Student Files: Cristian

Cristian Noel Juarez Fiallos.

Insert frustration here!

This boy is my most difficult student behavior-wise. He repeated fourth grade last year. He should technically be in 6th grade now, but instead he disrupts 5A daily.

Unfortunately, he's smart. This shouldn't be a problem except he's lazy, too. He sits through most of my classes, tuning me out or distracting other students, and then manages to pass the tests. He doesn't do well, but he passes without any effort.

When he wants to be helpful he rocks! But some days he makes me fight him about the dumbest things. If I have to tell him to tuck in his PE uniform shirt one more time..... sigh. haha!

I KNOW he's smart and I KNOW he could be an amazing influence on the other boys in the class.... I just haven't figured out how to get him to realize his potential. So, that's something you can definitely keep in your prayers!

Cockroach Massacre 2008

Our third long weekend this month! I have no idea what holiday we're celebrating but I won't complain.

Unfortunately, our plans to visit Tela (our closest beach... only 3 hours away by bus) fell through due to weather. It rained for about 2 and 1/2 days straight--one of my students told me there's a hurricane near Mexico? Oh well. We decided we didn't want to pay all the money for transportation and rooms just to watch it rain on the beach. Haha.

Saturday night I chatted online with 4 people in 4 different countries--3 fellow SMs in Pohnpei, Palau, and Australia and an ACA student in Spain. It was awesome! What are the odds that we'd all be online at the same time, despite our different time zones? I was thrilled!

The girls in my house and I decided to get our weekly cleaning chores done on Sunday. The cockroaches had to die. I came downstairs from scrubbing the shower and found a small battle raging--Kayla mastered the Raid and Bethani wielded the dustpan, squashing anything that moved. At that point, the cockroach death count totaled 12. Gross. I attempted to help, but only the mop handle remained as a weapon.


I thought the battle ended twice, but the war had only begun. Just when we thought we'd killed them all, more cockroaches evacuated the Raid-covered cupboards. Screaming, flailing, crushing cockroaches right and left. Since I had no real weapon, all I could do was scream and point: "There's one! Get it! Get it!" Bethani shouted, "Kristen, screaming will not kill them!" Without a thought, I replied, "I can't help it!" Apparently I was the only one screaming. Haha! We sprayed so much Raid we couldn't breathe. Then we started counting. 61 COCKROACHES in one day. Gross.

I haven't seen a single cockroach since.

Student Files:Alondra

Oh Alondra.

Matter-0f-fact. Direct. Curious. Helpful. Honest. This girl never ceases to crack me up.

I remember my first real encounter with this girl. I heard some Spanish jabbering behind me (which they are NOT supposed to be doing--the school is very strict about the students speaking only English in class) so I turned around from the whiteboard, marker in hand, and asked the oh-so-obvious question, 'Are you speaking Spanish?' (Brilliant, I know.) Two little boys shook their heads furiously, saying, 'Nooooo, Miss! No Spanish!' Alondra stopped, blinked, held up her hand, and stated, 'I will not lie, Miss. Yes, I spoke the Spanish.'

Her name went on the board and I had to laugh to myself the rest of the day.

Alondra is my Science girl. She had THE BEST questions for me when we learned about the Human Heart. I was afraid to answer some of them without confusing the rest of the class.

Unfortunately, she's the only one who still wrinkles her nose at Human Reproduction, even after my 'You guys are mature 5th graders' speech. After a long discussion about ovaries and ova, Alondra raised her hand and asked, 'Miss, you like this topic?'

In true teacher fashion I said something along the lines of, 'Yes, isn't it interesting to see how complicated the reproduction process is and how everything all works together, just like the human heart does!'

Alondra frowned, 'But this is gross!'

She knows her own mind, that's for sure. :D

Inspections, Columbus, and Sleep overs.

Hello again, and Happy Columbus Day!

This weekend we stayed in Comayagua because we'd been assigned to bring cake for Sabbath's potluck dinner. Yes, we have potluck in Honduras, and it is goooood! :D

On Thursday the group of professionals quickly toured the school Rumors circulated that they'd observe our teaching, so I spent the first 3 class periods on pins and needles. But they returned to the office without stopping. Phew!

