Good Morning

Good morning! It is 6:12 am right now Belize time (8:12 am east coast time). I think i'm the only one up right now but I am sitting outside by the pool and just watched a beautiful sunrise. I can't get wifi in my room so i'll need to come out here whenever I need it. Yesterday's travel went pretty smoothly! My friend Cassie dropped me off at the airport at the crack of dawn (thanks so much Cas!!) and then I flew from Wilmington to Atlanta. And holy cow the Atlanta airport is huge. I had to take a terminal train type thing to another part of the airport for my flight from Atlanta to Belize City. That was about a 3 hour flight and I managed to sleep through a lot of it. Unfortunately I slept through the best part, where they give you drinks and a snack, but the nice guy next to me grabbed me a snack and drink while I was sleeping and had it waiting on my tray (Thanks nice guy!) That flight was neat because when we were flew over the Caribbean and then over parts of Belize. After we landed, going through Customs was a breeze and I had to schedule my flight from Belize City to San Pedro with Tropic Air and I only had to wait 45 minutes. Their procedures for scheduling flights is so casual and relaxed. They just put people on a small jet and send it out, with really no set time. I met a nice family while I was waiting and chatted with them for a while. Their little daughter was scared to get on the tiny plane so I was trying to make her not nervous or scared and she ended up wanting to sit next to me on the plane (keep in mind, seats are all along the windows of the plane and are meant for one person) so I let her and she kept squeezing my leg but she said she actually enjoyed it! This wasn't like any other plane. This was a tiny 8 passenger jet. But the view on the way over to the island was breathtaking. I actually couldn't believe where I was. It was clear, crystal blue waters and white sand islands all over. The flight was quick, only 15 minutes and the landing was smooth, although I have to admit I was extremely nervous. After landing in San Pedro, I got off the plane and walked to get my luggage. The San Pedro airport is extremely small. To pick up your luggage, you walk outside of the airport and all the luggage is just sitting outside. You hand the guy your luggage number and off you are. A taxi driver was waiting and asked if I needed a ride so I told him I was going to Pedro's Inn, which was only a 2 minute drive. My taxi driver, Felipe, was very nice! He was telling me all the places to go and not to go. I now know not to go to the grocery store on the corner near where I am staying because they will rip you off. Anyways, I got to Pedro's Inn, got my key and bike, and moved all my stuff in. The rooms are not bad at all! Me and Sarah have our own beds, a TV, bathroom, drawers, night table, lamp, fan. We only have essentials, but thats all we really need while we are here. Of course I brought my soft blanket from home so I slept with that last night and had a great sleep.

I finally met up with some girls that just got back from seeing the schools and Sarah and Emily finally arrived. So we all put our bathing suits on and walked over to the beach (only a 2 minute walk). It was absolutely breathtaking. I don't know how to put it into words. We jumped off a pier and hung out on the beach. It was a beautiful evening. We then had a meeting at 5 for about an hour and then a few of us went out to dinner to this place called Hurricane's. It was really cool, it was on a pier over the ocean. I got a Veggie Burrito and it was delicious.

I'm about to go for a run on the beach with Julia, Erika, and Lauren so I will post again in a few days. Today and tomorrow are free days, so today we are going to this beach where they have a big pier and inner tubes in the ocean. They say its a lot of fun so we are all going to check it out. I think were going out to dinner tonight as a big group too at this Caribbean restaurant.

I've been here for less than 24 hours and this experience is already eye-opening. I am meeting so many different people and seeing things that I haven't seen before. Monday we are finally going to the schools and I can not wait to see San Pedro High School and meet all the students!! I have been waiting so long for this opportunity. I can't wait to see what the next 5 weeks have in store.