Yesterday was my last day at Hummingbird. It was a bitter sweet feeling because I've grown so attached to my students and all the people at the school, but I'm also ready to see all my family and friends back home. My kids were so sweet and were making me a little sad, because they just kept saying, "Please don't leave Teacher Cobb". One student made the suggestion of, "Just tell your parents to move here!". It was really cute. All my students wrote letters to me, and I ended up making a video of them all reading them aloud to me. Most of them said something along the lines of "thank you for teaching me", "I like your science" (because that's the first subject I took over), "I like your hair", or even "I like your shoes". They are so cute, and I miss being around them already. Here are some pictures from my last day...
This is for Amanda. Yesmina wanted me to take a picture of her so Amanda and I would remember her.
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My kids and Ms. Morales also brought me lots of cool presents. Most will make great souvenirs!
I just got my flight check-in information via email from Delta... the time is here! By this time tomorrow I'll be on the ground in Atlanta! I'm spending the rest of the day packing up 4 months of stuff and then going to dinner with Caroline (my student who took us to St. George's Caye and who invited us to dinner at her house Wednesday) and her mother... Caroline insisted on taking us out for our final meal in Belize, or so her mother says. I'm looking forward to it though, because they are such a sweet family and so fun to be around. So, I guess that's it for now and probably until I get home. See y'all soon!
Roughly 38 hours is all the time I have left on my adventure in Belize. This means that I have been here almost 16 weeks or 112 days if you prefer looking at a larger number. Wow! I've been creating two lists in my journal and thought now would be the appropriate time to share it with you. More than anything, this blog serves as a way of helping me remember all the exciting things that have happened to and around me over the last couple months,however, I hope that you've enjoyed sharing my memories with me!
List #1: Things I Won't Miss in Belize
1. thinking about all the fungi and diseases I'm probably contracting just by stepping foot into the shower in my apartment... it really is this gross!
2. the awful, choking smells that stem from the garbage and waste left on the streets and canals around the city
3. being cooped up in my little room after 6:00pm nearly every night because it's not safe to go walking after this time
4. paying a cab fee to get to where I want to go that's outside of my walking or safety range
5. sweating .5 seconds after getting out of the shower (thankfully, this has only been added over the last 3 weeks)
6. having dirt feet ALL the time... once again, it's just gross.
7. lugging a 5-gallon jug of water from the grocery store to my apartment... I'm sure the locals have gotten a kick out of this sight every 2 weeks.
8. feeling the layer of dust that accumulates on everything in sight whether it's at school, the grocery store, or my apartment.
List #2: Things I Will Miss in Belize
1. the fact that I'm in a foreign country... I love that feeling!
2. walking nearly everywhere I want/need to go
3. Hummingbird Elementary- I love this school, the teachers, the parents, and the students!
4. feeling relaxed and not living by a busy schedule of daily events and appointments
5. not having to worry about what I'm wearing and how I look... everyone is so accepting here and they don't focus as much on materialistic things
6. the friends I've made
7. fruit stands
8. stew chicken with rice and beans and fried plantain
9. weekend trips to exciting new places filled with lots of advernture
10. taking long, dusty, bumpy rides on old school buses to get to my weekend destinations
11. being the minority and getting to learn so much from the people around me
12. Galilee Baptist Church- the people here were amazing and so faithful. I'll miss seeing Pastor Ruperto playing the drums made from turtle shells during the worship service.
13. being steps away from the Caribbean Sea
14. Western Daries... 2 scoops of delicious home-made ice cream for $1
15. having only a week's worth of clothing to choose my outfits from- it makes getting dressed so much easier!
16. being called "Miss" or "Teacher" by my students rather than just "Ms. Cobb"
17. the accents of the people here and hearing so many different languages spoken throughout the day
18. drinking Coke and Orange Fanta from glass bottles (I won't miss my new addiction to these drinks though)
19. seeing so many beautiful sights to take pictures of and write about
These lists go on and on, but I'm pretty pleased with the fact that my "Things I Won't Miss" list is always shorter than the "Things I Will Miss" list. This is a pretty good indicator that I really enjoyed my time here and had a great experience overall! I can't wait to plan a return visit so I can continue adding the second list! However, I will need someone to come help me add to this list... any takers???
