It's so pretty here!

Yea, arrived safely and uneventfully in Belize yesterday (Thursday)! It's SOOO pretty here - the water (which I only saw as we were landing, I'm now an hour inland) is the most unusual color - like a clear green, hard to explain. And the countryside is green green green. Definitely in a jungle. With lots of palm trees.
We had the best welcome - almost all of the current Volunteers (about 20 people) met us at the airport and were shouting and hooting their welcome. All of a sudden all the namelessness, facelessness, impersonalness fell away - it is great to be here and everyone is so supportive and excited we are here. But we were the Belize Peace Corps Zombie Unit when we arrived, running on no sleep. Luckily the staff took pity on us and let us out from Training early so we could get to the hotel and crash.
The Hotel uses a box spring for the mattress (with a box spring underneath it) but we were so tired no one cared. Will see if that changes after tonight. And, my personal nemesis, back to cold showers. That was the only moment that I questioned why I was doing this but I know I'll get over it. In fact, it's so hot and humid, if you time your shower right, it actually would feel good.
The Staff are great - really energetic and organized [yea and whew :-) The Training topics for the next week focus mostly on health and safety and checking in with us as a group and individually to see how our health and safety are. In terms of health, and safety, here is what we've learned so far:
"Don't get Bit"
"Don't get Hit"
"Don't get Lit" {or 'drunk' in case my younger friends don't know that synonym}
"Don't do It"
"Don't eat Shit"
ha ha ha
The Staff are also well aware of the reputation or assumptions everyone has about a Belize placement. They asked us "are you looking forward to PCV?" to which we replied "yes" thinking they were referring to PCV as 'Peace Corps Volunteer'. See, right now we are PCT, Peace Corps Trainess, and don't become actual Volunteers until we pass Training in early October. Anyway, they said "no, are you looking forward to PCV? Your 'Paid Caribbean Vacation'" ... we wish! But one of the current PCVs who lived in Punta Gorda, which is right on the beach, said he was only able to get there 5 times during his 2 years.
We are going to an Archeology site tomorrow, a Mayan temple called Xunantunich, near the Guatemalan border. Includes a lecture on Mayas and Mestizos in Belize and cultural presentations on marimba music and mayan traditional dancing. Then on Sunday, we go to the River to swim and wash clothes (no joke) and will play kickball in the afternoon. Then back to "health and safety" lesson on Monday.
Next Thursday I move to my first host family, I think I'm posted about hour away from the capital, Belmopan, in a town called San Antonio. Looks like I will get a good indoctrination on the bus system. Will update you when I can, probably each Friday for the next few weeks.
In September, I can look into getting a cell phone. In October or November, can look into getting my own internet service. Telecommunication is pretty easy here, except I have Vista on my laptop and it sucks/doesn't work well with the systems here.
Take care! XOXO MJP