Classes and Food

Five days have passed and I think I am finally starting to settle in here. I get free breakfast every morning at Martha’s, which is probably the best breakfast food I’ve ever had. The bus schedule to get to Galen University is a little strange and only comes at certain times, so even though I do not have class until 1 on Mondays and Wednesdays, I still have to get up at 9 in order to shower and have enough time to eat breakfast before the bus comes. I am also still trying to figure out when is the best time to take my anti-malarial pills. The past two days I have gotten sick about a half hour after taking it, so really the pill isn’t even doing anything, since I just keep getting rid of it every time I get sick. Tomorrow I’m going to try and take it after eating instead of before, but if I still get sick after trying this, I may just stop taking the pills. It’s a horrible feeling.

Classes itself are definitely different than what I’m used to at UVM. All my teachers talk in an accent, but it’s not too hard to understand them. So far I really like all my classes, except for my Indigenous Perspectives class. My other classes are Maya culture and archaeology of Belize, applications of sustainable development, Adventure and Ecotourism, Ecology of a Tropical Rainforest, and Maximizing your Belize Experience. All of them are and hour and a half-two hours long, so it’s hard to sit still sometimes. Other than that, I signed up for soccer, the environmental club, and I’m going to be on the support team for La Ruta Maya. La Ruta Maya is the second longest canoe race in the world and people come from all over to race. About half my group is signed up to compete and they have to practice paddling every Sunday for about 6 hours. It’s also pretty dangerous. People flip over all the time in the freezing water and get their legs broken. The race lasts 4 days and everyone camps out for that time. I am very excited to be a part of it in some way.

Food-wise, everything has been delicious. Besides the amazing breakfasts, the dinners are also great and cheap here. My favorite, however, are the fruit shakes. Unfortunately, mango is out of season, but the pineapple and banana ones are very tasty. Tomorrow, Saturday, is market day, so I’ll be going in the morning to get some fresh fruits and vegetables. The four of us that live in the guesthouse went to Costless today, which is a mini supermarket essentially and did some community shopping. Tomorrow we are going to make salsa and stuffed peppers, yum. We’re trying to eat and buy everything local and stay away from American food. However, I think next time I go, I may have to buy some cereal or chocolate :0