Brace yourself... this will probably be a pretty lengthy post as I have lots on my mind at the moment and lots more pictures to share with you from the weekend.
I am down to my last 2 days at Hummingbird, and I'm growing a little more sad about that fact each day. I really have come to love the school and will greatly miss it and the people there. Today one of my students (Yesmina) said, "Ms. Cobb, I'm going to hide in your suitcase!" She's been telling me not to go back to the States for a good month now and is getting more and more sad about my upcoming departure.
Overwhelmed, relieved, excited, sad, anxious, ready: All of the emotions and feelings going through my body at this very moment. I must confess that I expected to feel most of these, but others definitely hit me with a surprise attack. An overwhelming feeling comes over me to think of all the grand places and experiences I have collected memories of over the past 4 months along with the realization that these are all in fact just memories now rather than present life. A feeling of relief is felt to know that "I did it!" in terms of completing my student teaching, traveling internationally, and spending this amount of time away from my family and friends. I'm excited to know that in exactly 3 days I will be home with my family and sharing stories, pictures, and lessons learned from my adventure here in Belize yet sad to leave the place I've called "home" and the new friends and mentors I've called " family" during my stay. I'm anxious to know that this experience marks the end of my college life and the beginning of an exciting yet intimidating journey into the real, grown-up world that we call "life". And, finally, I'm ready to embark on the new beginnings and endings and new travels and experiences that may come my way. Whew... who knew anyone could have that many things running through their little brain at one time?
As promised from the last post, I have more pictures from the teacher dinner...
This is Sue, the secretary from the school. We have dinner with her and Nikkie a lot.
Here's a picture of Sarah's kitchen... it was beautiful! Everyone was ready to dig in to the delicious food!
Have I mentioned that I love these girls? We've had so much fun together!
(Ok, so now might be an appropriate time for an intermission. Grab a snack, drink, take a jog around the neighborhood, or answer nature's call, and then continue on. I promise it won't be too much longer... I think...)
From my first day at Hummingbird one of the students' moms has been inviting the girls and I to go with her family to St. George's Caye which is an island about 10 miles off the coast that is occupied by about 30 private homes, one of which is owned by her family. Therese (Caroline's mom) is super sweet and really fun to be around because she has so many funny stories to tell and is always carrying on about something. Our schedules finally worked together, so Rachel and I spent the whole day at the Caye with her family on Sunday. I have to say that it was the perfect way to spend our final weekend in Belize. St. George's Caye is really narrow and has that complete "island" feel to it as it has no stores, restaurants, or busy crowds. Most of the morning was spent chatting on the dock with Therese's brothers and sisters who were also on the island and then we ventured out the sandbar that is just off the coast of the island. It's a huge sandbar in the middle of the sea and was a great location to soak up some sun, cool off, and meet more of the locals since everyone knows everyone here! To end the day, we went fishing and caught 18 King Mackerels. These fish were pretty good and very hard to reel in because they're pretty strong. Even a pro like me was completely worn out after reeling in just one of them. lol. Therese invited us over for dinner tomorrow night so we cane enjoy our catch. On our boat ride back to the mainland the sky was filled with beautiful pink rays from the sunset which was a beautiful sight. I began thinking about how gorgeous Belize is and all the little things like sunsets, fishing, eating with a local families, and just meeting new people that have made these 4 months so special and meaningful.
This is the island aquarium and is nothing really more than a few very small fish tanks, most of which are extremely too small for the fish, turtles, sharks, and other marine life that are in them. There were some beautiful species there, but it was a little sad to see.
Caroline and Allysa.
