Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, Oct 30
Another crazy day; I didn’t teach anything! The day was mostly taken up with practicing for Fiesta Tipica: the dances and songs and flow of the program. My kids decorated things for our champas for most of the morning, using paper, beans, rice and corn. They also made this diorama of Lake Yajoa, the lake in Honduras. They were so proud of it and it was really good! They watched the dances and went to recess, then decorated more and began to play the games I had: Uno and cards. They LOVED Uno and were occupied with that for awhile. Then it was lunch with extra long recess and they couldn’t wait to get back to play Uno haha. I also borrowed some other games from Sarah so note to self: I need more games for my kids to play for times like these. I told them some things toward the end of the day of what to expect on next week’s science quiz, handed back their reading quiz, and then they left early to help set up and practice in the park. The day actually seemed longer though because there was no set schedule. We helped to set up some more of the park, had dinner in town, then headed home. Kirsty, LB and I watched some ALIAS and I had gotten a package from my friends back home and a card from my grandma to open, too. Thanks for sending things!
Thoughts from Copan Weekend
On the Bus: I saw this old lady and thought what does her life mean? Does she have fullness of life, feel satisfied, found her purpose? Is her purpose just to be content in the life she has of living, cooking, cleaning, traveling to nearby villages and may be never leaving far outside her area? Is finding your purpose or higher calling only for the privileged, wealthy, those who don’t have to worry about taking up so much time of their day just to live and exist? How does God improve the life of this woman in her simplicity of life? What is God’s purpose for her? Does every purpose have to be “great?” Does she even think about that kind of stuff? And who am I, what have I done that I was born in the US and as I am?
At Copan Ruins: How did the Mayans think sacrifice would appease the gods? Will God judge them based on that, on never hearing the Gospel before the conquistadors came with their Catholicism? Is it based on their hearts and motives? What if they didn’t know about God because of pure ignorance?
What to Do for Next Year
1. Stay here and teach again: depends how many others stay
2. Go home and find another job: how while I’m down here would I do that? Go home first and then find one?
3. Go and teach somewhere else in the world: Another Latin American country? Asia: South Korea, China, Japan?
4. World Race, International Teams, something else in another part of the world
5. Masters: not next year because of GRE, but possibility soon?
If you want to offer any comments, answers, prayers to the above questions, I welcome them. Thanks for pondering with me.
At Copan Ruins: How did the Mayans think sacrifice would appease the gods? Will God judge them based on that, on never hearing the Gospel before the conquistadors came with their Catholicism? Is it based on their hearts and motives? What if they didn’t know about God because of pure ignorance?
What to Do for Next Year
1. Stay here and teach again: depends how many others stay
2. Go home and find another job: how while I’m down here would I do that? Go home first and then find one?
3. Go and teach somewhere else in the world: Another Latin American country? Asia: South Korea, China, Japan?
4. World Race, International Teams, something else in another part of the world
5. Masters: not next year because of GRE, but possibility soon?
If you want to offer any comments, answers, prayers to the above questions, I welcome them. Thanks for pondering with me.
Thursday, Oct 29
Crazy day today! We’re preparing for our Fiesta Tipica this week and people from Teguc have come to teach the students the dances and songs they need to practice. If I haven’t mentioned what Fiesta Tipica is, it’s a tipical festival our school puts on with the kids dressing in tipcial dress, doing dances and songs. We also sell tipica food like baleadas from these tipica huts called champas. It’s open to the public so anyone can come to see and the money raised from selling the food helps to support our school. Anyways, kids were being pulled out of class all day from all the classes so I basically taught math and reading today and that was about it. Its hard to teach a lesson when so many of your kids are going in and out. So the other hours they went early to recess, we went and played soccer in the cancha (field), and played games. We did do Mad Libs, part educational, part fun for language class! The day seemed kinda long because of the abnormal schedule. The communication on the part of the administration could be better though as far as what we are allowed to do with the kids, who has class and who doesn’t. I’m not very good at coming up with games on the fly or remembering ones that I know; I need resources! Haha. But I tried my best and let the kids give me suggestions as well. The day turned out pretty well and I think the kids enjoyed having more time to play and not have to take tests and be in the classroom all day.
Wednesday, Oct 28
I was very frustrated today for numerous reasons. I think with the long weekend, being sick and missing a day, and lack of communication from the administration are the culprits. My kids go to the first recess with the little kids on Wednesdays because of chapel, so I let them out as normal for that recess. Well right after, I was informed we didn’t have chapel today because we were starting to practice things for Fiesta Tipica. So my kids had 4 classes between lunch and recess instead of the normal 3 classes. I think with it being warm that day and being out of the normal schedule contributed to us both being kinda crabby once lunch hour came around. I was also informed today that I had to suspend my tests and quizzes until next week because of Fiesta Tipica practices. It will be for the better instead of trying to keep track of the kids who have done them and the kids who haven’t. But it would have been nice to have more notice then 2 days. Plus next week is the week for recuperation tests and final grades for the nine weeks.
I often wonder if I just don’t have enough patience, or if this is a normal part of teaching; some days are better than others. I just felt really drained at the end of the day, partly due to not feeling well and the craziness of the day. I also like things to be under control and for me its hard to find the balance of when it is necessary to be in control and be strict and when its time to be a little more lax and just the kids be kids. Do I want control of my classroom because I can’t handle it when things don’t go the way I planned, or do I want control because it will be best for the kids and create the best learning environment for them? This is the balance I keep trying to find and keep questioning. Sometimes I wonder if I can stay another year here when I have days like these, but most of the time the benefits of my job (the kids, the beauty and simplicity of this place) outweigh the frustrations.
I often wonder if I just don’t have enough patience, or if this is a normal part of teaching; some days are better than others. I just felt really drained at the end of the day, partly due to not feeling well and the craziness of the day. I also like things to be under control and for me its hard to find the balance of when it is necessary to be in control and be strict and when its time to be a little more lax and just the kids be kids. Do I want control of my classroom because I can’t handle it when things don’t go the way I planned, or do I want control because it will be best for the kids and create the best learning environment for them? This is the balance I keep trying to find and keep questioning. Sometimes I wonder if I can stay another year here when I have days like these, but most of the time the benefits of my job (the kids, the beauty and simplicity of this place) outweigh the frustrations.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, Oct 27
I woke up in the middle of the night and did not feel good. I had bad indigestion and heartburn. Well I ended up throwing up soon after and then couldn’t sleep well the rest of the night. I did not feel well in the morning either, so I decided to stay home from school. It’s the first time I’ve done that and been sick in Honduras. I got some sleep, drank some tea, read and just tried to relax and figure out what was going on in my body. I felt better after lunch so I decided I would go back to school for the last few hours of my day. Well Jacki had been the last one to leave the house and didn’t know I was sick so she had locked the door, so I was locked in the house, haha. So I called her and she sent someone up with the keys so I could get out. I still wasn’t 100%, but couldn’t sit at home all day. I came back home and had a chill evening. My stomach felt better, but I was kinda achy and tired and just felt out of it and not motivated. I was more than ready for bed when night came and glad to put the day behind me.
Monday, Oct 26
We got some good sleep again, checked out of our hostel and then had huge, amazing tipico breakfast at ViaVia’s. Jacki’s friends who are here for a month had come to Copan with us, but were going to Guatemala for a week, so we said bye to them before heading out ourselves. The ride back wasn’t too bad; the bus rides get shorter the closer you get to home. Our first bus ride had a slow start and we sat all the way in the back. Jacki was sitting towards the wall and the people in front of her kept shutting the window so no air was getting back there. So she kept trying to be sneaky and open it little by little when the person wasn’t looking. Well one girl actually latched the window and we were like, ‘That’s enough, we can’t handle it.’ So Kirsty told her it was hot back here and could she please open the window. It was amusing. We got back to Gracias in the evening, got some groceries, headed back up to the house, had dinner, unpacked, and got ready for our new week.
Sunday, Oct 25
We slept in today and went for a great tipico breakfast outside on the patio. Tipico breakfasts usually include coffee, plantains, eggs, beans, tortillas, avocado and sometimes rice or fruit. It’s very filling and very good. Afterwards we wanted to do some shopping around town for souvenirs. Gracias has some things you can buy, but it’s not really a tourist town. There were more artsy can crafty things here, so we spent time on the streets looking at jewelry, pottery, clothes, and other artisan crafts. Those of us who like coffee got some good iced coffee before we walked to the ruins.
The Copan ruins are Mayan ruins on the border of Guatemala and Honduras and are beautiful. We can walk all around the main plaza part of it and they have these large pyramids right as you walk in. They also have tall statues and altars where they made sacrifices, often human I believe. Its kinda weird and sad to realize that actually happened in that place. The ruins have such a stillness to them; it was very quiet when we went in the later afternoon. There was the main plaza and stairways and then behind it was a place where they played some form of football so they had a stadium of sorts and then behind that was the residential quarters. We took lots of pics, which I will put up slowly and surely, internet permitting. We just enjoyed our time there and then walked back, chilled, and got ready for dinner.
