Day 1 - Travel

I started my morning in a Holiday Inn in the middle of Des Moines, Iowa. Now I'm ending it in the beautiful Blue Tang Inn in San Pedro, Belize. I can't even believe it. How did I get here?!

So I started my morning at 3:00 AM central time. Let me tell you, that was a treat. I laid around until my mom and grandma were up and running, then I got up, got ready, and was on a shuttle bus not 15 minutes later taking me over to the Des Moines International Airport. I wasn't the first to arrive, nor was I the last, which was a total relief. I checked my luggage and barely made it below the 50 pound limit. 47 pounds. I was shocked!

We found our gate, got everything figured out, etc. There were a couple seat changes, but as teachers we know how to be flexible. I was slightly nervous for the flight, mostly take off and landing, but it was so smooth. The only issue was the pilot laid on the brakes a little too hard but if you think about it, it's that or run into something, so I think we can let him slide.

Fast forward a bit and we're in Atlanta, Georgia with a 45 minute layover. No problem. We found our gate with plenty of time to spare.

Fast forward. Because really, what can I tell you about a flight that you don't already know? Unless you haven't flown before in which case I highly recommend it at least once in your life. It's a really awesome experience being so far above the clouds. They look like a giant glob of white cotton candy. And then when you're closer to the ground, it's just magical what you'll see. Definitely check it out.

So, we land in Belize City, Belize. We are in this really small airport, trying to work our way through hundreds of people in our small group of 11. But oh no, we aren't done flying. This last plane is what's known as a "puddle jumper". I believe there were 14 people on it? And it filled the entire plane. I was in the very back between Danielle and Molly, basically playing bumper cars with our bodies going back and forth with every jerk of the plane. It was a little nerve-wracking but I lived!

We finally get to San Pedro Island and go to get our checked luggage. Here, instead of the carousel baggage claims we're used to, they just dump them all in a huge pile and then hand them out to you. When we finally got all our bags (except poor Molly's, but don't worry, hers came on the next flight) we all got in little taxi vans to go to the hotel. Major difference here. In this country, vehicles definitely have the right of way as opposed to pedestrians. The taxi driver was weaving in and out of people like it was nothing. I.had seen this before in Costa Rica, but it was still different.

The first thing I noticed when getting out of the taxi was the smell of the air. Salt water. I love the coast. It smells so wonderful. And the Blue Tang Inn is directly on the beach. Fantastic. The water is so blue and so clear you can see to the bottom.

We were all starving so Molly, Danielle, Alex and I ventured off to find something to eat. We found a little restaurant just down the beach and decided to stop in. I ordered some chicken nachos and let me tell you, they were absolutely the best nachos I've ever tasted. I'm not even joking.

Soon after lunch we decided to walk around town and check out the grocery stores around here. Then we stopped in some little shops and at all the jewelry vendors along the shore.

It's now 4 o'clock (and we've bounced back an hour because even though Belize is also in the central time zone, they don't observe daylight savings) and we have a group meeting at 5. What do we do? Naturally we go lay at the beach and read Nicholas Sparks. :)

After our group meeting we all walked down to see the Holy Cross Primary School where we'll be spending our first part of our week. Wow. That experience was so amazing, even just seeing it. It makes me feel very grateful (and somewhat guilty) for everything I have.

Once we walked back it was time to settle down a bit, but not for the city! A political parade was marching down the street (right next to our hotel room window) honking horns and waving flags. It was really cool to see.

And now here I am, at 10 at night, absolutely exhausted from the long day I've had. Just thinking about it, I was up at 2 AM in this time zone. I'm ready for bed.

Tomorrow's agenda? Cave tubing and ziplining.

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