First Day of School

Today was our first day at the school we will be teaching at. We woke up early and had our breakfast at the hotel and then we were picked up to go to school. We gathered all of our school supplies and donations and again piled into the van, but luckily the drive to the school was a short one. The school is about a mile away from where we are staying so it did not take long at all to get there. The school we will be at is called the Kuxlin Ha Government School and it is a Mayan school in the tiny village of Maya Mopan. 

Front view of the school

Closer shot

View of the main courtyard

Shortly after our arrival, we met with the principal and she talked with us about the school and the teachers we were to be working with. Then, we unpacked our donations and met with faculty members from the University of Belize to take photographs for the University's newsletter. 

Picture for the University with students from the school and faculty from UB

Then, we were given a tour of all of the classrooms. It is so different from classrooms in the states! Whenever entering a room, the students would stand and say something like, "Good morning visitors, welcome to our class" and then be seated when instructed to do so. We were then left to our assigned classrooms for some introduction and observation. Chrissy will be working with a standard 2 classroom which is the equivalent to our fourth grade and Melissa will be teaching in a standard 1 class which is the equivalent to third grade. We are both very excited to work with these students and learn so much about their culture. 

Students in an infant 2 (second grade) classroom

Playground behind the school

We noticed a couple of huge differences at the school even after only one day. One thing is that the students spend a lot of time praying and doing daily devotions. The students pray when they first arrive at school, before and after meals, and before leaving school. Another big difference is that there is a morning and afternoon break for the students and teachers as well as an hour lunch break, where most of the students head to their houses for a meal. We ate lunch in a nice screened in room in the middle of the school. We were unsure how our mid-day meal would work, so we picked up some groceries and made sandwiches today. After arriving, we were told that a local woman could make us lunch for only about a dollar a day so we will see how that is tomorrow! 

After eating, we did not return to our classrooms for the afternoon, but we were invited to attend a field trip with some of the older classes. They were taking a bus to the downtown area to see some locals who were having a musical celebration for Garifuna Settlement Day. This is a major holiday that is next Monday that celebrates the Garifuna people who are originally people who escaped from slave ships and took refuge in the coastal countries. There is a large community in Belize. It was an exciting experience and we look forward to all of the celebrations throughout the week. 

C&M

The bus we took to downtown

Locals playing music for Garifuna Settlement Day