5:00am: Rooster(s) crowing loudly
5:15am: Me thinking about shooting a rooster
5:30am: I fall back asleep
7:00am: I actually wake up
I groggily throw the covers over my head as a few girls bustle in and out of the bathroom, getting ready for the day. Some are brave enough to take a cold morning shower but often I can only bring myself to stick my hair under the faucet (and end up taking showering in the afternoons or evenings). I try and find a suitable teacher outfit and usually have to steal a slip from B across the hall (she is very generous). Half of the girls are already downstairs grabbing some coffee or going to the rectory for a quick breakfast. I am in the second shift of girls and usually miss breakfast.
7:30
Uh oh. I need to dry my hair FAST.
7:45
I need to leave but I'm not ready yet.
7:50
Leaving.
We walk to school---down the clay road, and up the main road then across the basketball court and up another road. We take a right, and the school is on our left.
8:00
Sign-in to the attendance log, slip through the teacher's lounge, thank God that I have my own office and race up the stairs. I open my office grab the key for the chapel and open up the chapel. As I travel the campus and climb the stairs there are "Morning", "Morning, Miss," "Good morning". When I get up to the second floor the first form girls cry out "Good morning, tia!" (Good morning aunt). I reply, "Good morning mis sobrinas!" and they usually giggle at my Spanish-attempt.
8:30-9:30
Plan out the week:
-Figure out which homeroom is doing Mass on Friday and print out a sign-up sheet and readings for the class.
-Print out adoration schedule for teacher's lounge
-Remind teachers that have adoration today of the time
-Go to the teacher's classroom at the adoration time to remind them
-Figure out which class is schedule for confession after Mass on Friday
-Get adoration meditation stuff together
-Go over notes for teaching Sacraments class this afternoon
9:30-11:30
(Adoration scheduled throughout the day)
Learn song on guitar or pick out songs that the students can sing with me
Pick some good songs from my laptop to play for them
Read reflection or make one myself based on Sunday's readings
Have them write down petitions/reflections/or have silent prayer
11:40
Lunch (YES!)
Go to the rectory (hopefully with other volunteers) and eat some salad, chicken, rice and beans, and maybe freshly baked bread or tortillas. Sip some instant coffee with cinnamon and sugar (be careful with the cinnamon though because if you hit it too hard it will pour out!)
12:10-1:00
Tie up loose ends. If there is a retreat on Friday, make sure we get in a meeting and remind speakers/participants. Print out and pass out retreat invitations to kids. Make a checklist of things to bring on the retreat so I don't forget. Activities for retreat????
Scan over music for class (if it is Tuesday or Friday) and play on piano. Remind myself to give Jugs if I need to.
A student might come in at some point in the day to chat about anything from Justine Bieber to serious family issues or school problems. This is when I get to grow closer to students and begin to understand their struggles.
1:00pm
Music class with boys. Are they angels today or crazies? One student loves Lady Gaga and shows me a picture of her after prefacing it with "Want to see my girlfriend?" We pray for Lady Gaga's conversion. Boys touch the keyboard and I threaten with a JUG (detention type thing) after school. I count seconds and keep them after class for that many seconds.
1:10pm
"W, sit down!" "R, stop touching the keys!" "Ro pay attention. Stand up! Everyone needs to be standing with their feet shoulder width apart!"
"Miss, I don't like this song."
"Me either. Let's sing that other one."
"The piano is out again."
"Can you check the chord?"
"Ro, you are standing on the chord."
"Look, if I hold it, it stays on."
"Then you can hold it I guess."
1:20pm
Singing. They sound pretty good. Aw, they're so cute. This is so great they are singing and it's wonderful and...
"Iz, why are you at the window? You need to be standing over here."
(Shoots me a grin). W stands on a chair.
"W, get off the chair." (He gets off)
(Grins)
"Boys, we need to be practicing!" (Mentally tell myself I need to be more strict) "Boys, do you want me to send you to Miss M [the dean]?"
"Noooo."
"Good. Pay attention and stop being ridiculous."
1:40pm
"LaaaAAaaa-laaaa-laaAAAaaaa-laaa-laaaa"
(Random boy from a different elective class walks in)
"Why are you here?" -Me
"I got kicked out of my class."