We went for dinner at pizza place, which turned out to be the best pizza I’ve had in Honduras yet. It was owned by a gringo and had TV with baseball and football (Yankees and Giants vs Cardinals)so we got to watch that too. We were craving dessert again (any chance we get to indulge we do) and looked around town, but it was getting late, so we just headed to ViaVias. ViaVias is a great place to find other info about Copan and has great food as well. We got brownies and had some great girl talk and then headed back to hostel.
The Copan ruins are Mayan ruins on the border of Guatemala and Honduras and are beautiful. We can walk all around the main plaza part of it and they have these large pyramids right as you walk in. They also have tall statues and altars where they made sacrifices, often human I believe. Its kinda weird and sad to realize that actually happened in that place. The ruins have such a stillness to them; it was very quiet when we went in the later afternoon. There was the main plaza and stairways and then behind it was a place where they played some form of football so they had a stadium of sorts and then behind that was the residential quarters. We took lots of pics, which I will put up slowly and surely, internet permitting. We just enjoyed our time there and then walked back, chilled, and got ready for dinner.
We went for dinner at pizza place, which turned out to be the best pizza I’ve had in Honduras yet. It was owned by a gringo and had TV with baseball and football (Yankees and Giants vs Cardinals)so we got to watch that too. We were craving dessert again (any chance we get to indulge we do) and looked around town, but it was getting late, so we just headed to ViaVias. ViaVias is a great place to find other info about Copan and has great food as well. We got brownies and had some great girl talk and then headed back to hostel.
Saturday, Oct 24
Saturday, October 24
We started our trip this morning early as usual; we got on the bus toward Santa Rosa, then caught a bus towards San Pedro Sula which stops in the La Entrada, which is where we needed to get off and catch our last bus to Copan. We waited in La Entrada for a while before the bus actually left so we bought some of the food the people always try to sell to bus passengers. We bought these snacks from this boy, which were amazing and then asked who made them and he was like, ‘Mi mama.’ It was so cute! The bus rides went pretty well, they just tended to get longer and more crowded the closer we got to Copan. Our last bus from La Entrada to Copan was so small and they expected seats made for 1 to fit 2 people. So Sarah and I shared a seat for 2-3 hours, my butt hanging halfway off. And also a note to self, just because the bus is smaller does not mean they will have less people or stop picking up people once all the seats were full. They crowd the aisles, too. So it was another bus experience as always, haha.
We finally got to Copan around noon and then had to find our hostel. It was on the other side of town so we walked over to the Iguana Azul. It was a really nice hostel; there were bunk beds for 6 in each room and the showers and toilets were outside (think state park style). It was only $5 a night too, so for a place to sleep and stuff, it was perfect. They gave a lot of good info about Copan as well: what activities were available, the best places to go and eat and shop; it was very helpful. We relaxed for a little bit after traveling and then got ready to go to Macaw Mountain, a place where they have all these parrots and birds from Honduras. We took a guided tour there and the place is beautiful. The birds are in large cages like at the zoo, but its surrounded by nature, a river and it’s just beautiful. We saw many colorful birds and even got to hold some macaws at the end on our arms! It was amazing and crazy to know they have hundreds of pounds of force in their beaks, too! They also grow coffee there so our last stop was the coffee shop, where we all enjoyed a great cup of some sort of coffee. Funny thing to report, as we were waiting to leave I realized I was standing in an ant hill, so I got bit up pretty bad on my toes. Love ants...ugh.
We went back to the hostel via mototaxi and went out to get dinner. We went to a comedor and got great cheap food; I got pupusas, which I haven’t had since my first week in Gracias…so good. Afterwards we wandered around town a little til we found this more Americanized place that served the best desserts. We got carrot cake and some mocha chocolate something; they were almost too rich for us! Afterwards we went to another restaurant and had fun playing pool and doing karaoke to end our night.
We started our trip this morning early as usual; we got on the bus toward Santa Rosa, then caught a bus towards San Pedro Sula which stops in the La Entrada, which is where we needed to get off and catch our last bus to Copan. We waited in La Entrada for a while before the bus actually left so we bought some of the food the people always try to sell to bus passengers. We bought these snacks from this boy, which were amazing and then asked who made them and he was like, ‘Mi mama.’ It was so cute! The bus rides went pretty well, they just tended to get longer and more crowded the closer we got to Copan. Our last bus from La Entrada to Copan was so small and they expected seats made for 1 to fit 2 people. So Sarah and I shared a seat for 2-3 hours, my butt hanging halfway off. And also a note to self, just because the bus is smaller does not mean they will have less people or stop picking up people once all the seats were full. They crowd the aisles, too. So it was another bus experience as always, haha.
We finally got to Copan around noon and then had to find our hostel. It was on the other side of town so we walked over to the Iguana Azul. It was a really nice hostel; there were bunk beds for 6 in each room and the showers and toilets were outside (think state park style). It was only $5 a night too, so for a place to sleep and stuff, it was perfect. They gave a lot of good info about Copan as well: what activities were available, the best places to go and eat and shop; it was very helpful. We relaxed for a little bit after traveling and then got ready to go to Macaw Mountain, a place where they have all these parrots and birds from Honduras. We took a guided tour there and the place is beautiful. The birds are in large cages like at the zoo, but its surrounded by nature, a river and it’s just beautiful. We saw many colorful birds and even got to hold some macaws at the end on our arms! It was amazing and crazy to know they have hundreds of pounds of force in their beaks, too! They also grow coffee there so our last stop was the coffee shop, where we all enjoyed a great cup of some sort of coffee. Funny thing to report, as we were waiting to leave I realized I was standing in an ant hill, so I got bit up pretty bad on my toes. Love ants...ugh.
We went back to the hostel via mototaxi and went out to get dinner. We went to a comedor and got great cheap food; I got pupusas, which I haven’t had since my first week in Gracias…so good. Afterwards we wandered around town a little til we found this more Americanized place that served the best desserts. We got carrot cake and some mocha chocolate something; they were almost too rich for us! Afterwards we went to another restaurant and had fun playing pool and doing karaoke to end our night.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Oct 21-23
Wednesday was chapel and it went pretty well. Sarah taught today about learning and knowledge and used a balloon as an example of how our brains will get bigger the more we learn. We went into town later that night for internet and groceries. I’m always amazed at how small of a world it is. We were at Guancascos and this other group of gringos comes in to eat and have a meeting and one of the men had a Grand Rapids 25K shirt on and I was like huh, I wonder if they’re from Michigan. Well we got to talking and it turns out this group was from GR and Kalamazoo; they do 2 week medical trips here. I’m not sure if its like a medical missions trip or if it’s more humanitarian, but they have a clinic in Gracias that they work out of. One of the men who comes down most often is a foot doctor who (get this) graduated from Unity Christian. I told my dad his name later and he was like ‘Oh yeah that guy, does he do this and look like this?’ It’s crazy that even in Honduras you can meet people from your state, your area, and someone from the same town.
Thursdays are my easiest days because my kids have PE and I have a few other free periods. During one of the classes my kids were not paying attention so I kept stopping and waiting for them to be quiet. One of the girls could tell I wasn’t happy and was like, ‘Miss Sneden, are you angry?’ I almost laughed, but I was like, ‘No I’m not angry, I’m just frustrated because I’m trying to teach and you are being disrespectful of me while I’m doing it.’ It was just amusing to know that the kids can tell when I’m not happy…it must be my face or body language or something. They really are a good class, but we both have our days :-)
Fridays are my busiest days, but this one went pretty well; I was glad to get another full week of work under my belt, especially since we have Monday off for a holiday! We’re going to the Copan Ruins this weekend; Jacki’s already been there and told us it’s amazing so I’m excited to see the town and the ruins.
Thursdays are my easiest days because my kids have PE and I have a few other free periods. During one of the classes my kids were not paying attention so I kept stopping and waiting for them to be quiet. One of the girls could tell I wasn’t happy and was like, ‘Miss Sneden, are you angry?’ I almost laughed, but I was like, ‘No I’m not angry, I’m just frustrated because I’m trying to teach and you are being disrespectful of me while I’m doing it.’ It was just amusing to know that the kids can tell when I’m not happy…it must be my face or body language or something. They really are a good class, but we both have our days :-)
Fridays are my busiest days, but this one went pretty well; I was glad to get another full week of work under my belt, especially since we have Monday off for a holiday! We’re going to the Copan Ruins this weekend; Jacki’s already been there and told us it’s amazing so I’m excited to see the town and the ruins.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday and Tuesday, Oct 19 and 20
This Monday was a Monday, especially after only working 3 days last week! But the day went well overall. We had a staff meeting after school where we talked about how our doors should look, some other general reminders and mainly about the Fiesta Tipica that is coming up at the end of October. I’ll tell more about it later, but the Fiesta Tipicia helps to raise money for the school by putting on a program with typical dances and there are booths that sell food. We’re doing it in Gracias in the central park so it will public, helping us to make more money hopefully. After the meeting we had cake for my birthday and I got to take home the leftovers! J Today was the coldest day we’ve had in Gracias. It was cloudy, drizzly all day, and chilly, probably somewhere between mid 50s-low 60s. All the kids came with layers of clothes on, gloves, hats, etc. I was even chilly and wore a long sleeve shirt with a cardigan over it and was still a little chilly. I can’t wait (not) until I get home for 2 weeks in December and freeze in 30 degree or colder weather. After we got back from school, Jacki and I decided to go running up the mountain. It was a great hill workout for sure and I went up farther than I had gone up the last time. I was tired after so I didn’t do much tonight.
