Graduation Parties!

All of June was one graduation party after the other. There were two boys and 4 girls who graduated from high school. I am so happy for my village. Years ago no girls would go to high school. The girls would just get married and have kids. Now more girls than boys are becoming educated. I also attended one University graduates party… she too was a girl! The girls were shy and timid in my village, but they are working hard to change that stereotype. I just hope they stay in the village and educate others. Some of the villagers after they get their degree they leave the village. I hope to see a change in that too.

Disclaimer This website expresses the views of Grace Boswell, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the United States government, the Belize government, the Peace Corps or any other institutions named or linked to on these pages.

School winding down, but still a productive school week!

May 31 –June 6 was a busy week full of education review for the students. This week Laura, a PCV way up north, came to my village. She was my first PCV visitor. I was nervous to have her because I wanted her to have soo much fun. However, sometimes village life is just sitting in the hammock reading, which we did. On Friday, she did a fabulous workshop on educational games. The teachers walked away with new ideas and resources.
June 7-June 13, 2010 was a very busy, but productive week. I took class and individual pictures of the whole Laguna School. My plan was to make yearbook; however, many of the teachers and parents said they would not pay for a yearbook because money is limited in my village. So I scrapped that plan.

I printed all those pictures when I went back to the states. I handed them out for free when I came back. To print pictures here is so expensive. It is 3 dollars per picture. In the states we are lucky it is only 15 cents at Wal-Mart. Therefore, I printed about one hundred pics or something around there and it only cost $20 bucks for all those pics. I came back with two photo albums from my trip home. I brought albums back to show them more of the states, family, friends, and hometown of North Wildwood.

Anyway, this week of June I also did all my reading diagnostic tests for every student in the school. I taught each teacher how to use the tests. I noticed that many kids don’t know there letters or sounds and then the ones that do did not comprehend what they read. Therefore, my new idea is to start a preschool in Laguna. The love for education and learning begins at the early grades… especially prek and kindergarten.

This week I also have another GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) meeting. This week I taught them some cheers and a part of a dance. They love it!

Disclaimer This website expresses the views of Grace Boswell, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the United States government, the Belize government, the Peace Corps or any other institutions named or linked to on these pages.

Laguna’s Football Marathon

On May 30, 2010 we had a football (soccer) Marathon. It is where all the teams come out and play team after team. At the marathon I sold fifty/fifty tickets. Belizeans never heard of that so I had to go around explaining. I made $50.00 for Laguna’s computer lab. The other $50.00 went to the police officer on patrol. We also had lots of other games: punch board, grab box, and raffles. We had tons of food and soft drinks and alcohol drinks.
The marathon was not a success because it rained a lot of the day. We should have planned the marathon in dry season instead of rainy season. We made absolutely no profit :(

It was just an entertainment and a fun time for Laguna villagers.



Disclaimer This website expresses the views of Grace Boswell, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the United States government, the Belize government, the Peace Corps or any other institutions named or linked to on these pages.

Swearing in for the Newbies

May 28, 2010 was the swearing in ceremony for the new group. There are so many of us in country now, about 110 PCVs. Peace Corps also just got a new Country Director. She seems nice, but really strict on all the policies.
After the ceremony we had a meeting. “It was about getting out of the Bitter Barn.” Many of us volunteers seem to think Belizeans just think we are rich and to do things that are not too sustainable. We discussed and came up with some solutions.

After the meeting was finished we played football (soccer) game New Volunteers versus Old Volunteers.

Swearing in is always fun. We got to go to the US ambassadors house again, which is beautiful. We had a delicious dinner and they had open bar. I had wine (because wine is too expensive to get here in Belize). After dinner we had an after party to get to know the new volunteers!


Again no pics because of my broken computer.


Disclaimer This website expresses the views of Grace Boswell, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the United States government, the Belize government, the Peace Corps or any other institutions named or linked to on these pages.

Festival of the Arts

The week of May 17- 21, 2010 was festival of the Arts in PG. There were lots of different arts and crafts one day. I saw such a variety. Laguna did not place however, they had very creative items.
Also, there were performances. I taught my girls a dance to the Slum Dog Millionaire song. It was stressful because I only had one week to teach the girls (and honestly you kinda can’t learn and perfect a dance that quickly). The girls did their best and I was happy for them!

Also, Victoria one Std. 6 girl wrote an essay about how she almost died from her snake bite. I sat there and helped her proof read it. We talked about the story for a while. She submitted it to the festival of arts in expressive writing category. She won first place!!! YAY GO Victoria!

Side note I have no pics of the crafts because my computer broke this week!!!



Disclaimer This website expresses the views of Grace Boswell, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the United States government, the Belize government, the Peace Corps or any other institutions named or linked to on these pages.

