Rainy bloggy

A BLOG!
Huzzah!
I’m sitting here in my house, listening to mix tapes from the 90s I found in the old JV house. For those of you who were not aware, there used to be two houses for JVs in PG. One, our current house, had male JVs upstairs, while the downstairs was home to Belizean JVs, a short lived experiment whose aim was to get Belizeans volunteering. The other house, two buildings over from my library, was the land of female JVs. Today it is a guest house and home to forgotten cassette tapes. We were without a functioning tape player for a number of months, depriving me from their scratchy tunes, but, courtesy of Fr. Jeff, a player has arrived at our humble abode.

“Juuuuune, come too soon.” Paul Simon was the writer of said words, though he clearly was not a teacher. School has thankfully reached its climax this week with final exams and Standard Six (Eighth Grade) graduation. By the way, Summer Lovin just came on the tape player. Ah Grease. Sorry. Yes, school will end next Thursday, thus bringing about the glory of summer. For the first time since high school, I will not be working at the YMCA Camp Lyndon. Very sad, but I hope they will make it spectacularly without me. With Sirs Thom Busby and Christopher Wiklund now leading ranks there, I think it should do well. Next summer, friends.

Since the end of school means the library will be closed for a few months, I have begun to collect books. Now, if you ever find yourself in Belize and are in need of ideas of how to bribe children, pencils would be my suggestion. Today, I put up a sign outside the library: “Return a book this week, get 5 pencils.” Approximately thirty children jumped on the opportunity in the first hour, including some who had not stepped in the library since September when they borrowed the book. I have around 1300 pencils at my disposal, so that should cover the checked out books. That is, unless a child comes in with 25 books they stole earlier this year. Not quite sure what I’ll do if that happens.

Now, what are you going to do for two months Jeremy? This is what you have been thinking, I know it. Well, JVs must find some summer placement to keep them busy and out of trouble. Matt, my glorious housemate, departed on Monday. It was most sad and the house feels very strange without him. He also left the job of coordinating service groups, so I have valiantly taken it up. I will be doing that, along with working with the Food For the Poor program which operates in the villages. Besides that, mom and dad are coming (yeah!!!!), and I hope to get a big mural painted on the library. A group is coming to tear off the gross looking plaster then is going to paint it white. My hope is to paint a big mural, with lots of help from the PG children. If you have a few dollars lying around and feel like donating to help cover paint costs, I would be much indebted to you. I’d probably send an original watercolor or hand drawn postcard to you. Just saying.
Jeremy Shea
JVC
SPC Rectory
PO Box 25
Punta Gorda, Belize

All other mail is welcome. Nothing is better than getting something to read here. CDs of awesome music are also welcome, as are cassette tapes.

I don’t have any pictures this week. Sorry about that. To compensate, I leave you with a poem of my own creation. Thanks for reading, once again. Please please comment, unless you’re Barbara, and Zarko has disabled commenting capabilities and you have to resort to other forms of communication.

Untitled 34

Drops of rain run rampant
From skies of grey,
Escaping the booming of thunder
Rippling through the air.
Warm sheets cover the inert form,
Clenched tight in the morning;
A reluctant surrender.
Light flashes through memories
Of garages, of cars parked at
Beaches, watching the storms.
Of African rooftops, comrades
Doubting the protection from bolts,
Choosing instead to imitate the fear.
Tea steams beside the window
Tapping the sound of rain.
Late are the screams of school,
Of the early arrivals, pushed
Exasperatedly from the door by
Parents, looking forward to nothing
Less than a school break.
Final sigh before work.
Stormy Monday. See the Allmans.