A day on the sea

Our last day consisted of a windy run to Caye Caulker (this year, in 3 open boats with the Bowens and 2 friends) with a lovely lunch at the Rainbow Room and plenty of time to wander around this smaller, more rustic island. We ended up at “the split” – a channel plowed through the island at which there is good swimming and a recently added diving board – and we cooled off and had some fun before bombing back to San Pedro through the wind and the chop. We wondered why one of the boats stopped along the way, only to learn that they had been flanked by dolphins and had stopped to swim with them – I hope they got some great photos!

We ended the day at the Bowens’ home, Casa Verde, with sodas and pizza delivery (yes, even here!), then the grownups went back to pack and the kids hit the town for a last shopping frenzy. A long, fun day in the sun for out last day!

Undersea adventure

A quick note to let you know that we hit the reef yesterday and snorkeled at Shark-Ray Alley and Hol-Chan Marine Reserve. Sunny and warm so we never got cold, but a bit windy so we got a workout against the current.
Everyone did great and we saw 4 huge eagle rays and a bunch of their more colorful friends. We'll have a student blogger fill in the details later today, and add pix and video.
Right now we're heading over to the Bowens' dock as Sir Barry is taking us on a run over to neighborng Caye Caulker for lunch. We'll be back midafternoon with enough time left to catch some sun and shop a bit.
Hard to believe it's our last day!
Parents, if any pick-up plans have changed, please send me an e-mail. Otherwise, I know that Greg gets off at Miami and I assume the rest of the kids know what will happen in Boston. We'll take anyone whose parents don't show up back to Brooks - never fear! We'll also get Ali on her bus on Tuesday.
Hasta luego!

Last thoughts on Gallon Jug & safe arrival in San Pedro

Some closing thoughts on Gallon Jug ...

Yesterday (the day before we left) we spent some time touring the Bowens’ farm. Among the things we saw were the coffee operation (plants, prep area, roasting and packing plant, where they also prepare the cacao they grow); the new saw mill (mainly mahogany); and Sylvester Village, where most of the workers and kids at school live. At the end of the afternoon we drove the 45 minutes to the top of the rock promontory known as “the Escarpment”, which offers tremendous views of the entire region.

On our last evening some of the folks had a Belizean BBQ for us and we enjoyed – you guessed it – rice beans and chicken by the bonfire under more stars than we can ever see at home (there’s no ambient light out here!)

Then … up this morning for a 7:30 departure for the 2 hour ride along rutted logging roads in a couple of vehicles to get us and our bags to the waiting boat, which took us to Lamanai, then on a narrow, winding hour-long boat ride to meet our bus. We were thrilled to see our favorite driver, Carlos Lopez, waiting for us, and he got us to the Marine Terminal in Belize City just in time to board the (packed!) ferry up the coast. After a brief stop at Caye Chapel (a golf resort) and a boat switch at Caye Caulker, we arrived in San Pedro. After that, all that was left was the dreaded 10-minute walk down the beach to our next spot, Ramon’s Village. The air conditioning, pool and beach were all welcome, and we have settled in just a few doors down from the Bowens’ primary home and Caleb’s home and school.

We feel surrounded by Brooks friends though we are far from home, and we’re in great shape to send our last 2 full days. Ahead of us: sightseeing, shopping, great food, snorkeling… and whatever Barry & Dixie have in store for us.

Long day's journey

Today is our longest travel day of the trip - we leave Gallon Jug at 7 a.m. and arrive in San Pedro around dinner time. In the interim we will catch a riverboat at Hill Bank Field Station (if you're watching Google Earth!), stop along the river at Lamanai for a guided tour of that extensive site, have a picnic there, get back on the boat, traverse the country to Tower Hill (hoping to see some crocs along the way), pick up our bus again and head to the Belize City Marine Terminal, where we'll take the ferry up the coast an hour to Ambergris Caye and San Pedro Town, our last stop.

I hope we'll have better Internet connectivity there than we have in past years - oddly, in the most populated place we stay, it's harder to get online, typically. We'll report from there tomorrow morning!