St. Thomas Wedding w/ Andrew!!! May 13-16, 2010

I finally made it St. Thomas. Thank goodness (after 15 hours on the bus) and waiting in the airport. It took me two whole days to get to St. Thomas. However, it was worth it when I saw Andrew. Uhhh the butterflies in my stomach!
I had an amazing trip with him. The first night I got to meet many of Andrew’s relatives. They are fun!!;)

Every day we swam and snorkeled in the beautiful sea. (I was a pro snorkeler I think because of my scuba courses). I could swim miles quickly… Susan Mary you would have been shocked. I think I could beat you in a race if I had fins on hahahah.

Everyone attended the rehearsal dinner which was awesome. It was BBQ style. I wore the new dress that Mrs. Husenica bought me: a pretty beach summer dress. We had many delicious frozen drinks!

The next day was the wedding, which was gorgeous and right on the beach. It was a small wedding of 50 people and I was extremely lucky to be there because Andrew paid for my whole trip. The beach looked beautiful. Of course I took a million pictures because it was picture perfect. The view from out hotel was amazing. We were kinda on a mountain. St. Thomas is very hilly. So we did a lot of walking up and down... pretty good exercise bw the walking and snorkeling.

Then the day after the wedding we had a fare well brunch. I spent my time with Andrew and really truly enjoyed myself. I got emotional at some points, but he consoled me. I think it was sooo emotions going through me. .. being away for so long, going to a wedding can be emotional etc…. haha

It was hard to say good bye to Andrew. However, it was not that difficult because I would see him in less than a month. I was super pumped for my next vacation home to NJ June 25-July 9. Those 4 days were amazing.

Well after Andrew dropped me off at the St. Thomas airport. I waited 15 hours there because there were mechanical problems on my plane. I missed my second flight; therefore, I would have to spend the night in Cancun once the plane got up and working. Andrew helped me make sure I could stay in Cancun at a hotel for free and that they paid for my meals. He kept telling me that it was the air companies fault not my fault. He really comforted me because that was a stressful time in the airport. I kinda have bad luck with my flying experiences and they are when I all alone.

Oh ps I forgot to mention how incredibly nice Mrs. Husenica was she spent hours on the phone changing my flight so I could land in Belize rather than Cancun. Cancun was just too long, too complicated, and expensive. I was so grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Husenica for sending me home to Belize.

Disclaimer This website expresses the views of Grace Boswell, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the United States government, the Belize government, the Peace Corps or any other institutions named or linked to on these pages.

My long long long trip from Belize to Mexico to Miami to St. Thomas!

Tuesday May 11, 2010 I left after school with one of my teachers. All the school students wished me a safe and happy trip. They pleaded/joked to make sure I come back. I said “Heheh” (Yes) of course I will come back. Ms. Melanie, one of the teachers at Laguna, with a car took me to Emily house, the PCV that lives pretty close to me. I stayed with Emily at her house. We talked and discussed all about how much fun I will have in St. Thomas and how I haven’t seen Andrew in 9 whole months.

On Wednesday May 12, I got up extremely early to catch the 6am Express bus. Plus I was so excited to go on this trip that I could hardly sleep anyway. The bus took me to Belize City (7 hour bus ride) Then I traveled straight up to Orange Walk so that Christen could guide me through. I stayed at her house while she finished up her Yoga Classes. She was so kind to guide me.

The bus rides were long!!! Christen and I took a bus to Chetemal (Mexico). It was a pretty easy border crossing. However, I wish wish wish I spoke more Spanish. (Oh Cecy we should have practiced more hahahah ) Chetemal is really cool you can but lots of things there for a cheap price. After we crossed the boarder we took the bus to meet Christen’s friend Alvin, who is now my new Mexican friend!! He was sooo extremely nice. He took me to the bus station numerous times so that I knew where I was going and to ensure that I got a ticket to Cancun. We went to dinner and had delicious Mexican food. Then we went out for some tequila… bc we were in Mexico; however, I ordered wine lol.

They took me to the bus station at midnight (what a long day lots of busses and traveling and I am not even at the airport yet). They stayed to make sure I got on the bus because of my lack of Spanish. So I took the midnight bus and arrived in Cancun at 6am. I slept the whole bus ride. Then I waited around the Cancun airport for a while because I was super early. It’s a nice airport though. I got my first Starbucks caramel light frapachino. Sooo delicious… I miss starbucks. So I took my flight and had another layover in Miami. I was so excited on the plane to see Andrew I couldn’t stop smiling. I was trying to read; but I kept smiling and thinking of Andrew. I was nervous and filled with excitement.