Kamiko-tan

We have a new addition to our little jungle family. She is a stray jungle kitty and her name is Kamiko.

Here is her story....

I chased Kamiko all over campus this summer but could never get close enough to pet her. She was very shy and spent most of her time in the bush. One day she came close to our house. I quickly went to the fridge and found some bread. I made a trail of bread crumbs to our door and to my surprise she fell for it! When Kamiko first came to our house she was so skinny and had patches of missing fur. She also had a gigantic tick on her neck.

Over the course of a couple weeks she began to trust us (or at least trust that we would feed her several time a day). With gloves and tweezers we removed her tick. That was perhaps the most disgusting thing I've ever done. A few days after that I gave her a bath in our little rain collection bucket. She was amazingly cooperative and I'm pretty sure she is the first cat in Belize to ever smell like lavender.

Now Kamiko is fluffly and healthy. She sleeps on our front step and occasionally snuggles with Danny in the hammock. She will never replace Rupee cat back at home, but we love her very much.

Celebrate good times-come on!

Hello Everyone!

Today is Danny's golden birthday and we celebrated last night with friends in Punta Gorda. Yesterday was also "t-gives" aka Thanksgiving in Toledo. I am thankful we have such great cooks in the Peace Corps! There was a traditional thanksgiving spread along with lobster and conch ceviche that one volunteer actually dove for in the ocean!

Things are going well in the village and in Belize in general. Danny and I have been very busy now that school is truly in full swing. One of the unexpected joys in my life is teaching 'life skills' to all four forms (grades). I teach a wide range of skills becuase anything really can be considered a 'life skill'. My two favorite lessons are conflict resolution and meditation and mindfullness. Both were eye opening experiences for both me and the students. I don't think the kids ever expected to do a 'eating meditation' with raison bran, but they were good sports. We talked about the interconnectedness of the sun, earth, water, etc and made a conscious effort to thank the universe for coming together to make the food we eat. The best part is, it fits in completely with the Maya Values they are taught growing up. The ideas of interconnectedness and interdependance are not necesarrily new to them, but practicing meditation as a way to gain deeper insight and awareness was certainly new.

I am also gearing up to facilitate a full day board leadership retreat for Tumul K'in's board, some PTA, student leaders, and management. It has been an incredible experience to condense all my knowledge of governance, community development, and leadership into one retreat. I keep having to remind myself that it is only a ONE DAY retreat! Once I get going on those topics I can't stop and I'm afraid if I'm not careful I might keep them there all night. It's a beautiful coincidence that I am able to volunteer at a Mayan NGO in 2012. It's a very important time here. Our organization sees it as a fresh start and a time to incorporate a new way of thinking and acting. Everyone I work with is excited to move forward and work towards realizing their vision for this community. It's an exciting time to be in this place and I feel very lucky to be a part of it.