"Mouse Trap"

I was laying in bed doing one final email check before closing my eyes to drift off into a much needed sleep when something caught my eye from across the room. I got just enough of a glimpse to realize that we were not alone in our little 15x15 apartment (I haven't actually measured the space, but it can't be much larger than that). It was about 10:45pm  on Thursday night when we discovered that we had a new roommate. I would describe our little "friend" as small, furry, fast, and repulsive. Yes, I'm talking about a MOUSE! No, it wasn't bigger than the palm of my hand. No, it wasn't flashing it's big, sharp teeth. But yes, I'm convinced that it would win in a fight with me because I would be turned around, running in the opposite directions screaming all kinds of things! And yes, I am aware I that I have posted pictures of me hanging out with monkeys and holding iguanas and crocodiles.  Even though I'm aware that the mouse was not out to get me or cause me any problems, I did NOT like the thought of being in such a small space with it roaming freely beneath our beds.

After that first appearance, the girls and I noticed the bags of Nilla Wafers and Cheez-Its it had pushed to the floor from the top of the microwave. Great, we really did have a mouse problem, but we weren't sure how the little pest had even gotten into the room. I'm not sure that Belize follows any kind of building codes given the amount of cracks and holes throughout our room, but we couldn't find anywhere that would be large enough for even a small mouse to squeeze in.  We decided there was nothing that could be done that night, so we all spent a very long, sleepless night curled up under our mosquito nets that we hoped would also ward off mice. We survived the night, thankfully, and woke up probably the most tired we have been over the last 2 months. Our "friend"  made was so kind as to make an appearance before we left for school just to let us know that he/she would be rummaging around our belongings while we were trying to stay awake while teaching.

Upon returning home from a busy day at school, we decided it was absolutely necessary to get rid of our "friend" and make sure we didn't get any others! We decided to go on a mouse hunt by dragging out all of our suitcases and bags from underneath our beds and cleaning out everything we could. I felt like we should be wearing Ghostbuster's gear for this task, just in case we came across anything horrifying... aka a  mouse! After just a few minutes of dusting of our suitcases Jessica pulled open one of her's that had been left open and discovered our "friend", who instantly made a b-line out the door upon the sound of 3 very high-pitched screams! Yay! Mouse hunt= success!

That is, until late last night when we saw our "friend" again or one of it's buddies... not good....

If you know any ways to successfully rid a house of mice let me know... preferably if it involves no actual contact with the mouse...

The count-down is on!

7 days until Josh arrives; 21 until Amanda comes!!! YAY!  : )

29 days until my 2-week Easter break begins; 64 days until I say good-bye Belize, hello home!!!

This week has been pretty busy with school and this whole teaching thing! lol. I'm now teaching science, math, and phonics, but I'll pick up spelling, social studies, and reading next week... exciting! I love my class and Ms. Morales, so I'm really happy to get up and go every day! Most of my evenings are spent checking up with people back at home, reading emails, writing lesson plans, making visual displays, and organizing learning activities for the students. Other than that, not a lot has been happening the last few days.

Here's a few pics from this week:

 

"Sh" beginnings are the focus of this week! My kids love taking a few minutes of their spare time to share their "sh" words and post them on the wall. 

This is my side of the board... math! I had to make a # line for counting by 5's and 10's. You'll also notice that we're learning about money for the next couple weeks too!

After taking pics of the classroom, Ramini wanted to take my picture so this is me front a 5 year old's perspective!

"When the praises go up, the blessings come down!"

How was your Sunday? Mine was absolutely AMAZING, and that’s just what I’ve needed. Lately, I’ve really been missing my church family and the actual act of going to church to fellowship and worship. But after today I'm feeling much more on track!

I decided to attend the Baptist church that is right around the corner from my apartment this morning for their worship service. I got there a little early and was greeted by a children’s Sunday School class who was doing an activity in front of the church. The teacher of the class welcomed me and told me to walk in and join the adult class that was meeting in the sanctuary, so I did. I felt a little awkward walking into the class since there was only about 10 minutes left of Sunday School, but I immediately felt at home and realized that the teacher and class had the same 

beliefs that I do.

Before the service began I met a man named Roberto who is a high school teacher and actually went to teacher college with the principal of Hummingbird. Once again, I discovered that everyone knows everyone in Belize! He was really nice and very welcoming towards me. The service began with each class telling the congregation of about 40 people what they learned this morning. There was a preschool class, elementary class, teen class, and the adult class. After this I found out that Roberto was in fact the pastor of the church as he stood to welcome everyone. Part of his welcome involved introducing me to the congregation… it was really sweet! The music service included some familiar songs lead by a song leader and played on a guitar, drums, keyboard, and tambourine. We sang “Here I am to worship”, “Jesus, lover of my soul”, “My all in all”, and my favorite “We bring the sacrifice of praise”. I really felt like I was back home singing in the choir during that song and it was really special to me since that song is one of my favorites. 

The preaching was great too as Roberto preached about withstanding persecution and standing up for Jesus in any situation. He reminded me of Doug in a lot of ways, which makes me miss my church family! I cannot wait to have service in the new church when I get home in May!

