Slow Sunday

After a very busy week, it's nice to have a quiet Sunday. Once the rain ended on Wednesday, we had bright, sunny, HOT days for the rest of the week. On Friday, the power was turned off to most of the school as some of the main wiring had to be replaced. The only place of refuge was the computer lab where the AC was blasting.

On Friday, Holy Cross bid farewell to the team of 10 student teachers from Vancouver Island University. They had been in the classrooms working side-by-side with Holy Cross teachers for 5 weeks; it was hard to say good-bye. Each class had a gift and celebration for their volunteer. There were laughs and hugs and tears all around. As I watched a tearful goodbye in Standard IV, I couldn't help but think ahead to the end of June when I have to say goodbye to Holy Cross and all the wonderful people here. Nope, not thinking of that right now, Scarlet.....

Friday night was another faculty dinner/social at the school. It was a final opportunity to honor the student teachers and have one more dinner and some dancing. We had a delicious dinner of baked chicken, mashed potatoes and green salad. Mr. Zetina was the DJ for the dancing with plenty of punta and salsa music.

Another local color story -- yesterday as I was walking to the market, this crab was crossing the street in front of the police station. I guess he came from the lagoon which is not too far away. He was a big one -- tip to tip about the size of a dinner plate!

He was scuttling across the street, somehow being missed by bikes and golf carts. When he saw me, he scuttled faster to the side of the road where he ran into a light pole. He seemed OK although I didn't really get too close to check on him. His claws looked like they could inflict pain.

Today is a stay at home and read a good book day. It is raining again. The rain comes very suddenly and very hard; then it stops just as quickly and the sun comes out. Then the cycle starts again. I took a short walk this morning during a dry spell but could tell more rain was moving in quickly. It is very cool when it rains which is nice.

Tomorrow is a national holiday -- Commonwealth Day, aka Queen Elizabeth's birthday. Offices, many businesses and the schools will be closed. I am trying to find out if there are any "festivities" planned. Probably not out here on the island but in Belize City there might be.

What a wonderful treat -- Ms. Laura, one of the Holy Cross teachers, cooked escabeche which is a Belizean onion soup with chicken. It is very different from our French onion soup. She sent her husband over with some for my dinner! Yum. Escabeche is tangy - one ingredient is either vinegar or sour orange - and it is jalapeno hot. She sent extra jalapenos on the side in case I needed more. Not me. There were also homemade tortillas. It was excellent, and I will finish the rest for supper.