Wednesday
I had a good day at school and we took our weekly trip to town. We got water and chimbo (gas) there and when I got back home I ran up Celaque for exercise. Afterwards LB and I were hungry so we tried to put chimbo top back in, but somehow we messed it up so it started shooting out at a high speed, spraying gas all over the house! So we dragged it outside so at least gas wasn’t all in the house. It was still shooting off at high rates of speed and I didn’t know what to do so I ran down to the neighbors to get someone to help us. I didn’t know if it was going to blow up, if we should try to save it, or what. One neighbor and Tad came up, then Sonia and Abby, then Bryan, and we asked if there was anything we could do because it was still full and they said no nothing. Therfore we had to waste a whole new container of chimbo; we just had to sit there and listen to the gas escape. Awesome…not only that but our water went out tonight, and I found a huge somewhat dangerous bug in our house after school which I had to kill. I was so pissed at the whole principle behind the chimbo incident that every time LB and I try to do something on our own or something, it ends up messing up (the sink, LB and her laundry, the chimbo). Days like these I just wish I lived in the US and had consistent electricity, running water and gas lines in my house for my stove.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tuesday, March 16
Today as a normal day until La Union came to play a futbol game at our school in prepartation for SAG. SAG is Student Annual Gathering and all of the Abundant Life schools in Honduras go to Teguz for a weekend and compete in different things like futbol, basketball, chess, ping-pong, debate and other sorts of things. It’s a huge deal for the kids; only the middle and high school get to go. It costs quite a bit of money as well. The futbol game began at 11:40, so the hour before (science) it was almost impossible to keep my kids focused on what we were talking about. The bus came, horns were being blown, drums were pounding, and you could just feel the excitement in the air for the game. Almost the entire school watched it because they were either at lunch or we let them out of class so they could watch. It was hot, too, for the poor girls that were playing. All the kids were out there, screaming and chanting, blowing those crazy horns and banging on the drums they brought. It was crazy; I felt like I was back in high school for a second at a big rival game. La Union is one of our rivals because they’re so close to us. Jake was bragging to us and talking smack to us. It was really fun watching and participating in that, too. Unfortunately, La Union just played better than us and they ended up winning 4-1. I stayed after to finish room because Mr. Lara took tutorias, which was awesome and then headed home.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
My Clumsiness
So I'm not sure if I've always been this way, if it's gotten worse as I get older, or if being in Honduras just perpetuates it...I'm clumsy.
Let me tell you the things I have broken or spilled here.
Broken:
3-4 porcelein mugs/cups
The top of a glass cookware pot
One cereal bowl
My computer screen-it was dark, I wasn't looking and put my hand down directly on my computer screen (don't worry its fixed now!)
Things I Have Spilled/Dropped
Water-all the time. Trying to fill my bottle at school, accidently knocking over, etc, etc.
Coffee- same thing. At school walking from class to class, drinking it at home, etc.
Milk-spilled it on our grass mats and concrete floor and the table
Tea-spilled it on our grass mat and on the table
Watermelon-yes I tried to get my watermelon cold quickly so I put the bowl with the pieces in the freezer, thinking I was a genius. Oh no, when I open the door, the freezer door opens and out fall all my water melon pieces
Numerous times I have dropped silverware on the floor.
So...there you have it. Evidence of my clumsiness. Hopefully its just a phase...or not.
Let me tell you the things I have broken or spilled here.
Broken:
3-4 porcelein mugs/cups
The top of a glass cookware pot
One cereal bowl
My computer screen-it was dark, I wasn't looking and put my hand down directly on my computer screen (don't worry its fixed now!)
Things I Have Spilled/Dropped
Water-all the time. Trying to fill my bottle at school, accidently knocking over, etc, etc.
Coffee- same thing. At school walking from class to class, drinking it at home, etc.
Milk-spilled it on our grass mats and concrete floor and the table
Tea-spilled it on our grass mat and on the table
Watermelon-yes I tried to get my watermelon cold quickly so I put the bowl with the pieces in the freezer, thinking I was a genius. Oh no, when I open the door, the freezer door opens and out fall all my water melon pieces
Numerous times I have dropped silverware on the floor.
