Another week in Belize - Almost 1/2 way done!

Monday, June 6th
So it has been a year since we were married! YIPPPEEE :) hehhehe
Today we spent most of the day in the office - it is amazing how busy we are! We got approval to plan two meetings for next week so we are in super planning mode. It is amazing how much of a difference we are going to make for the 2 + months we will have been here.
We were supposed to have closed on our townhouse in Durham today but when my parents got there, things were kinda a mess so tomorrow - fingers crossed ;) We are just did some major laundry tonight - it's amazing how much laundry you get when you sweat through ALL your clothes everyday :)

Tuesday, June 7th
Tuesday was another productive day. Jobby and I made a lot of progress on the assesment forms we are working on and we also CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE! Thanks to Mom and Dad Gerster, we are now the proud owners of a townhouse in Durham :) Too bad it's not going to be used for another month and a half :)
Tuesday night was our friend Victoria's last night in Belize. She has been here for 4 months working on HIV/AIDS as well. She was the volunteer who organzed the big conference that actually got us interested in our work. We went to Nefrys, the favorite local bar, for her last night. There were some crazy local girls there hussling everyone at pool. Finally after about 10 games, Jim and Paul were able to beat them :) Melissa and I tried our hardest and fell one ball short.

Wednesday, June 8th
Today was our first day of MASSIVE thunderstorms. Welcome to the rainy season. We woke up to pounding our our tin roof and since the gutters are filled with stuff, water pouring down the side of the house, right outside our window. Walking around San Iganacio today was beautiful - things are getting greener and greener. I also think we are getting to know the area better so we are liking it more and more each day. You start to appreciate all the stray dogs everywhere rather than curse them for barking so much :)
Today I finished developing the first mock database for our project. We are definately making progress and staying busy which is good. Another new volunteer, Libby, who is unfortunately a Notre Dame grad, is starting to help us a lot too. Other than the ND fact, she is great ;) We had a meeting at the local HECOPAB offices to review our forms and got a lot of positive feedback. It is so amazing to realize what a different in local people's lives this program is going to have. It is a whole different world down here. When meeting with the nurses today, they told us of 'alternative' HIV/AIDS therapies. They told us about a man who was told he could ward off the disease if he laid in the meat of a dead cow for 3 days!!! This man took his life earngins and bought an ENTIRE cow and laid in the dead meat for 3 days. After 3 days, not only was he STILL HIV positive but he was malnurished, dehydrated and infested with flys and bugs from the rotting meat. CRAZY! They are also really into herbal remedies here and though they say it works for some things, it really doesn't help in the case of HIV/AIDS.
Tonight we went to Cafe Sol for dinner which is by far our favorite place to eat in San Ignacio thus far. We had a chicken parm sandwich with salad and though it was no LOWER chicken parm (all you BC girls know what I am talking about) it was great. I was also attacked by a MASSIVE MASSIVE beetle when we got home. I amazingly stayed somewhat calm while my lifesaving husband took 3 swings to hit the thing off. The wonders of living in the jungle :)

Thursday, June 9th
Happy Birthday Katie W! In honor of you I will write in Purple :)
Tonight Jobby, after a long day in the office, went to the local basketball court to play with the locals. Though he did great the first 4 games, he sprained his ankle in the last one :( I think he will be ok though! Healing thoughts for Jim's ankle everyone!!!

Friday, June 10th
Since Jim's ankle was hurt and he wanted to stay off it for a whole day, I went to work by myself this morning. It is amazing how much attention a white woman by herself gets. I really take for granted the times when Jim walks with me. Just having him by my side stops the hoots and hollars. I don't think the people are dangerous here, it just gets a little uncomfortable.
There was a lot of frustration at work today because the staff, Anna and Lavern specifically, are not up to speed on what we are doing and don't have the grasp of how it will help them yet. The founder of Cornerstone, Pam, spent some time with Anna and Lavern getting them up to speed and I think that helped. It is great that Pam is so supportive and sees what a difference Jim and I are making.
I had the lunch kids all by myself today because Colin and Jackie were in Belmopan. They are crazy when you are all by yourself! They are so cute but pains! We played pictionary but they all cheated like always. O well, you can't always change kids.
I spent the rest of the afternoon finally relaxing and enjoying some conversation. I went with Amber and Melissa to the local Mennonite Bakery for some fresh goodies. They really make some great baked goods, ice cream and cheeses :) It's funny to see the Mennonites traveling all aound on their horse and buggies :)

Saturday, June 11th
Last night we had Paul and Melissa over and we played 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'. Yes, random I know but Melissa is doing a focus group to learn about gender roles in Belize (she is a Cultural Anthropology PHD student) and she wanted to practice the game. It was actually really entertaining and having Paul there to give the local Belizian response was really cool.
We spent all of today working in the office for our meeting on monday . We have to sell our program to the district managers for the Ministry of Health so they can convince their data clerks to enter the information this program collects into a database.
Though, we did unwind at night and went to Hodes for dessert and played basketball with some local kids :)

Sunday, June 12th
I spent the entire day today lounging by the pool at the San Ignacio Hotel to escape the heat while Jobby escaped it at the local internet cafe. Pretty chill Sunday to prepare for a week of work work work!