Happy Thursday! We are continuing to enjoy our week in Belize. This morning, my home stay with Ms. Nasimiyu, Anaiya, Laura, and Julianne was fed a delicious breakfast by Miss Antonia and her husband. They prepared an egg and vegetable scramble, fried jacks, and watermelon for us. After a short walk to the school, we met the rest of the group and excitedly watched as the kids we were about to teach arrived to school. Connor, Ells, Julianne, Leila, Courtney, and Mr. McMahon headed off to the computer lab to teach the 6th graders basic computer skills. Anaiya, Laura, Julia, and Abby met the 4th and 5th grade girls again to teach day 2 of their Women’s Empowerment Curriculum. Maddie, Ell, Sahib, Avery, Marianna, and I taught our basic health and nutrition class to the youngest (and cutest, I might add!) kids at the school. Our class covered the food groups, hydration, teeth brushing, hand washing, and exercise. The kids all seemed to have a really fun time with their coloring books about brushing your teeth and outside games of freeze dance, duck-duck-goose, Simon Says, and races.

My home stay then headed home for lunch. We were fed tamales, chips and salsa, and oreos as a treat. Everything Miss Antonia and her family has prepared is so delicious; I am really going to miss them. Ms. Nasimiyu, Anaiya, and myself spent the after lunch rest period napping in the hammocks.

We walked to the school again and met our vans for the afternoon excursion to San Ignacio. Here we spent a few hours walking through tbe local market and streets buying souvenirs for family and friends back home and enjoying each others company. The afternoon was completed an an ice cream treat from “The Ice Cream Shoppe” in downtown San Ignacio. The cold dessert and air conditioning was a much welcomed treat. After riding back to San Antonio, the exercise group held a class for the kids in the town. Everyone joined in and it became a massive dance party with all of us and about 30 kids from the town. We capped off the night with project reviews, planning for tomorrow’s health fair, roses and thorns, and physical and emotional check ins. My home stay headed home again to a dinner of fajita chicken, rice, and salad. After a few rounds of the card game “capitalism” we all headed to bed. All in all it was a great day!