"Well, why do you think you can come in here?"
"Uh..."
"Okay. Goodbye! Everyone wave bye!!"
"Byeee" - the boys in class
(Random student leaves).
1:50pm
Bell rings.
"Wait boys, we have 2minutes and 32s seconds of silence."
1:51pm
Silence. (Or if someone talks we add on seconds)
1:52.5
"Alright, get out of here. "
I have also recently adopted the "kick-them-out-of-class-if-they-are-over-the-top" mentality and will be using that much more frequently next semester.
K and W grab the piano and help me bring it up to the second floor for the girls class in classroom 2C.
2:00pm
"Ladies! LADIES! Class is starting!"
Girls trickle in. (Remind myself to be more strict)
"We are going to pray now!"
We say prayer.
2:05pm
"Miss, which song are we doing today? Do we have a quiz?"
I might end up teaching music theory if I did it with the boys. On those days we do half music theory and half singing. Let's pretend I was teaching theory.
2:10pm
"So which note is this?"
"A half note."
"Good. What is this?"
"A time signature."
"Good. Which note is this?"
"A whole note."
"No, I mean which note as in the letter of the note."
"A!"
"No..."
"C!"
"No..."
"D!"
"No..."
"E!"
"No...look at your notes! Remember the lines?"
"...G!"
"Yes! Good. You all need to look at your notes though."
2:25pm
Start singing. The girls sound pretty good.
"Good!"
About five girls are starting to chat and are trying to slip away from the group.
"Girls, you need to be SINGING."
They barely move their mouths.
Sigh.
2:35pm
We are trying to do two-part harmony and we are almost there but not quite. We repeat.
2:40pm
The announcements cut in.
"GooOOOod AfternOOooon. Please listen for today's anounncements."
Of course we can barely hear anything because the speaker in this room is remarkably quiet and the girls are remarkably chatty.
"Girls, quiet down so we can hear the announcements."
Bell rings. Cheers heard throughout the school.
3:00pm
Sacraments class if it is Monday in my office otherwise, talking with students or just relaxing.
3:45pm
Hang out with students after school or relax. If it is Thursday we have a staff meeting.
5:00pm
I'm hungry.
5:30pm
"Anyone want to go to dinner?" A few of us walk to the rectory for dinner.
6:30pm
I either chat with volunteers or head over to adoration.
7:00pm
Mass
8:00pm
Go home! Yay!
8:30
Hanging out at our house. Some people are grading or venting or just talking.
9:30-10:pm
Sleep.
:)
"Our senses themselves are dumb. They take in experience, but they need the richness of sitting for a while through our consciousness and through our whole bodies...Maybe Away from Paris I could write about Paris as in Paris I can write about Michigan."
-Writing Down the Bones
_______________________________________________________________________
The Beauty of Belize
Part I
I was greatly inspired after watching the movie "The Human Experience" this Christmas weekend (I highly recommend it---it is now on DVD). It follows a few different young men as they travel the world to better understand the unity between all human persons, the beauty of life, suffering of life, and the purpose of life. As I was watching this movie with my family this evening, I was moved to write about Belize. I would like to reflect on the beauty of Belize, its culture, and people in a few different posts while I am home.
When first arriving in Belize, immediately I noticed the green palm trees that were absolutely everywhere. It was gorgeous! The greens were lush and the landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen. We were in a whirlwind through Belize, squeezed into a white van and bumping through the rural landscapes. I saw cows, sheep, more palm trees, simple colorful houses, dirt roads, people on the side of the road waiting for buses, and fruit stands. My favorite part of the drive through Belize came up as we were suddenly confronted by incredible mountains and hills. Sheep were grazing and hill after hill was rolling. It reminded me of the Gospels when Jesus would sit upon green hills and preach the Beatitudes or parables. I imagined myself sitting upon a summit, pondering life and praying. It was stunning. In between the views, new and old volunteers told stories and reminisced or described families. I noticed, to my discomfort, that seat belts were not a primary concern in this van but was again distracted by the scenery and new faces.
