I woke up to my alarm going off at what I thought was 7:30 am yet it was unusually quiet. I am one of the last people to get up in the morning and the hallway is buzzing with everyone else getting ready, some people even leaving. I looked harder at the clock and noticed that it said Jan 1st! That meant the power had gone off in the middle of the night, the clock had reset itself and that was NOT the real time. I jumped out of bed in a panic thinking that it was PAST the time I was supposed to be up. While I was frantically trying to open my computer to figure out the real time I thought to myself “surely someone would have knocked on my door to get me to go to school if it was past time”. Thankfully when my computer finally woke up it showed me the time of 6:00 am. At first I was relieved and then I was pissed – I had woken up an hour and a half earlier than I needed to! I reset the clock for the right time and reset my alarm and went back to sleep. I enjoyed that extra hour and a half, it was totally worth it.
The next time I woke up it was really time for me to wake up. I went through my brief morning routine and left with Lauren to go to school. Since it was our last day we decided that we were going to walk on the beach. We reached school and as we are everyday, we were greeted by a flock of kids running towards us, screaming our names and giving us so many hugs that we can’t move from the spot we are in for several minutes. Yesterday there was a little over half my class at school and today there was less than half. Just like in the states, once exams are over and break grows closer, parents take their kids out of school early to go on vacations or just don’t even bother sending them to school.
My kids took their spelling test (even though they weren’t supposed to take tests on this particular Friday). It would have been better off if they hadn’t taken it, most of them did horrible. You can tell that most of them did not care about studying or tests or what I thought their real potential was. Oh well. They were much more excited about the cupcakes that came after the test. Then Tr. Burnel had them copy down some Science and Religion notes even though all he did was write them down on the board and didn’t even read them to the class! Those kids had no idea what they were writing down. They went to break and it was weird to see only a handful of kids by the gate getting candies from the “sugar shops” or running around. There had to be less than 50% of the kids at school.
When they came back from break I had them FINALLY write letters back to my kids at Codington. I had spoken to my teacher a few weeks ago about the letters and how I wanted them to write back to my kids. I handed out the letters and was going to have them reply in class but Tr. Burnel thought it would be a better idea to assign it as homework. What I was not informed was that homework is kind of an optional thing here and if you don’t do it there is really no consequence. Only about 7 kids brought in letters throughout the next 2 weeks, even with constant reminders and treats to bring them in. So finally I put my foot down and had them all write identical letters on identical sheets of paper. It wasn’t how I preferred it but I was literally running out of time. Plus it was a little harder for my kids here because they are a year younger than my kids back at Codington and academically some are two years behind.
After lunch the kids turned in their letters and made bracelets with me and then we went outside to watch the student soccer games. Academically, Friday was a half day for us. After lunch soccer games started and the other classes were encouraged to come out and support the kids playing. Usually soccer games start after school but since it is the day before Easter break they decided that to push them up so that if parents or teachers were leaving to go somewhere, the games wouldn’t get out too late. Let me tell you it was MASS CHAOS! Emerita’s dad quoted my exact thoughts – “only in Belize”. Kids were running around, teachers were MIA, the tiny bleachers were crowded with hundreds of kids seeking shade and trying to support their classmates as game after game was played consecutively. Some kids who hadn’t been at school all day showed up to play their soccer games!
Tr. Burnel coached his team at 1:30 and after his team was done playing I did the best to round our class back up to go to the classroom to pass out candy into the kids Easter baskets that they had brought in after lunch. It was random candy and sweets that parents had brought in and Tr. Burnel and I passed them out to each kid. It was more like “trick or treat” than “Happy Easter” but either way the kids enjoyed it.
The whole “goodbye” part was very brief though and it made me kind of sad. Half my kids weren’t even there to say “goodbye” to, especially my favorite little boy L The kids were so distracted by their candy and the soccer games that when they were released they ran out of the classroom without even realizing that I wasn’t going to be here when they got back. I had to holler at some of them to come back and give me a hug. I had talked to them about it a little at point in the day. Still, they are young and I don’t think they really understood.
Plus, they’ve had other girls come into their class to teach for a few weeks and then leave. Tr. Burnel said that all of them have promised that they will “keep in touch” and “come back and visit” and they haven’t heard from any of them since they left. So part of it was that they knew I was leaving but didn’t believe me when I said that I WOULD be back and that I WOULD keep in touch. Ninel was so cute, she told me “Miss Michelle, you go back and see your family for one day then you come back here”. I told her I needed more than one day with my family and she said “okay, you get 100 days and then you come back”. I truly honestly know that this will not be my last time in Belize, in San Pedro or in that school. It may take me a year or so but I will be back. I want to share this place that is so special to me and has touched my heart with people that I love. I want them to be impacted by this place as I have been. I could even see myself living here in the future possibly. If God leads me back here I would not be surprised. We will see.
Okay Codington kids, I am almost done with my time here and I still have a few more of your questions to answer. I will answer some now and I will finish answering them when I come back from the mainland next week!
Malia - you asked "Is it cool there or is it just like any other school?" Well, it defiantly is different from Codington but there are similarities as well. They have a teacher here, each student has their own desk, they have books that they learn out of, they copy notes just like you do. The kids are similar to you all too in that they love to talk and always sharpen their pencils! There are lots of differences though too. They have chalk boards, not white boards. There is not technology which means there are no computers, smartboards, tvs or even overhead projectors! I think that I can show you better the differences when I come back to Codington and show you pictures!
Sam - you asked "Are the children good or naughty?" Well Sam I think that they all are wonderful children, just like I thought you all were wonderful. However some of them did misbehave from time to time, just like some of you did back at home. They love to talk, just like you all do and that is what got them in trouble a lot of the time. Here in Belize, the kids are disciplined in different ways than you are. You have the "paw chart" and "pink slips" in your classroom. Here there is no paw chart or pink slips. Their punishments were sweeping the classroom, facing the wall or kneeling on the ground to write their notes. Here in Belize what we would consider "misbehaving" or "being naughty" is considered acceptable.
Aleena and Ruby - you asked "What clothing do they wear?" At all of the schools here on the island (and I think all throughout Belize as well) they wear a uniform to school. That means all the students wear the same thing. At the school I was teaching at, girls wore a white shirt under a long navy blue dress. Boys wore long navy blue pants and a white button up shirt. They all have a little patch that goes on their shirt that says their schools name on it. However, on Fridays they have "rag days" and the kids can wear whatever clothes they want as long as they pay a dollar to the school. The school uses it as a fundraiser. When the kids are out of school and on weekends they wear regular clothes, just like you wear!
Leah, Kaylee and Ruby - you asked "What kind of food do they eat?" They eat a lot of Spanish or Mexican style food here. There is a lot of Mexican influence on the island because Mexico is North of Belize and Guatemala is to the West of it. Many people immigrate from those countries into Belize and bring with them their native food dishes. Some popular food dishes here are panades, papusas, rice and beans, tacos, burritos, fry jacks, johnny cakes of course course the kids all love pizza! At break all the kids eat popsicles called "Ideals" and they come in many different flavors!
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