Here we go!

The Program and Training Manager's wife is a yoga instructor and she gave a free class to all the volunteers who wanted it. It was exactly what our bodies needed. After which we went to the shack behind the PC office for dinner. It was similar to the other 'fast food' place except this one had 4 empanadas for $1 BZE. There was this cute little boy who was playing with a calculator, mainly just smushing the numbers. This family spoke Spanish so I asked him in Spanish what 4-2 was. He just stared at me so I pushed the four and said quarto, then instructed him on how to press the other buttons. It was so cute when the 2 popped up a quick wave of excitement and pride flashed across his face (which he quickly controlled to keep his cool in front of his older brother who mumbled dos unamused).

An average breakfast and the headquarters.

Last night we went to a 'Children's House' which is like an orphanage but many of the children have parents that had to give them up because they couldn't afford to raise them. There were narrow hallways with doors every 10 feet or so. Inside the rooms there were bunk beds lining both walls about 5 or 6 bunk beds deep. Zan, Kathy, and Amy (other PC trainees) were helping to sow the 100 uniform dresses needed so the children could go to school on Monday. One of the sewing machines was broken so I decided to just play with the kids. One little girl latched onto me the whole time. All the kids were very interested in my band aid from my hep A vaccine. They wanted to see the 'dot'. and then ask me again and again why. One kid got this shocked look and thought I got shot!

A little girl who was 9 took me by the hand and asked if I wanted to come to the devotional. A nightly worship service the kids do themselves in the 'living room.' There were around 30 kids and we all pilled onto the couches. The ages were 3 months to 17 years. The older kids started undoing and redoing braids on the younger ones and there were no adults just self directed songs and service by the kids. We sang about 6 songs (during which I tried to keep the two on my lap and the little one beside me occupied and teaching me the words). After the great songs one of the older girls stood on her tip toes to get the tattered bible from a high shelf. She then read about a page from the bible. Then she asked people what they know. All around the room kids would state "I know dat... and in kriol recite back the verses almost verbatim. There was one older boy playing an electric ukulele throughout the songs and then quietly for the bible reading. After which some of the kids wanted me to read to them, they brought me lots of different bible story books and I attempted to read over the boys favorite past time...wrestling.

The orphanage 'Mamma'asked us what languages we were going to learn for our training. Amy and I said K'echi and she said there was one girl who spoke it! She became my tutor for the next 20 minutes, but she would only tell me how to say things when no one was listening so it was a little difficult. Finally after a while I asked her if I could just record her saying the phrases and then I could have them to practice forever. She did a great job (she was 13). Around this time it was getting late and the little 2 year old girl that was my little side kick started getting fussy. When I went to put her in her bed she started crying and said something in Kriol fast that I couldn't understand. My tutor translated "she said she doesn't live here" WHAT? She then pointed to the bed and repeated it. The little girl started pointing down the hall to where she 'lived' her bottom bunk in a room down the hall. I tucked her in then went to say goodbye to everyone. On the way out the 9 year old and I stopped in to say goodnight to her. She had a pout on her face and I hugged her and asked her if she wanted to take one last picture (she took one million with my camera earlier in the night...one of my necklace...of the bird...of the other kids. She nodded and we took a somber last picture. I will try to visit them on Fridays.

So today is a big day...we go to our CBT sites (community based training). We were issued our mosquito nets and we know officially we'll be learning K'echi! No one could sleep last night out of excitement and nerves...I woke up every hour! We will live with our host families for 5 weeks. Here we go!

Also, greg shaved his head!

Diarrhea, Kriol, and a VIDEO!

So today we had an hour long lecture on Diarrhea...here are some highlights:
1. The word diarrhea comes from the Latin word "to flow through"
2. "It can go bad fast." our PCMO regarding the seriousness of diarrhea.
3. Here are some ways to say diarrhea:
-Spanish: mal de barriga
-Ketchi: C'otaquil
-Mopan: Kush nequi
-Kriol: Runs shittenings
4. Could be combined with "burping rectally"
5. The official Peace Corps definition is 4 or more lose BMs in one day.
*Okay so there you go, we learned much much more but I will not scar you for life with that information.

Fun with Kriol:
Everyone is receiving 'survival Kriol' since most people in Belize speak at least some kriol. Here are some proverbs in Kriol. See if you can translate them...and post your guess as a comment.
*Hint: it helps if you just try to say it out loud!
1. "Wen teef teef fram teef, Gaad laff."
2. "No everyt'ing good fo eet, gud fo taak."
3. "Food weh no killing, fattening." (our new moto here as volunteers)

Lastly, enjoy our short video with a few random snippits of Belizean life.

