belize: day2.

today i rose with the sun, easily, with no complaints or feelings of jet lag or exhaustion. i felt its warm rays pouring through the window onto my sleepy body, beckoning me to rise with it. i did, and after a granola bar and a little mascara, i was ready ready for the day. our group met on the sandy beach in front of our hotel and walked together down the beach and across the rusty bridge to holy cross, the school we would be partnering with for the week. it was saturday, so there were no students present, only a couple of men who would be helping to guide us throughout the day.

when i saw the school for the first time, i was curious, but saddened at the same time. holy cross consisted of a cluster of white buildings that looked more like barracks than school houses. there were discarded tools and machinery surrounding the buildings themselves, which appeared to be shabby and a bit run down from the outside. crooked gates swung everywhere - it all felt very surreal.

we were led through the maze of little buildings to a water's edge - the school had been built on the outer perimeter of the city, basically swampland. a huge pile of branches, leaves, and assorted garbage greeted us there. more garbage floated in the sand in the slow current of the water. my initial thought was that we would be clearing this mess of waste and disposing of it somehow. i soon found that our goal was just the opposite. we would be throwing the contents of the pile into the water and shoveling sand on top of it. we were to make an area for a playground to be built, and as we were on the edge of a lagoon, we needed to make our own shoreland. the american in me wanted to pull out my hair and scream, burn the branches and recycle the trash, but in san pedro, they aren't so fortunate. so i gritted my teeth and chucked armful after armful of trash and leaves into the water. i shoveled sand like mad on top of it, so i wouldn't have to look at what i'd done.

we worked on the playground project all morning, finally stopping around one o'clock when our supervisors had to return to their real jobs. the group scooted back to the hotel, quickly traded our sweaty clothes for swimming suits, and dove headfirst into the salty ocean. laughing and splashing, it was easy to forget the harsh reality of the project we had begun earlier that day. monday morning would bring that reality back soon enough i knew, and although i was eager to begin again our real work on the island, i was apprehensive to find out what else was in store.

later that evening, freshly showered and coolly dressed, the group hit the town for some food and fun. we ate in a place called central park - a concrete slab where belizian women bring their homemade food, setting up camp in little carts and selling what they can. the food is authentic, inexpensive, and absolutely amazing. bellies full, we danced on the sand and met new friends, feeling like locals in no time at all. we have been in belize less than two days, and already i feel a fondness, a connection with this island and its people. i am eager to see how that feeling grows and evolves over the next week.

peace and love, my friends. i wish you were here to experience this with me.