Oh my that shark's as BIG as me!

Have you ever been asked, "what is the craziest, most adventurous thing you've ever done?"  This question always leaves me pondering with no response because I tend to play it safe.  After yesterday I I now will have a response.  Yesterday we spent the majority of the day snorkeling and exploring Caye Caulker.  We set sail on a Catamaran boat that had awesome bean bag chairs and something similar to a trampoline to lounge on.  Our snorkeling adventure had two stops.  The first stop we made was Hol Chan Marine Reserve and we spent 45 minutes snorkeling the reserve.  We seen fish, turtles, nurse sharks, and sting rays!  It was so exciting and enjoyable to be in basically a whole other world.  It was nice to sea all the see life in their natural habitats.  Our 2nd stop was Shark Ray Alley.  As if this doesn't sound scary enough, when I took my first look over the boat I said, "oh my! That shark's as BIG as me!"  Keep in mind I was very nervous and excited at the same time and everyone had said they weren't that big, so when the first one I seen was the biggest I was shocked.  I quickly got myself calmed down realizing this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I put my snorkel gear on and jumped straight in the water with the sharks. It was an amazing experience.  The sharks just swam around and didn't bother us at all.  I'm glad I reached deep down inside and found my adventurous side instead of letting fear take control.  

After snorkeling the boat dropped us off at Caye Caulker.  A group of us ate lunch at a little restaurant called Bambooze.  This restaurant is known because of having swings for seats.  I enjoyed a choco berry smothie and delicious nachos.  After lunch we walked down to a place called the "Split", a famous swimming area which is a waterway that divides the island into. For our remaining time we wondered around exploring the island.

My biggest surprise...

As a special educator, we have always been taught that planning while being flexible is the key to being successful. Since teaching in Belize I have been surprised at just how flexible I can be and will continue to be.  There have been lessons that I've been given less than 5 minutes to prepare and lessons that I've prepared in advance and needed to change once school began.  Before being placed in the position of quickly putting a lesson plan together I would have second guessed my ability to do so, now that I've successfully taught a lesson planned 5 minutes before, I feel more confident as a teacher.  In the states sometimes my whole lesson would be centered around technology and I never really thought about what I would do if technology failed me.  Being here has already taught me that technology is not neccessary to teach children but should be used to enhance teaching our students.