Belize in Real Life

Staging in a nutshell:

-Skits and presentations to give us the basic how tos of getting to Belize.

-From 3-7 we were in a conference room and found out we all had similar aspirations and anxieties.

-There are 5 couples in this training group

-Total of 41 trainees in our group

-We had to get up at 1:30 to catch a bus to the airport (which didn't open until 4:00am)

-Magically we ALL got to Belize along with ALL of our luggage!

-When we got off the plane in Belize we were greeted with cheers from the current volunteers and leaders on the second floor of the airport!

1:30 in the morning...ready to go to the airport!

About to land!

The welcome we recieved...all the staff and some current volunteers! So nice.

Training:

Our first day didn't really count because we were out of our heads with sleep deprivation. We were treated to lunch at this wonderful outdoor restaurant. They served us watermelon and lime juice. Thus beginning my infatuation with Belize. We got our training notebooks, a big water bottle, and some other basic introductions to Peace Corps and then we all headed back to eat and sleep.

From the busride

I mean come ON... watermelon juice! Why haven't I lived here my whole life?

“If you haven't been looking at your poop for the last 20 years of your life, get ready, you'll be looking at it for the next two years.” Quote from our PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer)

We had our intro to Medical with our PCMO which was very informative. The opening slide she had on the power point was:

Don't get bit.

Don't get hit.

Don't get lit.

Don't do it.

Don't eat shit.

She said if we all followed these five rules she would never see us and we would have a very pleasant Peace Corps experience. We also got our Anti-Malaria pills, Aralen, which we take once a week. We haven't had any weird dreams yet and we didn't get sick so, yay! Greg also got to explain to the group what a human bot fly does.

Trainees:

So we are not officially PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers) until we swear in October 22. Until then we are PCT (Peace Corps Trainees). There are a whole bunch of instruments in our training group. We brought our two ukuleles and a mouth harp. There is also a ¾ guitar and a mini bass, a regular guitar, a melodica (air powered piano), and kazoo in the group. We are thinking of making a band...perhaps for the big talent show in October. There are also kinda two age groups within the trainees, the 22-31 (there was a competition for the oldest young person which turned out to be 31) and an older group from about 45 up. It is really great spending time with everyone, we all have such different backgrounds and we come from all over the US.

About to explore

Our band after practice one night!

One night we stopped to eat at this little 'fast food' restaurant with the other young couple, Alyson and Clifton. Several other volunteers saw us as they were walking by and joined us. The man who owned it was awesome, he made us sit at his table because he 'likes to gossip.' We got to practice staying neutral (a topic covered that day in class) because this guy hit all our out-of-bounds topics (politics, religion, and visas). He was very nice though as were his children and wife who served us. We had these DELICIOUS fish empanadas which were just 3 for a dollar (which is only 50 cents USD)!

Cultural Day:

We have the weekends off so the staff planned a cultural day for us which was super great. We all loaded onto a bus and a van and were able to listen to a presentation on Mayan and Mestizo histories. A youth dance group, aimed at preserving the culture and heritage, performed several dances for us. My favorite was the Mayan sacrifice! A famous Belizian flute player also performed, he was extremely animated and you could tell he loved what he was doing. We also ate traditional foods. I loved the fried calaloo (bitter green) with eggs and also the Mestizo desert which was a rice pudding (I ate two)! We drank fresh Horchata (rice milk flavored with spices) while we enjoyed the performances.

We then went to Xunantunich to see the Mayan ruins there. We got to take a little ferry which fit one car and people. The ferry guy pulled us across to the other side with this wench like apparatus and then we got a ride to the top where we saw our first MONKEY! The tour of the ruins was great! We got to climb to the top and on our way back down we heard drums and our guide said it was from a neighboring village, who was number 1 in the country, practicing! We also saw an iguana, leaf cutter ants, and peanut-head mantises. Our guide explained why they Mayans predicted the 2012 doomsday date. Very interesting and unsettling. There was a ball field still pretty intact where they played a game where players would run up the sides of the field and use their hips to shoot an 18 pound solid rubber ball into a hoop on either side. The winners of these games were sometimes sacrificed. The ball field was very small maybe about 30 ft long and 15 feet wide, with slopes on either length where the hoops would have been in the center. We also cracked opened some nut like things that fell from the trees. They tasted sort of like coconut, more fibrous. The guide said the best time to eat them was when they were green and the meat was soft.

First monkey!

On the top!

Leaf cutter ants!

Clifton and Alyson and us at the base.

Coconut-like nut thing we found/ate!

After touring all the sites we all walked back down and hung out at some little souvenir stands where Greg and some other PCT played hackey sack. There was this cute little boy who would peer around the corners and sneak out and whenever the ball would come his way come out and kick it as hard as he could back to them and run away. We kept trying to get him to play, as did his little sister (who dragged him, sometimes by the shirt towards us) but he was too shy and would just watch mostly.

