week one

i've been in Orange Walk for a week now. i'm slowly learning the lay of the land. we've found some good stores, a fantastic bakery, stopped in at a few different community development agencies, danced like fools at an outdoor rock concert, and spent a minimum of four hours a day studying Spanish.

yesterday, the Business Development folks who are training in Santa Martha came into town to check their email and buy some essentials (everyone needs a yoga mat!). we had a fantastic barbecue lunch at the home of their language trainer, Efrain. Belizeans love a good barbecue, and any weekend serves as an excuse. we've already been invited to his niece's baptism next weekend, with opportunity for more good food. the only downside to the day - Nadov managed to get bitten by a dog. a nasty German Shepard on a chain long enough to give him easy access. tore his shorts into pieces, but he got out of it largely intact. there are way more dogs running around Belize than i'm comfortable with, but i've managed to remain unmolested so far.

night before last there was an outdoor rock concert in the market square. six Belizean bands doing mostly cover songs. can't say i ever anticipated hearing Belizeans doing Bon Jovi songs, but it was fantastic. Kyle entertained all by doing his version of an anti-rain dance (apparently he's got powers, because it actually worked) and headbanging with the locals. my host sister Yolanda works for the local radio station, and she joined us for the fun.

all the Youth Development folks drove four hours south to Hopkins on Thursday for a teacher trainer workshop on the new Belizean Health and Family Life Education curriculum that they'll be implementing in schools this year. as an HIV/AIDS volunteer, i'll be working with it a lot. the teacher trainers are a feisty and fun group. it's likely that my future work counterpart was in that room, but since i don't know where i'm going yet, who can say? the training was at a beautiful resort not ten feet from the Caribbean shore. made it kind of difficult to listen to the presentations when the ocean breezes were blowing through the room... i can't believe Maya was stationed there. spoiled brat! i will most definitely be taking a beach vacation when she arrives in August!