Saturday, March 13, 2010
Saturday and Sunday, March 6 & 7
I slept in late both days, which felt amazing to not have to worry about an alarm or have anywhere to go. I didn’t really do much all weekend; we had gone to town on Friday so there wasn’t an absolute need to go to town. I laid out by the river and got burned (again); I played with neighbor kids and went to church on Sunday night. I did think about my decision a lot because we all starting talking about it Saturday afternoon and then it was heavy on my mind all weekend. All of us, whether we were staying or going, talked about pros and cons of each and it seemed to give me more questions than answers again. On weekends when I’m just living here I feel like I could stay another year. I had that feeling at church on Sunday night when Paola was sitting by me, hugging me and I was worshiping with my neighbors. I feel like that at times when I’m teaching as well. I talked to my parents and some of my friends back home about it as well; I need to know by next week (March 12thish). I just want to make the decision so I can know whether to gear up for another year here or if I’m not staying, then to enjoy even more these next few months in Honduras.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Decisions and Reflections
Decision time this week…still not completely sure on it. Some days I think yes, some days no. I just have to keep listening to God and my family and friends and take the time I’m given. I also can’t believe its March already. I no longer have to count down how long I’ve been here but start counting down the months until the end of the school year. I was also thinking about where I was a year ago; I was in living and working in downtown Chicago, getting into the swing of my internship at Erie House. I was in one of the biggest cities in the US, using the public transportation system everyday and having a plethora of restaurants, shops and activities to choose from. I think this time last year was when I first heard about this opportunity as well and was getting excited about it. I just can’t believe how much has changed in a year. Now I am living and working in the mountains of Honduras, with internet (usually), electricity and water (most times), bugs, amazing neighbors, my crazy kids, the public ‘transporation system’ here, and a few restaurants, a central park, and a market for entertainment in Gracias. Ah life…I just wonder sometimes how Honduras is going to fit into the puzzle of my life. I’m sure I’ll look back on this experience, as I have on other experiences, and see how this has prepared me for ones to come. Hindsight is always 20/20 right? And God knows whats up, too; I’m glad someone does!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday-Friday, March 1-5
Since things have been so in a routine lately, I’ll just highlight/summarize this week in one blog.
Monday was definitely a Monday; I was tired and ready for vacation. Jacki was home sick on Monday, so she graciously made homemade pizza for us for dinner, which was amazing. Tuesday I think I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed because I had a shorter fuse than normal. When I have days like those, I try to not let it affect the way I teach, but unfortunately it does at times. I ran up Celaque on Monday for exercise, but just needed to rest on Tuesday, so I took a nap Tuesday afternoon to rest. Wednesday I did chapel on the tower of the Fruits of the Spirit and had my kids act as fruit trees that did and did not produce fruit. I think they liked it. Art is on Wednesdays as well and they had a messy project that day: paper mache. The floor was covered in newspaper, flour and water and some kids decided it would be funny to dump some out on each other as well. Crazy kids, but I think they really enjoyed it.
My tutorias with science went well this week. We played a game, girls vs boys and my boys are rambunctious. That energy just works out so much better when there’s less kids in tutorias. They got so excited about the answers they had to come up with as a team; they would jump up and down with their arms around each other and chant the answer…so awesome. Thursday pretty well, although I had progress reports to work on. Finally Friday arrived and I found myself through another week.
Funny things my kids have said: I asked Husai what’s up and he said the sky; I was definitely not expecting him to answer that and I could tell he was all proud of himself. It’s also amusing that my kids can tell when I’m tired ; they’ll be like, “Miss, you look tired,” and they know I like and need coffee haha.
I had a quick talk with 9th grade about the word b**** because they were singing Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold” and came to the part about ‘you PMS like a b**** I should know’ and one of the girls was like ‘we can’t sing that word it’s bad.’ And not all the rest of the kids knew what she was talking about. So I explained what the word meant to an extent and strongly advised them to first, never use that word, and second (especially for the boys) to never call a girl that word. So that was fun.
Just another week in my life in Honduras….
Monday was definitely a Monday; I was tired and ready for vacation. Jacki was home sick on Monday, so she graciously made homemade pizza for us for dinner, which was amazing. Tuesday I think I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed because I had a shorter fuse than normal. When I have days like those, I try to not let it affect the way I teach, but unfortunately it does at times. I ran up Celaque on Monday for exercise, but just needed to rest on Tuesday, so I took a nap Tuesday afternoon to rest. Wednesday I did chapel on the tower of the Fruits of the Spirit and had my kids act as fruit trees that did and did not produce fruit. I think they liked it. Art is on Wednesdays as well and they had a messy project that day: paper mache. The floor was covered in newspaper, flour and water and some kids decided it would be funny to dump some out on each other as well. Crazy kids, but I think they really enjoyed it.
