June 21st and 22nd

June 21st, 2018

Hi everybody!!!! Today was the last day of Tykes camp for the week, and it was by far the best day so far. Everyone was so prepared, and everything ran so smoothly. The kids loved it and we got nothing but good reviews from our supervisors. What a great feeling!

For lunch, we went to a local park that had venders with food. We enjoyed the traditional rice and beans with stewed chicken. Sooooo yummy!

After lunch, we came back to Monkey Bay and played a game of water baseball. It was so fun because our supervisors played too. Of course, everyone got soaked. How else are we supposed to survive the Belizean heat?? My team won 10-9, and when we were packing up everything, Dr Brock decided to dump all the water on us…so not cool, but it felt so good!

We had some time to relax after the games, and before we knew it we were eating again! I think I am going to gain 10 pounds on my trip because we are always eating. For dinner, the kitchen ladies wanted to make us feel at home, so they served mac and cheese. I think I had about 3 helpings because it was so incredibly good. They made it just the way my Mama does, so it reminded me so much of home. Also at dinner, we had some guests come. The Therapy Abroad program sponsors three students. What the heck does this mean?? (that was my reaction when Ellen said that). Well it means that part of our tuition for the program goes to these kids to help pay for their education. Schooling in Belize is only free up until 8th grade, and then it is very expensive to continue after that so many kids start working. A lot of families don’t have the money to pay for schooling. One of the girls we sponsor has been helping out with Tykes camp because she is actually interested in becoming an SLP. It feels so good to know that I am part of the reason why these sweet children get to follow their dreams like I am right now. Who knows, maybe one day we will be colleagues???

After dinner, we hit the books because our SOAP notes (written summary of observations from the three days of Tykes camp) were due Friday. It took about 2 hours to do, and then everyone’s brain was fried so we hit the hay.

June 22nd, 2018

Today we had a little change in pace. So far, we have been doing the Tykes camp but today we drove about an hour and a half away to perform hearing and speech screenings on children. The area we went to was literally in the middle of the jungle. The scenery looked like it was straight out of the jungle book, so this made for a really good drive. We were informed that we were headed to a part of Belize that was more Spanish speaking than English. This made me so excited because I actually know quite a bit of Spanish, and I couldn’t wait to use it. We were told we would have 4 children that were bilingual, but very young. This meant that they would be speaking mostly Spanish. We have four people on this trip that speak Spanish, so we were set!

When we got to the school, all the children were playing outside. They all kind of stared at us, but some waved. We set up in a classroom and waited for the children. Some of the things we were looking at on this screening was, intelligibility rating, utterance length, any oral problems, and if the articulators (muscles around your mouth) were weak at all. The kids walked in, and I was immediately called over to a group with a Spanish speaking kiddo. He was very shy and didn’t really look at me until I started speaking to him in Spanish. I started asking him questions about his family, favorite color, and favorite sports to play. He kind of just looked at me with a blank face. At first, I thought maybe I wasn’t making any sense, but we brought in one of my peers that is fluent in Spanish and she was getting the same response. We concluded that the kid needed to be referred because his expressive language was clearly delayed. He would understand if I asked him a yes/no question, so his receptive language was good. However, when I asked him an open-ended question, we got the blank stare. When the next group of grad students come in, they will re-screen this child and start doing therapy with him.

We left the school and took the bus to the sketchiest little burrito/taco “restaurant” that was kind of like what an ice cream stand looks like in America. Ellen reassured us that we were in for a treat, and oh boy was she right! This little hole in the wall has turned out to be my favorite restaurant we have visited so far. We had the Belize version of nachos to start. I have no idea what was on them, but they were the best nachos I have ever had. I decided to order a burrito because all the supervisors said they were the best, and they did not disappoint. The burrito came in a made to order warm, thick, flour tortilla. Inside was beans, pulled chicken, salsa, cheese, and hot sauce. THIS WAS NO CHIPOLTE BURRITO. I will most definitely travel back to Belize just for that burrito.

After lunch, we went to The Blue Hole National Park. There are two blue holes in Belize; one in the ocean, and one at this park. A blue hole is basically a sinkhole in the middle of a body of water. It was so gorgeous, but kinda chilly so I only put my feet in.

We got back to Monkey Bay and had a little free time before dinner. Dinner was good, as always. After dinner, they told us to be back in the dining hall at 8 for a special surprise. We all just hung out until then. It is so cool to get to know these girls, because we are all so similar. We have all gotten along really well, and I am going to be so sad to have to say bye to them. At 8 we all gathered to find out what we were going to do. Sylvia (our team leader) told us we were going to a local bar to sing karaoke. The staff here really has the best things planned to give us the full cultural experience.

The bar was only a short walk away, and when we got there it was dead. Good thing the life of the party had just arrived. We fired up the karaoke machine, and sang song after song for almost three hours. The staff/our supervisors joined us, and even sang some songs too (nothing we could relate to because you know, they are old). It was such a great time, and we got to bond more as a group. Sylvia is by far the best entertainer because she was really getting into it.

We walked back to the room and I was so tired from dancing that I passed out in the clothes I was wearing. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

See ya!