Leaving on a Jet Plane :)

Well, this is it. One week remains until I fly to Punta Gorda, Belize--as you can see on the map, it is located right on the southeast coast.

While I will be staying in PG, I will be teaching in San Antonio at a school called San Luis Rey-RC (Roman Catholic). It is literally in the jungle.

There are 300 students total, and my class of 1st and 2nd graders has 38 students. Ooof da!

The people in this area speak Mopan Mayan, and this language is mainly spoken in parts of Belize and Guatemala. Their second language is English. Most of the people in this area are farmers.

I will be taking a bus at 6am to the village and will ride it home at 4pm. The bus ride is about an hour long, and the roads are not paved.

I've been in contact with my cooperating teacher in the village, their principal, two other teachers in the area, and a Japanese Peace Corp worker who is teaching there right now. I've also been gathering donations to bring to my school. They have asked for a lot, but because I don't have a lot of money, I'm bring certain things I think they will benefit from such as books, crayons, markers, crafts, balls/frisbees, and some other games/educational tools.

Before I go, the students who I am teaching now at Lincoln Piedmont Elementary are going to make a little book about who they are, what Duluth is like, and ask questions to the children I will be working with in Belize. In return, the students I'll be teaching in Belize will work on writing letters to our students in Duluth.

Apparently, Skype is banned in Belize because they want people to buy phone cards, so for some reason they blocked skyping. I can however go to internet cafes once in a while and use gmail as a phone option.

I am so nervous/excited/anxious/ecstatic/[insert related words HERE] to go, and I will miss my fam, soon-to-be hub, and friends a lot.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand, that's it for now! Ttfn;)