INLAND- DAY FIVE

Wednesday

Today a group of us decided to do the ATM caving tour. ATM stands for Actun Tunichil Muknal. This is a cave that contains many Mayan artifacts including actual skeletal remains. To begin the tour we drove about 45 minutes outside of San Ignacio. We then hiked into the jungle for about a mile. The cave is nestled there. The entrance looked like something out of a movie. We were equipped with hard hats and headlamps and in we dove. To get to the caverns inside we had to wade and swim through the water for about a mile. Sometimes the water was so deep that we had to hang onto the walls and shimmy or we would be underwater. At one point our guide had us turn our headlamps off and we were in actual complete darkness. By that I mean that honestly there was no light in the cave. You could not see your hand in front of your face. It was spooky. We got to see a lot of cave formations including stalactites and stalagmites. Bats and small catfish were also hanging around. Once we reached the main cavern we were asked to remove our shoes and to wear socks. The shoes would scratch the cave floor and the oils in our feet would also ruin some of the formations. As we had hiked in we were asked not to touch certain parts of the cave walls with our hands for the same reason.

The main cavern held lots of Mayan pottery. The Mayans believed that these caves were sacred and the entrance to the underworld known as Xibalba. Here they would pray and offer food (and people) to the Gods. The skeletal remains were unbelievable. The first ones we saw was just a skull. Due to the ways cave form and grow all the remains were under a layer of calcium carbonate. It covered the bones in a white layer. The second set of bones were that of a person who had died from a disease called encephalitis or swelling of the brain. The tour guide said this person was not sacrificed but had died and been carried into the cave. The third and fourth sets of bones had been human sacrifices. Much archaeological work has been done to see if these remains were male of female and to tell a cause of death. The last one we saw was the most magnificently preserved. It is called the crystal maiden. The bones still lay in the formation of a body after 1000’s of years and are preserved under a layer of white.

INLAND- DAY FOUR

Tuesday

After the previous day we were exhausted. Most of us stayed at the resort and relaxed but I got a wild hair. I really wanted to see the Belize Zoo. It came highly recommended. Usually I am not a fan of Zoo’s. I do not approve of catching animals and then caging them just for viewing pleasure. But the Belize Zoo is different. There is a lot of illegal trapping and sale of animals. There are also a lot of displaced and injured animals here. The zoo here takes in confiscated animals that are being traded or ones that are hurt. They then rehabilitate and release these them if possible. If not they are kept and well cared for because there is no other option for them. The Zoo was started by a woman that came down here in the 70’s to do some work and had a soft spot for all the creatures she came in contact with that were injured. The history said that by the time she was ready to return home she had a least 20 animals she had taken in and they had no place to go. She decided to stay and build a shelter that turned into the Zoo. They do a lot of education for teachers and students there now along with the rehabilitation.

The first animal that we came across was the national animal of Belize, the Tapir. This strange creature is also called the mountain cow. It looks like a cross between a horse and a hippo (smells like one too) with an anteaters nose. It was so strange looking and so cute. While there we also Spider Monkeys, Howler Monkeys, an Ocelot, a Jaguarondi, the Gibnut (also know as the royal rat), Parrots, Toucans, and the list goes on. I think my favorite was the elusive Jaguar. They are supposedly all over Belize but they are rarely spotted. This little guys name was Junior. He has been in the Zoo all his life and is “tame”. Don’t get me wrong, I would not stick my hand in that cage! But one of the Zoo keeper’s sure did. He was petting this guy like he was a house cat! And the Jaguar was purring like one too! The keeper then took out some chicken feet and fed Junior so that we could get some pictures. Another thing about this Zoo, the barrier between you and the animals is minimal at best. I would describe the cage as chicken mesh. So that is all that stood between me and the Jaguar. It was hard to believe, and a little scary.

Another animal that I really enjoyed seeing was the Harpy Eagle. I have never seen one. This bird was the size of a person, about 5 feet tall, with talons as big as tree branches. It is the second largest raptor in the world. I think it could have picked me up and flown away with me for dinner if it wanted to. I love the way the feathers on its head looks.

I am really glad that we got to go to the Zoo. After that we took the bus back to San Ignacio. Have I mentioned much about the public transportation here? Everyone uses the buses. Sometimes it can get really crowded. The locals call the bus to Punta Gorda the chicken bus. This is because people are crammed in there like poultry. Sometimes there is only standing room in the aisles and you just hold on. Seats are not taken for granted. Also, the bus drivers are crazy. I did not know that a school bus could travel that fast. My motion sickness has been put to the test on multiple occasions but no puking yet! But you can’t beat the price. We traveled from San Ignacio to Belmopan, which took an hour and a half, and it only cost $5 Bz (which is $ 2.50 US). Great deal if you can handle the ride!

INLAND- DAY THREE

Monday

On Monday we decided to check out our first Mayan ruin. They are scattered all over Belize. We went to one called Xunantunich. It was active from 300 AD to about 900 AD. We took a bus to the river and then had a 1 mile hike in (BTW we found out that the temperature that day was 100 degrees!). From there we entered the grounds and hiked around for about 2 hours. We climbed one of the biggest ruins and you could see Guatemala from the top. Guatemala borders Belize to the west and south. Mexico is north. It was absolutely beautiful! It is amazing to see these relics from the past and to try and image life as it was in the time of the Mayans.