So...there you have it. Evidence of my clumsiness. Hopefully its just a phase...or not.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Monday, March 15
I had a normal Monday today, although I stayed after until 5 working on my door again. I just wanted to get it done so I wouldn’t have to worry about it later in the week. I walked back up and was really debating whether or not to run because I felt like I had not energy. I decided to just get at Celaque and run. Good thing I did because it was the fastest I’ve ran Celaque: 13 min up and I finished the whole third hill! There’s about 4 hills you have to conquer before it gets relatively flat. I was pretty proud of myself J I was offered dinner at the comedor and it worked out great because it was just LB and I at th house; Jacki and Sarah were in town for work and getting medicine. The power went out for a bit, which always seems to happen when I need a shower… so another cold refreshing shower for me! They’re really not that bad. The irony it came back on as I was in the shower the electricity came back on. I finished the night by cuttin up some watermelon, did the dishes, went back down to the comedor to work for a bit and then chilled until bed.
Saturday and Sunday, March 13 & 14
Saturday
Saturday morning we had French toast for breakfast since Tad’s friends were here. We got some work done and relaxed and then headed down to town to find a present for Paola. It’s her birthday this weekend and she’s having a party and we’re invited. And we just love Paola so even if she wasn’t having party she was still going to get a present from all the teachers! Sarah, Jacki, Tad, his friends, and I headed down to town to find presents. I ended up getting her a photo album and a hair barrette. We ate lunch in town (great tacos and puspusas) and then went to get coffee at Guancascos while we waited for the rest of the girls to finish up. We got back home in time to find out the party had been moved to later that evening. This meant more relaxing/working time.
Paola had her family from Comayagua here as well as some girls from her class up to her house for the party. It wasn’t as organized I guess you could say as the American birthday parties I’ve experienced. She opened some of her presents right away, then played, then ate dinner, then the cake with singing, then opened some more presents when she wanted to. Paola got great presents from the rest of the teachers as well as her friends and I think she really enjoyed herself. Renske and Laura called us later in the evening because they were in Gracias and wanted to come up to hang out with us. So the two girls along with Tad’s two friends (Mike and Pat) who were still in town came up for the night and we all hung out playing games.
Sunday
Today was my work day because I didn’t do much work the last few days as far as school work or housework is concerned. Mike, Pat, Renske, and Laura had to leave late morning so we had a big breakfast of pancakes to send them off. After they left it was time to work. I cleaned the house: picked up, swept and mopped the floor and cleaned the table and the stove. Tad and I did the dishes from our big breakfast and then I still had laundry to do. Yes, I decided I was going to do my own laundry this weekend. I only needed a few things done so I just did them myself. It was a still a lot of work though; I will never take a dishwasher or laundry machine for granted again! I took care of some more spring break stuff and graded and planned for school. By that time it was close to dinner, so I ate and took a hard earned shower. Finally at the end of the day my reward was to relax and watch a movie. Awesome.
Saturday morning we had French toast for breakfast since Tad’s friends were here. We got some work done and relaxed and then headed down to town to find a present for Paola. It’s her birthday this weekend and she’s having a party and we’re invited. And we just love Paola so even if she wasn’t having party she was still going to get a present from all the teachers! Sarah, Jacki, Tad, his friends, and I headed down to town to find presents. I ended up getting her a photo album and a hair barrette. We ate lunch in town (great tacos and puspusas) and then went to get coffee at Guancascos while we waited for the rest of the girls to finish up. We got back home in time to find out the party had been moved to later that evening. This meant more relaxing/working time.
Paola had her family from Comayagua here as well as some girls from her class up to her house for the party. It wasn’t as organized I guess you could say as the American birthday parties I’ve experienced. She opened some of her presents right away, then played, then ate dinner, then the cake with singing, then opened some more presents when she wanted to. Paola got great presents from the rest of the teachers as well as her friends and I think she really enjoyed herself. Renske and Laura called us later in the evening because they were in Gracias and wanted to come up to hang out with us. So the two girls along with Tad’s two friends (Mike and Pat) who were still in town came up for the night and we all hung out playing games.