Tuesday
It was chilly again today, but not as much as yesterday. School went pretty good today; before lunch my kids were being kinda talkative so I had to stop multiple times. I knew they were planning something for my birthday, but didn’t know what day and found out it was for today. They had been asking me things like my favorite color and how old I was and what kind of cake I liked and such, it was so cute. After lunch I had to wait outside the cafeteria while they decorated the classroom and everything. They kept running back and forth, checking to make sure I wasn’t looking. The kids told Mr. Bran to talk to me so I wouldn’t come to class and then he could bring me and close my eyes until I went in the door. So I had hands over my eyes til I was in the door and then they all yelled “Surprise!” And confetti went everywhere! All over me and my hair and face and clothes and balloons popping…it was crazy! But I loved it and they were all so cute the way they had decorated stuff and were all giving me hugs and wanting to help with everything and give me the biggest piece of cake. All the girls were helping me serve and the boys were running around being crazy and wanting food…not to different from adults sometimes I think haha. All the girls were yelling “Sientense!(to sit down) or they wouldn’t get a piece of cake and some kids were trying to beat the system and come up themselves. We had cake, dessert, juice, popcorn, chips, and cookies. Quite a bit of sugar, but it was great and so sweet of them to make my birthday special. My actual birthday day may not have been amazing, but it’s like I got to keep celebrating it for a few days afterwards.
Tuesday
It was chilly again today, but not as much as yesterday. School went pretty good today; before lunch my kids were being kinda talkative so I had to stop multiple times. I knew they were planning something for my birthday, but didn’t know what day and found out it was for today. They had been asking me things like my favorite color and how old I was and what kind of cake I liked and such, it was so cute. After lunch I had to wait outside the cafeteria while they decorated the classroom and everything. They kept running back and forth, checking to make sure I wasn’t looking. The kids told Mr. Bran to talk to me so I wouldn’t come to class and then he could bring me and close my eyes until I went in the door. So I had hands over my eyes til I was in the door and then they all yelled “Surprise!” And confetti went everywhere! All over me and my hair and face and clothes and balloons popping…it was crazy! But I loved it and they were all so cute the way they had decorated stuff and were all giving me hugs and wanting to help with everything and give me the biggest piece of cake. All the girls were helping me serve and the boys were running around being crazy and wanting food…not to different from adults sometimes I think haha. All the girls were yelling “Sientense!(to sit down) or they wouldn’t get a piece of cake and some kids were trying to beat the system and come up themselves. We had cake, dessert, juice, popcorn, chips, and cookies. Quite a bit of sugar, but it was great and so sweet of them to make my birthday special. My actual birthday day may not have been amazing, but it’s like I got to keep celebrating it for a few days afterwards.
Sunday, Oct 18-My Birthday
Well today is my 23rd birthday! I woke up this morning and had to kinda convince myself it was my birthday because it seemed like any other morning haha. I’m glad to be in Honduras, but on days like these I miss my family and friends from home the most because they can’t be here to celebrate with me. I laid there in bed thinking back on my 22nd year of life and all I had done and gone through in the past year: last semester at SAU, going to Chicago for a semester, all the experiences, including finding this job, in Chicago, graduating from SAU, moving back home, working and preparing for Honduras, and then finally arriving here and starting my job. It’s a lot! Crazy how much can happen and change in a year, especially in this time of my life I think. I wonder sometimes if life will change as much when I get older in a year or not...
Anyways we had full bodied pancakes for breakfast; they had banana, granola and coconut in them; I don’t know if I’ll be able to have plain pancakes anymore haha. After breakfast we watched a few hours of the Office since we just received Season 5 because Jacki’s friends brought it when they came. It’s our new favorite thing to do. I forgot how funny that show is with all its awkwardness. I’ve also noticed that sarcasm is not as common in the Latin American culture. We joke with Mr. Bran and other people sometimes or use dry humor and they just don’t get it most times. I think it’s more of a North American/European thing. Unfortunately I had to do some work on my birthday; I had to plan for next week and fill out progress reports, but I hadn’t done any yesterday so it was my fault. Later that afternoon, Laura Beth, Mr. Bran and I went to the hot springs to relax there and as a fun thing to do to celebrate my birthday. It was pretty busy and since it was a cooler day it felt nice to be in hot water. Afterwards we picked up some food for dinner and headed back home. We got home too late to go to church, so we waited for the others to get back and then had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner.
Anyways we had full bodied pancakes for breakfast; they had banana, granola and coconut in them; I don’t know if I’ll be able to have plain pancakes anymore haha. After breakfast we watched a few hours of the Office since we just received Season 5 because Jacki’s friends brought it when they came. It’s our new favorite thing to do. I forgot how funny that show is with all its awkwardness. I’ve also noticed that sarcasm is not as common in the Latin American culture. We joke with Mr. Bran and other people sometimes or use dry humor and they just don’t get it most times. I think it’s more of a North American/European thing. Unfortunately I had to do some work on my birthday; I had to plan for next week and fill out progress reports, but I hadn’t done any yesterday so it was my fault. Later that afternoon, Laura Beth, Mr. Bran and I went to the hot springs to relax there and as a fun thing to do to celebrate my birthday. It was pretty busy and since it was a cooler day it felt nice to be in hot water. Afterwards we picked up some food for dinner and headed back home. We got home too late to go to church, so we waited for the others to get back and then had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner.
Saturday, Oct 17
Kirsty and I decided we needed to leave early this morning to make sure we got to the post office to check if our packages were there. We’ve been trying for a week or more, so we were determined to try one more time. We left our house at like 9 am and walked to town, arriving a little after 10. The post office was open! We were so excited! I got my package from my family, but Kirsty’s hadn’t arrived yet, which was frustrating because her mom had sent it about 3 weeks ago. Afterwards we went to the bank and then to Guancascos. We spent some time on the internet, got licuados to cool down and then decided to go somewhere for lunch and some shopping. Kirsty and I went to Don Juan’s Restaurant, which is the restaurant for the Hotel Don Juan. It’s really nice inside and there are some nicer meals there. I treated myself to grilled chicken, rice, and veggies as a pre-birthday present. Kirsty and I talked about a lot of great stuff too like our travels, how we’ll never be able to go back to college life again like before, how fast college went, and how awesome God is.
We had some shopping to do afterwards; Kirsty needed some things for her house and kitchen and I needed to get some food and say hi to one of my students, Nohemi, who lives by the supermarket we go to. Julia met us after and we all got some ice cream, again a pre-birthday treat since I don’t know how much we’ll be doing for my birthday since it’s on a Sunday and we usually don’t go to town on Sundays. It was really a great day in town, not hurried, good conversations, seeing more of Gracias, enjoying ice cream in the park…I was satisfied. We headed back up the mountain and I was so excited to finally open my package; it was like my birthday present. I did it right away and received some school supplies and then snacks like chocolate, Goldfish, and other thoughtful things from my family. After that excitement of that, we relaxed the rest of the evening at home, watching the Office and making dinner.
We had some shopping to do afterwards; Kirsty needed some things for her house and kitchen and I needed to get some food and say hi to one of my students, Nohemi, who lives by the supermarket we go to. Julia met us after and we all got some ice cream, again a pre-birthday treat since I don’t know how much we’ll be doing for my birthday since it’s on a Sunday and we usually don’t go to town on Sundays. It was really a great day in town, not hurried, good conversations, seeing more of Gracias, enjoying ice cream in the park…I was satisfied. We headed back up the mountain and I was so excited to finally open my package; it was like my birthday present. I did it right away and received some school supplies and then snacks like chocolate, Goldfish, and other thoughtful things from my family. After that excitement of that, we relaxed the rest of the evening at home, watching the Office and making dinner.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Friday, Oct 16
Well the weekend came quickly since I only taught for 3 days this week. Five day work weeks are gonna be tough to get used to after all of these long weekends are done and there’s no more unplanned vacation days! Today went well though, my kids listened better than they had earlier in the week and I feel like we accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish today. I’m still behind in general for the year in most of my subjects, but I still think I’ll be able to finish most of the curriculum by the end of the year. All of my kids came up to me today before school asking if I had seen the game versus El Salvador and saying they loved the USA because they helped Honduras to go to the Mundial because they tied with Costa Rica. It’s ironic that the USA beat Honduras on Saturday, but then they also inadvertently helped Honduras to make it to the World Cup on Wednesday. The US is also going, but it’s just funny to me. Anyways, it was cute how excited they were about it; it is a big deal for the country.
I shortened devotions today because my kids wanted to help me decorate my door for the Thanksgiving theme. I decided they could help me by making handprint turkeys, so that’s what they did during some of our devotion and math time today haha. They loved it though and I’m so glad they are willing and wanting to help me. I was a little more lax today in my disciplining and yelling above my kids today and they were listening better, so I think that’s why the rest of the day went well.
