this story is one of self-reflection and growth. it is an excerpt from a letter i wrote to a dear friend of mine.  as I went for a run with two friends after a grueling day of presentations and training…I couldn’t help but to feel the release of stress and embrace my blessings as I looked around me at the beautiful landscape: palm trees bearing coconuts, avocado trees, hibiscus flowers, horses, chickens and...

So much has occurred since my last entry.  But a lot of it is a blur. To begin, this past Friday marked exactly one month since I landed and began my new chapter in Belize. It seems like the time went by in the blink of an eye. Training sessions and language classes each day seem to wiz by- before I know it, I’m at the dinner table in my host family’s home sometime blankly eating dinner while our kittens whine at our...

I lay here currently preparing this post. It’s 5:20am and I am surrounded by the sounds of roosters, the barking of dogs, and passing of trucks on the highway outside of my village. The chickens are clucking. The roosters are crowing. The on and off rain has finally stopped falling. My mosquito net is draped over my bed like a majestic canopy and I feel protected. Protected in a sense that a mosquito net cannot provide. I feel...

This past week was jam-packed. From training sessions, to a full day of learning about Mayan culture, there is plenty to talk about. I have been very appreciative of the truing sessions so far and I am always learning a ton about how to prepare for Peace Corps service. Let me jus stay that the staff has been remarkable and I feel like I've been very fortunate to have received Belize as my post. Typically, we (myself and...

Yesterday was amazing. To begin, I met with about 4 of the people from my group for breakfast around 9am. We ventured to The Latin Cafe, a block or so away from our hotel. The Latin Cafe is a cuban restaurant that was booming, and the menu was written entirely in Spanish. Let me just say, the food was great. Seriously great. And cheap. And plentiful. We left the restaurant very full and happy…ready to prepare for our 7 hour...

Today, I left my family and friends, boarded a plane and then it hit me- I won’t be coming right back. I have a one-way ticket to Miami, FL for staging; then on Wednesday, June 25th I’ll be leaving, along with about 22 or so other adults, on a one-way flight to Belize City, Belize’s Philip G Airport to begin Peace Corps Training. More on what training will entail later.  Well, it wasn’t that smooth. But that was...