Weekend May 15 & 16

One year ago this weekend I graduated. So crazy to think back to where I was a year ago this year. I had just finished living in Chicago, one of the big cities in the US, graduated college and was preparing to come teach in Honduras for a year. Now I live on a cloud forest mountain in a small town in Honduras and I’m a teacher. How much more opposite can you get? I’m even more interested/scared/clueless as to where I’ll be a year from NOW and how different or similar it will be to where I am now.

Saturday Tad and I went to town to buy food for the dinner I was making him that night. Since I won the NCAA basketball bracket, he had to buy my dinner. I said I’d ‘make it up to him’ by making him dinner. He doesn’t get much variety in his diet living at the comedor either so I figured it’d be a nice change of pace for him as well. While we were shopping he started feeling crappy with stomachache, headache, etc. I continued to shop while he rested and we went back up to Villa Verde shortly after. I did some schoolwork while I waited to see if he was feeling well enough to eat (which he did).For dinner I made a form of lemon pepper garlic chicken with parmesan on top, green beans and broccoli, and rice. It was pretty darn good if I say so myself…success.

Sunday I did dishes, laundry, and almost finished planning the trip I’m taking after school to Antigua (and surrounding areas) and Roatan. Hopefully everything works out for it traveling, but I’m excited to see other parts of Central America.

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.

Saturday and Sunday, May 8 & 9

Saturday a lot of our students had soccer games in town. There was a U12 and U14 game along with a girl’s game in the afternoon. Tad, LB, Paola (my fourth grade neighbor who lives at the comedor) and I went to town to watch them play in the morning. It was early enough that we could see the U12 game (which my fifth grade boys played in) before the bank closed. I really love seeing my kids outside of school, especially playing soccer which they love so much. They did great; they won 9-0! They played with great teamwork as well; only one boy scored two goals and the rest were by different boys each time. After their game, Tad, Paola and I went to run some errands in town. We had wanted to go to the bank, but when we got there the line was out the door again. ATM’s need to be brought to Gracias. I had enough money to cover lunch and we had also been assigned the task of buying decorations for our neighbor’s son’s (Neo) birthday party. We went into a papeleria to find stuff and we found a birthday sign, some crepe paper to make streamers, hats and balloons. Afterwards, we let Paola pick where she wanted to eat lunch and she chose Guancascos so we ate lunch there. All three of us went back up the Villa Verde and spent the rest of the day doing schoolwork and relaxing, finishing the day with a movie at night.

Sunday Tad and I had to decorate the comedor for Neo’s bday party; we enlisted some help blowing up the balloons from the rest of the kids. That went…interestingly. They would blow them too big and they would pop; they would blow them up and then let the air out. Eventually we taped all the balloons up, hung the streamers, put up the sign and got ready for the party. The party started at 11 (aka 12:30 in Hispanic time) and we ate some great food for Neo’s birthday. This included chicken salad sandwiches, potato salad, chips with cheese and pico de gallo stuff, fruit salad and cake. Yum. It was amazing. Neo was so excited he kept saying, “It’s my birthday party!” I’m glad he had a good time. The rest of Sunday I caught up with friends and family and relaxed.

Monday-Friday, May 3-7

The days during the week seem to run together more now so I forget what’s happened until I take time to remember the week (or ask other people what happened this week). Unfortunately, our water has not been consistently running for about a week now. That means we take showers at Kirsty and Julia’s (or not at all); do dishes with water from jugs or the pila that we fill when the water’s on; have to flush the toilet using a bucket of water, and can’t wash our hands very well. I never realize how much I use water on a daily basis until I’m without the convenience of it. We’re still not sure why it’s been on and off the entire week because we have plenty of water in the river behind our house so water shortages or outages aren’t necessary. We don’t know if it’s something to do with our pipes or pipes farther up the mountain or what. It just gets kinda old waiting for the water to come back on or wondering if you’ll have water in the morning or not. I think it probably bothers us more than our neighbors. They deal with it (although I would think it would bet a little annoying to them as well) because they’re used to it happening. We, being from America, are used to having water at our immediate disposal whenever we want it; therefore when it’s like this consistently for a week, we get upset. I was thinking about this and other things that happen in Honduras that can get under my skin. It bothers me more because I’m not used to it being a part of my normal life. Buses breaking down, the water not running or electricity going out are all a part of a ‘normal’ life for quite a few Hondurans; so it doesn’t bother them to the extent it may bother me. It would be like if my car broke down or had problems everyday in the States; I would come to expect it so while it’s still frustrating, I expect it. Most cars aren’t like that though in the States so when something like that happens, we get angry, frustrated, all those great emotions. That’s the best comparison I can make at the moment…

We had some visitors to our house this week. One of Jacki’s friends in Michigan knew these people and they were coming to visit Honduras and decided to come to Gracias because we were here and they’d have a place to stay. So Tuesday night they rolled in after a full day of travel. Two or all of them were from the West Michigan area; both of the girls and the guy went to GVSU. It’s crazy talking to people who visit through connections because you always find other connections. I was talking to Justin, the guy, and found out we got to the same church back home and have mutual friends. I am always blown away by how SMALL of a world it is. Also, one of the girls, Betty Sue, had received an email about a teaching opportunity for ALCS and realized it was in Gracias where she was coming to stay. She didn’t end up interviewing, but coincidence just the same. They stayed with us for a few days and then left for Teguz to visit one of Justin’s friends who was teaching there.