After school we hiked home, watched episodes of The Office to unwind and then we went to eat at the comedor for a tipica cena. Jacki really wanted to have her friends have an authentic Honduran meal. The funny thing is that the power went out right before we were about to eat, so we ate by candlelight at the comedor; what a great welcoming experience for Alex and Alyssa to get the full affect of a Honduran evening: food and no power lol. The power came back on a few hours later though and we spent the rest of the night hanging out at the comedor playing with the kids and talking to the neighbors as well as coffee and chatting at our house.
I shortened devotions today because my kids wanted to help me decorate my door for the Thanksgiving theme. I decided they could help me by making handprint turkeys, so that’s what they did during some of our devotion and math time today haha. They loved it though and I’m so glad they are willing and wanting to help me. I was a little more lax today in my disciplining and yelling above my kids today and they were listening better, so I think that’s why the rest of the day went well.
After school we hiked home, watched episodes of The Office to unwind and then we went to eat at the comedor for a tipica cena. Jacki really wanted to have her friends have an authentic Honduran meal. The funny thing is that the power went out right before we were about to eat, so we ate by candlelight at the comedor; what a great welcoming experience for Alex and Alyssa to get the full affect of a Honduran evening: food and no power lol. The power came back on a few hours later though and we spent the rest of the night hanging out at the comedor playing with the kids and talking to the neighbors as well as coffee and chatting at our house.
Thursday, Oct 15
I spent my day off in Gracias for most of the day. I was truly happy for Honduras that they were going to the World Cup and watching the news and reactions to it on TV gave me a sense of pride that I’m able to be in this country right now. Kirsty, Jacki and I walked to town again, but we didn’t go as fast as we did last time. We still got to town in a decent amount of time. We checked the post office again, just in case it was open (it wasn’t), then went to Guancascos for a while. After that we decided to find another new place to eat so we ate at Garaje de Sabor (Flavor Garage). It was this cute place that was in what used to be a garage I think. We were craving burgers and fries so that’s what we got! The burgers we’ve had in Gracias aren’t like American burgers at all, but it was close enough to satisfy us. After lunch, we did some market and supermarket shopping and then headed back up the mountain. Kirsty and I stayed at the school for a while to decorate our classrooms for the Thanksgiving theme and walked home before it got dark. Jacki’s friends Alex and Alyssa from the States were coming later today, so she went back to Gracias to wait for them to arrive. Meanwhile, the rest of us stayed up at the house, grading, talking, and making dinner. She and her friends came later that night and it was nice to meet some of the people Jacki has talked so much about. They’ll actually be staying for about a month and living in the other room of the house Kirsty is in. Tomorrow’s Friday again already!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, Oct 14
I was kinda frustrated again with my kids today because I felt like no matter how many times I told them to be quiet, they would just keep talking and I was sick of talking over them and waiting for them to be quiet so I could start. I kept one of my students, Marquito, in with me for lunch because no matter how many times I told him, he kept getting out of his seat to talk to one of his friends and then when he was sitting down he was turned towards his friends so he wasn’t paying attention. So we ate lunch together as his punishment. I had known he didn’t have the best family life so I tried asking him so more about it. All I know is his dad is dead, his mom is in Tegucigalpa (I don’t know how long she has been there or for how long) and I think it’s just him and his 20something year old sister at home. Either way, my heart went out to him; he’s one of those kids who can be so annoying and frustrating, but so cute and energetic, and then tired, crabby, and sad sometimes too. I love him, just don’t always like him J My kids had been complaining about our Wednesday chapel schedule so I changed it this week so they had recess with the younger kids and so they wouldn’t have to miss any of their normal recess if we had been on the other schedule. They seemed to like that better. The only problem with this schedule is that whenever chapel gets done, there’s about 10-20 minutes until their next class so I’ll have to be on top of it as far as what I can use to fill that time.
We headed to town after school today for the usual. Jacki and Sarah went to go buy some paint because we’re repainting the white in our house; there’s just too many stains on it from bug guts and other stuff. We went to Guancascos, then decided we wanted pizza. We had a general idea of where it was, walked that way, asked someone, and found it! We were so excited to have pizza and when it finally came out, we chowed it down so fast.
Today was also a huge game for Honduras; since they lost against the US this past Saturday, they had to win against El Salvador today to be able to have a chance to go the World Cup playoffs in South Africa. We watched the first half of the game at the restaurant we ate at, but then had to head up the mountain. On the way up we heard that Honduras had scored a goal, but that was all; we had work to do so we couldn’t watch the rest of the game. Well about 10pm, our Mr. Bran called and was like “Hey Honduras won! So we don’t have school tomorrow.” And I totally thought he was joking…not about Honduras winning because that was great, but about not having school tomorrow. But no, because Honduras won against El Salvador and the US tied with Costa Rica instead of winning, Honduras is going to the World Cup finals in South Africa!!! And since this hasn’t happened since 1982 I believe, it’s a big deal. Supposedly the president (Micheletti I think) came on the TV and said this is time for celebration so nobody has to go to work tomorrow. So we don’t have school and people don’t have to go to work if they don’t want to. It would be like if UofM went to the National Championship and they canceled classes on a smaller scale of course. So needless to say, I love this country haha.
We headed to town after school today for the usual. Jacki and Sarah went to go buy some paint because we’re repainting the white in our house; there’s just too many stains on it from bug guts and other stuff. We went to Guancascos, then decided we wanted pizza. We had a general idea of where it was, walked that way, asked someone, and found it! We were so excited to have pizza and when it finally came out, we chowed it down so fast.
Today was also a huge game for Honduras; since they lost against the US this past Saturday, they had to win against El Salvador today to be able to have a chance to go the World Cup playoffs in South Africa. We watched the first half of the game at the restaurant we ate at, but then had to head up the mountain. On the way up we heard that Honduras had scored a goal, but that was all; we had work to do so we couldn’t watch the rest of the game. Well about 10pm, our Mr. Bran called and was like “Hey Honduras won! So we don’t have school tomorrow.” And I totally thought he was joking…not about Honduras winning because that was great, but about not having school tomorrow. But no, because Honduras won against El Salvador and the US tied with Costa Rica instead of winning, Honduras is going to the World Cup finals in South Africa!!! And since this hasn’t happened since 1982 I believe, it’s a big deal. Supposedly the president (Micheletti I think) came on the TV and said this is time for celebration so nobody has to go to work tomorrow. So we don’t have school and people don’t have to go to work if they don’t want to. It would be like if UofM went to the National Championship and they canceled classes on a smaller scale of course. So needless to say, I love this country haha.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13
Today was back to work after a weekend; these days often seem so sluggish. Everyone kinda seemed tired and not ready to be back to school yet, even the kids. I enjoyed my time off and would take more, but I had missed my kids, too. Towards the end of the day, one of my girls started making noises and couldn’t breathe well and when I asked what was wrong, she said she had somehow swallowed one of those pencil lead refills…don’t ask me how. So she was kinda turning red, having trouble swallowing, and was making hard to breath faces so I started freaking out like, ‘OMG, I don’t know how to do the himlech, what if she starts turning blue, what if she can’t breathe, what do I do?!?!’ So I ran to Sarah’s room and was like ‘Sarah, I think one of my girls is choking, do you know the himlech?’ and she was like no, so I ran to Julia’s room and asked the same thing and she said the same. So I was really freaking out and finally saw Mr. Lara and yelled at him across the courtyard to come over and he took care of it after that. So after that experience, I realized I should probably know some basic first aid, like the himlech lol.
I was ready for the end of the day when it came though, especially once I figured out how much stuff I had to do this week: decorate my classroom before next Tuesday, progress reports on Friday, etc. But we were getting water brought up to our house so I took advantage of the free ride up to our house. I’ll stay after later this week….Sarah had received some packages from home and as we were setting them on a table, a bowl from the morning fell and spilled the milk in it. So I figured since I hadn’t mopped the floors last week, I might as well do it now. So that was my first of many things I would do this evening. I swept and mopped the house floor and me and LB’s room. Then I wanted to burn off some steam and get my legs moving so I went for a run/walk/hike up into the national forest (since it’s my backyard and everything) for about a half hour. It was refreshing to actually run a little bit; my legs had wanted it. They’re definitely stronger and more toned since I’ve been here so that helps.
After I got back and showered we had dinner; then we noticed a ton of ants by the door and it was because there were bags of trash that hadn’t been taken to school yet. So I decided we needed to burn some of it. So Kirsty, LB and I started a bonfire with our trash. It was quite a process; we began by chopping some of the grass away from the pit with our machete, then put all of our bathroom toilet paper trash in first for starter paper. Tthen we added some cardboard and egg cartons and then some plastic and other stuff. It took a while to actually get it started, but we did it! It was really smoky, too, but hey we got the job done. After that it was my job to do the dishes this week, so Kirsty and I did those as well. Then I had to do some grading and preparing for tomorrow. I got stuff DONE today….ready for bed though.
