Duck Run

Journal #7

Duck Run

January 9, 2012

Duck Run

The day started with a shower- which is not getting any warmer- I have only formulated a better plan of action when taking a shower. I have learned that washing one section of my body at a time, and never completely standing under the running water, is the way to shower without sending my body into shock! After I showered, we had breakfast: johnny cakes and bananas. The johnny cakes were much like a dinner roll, only much heavier, not near the airy texture that we are used to with dinner rolls at home. After breakfast we headed to Duck Run 3, a school in the Mennonite region of Belize. Duck Run is located in a very remote area and the houses are very far away from each other.

While at the school we were able to clean up the Principle's office, which is where the computer lab will be set up at. In addition, we were able to take over the classes and talk with the students as well as do projects with them. I talked to many of the girls that were 15-16 years old and they were very curious about college. Many of them have wanted to attend college to further their education, but they have not known anything about it or how it works. A few of the girls knew what classes they enjoyed but were not sure what they could do with a degree in those subjects- so I was able to talk to them about it. I also helped the students to make crafts with beads, and we then melted the beads so they stuck together and the students could have their piece of art. There were over sixty children that attended the school, and about equal numbers of boys and girls. The principle teaches two classes, and each classroom houses two different grades of children. When asked about the teachers and their personalities, the students agreed that the teachers are kind, funny, and make things fun. The children wore uniforms but many of them had on chucks, crocs, and other shoes like we wear.

After we left the school we headed to lunch. I was a little nervous about eating at a diner that was above a gas station- but it was actually very nice, and the food was great. Amelia and I ordered a pizza and fries and split everything. The pizza tasted very American and the mushrooms we got on it also tasted like we have in the States. Also, the gas station and diner was not only that- but much more... there was food, luggage, guns, and much much more! The prices here are much less than those in the states- a pair of sunglasses that I bought only cost $5.50 US. When I was looking for sunglasses before I came, they were at least four times that price. After we left the diner-station, we went to the local dairy, which I thought was really cool. The dairy had soft serve as well as hard serve ice cream for purchase, as well as cheese, milk, and yogurt. The prices were very reasonable, one giant dip was around $.70 US and two dips were around $1.00 US. The milkshakes were only $2.00 US, and were also very large. After we ate our ice cream, we headed back through San Ignastio and towards camp. After about half an hour we stopped at a produce market where our professor bought 100 oranges and 2 giant grapefruit for a grand total cost of $6.50 US. I wish that we had had time to explore the market on our own and see the produce that the locals sell at the market.

When we returned to camp we started class and talked about two chapters from the reading before the trip, the reading from the Ethics book. During class we talked about Mother Teresa and how our own life would change if we took Mother Teresa's ethic of love seriously and we also identified three personal areas of change and what they would look like in our lives.

Dinner followed class and was: either beef or pork, fried rice, pineapple, and salsa. The fried rice was very, very good- the flavor was great and the vegetables in it were fresh. For after dinner, the cooks made chocolate-covered bananas, but since I do not eat chocolate- I did not have any. Everybody else was super excited about them, though.

After dinner we finished the Mother Teresa video and I worked on my papers and assignments that are due this week.