Grateful

As my time in the good ole USA comes to a close, I thought I'd write a little bit about what I appreciate now that I'm back.

Here it goes:

1. Seeing friends and family. I know it sounds obvious, but it really does feed your soul to be home.
2. People actually following traffic rules. At first I was nervous and was a terrible back seat driver. This is because driving in Honduras requires a co-pilot and sometimes a team of people to make it to your destination. Everyone is so courteous here!
3. Shopping. Although it is overwhelming at times. Options (and familiar options at that) rock!!
4. Flushing toilet paper. Nuff said.
5. The feeling that although things seem the same, I have changed and now know just how lucky I am.

God Bless the USA!!

Christmas Cheer

Perhaps one of the best parts of teaching ELL's (English Language Learners) is that you are constantly reminded that they are ELL's.

Like one of my students always asks, "Because, Miss Lacey, because?" We have all explained to her that because is the reason and you want to ask "why" instead. So about half the time she'll ask using "why" and half the time she'll use "because". So sometimes she'll say "Because, Miss Lacey, because?" Then I'll remind her to use "why". Then she says "Why, Miss Lacey, why?" To which I respond, "Because..." I'm sure that's not confusing at all.

I also got a very heartwarming card this week. See below.
Outside of card


Inside of card

In case you didn't catch it, it says, "Ms. Lacey I You are tha ticher more cool for me." I don't want to toot my own horn, but I'd have to agree.

Honduran ways

So tomorrow is our last day before our three week winter vacation. This week started off with a party and tomorrow is our last hurrah before break. Soooo not like my last school and I'm soooo ok with that! Let me break it down for you.

Monday: Acto Civico. That's our morning meeting where we sing the national anthem of Honduras and then say the pledge. The whole school gets together and we have announcements, etc. This Monday on the way to school our new director informs us that we have a party then for our old director and her husband who are leaving. We're told that it should take about an hour. Sweet! So we had tamales, juice, sandwiches, cookies, and milk. The whole school together. There were gifts and lots of hugs to say goodbye. And that's how our week started. After the party that's when I decided my lesson plans of actually teaching would go out the window.

Tuesday: I was informed by my students that we were having a party on Wednesday afternoon. Oh, and it's at a student's house off campus. Oh, and it will take all afternoon. Oh, and could you collect the money for it? I know right, nice notice. I was pretty peeved but then realized this is Honduras and this is how we roll here, so get over it and go with it already! So yeah, let's all go to the party. And here's the money I collected.

There was also a rumor floating around that we may only have a half day of school on Thursday. Fingers crossed.

So I was thinking about how I always read Polar Express to my class and we watch the movie. When would I ever do it with all this partying? Right now, I guess. So we watched it during Math.

Wednesday: Party day! Party day! And P.E. Plus we had crafting centers with our kindergarten buddies before lunch. You wanna know how to stress out a teacher? Have crafting centers with your kindergarten buddies. Rough patch in my day. Then it was off to lunch. We all piled in the cars of the moms and were off to the house of Sofia (that's how they all say it because they're English Language Learners-how cute!). The party was a huge success with more tamales and lots of other treats. The only incident was we almost had a small meltdown with Andre (no pun intended) over climbing the slide with our ice cream. You wanna know how to exhaust a teacher? Have a 3 hour party at someone's house where none of the other adults speak English. My brain was on fire from all that Espanol.

Remember that Thursday half day rumor? It was true! Score.

Thursday: Half day! Half day! But, you won't be having your specials because we have to practice for our assembly on Friday. So...you'll have your kids all morning. Aye, aye, aye! It had been awhile since I had them that long. Third graders really like to call your name. All. Morning. Long. It's ok though, because I won't be seeing them for 3 whole weeks. We practiced our "I Wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas" song on stage. If you haven't heard a bunch of English Language Learners say "hippopotamus" or "hippopotamuses", you should! It's awesome. After school it was off to Chicken Run for some plato tipicos and some cervezas. I finished off the night at another parents' house having snacks and fruity cocktails. Nice.

Friday: I'll keep you posted!

P.S. Do you see a pattern here? We kind of never really know what's going on. I guess it's a blessing and a curse. Like the school is so small you really have a say in what's going on. But things can change really fast and sometimes people forget to let you in on the plans. Oh well! Everybody just calm down and go with it. Hilarious.

Jungle Zone and Cayos Cochinos

So for Thanksgiving we had 2 days off. What do you do when you have a few days off in Honduras? Rent a car and drive all the way around the country, that's what fool!

We started out on Wednesday and drove the whole 8 hours to La Ceiba and specifically stayed in Pico Bonito-the national park in the area. We had heard mixed reviews. Some said it was ok, some said it was dirty. Some said the beaches weren't that great.

Well, it turned out to be an amazing trip! That's even with the horrific zip lining I found myself a part of. Our lodge that we stayed at was beautiful. We had a porch that overlooked the river. Across the river was a waterfall. AND we were the only people there.

Thursday: Thanksgiving.
We took a zip line tour of the jungle. Sounds great, right! Wrong. Turns out it's the old timey zip lines where you have to use your hands to stop yourself. Your hands!! Who does that? Jungle tours, that's who. Well, needless to say I never figured it out. The first run I broke too early and had to have the guide come halfway on the line and drag me to the other side. Whoops! I told the guide, "No quiero ir!" That means "Dude, what is this shit show? I had to pay for this? I don't want to go, k?!" I did suck it up and finished the tour. Amit and Damaris were fine. They were like zip lining pros. I did have one good run when I actually had my hands placed in the right place and it all worked out, but it was only short lived. Two of the lines I had to have the guide go down with me. We were connected like partners. That's how I like to think of it. Not that I was the retarded one they couldn't let do it alone.

The highlight of the trip for me was a small farm we visited. We even saw a turkey. A live one.


Friday: Black Friday.
We booked a tour of some snorkeling to Cayos Cochinos. Short little trek through a Garifuna village and off for some amazing islands and snorkeling. This was the most fun I've ever had snorkeling. The water was amazing and I was so calm in the water. Not at all like the Tela snorkeling or zip line the previous day. This didn't have me thinking I might get swept out to sea or get stuck halfway across the jungle. We even had fins. Look who's using their heads! A snorkeling tour with fins.

The highlight of this trip was being able to just relax and enjoy the water. It reaffirmed that I think I can handle getting my scuba certification.

Saturday: Rain. And lots of it.
So we wait for it to stop raining. It sort of does. So we walk down the road to take the hike to see this illusive waterfall across the river that we've been staring at for 2 days. We pay our $7, which was a rip off for me since I didn't get my residencia discount, but whatever! Side note: whenever we can, we try to flash our residencias and I start calling everyone "mi hermano!" As if my residencia status somehow makes us related. People laugh. Mostly.

Across the bridge, up the hills we trekked. Only to be stopped not even halfway through by another downpour. Raining. In the rain forest. That's weird. So there we sat, seeking refuge under the beautiful canopy. We debated for a good while if we should go back or keep going. We eventually decided to turn back. Bummer! Good thing we did, because the monsoon arrived shortly after and it never cleared up again.

The rain took us to the mall. One of our favorite places in Honduras. I actually hate the mall in the U.S., but here the mall is civilization. Food courts and consumerism. Just like home.

And that leads me to perhaps our favorite memory of the trip. We come out of the mall to our rental car. Uh oh. We had a flat tire. Like I've said before, the driving here is a shit show. The parking is not much better. So, as we're getting the tire and jack out of the trunk, people are trying to drive by where there is obviously no room because our trunk is open and we're trying to get everything out. What's a driver to do?? Wait a few SECONDS and then be on their way? Be PATIENT and wait your turn?? No, that would be absolutely ridiculous. So, in the short 2 minutes it takes us to get all the stuff out, a car comes by and is obviously on his way to somewhere he was never tying to be on time to in the first place. Latin America is not known for its punctuality. Well, in true Honduran fashion he starts honking. I just look at him and shake the jack and tire iron at him and give him my best "give me a fucking break!" gestures. He proceeds to yell back at me, in his broken English, "What do you want, beeeeech?" Now, we can only assume he meant "what the hell" and "bitch". I didn't say anything. I mean, what can you say? "Nice English, beeech!" or how about "I love the beeeeech, thank you!"

Thank goodness not all men in Honduras are as ignorant. A nice family helped us change the tire and we met some nice people at the llantera (or tire fixing place). Some nice boys around 13 years old fixed the tire in like 5 minutes flat and charged us $1. Only in Honduras.

THIS is what I have to offer Honduras

So last week at school one of our teachers, who is our acting director at school, approached me and asked if I could present at a training. Actually, it was more like this:


Teacher: Hey Lacey! Next week we're presenting a training for the Honduran public school teachers. We're focusing on crafts and particularly crafts with recycled goods. What would you like to present?
Me: Um. Paper mache or something like that? We just made some globes.
Teacher: Great! Let me know what supplies you need and you should probably have your kids help out since it will be in Spanish.
Me. Um. Ok.


So tomorrow my contribution is going to be making paper mache globes. Or something like that. In Spanish.

Venturing out

This past weekend we went to the state of Copan in Honduras to see the Mayan ruins there. I'm always so fascinated by these sites. It was amazing to see them and I learned so much. On the way we also stopped at Lago Yojoa and saw an amazing waterfall.

Perhaps the most awesome part of the trip is that Damaris rented a car while her mom and aunt were here. We were like, "FREEDOM!" It's very hard to share a car between six people. Especially when you live in the boondocks. PLUS it was an automatico. Now that's a car! It was a cute little red car that hardly had any pick up and strained to drive on the mountainous roads of Honduras, but awesome none-the-less.

A few words about Honduras driving. It's not for the faint of heart. If you are the least bit passive, nervous or uncomfortable driving, then this is not the place for you. I finally figured out why everyone drives so crazy here. It's because the police only have "checkpoints". They don't really go out and patrol or make routine traffic stops. At least not that I've seen so far. The driving rules are merely a suggestion. No one is ever going to really enforce them. So that stop sign, yeah, don't worry about it. Passing on the side of a mountain on a blind curve, do it. Pedestrians on the side of the road? Who cares. With babies, you say? Get closer!

Sidenote: All the drivers seem to be in such a hurry all the time, yet no one gets anywhere on time and nothing ever starts on time. Two weekends ago we went to the town of Santa Lucia. They have a marvelous little church there. The bells rang for everyone to come inside and fifteen minutes later the priest was still talking to people outside as more and more cars drove up.

Lago Yojoa-We got to the lake late at night. And by late, I mean like 8 pm. It gets dark here early, so anything after dark is late. We stayed in this cute little (overpriced) hotel with lots of dogs. Like big, German Shepherd dogs. I took this opportunity to pet them, as most dogs in Honduras you want to stay away from. These dogs were cool, though. The next day we went to a waterfall. We're totally going to go back and do a zip line over the falls. No time this trip.

Copan-Very cute town. Cobblestone streets, colonial style buildings. Lots of shopping. Tons of stores with all the same stuff for sale. We even got a descuenta de maestros. I used to ask everywhere I went, all the time if they had a teacher's discount. I even asked at Disneyworld. They don't have one. Turns out you can totally get a teacher's discount in Honduras. Who knew?

We went to a Jardin de Mariposas-Butterfly Garden. They do not offer a teacher's discount, but I'd say go anyway. Before we went into the garden, we got to see all the stages of a butterfly's life. Awesome! We even saw a newborn butterfly and got to touch it. Amazing. So when it came time to go into the garden, I was stoked. I was secretly hoping that one would land on me. Be careful what you wish for. A beautiful butterfly the size of a bat landed on my hand and I freaked out. They don't like it when you freak out in the Butterfly Garden.

The next day we went to the Mayan ruins. It was very interesting and I learned a lot of facts that I'll soon forget. Maybe I should list them here so I don't forget.

Here I go:
1. 18 Rabbit was the most popular king and had many statues built in his honor.
2. They made human and animal sacrifices.
3. Human sacrifices were decided by a game of ball. The winner was sacrificed.
4. The lower class rebelled and left the upper class.
5. The upper class had to abandon the site and moved to other places nearby.
6. They do not like it when you sit on the monuments.
7. The Mayans believed that butterflies could be your ancestors coming back to visit. That could explain the butterfly encounter at the garden.

Putting things into perspective

Here's a video about my school. These kids and people are amazing. I am so lucky to be part of it.

Alison Bixby Stone School

Aren't Honduran accents wonderful?

Why yes, they are. One day in the not-too-distant past I was telling my class to flip the line. That means change direction, but stay in the same order. God forbid we get out of our line order. No really, I mean it. Line order is major in our class. At least for me anyway. I think they just humor me with sticking to it knowing how much I enjoy everybody in their little place. And I love how they tattle tell on anyone who dares mess with the line order.

Anyway I tell them to flip it, and some aren't listening. So they start policing themselves telling the ones that aren't listening what to do. Like, ten of them. It's kind of fun to watch. So then it becomes a screaming match of "Fleeeep eeeet! Fleeeeep eeeet!". Okay, maybe not screaming, but loud talking.

So I, in my best Honduran accent, jump on the "Fleeeep eeet!" bandwagon and start telling them. They are English Language Learners after all. About three minutes later, the line was "fleeeped" and we all made it to our destination safely.

Here's another fun tidbit of how wonderful Honduran accents are. Two weekends ago Damaris (5th and 6th Science/Math teacher) and I went to the little beach town of Tela. After lots of sun and beach time, some really unsafe snorkeling (that story is for another post!) and lots of A/C, we had to come back home. After our short 5 hour bus ride back to Tegucigalpa we get dropped off in the middle of some neighborhood where we had no idea where we were. We were also low on battery and saldo on our phone. Saldo is credit for your cell. We were trying to arrange a taxi ride to the mall to meet our ride, but only had 80 lempiras. While managing to negotiate a price and destination, the taxi driver got confused. Damaris said we need to go to "metro mall". He had no clue. She repeated "metro mall". It was only after I used my sweet Honduran accent to roll my r's and say "metRRRRRRRO mall" that they got it. Really?? I'm pretty sure it's almost the same name.

Busy Little Bees

The last few weeks have been really busy. This week we had Honduran (and most of Central America) Independence. That meant that on Tuesday we came to school, sang the national anthem, recited the pledge and participated in a desfile around the Zamorano campus. A desfile is a parade. There was even a band. We were walking around behind a band. They were awesome.

So Tuesday we had the desfile, then we went home at 11:30. We had Wednesday off. Tuesday night I went with my director, her husband and Daniel (1st grade teacher) to camp in a lodge in the mountains. Except when we got there it was closed. Not the mountains, but the lodge. It was all locked up. We did have some fun having cocktails and hors d'oeuvres while we waited for someone that never showed up. Oh well! It was nice to visit. And we had a great dinner once we got back to Zamorano. What's that we say?? Oh yeah, suck it up. Shit happens. Not awesome but turned out fun.

On my day off, I caught up on some tv. Like hours of it. It was awesome.

Today was "Dia del Maestro". I got a coffee cup. Some things never change. What to get your teacher?? I know!! A coffee mug!! Awesome.

We have Monday off. That's really the best gift you can give your teacher. Damaris (5th and 6th grade Math/Science teacher) and I are getting up at 4:00 for our other roommate Sarah (Fundraisng Extraordinaire) to take us to the bus station to go to a little beach town called Tela. Actually the bus station is more like a corner somewhere in the middle of Tegucigalpa. Should be awesome!

My parents are actually starting to understand how things work around here. My mom asked tonight, "Do you get bank statements from your bank there?" I laughed then they laughed. Then she said, "Oh yeah, it's Honduras." Isn't Honduras awesome?

Holy crap! I'm in Honduras!!

There are moments that I can forget that I've packed up my whole life (into five! bags thankyouverymuch) and moved. Today there was a moment where I remembered suddenly and kind of laughed/panicked to myself.

My class is starting pen pals with another class in the states. It's with a teacher who volunteered at the school several years ago. She is also teaching 3rd grade. We started drafting our letters today. It went a little like this...

As I'm modeling my letter, I start out writing "Dear Mrs. Smith,". Then I had the kids write to their pen pal. One kid wrote "Dear Mr. Greg,". I stopped to explain that Mr. is for adults and his pen pal is a kid, so no Mr. needed. He just smiled at me the whole time I was explaining it to him and totally made me laugh out loud.

Some of the kids are writing about their favorite foods. They wrote that pupusas are their favorite. So I had to stop and explain to them that before I came here I didn't know what they were, so they might need to explain. Pupusas, for those that don't know, are tortillas with cheese, beans, chicharrones or veggies inside. Kind of like a quesadilla, but different at the same time.

So they continued writing and one was thinking out loud, "Wait! Do they know what pizza is?!" Ahhh. Honduras.

Homeless

Or at least address-less.

Just recently I cashed in some traveler checks. Yeah, not as easy as you would think. First of all, our bank here in Zamorano couldn't do it. Ok, we were going into Tegucigalpa anyway. Whatever. So at Citibank in the mall, we asked about these majestic things called "cheques de viajeros". They couldn't do it and sent us on our way to another bank. So we're waiting in line only to be sent to the desk section of the bank and talk to some lady and then stand in line again to cash these damn checks. Not the end of the world. Some people don't even have water to drink. Or have legs. Some people don't even have legs!! And here I am complaining about these damn checks and how to get my $100 from America. Yes, I see how it looks. But that's not the point of my post.

Here is the point of my post: we have no address here. Like no physical address. While Naomi and I were standing in line the second time to get my checks cashed, we were discussing this. I had to give an address and phone number. The address was Zamorano, the phone number was the one on the hand-me-down phone Naomi gave me when I got here.

We have a Miami address where we get mail. Then the campus has to get it, go through it then send it on to us. That takes about 2-3 weeks. As far as location purposes, we live in the "casa pequena", or the second to the last house in Campus Alto. Naomi lives in the "casa grande", or the house right past the postal (guard post) in Campus Alto.

Crazy, right?? I don't get any mail. Like, none. I'm sure the amount of mail I'm getting in the states is more than making up for my lack of mail here. It's kind of like a secret that I'm here.

Don't tell anyone, ok?!

PS-please don't let the mail system stop you from sending care packages. I love me some care packages. :)

SUI

So our most recent mantra around these parts is "Suck it up!" Copyright Damaris.

Lights don't work in the bathroom? Suck it up.
Oh, it's raining again? Suck it up.
You have 15 new bug bites? Suck it up.
Maid washes all your clothes together? Suck it up.
No internet? Suck it up.
Oh, it takes 10 hours for your hair to dry? Suck it up.
Seven people sharing a car? Suck it up.

"Welcome to Honduras!" is also interchangeable with this mantra.

Now, it's not all bad here, just a few things take some getting used to. So that's what we mean by "suck it up!" Thank goodness for my lil' precious kids and for the laughter I have on a daily basis. I'm also quite enjoying all the tortillas, but I have since cut down to one a day. My school is so relaxed, it's fantastic. I like (most days) being challenged to speak and understand Spanish. There are of course perks of home that are missed, but I guess it's a trade off. Mostly I miss my family and friends. Everything else is just secondary.