Sunday
Today was my work day because I didn’t do much work the last few days as far as school work or housework is concerned. Mike, Pat, Renske, and Laura had to leave late morning so we had a big breakfast of pancakes to send them off. After they left it was time to work. I cleaned the house: picked up, swept and mopped the floor and cleaned the table and the stove. Tad and I did the dishes from our big breakfast and then I still had laundry to do. Yes, I decided I was going to do my own laundry this weekend. I only needed a few things done so I just did them myself. It was a still a lot of work though; I will never take a dishwasher or laundry machine for granted again! I took care of some more spring break stuff and graded and planned for school. By that time it was close to dinner, so I ate and took a hard earned shower. Finally at the end of the day my reward was to relax and watch a movie. Awesome.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
News
So on Friday (March 12) after our lunch I had a meeting with Mr. Lara and Mr. Calderon about my decision for next year. I had been agonizing over this decision for weeks and finally in the last few days before Friday I felt peace about what I had decided to do. I went in and was really nervous to talk to them, but finally just spit it out and told them I'm NOT coming back next year to teach. Once I had gotten that out I felt so much better verbalizing it to the administration and it was official. They were sad, understandably, because they thought I was doing a good job and know how I work, but they also said they understand and they have other candidates who can fill my job.
So...I'm coming home the end of June! I really like living in Honduras, on the quiet mountains, with my neighbors in Villa Verde, seeing my kids in Gracias and traveling around the country and Central America. I like my job and my kids, but there are enough aspects about it that I don't love that have made me decide to not stay for another year. These last few weeks before Semana Santa are just dragging by, and then I still have 2 1/2 months after that. Now I can fully enjoy those months as my last here and hopefully get more out of them. I can also begin to think about options for next year back in the States (or not in the States haha). So if any of you who read this hear of anything you think I might be interested in, let me know!
See you Stateside the end of June!
So...I'm coming home the end of June! I really like living in Honduras, on the quiet mountains, with my neighbors in Villa Verde, seeing my kids in Gracias and traveling around the country and Central America. I like my job and my kids, but there are enough aspects about it that I don't love that have made me decide to not stay for another year. These last few weeks before Semana Santa are just dragging by, and then I still have 2 1/2 months after that. Now I can fully enjoy those months as my last here and hopefully get more out of them. I can also begin to think about options for next year back in the States (or not in the States haha). So if any of you who read this hear of anything you think I might be interested in, let me know!
See you Stateside the end of June!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Monday-Friday, March 8-12
Monday-Friday March 8-12
Recap of the week! Mr. Lara came back on Tuesday with people from Teguz for the day, along with three girls from the Netherlands. They will be staying here for 3 months developing some new tourism curriculum for the high school. Science tutorias went well; I helped kids with our upcoming quiz and I think they understood and will do well. I went swimming in Froni’s pool with Paola and Tad after school because it was so hot. We tried to teach Paola how to swim, but she kept getting scared or as she’d say “I have a scare!” Wednesday I got my free periods of math back to plan since Mr. Lara is back! Tuesday and Wednesday night the power went off for a few hours each night, so I had to grade by candlelight. Since there was no electricity, that meant no hot water which meant I had to take a few cold showers; it was quite refreshing to say the least!
I ran up Celaque on Monday and Wednesday. I’m getting getting better at handling the hills and such, which makes me glad. I still miss running on flat ground though! The stars Wednesday night were so beautiful because there was no power anywhere. It was also unbelievably warm, like a summer night, so I just enjoyed looking up at the stars for a while. Laura Beth and I played with Candido and Abagail for little while Wednesday night; they make my heart so happy. They’re just normal kids living in the mountains of Honduras and so full of life and laughter. I had whole conversations with them in Spanish, so I felt pretty proud talking to a 4 year old haha.
