Day 13 First Full Day of Teaching

Wow!  I'm surprised I'm still alive!  I have over 100 names to learn and I'm already grading homework!  I admit that I was (and still am) somewhat nervous about everything.  Since these are high school kids, structured discipline from day one is essential, but each new teacher is also just trying to handle lesson plans, grade books, the material, and being on the other side of the desk, so to speak.  Landing on your feet is quite a trick.  The time goes fast though: a twenty minute speech used to be a big challenge, now I'm presenting (if not speaking) for 50 to 90 minutes.  Many of the kids are clearly going to be a joy to have in class.  They have already started to make fun at my bald head!


I will keep you all updated.  Love and miss you all so very much! Please keep me in your prayers

Jonathan

P.S.  My camera broke so pictures will be a while in coming.

Day 9

The odd facts of life continue to fascinate me.  Here in Benque all the shops are owned by Chinese people.  It is unclear to me whether they are from the mainland or Taiwan, but at any rate I understand that Belize used to be part of smuggling route bringing Chines emigrants to the United States.  Some of those involved decided to stay and quite literally set up shop.  The result is that very nearly every retailer in the town is Chinese.   So here in Benque one has the opportunity to speak four languages: Chinese, Creole, English, and Spanish.

Jonathan

Day 6

Just found out that I am the Vice-President of the NSSSA, an organization whose existence I became aware of at about the same time as the beginning of the my vice-presidency. 
Fact:  All that  the above means is that I am in charge of my school's regional and national  sports meets, which is still nothing huge because the whole country is the size of Massachusetts.
Fiction:  I'm very important.
Fact: This will look great on my resume.

Jonathan

Day 3

Dear all,

Hope you are all doing well.  I wanted to give you a sense of where I'm staying.

Benque is a relatively large town near the Gautemalan border.  It has about 10,000 people and is pretty set in the middle of the jungle, although there are other towns nearby.  Reaching the town is an interesting propisition.  There is no such thing as a true highway to Benque;  there is pedestrian traffic, bicycles, semis,  buses, and every description of vehicle all sharing the same two-lane road.  Interestlingly,  the atmosphere of the town itself reminds me of the beachside community my family visits every summer.  The people are generally laid back and there is never any particular sense of urgency to anything.  15 minutes late to meeting is considered on time.  I have seen only one wall clock since I got here.
What has impressed me the most is the beautiful smiles of all the natives here.  Everyone, especially the children, breaks into a wonderful grin at the mere suggestion of smile on my part.  Yesterday I played frisbee with a group of young kids and they could hardly contain their excitement when I was about to throw them the disc.  Soccer, or football as it is called here, is the most popular sport.  Hopefully I will get a little better while I am down here.

So far, so good!

Sincerely,
Jonathan Rensch

Day 2

Hey everybody,  finding my feet here in Belize.  By the way, skype is illegal, so I will not be getting in touch with y'all that way.  nuts!  trying to find a way to get some photos for you, the flowers down here are gorgeous!  Its odd to look out over hillsides and see jungle.  I mean, we usually think of the jungle as only being something in movies.   Our pastor, Fr. John, might lead a hike tomorrow, so hopefully I will start to see the natural side of Belize.

First Day in Belize

Hey Everybody!  Here I am in Benque, Belize.  Trying to prepare for my first day of classes and figure out how I will scramble over the language barrier.

Jonathan

P.S.  There's a gecko in my bedroom