Today was back to work after a weekend; these days often seem so sluggish. Everyone kinda seemed tired and not ready to be back to school yet, even the kids. I enjoyed my time off and would take more, but I had missed my kids, too. Towards the end of the day, one of my girls started making noises and couldn’t breathe well and when I asked what was wrong, she said she had somehow swallowed one of those pencil lead refills…don’t ask me how. So she was kinda turning red, having trouble swallowing, and was making hard to breath faces so I started freaking out like, ‘OMG, I don’t know how to do the himlech, what if she starts turning blue, what if she can’t breathe, what do I do?!?!’ So I ran to Sarah’s room and was like ‘Sarah, I think one of my girls is choking, do you know the himlech?’ and she was like no, so I ran to Julia’s room and asked the same thing and she said the same. So I was really freaking out and finally saw Mr. Lara and yelled at him across the courtyard to come over and he took care of it after that. So after that experience, I realized I should probably know some basic first aid, like the himlech lol.
I was ready for the end of the day when it came though, especially once I figured out how much stuff I had to do this week: decorate my classroom before next Tuesday, progress reports on Friday, etc. But we were getting water brought up to our house so I took advantage of the free ride up to our house. I’ll stay after later this week….Sarah had received some packages from home and as we were setting them on a table, a bowl from the morning fell and spilled the milk in it. So I figured since I hadn’t mopped the floors last week, I might as well do it now. So that was my first of many things I would do this evening. I swept and mopped the house floor and me and LB’s room. Then I wanted to burn off some steam and get my legs moving so I went for a run/walk/hike up into the national forest (since it’s my backyard and everything) for about a half hour. It was refreshing to actually run a little bit; my legs had wanted it. They’re definitely stronger and more toned since I’ve been here so that helps.
After I got back and showered we had dinner; then we noticed a ton of ants by the door and it was because there were bags of trash that hadn’t been taken to school yet. So I decided we needed to burn some of it. So Kirsty, LB and I started a bonfire with our trash. It was quite a process; we began by chopping some of the grass away from the pit with our machete, then put all of our bathroom toilet paper trash in first for starter paper. Tthen we added some cardboard and egg cartons and then some plastic and other stuff. It took a while to actually get it started, but we did it! It was really smoky, too, but hey we got the job done. After that it was my job to do the dishes this week, so Kirsty and I did those as well. Then I had to do some grading and preparing for tomorrow. I got stuff DONE today….ready for bed though.
Sunday and Monday, Oct 11 and 12
Sunday
Today was another great lazy day; we didn’t do anything of great significance. Just making meals together, chatting, reading, and cleaning. We did all suit up and go to hang out in Froni’s pool again with the neighbor kids. She had cleaned it since the last time we had been there so it wasn’t as dirty as before. We didn’t stay long though because the afternoon rain came just as we were heading back, grabbing our laundry from the neighbors along the way. It’s crazy how fast a storm can come here; earlier in the day it had been blue sky and full sun. I had called home earlier in the day and I’m really starting to appreciate my October weather versus theirs; it was in the 40s and 50s at home and here I would guess its still 70s and 80s…fine with me! We talked about watching a movie, but that kinda fell through and everyone was tired and ready for bed.
Monday
Our vacation day! It’s been really nice to have a long weekend in Gracias and be able to do whatever we want. We had those forced days of vacation during the curfew, but those weren’t vacation days; we couldn’t go into town and enjoy those days besides being able to sleep in and not working. Today we decided to go to town again for a little while. Jacki, Kirsty and I were going to try to walk to town again and Sarah, LB and Mr. Bran took a mototaxi. We were going to try to see if the post office was open again to get our packages. As we were starting out a guy was hiking out of Celaque back to town, so we stopped to chat with him about what he did up there, who he was, where he was from, etc. His name was James; he’s a lawyer from England who got 6 months vacation and has been traveling all around Central America. He had spent the night in Celaque, hiked to the summit and was heading back to town for the night before heading to Guatemala. I wish my life could be that easy to be able to travel places. I just get concerned about money because no matter how cheap you do things, it still takes some money to do stuff in other countries. Believe me if I could be a professional traveler, I would; it would be amazing to go to all these places, not only in Central America, but South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia….everywhere pretty much.
Anyways, so we hiked to town with James and shared stories of travel and life in Gracias and Central America. There were some people coming down from Celaque with vehicles, one of them being a truck, so we hitched a ride in the back for the rest of the trip down to town. Kirsty and I checked the post office again, but they were closed; we half expected it because I think today was a national holiday anyways, but it was still disappointing. We went to get fresh popsicles after that because it was a hot day, and then headed to Guancascos for a bit. After Guancascos, we decided to try somewhere different for lunch so Kirsty, Jacki and I went to this place we had seen that supposedly had pizza. Well it did have pizza, but not exactly what we were looking for. We each had a piece of this pizza, which had no sauce and the bread had almost a hint of sweetness to it. It was ok, but we were still hungry so we paid and went to another restaurant up the street called Bella Celaque. It was this quaint, airy restaurant and we loved it. The food was tipica food so we had fried chicken, some French fries, rice, pico de gallo, cheese, salad and tortillas along with fresh squeezed orange juice. We were SO full after we ate, but got coffee for dessert. All of that food totaled $3 USD…amazing.
It was great to just relax at the restaurant, not feel hurried to get back up the mountain because it was getting dark, but just sit and enjoy the atmosphere and the town. We grabbed a few things from the supermarket before we headed up in a mototaxi back home. The rest of the night we graded papers, read, and had a light dinner of leftovers and fresh fruit and veggies. Back to work tomorrow!
Today was another great lazy day; we didn’t do anything of great significance. Just making meals together, chatting, reading, and cleaning. We did all suit up and go to hang out in Froni’s pool again with the neighbor kids. She had cleaned it since the last time we had been there so it wasn’t as dirty as before. We didn’t stay long though because the afternoon rain came just as we were heading back, grabbing our laundry from the neighbors along the way. It’s crazy how fast a storm can come here; earlier in the day it had been blue sky and full sun. I had called home earlier in the day and I’m really starting to appreciate my October weather versus theirs; it was in the 40s and 50s at home and here I would guess its still 70s and 80s…fine with me! We talked about watching a movie, but that kinda fell through and everyone was tired and ready for bed.
Monday
Our vacation day! It’s been really nice to have a long weekend in Gracias and be able to do whatever we want. We had those forced days of vacation during the curfew, but those weren’t vacation days; we couldn’t go into town and enjoy those days besides being able to sleep in and not working. Today we decided to go to town again for a little while. Jacki, Kirsty and I were going to try to walk to town again and Sarah, LB and Mr. Bran took a mototaxi. We were going to try to see if the post office was open again to get our packages. As we were starting out a guy was hiking out of Celaque back to town, so we stopped to chat with him about what he did up there, who he was, where he was from, etc. His name was James; he’s a lawyer from England who got 6 months vacation and has been traveling all around Central America. He had spent the night in Celaque, hiked to the summit and was heading back to town for the night before heading to Guatemala. I wish my life could be that easy to be able to travel places. I just get concerned about money because no matter how cheap you do things, it still takes some money to do stuff in other countries. Believe me if I could be a professional traveler, I would; it would be amazing to go to all these places, not only in Central America, but South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia….everywhere pretty much.
Anyways, so we hiked to town with James and shared stories of travel and life in Gracias and Central America. There were some people coming down from Celaque with vehicles, one of them being a truck, so we hitched a ride in the back for the rest of the trip down to town. Kirsty and I checked the post office again, but they were closed; we half expected it because I think today was a national holiday anyways, but it was still disappointing. We went to get fresh popsicles after that because it was a hot day, and then headed to Guancascos for a bit. After Guancascos, we decided to try somewhere different for lunch so Kirsty, Jacki and I went to this place we had seen that supposedly had pizza. Well it did have pizza, but not exactly what we were looking for. We each had a piece of this pizza, which had no sauce and the bread had almost a hint of sweetness to it. It was ok, but we were still hungry so we paid and went to another restaurant up the street called Bella Celaque. It was this quaint, airy restaurant and we loved it. The food was tipica food so we had fried chicken, some French fries, rice, pico de gallo, cheese, salad and tortillas along with fresh squeezed orange juice. We were SO full after we ate, but got coffee for dessert. All of that food totaled $3 USD…amazing.
It was great to just relax at the restaurant, not feel hurried to get back up the mountain because it was getting dark, but just sit and enjoy the atmosphere and the town. We grabbed a few things from the supermarket before we headed up in a mototaxi back home. The rest of the night we graded papers, read, and had a light dinner of leftovers and fresh fruit and veggies. Back to work tomorrow!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Saturday, Oct 10
I slept in til 8am today haha. Kirsty came over for breakfast since she’s our neighbor now and we had pancakes with coconut and granola mixed in the batter; they were so good. Afterwards we got ready and walked to town. Sarah and Laura Beth started before us because they tend to walk slower. Jacki, Kirsty and I left about 20-30 minutes after them and we set a fast pace. We wanted to get to town before the post office closed at 11:30 and it would be close, but we could do it if we walked quickly, which is exactly what we did. Seriously we were walking fast down the mountain and I was surprised how quickly we passed each landmark along the way getting closer to town. We got to the edge of town in about 40 minutes and there at the end of the road we see LB and Sarah! We had caught up with them and had left a half hour after them; just shows the difference in our walking pace. We continued to book it to town to see if the post office was open to get our packages. Kirsty and I arrived there first and of course, it was closed. We weren’t sure how close we had been to it being open still, but we were pissed. We won’t be able to get back to the post office til at the earliest Monday, but it may be a national holiday, which would mean it would be closed then, too. So we quickly headed to the bank and made it there just in time as it was closing.
