St. John's Episcopal School Belize 2015 Service Learning Trip: Xunantunich - Ancient Maya Archeological Site

St. John's Episcopal School Belize 2015 Service Learning Trip: Xunantunich - Ancient Maya Archeological Site: El Castillo -- The Kindergarten class wants to say hello to our buddies, Mrs. Lawson and everyone else on the trip.  We love you Mrs. Lawson and miss you very much!  Did you play Pok-ta-pok?  Mrs. Lawson, what was your favorite animal at the zoo?  Hope you have more exciting adventures!

Xunantunich - Ancient Maya Archeological Site

El Castillo -- "The castle"

There is always time for proper dental hygiene

The crew

The famous frieze on the side of El Castillo

The ancient Mayans did not invent the escalator

One of a few stelae found at the site

Those are three STJES kids up there. 

Day 2 Entry - Colby, Rachael & Jack

Imagine walking up the steps of an ancient temple that was once walked by the Mayan people years ago. We climbed up the steep steps leading to the temple of El Castillo in the city of Xunantunich, meaning stone lady. Most of climbed up to the top of El Castillo and looked out onto the beautiful view filled with houses, trees, mountains and the rest of the ruins. We explored the ball court of the ceremonial Mayan game called Pok-ta-pok. Legend has it that two twins went down to the Underworld to play the gods in a game of Pok-ta-pok. The twins lost and were decapitated. Then their heads were hung from a tree, which burst into flames. Years later, a princess came by and got too close to the tree. As she got closer, the twins' heads spit on her and she became pregnant. She gave birth to two twins who later had a rematch with the gods of the underworld and defeated them.

After we climbed El Castillo, we went into a side building and saw the ancient stele or stela and artifacts that were made years ago. A stele was like a very old message board or it could be used to keep records of important things. We loved how serene it was when we reached the top of the temple and it felt good to feel the cooling breeze blow through our hair. Colby then told us his glib statement of how scared he was of falling off. We got a good laugh from that. On our way back from the temple grounds, we spotted goats grazing on top of the hills and then took the hand-crack ferry back to the other side of the river.

After that, we took the three hour drive to eat a filling meal at the Nu'uk Cheil Cottages, where we will stay for the duration of the service part of the trip. Well it's getting late and we are so eager to get up and ready to start our work. Can't wait! It's going to be UNBELIZEABLE!

Day 1 Entry - Sophia, Josh Titus, and Neil

When we landed in Belize, one of the first things we noticed was how small the airport was. Going through passport control was very easy compared to the US, and we all got through in a timely manner. We met up with our two instructors, Javier and Juan who loaded up our suitcases on our bus, and we started our ride towards our first lodge, a tropical education center. We then had group learning sessions about fears and goals, and Amping up, which we will do everyday. AMP stands for analyze, manage, and prepare. Later that night we went to the Belize Zoo, and some of the favorite animals were the ocelots. Sophia loved them the most because they were the most like house cats but much bigger and ferocious. Josh liked the howler monkeys the most, because they made a cool sound and were really loud. 

After a very long day of traveling and orientation, we were all exhausted and fell asleep easily by 10 o'clock. 

Visiting the zoo at night was a truly magical experience. Naome discovered her calling as a "Howler Monkey Whisperer". Be sure to ask her about it.