After Xunantunich we went into town and explored a little of San Ignacio. It is relatively large city based on Belize standards. We ate lunch at a place called Hannnah’s that served curry and I love curry. This was the day we did that hike up the hill that I mentioned. By the time we got home we were spent. We took the rest of the day off and lounged at the pool.

INLAND- DAY TWO

Sunday

The Black Hole Drop! A long hike into the jungle followed by rappelling 300 ft down into a sinkhole! If you look at the picture to the left you can see where we went down. It was to the right of the cave and there is a brown spot. That is the tarp that they have down to stop the rope from fraying due to friction. It was probably one of the most amazing and stupidest things I have ever done. As soon as I was standing on the precipice of the cliff about to rappel I think I saw my life flash before my eyes! But it was too late and the only way out was down.

A side note- the big joke on the trip has been the infamous Bot Fly. This is an insect that lays its larvae in other animals. The larvae then feed off its host till it emerges as a fly. I have heard about this creepy bug in my biology classes but never knew it was an issue until we arrived at Cave’s Branch. Our guides had all had them many times. And they had the scars to prove it. They informed us that mosquitoes can be carriers of the larvae so when one bites you and you smash it you have left the larvae on your skin and they can enter the bite wound left by the mosquito. One guide actually still had one in his arm and he said that he could feel it squirming and feeding on his flesh!!!!! To extract the Bot Fly one must suffocate it and then extract it. EEEWWWW! So needless to say even the least squirmy of us were grossed out by the idea of being a breeding ground for the Bot Fly. The only way to know if you have one is that you have a mosquito bite that doesn’t go away! We all think we have one!!!

Well enough about that! We left Cave’s Branch after our excursion on Sunday and headed to San Ignacio. I wish we could have stayed there forever. We took a bus ride that lasted about an hour. We stayed in a place called Cahal Pech. The view from the balcony was incredible. San Ignacio is set in the mountains of Belize and Cahal Pech is on top of a steep hill. And when I say steep I mean steep. The following day we walked into town and just going down the hill hurt but the walk up, insane. We were hurting the next day. Who needs a stair master when you got that!

INLAND- DAY ONE

Saturday

We have packed up and left Pedro’s!!! It was sad to go but we are off to start another adventure. We took the water taxi from San Pedro to Belize City. The ride was beautiful. It took almost two hours. The water taxi was very crowded because everyone was leaving to start their Easter Break. Many go inland to visit family. I moved to the back to get fresh air and was invited to ride on top of the boat. Now that is the way to travel on the water taxi! Some of our student’s from San Pedro High School were on the taxi so I had a chance to chat with one of them outside of school. We ended up talking about music. All the kids here like the music that is popular with the kids back home like Akon and Chris Brown. He was disappointed that I did not have any of it on my Ipod so he asked if I had Guns and Roses. Again, disappointment! I hate G and R. So we compromised and listened to Bob Marley. Haha!

When we reached Belize City we caught a taxi to “Old Belize”. We were encouraged to go here by some of the teachers from San Pedro. I am under the impression that this is sort of a museum/theme park for tourists. There was a tour you could take where you walked through a building with themed rooms, each showing some part of Belize’s history. It started with the Mayans and ended with the British Colonization. It was a nice history lesson.

We were picked up from here and taken to our next stop, Cave’s Branch. This place has to be heaven on earth. This is an eco-lodge/resort where guests can participate in “excursions” out into the jungle like cave tubing, hiking, and spelunking. The funny thing is that Cave’s Branch claims not to be any of these things, probably for liability purposes. They made us all sign a long waiver in case of death. We stayed in these huts with no electricity and only kerosene lamps for light at night. The showers were located outside!!!

We got there late in the day so no big plans. We did go out to see the Blue Hole. It is located in Blue Hole National Park. This is not to be confused with the Blue Hole out in the Caribbean that is famous for diving. This Blue Hole is a sink hole in the middle of the forest. The water is the most azure blue due to the depth of the water. It is also freezing cold! Jumping into that was like jumping into arctic water. It was incredible. Later that night we signed up for the next day’s excursion. I decided to do…..

Los zapatos solatario...

This weekend has been very low key! I think we are saving up for next weekend when we go to the mainland. On Friday we went to my partnership teachers house. She made us dinner. John tried chicken feet! We went out after dinner with some of the teachers and had a nice time.

Saturday we hung out at the pool and I worked on my tan. Did I mention that I have already been mistaken for a local? Haha! I guess my tan is good enough.

On Sunday we snorkeled for a little bit and then Walter, the main guy at Pedro's, made us lunch. He grilled chicken and we hung out at the pool again.

