Favorite Things...Gallon Jug Edition

I've been meaning to do this sort of post for awhile.  A conversation with a friend recently brought to mind many of my favorites from my time in Belgium and the U.A.E.  The places, foods, drinks, etc that I find myself reminiscing about and longing for.
Gallon Jug is no different, so here is at least a preliminary list:

Favorite Food:
Empanadas

These are seriously amazing...right up there with frites from Brussels and Shawarma in Dubai.


Favorite Drink:
Bubble Tea (or tapioca tea here in Belize)

Okay, this one was a brutally tough call, but as I am drinking bubble tea while working on this post, it won out.
Seriously, I get excited when I can find this stuff in MN.  Learning that it can be bought on Orange Walk - and easily transported back to Gallon Jug by the cooler full - puts Bubble Tea barely over the top.

Runner Up:
Mojotos made by Alison and Liz (don't bother with any other mojitos in Belize, they are awful).

Favorite thing to do:
Afternoon walks with Belikin

When I returned after being away for a month in the summer, Belikin developed a serious attachment disorder.  To get her to settle in and get back to normal the vet recommended creating a predictable routine of 'puppy time' each day.  Since then we've been going for walks late every afternoon.  It's always one of the highlights of the day to get in some quality puppy time.

Runner Up:
Jungle Mountain Biking

Photo credit to Vanessa

Favorite bird to see:
Vermillion Flycatcher 

Photo credit to Thomas the turkey researcher

 This little guy is a fixture around the school, yet always exciting to see.  He is such a vibrant red, though the size of a sparrow, you can spot him in a tree from 1 hundred yards away. 

Runners up (in no particular order):
Toucans, ocellated turkeys, and ornate hawk-eagles

Favorite Place to Visit:
La Cascada

Cascading, not cascading, makes no difference.  Always the place to be - when you can get there.





Runner Up:
Chan Chich Lodge

Favorite Picture:
Standards 5 & 6 from Spirit Week 2014

 I just love this picture of my class this year.  I think it really captures 10 distinct personalities.  Outside of setting the 10 second timer, I can't claim any of the brilliance of this photo.  Just got lucky and captured a really cool moment.

Runner Up:
Smiling Belikin

This was an example of patience paying off.  Belikin is ridiculously unphotogenic, but every once in a while I get lucky.

Favorite thing to read:

The Creative Writing of My Students

These are holdouts from Valentine's Day and just a few examples.  I never cease to be amazed by the creativity and humor of kids.



Okay, that's it for now.  This list is neither exhaustive, nor complete, but it is a starting place.

Into The Wild: Cascada Quest 2014

As the fog was lifting off the jungle this morning I began my quest for la Cascada.  The first leg of the journey is 5 miles ride down the road towards Gallon Jug's North gate.  I've been devising a plan to bike to the cascada since I arrived in August, but with the extended rainy season this year I've been stuck in the planning stage.  We've finally had hot weather and no rain for about the past two weeks.  With cool temps this morning the timing seemed right.

 With a machete strapped to my bike, I headed in to the jungle for phase 2 of the trip, 5 miles of jungle biking.  This is the part of the trip where it is important to know where you are going, as in multiple areas roads converge and diverge with no discernible landmarks...just lots of trees.

Almost immediately the opportunity to turn back presented itself.  A week without rain hadn't completely dried up the road.  Twice my trusty Schwinn slogged to a stop in 12+ inches of muck.

And as if mud wasn't enough, trees were down across the road all along the way, but the day was young, and the promise of a dip in crystal clear water too tempting.

The 5 miles of jungle biking went slowly, with frequent mud and downed tree encounters, but slow and steady paid off.  With 10 miles of biking behind me, all that was left between me and the cascada was about 2 miles of hiking, and two mischievous monkeys.

For about a quarter mile of the down hill trek two spider monkeys kept pace with my in the jungle canopy, throwing sticks and chattering.  They proved rather unphotogenic though.

Can you spot the monkeys?

 Finally, after 25 minutes of hiking, I could hear the sound of rushing water.  On this trip the cascada lived up to its name, with multiple waterfalls pouring into the river.

 After 2 hours of biking and hiking it was great to hop in the cold, clear water.

 Though there were hundreds of hungry little fish that swarmed me the whole time I was swimming...better than the crocodiles I've seen in other swimming holes though.

Last March, when I made my first trip to la Cascada, the cascade of water had already dried up.

March 31, 2013

March 1, 2014

I can't think of a better way to start the weekend!  Looking forward to trekking to la Cascada again soon.

Casey Community School - Spirit Week 2014

Spirit Week Schedule

Monday:  Pajama Day

Tuesday: Class Colors Day

Wednesday:  Inside out/ Backwards/ Crazy Hair Day

Thursday:  Career Day

 Friday:  Valentine's Day

This week we also surpassed the 100 days mark for the school year.  The Infant 1 & 2 class marked the occasion by collecting and displaying 100 hearts with things that all of the students and teachers love about the Casey Community School.

And finally, back by popular demand....

Critter of the Week

We are a jungle school, with that comes the opportunity to see exotic and beautiful plants and animals on a daily basis.  There is also the chance that one may encounter a tarantula, scorpion, or snake.  There is one critter though that is ever present on our school grounds, and is the scourge of students and staff alike.

 
This may look like a plot of black dirt on the play ground to the untrained observer, but disturb it ever so slightly and beware...

 ....the FIRE ANT!

SpellBound

February is Spelling Bee season at the Casey Community School.  A week ago today we held our Casey Community School spelling bee. 

Today our top two spellers competed at the Orange Walk District South West Zone Elimination Spelling Bee. 

Students throughout the country were given a list of 300 spelling words to study before Christmas vacation in December.  These words were used for the first 6 rounds of the zone spelling bee.  Both of our CCS spellers went 6 for 6 to make it into the championship elimination rounds, where they succumbed to the reserve list words.  We were well represented, and since both of our spellers are only in Standard 5 (7th grade), Casey Community School should be a well represented again next year.


Spell Bound

In order to make the 60 mile drive to Trinidad, Belize for the bee, the Gallon Jug contingent - 13 students and 2 teacher - had to be on the road at 7am.  The morning fog had not yet lifted as we made our way into the jungle.  10 miles into our drive we arrived at our first checkpoint, the gate separating the Gallon Jug and Programme for Belize properties.  At the gate, we learned from the guard that another Gallon Jug vehicle had radioed in a tree down across the road a few miles ahead.  With help already on the way we continued on.
 It feels like we have been transitioning from the rainy season to the dry season for the better part of two months.  The roads are actually an improvement compared to what they have been.  Only 4 times today did we come across really mucky stretches.

 The problem was the downed tree in the middle of the muck.

 This tree had fallen only 30 or so minutes before we arrived on the scene.  Bad luck for us, though we only had to wait 30 minutes before a group of workers from Gallon Jug came to our rescue.

2 chainsaws, 3 machetes, and 10 minutes was all that was needed to get us back on the road.  We were only 30 minutes late for the start of the spelling bee, which is pretty much on time in Belize :)

Olympics Update

The winter Olympics are barely a blip on the radar here in Gallon Jug.  I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of people in our community that have even seen snow, which is part of the problem.  Recently though, we received a parcel at the school that created a 'teachable moment' for getting the word out about what's currently happening in Sochi, Russia.

Coming Soon - Spirit Week 2014 at Casey Community School