my mosquito net has a blood stain....

Unfortunately, I'm still in catch up mode.... So much is happenining and I never have internet or time to write! So here goes...

Day 2:  I made it through the first night! Unfortunately, I didn't tuck my mosquito net under my bed before I went to sleep and a large lizard bit me in the middle of the night! I woke up to pain around 2:30 am and scrambled for my phone to see my toe was bleeding! I got blood on my mosquito net, too! Yikes! I was so tired, I couldn't even be bothered to get up and see what got me! hahaa The next morning I woke up and everyone was so concerned about my toe! The kids, (Alana and the neighbors), were searching around my room and found a HUGE lizard under my bed! They chased it out but it was easily the size of my forearm! Unreal! My first official PC injury.... hahahhahaha

The second day was Friday, so it was still Easter vacation. I was a little skeptical about the day because I scared myself with the latrine incident! But it was actually pretty nice. I hung out w/ Mrs. Sotz and learned to make flour tortillas and helped with general duties. I also experienced the shower for the first time! Second speed bump! Of course, all our water is cold, so that takes a little to get used to. Then, my shower is just a little too small for me... Mayans are short! So I had to squat a little bit or else, well you fill in the blank... It was very awkard, but I'm used to it now!
The day was pretty laid back. I played softball, or "bat", with Alana and some neighborhood kids for awhile in the afternoon. Then I watched the Lion King with Choni, Dino, and Alana...they love Disney movies! The only really weird thing that night was a bat flying into the guys' room and hitting Mr. Sotz in the arm and then flying out! I freaked out and they all laughed at me! Also, the guys got a PlayStation 2 that night which was a major deal! They have Madden and Tiger Woods games and it's the novelty of the block! All the boys come play now! It's funny. Boys are boys everywhere.....
Otherwise, nothing else really happened that I can remember....

Day 3: Holy Saturday!
Holy Saturday is the big day for the cross-country bike race in Belize: Race de la Garland I believe it's called. The guys turned on the tv really early to hear the start of the race. Nardo was talking about going, but decided not to until he saw the look of excitement on my face! So he took Alana and me down past Roaring Creek to watch them cross through there. It was a few miles to walk to, (they were on bikes and I ran the first half of the way....ugh! so hot!).. but it was totally worth it! On the walk there, we passed a HUGE., GIGANTIC turkey! I got really excited and pulled out my camera to take a pic.... Well, that very large bird did not think that was funny and proceeded to chase me down the dirt path! It was so mean! I was scared for my life! Yikes! After that crazy happening, the rest of the journey was smooth.  We waited for about an hour for the bikers to pass by. It was so cool! I got a video and pics of them.... awesome! When we walked back it was only like 10:30 in the morning. I stopped by Dan's to tell him about the race before heading back to the house. We hung out and showered until lunch, and then Alana took me over to Maya Mopan, the neighboring village, to meet her mom. It was her mom's birthday and she planned a big lunch that I was invited to, even though I had already eaten-- i find this lack of communication often happens in Belize-- so I ate again! Lunch number two was amazing: bbq chicken and beans and ariina (which is flour tortilla in Mayan). It was so good and I was FULL before we left. Matt & Dan came to pick me up with a bunch of kids and we walked around for awhile. Then we went over to Mr Cal's house (our professor) to hang out...we brought practically the whole neighborhood with us! But it was nice to chill in his hammocks! After a relaxing time, we all went out to play futbol on the field by our houses. Matt had to eat, so he went home, but Dan and I took all the kids out. It was madness! One of Dan's host brothers got tackled and knocked his front tooth loose & was bleeding! (The baby tooth ended up falling out the next day!) We couldn't handle the madness of 20 kids for too long, so we left after only about half an hour or so. On the way home, Matt's host family us in off the street for my 3rd lunch of the day: amazing chicken kaldo! It was so good!  I was exhausted by the time we got home that evening. I helped cook dinner and watched Spirit with Choni and Alana before bed.