Thursday morning didn’t start out very well for me. A cat had gotten into our house the night before and had knocked over a glass jar. So there was broken glass all over the floor. As I was trying to clean it up I knocked over another one. Then when I arrived at school, Husai was stung by a scorpion, Jenny’s water bottle broke, and I had to teach PE because Mr. Bran was in La Union with the soccer team. So I was tired already by recess. I talked to Ana and we ‘decided’ on our new jobs for next year: she’ll take Vicente’s job and I’ll be the recruiter, like Mr. Lara and Jake just did. That way we can both stay in Gracias and Honduras if we don’t want to teach. Mr. Lara took my kids for math today during tutorias, so that was a nice change of pace. I worked on some of my room decorations for Semana Santa. Friday we had a half day (the kids left at noon) which I think was the closest we were going to get to having a day off from Teguz. It’s better than nothing; I’ll take what I can get. We had an all staff lunch and quick meeting and I stayed after school to work on my door for a while and then went home to take a nap.
Friday night I went into town along with Tad because his friends from La Union were coming into Gracias for the weekend. I had a craving for baleadas, so I ate those for dinner and then just chilled in the central park for a while. I just sat there and enjoyed the warm evening and the tranquility of Gracias, remembering that I live here…in Honduras…and this is my life right now. I do that sometimes, just have those ‘I live in Honduras’ moments and its great. I talked to my family on the phone until Tad and his friends were done with dinner and then we all headed back up the mountain to enjoy our Friday evening.
Recap of the week! Mr. Lara came back on Tuesday with people from Teguz for the day, along with three girls from the Netherlands. They will be staying here for 3 months developing some new tourism curriculum for the high school. Science tutorias went well; I helped kids with our upcoming quiz and I think they understood and will do well. I went swimming in Froni’s pool with Paola and Tad after school because it was so hot. We tried to teach Paola how to swim, but she kept getting scared or as she’d say “I have a scare!” Wednesday I got my free periods of math back to plan since Mr. Lara is back! Tuesday and Wednesday night the power went off for a few hours each night, so I had to grade by candlelight. Since there was no electricity, that meant no hot water which meant I had to take a few cold showers; it was quite refreshing to say the least!
I ran up Celaque on Monday and Wednesday. I’m getting getting better at handling the hills and such, which makes me glad. I still miss running on flat ground though! The stars Wednesday night were so beautiful because there was no power anywhere. It was also unbelievably warm, like a summer night, so I just enjoyed looking up at the stars for a while. Laura Beth and I played with Candido and Abagail for little while Wednesday night; they make my heart so happy. They’re just normal kids living in the mountains of Honduras and so full of life and laughter. I had whole conversations with them in Spanish, so I felt pretty proud talking to a 4 year old haha.
Thursday morning didn’t start out very well for me. A cat had gotten into our house the night before and had knocked over a glass jar. So there was broken glass all over the floor. As I was trying to clean it up I knocked over another one. Then when I arrived at school, Husai was stung by a scorpion, Jenny’s water bottle broke, and I had to teach PE because Mr. Bran was in La Union with the soccer team. So I was tired already by recess. I talked to Ana and we ‘decided’ on our new jobs for next year: she’ll take Vicente’s job and I’ll be the recruiter, like Mr. Lara and Jake just did. That way we can both stay in Gracias and Honduras if we don’t want to teach. Mr. Lara took my kids for math today during tutorias, so that was a nice change of pace. I worked on some of my room decorations for Semana Santa. Friday we had a half day (the kids left at noon) which I think was the closest we were going to get to having a day off from Teguz. It’s better than nothing; I’ll take what I can get. We had an all staff lunch and quick meeting and I stayed after school to work on my door for a while and then went home to take a nap.
Friday night I went into town along with Tad because his friends from La Union were coming into Gracias for the weekend. I had a craving for baleadas, so I ate those for dinner and then just chilled in the central park for a while. I just sat there and enjoyed the warm evening and the tranquility of Gracias, remembering that I live here…in Honduras…and this is my life right now. I do that sometimes, just have those ‘I live in Honduras’ moments and its great. I talked to my family on the phone until Tad and his friends were done with dinner and then we all headed back up the mountain to enjoy our Friday evening.
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