Happy and home in Punta Gorda

Good morning (doesn't it seem like i tend to write in the mornings?),

So Nate and I love Punta Gorda. Let me try to describe our town. I know that I will not give it enough justice. The town over looks a vast ocean. The ocean is a little murky near the land, but if you look out 50 feet, you can see the beautiful greens and teals of the Caribbean sea. We are three blocks from the ocean. We are staying with the most loving host family. We talk and laugh with them when we are not at our site. We even have two host sisters. One is 15 and the other is 24. The cooking is amazing. My host sisters are amazing cooks, just like their mom. We have tried so many different foods that i can not describe them all.

The town is full of life. We have a main street that has tons of little shops and restaurants. There is even a town park that is wonderful. Nate and I have a friend who is in training near by so we hang out with her a lot. Her name is Mallory. We have met tons of PC volunteers. One, Erica, use to stay with our host family too, so comes by often and we hang out with her a lot too. She took us out on Saturday to show us around. We believe we found a house to rent for the next two years. It is beautiful. We have to get PC to come and look at it (policy) but if the safety guy says it is okay, we can rent it, starting at the end of June. Honestly, we are ready to have our own space. The cool thing about the location of the house is that it is two houses down from our host family, so we will be close enough to them and Erica if we need something. It is also three blocks from the ocean and main street. YAY.

Our projects are going well. We are just figuring everything out. We will post more when we have a better understanding of it. Tomorrow marks our third anniversary, so Nate and I are going to Placinica (SP?) on Saturday for a night away. Placinica is a town in Belize that is a little north of us. It is known for its sandy beaches and teal water. We will describe it more after our stay.

Next week we will be in Belmopan again. That means we will have internet access. PG has Internet access (obviously...i am using it now) but its hard to find time to get to use it. Thus, fewer emails initially. Next week Nate and I get to attend our Swearing In Ceremony!!! YAY. That is when we become officially a PC volunteer.

Hope all is well. Love and miss you all,
Michelle (and Nate)

Leaving Belmopan and heading to Punta Gorda

Gud Maarnin Everyone!

Nate and I are very excited to announce that we received our final placement on Tuesday. We are heading down south to Punta Gorda! Punta Gorda is a small town of the coast. Literally, our village (a village within a town) called Indianville is across the street from the Caribbean Ocean! We are ecstatic! Nate will be working for a cacao organization. He will be doing tons of fun things, like helping the organization with their database and marketing. I will be working with a primary school. A primary school is essentially an elementary school. I will be helping them to establish sports programs and after-school programs. We will be heading out this afternoon to get to our site. It will take 4 hours to get there without stopping (or in a car). On a bus, it could take us 8 hours. From what we understand, there will be Internet cafes and phone service. Oh and we are going down with 8 of the funniest and most fun volunteers too. We feel extremely blessed. We will keep you posted on our new adventure and with our new host family. We love you and miss you all.

Love,
Michelle (and Nate)

Over 60 New Photos from the past 3 weeks and I Shaved My Head...

New Photos Uploaded to our Belize Photo Album - CLICK HERE!