Philosophy, Fall migration, Football

Last week was the second installment of our "God & Nature" course.  Professor Rolf Bouma (University of Michigan) helped us consider and analyze views of God and His creation through the lenses of the bible, philosophers, theologians, poets, scientists, social scientists, and artists.  It was a thought-provoking and worldview-challenging week that certainly could have been more difficult if not for Rolf's knowledgeable and confident leadership.

In light of marveling at God's creation, we couldn't help but notice that many of the birds (most obviously tanagers and warblers) that live in North America have recently migrated down here for a few months of warmer temps.  Because we love all the beautiful and ubiquitous birds in Belize, we threw a party to celebrate their fall migration.

Everyone came dressed as their favorite warblers,

Becca the blackburnian warbler, Michaela the Canada warbler, Lindsay the mangrove
warbler, Jacque the American redstart, Alex the yellow-throated warbler, Dorothy
the black-throated blue warbler, Mark the golden-winged warbler; Josh the
cerulean warbler, Gellie the hooded warbler, and Anna the black-and-white warbler
(photo taken by Sandy Bouma, courtesy of Alex Nordquist)

we played "pin the tail on the warbler,"

or "pin the tail on the wall," as it were...
(photo by Alex Nordquist)

hunted for paper warblers outside, had warbler karaoke, and more!  It was quite the event.  If the migrant warblers don't feel special, it certainly isn't due to lack of our efforts.

Another extracurricular event we enjoyed this week was mini indoor soccer (or football, here in Belize).  Encouraged by the success of the sport during Michaela's birthday celebration back in September, the Student Life Coordinators organized a tournament.  It was a fierce battle of The Elements, but team Wind eventually winned-- er, won -- the championship!

Dorothy (team Wind) gets past Alex (team Fire)

Of course sweaty, post-game, team pictures were a must:

Team "Earth" - Jacque, Mark, Anna

Team "Wind" - Dorothy, Josh, Becca

Team "Fire" - Michaela, Alex, Alex

Team "Water" - Lindsay, Gellie, and wildcard fill-in Becca

Ecology Class Is Better in Belize

The Chiquibul Forest Reserve is the largest national park in Belize, and one of the most difficult to get to.  Last week CCSP Belize traveled over 3 hours off the paved roads of Santa Elena into the Maya Mountains to experience the incredible biodiversity that this site has to offer.  And our efforts certainly paid off!  Just on our drive into the forest reserve we saw white-tailed deer (a rarity here in Belize), the endangered white-lipped peccary (a wild pig), and 14 of the few remaining wild scarlet macaws in Belize!  It was the perfect beginning to what would turn into the perfect week of Tropical Forest Ecology.

During the week we explored limestone caves, conducted research projects out in the field, saw loads of amazing birds (including the rare king vulture), went on night hikes, caught numerous species of frogs (including the iconic red-eyed tree frog), climbed a mountain, explored Mayan ruins that are currently being excavated, and in the process learned a lot about the tropics that we call home for this semester.  On the ride out we stopped to watch a troupe of howler monkeys navigate the jungle canopy with their babies.  It was an unforgettable week to be sure!

Lindsay (Redeemer U) with a Morelet's tree frog

The entrance of one of the Rio Frio Caves

Jacque (Messiah College) admires a yellow-breasted chat up close

CCSP Belize would like to thank professor Erik Lindquist of Messiah College for leading us on this incredible journey, as well as our wonderful students who delighted with us every step of the way.  All of you make this semester amazing!

An anole chomps on Professor Lindquist's finger

Imagining The Earth

CCSP's Environmental Literature class with professor Drew Ward is always an excellent week of learning, laughter, challenging new ideas, and of course reading.  This semester was no exception.  As soon as Drew arrived on campus, the students welcomed him fully into our community; ready to grapple with all the new thoughts he would present to them throughout the week, and ready to "re-imagine the earth."

 

 As the premise for the class, Drew challenges us to consider that our worlds have been imagined for us - in some ways falsely - by all the different influences in our lives.  Using some literary greats such as Wendell Berry, Aldo Leopold, Barbara Kingsolver, Annie Dillard, Henry David Thoreau, Mary Oliver and Walt Whitman, we thought about how to re-imagine the world for ourselves in new and different ways.

And as usual, we took some time out of class to travel up to Drew's favorite waterfall in Belize, Big Rock Falls!

