Tuesday
I had a fine day at school, but I was very sore from soccer yesterday! It was kinda cloudy and rainy today unfortunately. I stayed after for tutorias, which went alright (science) and then stayed longer to work out with Kirsty and LB. We ran for 20 minutes, did some abs and then walked up the mountain. I am so sore still…my body probably hates me working out 2 days in a row after like a month of nothing! I arrived home, did dishes, took a shower, had dinner, played Euchre, dishes again, and then grading.
Wednesday
We had chapel today and Sarah did the battle of Jericho. She played Joshua says and on the spot, was like, ‘Should I have them scream like the Israelites?’ I told her to go for it, so we had all of the elementary kids scream to take down the wall of Jericho! It was great. Wednesdays have been a little different for me lately with schedules because Mr. Lara wants to do 2 hours of math, so I have to either give up my spelling or reading that day; it usually ends up being spelling because we have reading vocab quizzes on Wednesdays. We went to town again today, went to Dinoras, got ice cream from Melanie’s, went back up, had a good dinner and then some grading/planning. We’ve also been talking about changing our Semana Santa plans because some of us are having friends and/or family come during that time and to go to Guatemala is such a trip when we’d only get to spend 3 days in Antigua. Guatemala deserves so much more time than that. The next option for us which would be better for almost everyone would be to stay in Honduras and do things around in Honduras, like go back to Copan for some people or maybe go to the coast to another beach or go to the islands or Lake Yajoa. I need to get planning that because it will be here before I know it!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 25
Today was a good day at school and the weather was beautiful today. My kids are improving in grades this nine weeks as I had to figure out this week who needed recuperation tests. I have less kids in recup this time than last time, so that’s a sign of progress, which makes me happy. It still tends to be the same kids that need to do recup, but sometimes it helps boost their grade higher; any little bit helps. The last hour of my Monday is spelling. My kids were kinda rowdy in the beginning, but then I gave them the last 15 minutes to do their homework (copy their list 3 times) and they ALL were working pretty quietly. So, I asked them if they wanted to listen to music…”Yes Miss!” Ok well it has to be quiet because my computer can’t go too loud. What song? They chose Michael Jackson of course…Thriller, then Lady Gaga Poker Face. I haven’t heard my whole class that quiet in a while! It was amazing and brought a smile to my face how much they liked the music and still were able to work.
I played soccer after school against the girls and man I’m out of shape! I was huffing and puffing and red in the face, getting kicked in the shins, did a roll and tumble on the cement, bumped my head on a tree branch, and then had to walk up the mountain. So needless to say I was tired! We had a great dinner, did the dishes, played Euchre and that was the conclusion to another Monday in Gracias, Honduras.
I played soccer after school against the girls and man I’m out of shape! I was huffing and puffing and red in the face, getting kicked in the shins, did a roll and tumble on the cement, bumped my head on a tree branch, and then had to walk up the mountain. So needless to say I was tired! We had a great dinner, did the dishes, played Euchre and that was the conclusion to another Monday in Gracias, Honduras.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Saturday and Sunday, January 23 & 24
Saturday
I slept in since I stayed up late last night and then Jafet and Candido came over to play for a bit. They love Jenga (thanks Herremas!)and they also liked to draw on the Paint program on my computer. I love them, but after a while I told them we needed to do some things around the house and get ready so they’d have to head home. They weren’t too happy about it! Poor kids…sorry! I then proceeded to clean the floors really well, laid out and took a nice dip in Froni’s pool she has up here in Villa Verde. The pool isn’t exactly like pools in the States, but it was great to cool off and relax a little bit.
We had to get out in time to get ready for the baby shower we had that night for Ms. Melgar. She is Jacki’s assistant in K4 and is having her baby in March. The baby shower was very similar to those we have in the States. We played baby games, one where we guessed how round Ms. Melgar was with toilet paper, guessed baby food flavors, and then which word meant baby in different languages. Afterwards we had dinner and cake to celebrate. There wasn’t a gift opening time because instead we each gave about $10 and that was all given to Ms. Melgar as a gift for her to use for whatever she needs for the baby. The mothers and those closest to her also gave her advice and then we prayed for her. It was pretty fun and all in Spanish of course, but it was fun to be with people from school outside of school celebrating something like that.
