June 29
Training has continued to go well and we are still having fun. The more we learn about our specific project, the more excited we get. All the education people will be split into three groups when we head out for community based training and will either learn K’ekchi (to work with the Maya people), Garifuna (to work with the Garifunas) or Kriole. We do not know where we will be yet, but are lucky that we will find out next week when we split off for community based training where it will focus on language and technical skills and we’ll get a new family! More adjustments… Our medical sessions have begun and we must have the best PCMO (Medical Officer) because she is hilarious and just puts all the crazy medical stuff into a fun package – I guess when you have to discuss diarrhea for two hours you build a pretty good sense of humor! Our vaccines and malaria medicine started last week and we get more today. The malaria pills can cause “vivid” dreams and they did for Ginnie, it’s weird and sad that we have to take them weekly because Ginnie already has vivid dreams, so these are basically hallucinations! It’s bizarre, let’s hope they don’t continue! Wednesday was a really fun day – everyone was randomly split into small groups and given a mission to complete for our “Mission Impossible” day, which everyone had been curious about since day one (there were very few details on the schedule! Ginnie’s team was sent out to the district town of Dangriga on the coast, and Anthony was sent out to Belize City. It was fun, each group had several landmarks and things to find and pick up to get back to headquarters. We also took the opportunity to explore our sites and see a new part of the country. Ginnie’s group spent some time at the beach and had lunch at a great café run by a German woman who had lived here as a volunteer and decided to return for good. Anthony’s group really got to see a lot of the big city since they had to navigate a busier area and visited the Supreme Court and other places. They did some shopping and checked out all the things available out there. After a long and hot day with lengthy bus rides, we got out early and just had some down time for the afternoon. Because we are still adjusting to the “schedule” the buses run on, we really didn’t get home much earlier than usual! Our days are pretty full since we train from 8am to 5pm and catch the bus by 7am and then sometimes are not able to get a bus until 6:30pm or later! We have definitely started new sleeping habits – by 8pm, we’re exhausted and up and ready by 6am, it’s definitely a change, but a good one. Training is 6 days a week and this week we have all been invited to the U.S. Ambassador’s house for a fourth of July cookout and pool party! We had to sign waivers today in order to use the pool, but it is exciting to get to spend the day at the embassy and celebrate American-style (maybe they’ll have burgers… probably not turkey burgers though, but at least some grilled chicken would be nice!). Gotta get back to Kriol class.
Training has continued to go well and we are still having fun. The more we learn about our specific project, the more excited we get. All the education people will be split into three groups when we head out for community based training and will either learn K’ekchi (to work with the Maya people), Garifuna (to work with the Garifunas) or Kriole. We do not know where we will be yet, but are lucky that we will find out next week when we split off for community based training where it will focus on language and technical skills and we’ll get a new family! More adjustments… Our medical sessions have begun and we must have the best PCMO (Medical Officer) because she is hilarious and just puts all the crazy medical stuff into a fun package – I guess when you have to discuss diarrhea for two hours you build a pretty good sense of humor! Our vaccines and malaria medicine started last week and we get more today. The malaria pills can cause “vivid” dreams and they did for Ginnie, it’s weird and sad that we have to take them weekly because Ginnie already has vivid dreams, so these are basically hallucinations! It’s bizarre, let’s hope they don’t continue! Wednesday was a really fun day – everyone was randomly split into small groups and given a mission to complete for our “Mission Impossible” day, which everyone had been curious about since day one (there were very few details on the schedule! Ginnie’s team was sent out to the district town of Dangriga on the coast, and Anthony was sent out to Belize City. It was fun, each group had several landmarks and things to find and pick up to get back to headquarters. We also took the opportunity to explore our sites and see a new part of the country. Ginnie’s group spent some time at the beach and had lunch at a great café run by a German woman who had lived here as a volunteer and decided to return for good. Anthony’s group really got to see a lot of the big city since they had to navigate a busier area and visited the Supreme Court and other places. They did some shopping and checked out all the things available out there. After a long and hot day with lengthy bus rides, we got out early and just had some down time for the afternoon. Because we are still adjusting to the “schedule” the buses run on, we really didn’t get home much earlier than usual! Our days are pretty full since we train from 8am to 5pm and catch the bus by 7am and then sometimes are not able to get a bus until 6:30pm or later! We have definitely started new sleeping habits – by 8pm, we’re exhausted and up and ready by 6am, it’s definitely a change, but a good one. Training is 6 days a week and this week we have all been invited to the U.S. Ambassador’s house for a fourth of July cookout and pool party! We had to sign waivers today in order to use the pool, but it is exciting to get to spend the day at the embassy and celebrate American-style (maybe they’ll have burgers… probably not turkey burgers though, but at least some grilled chicken would be nice!). Gotta get back to Kriol class.
Some fun training photos:
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