Peace Corps Belize

I am leaving tomorrow for Belize where I will be living and working for the next twelve months. After already serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer for two years, I often feel like I understand what its all about but I keep reminding myself that this will be a completely different experience.

Belize is a very small country bordered to the north by Mexico, the south and west by Guatemala, and on the Caribbean Sea. The population is only 300,000 people. It was a British colony until it gained independence in 1981. The official language is English though several other languages are spoken including Spanish, Creole, Garifuna, and a few Mayan languages.

Peace Corps Belize works in four sectors: healthy communities, teacher training, youth development, and business and organization management. I will continue as a health volunteer.

I have about two weeks of training in Belmopan and Belize City before moving to my site for the next year. More information to come about this new assignment once I am there and have settled in.

Home Leave - Amazing Days in the U.S.

I have had a great time in the United States for the past month and feel fortunate to have seen so many friends and family members. Thank you to everyone who has made my visit to the US so amazing!

Christmas was spent at my parents' home in West Bend. My sister Beth and her boyfriend Mark came up from Tampa so I was happy to be able to celebrate with them. My grandma was also able to come over for the day.

A few days later I flew to Washington DC where I visited several friends. First I spent time with my friend Anna who lives in Arlington. She had visited me in Burkina Faso in 2009 so it had only been a year since we saw each other but still had a ton to catch up on!

I then spent a few days with Dylan and his family in D.C. We rang in the New Year with a few of Dylan's friends and enjoyed a very low-key New Years Day spent mostly on the couch playing Settlers of Catan and watching the Badgers lose in the Rose Bowl.

I enjoyed a long lunch with Karla, my closest friend in Burkina Faso during my first year there before she returned home due to illness. She is doing great now and it was fun to see her and catch up!

After D.C., I flew on to Charlotte, NC to visit my friend Maren, her husband Mike, and their 7 month old son Joseph. I was so excited to meet him and be around babies again after a month away from village and was missing being constantly surrounded by kids! Joseph is an adorable baby and we had lots of fun playing. It also was great to catch up with Maren and Mike after almost three years since they had visited me in New Orleans.

My cousins Jim and Kim stopped by the house as soon as I arrived home. I was so excited to see them and congratulate Kim on the completion of her PhD!

My family hosted an open house for family, friends, and neighbors. I was able to catch up with so many important people in my life that I have known for years. It was especially great to see several of my Krudwig cousins including Mary B, Suzy & Tom, and Chuck and my old 4-H leaders Carol, Judy, and Lillian.

My dad and I took a trip to Madison one day so I could see the many changes on campus and catch up with my friends. I had a great lunch with Kay, Peter, Mary, and Allison from the 4-H office. Later on I visited with my friend Lou.

Last weekend I took the train to Chicago to hang out with Allison, my friend from Tulane. We had a fun time going to see Alan Toussaint, a New Orleans jazz pianist and enjoyed sangria at a great tapas restaurant. I also was able to catch up with a UW friend Rithvik over brunch.

I enjoyed seeing Tricia and Elise, some of my childhood friends, and it was great to hear about the exciting changes in their lives since I've left. Its hard to believe Elise is now married and Tricia is engaged and planning a June wedding!

I gave presentations on Burkina to 3rd and 6th graders at my mom's school as well. Now I'm busy shopping and packing for the next adventure!

Changes - Updated

Before leaving for Burkina Faso in Oct 2008 I put together a list of things I thought might change while I was gone. Here is the same list with updates so you can see how things have changed. Current data at end in parentheses.

Age: 23
(Currently 26)

Gallon of Gas: $3.19 gallon (but it was $1 more two weeks ago)
($3.12)

Population of Washington Couny, WI: 129,778 (in July 2007, the most recent I could find) (This area has been growing so quickly since I was in high school and I expect it to keep growing as people move north out of Milwaukee)
(130,681 as of 2009, I couldn't find a more recent figure)

Cost of Undergrad Tuition at UW-Madison: $7,570
(It was $5,138 a year when I started in 2003) ($8,313)

Family Pets: 13 year old Snowball, 4 month old Maggie, & 12ish goldfish in backyard pond
(Snowball died in Dec 2009 and I think the fish didn't make it through the winter a few years ago but Maggie is still as wild as when I left)

Current Weight: 119 lbs on my parents scale
(I gained weight studying abroad in Kenya and have been told in Peace Corps, men usually lose weight but women gain)
(123 lbs - gained about 10 lb my first year but lost weight the second year)

Relationship Status: single & loving it

(attached & loving it except for doing the long distance thing now)

Parents' religion: Methodist
(They were Catholic when I left for Kenya and Methodist when I returned 6 months later)
(still Methodist)

President: Bush

(OBAMA!)

I am sure that I will miss out on some important events but I would really just like all my friends to wait for the big things until 2011. I don't want to miss any engagements or weddings (Tricia?), babies (Maren?), or any other significant changes while I'm gone! Is that too much to ask?

(Maren had a baby in May 2010 and Tricia got engaged Oct 2009 with a wedding planned for this June).

I'm interested to see what else will change during the next year while I'm in Belize.

Bissa Dancing

A video of my friends singing and dancing one night before I left. Sorry its hard to see but I think its interesting just to listen. The boy drumming and singing is blind but is an amazing musician.

Dancing at my farewell dolo party.

Tabaski Video

Since I have fast internet now in the U.S. I thought I'd share some short videos I took towards the end of my service. These are all at Tabaski, the most important Muslim holiday in my community.

First a look at what's for dinner

The men slaughter the sheep

The women cook the meal

The kids go home to home dancing and singing with the hope that they will receive candy or money.

Even the little kids get excited and love to dance!

New Peace Corps Commercial

Last of the Pics from Burkina

I've been home a little over two weeks and having a great time. More info coming on my vacation in the US and moving to Belize.

In the meantime, I finally uploaded the last of my pictures from Burkina. I tried to take a lot of market pictures and assortment showing my daily life so check them out.

November & December Pics