Schoolwise, it was just a normal week. I did chapel on Wednesday about Mother’s Day and famous mothers in the Bible. Some of my kids were ‘pensar mal’ as they like to say (thinking badly) again this week. We had a new vocab list for reading and Marcos wondered why we didn’t have 10 words like we did earlier in the year because he liked the bigger lists. Leonela commented that he likes big things and some of my boys started laughing and giggling. I turned around and asked what was going on; the situation was explained and I couldn’t believe that their 10 and 11 year old minds went there! Since Mother’s Day was this coming Sunday, we took a few periods during the week to make Mother’s Day cards, on which the kids did an awesome job. Claudia’s birthday was on Wednesday, so her mom brought cheesecake for the class on Friday; as the kids would say que rico (how delicious, good, rich, etc). I have 5 school weeks left here in Honduras and 7 weeks until I get home. Only 5 weeks left of a 10-11 month experience here…wow. More reflections on that later.

Saturday and Sunday, May 1 & 2

This weekend was great; I didn’t do much. I didn’t even go to town on Saturday. I got some sleep on Saturday, worked on schoolwork, caught up with friends and family via phone and email and watched a movie. Sunday I cleaned the house, did my laundry on the pila and dishes, planned my after school trip to Guatemala and Roatan, listened to a downloaded sermon, and watched another movie. Great. I think I'll continue this trend until school is done for a few reasons. One it saves money; two it allows me to relax and makes the weekends seem longer.

Monday-Friday, April 26-30

Monday went pretty well. It downpoured at the end of the school day and us teachers were sitting there waiting to go until it stopped when I had a sudden urge to go puddle jumping. I’ve gone puddle jumping many a time in my day and perhaps it was unprofessional of me, but no kids were around it was just us teachers and the principals were getting ready to leave. So I convinced Laura Beth to go with me and we went into our plaza and started getting wet, splashing in all the puddles. I was soaked afterwards, but I figured it didn’t matter because I was going to get wet anyways on the walk home from school (which I did).

Wednesday was chapel. We have this schedule of who is supposed to speak in our new chapel for fifth, sixth and Nivelacion and it’s been mainly between Mrs. Lopez and I because Laura Beth teaches class first hour, which chapel runs into. Once Tad came, he and Mrs. Lopez would take turns being with Nivelacion and the older kids. We also have these things called duty roles such as watching the plaza, the cafeteria, at recess, etc so if kids get hurt we see it. When Tad arrived they originally said they were going to incorporate him into those schedules (chapel and duty roles), but never really got around to it. He wasn’t going to mention it until LB decided to remind Mr. Calderon when he made the new chapel schedule. So Tad, even though he feigned annoyance at being put in, is now in the mix of chapel speakers and spoke for chapel. Wednesday we also ended up switching art with seatwork on Thursday, which the kids didn’t mind. We went to town (no rain this time), did our shopping and came back up for the evening.

Friday was parent teacher conferences and giving of the grades to the parents, so the kids left early from school at 1:40pm,which gave us enough time to get set up and dressed up for the conferences. The teachers are supposed to wear their full uniform: jacket, white button up shirt, pants and/or skirt, and tie for guys. Everyone also puts on more makeup and does their hair to look good for the parents. Conferences were from 3-6pm and they went really well. I had most of my parents show up to get their kids’ grades and most of them were satisfied with the progress from the first quarter to the third quarter. A few students had some grades that went down, but it was mainly because of their test scores. It was nice for me to see as their teacher the progress that many of my kids have made academically since the beginning of the year, even if it’s only a little bit; it’s still progress. At 6 we were out of there and starting unwinding and enjoying our Friday evening.

Friday to Sunday, April 23-25

I had a great weekend this weekend. Saturday I went to town and Tad and I decided to go see the fort in the middle of town. I hadn’t been there since I arrived in Gracias in August and it’s so easy to get to, I don’t know why I didn’t go sooner. It’s called Fuerte San Cristobal and has a very interesting history behind it of protecting Gracias as a colonial town and being the location of one of the first public schools (in Honduras, I believe). It’s shaped like a star and has five lookout towers which offer a great view of Gracias from the top of the hill. On the opposite side, Celaque looked beautiful and looming. It was hot that day, though, so we didn’t stay up there long; just long enough to take pictures and enjoy the view. We bought a few things in town, ate lunch at Bella Celaque, and headed back up to Villa Verde. A bunch of the guys from the school like Mr. Bran, Mr. Rodrigo, some our neighbors and Tad played an afternoon soccer game. Laura Beth and I went to watch and be the unofficial ‘cheerleaders’ and photographers.

Jacki (23) and Candido’s (5) birthdays were Friday and Saturday, respectively, so Jacki helped to prepare a double birthday party. All of the neighborhood came as well as some of Jacki’s K4 students and parents. We had Chinese rice for dinner (people in the States have pizza for birthday parties; we have Chinese rice) and then Juan Carlos had bought a huge red dog piñata for the kids to break open. The kids had a blast wacking that piñata and it didn’t last long! The candy fell out and chaos ensued. Afterwards was cake and opening presents and clean up. It was a fun night to spend with neighbors and friends celebrating Jacki and Candido’s birthdays. Sunday was schoolwork, catch up with family and friends, laundry, and relaxing before starting another week…6 more weeks!