My tutorias with science went well this week. We played a game, girls vs boys and my boys are rambunctious. That energy just works out so much better when there’s less kids in tutorias. They got so excited about the answers they had to come up with as a team; they would jump up and down with their arms around each other and chant the answer…so awesome. Thursday pretty well, although I had progress reports to work on. Finally Friday arrived and I found myself through another week.
Funny things my kids have said: I asked Husai what’s up and he said the sky; I was definitely not expecting him to answer that and I could tell he was all proud of himself. It’s also amusing that my kids can tell when I’m tired ; they’ll be like, “Miss, you look tired,” and they know I like and need coffee haha.
I had a quick talk with 9th grade about the word b**** because they were singing Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold” and came to the part about ‘you PMS like a b**** I should know’ and one of the girls was like ‘we can’t sing that word it’s bad.’ And not all the rest of the kids knew what she was talking about. So I explained what the word meant to an extent and strongly advised them to first, never use that word, and second (especially for the boys) to never call a girl that word. So that was fun.
Just another week in my life in Honduras….
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Saturday and Sunday, February 27 & 28
Saturday
The last few Saturdays have been rainy, which changes our plans to walk to town on Saturdays. It’s not very good motivational weather either! I attempted to get some work done after sleeping in and got a call from Renske and Laura (the two European girls who teach in La Union) saying they were in town and wanted to come up to Villa Verde to visit and say hi. So we spent the afternoon with them, showing them our house and neighborhood as well as catching up. Renske is the 5th grade teacher in La Union and she and I decided we’d try to do a pen pal thing between the 5th graders in Gracias and La Union. I’m excited to see how that turns out! After we hung out for a bit, most of us headed back to town with the girls for dinner at a nicer restaurant. I got fettuccine alfredo with chicken; it was so good! The girls were staying at Guancascos, so we hung out there for a while before heading back to Villa Verde for the night.
Sunday
Today was another chill day; I slept in, did some school work, relaxed by the river for a little bit and caught up with my family and some friends. It gets frustrating being down here for the reason that I usually have to be the one to contact my family and friends by phone because the call is international and cheaper for me to call them. They can’t just pick up the phone and call me. So that’s another thing to think about and it’s gets hard to try to coordinate schedules to make sure I can talk to someone when I call them. Despite it being a relaxing day, I am still not ready for Monday and another week to start.
The last few Saturdays have been rainy, which changes our plans to walk to town on Saturdays. It’s not very good motivational weather either! I attempted to get some work done after sleeping in and got a call from Renske and Laura (the two European girls who teach in La Union) saying they were in town and wanted to come up to Villa Verde to visit and say hi. So we spent the afternoon with them, showing them our house and neighborhood as well as catching up. Renske is the 5th grade teacher in La Union and she and I decided we’d try to do a pen pal thing between the 5th graders in Gracias and La Union. I’m excited to see how that turns out! After we hung out for a bit, most of us headed back to town with the girls for dinner at a nicer restaurant. I got fettuccine alfredo with chicken; it was so good! The girls were staying at Guancascos, so we hung out there for a while before heading back to Villa Verde for the night.
Sunday
Today was another chill day; I slept in, did some school work, relaxed by the river for a little bit and caught up with my family and some friends. It gets frustrating being down here for the reason that I usually have to be the one to contact my family and friends by phone because the call is international and cheaper for me to call them. They can’t just pick up the phone and call me. So that’s another thing to think about and it’s gets hard to try to coordinate schedules to make sure I can talk to someone when I call them. Despite it being a relaxing day, I am still not ready for Monday and another week to start.
Thursday and Friday, February 25 & 26
Thursday
Colder today, an easier day overall. I had tutorias which went pretty well for language and reading. I finished grading my kids’ science projects as well. Speaking of science, I started giving notes in science class using concept maps and flow charts, which the kids really like more than just straight notes (I don’t blame them). They’re like, “Miss are we going to do another map like last time?” So I think I’ve found a better way to communicate with my students in science while still getting through the curriculum.
