For those of you who know my family well, you probably already know that there is never a dull moment when my dad and I are together. Last week was no exception.
My dad arrived last Saturday and spent the next 9 days in San Pedro with me. The fun began as soon as we walked in the front door of my little casita. My dad must have traveled with a bunch of cockroaches and brought them with him. During my first 7 weeks here, I have only seen 3-4 cockroaches in all. The first time I saw a big one run across my floor in my 2nd or 3rd week here, I took a bunch of plastic and jammed it in all the small cracks between the wall and floor where I thought they were coming from. I saw 3 within my Dad’s first hour in Belize. I think roaches are naturally attracted to him. On my parents’ honeymoon in the Caribbean, the roaches used to take over the floor of their casita and they had to spray a path to the bathroom every night. Anyways, in all my paranoia, we went to the store and bought 2” wide masking tape and roach spray and taped up every crack we could find. So far so good but my dad was not too enthusiastic about sleeping on a camping pad on my floor. My bed is about the width of a backpacking tent, so we both camped out on the bed for the next week. The Wilsons did generously offer us a place on their boat for a few days but we were already pretty settled in at my place. On Sunday we did the tourist thing and went windsurfing a couple miles south of town. The wind was marginal but it was still nice to get out on a board. Unfortunately every time I went to Wilmette this summer, I never got the opportunity to go windsurfing. I’m proud (sort of) to say that my first day of windsurfing in 2009 was on November 22. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the Tides Hotel where I know the bar tender, Adolfo, well from my frequent visits. It was refreshing to take a dip in the pool and read in some comfy beach chairs. That night we had a hardy dinner of pupusas (a Salvadorian stuffed pancake) and some amazing seafood and chicken burritos. Yum!
On Monday we reported for duty at the school. Dad got the grand tour of the place and got to see how much it has grown since we were here as a family 2 years ago. Afterwards I put him to work helping me give reading tests to the Standard IV students. My mission was to give a diagnostic reading test to the upper division students. The test was the Burt Reading Test (google it). It’s a list of words that starts with simple words (to, is, he…) and progresses to really hard ones (perambulating, subtlety, phthisis). Based on the number of words that the student can pronounce, one can estimate their reading age (i.e. 7 years-2 months or 12 years-11 months). It’s a simple test for a rough estimate and does not test the student’s comprehension. Dad helped me with that each morning, which allowed me to finish administering all 90 tests for the school before I went home.
Last week was the big multiplication test for the Standard V class. An ice cream party was at stake as any student who scored higher than 85% got to partake in the fest. I am so proud to say that all but two students passed! When we started practicing the times table, the average in the class was about 78% percent. By the end, the class average was around 95%. The kids worked hard and everyone who put effort in to the task passed. The two that didn't pass didn't take the challenge seriously so they didn't get to reap the benefits. Hopefully it will be a life lesson. Monday afternoon Standard V got to enjoy a bowl of strawberry and chocolate ice cream.
In the afternoon, Dad became Mr. Handyman. Mr. Vernon put him to work with lots of jobs. He started out fixing locks on cabinets in the computer lab. Then the both of us installed about 30 cabinet catches on the other cabinet doors in the lab to prevent them from spontaneously swinging open. As tedious and repetitive as the job was, the two of us got a system down to make time fly. Dad even had time to switch into “Dad-mode” and teach Keinie (Miss Laura’s daughter and my little buddy) how to drill a hole with the drill. Keinie was crawling in one cabinet and out another 3 doors down, just like I did when I was 3 and Dad was remodeling the kitchen.
Dad’s big project for the week was to tile the front entrance way to the office. A previous group had started the job but had used 3 different tiles of 2 different sizes, so it was already a little messed up. Remember, this is Belize. I think the previous volunteers stopped because they realized how hard the back was to tile. There are two benches that are nailed to the floor that the tiles had to work around. Of all the tiles my dad laid down, 6 were complete and didn’t require any cutting. On top of that, the previous people didn’t do a normal thin-set tile job; they did more of a mud job and elevated each tile about a quarter inch (much harder to make level). Dad did all the tile cutting and laying and I came back on Friday and grouted it. All week, I bounced back and forth between working on a grant and helping him.
On Saturday we played “tourist” again. We rented bikes and explored the island. First we went south and made it all the way to the end of the road at the southern tip of Ambergris Caye (5.5 miles one-way). Outside of town the road become rocky with water-filled potholes and small bodies of water to ford. At the end of the road, there is a palapa bar in the middle of nowhere run by a Jamaican named Robert (who happened to live in Milwaukee for 20 years). When we arrived he came out and said, “Congratulations! You’ve made it! I’ve got a cold beer with your name on it.” Naturally we had to stay. Two expats who are real estate agents for Coldwell Banker stopped by because they there in the area posting For Sale signs on the nearby vacant lots. (Side note: I ran into Robert again on Monday at the immigration office as we were both getting our passports stamped to stay another 30 days. He’s now an American citizen). Then we went exploring north and made it about 3 miles north of town. The island is much prettier up there with cute apartments and more resorts. We turned around when the road got nasty and we got attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes.
Saturday night we had a lovely dinner with the Wilsons at the Sunset Grill, one of the nicest restaurants in town. Chef Victor cooks some wonderful cuisine and was voted Best Chef in Belize a couple years ago. He volunteers at the school about once a month to teach the kitchen staff new cooking techniques and how to balance meals. Sunset Grill has another draw besides great food, feeding the tarpon. There is a population of tarpon (3-4 feet long) that hang out in the marina and wait for tourist to come feed them small fish. They gather at the sound of the bell. I’ve already fed the fish but I made my dad do it and captured it all on tape. Check out the You Tube video.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69-SGWF2Xe0
On Sunday he left and went back to Wilmette. Maybe now that he’s gone I’ll be able to eat a little healthier for my last few days here. My dad’s sweet tooth took us to the bakery practically every day.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment