Student Files: Geovanny

Ahhhhh.... Carlos Geovanny. This is the second Carlos in 5B, hence, we call him Geovanny.

I don't think I've ever met a crazier kid. He bounces off the walls, all over the place, touching everything, falling everywhere. I call him a sloppy genius--his Math book looks like he scribbled all over it, but all his answers are all correct.

Every week he comes to my desk to tell me the memory verse and puts on a show for the class. I need to take a video of it.

When I call him for his turn he shouts from his desk, "No! Geovanny no come today!" Then he stumbles out of his desk like he's marching towards the guillotine. "No, Miss!" He collapses against the wall behind my desk and waves his hands all over the place. He grabs my arm, pretends to cry, and more likely than not, falls on the floor in a pretty realistic panic. By this time most of the class has stopped working on their worksheet and is laughing histerically. Finally I say, "Geovanny, you have 20 seconds."

When the majority of the class finally ignores his show, Geovanny stands, back against the wall, swaying back and forth, waving his hands like a conductor, and repeats the memory verse flawlessly.

Messy + brilliant + wayyyy too much energy + performer + always happy = Geovanny. :D

Student Files: Daniela

Daniela. I think she's a new favorite.

Last partial Daniela didn't pass Math. This partial she's one of my few faithful participants.

"So what kind of fraction is this? Anyone? ....Daniela."

"An improper fraction."

"Very good! And how do we fix an improper fraction? Eduardo, turn around. How do we fix an improper fraction? Alessandro, where's your notebook?"

Daniela's concetrated expression reaches me from the back of the classroom. "Daniela, what do we do?"

"We divide?"

"Very good!"

Last partial her dad was in the US buying products for the family company. When he got back, she couldn't talk about anything else. A lot of families live that way--one parent, or even both parents, work in the US and send money back home, so our kids live in single-parent homes or with their grandparents, aunts, or cousins.

I adore her hardworking, non-complaining, positive attitude, not to mention her quiet teasing. Plus, she's always at the door when I come into class, "Miiiiiss. Good morning! Can I help you?" (As she pries the water bottle out of my hands.) :D

Parciales otra vez.

Hello from Partials week!

Last week we held our evangelistic series in the school auditorium! Every night the missionaries led song service (I had so much fun singing familiar praise songs in Spanish like ''Abre mis ojos, oh Cristo'' which is ''Open the eyes of my heart, Lord'') Kandice's brother flew down and did the preaching--it was so nice to hear sermons in English! The school arranged transportation, so every night a bus load of people poured into the church. I think there were 12 or more baptisms on Friday night--one of them was Sheila, one of my 4th grade girls, and her mom!

This past Saturday night the missionaries played a soccer game against the girls of a neighboring church. We tied 2--2, playing harder than ever. Those girls were good! After the girls game (while the guys showed us what a real soccer game should look like!) we played games with the church kids--London Bridge is Falling Down, En la Mar y En la Tierra (On the Beach, On the Shore--which I always knew as On the Line Off the Line), and Simon Dice (Simon Says). Those kids went wild!

This week I plan to kick back, relax, finish all my grading, and maybe see a little more of Comayagua. During Partials week we have only three class periods so my school day ends at 9:30! It's always a bit of mini-vacation! (Of course, this means we're starting the fourth quarter already... which I'm not quite ready to realize yet!)

Mindy and Karen (two girls who taught here last year) are visiting from Walla Walla during their Spring Break! It's been fun to compare stories and experiences with people who went through the same thing!

Happy Spring Break to most of you! I hope you're enjoying some much needed R and R.

Buses!

On Friday I named our new Star Students for the week. I came up with a new system--Emily and I decide on one student (one in 5A and one in 5B) who we've noticed and then that student gets certain privileges. We chose Keila in 5A. She'd been busily coloring her Bible worksheet and looked up in shock when I called her name. She ducked her head and smiled shyly the whole time I gushed about her helpful attitude. Made my day!

I spent most of the weekend on buses! Friday night we packed up and headed for Lake Yojoa again. When we got off the bus at the station I heard one of my favorite worship songs playing in spanish--we stepped right into a Friday night evangelistic series on the side of the road! I loved it.

We had our own church service (I read scripture) before heading down the dirt road. We stood next to the paved highway, waiting for the next bus to Peña Blanca. From there we hopped a Rapidito and then walked to the Centroturistico for the Puhlapanzak Falls. If you've never heard of this place before, google it! It's the biggest waterfall I've ever seen! Next time we go we're going to hire a guide to take us to the caves behind it!

Yesterday Bethani, Kayla, and I took a day trip back to the Valle de los Angeles. We went there 2 months ago to do our Christmas tourist shopping and since then we've wanted to go back. I bought myself a sarong for the soon approaching summer, we ate baleadas at a local Comedor, and hopped buses back and forth.
I'm beginning to understand the bus system here. The bus stops anywhere, as long as you're standing on the right side of the highway. The ''money man/guard" hangs out the door to see if you want his bus. You flag him down and the bus pulls to the side long enough for you to scramble onto the typical yellow high school bus that's been converted to a passenger bus. When you take your seat, the ''money man'' comes by with a stack of Lempira and collects your fare. Now you brace yourself to spend the ride (which can last anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 1/2 hours) trying not to watch the road curve around mountaintops and the pine trees pitch past you. As long as you don't watch where you're going, you don't have to worry! :D

Science Fair and Aguas Termales

I'm exhausted because this weekend kept me busy!

Friday: Science Fair!!! I spent the first of the morning arranging kids, finding extension cords, and moving tables. Finally all 6 of the 5th grade projects had their experiments and presentations ready to go! The 5A boys proudly displayed their experiment: they broke a glass bottle by tying an alcohol-soaked string around it and lighting the string on fire. (Thank goodness they also had a bucket of water.... just in case!) For an hour and a half the judges walked from table to table--I'd never seen my kids so nervous! By 12:00 the students cleaned up their booths!

Friday night: We stayed up to midnight our time (which is incredibly late--my bedtime is around 9:00 here!) because we had a Skype date with the WWU Church! Unfortunately, the connection was wayyy worse than during our test call earlier that day, but we got to see the church and even talk to some people! Thanks to all you who said hello! It totally made my WEEK!

Sabbath: Four of us hopped on a bus, then on a Rapidito (a little bus--20 people crammed in a 12 passenger van) and found our way to Aguas Terminales... the hot springs! These hot springs boiled out of the ground and joined a cool river, where we did most of our swimming. If you didn't watch your step you could scald your foot! It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings, with the trees hanging down over the river. Unfortunately, the manager of the motel-type place wasn't there, so we rode with some friends who'd come to meet us and stayed at their house in a town 30 minutes away!

It's so nice to get out of the city every once in a while and remember how GREEN Honduras is! :D