Friday
Finally Friday! I taught my kids the meaning of TGIF, so now they know what to say on Fridays! I was ready for the weekend to be here, especially with my parents being here and being out of a normal schedule with that. Fridays are my longs days; I figured out in literal hours I teach for 6 hours on Fridays, or all 9 of our classes. But I made it through and Friday nights are awesome…no worries, nothing I have to do. Weekend here I come.
Colder today, an easier day overall. I had tutorias which went pretty well for language and reading. I finished grading my kids’ science projects as well. Speaking of science, I started giving notes in science class using concept maps and flow charts, which the kids really like more than just straight notes (I don’t blame them). They’re like, “Miss are we going to do another map like last time?” So I think I’ve found a better way to communicate with my students in science while still getting through the curriculum.
Friday
Finally Friday! I taught my kids the meaning of TGIF, so now they know what to say on Fridays! I was ready for the weekend to be here, especially with my parents being here and being out of a normal schedule with that. Fridays are my longs days; I figured out in literal hours I teach for 6 hours on Fridays, or all 9 of our classes. But I made it through and Friday nights are awesome…no worries, nothing I have to do. Weekend here I come.
Wednesday, February 24
We had chapel today, which I did the songs for and the rest of the day went well until I had to leave early to bring my parents to Santa Rosa. My dad bought a Honduras jersey before he left and then we dragged their suitcases down to the bus station and were on our way. It was a little stressful making sure the ride to Santa Rosa went alright. The more stressful part was finding a bus to SPS for them when we got to Santa Rosa. I tried my best to find a nicer one for them and the one they were on was alright; it could’ve been better. I waited til they were off and then treated myself to some coffee and got some groceries at the supermarket (two things that are a treat for me). I went back on bus to Gracias and was worried about parents all night. They had no way of contacting me until they got to SPS unless the borrowed someone’s phone. They left Santa Rosa at like 3 so at the latest they should have arrived in SPS around 7. I got a few calls from them on someone else’s phone that they were stuck in traffic coming into SPS and to call the hotel that was going to shuttle them to tell them they would be late. Finally around 8:30-9ish I talked to them and they had made it, barely! They had made so many stops on the way to SPS as well as getting stuck in traffic just outside SPS; my parents were done with the public transportation of Honduras!
Tuesday, February 23
First a disclaimer: I apologize for lack of updates. I want people to know what is going on in my life here, but sometimes life here gets busy or in a routine and I forget to update. I love and miss all of you.
It was a good day even though it was long. I lost one of my free periods because Mr. Calderon couldn’t teach my math class because he had a meeting. He is supposed to be teaching 5th and 6th grade math classes while Mr. Lara is away in the States recruiting for next year. So he comes to me yesterday or today and was like, “Miss can you cover math for me, because I have a lot of things to do, but when I can I’ll come to teach and you’ll be able to rest.” Now I’m a team player and willing to help out where I can, but that is taking away my free periods, passing your responsibility onto someone else because you supposedly have better things to do, and throwing me into the curriculum when I have no idea what my kids have been learning and where they are. Extremely frustrating for me and I don’t expect many free math periods the next few weeks. My tutorias went pretty well and my parents came up to the school just as I was finishing up. They had another one of my experiences of walking up the mountain back to my house with me. They stayed for dinner with the whole house; I made spaghetti. I wanted to make sure they got back in time again, but before they left my parents, Tad, and I played Euchre; guess who won? They leave tomorrow…the week with them has flown by!
It was a good day even though it was long. I lost one of my free periods because Mr. Calderon couldn’t teach my math class because he had a meeting. He is supposed to be teaching 5th and 6th grade math classes while Mr. Lara is away in the States recruiting for next year. So he comes to me yesterday or today and was like, “Miss can you cover math for me, because I have a lot of things to do, but when I can I’ll come to teach and you’ll be able to rest.” Now I’m a team player and willing to help out where I can, but that is taking away my free periods, passing your responsibility onto someone else because you supposedly have better things to do, and throwing me into the curriculum when I have no idea what my kids have been learning and where they are. Extremely frustrating for me and I don’t expect many free math periods the next few weeks. My tutorias went pretty well and my parents came up to the school just as I was finishing up. They had another one of my experiences of walking up the mountain back to my house with me. They stayed for dinner with the whole house; I made spaghetti. I wanted to make sure they got back in time again, but before they left my parents, Tad, and I played Euchre; guess who won? They leave tomorrow…the week with them has flown by!
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