We had an exciting event for the school on Belize's independence day. All the area schools get together and march in a parade. They are all in their uniforms and look sharp. Each school carries a banner with their name. There are some floats and bands and even though the kids were hot and tired they still enjoyed the day. The students have had a good start in school, they want to learn and they do their homework. They are good kids. In the option classes they are able to take sewing or agriculture and both are going well.
Kaylee and Leah are doing well in homeschool. They're also having a great time getting to know the children around our place here. Spot is their constant companion. He actually caught and killed a rat the other day!! Yeah!!!!! We didn't know he could or would do that but we were thrilled. I don't mind the snakes or frogs or creepy guys but I HATE rats.
It has been raining on and off every day now for about 5 days, before that it had been unusually dry for this time of year they tell us. It has also been abit cooler. It is suppose to be quite cool from Nov -Feb give or take a bit, but cool is a relative term! The really hot time is march and april. It's a dry heat then as opposed to the high humidity that we've just had. I have a hard time thinking that it is really almost October as it feels and looks like mid summer. It's neat experiencing a new climate. We went to the zoo and saw lots of wonderful animals. It's a great zoo and we had a really nice time. You don't see wild animals here hardly ever. We haven't seen any in the wild since we've been here. They are being hunted out.
We've been going around the village getting familar with the people and visiting the homes of Dale's students. It's good to make contact with the parents and the rest of the families. Many of his students come from huge families. One boy has 17 siblings, another 15 and so on. The average family has around 10 children! All of these they house in homes that are about the size of our garage at home.
Our day here starts at about 5:30 and people start showing up at 7. People have a different idea of privacy here than we do at home. They will peek in at us through the slats in our windows even at night and when you invite them in some have started rooting around in our things. They often don't announce that they are standing outside your window until you look up and are looking into someones face! I've scared afew people because when that happens I scream and jump and sometimes drop or throw what is in my hands! Some are starting to call out hello before they get to the house now.
We are enjoying our stay here, and I'm glad we've had this opportunity. It's very busy but it's great too. I'll write more later, gotta go. God bless
Tammy, Dale, Kaylee, Leah, & Spot