Caye Caulker

It's a beautiful albeit hot Sunday afternoon in Benque. And while we had our usual treat of having homemade rolls at breakfast as well as orange juice (my personal favorite), it's been a bit of a sad day. Today is when Betsy, our longtime volunteer who has been adopted into the Belizean community and has been the anchor for all of us volunteers, she left just a couple hours to go back home. But it doesn't feel like she's really gone yet, so instead I'll catch up and talk about last weekend when we all got to go to one of the most splendidly beautiful places: Caye Caulker.

Again, please note that a) we've only been traveling so much because Betsy was leaving and b) the pictures you will see do not depict where I live at all. It would be like looking at a picture of Miami and thinking, "Oh she's from Florida, that must be what Gainesville looks like too." Nope. Wrong. 

We left Friday at noon since we had a half day at school. September 21 is Belize's Independence Day, so we didn't have class on Friday, just the 1st Form Welcome Assembly which consisted of students from the other forms performing songs, poems, skits, and things of that sort to entertain all of us. Oh yeah, the volunteers were the opening act. What did we do for the 1st Form Assembly? Well, the girls dressed up and acted like 1st Formers who had a guest speaker come into class, a guest speaker who was none other than...One Direction aka the boy volunteers. And despite our rigorous practices throughout the week, our music didn't work through the speakers, so it didn't go at all how we planned but that made it funnier and us girls were still dressed in uniforms, the boys still looked ridiculous and so the kids loved it. 

Not pictured are Kelley who was our teacher and the fifth member of the band who simply didn't exist. 

Anyway, after that we left for the long ride out to the coast, taking a 3 hour bus ride from Benque to Belize (yes, I am already in Belize, but everybody shortens Belize City to Belize. Now you can sound like you're not a tourist). Once in Belize, we had an hour and a half before our water taxi ride. Yes, we had to ride in a little boat to get from Belize to the island. It was so much fun! And beautiful, as was everything else about the weekend. Once we got to the island, we checked into the place we were staying which was SO NICE aka didn't have dirt on the floor and had...wait for it...air conditioning!! I'm convinced heaven will have air conditioning because nothing feels better than walking into that nice cold room. We also had hot water though when I went to take the first hot shower in the past 6 weeks, the handle broke off. So I was still left with a cold shower. But the cold water was warmer than Benque and it actually felt good after being in the sun all day. It was just pure irony. That night we just had dinner which was positively delicious and cheap. I had lobster with coconut rice, vegetables, garlic bread, and a rum punch drink all for $20 Belize which is only $10 in the States. Whatever! Their special that night was getting almost any entree with the rice, veggies, bread, and rum punch all for $20 Belize. It's a perfect spot for poor missionaries on vacation. The rest of the night was spent sitting on the dock by the water feeling perfectly content.

The next morning, I got to sleep in though despite my best efforts to sleep in until at least 7:30, my body's idea of sleeping in meant 6:40 instead of 6 am. I guess my idea of vacation has changed a bit. It was really nice though because no one else was up in the girls room, so I went up to the roof and looked out over the water and had the first 30-45 minutes of my day to myself, and if any of you have interacted with me in the morning, you know this is a very good thing. It wasn't too long after that that everyone else started getting up and eating breakfast. It didn't take long for us to get ready to go down to the water which was literally a one minute walk from where we were, so we wasted no time in getting in the shallow part looking for sea shells and soaking in the scenery. The rest of the morning was spent walking south down the edge of the island with Joe and Michael away from the commercialized, developed part into the quieter area that made it quite easy to pretend you were on a wilderness exploration. I suppose in a way we kind of were. In any case, here are some pictures from our adventures.

Scenic picture of my exploring buddies

Michael and I with our shells! Joe actually found mine, but he gave it to me since he already found one for him.

And here are just a couple of pictures to make you jealous that I was here and you weren't.

So that took up our morning and around noon, we had some lunch snacks, went swimming, and chilled. At about 5:30, we all went to the west side of the island to watch the sunset which was spectacular because there were huge storm clouds the made for some really cool contrasts.

So great. Oh we also saw a giant starfish in the water! Well, it was probably a normal sized starfish but considering I had never seen one that big before, it seemed giant.

It was really cool. Then everyone cleaned up and we went for dinner, but the real treat was going out for ice cream afterwards. I even splurged and got mine in a waffle cone. After all, I was on vacation and it was Independence Day. The night was another relaxing one with the added bonus of getting to talk to one of my best friends in the whole world: Katherine Furness. Since we had wifi at our hotel place, I got to video chat with her through my phone. A perfect way to end a perfect day. Oh that even rhymes! I can be so clever sometimes. 

