Just Keep Swimming...

Another week over and another short week on the horizon. Friday is another holiday... I really don't know what holiday it is or why, but I have one less day to plan for, so I'm okay with it! The month of October is going to go quickly--we have 3 long weekends!

Friday was our first Parent-Teacher conference. I survived. Okay, better than that--I enjoyed meeting my students' parents! Some of my kids are miniatures of their parents. Haha. I'm sure my positive experience was due to my co-teacher Emily: the parents already love her from last year, so the pressure was off me. We had a translator with us, but most of the parents spoke English, which explains why our kids are so fluent.

Heidi got her violin in the mail this weekend. Friday night we brought out all our instruments and played song after song after song for worship. It was the most beautiful thing I've heard since I've been here. I played around on the violin on Sunday--I haven't played in a long time, but Heidi's going to teach me how to play with a praise band! :D

Back to school. I'm afraid my first Math class this morning lacked a little energy, but at least they understood the concepts, right? If only Cristian would stop distracting Eduardo, life would be perfect. :D

As hard as it is, I wouldn't want it any other way. I can't shake the feeling that I'm supposed to be here, that God prepared this position with me in mind. It fits.

I know I'm going to have to hold on to that. November is going to be a loooonnng month.

Parque Nacional de Cerra Azul Meamber

After traveling the 6 streets we've come to know and (sort of) love, the SMs decided we needed to get out. Comayagua is a great city, but the most grass we see is the tiny patch of crab grass outside the apartment; tile, tile, tile everywhere.

So this Friday a group of 8 (we brought along a native Honduran--Paul, the school's cashier. haha.) hopped on a bus to Cerra Azul Meamber National Park. According to our travel book it looked like a 1 and 1/2 hour bus ride to La Guama followed by a 30 minute taxi ride. As always, we were quite the spectacle.

On the bus, I couldn't help but notice the paradox of this country. My kids in Comayagua are wealthier than I am right now--they all have Hannah Montana backpacks, stickers, notebooks, and pencil sharpeners, they watch TV allll the time, and some of my kids have their own Wii. Five minutes out of Comayagua people live in the fields they work under a 5-square-foot shack. I know this difference exists in the US, but it seems so much more drastic.

The National Park rocked. The only cabin left for the night had bunk beds for 20... so all us girls slept on the top bunks, listening to the rain pound on the tin roof all night long. Finally, we saw some of the Honduras I'd always pictured. Sabbath morning we met our guide and headed out on the trails. Picture everything you've ever thought of when you hear the words "Rain Forest" and that's what it was. We swam in three waterfalls, hiked into the cloud forests, and ate our lunches of bread and PB on the top of a mountain. 5 hours after we left, we collapsed on the benches outside our cabin.

One exciting ride in the back of a truck and one squished bus ride between a little boy and a not-so-little woman later, we were back. It was nice to get back to Comayagua--it wasn't as strange looking as the first time we drove in. I recognized our very own Wendy's, Pizza Hut, and of course, the school.

Now I'm ready to hand out those Math tests tomorrow morning. :D

Honduran Independence Day 9/15

What a day. What a weekend.

Okay, nothing spectacular has happened this long weekend other than some major relaxing. Until this morning.

We were told to meet at the school at 6:00 for the parade. So we left our house around 6:05... and we still stood around for about half an hour before we left. Our kids looked so cute--all decked out in their band uniforms (complete with blue capes) or cheerleader outfits (Martha, a girl in my 5A class, was the head cheerleader... she got to carry the whistle and called the routines). I took pictures, which embarrassed the boys to no end. Priceless, really.

Then the parade started... Drums, pom poms, people lining the streets! The route ran 4 blocks down the main boulevard, turned left into the town, and then another left as we ended right in front of the Central Plaza. 10 blocks took 3 and 1/2 hours. And we were the 3rd school in the parade... I don't know what I would've done if we'd been assigned 12th. Most of the parade was spent standing still--or walking very very slowly. I have a very nice v-neck tan from my polo shirt. gross.

Honestly, though, it was cool to see the town come alive. Our band played so hard and energetically the whole time; I'm pretty sure my arms would've fallen off before we'd gone one block if I'd been playing the drums like those 11th graders were. Some of the other bands were crazy--one had clowns on stilts! Oh, explain this to me; the Catholic school marched right behind us... Nuns swarmed on every side, organizing the kids while their cheerleaders wore some kind of corset-and-mini-skirt combination with 3-inch heeled white boots. Ironic. haha.