And sometimes I speak with a Honduran accent

They sure do pronounce things different in Espanol. Gotta love those cognates. Like imagination/imaginacion. So in my classroom I pronounce the kids names as best as I can in Spanish. I like to think that my kids appreciate it and think, "Damn! This gringa has her pronuncation down pat!" Like Daniel is Don-yell. And Cecilia is Ces-silly-a. You get the idea. So when I'm calling on them, as I often do, it goes something like this (imagine this in my best Honduran accent): Nice job Angel, Miguel, Daniel, Jose Daniel. Way to go Adriana, Sofia, Eduardo, Jose Andres, Cecilia. I like the way Alejandra, Albanize, Gabriel and Ricardo are lining up! Good strategies Demi, Giorgio, Maria Jose, Andre and Shannon. But alas, it's not Shan-uhn. It's Schawn-nawn. I love it here. :)

Onions

My lessons are like onions. There are many layers.

Today we did a sequencing lesson. The book we read had the word "cavity" in it. So I asked them if they knew the word and to tell us what it was in Spanish so they could all understand. They proceeded to tell me many times, but I could never really understand what they were saying. So then they told me how to spell it and after many times of spelling it, we finally got it on the board. C-A-R-I-E. So I used my best Spanish pronunciation and they all laughed. Not like giggling, like we were all laughing pretty hard. Apparently I have some work to do. They love it when I say simple sentences like, "Agua aqui" to tell our custodian that some water spilled. Literally translated, "water here".

So when I got home I told Damaris and Sarah the cavity story. We looked it up. Yeah, turns out it's "cavidad". And I can totally say that.

And the Academy Award goes too...

me. Ha ha!

So sometimes during the day I find myself acting out things. Like I walk over to where we turn in our paper and pretend to turn in a paper, use my hands to pretend like I'm eating all my food to tell a kid he must eat before playing, or pretend to build designs out of pattern blocks to help explain the directions. I also do a lot of finger shaking to represent no. I can only imagine what kindergarten is like!!
My mom did always say, "If you can act, then you can teach!"

The language proficiency level in my classroom varies. So I'm sure that some of these kids are thinking, "What is this lady doing with all the hand gestures and acting things out. We get it already! Let us go to centers." For some kids, my acting is all they got. It is so rewarding when those kids do understand.

My class is so well behaved, for the most part. Today I told them they had five more minutes until we were done with centers. So, on their own accord, they all started cleaning up and were all in their seats waiting patiently for me before the timer had even gone off. Wow! I was impressed. So we played a game.

Ready for the weekend!!

So far this week I've:
1. Learned to talk a lot slower to my English Language Learners
2. Learned to use hand signals to a few English Language Learners
3. Learned to copy on a Spanish copier
4. Accepted that shit just won't work all the time, so get over it. Especially if you're really counting on it, yeah, don't count on it.
5. Fallen in love with my students.
6. Eaten about 20 tortillas and about a pound of beans.
7. Taken many showers in the candlelight. See #4.
8. Seen some underage undies in the boys' dorm on campus. Whoops! That sure was a detour.
9. Learned to appreciate coming home and relaxing.
10. Realized that growing means adjusting.
11. Loved laughing with new friends.
12. Been missing my fam and friends.
13. Been missing my car and jamming out to my ipod in my car.
14. Been thankful for all the things in my life and grateful for the experience to see as others live.

La Primera Dia

The first day was pretty good. I guess it's all the "newness" that makes it so much fun. The parents are cute. Almost all of them walked their kids to class and met me. I could speak very limited Spanish and some spoke very good English. The kids listen for the most part, and I found myself speaking very slowly and using a lot of hand gestures. Think that helps. I do have two new kids in class. Which means they may or may not have been getting a lot of teaching in English. One was a little stinker today. Talking while I was talking and stuff like that. He didn't understand what I was saying. He just nodded and smiled at everything I said, even when I was getting onto him. He had to sit out of recess but couldn't really tell me why. Lesson lost on that one. There's always tomorrow. I think I've got my work cut out for me with this one.