Kirsty, LB and I were the last ones to leave because Samuel came late and the ride was going normally until we get about half way up the hill. Then Samuel met some of his friends, got out, and was like, “They’re going to drive you the rest of the way up.” We were like, “What?!” especially when they couldn’t even get the moto started well or shift it; if they couldn’t do that on that part of the hill, we were so scared for what it would be like on the road closer to our house! Eventually we got going and they got the hang of it, but we were telling them for a while to make sure they don’t kill us. They had fun with it though and were joking around about it. We made it up, thank God, and got ready to watch the USA vs. Honduras game. It was a friendly game, a way for both of the teams to get more practice in before the Mundial in June; not all of the best players were on each team, but Honduras still won 3-1!
Sunday
After sleeping in and breakfast, I went to school with Juila, Kirsty and Tad to grade papers and decorate my door for bit. The rest of the day was pretty slow and relaxing; I had lunch, chilled in the afternoon, listened to a sermon on my computer from RezLife, and then Jacki made delicious pizza for dinner.
I slept in since I stayed up late last night and then Jafet and Candido came over to play for a bit. They love Jenga (thanks Herremas!)and they also liked to draw on the Paint program on my computer. I love them, but after a while I told them we needed to do some things around the house and get ready so they’d have to head home. They weren’t too happy about it! Poor kids…sorry! I then proceeded to clean the floors really well, laid out and took a nice dip in Froni’s pool she has up here in Villa Verde. The pool isn’t exactly like pools in the States, but it was great to cool off and relax a little bit.
We had to get out in time to get ready for the baby shower we had that night for Ms. Melgar. She is Jacki’s assistant in K4 and is having her baby in March. The baby shower was very similar to those we have in the States. We played baby games, one where we guessed how round Ms. Melgar was with toilet paper, guessed baby food flavors, and then which word meant baby in different languages. Afterwards we had dinner and cake to celebrate. There wasn’t a gift opening time because instead we each gave about $10 and that was all given to Ms. Melgar as a gift for her to use for whatever she needs for the baby. The mothers and those closest to her also gave her advice and then we prayed for her. It was pretty fun and all in Spanish of course, but it was fun to be with people from school outside of school celebrating something like that.
Kirsty, LB and I were the last ones to leave because Samuel came late and the ride was going normally until we get about half way up the hill. Then Samuel met some of his friends, got out, and was like, “They’re going to drive you the rest of the way up.” We were like, “What?!” especially when they couldn’t even get the moto started well or shift it; if they couldn’t do that on that part of the hill, we were so scared for what it would be like on the road closer to our house! Eventually we got going and they got the hang of it, but we were telling them for a while to make sure they don’t kill us. They had fun with it though and were joking around about it. We made it up, thank God, and got ready to watch the USA vs. Honduras game. It was a friendly game, a way for both of the teams to get more practice in before the Mundial in June; not all of the best players were on each team, but Honduras still won 3-1!
Sunday
After sleeping in and breakfast, I went to school with Juila, Kirsty and Tad to grade papers and decorate my door for bit. The rest of the day was pretty slow and relaxing; I had lunch, chilled in the afternoon, listened to a sermon on my computer from RezLife, and then Jacki made delicious pizza for dinner.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22
Good day at school. I had the 9th Bible exam today, hopefully the kids did well; we reviewed in three classes so we’ll see this weekend after I grade them! During penmanship, fifth grade’s last hour, I told them that if they work hard, then they could play for 10 minutes. That worked pretty well! Vivian kept asking for me to play Lady Gaga “Poker face.” I walked to town after school to watch some of Kirsty’s kids play in a soccer game, but either the time got mixed up or something, so we didn’t get to see them. Since we were in town anyway, we went to get popsicles at Lorendiana’s and dinner for Kirsty and Julia. We went up with Juan Carlos, who decided to play a little trick on us. He bought some gum and gave it to us, saying it was sweet. Well not so much; it was extremely sour for the first few minutes and my mouth was puckering like crazy and Juan Carlos was laughing like crazy at his joke. Oh Juan Carlos, you’re so funny! We ate delicious sweet and sour chicken by Jacki for dinner and then played Euchre for a long time. Tad and I did well as partners against Kirsty and Julia; granted Kirsty hasn’t played Euchre much, but she’s getting better! Afterwards Kirsty, Tad and I stayed up later discussing all the deep questions of life…always a fun time.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Thursday, January 21
Thursday
My kids were much better today overall; they seemed to be quieter and listening more so that was great. Hopefully trying to be more firm consistent in my discipline will help things. It was one of my students last day here because she was going to a different school for the last half of the year. She’s one of my better students all around and I love having her in class, so I was sad to have to say bye and know I won’t see her in class on Friday. Tutorias went alright with language and reading; I also had some kids that had to make up tests so I did that with them while the others worked in their books. I climbed up the mountain afterwards and met Candido and Jafet. They wanted me to come inside and watch a movie with them, so there I was for about an hour with these 2 adorable little boys watching the movie Spirit and Ice Age in Spanish! They gave me an orange, some candy and a rice krispie treat and were cuddling up to me at times as well. They’re such sweet generous kids; it really brightened my day and filled my heart.