Afterwards, I had seen an ice cream place in town and had been craving it for forever, so Kirsty and I went there and got some amazing ice cream. I mean, ice cream is seriously my favorite food and being deprived of it for so long it tasted even better, lol. We met the other girls at Guancascos and got lunch and internet there for a while. Then LB and Sarah decided to head back up to the house while Jacki, Kirsty and I went shopping for the food at the market and supermarket. We took our time because we had all day, plus it’s a three day weekend so we could come back to town if we needed anything later. It was nice to look around the market and not rush through it. I bought some cute, simple, comfy black strappy sandals for under $10, so that was a great find.
Today is the big Honduras vs. USA game so we wanted to watch the game. And we figured since we were in town, we should watch it in town with the locals. So after shopping we went to Guancascos for coffee and more internet, but then decided it’d be better just to head up the mountain and watch the game with our neighbors. So that’s what we did. The game was good; I’m no expert on futbol, but there was some good action on the field. The USA ended up winning 3-2. I actually wanted Honduras to win a little bit more, just because I’m here and have no allegiance to the USA futbol team. But oh well. It was still fun to watch and wear my jersey.
Afterwards, I had seen an ice cream place in town and had been craving it for forever, so Kirsty and I went there and got some amazing ice cream. I mean, ice cream is seriously my favorite food and being deprived of it for so long it tasted even better, lol. We met the other girls at Guancascos and got lunch and internet there for a while. Then LB and Sarah decided to head back up to the house while Jacki, Kirsty and I went shopping for the food at the market and supermarket. We took our time because we had all day, plus it’s a three day weekend so we could come back to town if we needed anything later. It was nice to look around the market and not rush through it. I bought some cute, simple, comfy black strappy sandals for under $10, so that was a great find.
Today is the big Honduras vs. USA game so we wanted to watch the game. And we figured since we were in town, we should watch it in town with the locals. So after shopping we went to Guancascos for coffee and more internet, but then decided it’d be better just to head up the mountain and watch the game with our neighbors. So that’s what we did. The game was good; I’m no expert on futbol, but there was some good action on the field. The USA ended up winning 3-2. I actually wanted Honduras to win a little bit more, just because I’m here and have no allegiance to the USA futbol team. But oh well. It was still fun to watch and wear my jersey.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, Oct 9th
Fridays are my busy days, but it went pretty well today. This week had gone by fast surprisingly and we have a three day weekend to look forward to. We don’t have any big plans yet, so we’ll see how the weekend pans out. Today at lunch, Laura Beth, Jacki and I were at the lunch table and Jacki had this book she was reading out on the table with a page open. Some of LB’s 6th grade girls came over and starting talking to us and asked what book she was reading. Well it was open and so they started reading some of it and one of the phrases was “He’s got it goin’ on.” So they read it and were like what does that mean? So we told them and then they started practicing it. We would say “He’s got it goin on” and then they would repeat it and then we would say it some attitude and they would try to do it and it was hilarious. The girls saw us later and were like, “ Miss…He’s got it goin on!” Oh the joy of learning English haha.
One of my boys, Alvaro (who may have slight ADD) did not get out the things I asked him to take out for subjects so it would take him double the time because he would get distracted or talk and then when we were ready to start, I would see he hadn’t taken out anything. I was getting frustrated with him so I took him out in the hallway and was like, “Alvaro, when I tell you to get out something you need to get it out so we can start. You should not talk, you need to listen.” So I don’t know…it was just frustrating. And then during language, one of my girls, Claudia, got stung in the face by a bee. So she started crying and I took her to the office and she got some ice for it.
Kirsty, one of the other American teachers, had been living in town, but lately she’s been dissatisfied with her experience there so this weekend she’s moving up to Villa Verde! She’s so excited to move up here and we are too. She’s going to live in the house Jacki and Sarah were originally going to live in because it’s fixed up now. Now all the teachers are going to be up in the mountains, with Ana and Julia by the school and the rest of us in Villa Verde. We made a huge batch of stir fry for the 5 of us and then had our normal after dinner chatting and joking. Mr. Bran stopped by for the evening to hang out with us and Gustavo, the guy Sarah likes, came up in the mototaxi unexpectedly. We decided to play Uno and invited Gustavo’s brother, who was just sitting outside in the mototaxi, to play. He was only about 14 and his hair was done like Jimmy Neutron, no joke. But I think he had fun after we explained the game in Spanish to him.
One of my boys, Alvaro (who may have slight ADD) did not get out the things I asked him to take out for subjects so it would take him double the time because he would get distracted or talk and then when we were ready to start, I would see he hadn’t taken out anything. I was getting frustrated with him so I took him out in the hallway and was like, “Alvaro, when I tell you to get out something you need to get it out so we can start. You should not talk, you need to listen.” So I don’t know…it was just frustrating. And then during language, one of my girls, Claudia, got stung in the face by a bee. So she started crying and I took her to the office and she got some ice for it.
Kirsty, one of the other American teachers, had been living in town, but lately she’s been dissatisfied with her experience there so this weekend she’s moving up to Villa Verde! She’s so excited to move up here and we are too. She’s going to live in the house Jacki and Sarah were originally going to live in because it’s fixed up now. Now all the teachers are going to be up in the mountains, with Ana and Julia by the school and the rest of us in Villa Verde. We made a huge batch of stir fry for the 5 of us and then had our normal after dinner chatting and joking. Mr. Bran stopped by for the evening to hang out with us and Gustavo, the guy Sarah likes, came up in the mototaxi unexpectedly. We decided to play Uno and invited Gustavo’s brother, who was just sitting outside in the mototaxi, to play. He was only about 14 and his hair was done like Jimmy Neutron, no joke. But I think he had fun after we explained the game in Spanish to him.
Thursday, Oct 8
This week is still going great. I got everything done I needed to get done with planning for next week, got through most of the material had planned and had a good day with my kids. I had 2 parent meetings again today. I’m glad the parents are concerned about their kids for the most part, it’s just crazy because out of all the teachers, I think I’ve had the most meetings so far this year. But they went well; they just asked about how their kids were doing in class, how things are reviewed and where they could find the material to review, etc. They were all in Spanish and I think I did better this time. I understood almost everything they said; it’s just when it comes to replying I have a more difficult time. But I tried and I think they generally understood what I said in my Spanish. I had help class today with kids for language because many of my kids are struggling in that area. It’s understandable because it’s their second language and trying to know the grammar and verbs and all those other parts of sentences is tough. And English is NOT easy to learn…really. I find that out more and more everyday haha. But it went pretty well and I think they understood more the things they didn’t before.
Wednesday, Oct 7
We had chapel today and my schedule for my 5th graders and chapel is so screwy because they normally have the big kid recess, but they have the little kids chapel. So they get screwed over. I taught math and science for 50 minutes each, which after science the kids were like “Miss, when is it recess? I’m hungry…” all of that. So I promised them that if chapel went into their recess time I would let them out of chapel early; and that’s what I had to do. I felt kinda bad interrupting chapel with them leaving, but they left quietly. So I talked to Mr. Lara about it and he’s like ‘Well let them have the little kid recess on Wednesdays, and then go to chapel. This works, but then there’s like this 10 minute gap between when chapel gets done and the big kid recess gets done and what I am supposed to do then? So I’ll just have to try it out next week and see how it goes. We went to town today and rode the bus down with the kids. I sat with 2 of my boys. One of my boys, Husai, is pretty popular with the girls right now, so I was telling him I knew which girls liked him. And then Husai, Marcos, and Carlos (all my students) proceeded to tell me who they think each other likes and who they used to like and yelling “Mentiras (lies)!” if they didn’t think it was true. It was so cute and hilarious. We did our normal town errands of the bank, shopping and internet. We had seen a pupusa place earlier that we had really wanted to eat at so we headed over there about 6:30pm. Jacki, Laura Beth and I went into this small place, sat down and asked the ladies about the kinds they had, how big they were and how much they were. We decided what we wanted and then started to order and the lady was like ‘Oh, we’re closing; we don’t have anymore; come back tomorrow.’ It was the weirdest thing. Here we are, asking all these questions about their food, sitting at one of their tables, you would think they would’ve told us that BEFORE all of this. I felt slighted and that’s the first time I’ve felt that here. So we packed up again and didn’t want to search for another place to eat in the dark and decided to head to the Chinese restaurant in town, and yes there’s Chinese food here and its amazing.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Monday and Tuesday, Oct 5 and 6
Monday
A Monday…what else can I say. Overall it was a good day, there were just a few times when there were too many kids saying my name and that they don’t understand; so I try again to explain the concepts and they don’t pay attention and I get even more frustrated. It’s really hard during the recesses of the elementary, too because even though we’ve been better about keeping the kids in their part of the building and not in the hallways of the classes still in session, it can still be really loud. So I think it’s loud in my classroom, but it’s actually noise from outside. That happens twice a day. There was one time today where I had to say “If I don’t hear quiet at the count of 3, I will take a letter of EARLY RECESS away (my reward system).” So I count, “1..2…3” and it is silent; it surprised me so much I just started smiling and then the kids starting smiling and laughing…it was cute. We came back after school to our house and just did normal evening things: convos, grading, relax, read, etc. One of Laura Beth’s students had brought her food that day so we had the tamales and tortillas they had given her. It still amazes me the generosity of people here; I need to learn from them.
