Oh my...I love the tropics! That feeling when you first walk out of the airport, way overdressed for the climate, and the humidity is thick - it feels so good. Even in a pair of jeans I was enjoying it. From the airport, I caught a taxi to the water taxi place in Belize City and finally met up with the rest of the group. Yay! We were finally all together to enjoy this amazing experience.
From downtown Belize City there are boats that run to some of the islands. We caught the 12pm sailing and made our way to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. The feeling of sitting on a boat, blasting through the ocean and not feeling the least bit cold is amazing. The ride took an hour and a half, which included a stop on Caye Caulker. Once we arrived in San Pedro it was the waiting game for our ride to the house that we rented. We were supposed to be met at the water taxi by a man that would drive us to the house, but he was nowhere to be found. So, we waited...and waited some more. Finally, we phoned the management company who didn't realise that we would be getting there so early so they had someone come and get us. I love island time. You have no choice but to work on your patience and just enjoy the slow pace of life.
Once we got to the house, which turned out to be exactly what we had hoped it would be, we could get rid of the luggage that we'd been trucking around since Canada. Because we are doing work at a school we brought some extra bags with supplies so we had a lot of stuff, to say the least. The only problem with the house is that the internet was not working - they told us it was on all of the time. So, one of the girls in our group made it happen and basically went to the neighbours and got the password to their internet. So, we're online now too. Technology is a funny thing when you travel because it's nice to tap out of your online world sometimes but it's also cool to be able to communicate your travels with those at home that care. I guess you have to find the balance between enjoying where you're at and also staying in touch (if that's what's important to you). I know that I like to be able to get online when I am away but if it is an unreliable connection or extreeemeeellllly slow it doesn't matter. However, for what we are doing here (teaching) the ability to get online consistently and with some speed will definitely help our cause.
After we settled at the house and got things sorted there we went for our first swim. The beach is directly across the street from our house and again, the neighbours are super nice and told us to use their dock and beach area. It felt so good to get in the water and cool down a bit. We had barely spent anytime outside and we were already starting to get a bit red. Bring on the tan, people! After swimming we explored our little neighbourhood a bit - went for dinner at the small restaurant next door (pretty convenient!), took a walk to the school from our house (just under 8 minutes - that's Canadian speed!) and then just chilled out and went to bed early (9:30pm!).
Now, here we are the next day. Everyone is still sleeping and I am awake. I am an early riser. Somewhere in my late twenties I turned into a morning person and it is my favourite time of the day. Today will be more exploring and getting settled and so on. We meet with our supervisor this evening to talk about the upcoming week at the school and what that should look like. I am nervous for tomorrow but it is just like being anywhere new. There's excitement, apprehension, nervousness, and all kinds of other emotions that are hard to describe. I'll be in touch once we have spent some time at the school.
Hope everyone is doing well from wherever you are reading this!