We are at school today. The 8th graders are here to take the PSE which is placement test for them before they enter High School. Some of us are proctors while others assist in various duties. The tests seem to be similar to our standardized tests. High importance is placed on them. These students will be tracked by the grades they receive and there are two parts, writing and science. They are not taken lightly. There are confidential booklets and bubble sheets for answers. Number two pencils. It is like an EOC but the setting is very different. We have one child that does not speak English in one of classes that they are having an issue with. The test is in English just like the classes taught here. They are trying to figure out what to do to help him without breaking any of the test rules.

I have lesson plans to write and making a test for the Life Skills class for this week. I am also grading tests the biology class took. The teachers are putting us to work :) Tomorrow is class as normal. The kids had today off because of the primary school test. We do not have school Friday because there is a track and field competition. Some of the teachers are gone this week, including my partnership teacher. There is a field trip for the seniors in biology. They get to go to the mainland for three days to experience what they have been learning in class. So I am on my own Thursday and Friday! This week will be short but tough!

I love that the classes and the school are so open to the outside. I am sitting in the conference room of the school. It is a room with a table and some chairs where the faculty meets. I just saw a lizard run across the room! I tried to catch him but he got away. There are so many lizards here.

Another thing that we are seeing a lot of, los zapatos solatario! That is the silly joke we have running between the MAT students. Lonely shoes! There are shoes all over the place missing there mates. On the streets, in the trash. We saw one yesterday washed up with barnacles growing all over it. So strange....

More observations..

As I spend more time in the schools I am noticing interesting differences between schools back home and here and I thought I would share. I don't think I mentioned in earlier posts but the students and teachers wear uniforms. The girls wear a white dress with a tie. The tie color corresponds to their grade level (form is what they call it). So form one, which is freshman wear a green. Form two is yellow, three is blue, and four is red. The boys wear white shirts and pants. They all have badges sewn to their shirts that display the high school emblem. Teachers wear khakis and a white shirt usually.

On Fridays they are allowed a "casual day". But there is a catch...Students pay to dress down!! For example if a girls wants to wear makeup she pays a dollar. She must pay a dollar to wear flip-flops, and a dollar to wear shorts and so on. In the end the girl could pay $5 to wear what she wanted to school. By the way this is in Belize dollars. 1 Belize dollar is equal to 2 American dollars.

Another thing is the bells at school. They ring through a PA system set up in every room but they are not automatic. So if the person that is ringing the bells forgets or is not paying attention than they do not go off! It is so funny. Classes have a scheduled time to end and sometimes the bells do not ring. Teachers do not move and the next class does not begin till that bell rings. If this happened at home I wonder what the kids would do? There would be an uprising!

One thing I have forgotten to mention are the walks to and from school everyday. We walk about a mile everyday to school and a mile back. We do the walk again to go into town for errand and to eat dinner. It is expensive to rent bikes and golf carts here so we are hoofing it! I would say we are probably walking a good three miles everyday. It is worth it though. It is a beautiful walk every morning at about 6:45 am. I stop and get coffee and take in the scenery. At about 7:25 I get a move on. We need to be at school by 7:30 am. Every other day the teachers start the morning off with a prayer. They are extremely religious and most are catholic.

Speaking of this, the school rules and the classes are focused on this aspect of life. There are crosses hanging on the walls in most of the rooms and the students attend scripture classes. There are some rules that deal with the religious beliefs and morals of the faculty and the students. One that I found interesting was that if a female was caught pregnant she and the father were banned from school functions. If she is found to have had an abortion she is expelled. Wonder how this would go back home?

Some other random facts; students earn demerits that get them detention. Detention consists of staying after school to clean the yards. There is a strict policy of no gum chewing or eating in the classrooms! Students sweep the classrooms out at the end of the day. Its windy here and there is A LOT of sand. Students erase the board for the teacher after the lesson. Teachers NEVER erase the board at the end of class. Oh and chalk is like gold. Teachers have have their very own stash that they carry from room to room. I guess they are like the dry erase markers back home. Female teachers don't get called by their last name, it is simply Miss. Oh and seniors are still the teachers favorites here, just like back home :)

A little about my day at school and I will stop. Today we did labs in biology. We simulated the spread of a virus which is a lab that is similar to one we did in microbiology. Except, they put a nice catholic spin on it. I think it was a good lesson for the kids though. The virus was HIV. The students were put into different groups. Some were abstinent, others sexually active but used protection and some were promiscuous and did not use protection. They "exchanged fluid" meaning they mixed water with other students and their beakers. The fluid was water and one beaker had acid in it. The beaker with the acid and the water represented an infected person. At the end of the lab we used an acid indicator to show who was "infected". The lab went over well, although there was some giggles and snickers. I think it was a good lesson for the kids who might be thinking about these issues.

The last lab we did was one we did back home. Thank you to Mrs. Abraham. We extracted DNA from out cheek cells. It is an easy lab and one they had never done before. I think the kids really liked it. One girl said she would like to show her little brother. They all found little containers to put the DNA in to bring it home and share with their parents and friends.

To end the day we went to Mr. Kelly's for Johnny cakes. These are baked tortillas, kind of like pancakes, that are filled with ham and cheese. They served them with the best refried beans I have ever had. It was a nice evening of hanging out and meeting his family.

Tomorrow I teach Life Skills. This will be my first class. Wish me luck!