Hey everyone,
It is now been 4 or so days that I have been here. I left Wednesday morning the 9th from Regan National where mom and dad had dropped me off. I flew to Houston where Jess, myself and many others got our connector flight for Belize.
The flight down went fast and before we knew it we were on the bus to San Ignacio. The bus driver thundered along the highway, a single road, avoiding pedestrians, driving into on coming traffic and soaring over speed bumps. By the time we got to San Ignacio, it was dark. I was dropped off at the first stop just by the hotel we were staying at, Martha's Guest house. We quickly got set in our rooms and unpacked a bit. It is a beautiful room, I will try to get photos up soon. Out our shower window we over look the town . We also have a balcony that has a gorgeous view.
Right across the street is a little corner store that we can get almost anything we want. I found some Frosted Flakes, appropriately renamed Azucaritas because of the massive amounts of sugar on them. They were a little stale but quite delicious as a snack.
Back to the storyline. First night we all ate at Martha's Guest House for dinner. It was good to see what the place where we would be eating the majority of our meals looked like. The service was a bit slow, but the food here is delicious. When we returned to our room, we found that they had numerous channels on our TV. The Simpson's were on so we had that playing while we unpacked further. The next morning, Thursday (how long ago that seems), we got up and had breakfast downstairs. In Belize, and probably elsewhere in neighboring countries, they served this fried dough called Fried Jacks. They are delicious and go well with beans or jam. Also, each breakfast has a side of wonderful fruit, usually guava. All gets devoured hastily. This might be the first semester since I started college that I will eat breakfast regularly.
After breakfast, we had the whole day to ourselves. Jay and Meg, our program directors and UVM teachers, showed us around town. In the afternoon we went up to this beautiful hill top pool where I am now typing this post. I had some cell phone trouble, I got a ride up with Jay and avoided a long haul up a very steep hill. Today, Saturday, I wasn't so lucky, but I quite enjoyed the workout.
This hotel has a beautiful pool overlooking the surrounding mountains and towns. It has a giant terridactel and waterfall that spew water on occasion. You really just need to see the pictures, its hard to explain a terridactal that spews water. After that, we returned for dinner and went to bed earlyish. Friday we had orientation at our university, Galen.
Orientation began at 8:30, so a few bleary eyed people who had spent the night drinking stumbled onto the bus just before we left. It was hard for all of us, but particularly on them, sitting through the next 8 hours of information. The beginning speeches were good but the at 10, we started an orientation geared to the other international students, the Global Learning Semester program (GLS). It was very boring and Meg and Jay had already been over almost everything before so we were saturated with information by the end of it (3:30). We then got our book list and headed back to our rooms to prepare for a silly scavenger hunt, that seemed quite childish and touristy, to get to know the area. Having already been here for 2 days, we knew most of what was happening and where to go in San Ignacio. Exploring was fun, but we have 4 months to do so. Anyways, we had then met for dinner and enjoyed a night out on the town.
I have found, so far, most people here are very friendly and want to get to know us. However, there are some shady people who just want to know us for our money and generosity. Sometimes its hard to define a line for yourself at what point you think it is worth giving some money or not, but I think that will develop as we stay further.
One other thing I did not mention that should be mentioned on our free day was that we played a forty-five minute game of ultimate frisbee with the local kids during their lunch break. They were really excited about it and I hope to get back and meet with the kids during the rest of the semester. There is a school nearby Galen where I may do some tutoring, but I hope to do at least some community service for San Ignacio, they are doing so much to accommodate us we have to give back.
Today, Saturday the 12th, we had another free day. We got to go to an open market where there were some wonderful fresh fruits and assortments of foods to purchase. We don't have a stove yet, but soon we will be able to cook our own dinner. Now, I am up at that hilltop pool, overlooking the valley. It is amazing I can get internet out here and communicate with the world in such a remote place. The weather is nice, but soon it will get much hotter. We will have to find a place that is not such a long climb up. Maybe a river or something.
