Garifuna drumming

The days have been flying by!  I can't believe we've been working at the school for almost a week!  I am definitely enjoying working there....even though I still miss my kiddos in Jacksonville.

We went on a field trip with our classes to a Garifuna music performance.  The Garifuna people are of African descent, and first came to Belize on November 19, 1832.  This day is still celebrated; in fact, it is a national holiday!  We plan to travel about an hour to a town called Dangriga next Thursday to join in the festivities of Garifuna Settlement Day.  I'll be blogging about that later...

To prepare for Garifuna Settlement Day, our teachers have been teaching the children about the Garifuna people.  They have a rich culture and history.  Part of their culture involves music and dance, which is what we went to see this week.

Garifuna music involves chanting and drums.  The drums beat a complicated rhythm.  One lady chanted a phrase and then the rest of the musicians echoed her.  They all wore traditional Garifuna outfits.

On the bus- Lisa, D'Elise, me, Paige

Cheryna, Chrissy, Melissa

Garifuna dancers

The young lady in blue is my directing teacher here, who is Garifuna 

This little old lady was precious as she danced!

The musicians

Our very own Cheryna got in on the dancing!!  The 

Garifuna people were impressed that she did their dance

and moved correctly- and so were we!  You can see a 

video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB9b9aLGfn4

That night we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant because, believe it or not, there is a large population of Chinese people in Belize.  I had the most fantastic shrimp lo mein!  Yum!

Walking back to the hotel after watching the Garifuna

drumming and dancing

This is about how crowded every restaurant we have been 

to in Belize is. I don't know how they stay open... 

Chrissy, Melissa, Cheryna

Lisa, me, D'Elise, Paige