Reading Week: A little work, a little play

It has been a full week here at CCSP Belize.  The students have been doing a lot of reading for upcoming classes, but we have also found many ways to break up some of the work.

We had our first celebration of the semester for Rachel's 20th birthday.  Going with the theme of Rachel's love for (and vast knowledge of) superhero movies, we hosted a Superhero Trivia Night.  Regular citizen contestants came dressed as their secret super identities, and, like The Avengers, worked in teams to gain the most number of points through their knowledge of superhero cinema (fueled by an abundance of cookies to snack on).

The birthday girl trying to keep a straight face as Batman

It was a close battle, but Batman's team ultimately won the tie-breaker!

(Back): Flower Power, Batman, Thor, Catwoman, The Flash, Aquaman, The Hulk,
Jamie Oliver, The Jolly Green Giant, Young Adult Mutant Ninja Turtle (Front):
Wonder Woman, Trunks, Wolverine, Steve Irwin/Indiana Jones

Also this week we did a little gardening for our friends at a local high school, Sacred Heart College.  They keep a garden to help with their feeding program, which helps out kids who can't bring a lunch to school every day.  We spent a few hours clearing out some beds and turning soil to prepare them for new seeds.

A fearsome team of weed warriors

Eric "big farmer" Grootenboer living up to his name by wielding a pitchfork

Continuing the theme of staying active and getting to know our Belizean neighbors better, we also found time for some good old-fashioned football in the village of Succotz.  The soccer field is like the center of town there, so kids old and young joined our game at their leisure.  Not all of us are soccer players, but we all had a great time regardless.

Derek casually plays soccer in Central America.  No big deal.

Little Omar challenges Gellie, as Taylor and Johnny wait for a pass

Before the dry season is completely upon us and most of the local ponds dry up, we wanted to go on a nighttime hunt for some tree frogs.  They are nocturnal, noisy, and can be hard to spot; but once you do they are easy to catch and fun to hold.  This particular evening we found 4 different species of tree frogs!

The yellow tree frog, also known as the small-headed tree frog

We are looking forward to more adventures during next week's class: Environmental Literature, where we will get to discuss all the reading we've been packing into our heads!