Well, the internet connection at the Princess Hotel wasn't working, so I wasn't able to post or communicate with anyone Saturday or Sunday. Today has definitely made up for it though!

Today, the lovely Galen University representatives picked Carly and I up from the hotel and transported us to San Ignacio, Belize, which is about two hours away from Belize City.  They took us out to a traditional Belizian restaurant where I tried the well known plate, rice and beans.  They also have beans and rice, and no they are not the same thing, in fact they are very different.  I also tried some of their freshly squeezed orange juice, which was to die for.  I think I am going to make it a goal to try a new type of juice every day.  So far, I have tried orange, lime, and mango.  Watermelon is next on the list.  Joshua, Kristy, and Mr. Owen took us to Galen University where we met Dr. Aline Harrison, which is the nice lady that we are staying with.  They gave us a tour of the university.  It was so different from our universities and colleges in the U.S.  Their university only had four classrooms and was contained within one building. The neat part was that everyone knew everyone and the atmosphere was very relaxed.

Next on the agenda was to tour the school that we will be teaching at, St. Andrews. I met my host teacher, Ms. Avasiera. I'm sure I couldn't be more off with the spelling of her name.  She teaches Infant 2, which is the equivalent of second grade in the U.S.  I am so unbelievably excited to work with the students tomorrow.  The layout of the school is very different. First off, there is no air conditioning.  Did I mention that April and May are the hottest months of the year in Belize? Therefore, the weather is going to take some getting use to. The great thing is that the school is very open with lots of windows.  The students have their own cafe.  There is also a basketball court that the kids can play on during recess.  We get an hour lunch break in which we go home to eat our midday meal.  I'm excited for burritos tomorrow! Dr. Harrison's mother, Alicia will be cooking our midday meals. All this week I will be observing and getting to know the students, the teacher, and the school routine.

After the tour of the school, Dr. Harrison took us downtown, which is only a five minute walk from our house.  We explored some of the local shops and restaurants.  We ate dinner at her brother's pizza shop, Yoli's Pizza, at the park.  Then we went to the local supermarket and got some breakfast items.  It was so fascinating to see the different items that they had.  There was a lot of rice and beans and then more beans and rice and you can't forget tortillas.  I found some M&Ms, so I was able to get my chocolate fix. 

Today was an adventure! I met a lot of new people and I can't wait for tomorrow's adventures.