Life in Spanish Lookout...week three.

Here's the post I've been promising everyone! My laptop is somewhat up and running, so I'm pretty happy about that. It's not perfect...there's still a blue screen that shows up, but then the computer automatically restarts itself, and all is well again. I'm not sure what to think, but now it's alive for long enough that I can actually upload all of my pictures! I don't trust this computer yet, so they're all going onto a flash drive, and the good ones I'm keeping on my memory card. I can only take 9 more, so I was in desperate need of putting those pictures somewhere.

Now, I'll update you on life here in Spanish Lookout. It's hard to believe that we're already working on our third week! This past week flew by...I guess it's true that the first week is long and then the rest goes quickly. I only have one week left of my first of three placements. This past weekend we spent Saturday in Blue Hole National Park, in which is a 25 ft. deep water hole (aka the “Blue Hole”)in the middle of the jungle. The water is a misty tourquoise colour. It's not the Blue Hole in the ocean though...that would be scary to visit! (Google it if you've never heard of it) One mile down the road there's a massive cave, which we explored first. It was about 300 yards long to walk into, but then you could swim farther in. We all had our bathing suits on, so we didn't pass up the opportunity. I won't say it wasn't scary, especially since at some points the ceiling came a little low and there was no natural light in sight. We lit the way by a few flashlights, and just the fact that we were so far underground and swimming was a scary thought. We swam as far as the water could take us, up to the point where we couldn't really fit anymore. I loved every second of it though.


I have four days left at Roseglen Christian School. It's sad that it's almost over already! This past week I've being giving a lot of math help, as well as doing flashcards with the grade one and two students. I'm so used to being addressed as 'Miss Elena' now! The way they pronounce it is really cool too! I also help kids my age with their math as well, and they're all asking me if I'm going to come along with them on their school field trip on Friday. The field trip is a daytrip to a very very conservative community (It's like the Amish, but they aren't the Amish...they're something else.) Those are all the details I know, but they all really want me to come along and the principal said it was my call...I could go if I wanted to! Naturally, I said yes. I don't want to pass up any opportunities on this trip. Yesterday was the last day of the third quarter in their school year, so they were really busy. I was marking tests for teachers, testing students...all this in thirty plus weather. The school has an outdoor concept, with each classroom kind of like a cabin, and you need to walk from one to the next. I really like it because I'm getting so much fresh air here. I've never been outside so much!
Another thing I do at the school is teach art to Mr. Milton's class on Tuesday afternoons. It was a bit of a last minute thing, so for the first week the only thing I had on hand was some origami paper and books that my Mom sent with me to make some cool things for kids when I work at the children's home. But, it looked as though I was short on options, so I went with that. We ended up making two projects, one that I can't explain...you'd need to see it to understand it. The other one we made was a helicopter...and just seeing them all turn out and seeing the kids run outside and toss them in the air was so rewarding. They hadn't had much in the way of art classes, so I think they appreciated it, and I liked being able to show someone else how to fold paper, and that it's actually a pretty cool thing!
This week in art, only three students were done their schoolwork, so what we did was we went down to the parking lot and collected some nice flat rocks. We painted them, and then we wrote Bible verses or little things like “Jesus Rocks” (on a rock...). Then what you do with them is you put them out on the roadside, so that people walking on the road see them and see the Bible verses! It's a cool idea...Mrs. Hein gave it to me because I was trying to think of ideas the night before. This upcoming week we might weave baskets with paper...we'll have to see what happens. Monday nights are usually when I work all that out.

Life at my host family has been really good too! Meghan and I were pretty busy this week...there was no school on Monday because of the national holiday Baron Bliss day (look it up...it's pretty interesting!), so we were dropped off at the Heins' house at around lunchtime. The whole afternoon I spent catching up in my diary, which I am unfortunately falling behind in again. I write too much, but there's so much to write about! That's why I'm thankful this computer is up and running because I type faster than I write.