Sunday was just as great though it was a little bittersweet because it was our last night of waking up in an air conditioned room for a long time. But we went to Mass at the Catholic Church on the island which had such an awesome old priest and then just about an hour and a half until the water taxi left for Belize. It was a long ride home, very bumpy, but I couldn't care because a weekend at the beach was exactly what my heart had been longing for. The past couple weeks have been pure chaos at school with many things changing for my year. But the beach has always been that place for me, the one where everything else melts away. It was peace briefly inserted into the muddled confusion that often occupies my mind. I've said it a thousand times already, but truly your prayers move me moment to moment, pushing me forward until I'm able to find these pockets of rest.

Anyway, do you see now why I had to write about Benque first? So many people think that I live in Caye Caulker and again I assure you that this was a very special vacation trip. But it was wonderful and I'm already trying to calculate the next and soonest time I can go back. No such luck figuring it out yet, but I don't think I can stay away for long.

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday! Do something American today in honor of those of us who can't like...eating cheese and feeling clean.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.

Home

This weekend we went on a most excellent, much needed trip to the beach. It was absolutely breathtaking and everything I needed for the weekend. It was hilarious arriving on the island and having some of us gasp in amazement of the beauty of the beach or at the mere fact of being at the beach in late September. I simply looked around and felt at home.

But that's not what I'm going to write about today. There are many many people who think that I'm living in a Caribbean paradise for a year and while Belize is undoubtedly a very beautiful country, Benque certainly isn't as glamorous as the cruise stops reveal. So I thought that, after being here over a month, I would post some pictures of my new home.

This is the inside of our parish. We spend a lot of our time in here for Mass and Adoration which is just wonderful. And you would be surprised at the difference those little fans make!

This is the outside of the Church and frankly my favorite view of it.

This is my house!! My little home, in which all the girl volunteers live. Four of us (soon to be 3 of us when Betsy leaves) sleep downstairs and 3 of us are upstairs. It's cozy and has a ton of ants, but it's wonderful and has a very homey feel to it.

Ok, here are a couple of pictures of the high school.

These are just a couple different angles, but I just want to give an idea of what it looks like. It's mostly in this big U shape with the soccer field in the middle. In that second picture, you'll see a two story building which is where the 1st and 2nd Form Girls' classrooms are (upstairs) and the 3rd and 4th Form classrooms are downstairs. The building with the 1st and 2nd Form Boys' classrooms are perpendicular to that one, to make part of the other side of the U. Is this making any sense? Maybe more pictures will be taken later.

And now for random pictures around town!

This is on our way to school. The paved road is the Boulevard, the main road in Benque. You  know it's a big deal because it's paved and has a median. We cross it and walk down the little dirt road to get to school. That pink building is also the Chinese restaurant we got dinner from the first night we were here.

This is right behind that previous picture, so this road leads back home.

And then this is just part of the road that is right by our house. 
 

So there it is. A small glimpse into Benque. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that I wasn't in a beach hammock all day every day though that is in fact what I did this entire weekend. A post on Caye Caulker will come soon! In the meantime, please pray for the 3rd Form Girls. We're going on retreat this Friday!

St. Maximlian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.

Flores! And other such things

There is far too much to say. It has been quite a week filled with beauty, wonder, chaos, struggling to understand, and the overall reminder to just surrender.

Typical topics in the life of Melissa Montrowl.

The biggest thing that happened in the past week is that one of the volunteers went back to the United States to take care of a previous back injury that is returning with a vengeance. It’d be nice to think that he’ll go see his doctors, get better, and come back soon, but the reality of the situation is that Friday was filled with really hard goodbyes. We all knew that he would have to go home eventually and sooner rather than later, but it just came as a shock because Friday went from a normal day of resting and recovery to “Hey you’re going to Belize City in an hour to get an MRI” to “Hey if you get cleared to travel, you’re flying back to the States ASAP.” It was a lot for him to take in, but the guys’ house was constantly filled with people coming to say goodbye before he left that evening which really affected me personally to see how many people love him. It’s only been a few days without him here, but boy we do miss him. Please keep him in your prayers.

