Life at one month in

We got beds, mattresses, a phone, kitchen dishes, etc before students arrived!  It was a rush to the start.

And then Orientation week happened.  Orientation week is always busy because it is the time when the students are busy traveling around the area in order to learn about Belize, and what the CCSP community is all about.  I didn’t go on too many of the outings, as I was actually starting to do my job!  Since moving and unpacking took priority, I didn’t get a chance to start many necessary parts of the job until students left for travel weekend. 

My first weeks of being the Program Administrator have been a challenge, but I’m slowly getting to the place where I have more of a rhythm and order to my daily job (that being said within CCSP’s highly structured but highly variable schedule).  I’ve set office hours (and already broke them…) so that’s a start on the work/life balance front. Three weeks after the students arrived, and I know that I at least have my head on, even if it’s not totally straight... 

Our student group is fairly diverse in personality and interests, yet accepting of each other. A highlight of the semester has been seeing how the students are getting involved in the community already.  I’m excited about my small group, and although I’m not involved with many field trips or classes this semester, I feel that I will be able to invest more in getting to know the students because I won’t be around the students every moment of the day. 

And another exciting part of the semester has been getting to know the two new staff! Josh and Gellie have weathered the crazy beginning well.  Life at CCSP is almost completely different for me with the new job, new campus and new staff team.  But through all of the changes, God is providing.  Most of all, he is providing a new, much needed community.

Check out CCSP Belize's blog  http://www.ccspbelizef11.blogspot.com/  for some pictures of our new campus and the student's adventures so far!

I would love to hear from you!

love,

Joelle

An email/blog written in the first 3 days... which was August 17... three weeks ago.

Hey I'm here!

Sorry it took 3 days to let you know, but I figured you would know that I'm alive...
CCSP is moved!  Josh and I were delayed getting into Belize by and hour and a half, so we got to the Nab (old campus) on Sunday night, had supper and went to bed after discussing the game plan for Monday which was moving day!  We had a team of 5 Belizeans plus the 5 of us CCSP staff to load up the entirety of CCSP’s earthly goods.  We had most things (we thought)  packed into the 2 prados, the van, and our bus by, minus all of our office desks, which didn’t fit in any vehicles.  Then we drove over (20 minutes) and piled all our stuff on the covered verandas that surround the buildings.

Monday night was our last night at the Nab. And I was sad leaving Nabitunich.  I know I'll be back to visit, but we are also leaving Succotz and all the people in the
village there that we have relationships with.  

The new campus is an answer to prayer for the program, and we are all trying to remember this fact in the crazy business of moving and having to get the program running in 10 days before students arrive.  Amid the intensity of the move, our staff team is trying to find time to get to know each other as we have two new staff members in our group of 5! It has been fun to get to know a bit about Josh and Gellie although it has only been a couple.

CCSP has moved, but we have not unpacked, nor do we have beds, mattresses, classroom tables, bookshelves for our 53 boxes of library books, dishes for the kitchen, or a working phone! 

However, we do have an amazing orchard with avocados that are bearing fruit right now, 17 acres of tropical forest along the river with trails, and beautiful buildings.

Hope you are all doing well.  It’s hot and humid here.

Love,

Joelle