Without further adieu!

Alright gang here it is! The update that you have been waiting for and asking for! I haven’t found the internet in Hopkins yet but I’m assured it is there! First off, Hopkins is amazing. It’s paradise. Seriously, its where even the Belizeans go on vacation, it’s that nice! It’s not far from Dangrigia where I did my traning, in fact only about 15 miles down the cost. But here in Belize that means about an hour bus ride! Go figure! But it is truly amazing. I keep hearing that there are about 1,000 to 2,000 but I was informed by PC today that its more like 5,000. It is almost all Garfunia and everyone in the village speaks grifunia as their first language. Speaking of language, I keep getting that question. And there in the answer: Its going. I’m not great, in fact it’s a extremely difficult language that even Belizeans have trouble with, but I can have a short conversation with people and greet people and that counts more than you would think. Just seeing that I’m trying is what counts. I think now that I’m in a community that speaks more of it I will be learning more.
Now my host family. One word? AMAZING! I live with Ms. Caroline. Her husband works out on a caye but I meet him last week. She is so great. I also have 3 host sisters living with me, Eleanor (ele) is 16 and in high school, Heather is 13 and in standard 6 (goes to the school I work at), and Zanah is 8 and in stand 1 (also goes to the school I work at). I should I suppose tell you that standard 6 is like 8th grade and 1st is like 2nd or 3rd grade. (I have found that standards and grades don’t match up quite right) I also have a 1.5 year old host neafu. His mom lives is in the Us Navy but I have been told that he is going home to the states soon, we’ll see. It’s a great laid back house and beautiful. It is also once again right on the beach. And only a short walk to school.
Speaking of school! I work at Holy Family RC (Roman Catholic) primary school. It’s a great school. My counterpart is a great guy and I’m excited to work with him. I also have some great teachers that I’m excited to work with. There are 16 teachers and a non-teaching principle. (most principles teach) We have just under 400 kids and than 90 in the preschool. It is the only primary school in Hopkins although some kids do go to school in Dangriga. Also there is no high school in Hopkins so those kids also have to travel to Dangriga. I’m not sure the exact amount of students that continue on to high school but I don’t think that it is a very high number.
I also have been working the library. A Former volunteer started it and its great! I never expected to have so many resources as a peace corps volunteer. We have lots of books and crafts and puzzles. I hear during the tourist season many bring books (the resorts in Hopkins gives out our information) or ship it down once they have been there.
You may now be thinking “RESORTS!” and yes there are a few big resorts in Hopkins and lots of little inns and such. It is a pretty touristy spot, which wouldn’t be my first choice but the beauty more than makes up for it!
There is a current volunteer living in Hopkins, she is a second year and leaving in Sept. It has been great having her there, she has shown me around and is clueing me in on everything like who I should know and who I should avoid. At this point I think I’m moving in with her at the end of June, until she leaves and than taking her house! She has fixed it all up and it is amazing! I’ll try to takes pics when I get back and post them soon, actually I’ll try to take pics of Hopkins and such and post them soon.
This week we (all the trainees) are in Belmopan for the final week of training before swearing in. Friday morning I get sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I seriously can’t believe this is happening! This all seems too good to be true! Saturday I will be returning to Hopkins as a official PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) and my two years will start! I’m so happy that I am here. Of course like everyone everywhere I have my good days and bad days but I couldn’t have dreamed of something better. Also thank you for all of your support I couldn’t do this with out you! And the letters, and emails and cards. They make my day!
I think this is all I have for now but after training ends and I have more time (and track down internet in Hopkins) I should be able… no I will update more and tell hopefully some good stories! This place is amazing and I can’t wait for everyone to come visit, just be warned you may not want to return home!

Also on a different note, on the side bar you may notice a change. I have been getting asked be a few people what they can send me or what I am dying for. So I have compiled a wish list of sorts. In no way does this me I expect anything but if you in mood I would love any of it! Also I have a new address. Don’t worry if you have sent something to Belmopan address, they will forward it to me in Hopkins and I can receive mail there for the rest of my service it’ll just be quicker and more convenient in Hopkins!

Also! Big news! I have stopped wearing a watch, no more time (also perhaps a few of you will realize the bigger significance of this! (love you!) I’m adjusting to belize corps time well.

Now last but NOT least my happy thoughts from what the last month???
~Don’t compare your life to other’s lives. You have no idea what their journey is all about. (My personal fav quote of all time and the key to not going crazy in PC)

~Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. –Ambrose Redmoan

~ Turtles can tell more about the roads than hares. –Kahlil Gibran

~Clarity of mind means clarity of passion too: this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what he loves. – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

~The years teach much which the days never knew. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

~My favorite thing is saying something true, she said, but I’m a lot older than you and don’t have to worry so much about my reputation. –Story People

~We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. –Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

~Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

~ Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement. –Alfred Adler

~People come, People go- They’ll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Than you fine yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past –The Rescue (for the record I like this butttttt.. I like to view my life as a serious (the babysitters club if you will) where there are a few character that stick around and show up and are main characters in every new book I open  )

~…but what really broke a heart was taking away it’s dream- whatever that dream may be. –Pearl S. Buck

~Many an opportunity is lost because a man is looking for four-leaf clovers.

~Because, often, they’re (clichés) dead on. But the aptness of the clichés saying is overshadowed by the nature of the saying as a cliché. –The Kite Runner

~One loses so many laughs by not laughing at oneself.

~If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse: however if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that. –Johann Wolfgang von Gorthe

~Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding. –Albert Einstein

~A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. –Oliver Wendall Holmes

~If we cannot live so as to be happy, let us at least live so as to deserve it. –Immanual Hermass Van Fichte

~You’re my exception –He’s just not that into you

~I have long distrusted anything that smacked of prize, and I still distrust them. Of course, in the end, prizes, awards, scholarships, contests, elections, appointments, best ofs and worst ofs, most hideous sex scene, most overvalued stock, best American city, Highest-ranking university, most values player, best ass, best rack, best book, are subjective measures of one person’s or a group’s taste against that of another’s. Enough of this can breed a culture, and culture, by definition is inevitable corrupt. –Alice Sebold

~It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped on link at a time. –Sir Winston Churchill

~If I were you I would not find fault with the sea at low tide. It is a good ship and our captain is able: it is only your stomach that is in dosorder. –Kahlil Gibran

~No theory of life seemed to him to be of any importance compared with life itself. He felt keenly conscious of how barren all intellectual speculation is when separated from action and experiment. –Oscar Wild

~That is the best- to laugh with someone because you both think the same things are funny. –Gloria Vanderbilt

Until next time!