The visitors came and they left

Hello everyone,

So you must be wondering….what ever happened to Nate and Michelle? Are they ever coming home?! Well the answer is NO, we decided to stay and live in Belize. Nah, I am just kidding. We are scheduled to head home at the end of the May! Hope I didn’t give anyone a heart attack! Haha.

Okay, so when I left off, we just finished celebrating New Years and we were getting ready to have Mama Michelle come and visit us in Belize. As some of you already know, 2012 started with a bang! The PC doctor thought I had Dengue due to severe headaches for a week and not being able to eat, plus the whole high temperature and getting sick. But guess what…it wasn’t! Nate and I (thanks of the help of my sister Janice) are pretty sure it was either Malaria or a really weird virus. Luckily we had medicine and we both took it. All in all it was a Peace Corps experience!

Well besides that cool experience, we got our first family visitor. (Michele and Karen were our first friends!) Mama Michelle came in January and we spent several days on a little island on vacation. Needless to say, we had a great time with Mama Michelle. The days were spent relaxing by a pool or the sea. Michelle even got a massage and I rescued a dog from a rip current. Haha. Oh the memories! I wouldn’t forget the time Michelle and I hung out in the clear ocean laughing hysterically from the events from that day, while Nate relaxed on the beach eating a meat pie. Man that lobster pie was good too. It was probably one of my favorite days in Belize. We took her to our house in PG for a few days and she had the chance to meet the students and teachers at my school, as well as Nate’s coworkers, and our host family. We went shopping and had dinner with one of our close friend, Dorris and her family. It was great. It was also hard to see her leave.

A few weeks after that, Mel and Janice came to visit. It’s been ages since I saw my sisters. They looked great. I was so happy to them here. Of course after having Mama Michelle here, we knew all the ropes to making sure they had a great time. Melissa never went snorkeling before, so we took her to an island for three days. During that time, we went snorkeling with nurse sharks and sting rays. Melissa and Janice took advantage of the beautiful weather by sun bathing. Nate got burned from snorkeling. We enjoyed the Jacuzzi and the pool. We made delicious breakfast and lunches together. And Janice’s assorted drinks were great touch. Mel and Janice got to meet a couple of our Peace Corps friends, as well as our host family too. Unfortunately they didn’t get the chance to take the express down to PG so they ended up traveling on a bus for 7 hours. They didn’t do so bad considering it was their first time. It was so hard to see them leave. The only reassurance I had was that I knew I would see them in a few months.

Shortly after they left, Nate and I had our big COS (Close of Service) Conference with the rest of swearing in class. We started out with 38 and were blessed to have 22 people to COS with. We were delighted that two of our friends were able to return to Belize for the conference. They had made our service special for us for the last 2 years and they made it even more special for us when they were back. The COS conference was held at a classy resort/hotel in the Cayo District. I was actually really nervous to see everyone. I don’t think we were ready for the amount of information the staff prepared for us. We reviewed countless things related to the close of our PC service here (documents we needed to fill out, things to sign, etc.,) as well ways to get us prepared to for the next journey in our lives, including job interviews and updating resumes. We weren’t also prepared to say good bye to our friends either. Granted we would see one or two before we leave, but most likely, we wouldn’t see most of the group again. So here it is….the beginning to the end of this chapter in our lives.

We will have time to start the process of closure here in Belize. I don’t think we have started it yet, well at least not consciously. We talk about leaving in May, but ultimately, I don’t it has hit us yet. So many experiences. Some real amazing, life altering experiences. Some high highs, and some low lows. I don’t think we would change it for a second. I think it will take us some time to process what we will take from this as a couple and individually.

But as I mentioned, we aren’t ready to wrap up our service yet. Nate did an amazing job as a part of the COS committee. If anyone is interested in seeing the slideshow (of pictures of us and other people from our group), please email one of us and we will send you the link. He is gifted. Everyone was in awe of Nate and Nate’s talented work. Since the COS conference (well to be fair, for the last 7 months) Nate has been working on the Interactive Language Training (ILT) for the Belize Languages. He is hoping to finish it in the next two weeks. I cannot wait for everyone to see it. It’s like the Rosetta Stone for Belizean languages. It is going to change language barriers in Belize. He is also helping his organization to prepare for the annual Cocoa Festival held in PG. He will be starting the process of wrapping up services in the next month and applying for jobs.

Me on the other hand, have not even thought about jobs. Okay, that’s not true. It is definitely in the back of my mind, but really, who has time to apply for jobs? I am in the middle of planning a Toledo District wide Women’s Health Fair, in celebration of March 8^th, the International Women’s Day. Honoring women across the world. Well this fair is to honor the women in Belize, especially Toledo. The goal of the fair is to provide awareness and information about a number of health issues affecting Toledo female (youth and adults). So I have been working with another Belizean to get every organization in town (that works with these issues) together to provide resources. Holy Cow it’s a lot of work. So far about 15 (and most of the orgs) and about 30 different topics will be presented. I will let you know how it goes. I am busy at school with the afterschool programs and fundraising to get 5 girls to go to a free summer camp. But, what I am most excited about right now is that I am training to run a 5 mile race. Okay, who am I kidding! It is more like a 5 mile run or jog! Haha. April 21^st baby! Stay tune to find out how it goes!

So I am sure you guys are wondering where are we going to live or when will you be seeing us? That’s a great question. I will fill you in hopefully next time. Definitely before we leave Belize. I hope! Oh and remind me to tell you about the national and town elections!

We love you all and miss you. Oh boy…less than 3 months! Email us and let us know how you are doing too. Okay?

Love,

Michelle (and Nate)