Tuesday
Some days here I wonder why I am teaching; I didn’t go to school for this; I am not qualified. Then there are other days like today, which I still have moments of frustration, but I find myself falling more in love with my kids and therefore it makes my job more enjoyable. Just some of the things they tell me, whether serious or funny; and the questions they ask and really beginning to see the differences and strengths and weaknesses of each one is great. I’ve had a problem with some groups of kids that cannot sit by each other or they talk too much and get distracted so I am still in the pursuit of the perfect seating chart. This will probably never be accomplished since there are kids who will talk and be distracted no matter where they sit. But I’m going to try. I had 2 more parent meetings today about my student’s grades. One was in Spanish and the other in English. Again, I am so frustrated with myself that I haven’t been practicing and studying Spanish so it was still so difficult for me to communicate what I wanted to this parent in Spanish; Mr. Lara helped me out there. It’s just by the time I get home, grade and organize for the next day, hang out with my housemates and have dinner, I’m not too motivated to learn Spanish grammar and verbs. I may just have to buckle down, study, and then SPEAK. Another random thing..one of my students brought a turtle for our new fountain at school; so we have a new mascot, Bernardo the turtle and all of the kids (and some of the administration) are obsessed with it and how it’s doing. It’s hilarious to watch.
A Monday…what else can I say. Overall it was a good day, there were just a few times when there were too many kids saying my name and that they don’t understand; so I try again to explain the concepts and they don’t pay attention and I get even more frustrated. It’s really hard during the recesses of the elementary, too because even though we’ve been better about keeping the kids in their part of the building and not in the hallways of the classes still in session, it can still be really loud. So I think it’s loud in my classroom, but it’s actually noise from outside. That happens twice a day. There was one time today where I had to say “If I don’t hear quiet at the count of 3, I will take a letter of EARLY RECESS away (my reward system).” So I count, “1..2…3” and it is silent; it surprised me so much I just started smiling and then the kids starting smiling and laughing…it was cute. We came back after school to our house and just did normal evening things: convos, grading, relax, read, etc. One of Laura Beth’s students had brought her food that day so we had the tamales and tortillas they had given her. It still amazes me the generosity of people here; I need to learn from them.
Tuesday
Some days here I wonder why I am teaching; I didn’t go to school for this; I am not qualified. Then there are other days like today, which I still have moments of frustration, but I find myself falling more in love with my kids and therefore it makes my job more enjoyable. Just some of the things they tell me, whether serious or funny; and the questions they ask and really beginning to see the differences and strengths and weaknesses of each one is great. I’ve had a problem with some groups of kids that cannot sit by each other or they talk too much and get distracted so I am still in the pursuit of the perfect seating chart. This will probably never be accomplished since there are kids who will talk and be distracted no matter where they sit. But I’m going to try. I had 2 more parent meetings today about my student’s grades. One was in Spanish and the other in English. Again, I am so frustrated with myself that I haven’t been practicing and studying Spanish so it was still so difficult for me to communicate what I wanted to this parent in Spanish; Mr. Lara helped me out there. It’s just by the time I get home, grade and organize for the next day, hang out with my housemates and have dinner, I’m not too motivated to learn Spanish grammar and verbs. I may just have to buckle down, study, and then SPEAK. Another random thing..one of my students brought a turtle for our new fountain at school; so we have a new mascot, Bernardo the turtle and all of the kids (and some of the administration) are obsessed with it and how it’s doing. It’s hilarious to watch.
Saturday and Sunday, Oct 3 and 4
This weekend was really chill up in Villa Verde. We gave it another try at walking down to town from our house and it went better this time. It was cooler and since we knew what we were getting ourselves into, it went better. It was still a long walk, but good to exercise our legs again. We did our normal stuff of going to town, getting our fresh food, going to the supermarket, getting internet and spending our Saturday in Gracias. We explored town a little bit and found some more restaurants to eat at...expanding our horizons beyond Guancascos. Afterwards we returned to our house and relaxed and watched a full movie. It's been tough to watch a whole movie because we're so tired at the end of the day we can't sit for 2 hours after dinner and not fall asleep watching a movie. Sunday was another great relaxing day. I cleaned a little, graded papers, planned for this week. We went to church at night which is always refreshing and then came back to have dinner.
Thursday and Friday, Oct 1 and 2
Thursday
Today was a good day; I had a good attitude about the day, it went smoothly and I had a good amount of planning time so I finished everything I needed to get done during the day. Towards the end of the day though, Mr. Calderon came to bring me the progress report sheets to fill out… tomorrow. For the progress reports, we do them every 2 weeks for the past 2 weeks grades. So I have to calculate the grades for 25 students for about 6 subjects each; additionally I’m supposed to do that for my Bible classes as well. Since I haven’t set up an Excel sheet on my computer for this yet, I have to do it all by hand. So that was what my Thursday night consisted of: filling out my progress reports. I stayed up quite late and Fridays are my busiest days, too. So it should be a fun day tomorrow.
Friday
I was tired from the night before and didn’t have time to prepare for my Bible classes. The Bible classes turned out okay; I just prefer to be prepared instead of teaching straight from the book. It was Vivian’s birthday on Friday so her parents had asked if they could come to have a birthday party and they would bring food for lunch and cake. So of course we said yes! Her parents came at lunch and we had the party in our classroom. It was a good experience to have with all the kids. The cake we had was by far the best I’ve had here so far haha. But we all sand Happy Birthday to her, the English and Spanish version. I handed out the progress reports to everyone and after I had done that some of the kids were like, “Miss, Leonela is crying.” And sure enough one of my girls was crying because her grade in Reading was low. I felt so bad for her because I didn’t know how big of a deal it was with her parents. Some parents are very involved and get mad if their kids fall below a certain grade in their subjects. I told her I can help her in help class, but she also needs to study and do some extra stuff to get better. I think that helped a little bit, but I still felt bad because there really wasn’t anything I could do at that moment for her except be compassionate. My kids also have to bring back the progress reports signed. One of my boys, Marquito, was like, “Miss, my mom can’t sign it.” So I asked him if his dad could and he was like, “My dad’s dead and my mom is in Tegucigalpa.” I was taken aback by this because I didn’t know what was going on in his family and I still don’t know details. But my heart went out to him in that moment and I told him to have his sister sign it then. Marquito is one of boys I have to keep telling to sit down, be quiet, take this out, what did I say, etc. So although he’s one of my ‘naughty’ ones, I have a little bit more of a soft spot for him. Ana’s birthday was going to be Sunday so all the teachers had a celebration for with cake and stuff after school. Laura Beth and I rode to town with Froni because she was up at the school and went to Guancascos for internet. We came up with Luis and Gustavo, which Gustavo likes Sarah, so it worked out well for both of them. But on the way up we had some moto trouble so we ended up waiting an additional 20 minutes or so for them to fix it. It was a little annoying because they had already been late in picking us up, but we eventually got it working again and got home.
Today was a good day; I had a good attitude about the day, it went smoothly and I had a good amount of planning time so I finished everything I needed to get done during the day. Towards the end of the day though, Mr. Calderon came to bring me the progress report sheets to fill out… tomorrow. For the progress reports, we do them every 2 weeks for the past 2 weeks grades. So I have to calculate the grades for 25 students for about 6 subjects each; additionally I’m supposed to do that for my Bible classes as well. Since I haven’t set up an Excel sheet on my computer for this yet, I have to do it all by hand. So that was what my Thursday night consisted of: filling out my progress reports. I stayed up quite late and Fridays are my busiest days, too. So it should be a fun day tomorrow.
