Belizean Dignitaries

Anyone who knows me knows that many times when I listen to what somebody is saying I unconsciously merge details from a previous conversation with the present one, thereby completely missing out on whatever was trying to be conveyed. Whenever I comment on what was being said, I am met with perplexed looks that convey the sentiment of "are you joking" or "are you serious." Once I get the same perplexed look everyone around me starts cracking up. I had one of those moments two weeks ago during a meeting with the principal of Sadie Vernon, some staff, parents, and the host of radio talk show in Belize.

Sadie Vernon is trying to raise money to build a fence around the school. Only a small portion of the compound is fenced in making it extremely difficult to monitor who is on the campus. A fundraising committee made up of parents, teachers, staff and community members was formed to help with this effort. It is headed by Evan Hyde a radio talk show host and an influential person in Belize. He suggested that we look into some long-term fundraising events outside of the small ones we were having at school. Since karaoke is big in Belize, he suggested organizing a karaoke contest between some dignitaries and public figures (business leaders, athletes). Seeing such important people willingly embarrass themselves would surely bring in a lot of money. We came up with a list of people to ask and businesses we should contact to sponsor the event.

We then moved onto talking about the school dance that we were planning to hold on the first Friday of May during which would draw the winners of the raffle we were running. School dances in Belize are usually not held at bars or clubs not at school. They are also open to the general public (other high school students and adults). I was surprised by this just as I’m sure you are. Mrs. Noralez (the principal), Nicole (another teacher) and I went to check out a couple places earlier that day. One of the bars on the north side of the river was in safe area and was right near the sea. However, they were charging $500 ($250 US) for the night, which was pretty steep. Mr. Hyde said that if we decided to hold it there we should not have it without the dignitaries and suggested that we move the dance to the end of the month to make sure they were available. Everyone agreed with him.

We then spent the next ten to fifteen minutes throwing out possible dates for the dance. We didn't have much luck because the dignitaries, as Mr. Hyde kept saying, wouldn't be available for the dates suggested. All the while I was trying to think why we needed to invite dignitaries to a high school dance let alone have to change its date around their schedule. The reason we were having this dance was to fundraise money to build a fence around our school which should've been paid for by these "dignitaries" to begin with. Not only were they forcing us to raise $40,000 on our own but now they were making us change the date of our dance because they couldn't make it. What were they going to do there anyway? Stand there with a smile on their face and then interrupt the music to make some cheesy speech? Our students could care less if they showed up. I could understand that people would pay to hear them sing and embarrass themselves but I highly doubted their presence at a high school dance would compel people to show up.

So I finally asked Mr. Hyde why it was necessary to invite politicians to a high school dance. It became awkwardly silent and everyone got that perplexed look I was talking about at the beginning. I rephrased the question in a politer way believing that I just offended everyone for even pondering such a thing.

Mr. Hyde respectfully responded that "Da Dignitareez" is a sound system/band that he developed a couple years ago. It is very popular and a lot of people would show up if they knew Da Dignitareez were playing. There was a couple more seconds of silence followed by uncontrollable laughter. Mrs. Noralez tried to justify my oblivion to Mr. Hyde and the parents whose students I teach by informing them that since I don't have a T.V at home it would've been hard for me realize that Mr. Hyde was talking about his sound system. I turned red and realized that thinking Mr. Hyde was planning to invite politicians to a high school dance ridiculous I started to laugh myself. We finally decided on May 12. Though it was soon, it was a night that Da Dignitareez were available so planned it for then.

The dance was two nights ago. I got there an hour early to help set up and stayed till the end. I stayed behind the bar or at the door with the other teachers. We had a good time and a good turn out partly because of Da Dignitareez showed up.

Lesson Planning Woes: Laissez-Faire School Schedule-Authoritarian Beer Monopoly-Revering the Monarchy

There are four weeks left of school. There were really supposed to be five. The last day of school at Sadie Vernon was always the last Friday of the second week of June. After becoming a government school this year, the school began to follow the schedule for government schools, nothing really different except that the start and end of the school year and vacations are determined by the government instead of the Council of Churches. Much to everyone's pleasure, including mine since I found out that I'd be teaching Math and Social Studies instead of Religion and P.E. a week before school began, school began the first week of September instead of the last week of August. I'll get to that part a little bit later.

