Pleasantly Surprised

This first week in San Pedro has been nothing short of amazing! It has been so great to settle in, and to explore our new home for the next month. Going into this trip, I did not have many expectations. I knew we were here to teach, learn about a new culture, and live in a new place. Having few expectations has been great for this experience because it has allowed me to be open-minded. The thing that has pleasantly surprised me is the pace of life. People here are so much more intentional it seems like, and I think it is due to the slower pace of life. I feel like in America we are so concerned about how much we can get done in a day, and always have more to do. It seems like people here are more intentional with the people they are spending time with because they are not concerned about what is next, and I think that is one way I will grow the most while I am here. I want to allow myself to be fully committed to what I am doing, instead of focusing on what I have or want to do next. Also, I expected the island to be beautiful (the one expectation I did have!), but it is even more beautiful than I could have imagined. I feel so blessed to live on this island for a month, and interact with people who I can already tell are going to teach me so much. 

The difference from San Ignacio to San Pedro is San Pedro definitely seems more touristy. There was definitely touristy things to do in San Ignacio, but it was not directly in the city. San Ignacio also does not seem as developed as San Pedro, and that seems to be because it is not as big of a tourist attraction as San Pedro. San Ignacio is the more realistic idea of what local Belizean lifestyles looks like, and San Pedro is definitely more of a vacation spot in my opinion. I am interested in the what life looks like for the locals in San Pedro, so I am looking forward to starting in the schools and meeting the students and learning about their lives. 

Mary Blake and I had a fun outing the other night. We wanted to try the “fast food” on the island which is Chinese food, so we got our bikes and headed there. We rode up to the side of a building, and order our food, and then enjoyed our meal as the sunset on the beach. It was a neat experience that even this experience reflected back to slowing down. This is the only food that you can get quickly. It demonstrates how even meals allow you to slow down and spend time with the people you are with!