Luckily our weekend wasn’t spent just feeling the void that was left Friday night. The rest of us volunteers had been planning a little trip, so when Saturday morning rolled around, we went to Flores, Guatemala! And when I say Saturday morning, I mean we left the parish at 4:45 am. It’s only a 10-15 drive to the border and from there only another 2 hours or so to Flores. We were sitting out on a dock over a lake by 10 am! And we rented a van to get there which was great because the volunteers kind of know the guy who drives it, so he’s reliable and he generally played good music in the car for us. We did however have to implement a “No singing before 7 am rule” because really, is it necessary to be singing old 80s songs loudly at 6:15 in the morning? The answer is a big fat loud no. I’m just glad there was more than one non-morning person in the car.

So anyway we get to Flores in the morning, checked into our hostel, and hung out on the lake for a couple hours. Now Flores is an island, so if we left the city, which was only this one time for lunch, we had to walk across the bridge. And for lunch we had the nice authentic American feast of Burger King. I have never felt so happy eating at a Burger King! The rest of the afternoon was spent on our lovely little dock, watching storm clouds roll in from the distance. They never actually opened up on us though, so we could enjoy the beautiful clouds and the cooler temperatures without the inconvenience of a downpour. After cleaning up very quickly, we spent the evening at a happy hour then at dinner and then just hanging out. Between a long week and doing nothing all day and being up since 4:15, I was certainly wiped out. You would think I would’ve slept like a log, but cue the midnight fireworks that went off literally right outside our hostel. Happy Independence Day, Guatemala! Happy No Sleep, Melissa!

But here are some lovely pictures from the weekend.

Because we have painfully slow internet, you will have to be satisfied with just these 3 pictures.

The next morning we got up and went to Mass, had a lovely low key breakfast that was delicious and entertaining. Delicious because I had some of the fluffiest pancakes ever, and entertaining because unlike Belize, mostly everyone in Guatemala only speaks Spanish. And while I can figure out how to order uno café con leche y panqueques, it’s a lot harder to tell your waitress that you’re waiting for 3 more people and then she starts to pull up another table and you’re just confused. But some of my homeroom girls have taken me under their wing to teach me some Spanish. So far I can say, "I have eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth, but I do not have contact lenses." They're clearly teaching me the essentials.

Well this is a longer update, but we had an exciting weekend. As for this past Monday and Tuesday, there weren’t any crazy morning border runs or anything overly eventful. Just busy, busy, busy trying to get ourselves re-situated now that we’re down one volunteer and our principal is talking like he might have someone who can come down. But this is Belize, so even if someone told me a new volunteer was coming down next week, I know that means maybe a month.

Oh wait! Something exciting did happen on Tuesday! I got a letter from one of my dearest and best friends, Griffin! Say a little prayer for him too, he’s spending the year doing college campus ministry, and is totally loving it.

Please keep praying for us! We all need it. I know I personally appreciate every thought and prayer (and piece of mail!) that comes my way.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.

TIB Part II

I can't tell you how many times even in just the past 3 days, I've said, "Classic Belize."

I honestly can't remember the end of last week. It was just too long ago. But we had such an exciting weekend because we were celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary. The Cathers are a couple who have been a huge part of the development of education in Belize, especially in Benque and so they know a lot of people and are loved by a lot of people and as soon as you meet them, you see why. It was a big Mass with a big reception afterwards including cheese dip (which means it's a big deal around here!) and a wedding cake with a great big cake topper that said "50" on it. It was also the first time really that I had seen so many fresh flowers that weren't just growing in people's yards, so my heart was very happy for that. And just when it seemed like the celebration couldn't get any bigger, we had two priests fly in that are so interconnected with the mission. I'm pretty sure that between the 2 of them, they know everyone in Benque and the surrounding areas! They've been spending the week traveling to the other towns, saying Masses, visiting people, doing their priestly missionary business. Even being 90 isn't stopping one of them! It's been such a neat opportunity getting to meet them and talk to them while they've been here this whole week. But the point of this was that Saturday was a big day. And just in case the cheese dip and fresh flowers didn't prove it was a big day, the fact that us girls were in dresses and I was wearing make-up for only the second time since being here certainly does. 

Sunday was a classic Sunday which means we had an easy morning before Mass and a frantic afternoon of lesson planning the rest of the day. Teachers don't have spare time. If we're not planning, we're thinking about the lessons we should be planning. At least that's how my new teacher brain works.

Mondays are always pretty busy for me since my only free period of the day is the very first period but even that is sandwiched between homeroom and my first class which is during second period.

This Monday was different though.

