This week has been a great opportunity to experience some of the cultural variations. The life skills class for sophomores does a section on weddings so we went to another wedding. It was just as fascinating the second time around. The girls have actual wedding dresses, bridesmaids, rings, and the boys do their part as well. The cake cutting happens a little awkwardly, but they are still practicing an actual wedding. Obviously, the young girls get much more involved than the boys. Watching the students in the life skills class reminded me of home ec. which lots of young girls take in the states- or at least they did from what I remember. Apparently they had a lesson that involves a baby (bag of flour) and those nurturing elements of parenthood. The students smash the bag of flour when they are done, which hopefully means they have no intentions of being a teen parent.
On Saturday I was able to go to the high school national track and field meet. We caught a ferry into Belize City which takes about 1 1/2 hours. The athletics here are very different. Some of the runners were late for the ferry so we had to wait for the next one, in hopes that they 12 kids would show up! Luckily most of them did, but it was still hard to imagine kids not wanting to go to their countries national meet. Apparently there was a foam party on Friday and most of the students went to it, which resulted in them being late, or not showing up. The track is the only one in the country, so it was our students first time running on a real one. The other thing that was rather shocking was the students often run barefoot, or with socks on. The cost of running attire is unrealistic so the students just make it happen with what they have. I cannot imagine, especially in the heat, running in jean shorts or pants. It's not sad to watch these kids, it's more inspiring because they do things I could never imagine. I think of the low income families in the states and they still have substantial more than these people. And yet, I don't hear them complain about their situation- it's just a part of life.
On Saturday I was able to go to the high school national track and field meet. We caught a ferry into Belize City which takes about 1 1/2 hours. The athletics here are very different. Some of the runners were late for the ferry so we had to wait for the next one, in hopes that they 12 kids would show up! Luckily most of them did, but it was still hard to imagine kids not wanting to go to their countries national meet. Apparently there was a foam party on Friday and most of the students went to it, which resulted in them being late, or not showing up. The track is the only one in the country, so it was our students first time running on a real one. The other thing that was rather shocking was the students often run barefoot, or with socks on. The cost of running attire is unrealistic so the students just make it happen with what they have. I cannot imagine, especially in the heat, running in jean shorts or pants. It's not sad to watch these kids, it's more inspiring because they do things I could never imagine. I think of the low income families in the states and they still have substantial more than these people. And yet, I don't hear them complain about their situation- it's just a part of life.