Belize: Students Going Global 2019 - Day 1 Leaving on a Jet Plane... (6/4/2019)

Belize: Students Going Global 2019 - Day 1

Today was the first day of our 8-day adventure to Belize! I started planning this trip about two years ago and I am so glad that these students and parents jumped on board with my vision! This blog will take you along with us on our journey throughout the country to discover the history, cuisine, culture and daily lifestyle of the people of Belize. 

Our journey began at the Wichita airport at 5:45AM. After signing passports, securing all appropriate documentation, labeling luggage tags, and making sure that the suitcases that were meant to go on the plane, were small enough to go on the plane, it was time for family pictures! This time is always fun for me as a group leader. I see tears of worry and happiness on parents faces as they know that their kiddo is going on a wonderful journey, will learn so many things, and they will miss them terribly. Or... they are crying tears of joy because the house will be quiet for a little bit. I'm just kidding... look at these wonderful students and their families! The picture of parents taking our picture is always one of my trip favorites! 

NOTE: We wear matching shirts on the first and last days of our trips. Yes, I know that this makes us stand out as tourists and this is not normal attire, but these shirts are designed and voted upon by the group and matching stand-out shirts are a whole lot easier to recognize, find and count at the airport. These shirts in particular were the combination of two students' designs. Lauren Broz designed the front and Shianne Moore designed the back! Because their designs were chosen as the winners, they received their t-shirts for free!

As you read these entries, please keep in mind that these trips are about so much more than just the destination and what we will see. Many of my students experience firsts that we don't think about. Two of my students flew on their first airplane this morning. Three of my students tried Biscoff for the first time (yummy). Two of my students learned how to use a disposable camera and many saw their first palm trees. They are traveling with students from Indiana and California and staying in rooms with students that may not always be someone they are the most comfortable with. They are learning how to be responsible and hold on to both money and a passport and they are learning to communicate their thoughts and concerns without a parent traveling along. They are trying to exchange money, allocate funds for gifts AND snacks and soak in as much knowledge as possible even though they have been so excited. These adventures are about SO MUCH MORE than a trip... they are life-changers.

At this point I would like to thank American Airlines for allowing me to track our plane and its location while we were in flight. Students could look out their window and know if they were looking at the coast of Mexico or Belize based on the map! It also gave us a fun countdown to the time that we would land, not to mention the free movies, music and headphones provided for entertainment. 

I would also like to give an even bigger thank you to my husband Warren Potter. He is the end of our group line. He helps me see things that I miss while I am trying to juggle parts of our journey and he is a wonderful sounding board and my best friend. I am so glad that we are able to educate the world and one another together! Thank you for traveling with me, helping me with my kiddos and making the most of life's great adventures!

When we arrived in Belize we were greeted by a welcome group of airline workers and walked down the stairs to de-board the plane. I must say, with the positiveness of the thumbs up in the picture and the royal treatment upon arrival...one might say they felt EXTREMELY SPECIAL today!

After a quick stop to fill out customs paperwork and a small stop at the luggage carousel, we were officially on Belize soil and ready to begin our journey. When SnapChat says that you are in Belize, you know it is official! 

Upon leaving the airport, we met our tour guide and bus driver. Our tour guide's name is Ken Thompson (more about him later), and our driver's name is Modesto. Ken and Modesto have been working in the tourism industry for years and both speak English, Spanish and Creole. We learned that Belize use to be called the British Honduras and that they are the youngest country, gaining their independence only recently in 1981 when they became independent from Great Britain. They had been under British rule since 1862 when the British beat Spain. When students ask why Belize is the only "officially English" speaking country in Latin America, now they know why! Although their official language is English, our guide pointed out that because their neighbors, Guatemala and Mexico, speak Spanish, most of our county is trilingual. It's important to get along with our neighbors and the first step to getting along is being able to communicate. This points out why they speak Spanish and English. The third language for people in Belize is typically their native Mayan tongue. Ken plans to teach us a few words in his native language before the end of the week!

As we drove to our first destination, we stopped at a small grocery store where the kids could buy snacks for today and tomorrow as we will have some travel time and we didn't have the biggest lunch (airport food). Many students chose things that they knew, but several students tried various candies and were surprised by their tastes!

While enjoying some of these treats, we drive through a section of Belize City. We were told that 90,000 people live in Belize City and about 410,000 people live in Belize as a whole so about 25% of the population lives in the city we are visiting today! We drove by houses, banks, schools and parks. We will definitely see more tomorrow. This was just on the brief stretch to our hotel and first photo-spot! The white building below the bus picture is an example of a wooden building that would have been a mansion along the coast during the times of British rule. We will see a lot of various types of architecture that show the development of culture throughout history. 