So a person is a legal traveling tourist in Belize for 30 days after their passport is stamped when they come into the country. And as incredulous as it is, tomorrow marks the 30 Day benchmark for us new volunteers. No, it doesn't feel like 30 days. It feels like I've been here 3 months and yet there are still days that have that first day of school feel aka what in the world am I doing. Anyway, because Belize is, well, Belize, we haven't gotten our work visas yet which isn't a problem except then you have to renew your passport stamp for a $30 fee. Not too bad. But when you only make $35 a week, then $30 is a pretty steep price. The school is supposed to do that for us, but again, TIB. So it's getting taken care of today and yes, today would be our last legal day in the country.

Some of you who have some geographical knowledge of where I am might ask, "Why don't you just go across the border to Guatemala? It's only a 5-10 minute car ride." Good idea. Except they get very angry when volunteers do that because they want us to pay the $30. But we decided we didn't really have a choice this time and since it was our first 30 day extension, maybe they would only be annoyed and not angry since we really are trying our best to get our visas. 

So it was somehow settled that Monday morning at 7 am we would go to Guatemala. I arrived at school that morning at 8:30. School starts at 8:00. TIB.

I'll spare you all the details of that hour and a half because frankly I don't know even know all that was going on then. But when you have a Canadian priest, a Mexican deacon, and 8 white people all dressed for school with their little backpacks, you're sure in for a fun time with the border patrol. They seemed appeased this first time around so long as we spent money in Guatemala so we weren't just crossing to get our stamp. Which is exactly what we were doing. But I got a pastry out of it, so it could've been worse. It was also hilarious because we kept seeing our students on their way to school. And because sarcasm is completely lost on the kids here, it was that much funnier when I would say, "Hurry so you're not late!" as I'm walking further into Guatemala. However, coming back into Belize, they only extended our stamp for 7 days, hence my wonderful get-up-and-get-done- roommate, Kelley, worked today to get the ball rolling on either a) the school extending our stamps or b) getting our visas.

It seems impossible that it only took an hour and a half. But as exhausting as Monday was, Tuesday was a national holiday which meant no school and also explains why my post is a day late. I had about 1 hour of productivity and the rest of the day was spent watching movies and eating. Yep, I can't think of a single other thing I did that day. It was a good day.

Today was organized chaos as so many of my days are, but I don't think I can say any part of it was bad. Especially since it ended with a chocobanana and a single fresh, sweet strawberry. mmmm.

This weekend will be a good time: we're planning on going to Flores, Guatemala for the weekend, and while most of the weekend will probably be spent with me thinking about all the things I could be getting done back home, it will be so inexpressibly blissful to get away. And I promise I'll take pictures there. 

Oh my goodness, I have just spent a lot of words saying that life is just moving along here.  There hasn't been anything too eventful going on and yet when you live in a foreign country, just walking down the street is eventful. What month. And it's only one of many.

Keep the prayers coming. They are the glue holding me together!

And of course, let us all remember the poor souls of all the 9/11 victims. What an appropriate day to offer a special prayer for peace, especially in the state our world is in. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.

Little Love

Surprise! A Friday post snuck in here.

I don't have classes on Fridays, so I'm technically done with my second week of teaching. And while I'm the one planning the lessons, I'm certainly learning my fair share and then some. 

It's been a hard two weeks. Part of me, a lot of me actually can't believe I've only been in the classroom for such a short amount of time. Two weeks seems like too short a time to have favorite students, problem students, quizzes, feeling like you've run out of ideas, students crying after time in the chapel, and about a thousand other things that get crammed into everyday life here. But through the chaos, controlled and otherwise, there's been a very prevalent lesson I'm learning.

Little love.

This has come in so many forms and meanings. For one thing, my students: as a Christian and as their teacher, I'm called to give them great love. But that doesn't always been great in quantity. It's hard to give them the love they need when we don't know each other yet and especially when they aren't open to it. A lot of them are closed off to it and much of the year will be making them see that my care for them is only a small reflection of the love and care God has for them. It takes more than a class session for them to know divine love, especially when that love is working through such a small instrument, namely myself. But I can give them that immense love in little doses and in the little ways that they need it.

