Merry Christmas from the Casey Community School

Christmas

Christmas came early at the Casey Community School.  On December 13th we kicked off our Christmas festivities with an evening of candlelight Christmas caroling in the rain at Sylvester Village. 

On the 14th we had a busy day of Christmas caroling around Gallon Jug, a visit from Santa, and our official Christmas party at the bridge near Chan Chich.

A surprise visit from Santa.

Singing at the sauce factory.

The Gallon Jug office.

Singing to the coffee pickers.

At the lumber yard.

On 'the hill'.

Off to Chan Chich after a quick lunch at the bridge.

Getting ready to unveil the Secret Santas.

Happy Holidays!

Zen and the Art of Coffee Production?

Though I will make no claim of being a coffee expert, I wont even pretend to really like coffee, but it has been impossible in recent weeks not to appreciate the hard work that goes into getting it from the coffee plantation to the cup.

Gallon Jug's coffee harvest is in full swing and it seems that every free space in the estate is being used for drying coffee beans.  As of last week over 75 tons of coffee had been picked. 
Currently I am feeling quite lucky that no one has decided to throw a few tons of coffee on the school's basketball court to dry.  I have finally been able to get a few kids stray from the soccer field to the basketball court during recess and I would hate for that to stop.  Even the airplane hanger at the GJ landing strip was recently requisitioned.

All of the coffee in Gallon Jug is picked by hand.  Workers start at around 7am and pick until 4pm most days.  Styles seem to differ a bit, but typically the coffee 'cherries' are plucked off the bush and placed into either a wicker container or 5 gallon water drum with the top cut off that is slung over one shoulder with a strap.  It is important to have both hands free for picking, as pay is by the pound.  Pickers work a row of coffee bush by bush, continually dumping their small containers into large burlap sacks.

The burlap sacks are supposed to hold 100 pounds of coffee when filled.  I've been told that the top individual pickers can fill three sacks in a day.  Coffee picking is expected to last until January.  As the coffee doesn't wait around to be picked, weekends are a time when whole families go out to pick and earn extra money.  Most of the older students at the school spend at least part of the weekend picking coffee with their families.

After the coffee is picked and collected it is taken to the 'beneficio' in Sylvester village where the coffee beans are separated, washed, and the drying process begins.  When the beans reach the optimal moisture level they are roasted, and then packed.  Currently the final product is only available in Belize, but with the increases in production volume that could be changing soon.

www.gallonjug.com

And the Critter of the Week goes to....

The pale-billed woodpecker.  This woodpecker, of the Woody Woodpecker variety, is a common sight around the loft and stables.  It wasn't until recently though that I learned that the pale-billed wood pecker is very sought after by birders.  There are a couple of different varieties, all of which are large by woodpecker standards.  I would estimate this one to have been about the size of a seagull.
Pale-billed woodpeckers can be identified from a distance by there signature double-tap - which may also makes them a bit gangsta.

Special thanks to Belikin for accompanying me on the photo shoot.

Halloween Frights

Over the past couple of weeks there has been a steady improvement in weather.  Though barely noticeable from day to day, we have finally arrived at what I would venture to refer to as 'Fall' weather here in Gallon Jug.  I will also go as far as to blame my lack of blogging productivity in recent weeks on my being able to spend more time outdoors and active.
Part of the blame also resides with the newest member of my household, my recently acquired puppy, Belikin or - as the students at the school have come to know her - Bel.

Belikin is what the Belizeans refer to as a pot licker, by US standards a mutt.  The Gallon Jug general manager's dog had a litter of puppies the first week that I was here.  I'd had several opportunities to see and play with the puppies, and Bel was my favorite from the get-go, though it took the decision of a fellow teacher, and my neighbor at the loft, to get a puppy to spur me into action.  We jointly decided that having two dogs at the loft would be prudent so that they could entertain each other during the day.  We also got the green light from our housekeeper Miara, who we learned had previously worked for a family with 15 dogs.  She assured us she wouldn't mind keeping an eye on our two during the day when we were at school.

Halloween is not a big event here in the Jug.  The school phased out costume parties and anything resembling an official observance several years ago.  Though just to our north Dia De Los Muertos is a big deal, Halloween here is unfortunately not.  We began the process of phasing Halloween back in at the school this year by having a dress down day on Wednesday that included the kinder class doing some reverse trick or treating, delivering treats to all of the classes at the end of the day.
Belikin and I observed Halloween by carving our 'jungle jack o'lantern' out of a coconut and decorating it with the peel of an orange.

My first Halloween fright occurred while Belikin and I were busy whittling away at our coconut down by the stables.  One of the cowboys stopped over to see what we were doing, and while petting Belikin, saw fit to mention that a boa constrictor had taken up residence in the stables recently.  My sphere of influence does not extend much past the school, so even though I live above the stables, I don't have much say about what is allowed to live in them.  Luckily Belikin has some pull with the Gallon Jug general manager.  There is now a standing order that the boa is to be apprehended and relocated to a different site on the property.
The only official Halloween event in Gallon Jug was a twilight BBQ and costume party at Laguna Verde, put on by Chan Chich.  Owing to the inability of a certain college football team to defeat an inferior opponent in a timely fashion, I ended up getting to the festivities a little bit past fashionably late, and without a camera.  There is a long standing tradition that expat go to Chan Chich on Friday evenings for dinner, drinks, and swimming.  While at Chan Chich on Friday I met a couple visiting from Portland who inspired my costume.  I've been wanting to do a Portlandia costume for the past two Halloweens, and thanks to these new friends I got the chance.

