Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, a small group of us volunteered at the San Pedro Public Library. Compared to the libraries in Wilmington, this library is really tiny and doesn’t have the best book selection. Something that we noticed was that there weren’t any books on Belize or its culture. There were a lot of American books in the library.
There were about ten children that participated in all of the Easter library activities. The kids were 4 to 8 years old. I haven’t worked with children that young in a long time, so it felt weird to read and do crafts with them. Some of the crafts we did with the children were: palm crosses, Easter cards, bunny facemasks, cutout bunny on a popsicle stick, and Easter baskets. On Wednesday, we hid a lot of candy and eggs in the library and had an Easter egg hunt. Throughout the three days, we read some Easter books to the kids and a few times the teachers split up into small reading groups. One little boy asked me to read him three different Dr. Seuss books and by the time I was done with all of them I was really dehydrated and couldn’t speak anymore. I can’t remember the last time I was around kids that age. I really enjoyed the experience, but it made me realize that I love teaching older kids (5th grade and above). Something that made me really happy was when I saw one of the little girls still holding onto her Easter basket several hours after the Easter egg hunt.
Anna, Natalie, and I spent a lot of time at various events and fundraisers for Derrick. We went to Legends on Tuesday and taped some of the Jam Sesh. It’s always a good time when Derrick and the band are playing music. I love the music and we just dance for hours. I think Drummer Dan loves when we show up to their events because he knows we will dance. Also, we went to Crazy Canucks on Thursday and taped some more. Derrick and his friends practiced at San Pedro High School today. They practiced in a small room in the auditorium area. I taped most of the practice and by the end of it I was drenched. It was insanely hot today, especially in that small room. I am getting used to the heat and the fact that I am always sweating.
Friday was an adventurous day. Derrick and his friends asked us if we would like to see some Mayan ruins that were on the island. Natalie, Anna, Master Jeans, and I decided it would be fun to do some exploring. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. After renting bikes and riding the fastest seven miles ever (Belizeans boys can pedal faster than anyone on this planet), we ended up at a trail that would lead us into the jungle. Oh yeah, on our bike ride we saw an alligator. The gator was just chillin in the water right near the bike path. Anyway, we parked our bikes and started the hike to the ruins. Within the first minute of walking I was covered in mud and it looked and smelled like I stepped into a huge pile of poop. After twenty minutes: Sweat was pouring down my whole body. I was covered in mud that smelled like poop. Blood smears from the mosquitoes that I killed were all over my skin. I had an allergic reaction to the mosquito bites, so I had big welts all over my legs and arms. A rash started to form on the back of my arms. Everything that was going on with my body wasn’t the worst of this adventure. It paled in comparison to when the boys told us to watch out for the tarantula nests. I would cringe every time we passed a nest. After two hours of exploring the jungle and getting lost in it, I was more than ready to go home and take the longest shower of my life and have nurse Natalie care for my battle wounds. When I saw my bike, I was happy to be alive. We rode our bikes to the ocean and jumped in to get some of the mud off of our bodies. Also, I thought the water would help heal some of my wounds. We hoped onto our bikes and the entire seven miles all I thought about was the amazing hot shower I was going to have. I rode so fast that I beat everyone back and actually lost Natalie and Anna. When I got back to Pedro’s Inn the first person I saw told me that there was no water, and there would be no water on the island for the next 5 days. I went into my bathroom and checked the shower. There was a little water trickling out of the showerhead. I was so desperate for a shower that I stood in the shower for about 30 minutes and showered the best I could. I stood in the shower and collected the water in my hands and then splashed it on my body.
I am definitely experiencing what life is really like in a third world country. I don’t mind being dirty for a few days and having no clean clothes, but this is one of the biggest weekends for Belize. The island has the most tourists during Easter weekend and since there is no water, businesses like restaurants cannot be open. It hasn’t rained here in over a month, but today when Natalie and I were lying in bed we heard a loud sound coming from outside. We got up and ran outside to see that it was pouring rain!
On Monday, the group is traveling inland and I am so excited for all of the excursions.
No comments:
Post a Comment