SeoYeun on teaching school

Today we went to the Gallon Jug Community School to teach the students who are the children of the workers. Each pair of Brooks students worked with the teachers to teach different subjects such as art, science, math, and Spanish. Charlotte Garcia and Lester Savage paired up to teach the kindergarteners; Pat Lahey and Sam Olsen paired up to teach Kinder 1 and 2; Jenna O’Connell and Greg Pappas paired up to help out the 3rd and 4th graders; and Allie Katz and Andrew Farris took care of the 5th and 6th graders. I paired up with Ali Palacios to help Mr. Casey, the headmaster, to teach 7th and 8th graders (standard 5th and 6th). Ali and I covered chemistry; we talked about elements, compounds, and mixtures and gave them a little quiz to make sure that they understood the material. Then we moved on to art and the students used their own sketches to make varieties of tropical birds to put on the poster boards. I had a lot of fun interacting with the students who are about my age. The students found humor in my inability to pronounce their names. For example, I thought that Eduardo’s name was Gregorio! The students were very nice and welcoming. They were eager to learn about chemistry and I was glad that I was there to help them out. I also learned about how I have such a wonderful opportunity to study in a place like Brooks. Some of the kids have to go to this so-called “Internet High School” because there is no “real” high school for them. I learned to appreciate the environment that I’m studying in. Every one of the Brooks students had interesting perspectives to offer and the students at Gallon Jug Community School enjoyed learning. They also enjoyed playing soccer and volleyball with the Brooks students. Ending the day at the school with the group picture, the Brooks students came back to the barn for more of the exciting Belize adventure!

Jenna on cave tubing (from Day 3)

Today we went tubing in the caves at Jaguar Paw. It was a lot of fun but rather challenging. You see, we had to trek though the jungle to get to the place in which we would start the cave tubing. The walk was really long but we saw some interesting things along the way. There were a lot of termite mounds, lines of marching leaf-cutter ants, and spiky give-and-take trees. It was raining on us most of the walk up there so the way was really slippery. I actually fell twice… though nobody else fell. That’s probably because I was in the front and they knew where to be careful. Hahaha.
Before we went cave tubing we went up another trail to what they called “Cave Six.” There was a nice pool of water there that was quite deep. Mostly everyone climbed up this high cliff and jumped off into the water. It was really high and kind of scary at first, but it ended up being really fun.
After swimming and diving at Cave Six we went back down to the place where we would start tubing. We all had to wear head lights because it was dark, it was really cool. We paddled through all the caves and sometimes we could take a break through the “rapids.” They weren’t really rapids, it was just faster water because it was shallower. A few of us hit our butts on the rocks because it was shallower and faster.
In the end it was so worth the long treacherous walk because it was really cool to be floating through some caves in Belize. It was one of my favorite things we have done so far. Actually everything has been great! Belize is so much of fun! I love it!

Off to school!

Today is a big favorite of the trip, and one we prepare for for many months. Today we visited our friends at Gallon Jug Community School and bring them the goodies we’ve been collecting for them. The Brooks kids have been working on lesson plans with the teachers of the 5 classes (2 grades in each room), and today is their day to shine. This remote school so rarely gets outside visitors that even without the school supplies and carefully prepared lessons, our visit would be exciting. I love wandering from class to class looking at the eager little kids staring up at our kids who are valiantly trying to impart the information or experiments or projects they have brought. I watched Andrew and Allie disclose the Pythagorean theorem, watched Patrick demonstrate the Earth’s orbit around Sam’s head, saw Charlotte and Les try to wrangle the kinders, who are still learning English and enjoyed playing with magnets, suction devices and paper airplanes as they learned about force. SeoYeun and Ali got their kids’ attention with candy and PowerPoint, and Greg and Jenna tried to keep their young scientists from burning down the school as they learned that rubbing 2 sticks together creates heat…

After lessons we had recess and spontaneous games of volleyball and soccer broke out, as well as some ongoing physics experimentation on the seesaws.

My personal favorite part of the day was unveiling the 4 laptops we brought down for the kids. We had been working all fall to raise money to acquire 4 “One Laptop Per Child” laptops, and finally delivered them today. We couldn’t think of a better place to try out these rugged and funky little computers, and we know Mike and Jill will make great use of them to expand these students’ experience. By the time we left they were using paint, making music, mastering the Web cam and engaging the mesh net to text each other. No doubt the kids will figure them out before the teachers do! It was extremely satisfying finally delivering these computers after planning for so long, and Sam and Jake, who raised the money for 1 of them by themselves, were excited to finally get here.