 

Swimming in the pool at the base of the falls

"People divide; water connects."

Professor Bill Deutsch of Auburn University joined CCSP Belize last week for our Stream Ecology course.  We learned how streams connect us to our neighbors, and about some of the many environmental and social justice issues surrounding water use.

Bill talks about some of the basics before diving into Barton Creek

 Students had the opportunity to learn out in the field through hands-on activities as we explored streams in the limestone lowlands of Belize, and then compared them to those in the granite Maya Mountains.  We tested the chemistry of the water, learned how to monitor water quality, and even caught and identified some of the many different macro invertebrates that we don't even realize are living in our streams.  And of course we took the opportunity to swim in several of Belize's beautiful streams and waterways!

Michaela (Messiah College) employs her nursing skills to find out the
level of dissolved oxygen in this stream

Measuring the flow rate of a stream in Mountain Pine Ridge

Observing macro invertebrates gathered from the stream

One of the plentiful waterfalls at Rio On Pools

At the end of a great week of class, the staff here celebrated the one-month mark from when our students first arrived in Belize.  We transformed our kitchen and dining area into the "Macal Café," and served them a classic and delicious Belizean dinner by candlelight. 

The default meal in Belize: rice & beans, stewed chicken, cole slaw,
and plantains

Enjoying the atmosphere of the Macal Café

 Afterwards we took everyone out to our favorite local ice cream joint for dessert.  Thanks for such a great first month, gang - we look forward to sharing the rest of the semester with each and every one of you!!

The girls with their bouquets made entirely of plants found on our campus

God's earth and Michaela's birth!

What have we been up to lately at CCSP Belize?  Lots of great stuff, as usual.  The students recently completed their first week of classes with a course called God & Nature (part 1).  We welcomed professor Uko Zylstra (Calvin College) to our campus as he led us through scriptural views of the earth and humans' relationship to it; the significance of how our food is grown and where it comes from; and many other complicated but important questions.  Also, it certainly doesn't hurt to be living in such a beautiful place while learning about the beauty of God's earth.

Just one of the amazing Lepidoptera we encounter on a daily basis

Apart from class time, we have also had some celebration time.  One of our youngest community members, Michaela (Messiah College), turned 20 years old while in Belize!  Since Michaela loves soccer, we hosted a tournament in her honor: the Horst Cup.  With two teams competing fiercely in three different versions of soccer throughout the day, we had a blast celebrating Michaela, and even discovered some hidden talents (for example, Lindsay [Redeemer University] claimed to be a "weaker" player, and then proceeded to blow everyone away with her mad defensive skills.  Well played, Lindsay.  Well played...).  We also got a good, sweaty workout.

A blurry representation of the fast-paced Mini Soccer

Alex (Messiah College) tangled up during Crab Soccer

Most recently, we made some new friends at Sacred Heart College, a local school in our district.  They have a program that allows some of their students to receive lunch at a discounted price if they need assistance; but unfortunately they've been a little too busy lately to keep up the garden that helps source that program.  We offered a few hours of our time one morning to help weed,

turn soil, spread rich new soil from the vermiculture,

Lindsay (Redeemer University) loves worm waste

clear pathways, and plant seeds.

Becca (George Fox University) planting carrots

We had a great time helping our new friends, and hopefully their garden is on its way to flourishing!

Welcome To Belize!

We knew this was going to be a great semester when each one of the students stepped off the plane eager and excited to learn about Belize (except for the part where they all fell asleep on the first drive back to campus...).  Well their curiosities are being sated with each passing day as the CCSP staff does their best to show a few introductory highlights of this beautiful country.  From meandering atop Mayan ruins, to tubing down a major river, to working amongst native flora, to meeting native fauna, there's hardly time to rest during Orientation Week!  Thankfully we managed to capture some photographic evidence of the students' first encounters with their new home:

Making the climb to the top of El Castillo, the tallest structure at the ancient
Maya city of Xunantunich

 

Mixed reactions to being on top of El Castillo

This giant caterpillar at the Belize Botanic Garden enjoyed thrashing about

Dorothy (Dordt College) making friends with the boa constrictor at the Belize Zoo

The Belize Zoo only accepts animals who would not survive in the wild.

Orientation Week concluded with a travel weekend, where we sent the girls off to discover a bit more of Belize for themselves.  Have fun, intrepid explorers!

Many great adventures have begun at bus stops...