Yep, it really does look like this ...

Exactly like this.

Alas, I do not really have time to completely update you on my too-short 3 day trip to Belize. I did not take this picture, but it really does look exactly like this. I will post some of my own pictures soon. I mean, seriously. But not until after Easter. My bestest friend, Ingela, arrives tomorrow to spend Semana Santa with me, and I am beside myself in excitement. Not only will I get to spend time with the wonderful person she is, she is bringing about an entire suitcase full of goodies. Woohoo! Here are some quick bullet points to tell you just HOW fabulous my trip to Belize was.

1. I met a fabulous older couple in the Ceiba airport who manages condos, and got to stay in a condo in San Pedro (that normally go for $150/night or so), absolutely free.
2. If that isn't enough to make a girl happy, they also got me 20% off my flight from the Belize International Airport to Ambergris Caye (San Pedro). Believe it or not, even without the discount they got for me, it would have been cheaper for me to fly anyway, since taxis to the city cost an outrageous $35 each way, plus the $20 for the water taxi to the island. That's not even mentioning the time and stress I saved myself.
3. I got to relax. I didn't have to do anything except relax. I went snorkeling. Laid in the sun. Laid in the hammock. Read a wonderful book. Took myself out to a nice Mexican place for dinner. Had eggs, and toast, and hashbrowns, and bacon (my favorite breakfast) for the first time since I came to Honduras. It was wonderful.
4. My stress from the past few weeks at school, being sick, not hearing from Saul in 2 weeks (what is with that anyway?), all of it just melted away by Thursday morning (I got there Wednesday afternoon).

About Saul, I would like to talk to him (I have called and sent texts, I just haven't heard anything from him in return), and I really want to know what the hell is going on, but I'm not stressing about it anymore, and well, if I don't talk to him - Life moves on. What kind of guy doesn't call for 2 weeks anyway?

I will post pictures soon. I'm going to get something to eat now, I believe. I will probably not be around all of Semana Santa (not that it's a terribly large surprise to any of you), but I promise to bombard you with posts afterwards.

I'm in Belize,.

So I'm in Belize until Friday. Jealous? Because you probably should be.

It's a long story that I will update you all on later (I always say that don't I?), but the lawyer couldn't get my Visa fixed in time, so here I am in Belize renewing my 90 days. It's costing me the equivalent of my salary for the month of March, but well .. who needs to eat in April? (We only get paid once a month).

It's gorgeous here. I'm on Ambergris Caye in San Pedro Town. I am staying for FREE in a beachfront condo, by the grace of God and a very nice older American couple I met in the airport in La Ceiba. And I'm going snorkeling tomorrow.

Wooo!

Yes, I´m a slacker.

So it sure has been awhile. And, unfortunately, I haven´t written anything that I can just easily upload onto my livejournal, either. For those of you who actually read this in attempts to keep up to date with my life, I apologize.

The last week I wrote, I had just met Saul. Things with him are great, even though I have not seen him yet and the chances of seeing him before Easter seem slim. His grandmother has been very sick, but is starting to recuperate slowly. Keep her in your prayers, if you do that. Plus, he is the worship leader in the Episcopal church in Tegus, and is super busy until Cuaresma (Lent) is over. Ah well, I´ve waited before, right?

Things at school have been crazy lately, but I will do a quick bullet list just to catch you up on the conflict:
1. The Honduran teachers won't sign contracts. I think they are finally starting to sign them, like 2 months later. Most of them have worked at this school for at least 4 years if not longer.
2. The Directora (principal), as it turned out, was giving unauthorized discounts to certain families. Of course, now that we have an Admistrator, it was just time until this came out into the open. She got fired, along with the secretary. There was a lot of tension on the whole bilingual school thing between her and Veronica, since well, the old Directora did not speak English.
3. As of last week, we have a new Directora and secretary. They are both bilingual. Thank goodness. I really like both of them, and I think that the directora will actually help make my job easier instead of making it more difficult.
4. A week before the secretary lost her job, she pulled her two kids out of school (my devil child in 1st grade and her daughter in 2nd grade). While they were both unbearably cute, not having them does make the day go more smoothly, and are 2 less kids that I have to give failing grades to.
5. I'm not sure if I have written about Michael. He is a first grader who comes to Holy Trinity on a scholarship, from an orphanage. He is most definitey ADHD and is completely lost in class, since he doesn't really know any English. He needs way more attention than I can give him. He came for about a month, and then the organization pulled him out since they thought he was too much of a burden, and not trying hard enough to behave well and learn. Veronica really wants him in school, so he left for a week, and then came back this past Monday. She's been so busy, that he just kind of came back into my class and that was that. We are having the same problems as before and now I just don't know what to do, since parents are starting to complain about him again. Well, the new director knows the story now, and I'm really hoping that next week we can figure out how to handle him. You cannot just dump this kind of kid into my classroom! He can't sit still for more than 3 minutes at a time, doesn't even know the letter A in English, and just fights with the kids. He is pretty cute though.
So, that's the low down.

Today is my birthday, and so far, it's been wonderful. Thursday, I went to visit a family I know, who are missionaries here in Ceiba. I will write about them soon. (I know, I always say that). They made me a cake. Then, on Friday at school, the teachers had a surprise after school "meeting" and had Tres Leches (only the best dessert in the whole WORLD). And then today, I was awoken to yet ANOTHER cake being delivered to my door by Isabel and her daughter Nicolle. For lunch, I was invited to go eat Chinese food with Wendy and Luis from church. Tonight, I'm going to Arreciffe's (the best restaurant in Ceiba, with La Gringa and her husband), and I am going to hang out with some friends later on.

Yay for birthdays. 23. I'm almost in my mid twenties, or is 23 already technically in the mid twenties? Regardless, I am apparently almost past my marrying age (according to about everyone in Honduras), so I guess I better get hitched soon.

I'm starting to put some pictures back up on my website. Slowly. There's some of Saul up there. http://new.photos.yahoo.com/pollitatica/albumsI'll write more soon. I promise.