Day In The Life

My new life was a little lonely for the first few days, but as I get to know the kids better, and fumble my way around town, my niche here in Belize is beginning to unveil itself a little more each day, bringing with it some comfort and familiarity. I am genuinely happy in my new surroundings. My main focus at the children’s home is to help homeschool two of the boys, Josiah and Edgar (whom everyone calls “Papito”) I work alongside another girl, Elizabeth, who is studying Education in university, to hopefully complete the curriculum of each of their appropriate grade levels. It’s a bit of a challenge most days, and the boys can be quite stubborn, not leaving us a large span of their attention to work with. They’re great kids though; I love them both a lot and I feel like we’ll be able to make progress in the next few months. Elizabeth teaches a couple hours in the morning, I join for a couple more until lunch break, and then take over in the afternoon. We get lots of visits from Alicia, one of the most independent toddlers I know, and also the home’s puppies, whom Edgar LOVES to play with whenever he can sneak away from math and spelling. I know I shouldn’t encourage distractions, but he honestly has one of the most infectious heartfelt giggles I’ve ever heard, and I can never help but to laugh along with him. Class ends at two thirty and the boys race to the computers to play all sorts of games on their favourite websites. Meanwhile, all the young kids, Dj, Aiden, Alexia, Nathan, Alicia and Benjamin, are just waking up from their afternoon nap so I usually wander over and scoop up a baby or two to cuddle while they suck their thumb and rub bleary eyes. Sometimes I just sit in the kitchen with some of the ladies and listen to them chat and cackle away for a while. Everyone speaks English here, for the most part, but I can’t always follow conversations if they are speaking quickly in their Belizean accents. Deciphering what they are saying becomes easier each day though! Shayanne, a super outgoing young teen girl, was telling me about a boy in her class today, “He is American and talks funny, like you!”

The rest of the kids arrive home from school a bit later and the house sees a little more action as it fills up and there is forty-some people milling about. The rest of my time at the house is less structured; changing diapers here, washing dishes there, and just hanging out chatting and playing with kids until around dinner when I usually start my trek back to my house because it gets dark early here, around six. I have a lot of time to myself in the evenings so far, as I can’t (shouldn’t, anyway) walk anywhere while it’s dark. So my nights usually consist of various combinations of reading, writing, cleaning, napping, yoga, organizing, or playing with the kids from the family also living at the house. I know.. exciting, right? I’ve met a few people outside of the home who are also visiting Belmopan for awhile, so maybe I’ll have some sort of social life at some point, but for now I’m quite enjoying to relaxation!