Hope all is well with everyone. I don't yet have internet at my accommodations, but hopefully that will be fixed soon.
Send me an email to tell me how you all are doing, and I will try to keep this blog as up to date as possible
Right across the street is a little corner store that we can get almost anything we want. I found some Frosted Flakes, appropriately renamed Azucaritas because of the massive amounts of sugar on them. They were a little stale but quite delicious as a snack.
Back to the storyline. First night we all ate at Martha's Guest House for dinner. It was good to see what the place where we would be eating the majority of our meals looked like. The service was a bit slow, but the food here is delicious. When we returned to our room, we found that they had numerous channels on our TV. The Simpson's were on so we had that playing while we unpacked further. The next morning, Thursday (how long ago that seems), we got up and had breakfast downstairs. In Belize, and probably elsewhere in neighboring countries, they served this fried dough called Fried Jacks. They are delicious and go well with beans or jam. Also, each breakfast has a side of wonderful fruit, usually guava. All gets devoured hastily. This might be the first semester since I started college that I will eat breakfast regularly.
After breakfast, we had the whole day to ourselves. Jay and Meg, our program directors and UVM teachers, showed us around town. In the afternoon we went up to this beautiful hill top pool where I am now typing this post. I had some cell phone trouble, I got a ride up with Jay and avoided a long haul up a very steep hill. Today, Saturday, I wasn't so lucky, but I quite enjoyed the workout.
This hotel has a beautiful pool overlooking the surrounding mountains and towns. It has a giant terridactel and waterfall that spew water on occasion. You really just need to see the pictures, its hard to explain a terridactal that spews water. After that, we returned for dinner and went to bed earlyish. Friday we had orientation at our university, Galen.
Orientation began at 8:30, so a few bleary eyed people who had spent the night drinking stumbled onto the bus just before we left. It was hard for all of us, but particularly on them, sitting through the next 8 hours of information. The beginning speeches were good but the at 10, we started an orientation geared to the other international students, the Global Learning Semester program (GLS). It was very boring and Meg and Jay had already been over almost everything before so we were saturated with information by the end of it (3:30). We then got our book list and headed back to our rooms to prepare for a silly scavenger hunt, that seemed quite childish and touristy, to get to know the area. Having already been here for 2 days, we knew most of what was happening and where to go in San Ignacio. Exploring was fun, but we have 4 months to do so. Anyways, we had then met for dinner and enjoyed a night out on the town.
I have found, so far, most people here are very friendly and want to get to know us. However, there are some shady people who just want to know us for our money and generosity. Sometimes its hard to define a line for yourself at what point you think it is worth giving some money or not, but I think that will develop as we stay further.
One other thing I did not mention that should be mentioned on our free day was that we played a forty-five minute game of ultimate frisbee with the local kids during their lunch break. They were really excited about it and I hope to get back and meet with the kids during the rest of the semester. There is a school nearby Galen where I may do some tutoring, but I hope to do at least some community service for San Ignacio, they are doing so much to accommodate us we have to give back.
Today, Saturday the 12th, we had another free day. We got to go to an open market where there were some wonderful fresh fruits and assortments of foods to purchase. We don't have a stove yet, but soon we will be able to cook our own dinner. Now, I am up at that hilltop pool, overlooking the valley. It is amazing I can get internet out here and communicate with the world in such a remote place. The weather is nice, but soon it will get much hotter. We will have to find a place that is not such a long climb up. Maybe a river or something.
Hope all is well with everyone. I don't yet have internet at my accommodations, but hopefully that will be fixed soon.
Send me an email to tell me how you all are doing, and I will try to keep this blog as up to date as possible
2 comments:
Wonderfully descriptive! We would definitely love to be next to you on that hilltop by the pool...we look forward to seeing your pictures. And, we look forward to updates!
Love, M, D, and G
Thanks for sharing your experience in both words and pictures. I know you are going to have a wonderful time.
Love,
Marty
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