Despite the stress of the week, I thank the SDA committee for the best church service I've experienced in Comayagua. One of the committee members, a pastor, preached in our church on Sabbath. Here's the best part--he asked someone to translate, just so the missionaries could

understand! I didn't realize it until then, but it was the first sermon I've understood in two months!

Besides that, this weekend of rest has been much-needed. The seven of us decided to celebrate with a good old fashioned slumber party, complete with a pillow fight. :D

Sometimes it's hard to remember that I'm a teacher. Haha!

(p.s.--These pictures don't really have anything to do with this blog other than the fact that these 6 girls are my Honduras family and I wanted to share some of our adventures with you!)

Student Files: Carlos Gerardo

I spent the first 2 weeks of school thoroughly confused. I have two Carloses: Carlos P. and Carlos G. The good news is that their middle names are different!

Carlos Gerardo is another one of my brainiacs in 5B. He's as neat as a pin. While the other boys' books lay in tatters, he has his fastidiously piled on his desk until class starts.

He straight-up made me laugh the first day we had our Memory Verse recitation in Bible class. I had 5B working happily on a craft and I called them up one by one.

Carlos Gerardo walked purposely to my desk, spat out the first five words, and hit a mental brick wall. He strained and sputtered, winced, shifted his weight at least 8 times, and eventually pled, 'Miss! I knew it! I did!'

I couldn't help but laugh. I gave him 2 more minutes to study. 3 minutes later he told it to me perfectly and smiled.

His favorite class is Math. I have to keep reminding myself NOT to call on him for every question.

Student Files: Sally

Here is the first of my Student Files! I want to introduce you to my students.

I've thought about doing this for a while, so I finally broke down in my Science class yesterday and took pictures of all my students. Of course, they all turned uncharacteristically shy on me. :D

This is Sally Batres, one of my star students in 5B. Every time I ask a question, no matter what subject, her little hand shoots up before any of the other students have even registered the question. She wants to be the best student in Primary! I'm sure she will be.

The very first day of school I gave 5B the assignment, 'What did you do this summer?' and sat down, feeling a little unsure of my spot behind THE teacher's desk. Before I could look up I realized that Sally stood across from my desk.

Her huge dark eyes gleamed and she smiled her now-typically energetic smile, whispering, 'Miss, I'm not from Honduras either. I'm from Guatemala. Welcome!'

Yes, my heart melted. And every day her bright eyes dance as I watch new concepts click in her oh-so-fast mind.

Some students make teaching TOO much fun. Sally is one of them.

Weekend on Lake Yojoa

I'm starting to realize that we are NOT the only Americans in Honduras.

This Thursday the 7 of us strapped on our backpacks to get the most of our long weekend. Three bus rides later (complete with a 3 lempira bathroom break at a little store in the middle of no where) we found our self at the Lonely Planet guide's pick of places to stay at el Lago Yojoa--the D&D Bed and Breakfast. It was also a brewery. Haha. The seven of us opted to stay in one cabin instead of two (saving 300 lempira--approx. $15!!). 7 girls in 3 beds makes for an interesting night.

We met so many eccentric people! The D&D is run by an American--Bob Dale from Oregon-- and an eccentric British nomad named Malcolm. At breakfast on Friday he told us about the area and his uprooted life--working on farms in France, traveling through India, and finally deciding to settle down in a third world country village because of the amazing amount of unique bird species. He just looked odd, stroking his waist-length white beard and speaking Spanish in a British accent. Every time I thought the conversation was about to get interesting he'd jerk his head towards the bushes and pronounce, "That's a violet saber hummingbird making that clicking noise." Haha. The traveling community exists and thrives at the D&D.

We also met a group of 6 college-aged Americans! They're part of a group studying Spanish in a homestudy program from Calvin College in Tegucigalpa. On Sabbath morning we combined groups and rented rowboats out on the lake. It felt like something straight out of the Amazon... our guide Rafael probably found our rowing skills entertaining; he had 12 Americans to laugh at for 3 hours on the lake. Unfortunately, I didn't put on sunscreen on; the sky opened up and roasted me.

The lake was gorgeous and calm, but my knees and my shoulders have taken on the appearance of rare meat. But OH BOY did I lather myself in bug spray and I didn't get bitten once! Haha.

We've exchanged info with the Calvin kids, and they're going to come "student teach" in our classrooms one of these days.

I keep realizing just HOW AMAZING it is to be here. We are sooooo blessed!