At night we're very busy. Tuesday nights we teach a kids church while the adults watch a DVD message, and that can get pretty tiring. The first time we did it was rather eventful. We had a whole bunch of kids, we had to do a puppet skit with “Gladly the Bear” (needless to say, it was hard to keep a straight face during that) and then a bird got in the room. Meghan and I ran out of the room, while the kids all cornered the bird...obviously not freaked out at all.
Wednesday nights are Bible Study. Bible Study consists of singing a few songs before we begin, and then we meet in groups outside to discuss the previous lesson. The thing is that the youth don't talk much, so it's hard to get answers out of them. It's still interesting though, because we've met a few really neat youth here.
Thursday is volleyball night. All the youth get together and play volleyball and soccer. This week we played volleyball for two solid hours. I always forget until I actually start playing that I'm horrible at volleyball. I played anyways, and the youth all play by their own rules. They have the whole 'three hits' thing down, but most of their plays involve more lifts than anything else. Some people are really good though...a few were on my team and they hogged the ball.
Fridays when we come home from school we quickly shower, pack, clean up our rooms, and meet at the dairy for some ice cream and to be picked up by our bus with squeaky brakes. Oh, and on Monday morning when we were going to all be dropped off at our placements, our bus wouldn't start. It looked as though we'd paid ten thousand dollars for a bus that worked for only a week. It did start thank goodness, and it's been working ever since.

Last weekend was pretty awesome. On Saturday March 10, I spent the day at Southwater Caye, a little tropical island resort that probably only had about 50 people on the entire island. The first thing I did was go snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea! Unfortunately, when I first jumped into the water I forgot it was salty seawater, and I got a good mouthful of it. It was all worth it though, when I looked under the water. The coral reef wasn't as colourful as I'd expected, but I still loved it! There were these big purple meshy kind of plants that looked like big fans and I was so tempted to touch one, but I didn't, or else they apparently die. I also saw fish! Blue ones, rainbow coloured ones, a coral fish(but he was shy and only poked his nose out of his hiding spot) and two barracudas! I stayed away from them though. We did that for about half an hour, and then the next group went. The remainder of the day was spent tanning out on the docks, eating some really good rice, taking picture of the island, and drinking coke out of glass bottles! The whole time I was thinking “I wonder what everyone will say when I show them pictures of this place!” I still can't believe I was actually there...a tropcial island! The speedboat ride was also pretty fun too, but on the way I was up at the front...and I didn't do that again. I didn't know just how hard that boat crashes down on the water every time it hits a bit wave. The ride was also half an hour long, so by the end...I had a bit of a sore backside!
Ok...the dead chicken incident. Meghan and I were going to bed pretty late a few nights ago...like around twelve. I was just walking into our room and Meghan said to me “Do you smell that?”
Sure enough, it reeked...like the smell of slaughtered chickens, courtesy of the chicken killing plant just down the road. We closed windows, turned on the fan, and tried to find anything we could that smelled nicer than the smell of dead poultry. I guess we made a bit of noise, because Mrs. Hein came in and...realized the situation. She gave us a solution...kids cherry-scented vicks to put under our noses. We slept very nicely after that. Another thing that we did this week was sleep outside in the hammocks. She accomplished it, I...attempted it. We got in them at around eleven, and for about two and a half hours I tried to sleep. Meghan had the more comfortable hammock, and the oil refineries surrounding Spanish Lookout light up the sky. Everyone has dogs, and they all wake up at night. And bark. Plus, I smelled dead chickens. I looked at my options. Stay out here with Meghan and try to sleep, probably with no luck, or go inside and get at least a few hours in, but leave Meghan outside. I chose inside. Meghan slept through the whole night out there...and she said she's never had such a comfortable sleep. I guess hammocks aren't for everyone.
I feel like I'm running out of things to say, but there's still so much on my mind. This blog post has been hanging over me for the past week though...as well as the need to email everyone again. I really need to send out another email, and I'm hoping to do that this weekend. If there's anyone who wants me to add them to my list of people to email to, just leave a comment on my blog or send me an email...and I'll add you! (It's eknibbe28@hotmail.com)
I'm sorry that it took so long to update this again. There's so much happening with me that it's difficult to collect my thoughts in word form. I hope this will do for now : ) Thank you all again for your support and prayers. Even though I'm only working on my third week, I can already tell this is going to be an experience I'll never forget.