My kids were much better today overall; they seemed to be quieter and listening more so that was great. Hopefully trying to be more firm consistent in my discipline will help things. It was one of my students last day here because she was going to a different school for the last half of the year. She’s one of my better students all around and I love having her in class, so I was sad to have to say bye and know I won’t see her in class on Friday. Tutorias went alright with language and reading; I also had some kids that had to make up tests so I did that with them while the others worked in their books. I climbed up the mountain afterwards and met Candido and Jafet. They wanted me to come inside and watch a movie with them, so there I was for about an hour with these 2 adorable little boys watching the movie Spirit and Ice Age in Spanish! They gave me an orange, some candy and a rice krispie treat and were cuddling up to me at times as well. They’re such sweet generous kids; it really brightened my day and filled my heart.
Wednesday, January 20
Today I had my kids write lines saying they would respect me and their classmates when we are talking by listening. This came about because of what they wrote about: talking when I was talking and talking when their classmates were asking questions. I remind them if they want their question to be heard or want others to listen to them when they talk, they need to listen when others are talking, including me. So that was fun. We also finished our oral reading tests today and when they’re not reading out loud to me they can read books I got from the library. Since we started that, when they have free time after tests or something, they usually pull out a book and start reading. It’s so awesome to see that because hopefully their reading skills as well as English will be improved. I also found out this morning that one of our students parents had died the day before; he was shot and was involved in the drug business. This was crazy to me; I guess I was just naïve to think that our kids’ lives aren’t like that. I know some kids here are poor, but those who have money don’t always get it by reputable means. So Julia had to go to the funeral, which was quite an experience for her to see one of her third graders just shut down with his dad now gone. It just makes me realize that I can really make a difference in some of these kids lives so they hopefully they don’t get mixed up in that way of life. I trust that the things they learn, the examples and models they see in the teachers and in the administration will be something God uses to keep them on the straight and narrow and dream of something more. We did our town run today again with Rodrigo in the truck; no nasty turpentine stuff spilling this time! On the way up he and Jacki were talking about the differences between different Latin American’s attitudes; like Hondurans, Guatemalans and El Salvadorans are this way, Costa Ricans are this way, Puerto Ricans are this way, etc. It was really interesting and funny to hear what Rodrigo had to say about all the different places and entertaining conversation for the ride up the mountain.
Tuesday, January 19
Normal day today, although I’ve been having trouble with my kids getting out of their seats for this and that and the other thing, so this week was put down my foot time. Otherwise it’s just so distracting to me and to the other kids so I’ve been stricter about that lately. I had tutorias which went pretty well because I only had 4 kids; Mr. Lara took the others for math. I felt a little more productive in the small group setting with the kids and I feel that at least in that time they remembered and understood what we talked about in science. I also played Euchre tonight for the first time since this summer with Kirsty, Tad and Julia. It was a blast because me, Tad and Julia know how to play pretty well, but Kirsty is still a novice so we played an open hand and then the following hands we had to remind her of a few rules like following suit, when to lay trump, and not reneging. But we got through a game and promised to play again to keep improving her Euchre skills.
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