Hey All!

Our WSE International students group arrived in San Pedro early this Wednesday afternoon after a long day of travel. We’ve checked into our accommodations and are excited to get started. Our four rooms on the first floor. You can see were we are staying here: http://backpackersbelize.com/

Wednesday Afternoon


In fact, we’ve already met with La Isla Bonita’s Elementary School principal Miss Addy Martinez, her teachers, and her staff this afternoon. We had a positive 30 minute meeting! It seems as if the school will be a good fit for our UNCW students. Our elementary teacher candidates will again visit with faculty and students for an hour tomorrow. The local paper is going to do a story on our students in the local paper and post to the web. I’ll be sure to share. Their start day in the elementary school is next Monday.



See their website here: http://islabonitaelementaryschool.com/index.html

We meet with San Pedro High School principal, Emil Vasquez at 2:30 (Central America time – 2 hours behind ours) tomorrow. We are hoping for results as positive as today!

Wednesday Evening

We enjoyed pizza and beverages at Pedro's Pub. We even rallied together an NCAA basketball pool for the group. Peter (the owner of the Inn) is a unique character and enjoys his Bellikan.




Thursday Morning

We enjoyed a Belizean Breakfast at one of the more uninviting restaurants on the island. But as we are finding out quickly, the more uninviting the establishment, the better the food! So, were told by the host schools, the 'cafe's' and 'deli's', while not attractive and very small (one table!), have incredible burritos, pupusas, and rice and beans.



Before our high school visit, we returned to Pedro's and watched some first round Basketball. But the basketball courts here look a little different! The high school does offer select sports and has a small marching band.





Thursday Afternoon

Principal Vasquez greeted our secondary students at the front of the school with a smile. He was really excited to see us! In fact, he was so excited to see us, he asked if we would be introduced to the San Pedro High School student body. ALL 400 high school students arrived to the open air auditorium from the three story school building as their classes ended. It was quite intimidating and we were definitely in the position of being the "other". Emil introduced me to the students and we received quite the reception. After some welcoming remarks, I introduced each of the four secondary students. Margo Ennis, Kristen Trotter, John Derian, and Will Fassbender (see each of the students here): http://people.uncw.edu/kubaskod/International/Student_summary.htm.
The reception for Will Fassbender was hilarious. You'd have thought he was a member of a "boy band". All the young ladies whistled and cheered!

After a 20 minute assembly, we met with the faculty. Principal Emil led the meeting and we all exchanged introductions. The three science teachers will be dispersed amongst the 5 science teachers at the high school. Schedules, textbooks, and syllabi's will be shared with us tomorrow. We had a brief tour around the building and were joined by the elementary student teachers. Mr. Kelly, the secondary chemistry teacher, shared with us a Belizean soup. It was affectionately called cow hoof soup and contained tripe...yummy!


How exciting to be here after all the planning. See the school's website here: http://ambergriscaye.com/highschool/

We have wireless Internet access at Pedro’s Inn, so feel free to e-mail me.

I do have a cell phone signal, but it is expensive to recieve calls. Please, e-mail me if you need my number.

I’ll post to the blog twice weekly. As the bandwidth provides in the future, I'll add images and video as the bandwith permits. As the students begin to post to their blogs, I’ll be sure to share those with everyone this weekend.