After school Silvia fed us again, and some more of us rode while the rest went to Chan Chich to swim. Dinner was a feast at Chan Chich’s lovely restaurant, and we ended the evening with a final swim and catching up on some e-mail.

Tomorrow a number of kids intend to go back to the school, while others will ride and explore the farm some more. In the afternoon we will climb the Escarpment to admire the view, and return for a last-night BBQ with some of the villagers. Hard to believe this leg of the trip is nearly over!

Following are some guest blogs - SeoYeun's impressions of today and Jenna's reflections on cave tubing, a few days ago (better late than never!!)

Giddyup

OK, not much to add to this afternoon's posts except to note that 8 of the kids in 2 groups got hour-long horseback rides through the jungle with the expert and knowledgeable guide Emil this afternoon. Though hot, it provides a great animal's-eye view of the forest itself, and Emil does a wonderful job identifying flora and fauna and answering questions. Here are a few pix - I regret that I missed Cowboy Patrick's debut ...

We've seen lots of local avians and lizards so far at Chan Chich (a major birding location), but my favorites remain the once-near-extinct oscillated turkeys, which are the best-dressed turkeys I've ever seen and which the Bowens brought back from the brink of extinction and protect and foster here. Matthew saw a mammal called a tyra today on his trips back and forth from the barn, so we got onto the "sightings" board at the lodge. Yay!

Tomorrow is our day at Gallon Jug Community school, and we couldn't be more excited.

Reflections from Allie K...

Hi there from gorgeous, sunny, BEAUTIFUL Belize!

Here I am, sitting by the pool, reading the last of Huck Finn, and hanging with Sam Grant and various children. Hmm… what to say?

The Bowen’s ranch is absolutely beautiful. The fields are big and span the horizon, the trees look like they’re out of the Lion King, and the property is covered with cows, goats, and horses. The horses are friendly, and although they don’t immediately come over, when we’re patient and quiet they’ll come and sniff our hands.

When I was first told that we would be staying above the stables, I envisioned a hay loft with bunk beds and a bathroom for each gender. Our lodgings are much different than that – the five girls have four beds in adjoining rooms that connect via our bathroom. One shower, one toilet, one sink. For Charlotte, Jenna and I, it’s a taste of dorm life. The guys have one large room with a washer and dryer, and they share a bathroom with Caleb, who is in the next room over from them.

This morning, the gals stayed at the ranch for some girl time (tanning, relaxing, all that good stuff), while the guys left for the pool at Chan Chich. While they were gone, some of us went on an expedition around the ranch and found some gorgeous views. We took lots of pictures, but they don’t do the landscape justice. Afterwards, we found one of our group already getting some sun on the roof, and a few minutes later, we all joined her. Some time later, one of the teachers (we think) came by and advised us to get off the roof. He showed us parts of it that were rotting, most notably a hole where he fell through when he was trying to set up his TV dish. He showed us a better place to go, out in a semi-secluded field.

We laid out our towels, got our iPods and books ready, and began to lounge. We laid out in the sun, untied the backs of our suits to avoid tan lines, joked about the boys surprising us, did some girl talk, and listened to music. After maybe forty minutes, we were all overheating and had gotten pretty good tans, so we packed it up. We walked back up to the barn and hosed ourselves down on the deck and air-dried while we watched the horses in the fields.

The boys came back to the ranch, we had fried rice and shrimp, and all split up again for different venues. There was only room for four on the horse riding tour, so I volunteered to go another time and the other girls went on the ride. The boys went to the saw mill, and I came back to Chan Chich for a nice dip in the pool. I spent some time talking to Jackie (Mr. Bowen’s daughter-in-law) and playing with her children Liza (two years old) and Ace (four years old). After they left, Samantha and I lounged on the chairs and read before she showed me their room here at the resort, and their stash of snacks (yum!). A little bit later, Mr. Grant, Ms. Perkins, Mr. Gelerman, his son Ian, and Caleb came to the pool.

Right now, Mr. Grant is back at the ranch to bring the other girls here for a nice cold swim, Ms. Perkins, Sam, Jake, Ian, Mr. Gelerman, Caleb and I are all sitting at the pool, playing Harry Potter Trivia (which I’m winning), and having drinks (non-alcoholic frozen drinks – don’t worry, Mom and Dad – I’m being good.) The girls are on their way, and the sun is beginning to disappear behind the palm trees. Overall, a good day in paradise.

