August 15, 2011 I’ve only been here for 5 days now but I am definitely starting to feel a bit more settled which is good. Like I said in the last blog, we did find a place to stay! The hotel owner was very helpful in pointing me in a good direction and we ended up renting a two bedroom apartment from a very nice couple, Ludwig and Curlotte. Ludwig, is a vet/artist/gallery owner/chem teacher at the university campus in town. Very interesting fellow to say the least. Curlotte seems to manage the property and run the background stuff for the gallery. She was really helpful too. The apartment is close to both mine and Tom's schools (really, the whole town is close to everything...) so we're set! It's also been kind of nice that the ... read more

So I'm off in 4 sleeps! Ridiculous! It totally snuck up on me, but I'll deal I'm sure. I will be in Punta Gorda, Belize to teach elementary school as part of my Professional Semester III, the last teaching practicum of my degree from the University of Lethbridge. For me an important part of going traveling is knowing the history of where you are going! I mean, you'll learn more as you go, but I think it shows respect to the location and the people who live there to at least have some sort of basic background as to the history, geopolitics and cultural background of the people. Therefore I present to you: Belize 101 Population: approx 333,000 Location: Just south of the Gulf of Mexico, East of Guatemala and North of Honduras. Languages: Official language ... read more

NOT FOUND... read more

Had a funky little adventure day on Sunday! Went with some friends hiking to the waterfalls near Mismaloya. We left early-ish on Sunday morning, Lorena and I met Olivia at her house, where Lalo and Marlon picked us up. Then we stopped at a convinience store to pick up some water and snacks, and met two more of Marlon's friends. And off we go It's an amazing drive towards Mismaloya. It's a drive awaaayyyyy from the city, right along the ocean. And most of it isn't along a beach, so you can just see the waves hitting the rocks, and.. oh my goodness, just so beautiful. Haha, and since Marlon's Suv was missing a window on one side, we took the garbage bag he was using to cover the space off the door so we could ... read more

Hi Folkies!! So I just got back from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, where I was at the annual international (world's 4th largest) Carnaval!! I took the 9 hour bus ride on Friday night, and got there Saturday morning ridiculously early. I went to Sonia's house (one of the exchange students from the States), and just passed out for a few more hours. Then, after breakfast, Rosemary(Canada) came over with Lilian(Switzerland) and a new exchanger, Niki (Australia). Sonia and Niki went to get their hair done, because they, along with a few more girls (Japan, and France) were Beauty Queens ! Apparently they always use the exchange students that live in Mazatlan as Queens because it's just so convenient. haha. But there were also actually Beauty Queens: Honduras, Hawaii, Miss Teen USA apparently, some other ones, and they vote ... read more