Today at school I bought one of the Hummingbird t-shirts and had all my students sign it as a souvenir for me to bring home. They thought it was really fun to sign it. I really am going to miss Ms. Morales and my 19 Kindergartners!
In case you were wondering... I'm down to 3 days people!!! See you all VERY soon!
This weekend began with a teacher's barbeque at Ms. Sara's house Friday evening in honor of the girls and I. All of the teachers and the principal from the school came and we had some really delicious BBQ chicken, beans, slaw, fresh tortillas, and dessert. It was really nice to see all the teachers outside of school and to have the opportunity to socialize and and get know everyone a little better before we leave. The secretary and principal also presented each us with a Belize picture book after they said a little speech. We had no idea any of that was coming, but it was really sweet. I'm realizing how much I'm going to miss these people once I leave. They really have become my family here and have been so helpful, supportive, and encouraging throughout my whole experience in Belize. I have lots of pics from the night, but here are a few to start...
Mrs. Whelan, Mrs. McDonald, Mrs. Mahung, Ms. Morales (my teacher!), and Mrs. Stuart
These ladies have been so much fun to work with and talk to on a daily basis. They are all like my adopted grandmother's here in Belize and Ms. Stuart is always ready to tell a joke... it makes the school days go by quickly!
Mrs. Vasquez (the principal, wearing red), Ms. Sara (she was grilling the chicken!), Ms. Mel (she cleans the classrooms and all other odd-jobs around the school), and Ms. Radiance (she's the warden and keeps up with everyone throughout the day)
I love these two ladies! Isn't Ms. Morales adorable? They both look really good to be around 70. Belizeans age extremely well.
After the barbeque we went with Nikki and Giselle to hangout with our friend, Will, and his girlfriend. We met him back in February since he knows Nikki and Giselle. He's super nice and wanted to see us again before we left so we stopped by for a little while.
Nikki, Me, Will, Rachel, Giselle
Seven.Siete.Sept. In exactly 7 days I will be back in Georgia!!!
Last week was pretty uneventful as I completed my third to last week of student teaching. That also means that it was my third to last week of Being in Belize and being a college student. I feel as though I’ve been in a time warp since January and have just recently emerged to find myself four months later. It’s true. Time here is so much different than back at home; the hours in a day seem to be endless, yet weeks fly by leaving me in a whirlwind. It’s as if teaching my awesome 5 year olds at Hummingbird, traveling to beautiful islands, climbing Mayan ruins, long bus rides on old school buses, and four months of living with only basic necessities in an extremely tight space have been condensed to only a matter of hours in my mind. I’m a bit overwhelmed with all my memories and constantly refer back to my journal entries and pictures to recall all of the amazing things that I’ve done and been a part of this semester. I hope that when I get back I’ll remember to tell you about each and every moment I’ve had, so be prepared to chat for a while if you get me going!
Nine. Nueve. Neuf. That’s the number on my mind today. The number of days until I come home and turn my life in Belize into something of the past rather than something of the present. The number of days until I can only reflect on the grand experiences I’ve had rather than actually experience them. The number of days until I get to see all my family and friends in person rather than over a fuzzy computer screen and talk to them using my voice rather than typing words on a screen. So, for today, 9 is a pretty exciting number!
Last Saturday Rachel and I got the great honor of attending a 6 year old birthday party complete with a piñata, musical chairs, cake, nachos, and all the Coke and Fanta you could handle. We were invited because the party was for Celine and Amy who are two of my students. Celine’s parents own part of the Princess Hotel which is where the girls and I visit often to get cash from the ATM, lay by the pool, watch a movie, of just bask in the AC. We see Mr. Aykurt (Celine’s dad) almost every time we walk through the front doors, so he invited us to join in on all of the festivities. My whole class was there, and they were pretty excited to see me when I walked in just as they always are when I see them out somewhere other than school. Seriously, my students think it’s so cool to see Ms. Cobb walking down the street, at the grocery store, or eating at a restaurant. It’s actually really cute when they see me and get all excited about it!
