Next 5 weeks!!!

I received my Community Based Training location and it is…BELMOPAN (haha) the same place I have been in for the past week. The difference is I am moving in with a host family and will have language training in…KRIOL. I am very excited to move in with my host family and begin immersing myself in the culture and language. I have not had the opportunity to put pictures up so here it goes.

This is the hotel I have been staying in for the past week.

Here is what my room looked like.

This is a picture of the streets of Belmopan.

This was the Belize House of Culture we visited this past weekend on culture day.

This is the Xununtanich Mayan Ruin sign that I posed with, notice how sweaty I am, it is very HUMID.

El Castillo is the largest pyramid at Xunantunich and second highest structure in Belize. This is before I climbed to the top of the 130ft structure.

This is me at the top of El Castillo-in the distance you can see Guatemala.

This is the view from the other side with Belize and the rest of Xunantunich. It was breath taking up there. I will say that on the way down I had to crawl because I was about to have a panic attack (Family-remember the statue of liberty? Or that other ruin we climbed? It was like that yet again)

This is a monkey in a tree, completely normal…NOT

This is just a little update of my life over the past week. I am planning on giving a full report once I move in today with my host family, I will send updates asap. Miss everyone.

Ai nayhm Erica Howe

I need to upload some pictures asap to my computer so then I can upload them here! I will work on that tomorrow morning. I am enjoying my time here so far. We are staying in a local hotel until Thursday and that is when I will be moved out to my first host family. There I will be in language and cultural training for 5 weeks. I believe I will be learning Krol in Belmopan for those few weeks, but that could change.

I am also getting a phone today! YAY! I will have free incoming calls and texts so anyone that would like to contact me via phone can. :)

I had an amazing cultural day. We visited a Mayan Ruin and also had a great history lesson and entertainment about the Mayan history. I cannot wait to show you the pictures that were taken. As a group we spelled out PEACE CORPS with our bodies and someone from on top of the ruin took a picture of it...so neat.

There are 41 of us in this training group and I am amazed at the dedication and commitment these people have. Many have left homes and children and significant others. It is awesome to see people wanting to serve and do good.

Other than that I am doing well, healthy and enjoying my time in Belize. I have not been caught in the downpours yet and I have showered everyday. So far everything is looking great!

HOLA from BELIZE!!!

HOLA from BELIZE

I don't want to bore anyone, but here is an update on my past two days.

I arrived at staging in Washington, D.C. yesterday afternoon. We had some informational sessions until dinner. I was then able to go out to a lovely dinner with my roommate, Tracy. It was nice to get to know her on a more personal level, she has been concerned about me since I developed a cold yesterday. :( I was able to get about 2.5 hours of sleep and arrived at Regan National at 3am. To say the least I am exhausted right now.

My training group seems pretty amazing, everyone seems so put together and knowledgeable. I am the second to youngest at 22 and the oldest will be 72 in October! Talk about a trek. There are also 5 married couples. Everyone comes from all over the country so it will be very fascinating to see the group once we start training. I am excited to get to know all of them better and hopefully bond on a different level, since they will be somewhat my family while here.

Once we landed in Belize the staff and volunteers cheered for us as we exited the plane. We then got our baggage and went through customs. The staff and volunteers had a banner and cheered, it was so nice to have such a nice welcoming. Once we landed here we drove to have lunch at this beautiful outdoor thatched roof dinning area. We had rice, potato salad and chicken. All were good. We were able to go then to the headquarters for some orientation. I am now planning on going to get something to eat, shower and sleep. I am beyond drained but excited for tomorrow!

24 Hours Until Belize

In less than 24 hours I will be reporting to Georgetown in Washington D.C. to meet with the entire group of trainees. I am a mixture of emotions.

I had a lovely lunch today with my family at the Olive Garden. It has not hit me how much I will miss daily events with them. That will probably be one of the more difficult things to overcome while in Belize-being homesick.

I weighed my luggage an hour ago and I 20 pounds over the maximum! Minor freak out occurred. I finally was able to move things around and make them the correct weight. I had no idea that everything I was packing weighed so much.

We are about to have my final dinner with the family (Chinese of course).

I know that I will not be placed near this picture, but I thought it might show some of you how beautiful parts of Belize are. This is the Great Blue Hole and is a very popular for snorkeling and scuba diving.

This will be my last post in the United States. Hopefully I will be able to have Internet access in Belize.

ADIOS USA!

2 days until BELIZE!

This weekend was wonderful, I was able to road trip down to Richmond, VA and Virginia Beach, VA to visit friends and attend Amy Carasella Datoc Wedding. I had a lovely time in Richmond with Laura Garrett and Layla Shahidi. It was wonderful to spend some quality time with both of them and the Garrett Family. Amy's wedding was beautiful, it was lovely to catch up with her and her family, Sydney Shapiro and Kelly Rowell's family.

Returning home makes me realize how I am actually leaving on Wednesday. I will be reporting/checking into a hotel in Georgetown Washington D.C. at 1:30pm on Wednesday. This is where I will say good-bye to the family. I will be in meetings the whole day and then proceed to fly to Belize with a layover in Miami, FL at 6:00am Thursday morning. It appears I will not be getting much sleep for those few days. For the first week I will be living in Belmopan in a hotel. From there I will be placed in home with a host family until October. I am so excited to live with a host family, to learn the culture and language!

8 Days until Departure

Hey Everyone!

I decided this would be one of the best ways to keep all my loved ones up to date with my adventures over the next few years. Please save the website and check back at your convenience! :)