Snapshots of Belizian Life...

Living in Belize can be really hard and really good at the same time- I thought I'd share some random events

-yesterday as I was walking home, I came about an inch from stepping on a large Tarantula- I leaped over the thing, shrieking, no doubt amusing my neighbors to no end
-there are two little girls, probably about 6 and 4 years old, who have taken a liking to me. One day in mass the older girl sat in front of me, and kept turning around and grinning at me. I don't know who they belong to (she was by herself), but I invited her to sit with me at mass. She was very attentive the whole mass, except when she fell asleep on my lap during the Homily. Now, whenever I see them in town, they start shrieking in Spanish, and run and fling themselves at me for a hug. They chatter at me in Spanish for a while, give me lots of hugs and kisses, and then go on their way. I don't even know their names!
-I found out the other day that a student of mine is absent often because her family cannot afford the bus fare. It is $1 a day, and she just saves up for a few days until she can afford to get to school again.
-I was at a local grocery store with another teacher last week, when a Mount Carmel student came in. She insisted on treating us both to sodas and popsicles, and then her family gave us a ride home. Students are so generous, even when they have so little.