Little love. This is synonymous with Joana. She's the little 6 year old who is just stealing my heart and it's not even fair. Even as I write this, she's sitting on my lap, writing memos on my phone and offering to write this post for me. A very generous offertffjjfnjfjffjg gf fg gkggfgkgmkgbkgbggjjhgjfhghghgngjgjgggughnibhikg, see she took over my keyboard and insisted on writing something. But I don't know how it is physically possible to have so much love contained in this tiny little body of hers. The other day, it was just a rough day of teaching. It was one of those days that first year teachers, and all teachers I suppose, dread where you're teaching literally all day and your students are not only acting up but also disrespecting you. The bell rang and I came exhausted back to my desk in the staff room and as soon as I sat down I hear, "Mees Mayleesah!" Little Joana was SO excited to see me. After an entire day of kids not caring in the least about anything I had to say, here was the little girl who was so joyful just at my existence. And every afternoon, she always comes to see me and crawl in my lap and type who knows what on Microsoft Word in her generous offer to do my work for me. She always calls out to you and waves at you when she sees you and if she's uninhibited, she'll come running and jump on you. She's a little, little thing. But her love is so vast.

So what have I learned in Belize so far? That the best I can give is whatever love is in my littleness. And sometimes it's the littlest loves that heal us.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.

One Week - Revisited

Ah yes, the "One Week" term is back.

But this time, it means it's been one week of school. That's insane. It feels like we've been in class forever and then whenever I remember school started a week ago, it seems to be the Lord's gentle way of reminding me it's ok that I haven't gotten everything figured out. It's only been one week.

How did that week go? Oh boy, how do you even describe your first week of school? Well, I didn't walk into the wrong classroom so that's always a good start and even more impressive coming from me when you consider how many times I walked into the wrong class in college. It's been a wild ride and it's only beginning. I think the best way to describe how I'm feeling is this: when you convince yourself to go on a roller coaster even though you're terrified but you're trying to conquer your fears so you do it anyway and as soon as the ride starts to move you start to panic and wonder if your harness is actually secured. I was so ready for the weekend and it had nothing to do with the fact that it was my birthday weekend. I just didn't want to go to school. I sound just like the kids now!

My birthday. It was such a glorious day highlighted by the fact that it fell on a Friday. First, my birthday came early because on Wednesday, a package from home came!!! Ok, I knew it was coming because it was mostly stuff that couldn't fit in my suitcase (oops. but hey it's hard packing to move to a foreign country!). However, because my family is awesome, there was a birthday card and one of the best surprises in the entire world: 2 cans of dry roasted unsalted peanuts and a giant bag of chocolate chips. Both of these items are impossible to find here and my favorite snack happens to be the combining of these two ingredients. It felt like Christmas. 

Friday night came and our Belizean tradition is that the birthday person gets to pick what we do on said person's birthday. Because I'm an introvert and because it was the end of the first week of school, I chose the only logical option: a movie night. What did I pick? Jurassic Park of course. It was absolutely perfect! AND Kelley, who loves cooking, decided to make dinner for all of us, so instead of our usual tortillas and rice and beans and chicken, she made garlic chicken with pasta. SO GOOD. And Joe and Katie made me a most delicious cake: chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.

It says, "Happy Birthday, Belizean Phat Kid." This may seem weird for those of you who don't know my household from college, but we all have "Phat Kid" names because we love food. Mine is peanut butter pie, and so their original plan was to make a peanut butter pie, but we're in Belize, so they did the next best thing. And it was seriously so good. The frosting was made from scratch! I couldn't eaten it all by myself. I didn't though, I was nice and shared.

The next was Greg's birthday, another volunteer, so we had another birthday party! It was such fun especially since we all had to dress up like celebrities/characters of Greg's choosing. We had Destiny's Child, Baby and Johnny Castle from Dirty Dancing, Friar Tuck, Hercules, a stereotypical Franciscan student, and Adele. I don't have pictures, but we were certainly a sight to see. And since this was birthday #3, we were getting a little tired of birthday cake, so Joe and Michael had the brilliant idea of making ice cream sandwiches on mocha snickerdoodle cookies. I told you, brilliant. And ice cream is kind of expensive here, so it was a delightful little splurge.

That's pretty much all of the exciting things. Sunday was full of planning and Monday was back to the grind. This week is hard so far and today was especially challenging. But we had the unexpected gift of having a little Mass right after school which was perfect because all I really wanted was Jesus. Life certainly doesn't slow down here, and like I said, it's only been one week. Keep the prayers coming. They're seriously holding me together. And please pray for the other volunteers and especially our students. 

One last thing, a couple of people have been asking me for an address they can write to. Here it is!

Melissa Montrowl

Catholic Mission

Benque Viejo del Carmen 

Cayo District 

Belize, Central America

 Don't send me super expensive things though; I don't want to pay the tax for it :)

Ok, until next time!

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.