in my brain right now! I guess I'll leave it at that for now.

Happy (almost) Friday :)

P.S. I haven't seen a cockroach in 6 days.. here's to hoping the streak continues!