Back to School

The group was up early this morning for Duna and Thelma’s breakfast  - scrambled eggs, refried beans and endless fresh flour tortillas with mango jam. The first group (Emma, Maddie, Max and Aaron) went out riding at 8:30 with Emil, our favorite guide. The rest of us got ready to go down to the school. “The school” is the Gallon Jug Community School on the Gallon Jug estate, which serves the children of the Belizeans who live and work here on the farm and at the lodge. For years our friends Mike and Jill Casey ran it, and after they were tragically killed 2 years ago it has struggled to find continuity in its leadership. This year Debbie Lyon is doing a great job, and we worked with her earlier in the year to collect and purchase science supplies so the teachers can build a basic lab, and they were excited by the possibilities as we delivered the equipment.

Teacher turnover is tough here, and this year in addition to Debbie, Kim and Reina from last year are back, and are joined by Reina’s sister Vicky and Kaylan (no idea how she spells it), a new addition recently graduated from the University of Oregon who came down to fill a hole in December.

Lots of great comments and thoughts from the Brooks kids as we worked with the wonderful Gallon Jug kids. How can they not know what a microscope is? Do they really not know who [fill in the blank music artist] is? What happens after 8^th grade here (the hardest question of all). I think they all fell in love today, and will be doing some hard thinking about the realities of life in the developing world, even for kids as cute and loving and full of potential as these kids are…

We spent the morning with reading buddies from the 1^st and 2^nd grade classes, and returned after lunch to do 2 music lessons with some little kids and some of the older ones. “Lessons” were some combination of a concert (though the kids didn’t know any of “our” music) and a singalong. We learned some of the kids’ songs and taught them some of ours – notably, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (what better song to sing in the jungle?)

The heat is taking it out of the Brooks kids, so we zipped over to the pool at Chan Chich, and were quickly joined by Cat and Blair, who had gone out with Emil in the second riding group. They must be good riders – Emil complimented them and they said they had fun.

We’re enjoying a fancy meal tonight at Chan Chich Lodge (no offense to Duna’s food) and I suspect the kids will retire early once again – they are tired at the end of every day (I love it!) Tomorrow will allow for more time at the school, more riding, tours of the various agro businesses out here and sunset at the top of the nearby escarpment, providing a breathtaking view of 3 countries. A nice way to end our time here.