Hope everyone had as blessed a Sunday as I did! I’m ready to take on this week now! : )

 

  

This is the church. It's really sweet inside. There are probably 8 benches with a center aisle and small stand in the front for the preacher and song leader. It also has 2 classrooms and a loft in the sanctuary area. 

Rachel and I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by the pool; Jessica is still feeling sick : ( . It was the perfect Sunday!

"If it snows, we'll die!"

Today marks the end of week 6 in Belize! That means I have only 10 more left and only 5 weeks until my 2 week spring break from school!!! I still can’t believe that I’ve been here this long already, but I’m thankful that everything is still going so smoothly.

The title of this post comes from my collaborating teacher, Ms. Morales. We were talking about the chilly weather (meaning the low 70’s) during class one day, and the students started a discussion about snow and the possibility of it ever snowing here in Belize. When one of the kids asked “What if it snowed here?”, Ms. Morales replied with “If it snows, we’ll die.” I laughed but kind of think she was serious. It would be fun to see everyone’s first snow day! Thankfully, today was a bit warmer outside so there’s less of a chance that we’ll die! Lol.  This was definitely one of the funniest quotes I’ve heard during my time here.

Today, I taught the whole day since Ms. Morales will be out until next Tuesday. The day went really well after a bit of a hazy start… one of my students wasn’t feeling well and ended up throwing up in the classroom and on my shoe… YUCK! However, we got everything cleaned up, sent the student home, and continued on with the day. This happened just after I had cleaned up the floor after a water bottle was emptied on the floor. The day went much more smoothly after 8:15! One of my students brought me a bag of bananas that she picked from her banana tree... they're delicious! I'll take bananas over apples any day! It was really sweet!

The highlight of this week was definitely getting to talk to Memaw & DadDad and Grandmother on OOVOO. DadDad said, “This thing is pretty cool!” and I couldn’t agree more with him! Even though there’s not a great connection here at all times, it’s been awesome to hear and see my family and friends! I wish you were all here with me!

The girls and I are staying here in Belize City for the weekend so we can save some money. We’re planning on hanging out by the pool tomorrow and working on lesson plans. Fun, I know, but cheap! 

 The students sorted the "ending blends"

Last week's science topic was "force" aka "push/pull" for these kids!

Newest addition to the class: Simple Machines! 

 

  

Newest addition to our apartment: crockpot! First real dinner made: taco soup! It was absolutely delicious!!!

The dinner of love!

So, apparently Belizians get no greater joy than expressing their love to people, because Valentine's Day was a true celebration around here. We'd noticed that nearly every store and restaurant in town had some kind of red and pink heart decoration, but we saw the biggest event on Sunday night... a Valentine festival in the park! There were little booths set up for pictures in front of big hearts and ponies, tons of food stands selling everything from burritos to valentine cupcakes, and lots of cheesy V-Day gifts for sale.  People were everywhere! I should have taken pictures of the whole scene, but was a bit mesmerized by all that I was seeing.... it was like the 4th of July in February!

The girls and I had been planning to see "Valentine's Day" at the Princess Hotel as a way to celebrate Valentine's Day, so we ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant which turned out to be more festive than we were imagining. The Princess still has Christmas trees in the lobby, but there were lots of Valentine's Day decorations including a giant heart made out of balloons which was a definite photo opt for us! They were offering a buffet filled with lots of delicious foods, so we splurged a little and treated ourselves to some "real" food!

 

We chose a traditional "prom pose" picture given the background scenery. lol

Everyone in the lobby area probably thought we were crazy!

After dinner, I ran into one of my students (Celine) who's dad own the hotel and cinema. I got to meet her mom and dad who turned out to be some of the sweetest people I've ever met! They even treated us to a free movie and told us to come back anytime! Sweet!

Here's a few pics from dinner at Old Belize on Friday night. We went with a group of teachers from Hummingbird... it was really nice!

Just keep swimming...

This weekend we head off to Caye Caulker, which a little island northeast of Belize City. It takes about 45 minutes on a water taxi to get to this cute, laid-back island. It's really small and you can see from one side to the other just by looking down the street. It's also known for having a great swimming area called "the split" which got it's name when a hurricane split the island in half. There are also tons of dive shops that offer tours, so we spent all of Saturday snorkeling around the reef along with pretty fish, sting rays, sharks, and turtles... it was so much fun and my first time snorkeling! We got there by sailboat which was a cool experience in itself. Once again, I can't believe there's snow on the ground in Georgia and I'm here wearing a bathing suit and snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea! Life is GREAT!!!

 

  

 

The pics above are from the water taxi as we're leaving Belize City

 

This was taken from one side looking to the other... it's a pretty small island!

 

   

There are swings everywhere!

  

Before snorkeling

 

  

This was our sailboat for the day!

Riding on the boat to the snorkeling stops

We had about an hour ride to the first stop, so we worked on our tans! 

 

That's part of the reef sticking out of the water

  

Pretty water!

Rachel and I ready to jump off!

 

  

  

Me, Rachel, and Jessica ready to see the sharks and rays!

 

Our whole group on the way back!

Dinner on Saturday night... lobster! It was the last night before they take a break from catching lobster for a few months. They re-open lobster season in June.

 

We should have stayed here!!!

  

  

Beautiful flowers everywhere!

Some of the HUGE conch shells that everywhere on the island!

Lunch before leaving

 "The Split"