Friday
I was tired from the night before and didn’t have time to prepare for my Bible classes. The Bible classes turned out okay; I just prefer to be prepared instead of teaching straight from the book. It was Vivian’s birthday on Friday so her parents had asked if they could come to have a birthday party and they would bring food for lunch and cake. So of course we said yes! Her parents came at lunch and we had the party in our classroom. It was a good experience to have with all the kids. The cake we had was by far the best I’ve had here so far haha. But we all sand Happy Birthday to her, the English and Spanish version. I handed out the progress reports to everyone and after I had done that some of the kids were like, “Miss, Leonela is crying.” And sure enough one of my girls was crying because her grade in Reading was low. I felt so bad for her because I didn’t know how big of a deal it was with her parents. Some parents are very involved and get mad if their kids fall below a certain grade in their subjects. I told her I can help her in help class, but she also needs to study and do some extra stuff to get better. I think that helped a little bit, but I still felt bad because there really wasn’t anything I could do at that moment for her except be compassionate. My kids also have to bring back the progress reports signed. One of my boys, Marquito, was like, “Miss, my mom can’t sign it.” So I asked him if his dad could and he was like, “My dad’s dead and my mom is in Tegucigalpa.” I was taken aback by this because I didn’t know what was going on in his family and I still don’t know details. But my heart went out to him in that moment and I told him to have his sister sign it then. Marquito is one of boys I have to keep telling to sit down, be quiet, take this out, what did I say, etc. So although he’s one of my ‘naughty’ ones, I have a little bit more of a soft spot for him. Ana’s birthday was going to be Sunday so all the teachers had a celebration for with cake and stuff after school. Laura Beth and I rode to town with Froni because she was up at the school and went to Guancascos for internet. We came up with Luis and Gustavo, which Gustavo likes Sarah, so it worked out well for both of them. But on the way up we had some moto trouble so we ended up waiting an additional 20 minutes or so for them to fix it. It was a little annoying because they had already been late in picking us up, but we eventually got it working again and got home.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept 29 and 30
Tuesday
School day went pretty well today. Mr. Lagos, one of the administrators from Teguc, watched during math for a few minutes which made me kinda nervous. My kids didn’t understand what I was saying for the math lesson, so that was tough because I couldn’t think of a better way to show them. I had some free time today and Mr. Bran, our PE teacher wanted to learn some more English slang so I taught him a few things. It was kinda fun and then I asked him some other words in Spanish, too. Jacki and Sarah went to town so me and Laura Beth had the house to ourselves. Mr. Bran came over after dinner and we all hung out and chatted about more words and phrases and music. I spent a lot of the night grading and organizing; a teacher’s work is never done I am realizing! Jacki and Sarah came back late because of mototaxi trouble, but otherwise the rest of the night was fine.
Wednesday
Today was a pretty good day. We have chapel on Wednesdays so we have about 50 min of math and science instead of 40 so my kids got restless. I led chapel today for the elementary; I like to think it went well since Mr. Laurelais usually does it, but who knows. I talked about Jacob and Esau and not picking favorites, forgiving and saying sorry; hopefully at least those lessons got across! Later in the morning I was told by Mr. Lagos to fill out entire workbooks otherwise parents complain that their kids aren’t doing their homework and they wonder why they bought the books in the first place. I was slightly frustrated with that because of time constraints. We only have 40 minutes for each class and while it may seem like a long time, it flies and I don’t have time to have the kids finish all of their lessons for that day all the time. And do they want these kids to learn or just be tedious and parent pleasers? I understand the parents pay for the books and want the kids to use them, and they are, but the parents want to know that the teacher is seeing that. Anyways, later that day I was about to sneeze during our reading vocab quiz, but didn’t and made a funny face and the kids all laughed and were like “do it again!” And I got kinda embarrassed and was like “no!”It was funny. Oh and during chapel the 4th graders were saying everything so loud, like screaming the prayer they repeated from me…hilarious. I almost lost it in front of the whole elementary. My evening consisted of the normal: convos, grading, and chilling.
School day went pretty well today. Mr. Lagos, one of the administrators from Teguc, watched during math for a few minutes which made me kinda nervous. My kids didn’t understand what I was saying for the math lesson, so that was tough because I couldn’t think of a better way to show them. I had some free time today and Mr. Bran, our PE teacher wanted to learn some more English slang so I taught him a few things. It was kinda fun and then I asked him some other words in Spanish, too. Jacki and Sarah went to town so me and Laura Beth had the house to ourselves. Mr. Bran came over after dinner and we all hung out and chatted about more words and phrases and music. I spent a lot of the night grading and organizing; a teacher’s work is never done I am realizing! Jacki and Sarah came back late because of mototaxi trouble, but otherwise the rest of the night was fine.
Wednesday
Today was a pretty good day. We have chapel on Wednesdays so we have about 50 min of math and science instead of 40 so my kids got restless. I led chapel today for the elementary; I like to think it went well since Mr. Laurelais usually does it, but who knows. I talked about Jacob and Esau and not picking favorites, forgiving and saying sorry; hopefully at least those lessons got across! Later in the morning I was told by Mr. Lagos to fill out entire workbooks otherwise parents complain that their kids aren’t doing their homework and they wonder why they bought the books in the first place. I was slightly frustrated with that because of time constraints. We only have 40 minutes for each class and while it may seem like a long time, it flies and I don’t have time to have the kids finish all of their lessons for that day all the time. And do they want these kids to learn or just be tedious and parent pleasers? I understand the parents pay for the books and want the kids to use them, and they are, but the parents want to know that the teacher is seeing that. Anyways, later that day I was about to sneeze during our reading vocab quiz, but didn’t and made a funny face and the kids all laughed and were like “do it again!” And I got kinda embarrassed and was like “no!”It was funny. Oh and during chapel the 4th graders were saying everything so loud, like screaming the prayer they repeated from me…hilarious. I almost lost it in front of the whole elementary. My evening consisted of the normal: convos, grading, and chilling.
Monday, Sept 28
Today…today was a tough day in the classroom. My kids did not listen well to me. I would have to ask at least three times for them to be quiet, close your mouths and eyes up front, and to stop being disrespectful of me while I was speaking. I constantly had to tell kids to turn around, stop talking, keep working on your work, raise your hand for a question, don’t yell out “Finished!” or “Miss…I don’t understand.” It was frustrating. I felt like they didn’t care at all or respected what I had to say. I know how some of my teachers felt now when students didn’t care and it just drains you emotionally. I felt like I was talking over them all the time. This was in my fifth grade and Bible classes. I feel like I complain a lot about my job sometimes, but know I really like my kids; I think any teacher whether in Honduras or in the US would feel the same way sometimes. It was fun at lunch today because a few of my girls, Nohemi and Hilda, were asking me things in Spanish and trying to stump me in words I didn’t know. They got me on the word for bushes haha. We made five star stir-fry for dinner and Ana Sujey came to visit and ate with us. I love her; she’s one of Jacki’s K4 students and just brings us so much joy. Her laugh is so cute and she is so animated and such a little diva at times as well. It was great.
Sunday Sept 27
We had a good morning of sleeping in and then we got ready to go to town since we chose to go hiking yesterday. We got a ton of groceries in town, the most we’ve gotten in one trip I think. The currency here in Honduras is Lempiras and it’s about 20 Lemps to $1 US. So we spent about 1100 Lempiras, which was a lot for us because we were used to half of that for our bill. But then realized that’s equivalent to about $60 for groceries…for four people…for a week. Haha. So it really wasn’t that bad, just more than we were used to. Afterwards we spent a good amount of time at Guancascos on the internet and eating lunch. We headed up the mountain in time for church with the neighbors. I really like the church. It’s just our neighbors so we know almost everyone, but I feel the presence of God there. I love how enthusiastic they are. For example, they ask us to sing a little something every time and even though its in English, they are still like Hallelujah, Amen. It just gives me joy and allows my spirit to be fed with others who simply follow Christ in their simple life.
Commenting on the word simple…We were talking the other day and we realized that life up here is simple; this does not mean its easy. There is a difference. Sometimes our electricity goes out, or we don’t have running water, not to mention no TV, internet or actual kitchen. We do some of our own laundry or someone else does it by hand. We walk to school and back. This isn’t easy or convenient. But it is simple; and I think that by stripping all of those other things which are distracting, especially the technology, you come to appreciate life a lot more. You focus more on relationships, talking, relaxing and learning to just BE and not DO so much; there’s plenty to do, but you don’t need to be in a hurry to do them most of the time. You can’t just sit down in front of the TV and waste a few hours; instead you have a great conversations and make memories with your housemates or play with the neighbor kids. So I highly encourage everyone to turn off the TV, get off of Facebook, take out the ipod and just enjoy the people and surroundings around you. Take that time and you will feel so much more content; not perfect, but more content, I believe. That’s my deep thought for the day.
Commenting on the word simple…We were talking the other day and we realized that life up here is simple; this does not mean its easy. There is a difference. Sometimes our electricity goes out, or we don’t have running water, not to mention no TV, internet or actual kitchen. We do some of our own laundry or someone else does it by hand. We walk to school and back. This isn’t easy or convenient. But it is simple; and I think that by stripping all of those other things which are distracting, especially the technology, you come to appreciate life a lot more. You focus more on relationships, talking, relaxing and learning to just BE and not DO so much; there’s plenty to do, but you don’t need to be in a hurry to do them most of the time. You can’t just sit down in front of the TV and waste a few hours; instead you have a great conversations and make memories with your housemates or play with the neighbor kids. So I highly encourage everyone to turn off the TV, get off of Facebook, take out the ipod and just enjoy the people and surroundings around you. Take that time and you will feel so much more content; not perfect, but more content, I believe. That’s my deep thought for the day.
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