Found this little guy:)

Belize is just super!

We will try to post once more before we head out to our host family site for our CBT sites (cultural based training) for 5 weeks.

THE RIVER!

These horses just walked down a path and hung out in the water.

We're OFF!!!

All our goodbyes have been said. We have what we need, we have finished all our 'to do' lists and now we are starting. We are in Charlotte waiting to fly to DC for our Staging Event then tomorrow morning bright and early (6:00AM) we fly to BELIZE! I don't know how soon we will be able to post. No news is good news, okay! :) Alright I am going to atempt a little nap before we board. HELLOOOOOOOOO BELIZE!

The car all loaded up.

Everything we're bringing...including our ukuleles of course!

HA! Greg was exactly at 50.0 pounds! Bye mummy and Kaylyssa! I'll miss you!

Farewell For Now

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends. ~Richard Bach

For much of our last month we have focused all our energy into spending time with family and friends. We have delighted in every second with all of you and we have come to the absolute realization that this has been the BEST summer of both our lives. I liken our visits to what it must have been like in the olden days. We gather (usually around good food) to share our skills/talents. Whether that be humor, music, stories, adventure, art, or hilarious awkwardness. It seems like each of our friends brings something unique to the table. Our lives have been filled with a kind of luxurious richness that money couldn't dream of buying. Never have we had so much fun in one summer. I guess what I am trying to say, well, our friend Wade said it best,"I just wanted to say, thanks for...you know, taking me on as a friend."

Delicious dinner followed by great music at Ryan and Melissa's in Winton Salem, NC

Bye friends!

Ian and Bridget's going away party and dinner at our hose with some of my high school friends :)

Mini ukulele jam with Garrett

These are the kids I used to babysit in charlotte...all grown up!

Group photo at North End of Carolina Beach after a great weekend of dancing and camping with the boys!

Eating at our going away party.

Some of the group that came out for goodbyes!

Special trip to say bye to lil' D and Tray

Goodbyes are not forever.

Goodbyes are not the end.

They simply mean I'll miss you

Until we meet again!

~Author Unknown

My little sister... I miss her already!

Farewell, my sister, fare thee well.

The elements be kind to thee, and make

Thy spirits all of comfort: fare thee well.

~William Shakespeare

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

Welcome to the world sweet Hunter!

Meet Our First Nephew!

Born to Justin and Kristen Calcaterra

7:04 AM

Hunter Gregory Calcaterra

19 inches 7lb 110z

We are so happy for Kristen and Justin...wish we could be there!

Love and kisses from Uncle Greg and Auntie Kev

ONE WEEK!

Okay...
Today marks one week until our lives change forever. This marks our last week as American residents. Our last week with an abundance of internet, friends mere minutes away, air conditioning, and sweet tea. One more week with only familiar bugs of manageable sizes. One more week of goodbyes before an abundance of hellos. Everyone asks what we're feeling...I think I am feeling...everything. Plug in an emotion and it is in my brain somewhere. But, the emotion that is strongest seems to be anticipation. I HATE anticipation. I was the kid that would tear the house apart climbing in every nook and hiding spot to find my Christmas presents early. This is the highest dose of anticipation my body can handle. I am convinced a single drop more would be fatal. Not to mention my future nephew is in the process of being born and is also making us all wait with baited breath while he takes his sweet time. Kristen has been in labor for almost 24 hours!

The second question we get: 'So are you all packed up?'
AHHHHHHHHHH!! We have had this growing mound of 'Peace Corps Stuff' since we got our invitation a year ago. The process of choosing what I can and can not live with for two years is weird. You find yourself answering questions most people never ask themselves. Can I live without flying a kite for two years? The answer is of course, no, and thus we now have a small, packable, stick-less kite with us:) Anyway, here are some pictures of our madness.

One thing that I loved packing was my first aid kit! I am bringing my blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, gloves, tons of Benadryl, tons of Pepto, and a little bit of everything else. I hope it suffices.

This weekend is our going away party. Because of our traveling we have already become well practiced goodbye sayers. However, this weekend is going to be tough. I don't like to cry but the likelihood is high. I will miss my little baby sister and my fresh nephew (Hunter Gregory Calcaterra) the most. If it wasn't for skype I don't know if I could do it. I am now emotion number 3 on the top five greatest hits: sad. This was supposed to be a funny post...um...so...

Q:Why don't ant eaters get sick?
A:Because they're filled with little antibodies!

One more week. One more week. One more week.

That is assuming I don't die from anticipation of course.