Miriam left last week, so we had the first annual Miriam Bianchi Memorial Frisbee Game to commemorate her- before she actually left, because she wanted to play too :)

One of our bunnies got sick last week- we had to do some emergency medicine and give him a saline drip...

Yesterday the heat index was 110, and we didn't have school for "safety reasons." Some Belizian teachers went on strike, and while MCHS is not striking, those in charge decided we shouldn't be around in case someone thought we should strike. So we had a pointless day off- absolutely nothing happened in the entire country- and now we are back to school. The week is a write-off, though, because lots of kids milk this for all it's worth and haven't returned to school. Therefore, I can't move on and cover new material/ give tests, because 1/3 of each of my classes was missing today. Ah, the experience of an evolving country...
As I mentioned, it is incredibly hot here. I really didn't think it could get hotter, and then it did. Contributing to the overall hotness are multiple forest fires. The air is really hazy, and the sun looks red all the time. There has been a drought for quite some time now, but never fires until now. Hopefully, we will get rain soon, because the fires will continue burning until rain puts them out.

Well, once again the country is in turmoil because of a corrupt government. Last week riots broke out in Belize City, and some major landmarks were burned. This is partially because the opposition leader keeps urging "civil disobedience." I really don't think many people know what he means. Our first and second formers didn't even know who Hitler was- assuming that people here understand the methods of Martin Luther King and Gandhi is a bit of a stretch. Thus, instead of sit-ins, or whatever the opposition is hoping for, we get riots and looting. The issues are the same as when the teacher's went on strike, because nothing ever changed after the first strike. The phone company has been on strike on and off for the last week, and people keep cutting the power lines, so power has been going on and off. Mostly, everyone has been inconvenienced, but the government doesn't care. There is talk of another teacher's strike, but the volunteers at Mount Carmel have made it clear we will not participate. I told all my kids to show up regardless, I will be there teaching. It is counterproductive to let education suffer- an uneducated population is easier for the government to manipulate. This government was reelected not even a year ago by a democratic election, so I don't think they can get rid of them- who knows. So we'll just wait and see what happens!

Today one of my students invited me to visit her house after school- her family grows orchids for exporting. I've only been teaching this class since Easter, so I didn't know her very well, and it was a joy to get to know her out of school. She is an amazing kid- she chatted nonstop all the way to her house, touching random topics like how she loves biology and is interested in medicinal plants to how she saw a TV program about a man with the stigmata, and thought that was really special that he could feel how Christ suffered. She was genuinely fascinated with the beautiful orchids her family raised, and it was neat to see all the different varieties. However, I was more interested in meeting her family and seeing how they interacted. This girl is constantly smiling, and friendly to everyone, and yet her mother was sitting at the kitchen table with her four year old nephew, teaching him addition with the help of a belt. When he got distracted or silly, he got a snap with the belt- and no one in the family even noticed. It is quite eye-opening for me to see where my students are coming from. And it is amazing to me that such a sweet girl can emerge from such a background. I know so many of the kids here are treated similarly- a 10 year old neighborhood boy who has befriended me told me he doesn't really like his teacher because he hits them. Mostly all we can do is pray for them- for the kids and the parents.

Yesterday was very exciting- when the principal found out a new pope had been elected, it was announced (ie yelled from the courtyard) and the whole school started cheering. Our cook at the rectory rang the church bells for 20 solid minutes! Last night the power went out before mass, so we started 7pm mass by candlelight. Father offered the mass for our new pope, Benedict the 16th, and the lights immediately came back on!

Lots of Pictures!!

Well, I finally got a good internet source- a new internet cafe opened up in Benque!- so here are finally some more pictures.

First, this is proof of how hot it is down here. A few weeks ago, this was a perfectly straight candle. Now, it is rather
abstract.

Me on the beach at Placencia one morning.

This is me studying for the GREs in Placencia.  If you have to study, you might as well study on the beach.....

 

This is the main street of Placencia, a beach town where we went over spring break.  This "street" is in the world record book for being the narrowest i the world.

Pyramids of Tikal, Guatemala. I went with my parents and sister when they visited.

This is the crucifixion scene from the living stations of the cross done through the streets of Benque.

with a month and a half left of school, the kids are getting wild. The super hot weather doesn't help any, for sure. Today one of the math classes went on "strike", and walked out of class during a quiz. During lunch today, I heard some terribly loud noises, and ran outside to find one of the boys on the roof of the teacher's lounge. It seems like the whole school, teachers included, are suffering from senioritis :)
I have some fun additions to my lab- 3 very cute rabbits. As soon as I get a consistent internet source, I'll put up pictures. They have educational names (and so therefore their existence in my lab is validated): Mendel is a white albino (and therefore recessive genotype) bunny, Darwin is brown and white- he exhibited natural selection characteristics when he was the only bunny who did not escape the cage and get into the food- and Hershey Kiss is a dark brown dwarf bunny. Two out of three isn't bad :)

Lately it's been really hot down here, so it's hard to keep the kids' attentions. I'm in creative overdrive right now. Monday, my advanced biology class "solved" a crime by looking at clues under a microscope. We are working on microscope skills right now, so they had to identify things like animal hair, cotton fibers, different types of paper, and sugar or salt in order to figure out which suspect was the criminal. It was fun for me, and I think they enjoyed it too! My sophomores are learning about the skeletal system. We did skeletal Simon Says yesterday, and we'll do skeletal Bingo tomorrow. I think I do most of these things to keep myself from getting bored--worksheets and notes just put me to sleep :)

SO to make it official, I have decided to come back next year and teach. I know it will be really good for the kids-- it is hard for them to say goodbye to teachers every year. I got a great job for this summer, which I am super excited about. I will be working at a summer camp that I attended for 4 or 5 years in grade school. So everything seems to be falling into place. And, to top it all off, I will get a raise for returning for a second year- from 12.50 a week to $24!

Be Not Afraid

John Paul II, we will miss you.