Today is election day in Belize, which the citizens take very seriously, often traveling long distances to the places they are registered (shades of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem). As a consequence the school is closed both today and tomorrow, which is sad since we can't see the kids, but does mean we can work on things we couldn't with children around (like lots of painting). Holly, David, Bob and Gareth have been building a new set of stairs to serve as another exit in case of fire. Work continues on the floor joists for the library; we got 24 piles in, but progress was slow as we had to replace a pump and the bedrock has gotten too deep in places for us to place piles. Will have to wait for the pros to come up with a solution.

Yesterday was fun at the school as we had both ash wednesday services (ask Joe about the Banana Lady sermon) with the imposition of ashes, plus the school held a goodbye ceremony for us, involving lots of thank you cards, hugs and one class shouting out in unison, "We love you, Mr. Bob." Some of us enjoyed watching the Duke-UNC game last night; others, not so much.

Team Next joins us tomorrow and we are eager to share our stories and turn over the hard work!