Messages:
Mom and Dad: Hope you’re not missing me too much! Don’t worry, I’m having a blast and I’ve got lots of pictures.
My friends: I’m trying to find you the best souvenirs I can! Miss you all, and I hope your vacations are as awesome as mine is!

Arrival at Gallon Jug!

Sorry for the blog silence – yesterday was a long travel day and we’re just getting set up at our new location.

Since I last wrote we have:
- cave tubed (more on that later)
- caught up with SeoYeun finally
- added our old friend Caleb Williamson ’03 to our group – he is teaching at Island Academy on Ambergris Caye this year
- moved across the country to the western border, to Gallon Jug

Yesterday, our erstwhile tourguide Carlos Lopez picked us up at 9:30 and we left Jaguar Paw. Our first stop was to be Xunantunich (“Stone Maiden”), a Maya ruin with a huge temple that boasts a tremendous view of the surrounding jungle. The sun came out finally, and the kids finally got a taste of the tropical heat.

On the 7-mile drive from Jaguar Paw to the western highway, we saw a little boy with a backpack waving us down. He looked like he was heading to school, so we stopped to remind him that today is a national holiday – Baron Bliss day – so there was no school. It turned out he was being sent by his mom to the nearest village to make a phone call for her. We picked him up and brought him – his name was Jose Manuel and he was 8, and if we hadn’t picked him up he would have had to walk several miles. You know you’re in a very different culture when it’s safe and normal to send your 8-year-old to hitchhike to town!

On the way to Xunantunich we got our first of 2 flat tires yesterday – luckily Carlos’ son, Carlos Jr., was following us in a smaller van carrying drinks so we had plenty of help. We all got out in a small village and met some kids and their moms bringing food home to cook a holiday meal. We also witnessed the traffic to the local water pump and the families carrying buckets and jugs back to their palapas (thatch-roof huts). The students are beginning to get a picture of the life of the “regular people” here.

After Climbing the temple at Xunantunich and stopping at our favorite outdoor restaurant in this district, Hode’s, we made our way to the Spanish Lookout ferry (a barge that moves back and forth on a cable across the river moving cars and people). One of the Gallo Jug trucks was here to gather our luggage, so we unloaded the bus and said goodbye to the Lopezes, crossed the river and met Lady Bowen, our hostess, and Ben Dodge, the Middlesex alumnus who now runs Chan Chich Lodge for the Bowens.

Eschewing the air-conditioned van, the students piled into the back of the pickup for the bumpy 2-hour ride across the jungle to Gallon Jug (some of them regretted it as the bumps persisted, and we had a few defector join us in the van when we stopped the convoy for a jungle “bathroom break” halfway.

We arrived at the barn at about 4:30, and got everyone settled into their rooms at the barn. We were invited to the Bowens’ for a visit and to see the newest addition to their family – a newborn deer that one of the workers had found at the side of the road earlier in the day, apparently rejected by his mother. Lady Bowen’s housekeepers had cleaned him and fed him and he was beginning to walk. He was happily ensconced in a makeshift “deer bed” in the back hall and got up and wandered around a bit while we were visiting. He was unfazed by our crowd and Bentley Bowen, the resident English bulldog. We took a vote and Lord Bowen named the deer Brooks Bowen in our group’s honor. We’ll see if he returns to the wild or becomes a new pet.

Silvia, our favorite cook from nearby Silvestre Village, had prepared us a meal of baked chicken, mashed potatoes and fresh rolls, and at the end of this busy day the kids ate like horses, grateful for her simple, fresh food. We’ve been talking a bit about the subsistence lifestyle here, and the plusses and minuses of it. Certainly, life her runs at a comfortable pace and while everyone is a hard worker, there seems to be little personal stress and a relatively high quotient of contentment, at least among the people we have come to know here. In addition, the whole idea of growing what you eat (and the virtue of that) is dawning on the group as we eat “the best banana/pineapple/papaya/etc. I’ve ever had” again and again – there’s a significant difference from high-priced flown-in winter fruit at home from a huge American operation and bananas or pineapples that someone picked on their way to work this morning and fed you for breakfast – and they appreciate it!

Today we’re settling in – we’ll tour around the farm some, swim at Chan Chich, enjoy the next delicious meal Silvia prepares, get some horseback riding in and prepare for tomorrow – our day at Gallon Jug Community School.

Later I’ll have our guest blogger, Allie Katz, add her 2 cents.