Monday-Friday, May 10-14

The weeks just all seem to be the same coming towards the end here. School went normally this week as much as I can remember. One thing that needs to change is either the way I handle my kids or they way they act towards me sometimes. Most of my kids are good kids, but some of them will give me blatant attitude at times, which really bothers me. And when it’s constantly like that from the same individuals, I just want to give up because I feel like I haven’t had any effect on them at all this year in that aspect of being their teacher. I was talking to my friend on the phone the other night and he’s been dealing with some of the same stuff with middle school kids he works with in Indianapolis. He reminded me that we discipline because we care for these kids (or at least that’s what discipline should come out of) and the kids who need the most discipline are the ones who we can’t give up on; they need that consistency in their life. I know that education and teaching isn’t all about this, but when my class can’t learn because of a few kids’ attitudes or behavior, then it does become important. So I’m gonna have to figure out what I can do for the next 4 weeks of school to make it a better learning environment for my kids and to avoid being frustrated as much as I have been. I think God uses situations like these to remind me of our relationship as well; that when I’m not listening to him and he disciplines me, I can be as stubborn as some of the kids in my class haha. God has a great sense of humor.

I've been talking about Esther with my ninth graders this week in their Bible class and we finished and were trying to figure out what we could learn from this book. They gave some great ideas, like trusting God, being humble, and I gave the one of being in a place for a specific purpose. I feel like I still don't clearly see the reason God brought me down to Honduras. I know it's where I am supposed to be this year. I had/have total peace about coming down here. Maybe I just haven't been seeking it, maybe I've messed it up or maybe it's going to be like the rest of the events in my life: I'll understand later why I was here and see how God will use this experience later on in life. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Throughout the week, we kept bothering our administration to do something about our lack of water in our house and finally everything was fixed this week. Our pila has water, our shower has water (hot) , our toilet has water and our bathroom sink has water. Hallelujah I have never been so happy to have running water in my life.

I had a little problem with my passport and I’m quite frustrated and upset about it, but apparently there’s nothing I can do. When you come into any country, you fill out a form stating where you’re from, what you’re doing in that country, etc. I filled that out in January, got a stamp on passport from January 3^rd, and supposedly got my copy back of that piece of paper. Time rolls around for Teguz to renew our passports (which they were late in doing) and both Sarah and I don’t have that piece of paper in our passports. Apparently it’s supposed to be stapled to our passports and only she and I don’t have them. I honestly don’t remember what could have happened to that paper and Sarah doesn’t either. Well because we didn’t have it and that paper stated how long we were able to be in Honduras since January 3^rd, we were fined $100. Yep…about ¼ of my paycheck is going to be taken out for some fine for a little piece of paper they didn’t tell us was important to keep. I understand it is my responsibility to keep track of important things like that, but I truly and honestly don’t remember having that paper (maybe even in the first place) or where it could have gone or been lost. So I’m upset because that’s a lot of money down here (equal to 2000 lempiras) and I could have done a lot with that here in Honduras, not to mention the States. I tried asking the lawyer at Vida Abudante to do a few things, to check here and there, but I guess nothing else can be done, which irks me to no end. If you’re ever in a foreign country, don’t ever lose ANY papers they give you, even if you don’t think they’re important. You never know…they may need it and you could be SOL.

Anyways, the weather has been beautiful here lately, warm but gorgeous. It’s going to be weird to finally experience fall when it comes around in September. I’m really looking forward to going home to America, especially coming back in the summer. So many things I took for granted there by not having them at my immediate disposal here. I haven’t driven a car in over 6 months or had warm water from a sink or a washer or dryer. I can see my friends and family, go to church, the mall, the movies. I’m going to try my best to soak in all I can of the next four weeks with my kids, Gracias, Honduras and my friends here, but America will definitely be getting a big kiss from me when I get home June 25.