Now we have two more glorious days of vacation, and Thursday is Teachers' Day! Apparently the 11th graders have some activities planned for us--I heard rumors of American Idol and Top Model. Hopefully I won't have to get involved. Haha. Then my 5th graders have their first Math test... it's written and ready to print. :D

Life goes on. Yesterday us SMs celebrated our 1 month anniversary in Honduras!

Dia de Los Ninos! 9/10

"Miss! What do you do for Kids Day where you come from?"
"We don't have Kids Day where I'm from! This is my first one ever!"
*mouths gaping open in shock*

Kids Day is amazing. School ended early and each class planned their own party! I helped out for 5B, who all brought money to school for Pizza Hut pizza! The rest of the afternoon, the kids played outside, played Heads Up Seven Up (they looooove that game), or Duck Duck Goose. The last game led to cries of "Miiiiiisss! Miiiiss! Come play with us!" One round of Duck Duck Goose on tile floor.... I almost landed on my face. Then, everybody got a piece of cake AND a brownie, and the day was just about over. Now I definitely don't understand why we don't do a Kids Day at home.

Yesterday we played our first soccer game! The girl teachers were supposed to play the 11th grade girls, but when we showed up at the school only 2 girls had shown up. We played against each other; my team won 9--3 (because we had 2 native Honduran teachers on our team, but shhhh!) It was fun!

Lesson plans are due tomorrow. Oh boy. And the big Jamaica vs. Honduras soccer game is tonight... fireworks keep going off randomly on our street.

I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend. Yay for Honduran Independence day!

Let me know how your summers are going!

First Week of Teaching 9/5

I´m about to finish my first week of school! So far, I love my kids, but I know I´m going to have a ton of work to do. I can´t wait for Sabbath! :D

My co-teacher Emily had this class last year in 4th grade and she trained them so well! They just do what I tell them to do! It´s amazing. And they´re so smart! I hope I don´t bore them!

Emily and Greg are an American couple (about 27 years old or so) who accepted God´s call to work in Honduras. This is their second year here, and they´re super helpful!

In contrast to my fabulous 5th graders, 4th grade is a nightmare! And I only teach them Bible. Okay, they´re not horrible, but they´re definitely a little on the crazy side. Every other word is ¨Miss! Miss! Miss!¨ I feel like the most boring teacher in the world because I can´t do anything fun with them. If you guys have any creative ideas for Bible classes, I would appreciate your help! I´m going to run out of ideas soon! haha.

Last night Bethani and I decided to make homemade pizza and we invited a couple of the other teachers over. It took forever! We always forget exactly how slow our oven is. :D

So far, I love teaching. I hope it lasts!

Week 1: Discoveries 8/25

Hello world!

So far, so good! All us SMs have fallen into a semi-routine, although things will be much more structured once school starts. The first day of school is on Friday (only a half day, though).

I'm teaching 5th Grade Math, Science, and Bible, and 4th grade Bible! I'm super excited. The principal says the 5th graders are one of the best behaved classes, and very fluent in English, too!

I'm still getting used to living in a city! We have a 7-10 minute walk to school every morning, down the main boulevard in town. Cat calls, kissing noises, cars honking, random English phrases thrown in our direction. I suppose a pack of seven American girls walking down the street is an odd sight. We'll get used to it.

Kaylah smashed a massive spider in our house yesterday with the broom. It was the size of a salad plate! I hid behind Bethani.

I felt very Laura Ingalls Wilder yesterday. I finished my lesson plans and helped Bethani knead our homemade bread. Then I washed my clothes by hand (our washing machine doesn't work) and hung them on the line. As Bethani says, all we need is the long braid of hair. Haha.

Today we're hoping to explore the town and do some tourist-y type stuff, while we're still tourists. :D

Just Landed! 8/18/08

Hello from Honduras!

Five of us from Walla Walla arrived in San Pedro Sula yesterday around 1100 am. I started sweating as soon as we landed. Haha. An administrator from the school picked us up and loaded all our stuff into her tiny truck. I didn´t think it would all fit, but with a tarp and some twine-rope, it happened. We all rode in another van... a parent from the school drove us two hours to

Comayagua, where they dropped us off at our houses!

Bethani, Andrea, Kaylah (from Union), and I are in a two story house and the other girls are across the street. I even have my own room! Haha. After Pizza Hut and a quick stop by the local supermarket, I was very glad to take a shower and fall in bed.

This morning we had a quick orientation and now we´re free to get settled! Our internet won´t be set up for another few days, so I´ll let you know more later!

God bless you all!