After grabbing snacks, we took one last brief stop for the day at one of the most famous photo-spots in Belize. We were able to see where the cruise ships dock on the Caribbean Sea, take a group photo, listen to the ocean, watch pelicans and gulls fly, and see a lighthouse. This was a beautiful and serene setting right along the water. If we looked out far enough, we were also able to see various islands. Later this week we will be snorkeling and visiting these islands!

Throughout the day we have already started to see many animals! As I mentioned earlier, we saw pelicans and sea gulls. We also saw pigeons, a large lizard and several dogs. Many of my students asked if they could take home a stray dog. I told them that wouldn't quite work, but I did refer them to the humane society, parents! 

The picture below shows our tour director, Ken Thompson. I must say that I am very impressed with Ken so far and they kids are as well. He is full of energy, speaks three languages and is extremely knowledgeable! Not only has he had an answer to all of our questions, but he has made our group feel safe, cared for, and willing to ask questions. He has a great sense of humor and I cannot wait to see what else he has in store for us on this trip. This evening at dinner, he told the group that they needed to come up with a group name (for the whole bus of ~45 students and adults, not just our school), and it needed to be something that he could yell from the top of a mountain and we would all then know that we needed to report to him. The students had a wide range of suggestions... from Avengers Assemblage (these were things where he would say a word and then we would respond with the second), and Funky Monkeys, to Lizards and Manatees, we had several examples to vote on. After Leah suggested lizards, another student suggested that we go more specific and say iguanas. Not wanting to miss a moment for education, Ken then informed us that the Mayan word for iguana is... oh my, I can't remember. This story will be updated tomorrow morning after I get some sleep! Thank you for understanding! 

After we got to our hotel, went over ground rules again, discussed the plan for dinner and the evening, and unpacked, the kids wanted to swim! We have a beautiful pool and the kids from California took a red-eye flight and were a bit tired so we all got to swim for about an hour and fifteen minutes before dinner. Several students checked out the pool and the water felt great! They also took this opportunity to test out my GoPro! The GoPro is a wonderful camera that works really well for under-water adventures like swimming, snorkeling and more! Check out the fun they had this afternoon while we practiced for making snorkeling videos in the days ahead! Stay tuned! It was great to have a moment of relaxation after a busy day, an early morning and a full day ahead of us tomorrow!

After enjoying some time in the pool, it was time for dinner. For dinner this evening, we ate in one of the meeting rooms at our hotel. Ken gave a talk about all of the various regions we will be visiting and even showed and explained the geography of Belize using his map. There are 4 main highways in Belize that run through the country in each direction and the Belize coast is home to the second largest reef in the world. (If you are reading this and would like to...take a moment and type what the name of this reef is in the comment box! I want to see how many people will figure it out!) We plan to snorkel on this reef later this week. 

For dinner tonight we had pasta, tilapia, mashed potatoes, veggies and a roll. The food was absolutely delicious and was very well received on the empty stomachs. While all of this is not a 100% traditional Belizean meal, the tilapia sparked a great discussion over imports and exports and tilapia's impact on the country as an invasive species. Ken noted that people from Taiwan brought tilapia over and it was farmed in ponds. It is still farmed this way today, unfortunately, the species was not contained. Now the tilapia is invasive and people in Belize are divided on whether it, as well as the lion fish (another invasive species), should be eaten. Some do not want to eat them out of principle, others think eating them is the only way to try to stop them from invading. Who knew dinner could be so educational?! #LearningNeverStops

After dinner, I told my kids we could check out the gift-shop for about 25 minutes and then they needed to be in their rooms by 8:30, and in bed with lights out by 9:15. I took a shower and when I walked to all rooms for the evening check, only one room was still awake - with lights off, the rest were already out! It was an exhausting, wonderful day and tomorrow looks even better!

We hope to have you back and reading tomorrow! Don't forget to attempt the question in the reading! Just comment the answer below.

Funny quotes from the day: (Can you guess who said what?)

1. Student on the plane - "It's like looking at Google Earth...but in real life."

2. "Mrs. Potter, I got a disposable waterproof camera but I have no idea how to use it." (Mrs. Potter goes to help remove the foil bag it is in.) "Oh, you are making me nervous. Don't ruin it, I think the film is in there." (Mrs. Potter thinks back to her childhood to make sure...yes, this is just the trash around it, camera is fine inside.)

3. Mrs. Potter, I checked my bag and my passport is in it. (Ok, this one wasn't really funny at the time, but we got it all worked out and it makes for a good story! Thank goodness for nice airline workers.)

4. Filling out a Customs Paper - "Mrs. Potter what is my address?"

5. Mrs. Potter, Warren is really quiet...he isn't like you at all. 

Thank you for reading! See you tomorrow for day 2!