Head Over Heels

As usual, this poor blog is getting severely neglected as my vacation wears on and my time becomes more precious. So much going on, so little time! It is flying, and I am already upset at the mere THOUGHT of coming back home on Sunday! And to think, I was contemplating not coming on this trip?!?! CRAZY! Let it be a lesson to me the next time I am thinking of foregoing fabulous opportunities to sit on my couch licking my wounds. Belize has been so good for me and changed me in ways I never would have expected.

First of all, Belize has got to be the world's best-kept secret. (I'm wondering if I say that every time I travel?) Seriously! It may be a bonus that I am here in the Off-Season, because prices are more reasonable and you practically have the place to yourself, but man! This place is Paradise! It really does have it all. I think it's safe to say that I am IN LOVE wi' de country!!! And either it has cooled down, or I have become acclimatized to the heat and humidity. I was wearing some long pants today because it was down to about 25 degrees, and I was feelin' a bit chilly...

Spent the weekend in Placencia, a little gem of a town! Had a riot with my peeps. The sun was hot, the breeze cool, the beer cold and the men attentive. Like I said, paradise. I stayed in the cutest little place, Deb & Dave's Last Resort. And yes, I fully admit that I stayed there because the name tickled me. But man, it was awesome! Couldn't have been happier. And at around $18/night, you really can't beat the price!

The teaching went really really well last week, and if I had more time I would write an entire entry on Dangriga, the Garifuna and the work we are doing here with the Rotary, but that's for another day. This week, things have ground to a halt due to problems gaining access to the Computer Lab. Our number 1 goal here was to expose the teachers to online resources and so all of us had planned to spend more than half of our time in the computer lab. Here we are with only three teaching days left and still farting around trying to get passwords and keys and access. The I.T. guy is on vacation. But that is the Nature of the Beast, I suppose, and apart from feeling like I am not accomplishing the goals that I was sent here to do, I think things are going well for the most part. One good thing it has done for me is made me realize a) that I actually do know what I'm talking about and b) I should be teaching adults. I'm good at it. And there's none of the nonsense you get from teaching disaffected youth...

The rest of my week has already filled up, and there's so much we didn't have time yet to do. Tomorrow , we are going to a soccer game, USA vs. Belize, I think. Wednesday, we are going to a waterfall and the hot sauce factory and Thursday, we have some mucky-mucks coming from the Rotary to see the work we're doing. We also have to give a presentation to the Rotary Club on Thursday night about our work here. The Rotarians are good people, but a little cultish. There's some curious ceremonies and such goin' on at the meetings. Interesting all the same.

We leave Dangriga bright and early on Friday morning for Caye Caulker. Two days snorkeling the Barrier Reef and then we're on the plane on Sunday with big puppy dog eyes and alligator tears. Those meeting me at the airport will be greeted with a nicely tanned, but very unhappy face. Like any great vacation, this beautiful country has left me wanting more!!