A couple weeks ago I asked the principal how final exams work at Sadie Vernon (ie. Are there final exams? If so are they given during classes or is a week devoted to them?). She stated that it was the latter and that the week prior to exams is devoted to review. With that in mind I was able to plan my lessons accordingly for the remainder of the year. Many call me crazy but I was able to actually plan and write out the rest of my lessons for both of my Social Studies classes and roughly outline the length of the topics for Math.

I knew from the start that I wouldn't be able to get through my yearly plan for my Social Studies classes. I didn't stress about this since I was able to pick the topics I wanted to teach. So not getting through all of them wouldn't be that big of a deal. Also the head of the humanities department is very lax about sticking to the syllabus and only checks my lesson plans when I give them to her.

Math on the other hand is a different story. Math, like English, is a compulsory subject, meaning if a student doesn't pass one of these subjects he/she must repeat the entire form, not just the class. The Math syllabus was given to me by the previous first form teacher and outlines the topics needed to be covered. The second, third, and fourth form syllabi are based off of the areas expected to be covered the previous years. The head of the Math department is really on top of things. He's a stickler with details and organization just like I am (or try to be for the latter). He also teaches Remedial Math once a week to both sections of my first former classes. He's able to explain the material a lot better than I can and can get through it a lot faster. Sometimes I walk into the room and see the board covered with problems that would take me two or three classes to cover. I am currently six weeks behind even after omitting two weeks off of ratio and proportion, which I was told would be retaught in second form.

When I looked at the yearly plan last August I was nervous not because I feared that I wouldn't be able to get through the material but because I thought I would get through it too quickly and be stranded in front of a class of thirty students with nothing to teach for four months. How I wish that was the case. I never realized the elementary level many students were at and as a novice teacher I was foolish enough to believe that I wouldn’t have to get into that much detail about many of the topics because it seemed too simple for high schoolers. ha!

So getting back to the first part of the story about asking the principal how final exams work and the fact that we now follow the government’s schedule. Many of the teachers including the principal, somewhere down the line forgot that school would ending June 23 not June 16, like it usually does. When they became aware of the last day of school (though we all received a school calendar at the beginning of the year) they became very irritated by the thought of having to be around students for another week. They also planned their lessons around that date as well. I didn't mind ending a week later than usual because I expected to do so and I already wrote my lessons and was very far behind. When I came back to school from the retreat we had last week I was told in passing that the last day of classes would be the 16th! The principal was able to convince the Ministry shave a week off our school year somehow. I was visibly frustrated. When the teachers asked why I was angry I told them that I already planned my lessons through June 9, the week before review. They all started to laugh and jokingly asked "what's wrong with you?" So now I have two weeks left of classes with eight weeks of material to cover.

We also have two holidays during that time. Teachers Appreciation Day on the 19th and Commonwealth day on the 23th. Belize like all former British colonies are part of the British Commonwealth, meaning Queenies photo appears on all currency and a Governor General appointed by the Her Majesty serves as a symbolic tie to the country. I don’t know what the festivities entail but I envision people chanting, “Long live the Queen!” (actually probably not).

For Teachers Appreciation Day the teachers at Sadie Vernon are planning a trip to Chetumal Mexico. Mexico is only three hours from Belize City. Many Belizeans travel to Chetumal to shop. Chetumal from what I've heard is an urban metropolis like many American cities, complete with malls, fast food chains, wide roads, and multi-plex theaters. We're going there to shop, see a movie, and drink beer other than Belikin, Belize’s national and solely distributed beer manufacturing company. Barry Bowen, a private citizen owns all the rights to manufacture and sell soft drinks and beer in Belize. All other products are illegal. Soft drinks include Coca-cola, Fanta, and Sprite. Beer includes Belikin Beer, Belikin Stout, Lighthouse (Belikin lager), Guiness (Belikin manufactured and tastes nothing like Guinness), and Heineken (the real thing). Belikin is great (the beer not the company). But I am so excited to have the opportunity to remember that beer has many different flavors which I’ll be able to try again in Chetumal.

Anyway, enjoy the free market and variety. Next time you drink Sam Adams, Bass Ale, Pabst, or any beer other than Belikin (which I'm sure is not in the States) remember me.