Benque, the town where we live, is simple and lovely because it has found its way into our hearts. The streets are made of a white and grayish clay that is quite fluffy beneath ones sandals. However, it is a dangerous path after rain. I can vividly recall five of us girls walking to the school on a weekend after it had rained. I remember a girl up ahead of me saying, "Should we go a different way?" and three of us agreed that we were fine. About one minute later I felt a little heavier but ignored it. About a minute and a half later I noticed that my sandals were sticking to the clay. Two minutes past and I find that my sandals are becoming quite heavy as I call out, "Girls, I'm having trouble walking,". When I look up, I notice that some girls have taken off their flip-flops or have walked to the side of the road. I am now "the one that fell behind" as I stare down at my flip-flops that have assumed a shape like two clay boats. It reminded me of those boat shoes that Da Vinci is wearing in "Ever After" when Drew Barrymore is floating on her back in that river. After quite a bit of struggle, we trampled over into a man's yard who had turned on his water to help us out. He must have chuckled when he saw a bunch of "gringas" with shoes eaten by clay and our legs and feet covered in the grey road. We stuck our feet and flip flops under the faucet. He was a wonderful, kind, older gentleman that rescued us from the "quick sand" of our own road.
Greetings from Rhode Island!
I have returned stateside (I just recently learned this phrase and I like it) and am enjoying the little luxuries of home, the comfort of family, and the laughter that comes with seeing much-missed-friends! However, I have also found myself in need of funds in order to return to Belize next semester. I was made aware of this a few weeks before the end of the semester. It was a bit of a blow but I thought and prayed about it for a while. I was strongly considering staying home this semester and getting a job because of the lack of money even though I hated the idea of leaving these kids half way through the year. Fr. M (the priest in charge of the volunteers) told me that he wants me to come back and to assume I'm coming back.
Fr. M along with Mr. R (principal) want to fund-raise for me. However, I would still like to ask you all if you are able to give to please email me at bdeacutis@gmail.com because any amount will help to lighten their load. Honestly, any amount is helpful from $5, $10, $20...anything! I know it is so difficult right now with money (economy, holidays, etc.) and that is why I have waited a few weeks before asking. Please keep me in your prayers and thank you for your support!!
-Bethany
I had a terrible flashback to my sophomore year high school Spanish class the other day. I remember my young, straight-from-Spain teacher who tried her best to get us interested in Spanish. She was not always strict enough with us and I always wondered why some of the kids were so rude to her...and why I didn't always take her seriously enough. Then I realized...I am sort of like this teacher now! The "foreign"-doesn't-completely-know-how-to-properly-discipline-teenage boys-while-teaching-music. How humbling. Isn't life funny?
And maybe when I go home and I sing in my church choir again at some point I won't talk when Mike is teaching the soprano or tenor part. Maybe.
Next semester: Miss Bethany... also known as that insane, dictator, music teacher. The students will be saying "What happened? She was so much easier before."
Trying to get stricter with my boys. I made the unfortunate and common first-time-teaching mistake of being too soft in the beginning and trying to crack down months later. Alas, I am still learning.
Yesterday was first form girls retreat. Our theme was "Behold, you are beautiful, my love" from Song of Songs. We focused on authentic beauty and split up into three "stations" where we gave talks on different aspects of beauty and life. Miss Betsy spoke about the beauty of healthy relationships with friends and with guys. I spoke about internal and external beauty, focusing on Blessed Mother, modesty and the beauty of innocence. Miss Katie gave a testimony/talk on Christ and the beauty of our friendship with Him. Then we had a special guest appearance by their favorite teacher, Mr. Tom. They are all in love with him and when he showed up to do his talk they were all cheering and squealing...it was pretty entertaining. He spoke about the love he had for his sisters growing up and that they should always remember that they are precious and worth waiting for. It had a special quality coming from a man. Finally, we had a panel where the girls could ask anonymous questions which ranged from: "How do I know if a boy really loves me?" "Is it a sin to be a different religion?" to "Can I have a date with Mr. Tom? Where and when?"
(view from Chapel Hill - retreat center)
We always end the day with adoration, confession, and Mass. It was a good day, but definitely exhausting. I think the repetition of our talks (we had to do them three times each) was the most tiring. Mr. Tom said he spoke with some of the girls at lunch and they were touched by our talks. Hopefully they were moved by something, even if we are just planting seeds. Next week is first form boys retreat...God help us all.
