Today was such a Belizian/Central American experience. This morning was Stations of the Cross, acted out in the streets of Benque. Everyone was in costume, and it was a kind of unsettling experience. There was a huge crowd following Jesus, including some people who were mocking the performance--it gave a unique glimpse into what the Crucifixion was like. This afternoon was the veneration of the cross. The crucifix in our Church has a life sized Jesus on it, and today they took it off the cross. The arms move so they can lay him down. Tonight there was a funeral procession of the corpus, laying on a tomb-like float, carried by the men of the parish. Our Lady of Sorrows and St. John followed. This is the third time this week these ladies have carried the massive float with Our Lady! There was also a band, with their drums shrouded with black cloth. In the street, people had made colored sawdust carpet-pictures that the procession walked over. The procession was very long, with tons of incense and hundreds of people following. Tomorrow I'll be going to the vigil (which is ALL in Spanish) because some of the students are getting baptized!

Internet's been down at school again, sorry for the long gap in posts...

We started a new term last Monday, which means I no longer teach my sophomore boys! It's quite a change. I can now teach a class without telling someone to sit down or be quiet or stop throwing that chalk/sink/student every 5 seconds. I haven't quite adjusted to my new classes yet, they are too quiet and obedient. I have a class of 19 sophomore girls, and a junior elective biology class of 9. Together they don't even add up to the smaller of my 2 boys classes! In a month, though, I will have another girl's biology class, because the other science teacher is leaving. My boys tell me they miss me, and that they didn't appreciate me when I taught. I just laugh and agree with them!

Holy week here is really a cultural experience. Sunday they did a procession complete with one of the teachers riding a donkey, which I unfortunately missed because of a nasty case of food poisoning (I will never eat potato empanadas again!). Monday was the procession of Our Lady of Sorrows. The parish has a 4 foot high statue of Mary, which is carried around on the shoulders of the women parishioners. It takes anywhere from 8-14 women to carry this, to give you an idea how heavy this is- the statue rests on a huge wooden platform, complete with floodlights. Following the statue is a guy rolling a portable gas generator- to power the floodlights, of course! They processed for about an hour around town. Last night was a two hour procession, and I definitely carried a statue! The procession was cool- three statues were involved. The men of the church carried a statue of Jesus carrying the cross through the town in one direction. Our Lady of Sorrows, carried by the women, took off in another direction. St. John, carried by myself and 3 other women teachers, followed Mary. Jesus and Mary met (in the middle of the western highway, which was shut down to traffic), and then processed back to Church, with St. John following behind. I wish I had some pictures- it really is quite a spectacle!
Friday is a huge procession day, with the stations of the cross acted out through Benque, which promises to be very cool.

Finally, Ali posted a lot of pictures on her blog- be sure to check it out, she wrote about a lot of stuff that I haven't had time to mention!

Sidewalk counselors in Training!

This last week we covered reproduction and development in my classes. One of the guy teachers taught the reproduction section, and I taught development. The week before, the boys had had an intensive chastity week in Alison's class, so they were hit with everything at once. Abortion is supposedly illegal in Belize, but they have the health exemption, which means it is commonly done. So I wanted to teach my kids the reality of abortions. We started off going day by day through the development of the baby, and I pointed out special landmarks that they were to know, such as the beginning of the heartbeat, when the baby sucks his thumb, when he can recognize his mother's voice, etc. The next day, I taught about abortions-- the different methods done at different times in the pregnancy, and all the graphic details. I made sure to point out as we went through each type of abortion the stage of development that the baby would be at. As an essay question on their test, I asked them what they would say to a 4-month pregnant friend of theirs who was considering an abortion. I thought I'd share some of the answers...

"Can I tell you something, sister? Imagine it, if you don't take your baby out, your baby will grow day by day, week by week, and month by month. And now in the 4th month, you can hear your baby's heartbeat...and all the essential internal and external structures are formed, and you can also know if it is a boy or a girl, how would you want to kill it? And I think if you want it or not, you still this baby's mother, and he is your child." -Jeffrey

"Do you know that on this 4 months your baby is already developed with all his parts. He is a beautiful person why don't you let him live. Also if you make abortion your conscience will not be peacefully every time because you have committed this, abortion is only a fancy name because it should be called murder..." -Agapito

"Do not throw away our brothers and sisters..." -Raphael

"I would say to her, your baby is alive inside of you and he can hear your voice, he can recognize you, his organs are functional, all he has to do is grow and wait to be born. Although your baby is completely developed inside and out, he is defenseless, it is like shooting a sitting duck. Inside the clinic they are going to give a drug to you to induce labour, you are going to think your baby is going to be born, and he is, but your baby is going to be born feet first...the doctor will cut his skull and suck his brain out just before his little head comes all the way out. So I beg you don't go inside there you will regret it for the rest of your life." -Jose (Jose is talking about partial birth abortion)

And here is Alison's influence...
"Also I will tell that let the baby live because God plans [for marriage] to unite and procreate also love children because they are the love between parents. Let him or her see the creation of God for him and for all of us, to see the light and the beautiful world that God had created for him...and to feel the grace of God." -Emerito

Pretty powerful, huh? I am so proud of them for absorbing all the information and taking it to heart.

In other news, Miriam's sisters are here visiting, and the Steubenville mission group is here. I played frisbee with them yesterday!! :)