Thanks to Notre Dame's football team this is the only picture I have relating to my costume, but it should be enough for Portlandia enthusiasts.
For the Halloween party, the staff at Chan Chich erected a palapa of freshly cut palm leaves  decorated with all kinds of Halloween splendor.  The party included music, a bonfire, and  a delicious meal highlighted by pumpkin pie and 'bloody' rum punch.
In an attempt to capture a few pictures of the party set up I headed to the lake shortly after 7am this morning.  Unfortunately I was beaten there by two dedicated Chan Chich staffers who were well into the process of dismantling the palapa. 

 It was while taking the picture of the fire pit that I had my second Halloween fright.  Laguna Verde is a beautiful lake that I frequent for canoeing, fishing, and swimming.  There is another lake on the Gallon Jug estate, Laguna Seca, that is preferred for bird watching.  Occasionally crocodiles are seen there as well.  Laguna Verde is much deeper, and therefore less suitable for crocodiles.  At least this is an assumption that I've been working under.  The dock at Laguna verde is in 10+ feet of water and perfect for diving off of.  While taking the picture of the fire pit I noticed a disturbance in the water just past the dock and about where we swim. 

 When I looked more closely it become clear that a rather large crocodile was swimming across the lake.  This was confirmed by the Chan Chich demolition crew. 
If you ignore the 'Loch Ness monster' quality of my zoomed in photo you will clearly see a crocodile.

  I will be limiting my swimming to the pool at Chan Chich for the foreseeable future.


Lastly, this weeks spot light critter is:


The Ocellated Turkey. 


While these turkeys are no stranger to this blog, in recent days I have been seeing the male turkeys strutting their stuff quite a bit.

 I saw this guy checking out the view from the of the stables while I was eating breakfast on the deck. 

 It's not been uncommon for people newly arrived in Gallon Jug to comment on the colorful peacocks that they have seen.

 I continue to enjoy my close encounters with these beautiful birds.

Casey Community School, Gallon Jug, Belize

My official title at the Casey Community School is principal, but this in no way sheds any light on a the duties that I carry out, or for that matter a typical day at the school.  First and foremost I am the standards 5 and 6 teacher (7th and 8th grade by the US reckoning).  Before school, after school, and during Monday and Friday morning assemblies I get to play the role of principal.  My third duty, and the only one that I am paid for (I donate my time as a teacher and principal - helps me rationalize my paycheck) is that of day time janitor at the school.

What do the duties of the day time janitor at the school include?  On any given day jobs may include, but are not limited to:  scorpion wrangler, bee keeper, snake hunter, garden waterer.  Of course those are the jobs that take place before I unlock the school doors in the morning.
We do have a great cleaning lady that comes after the school day is over, so my biggest undertaking during school hours has been an exploding toilet, courtesy of a standard 1 student (3rd grader) trying to dispose of his excess rice and beans after lunch to avoid getting in trouble at home for wasting food.  Rather traumatizing for me, as rice and beans are pretty much the food source around here and I've not been able to look at them the same way since.

The school day at the Casey Community School begins at 8am, give or take the amount of time needed for the school bus to run out of gas and get refueled, get unstuck from a vehicle eating pothole after rain, or any variety of other jungle maladies that reek havoc on punctuality in this part of the world. 
When the students do invariably arrive, each school day is started with the raising of the Belize flag (and singing of the Belize anthem on Mondays and Fridays).  After the flag is raised the students line up and are admitted to the school by class.  As each student enters the school they are greeted by name and with a handshake by the teacher that is on duty for the week.  This is a wonderful tradition that I will carry with me to any school that I may work at in the future - a wonderful way to start the day for the students and teachers.

Our assembly area, computer lab, school store, and so much more.

Recently we had the pleasure of hosting a group of student nurses that gave a seminar on basic first aid and hygiene.

Operating a school in the Belizean jungle is no easy feat.  Even the most basic school supplies are hard to come by, and the tropical jungle environment has a way of reeking havoc on all things metal, electronic, and paper.  Oh, and don't even think about trying to use tape to keep things on the walls.  The resourcefulness of the teachers at the school, past and present, is truly inspiring. 

Kinder

The school also has a number of benefactors throughout Belize and in the US and Canada that have helped to ensure that the classrooms have a great selection of books, the students have supplies for arts and crafts, and the teachers have plenty of stickers.  We also have laptop computers and wireless internet.  Pretty awesome for the kids!

My classroom

Home to Standards 5 and 6

 

















Our school day is basic, 8am-ish to 3pm-ish.  We have 7 periods in the school day with morning and afternoon recess, and lunch in the middle.  The current school make up is 44 students and 5 teachers.  The classes are divided up with Infant 1 & 2 together, Standards 1 & 2 together, Standards 3 & 4 together, and Standards 5 & 6 together.  Kinder is separate, but the Kinder and Infant teachers combine different combinations of their students for language arts, phonics, and math during the course of the school day.

Recess and lunch are deserving of their own post, so I'll keep this brief.  In addition to your typical playground fare we have horses that love to share the students' snacks.  

Our solitary basketball player.

Soccer is king of the recess activities, at least for the boys.

Heat is a big factor at the school.  Most of our petty cash for buying school supplies is generated by our juice and water sales, so I really can't complain.  The heat is a part of life down here, and the students aren't too bothered by it. 

9am on October 17, 2012.  Oh, and this is in the shade.

All of the classrooms have ceiling fans and lots of windows.  We also almost always have a breeze.  The one day this school year that the temperature dropped below 80 degrees in the morning I had three kids show up in winter coats.  Enough said.

More on the school to come...

AND back by popular demand:

The RANDOM ANIMAL SIGHTING of the week goes to the Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus  or armored catfish, previously known to me as the Plecostomus.  This guy was caught in a river in Gallon Jug.  These are apparently an invasive species and environmental hazard.  There is currently a $10 bounty in Gallon Jug for any of these fish caught, dead or alive.