it's time.

hmmm...

 

we may want to consider switching it up a bit...

so what if i am OCD...

i saw this and almost died laughing...because it describes me. all too well.

so what if i am?...

maybe i swam with sharks yesterday...

yes. it's true. i did in fact swim with sharks and stingrays yesterday.

so...it's vacation time. after almost three months of hard work we are on vacation in this place...

friday morning we took the water taxi out to caye caulker and will be staying here for three days. tomorrow morning we're headed to san pedro for two more days until wednesday morning when we fly back to the states!

yesterday we went on an all day snorkling tour. we got to enjoy an entire day on a sail boat and took three stops along the way to get out an snorkel. the second stop: shark ray alley! yes...we swam with sharks and string rays...

i jumped in the the water with those things!
yeah.

i have to admit something...they were only nurse sharks. which means they are bottom feeders so they weren't tempted to eat us. but it was still pretty crazy. our guide caught some of the sharks and stingrays and let us pet them. it was one of the coolest things i've ever done! on our last stop we saw turtles, eels, an a bunch of crazy fish.

i'm in love with this place...

i may become a kidnapper

my big project this summer (aka team lead for...): succotz summer camp. 

we did a summer camp at the succotz primary (aka elementary) school last week and it was so. much. fun. the kids were adorable and really well behaved.  we had a morning and an afternoon session and the camp ran monday through friday.  we had probably about 80-90 kids total and we had so much fun with them. we did arts and crafts, reading activities, and games.  their favorites were definitely the arts and crafts and the water balloon games.

in conclusion, i may become a kidnapper because...these kids are just too cute.
 

above picture - top right: meet gliss. he was the most adorable little boy. ever. every day he would tell me all these random facts about spiders and when he left the last day he came up to me..."miss, one more fact about spiders?...they can carry 50 times their weight on their back. most people don't know that but they can!" yes gliss, i am kidnapping you...you'll like the states. i promise.

meet alex and aden. brothers, and too precious for words. they couldn't really speak english...but i tried. i do have pretty great hand gesture skills though, enough to get by...

last day of camp...i'm sure going to miss these little ones. so much.

i love him.

i missed being there for this action this morning...

i love my brother. he won this suit yesterday in some weird competition and wore it wake-boarding at the lake this morning to show his independence day pride. apparently it was a hit...lots of honking, waving, and cheering.

by the way i'm really upset about the fact that i'm missing the 4th of july in the u.s. of a. today...it's like my second favorite holiday (following only christmas of course). we are however attempting a bbq here...hot dogs and watermelon. quite possibility sketchy hot dogs but it's the best we can do...

speaking of sketchy meat...later this week i'll be trying this at benny's kitchen...

gibnut. a belizean delicacy. small rodent dish enjoyed by many a belizean...i have to at least say i tried it. wish me luck!

i love it.

i love reading. it seems i never have much time for recreational reading during the school year. unfortunately my nose is usually always in some exciting boring textbook. no fun. so i am thrilled that this summer in my downtime here in belize i've been able to read books that i actually want to read. reading for fun?...what a novel idea! [pun intended]

here's a list of favorites so far...

1. eat, pray, love 
don't judge. i know, at times she can be annoying and petty and very self-centered.  yet, overall i really enjoyed this book. i was able to see some things from a new perspective that i've never considered before and it was an entertaining read.

2. the sunflower
here is a classic, albeit somewhat cheesy romance.  it may or may not be about a girl who goes on a humanitarian trip...(sound familiar?)...to peru and meets an attractive jungle man/used-to-be doctor and of course falls in love. okay, okay, i know...but in my defense it is based on a true story {which i feel makes it legit} and it was a fun, easy read and yes, i am now determined to find a beautiful, machete carrying man named paul and fall in love in belize.

3. the road of lost innocence
for sure my favorite so far.  this is the autobiography of somaly mam.  a woman who, as a child was sold into sexual slavery in cambodia.  she escaped this life in her early twenties and has gone on to save hundreds of thousands of girls just liker her.  it was so inspiring that it made me want to do something to help her cause...in fact something is now in the works to do just that...stay tuned to find out how we (i and a few of my new friends i've met here volunteering) are going to help in her fight against human trafficking.

4. the pioneer woman-black heels to tractor wheels
anyone who knows me well, knows that i have an obsession with cowboys. i mean, let's be real, they are the manliest of men. a.t.t.r.a.c.t.i.v.e. so this book was a winner for sure. just a feel good, happy love story about the perfect [cowboy] man...who i realize does not exist, but sometimes that's why we read right?...to escape reality. loved it.

i've noticed a trend in my summer reading...all of these books are true stories or at least closely based on true stories. i think it just makes it that much more interesting to know that what you're reading about really happened. i highly recommend all of these books. you won't be disappointed. promise.

next up...

based on a true story events...of course.

guate-freaking-mala

amount of money spent yesterday = $100 US [$200 BZ...$700 GTQ]

number of mosquito bites acquired yesterday and counted on my body as of 10:00 am this morning (during spanish sunday school) = forty-seven

zip-lining through the guatemalan jungle and exploring ancient mayan ruins in the pouring rain = priceless

tikal...