R.I.P. Little guy. . .

Dad, I know you read this so i'm sorry to inform you that i have temporarily misplaced the watch you so generously donated for my trip. It may or may not have fallen off when i was jumping into the waterfall pool, or it may or may not bu under a pile of gravel 20 minutes into the forest. I'm not sure. . . but either way I guess I owe you a watch!

Now that I've got the bad news out of the way i figure i'll share some good news! Belize is amazing. Today we went out a village called Steadfast, where the Engineering team a couple years back did the water filtration system. We went up there to see the system, and we're going to be doing some improvements on it. Basically it was 4 gravel filters leading to 4 sand filters leading to the village, but the gravel never really worked so we're going to replace the gravel with sand and make 8 sand filters. So as you can see from the picture below, we did some shoveling today! We used the gravel to make a more defined and less slippery pathway to the filtration system. So it worked out nicely because we didn't waste it!

Then after that we went to this beautiful waterfall! It had cliffs you can jump off of that were about 10-20 feet high. I'll put the videos on facebook when i get home so i don't terrify my mom! But it was gorgeous, and definitely a nice refresher from the pools of sweat we were making from working.

This is an opportunity of a lifetime and thank you to everyone that helped make it happen for me. No complaints here, other than the fact that we skipped lunch so i'm a little hungry. But no big deal because i'm off to get some now!

I feel like i should have a funny story for ya'll so you could laugh or have something interesting to read other than my witty/suspensful titles . . . ah oh well. I really hope noone thought something actually died from this posts title. . .lol

Alright we'll I'll post again soon!

-AB

When in Belize....

So I'm already using up the "When in Rome" quote, but that's alright. I'll have to come up with more titles later.

Anyways! I'm here in Belize! It's absolutely gorgeous, as you guys can tell. The top picture is of the beach that's about 2 minutes away from our hotel. The second picture is of the coast from the roof of the Chaleanor hotel. It's an amazing country.

Today we recieved a tour as well as some awesome breakfast. Some bread cakes with beans and fruit. Our tour was around the city led by some Peacework helpers. We were shown the markets and the good restaurants, rivers, and of course the beach. lol Then after some lunch of sweet and sour chicken with the engineering team, we went to the market and looked around. For the afternoon we have some meetings and then dinner. Not too shabby if you ask me.

But the town is wonderful and everyone here is super nice. I've thoroughly enjoyed everything here so far. I'm super excited to work with our teams and the Dangrigans. Yeah, it's a little hot... but i wouldn't consider us to be "roughing it." We're very blessed with some well-known comforts like a hotel and a sea breeze.

Well more to come, as always. I just want to say thanks for everyone keeping up with this blog! It really means a lot to me. Talk to ya'll soon!

-AB

Wonderful!

So I'm sitting here (on my couch) (correction: on a friends couch) (cuz we had to stay in Fayetteville for class) (but i dont live in Fayetteville) (so i had to stay on a friends couch) writing my pre-departure paper for the Belize trip over the readings off of blackboard and wouldn't you know.... blackboard goes down!! I seriously hope that that is not an indicator for the trip. . .

Anyways! I'm still stoked for the trip. We've been doing alot of planning and coordinating for the trip the past three days, and learned quite a bit about how Belize works and how to have the best impact we can while we're down there. I'm just super excited we get to work with everyone down there. I know, at least for me, that it's going to be an experience. I'm going to have to embrace it and learn from it, so that it will have the biggest impact on me as it can!

We leave on Monday, so not too long from now. I'm not even going to lie. . . I'm totally not packed. Since i've been in Fayetteville, and my life's worth of clothes are in Tulsa, I haven't even considered what i'm going to bring yet. luckily, i'm not too worried about it.

Well i should be updating you guys from Belize next time I post! I promise i'll have more regular posts from now on, seeing as how i'm leaving in 5 days.

Ya'll are awesome,
Adam

Getting Pumped! (Pre-deptaure update)

Hey guys and gals!

My name is Adam Burk. I'm going to be a senior at the University of Arkansas, majoring in Biological Engineering. The reason you all are reading this is because I have the opportunity to travel abroad and do engineering projects in Belize this summer!

I'm getting super excited to go. I've been talking to students who have gone in the past and they've been telling me about how much fun I'm going to have. The few meetings we've had about our trip are getting me excited for the projects we're going to be doing too! As far as I know, we're going to be rebuilding a concrete bridge on the north side of Dangriga, building some type of kazebo, and possibly doing some type of water survey. I just can't wait to work with everyone down there, and to get to travel around and see the sights Belize has to offer.

We leave in about a month now, so as we get closer i'l be posting updates and final plans. I just want to take a second to thank everyone who made this trip possible. First and foremost my parents Rick and Bev; the entire team at study abroad who have set this trip up; all the faculty and staff that have given their time and energy to do awesome things in the world; and everyone who wrote letters of reccomendation and scholarship forms. You are all awesome!

Talk to ya'll soon.
Adam