In my last post I told you a bit about Ambergris Caye island and moving here. This time I will tell you a bit about San Pedro town. I feel for those of you who have never been here that this information is important to get a true sense of what it is like. San Pedro is about one and a half-miles long and in some places about a mile wide. Walking through town at many cross streets I can look to one side and see the turquoise waters of the Caribbean sea and to the other the lagoon where we sometimes go to get fresh fish.
It is a charming, quirky, fun place where most people use golf carts, bicycles, or go on foot as modes of transportation. I am constantly surprised at how well people use bikes to double people or carry things most would not even imagine trying to transport on a bicycle.
There are so many things I love about San Pedro. Everyone smiles and says hello to each other on the street. I can walk out the door and be at the beach in ten minutes. I often refer to going out and about in town as taking a walk on Sesame Street – I am always guaranteed to see people I know and often end up sidetracked on fun adventures like iced coffee with friends or the beach. As a result, going for a five minute walk to the store can potentially sidetrack me for hours depending on who I run into.
On my walk down memory lane I am thinking back to our first apartment and our first experience volunteering in another country. We were still starry eyed at having landed on a tropical island and did not really know anyone yet. Paul and I luckily found a one bedroom – mostly furnished – apartment in town. It was on the small side and we did not have laundry but we were so happy to have our first place even if it meant sometimes washing our clothes in buckets and hanging them to dry on the veranda. I used to joke about it and say we were experiencing a taste of what life was like in the pioneer days. In reality I knew we had a lot going for us compared to some. I did not quite realize just how much but that will come in a future post.
I have to admit we did not move here with volunteering specifically in mind. It was an ad in the paper for registration of a new school called Holy Cross that got me thinking we could volunteer to help us meet people as we settled into our new community. I emailed Miss Francis, the volunteer coordinator, and she said to drop by on registration day and they would be grateful for any help we were willing to offer. I had no idea what to expect as we walked through town and across the bridge to a small building they were using to register children for the upcoming school year; I just knew this was a step in the right direction. As it turns out we were lucky enough to experience getting involved with the school from the ground up: with just over a month to get three buildings finished for the start of the new school year, there was a lot to be done. You can see pictures of the school being built on Holy Cross School Blog.
Latest posts by tacogirl
- The Story of the Stove - October 23rd, 2009
- Need Some Cash? 10 Ways to Fundraise - October 1st, 2009
- Belize Volunteer Opportunities - September 23rd, 2009
- Volunteer Vacation - September 11th, 2009
- Wing It - September 3rd, 2009
- Building up a Community - August 27th, 2009
- Little Differences - August 24th, 2009
- Island Life - August 6th, 2009