On a completely unrelated note, the trash here is complicated. It's divided into 4 categories. It takes recycling to a whole other level, if they really do recycle it, that is. First, there's "Papeles y Carton" (paper and cardboard). But not just ANY paper or cardboard. The kind that's not glossy or has writing. Then there's "Organicos". That's organics, y'all. But apparently it's not ALL organics. Like fat and bones can't go in there. Then we have "Envases". That's bottles and cans or anything with a lid on it. But not all plastics, so don't put just anything in there. That brings us to "Varios". That's Espanol for "various items that don't fit into any other category". We have daily discussions on the trash here.

Today my roommate and coworker, Damaris wasn't feeling well. I know, on the first day of school!! Sucks. Well, after school we were talking about it. She said she felt like she had to throw up during the school day and didn't know where to go. I told her I was pretty sure it would go in "Varios". We had a good laugh.

Two more days...

until I'm officially a teacher again. Today we went into Teguc, supervised of course, we're not crazy! Did a little shopping at the Hiper (Wal Mart), LaRach (Lowe's), and Price Smart (Sam's Club). You really can get everything here. Except some things are gonna cost you. Like mirrors (espejas) and wire baskets. But, I don't spend a lot of money anywhere else, so it's ok. No really, there's not much to do here and going out to eat in Zamorano, the chicken drive, will cost you about $7 and that's with beers. It rocks! Plus there are some good sites that you can stream free movies on. One movie I watched had some heads popping up in front of the movie and people laughing in it, but I'm gonna pretend I didn't see all that.

I'm a little nervous about teaching down here because they're all English language learners. I'm half expecting them to look at me like I'm totally crazy because they don't understand a word I'm saying. That's probably the biggest fear I have. I can only imagine what it's like in the kinder class. A bit of a circus at first, I'm sure. I have already told Naomi, the kinder teacher, that I must come in and observe. She said she probably says "sit down" 500 times a day and has to show them again and again. Funny stuff.

Today we're going to a BBQ at our director's house. There are 7 English teachers and this is the first time we'll all be together. Should be fun!

Here are some more pics. I can't believe how pretty everything is. It's the rainy season too, so everything is so green!

My room

Mural in my bedroom. No, I didn't paint it. But the doves represent freedom. And I like freedom.

View on campus

Walking through campus


Another view on campus

El lago

My desk

Room is coming along...I'm actually done, just need to take another pic

Me in front of the school


On the way to Teguc. Looks ominous.

Rocks on road. Totally safe.

View from the highway

Take a breath

Today was overwhelming to say the least! We had a short orientation on school policy and procedures plus a little bit of curriculum training. At one point I just stopped listening to what I was supposed to. I mean, there's only so much information that can this brain can hold.

Plus I found out last night that one of our teammates from our softball team died in a car accident yesterday. I couldn't sleep. Devastating news.

I was so upset and felt crazy today that I could hardly put forth the effort to speak any Spanish. Then I realized that I have to make the best of all these moments and try no matter how I feel. I got my room mostly done. We met all the Honduran teachers at our school and had a kick ass authentic Honduran lunch. We even got our wireless internet at home and I managed to entertain our handyman with my Spanish. Who knew that in the middle of Honduras you can get wireless internet?!

So now I realize that I have to take this teaching thing day by day, week by week, and enjoy the little moments. Also, there are some gems of people all around me that I just need to appreciate and enjoy.

And my wolfpack, it grew by one

Today Damaris came to Honduras. Yay! She seems super cool and laid back. It's so nice to have another person in the house. I didn't realize exactly how lonely it was till someone showed up! So far she's read my tarot cards, we've decided to paint her room and the bathroom, we went to our bosses house and had two glasses of wine and wrote a note in espanol to our handyman. Team work! I think this is gonna be fun. Two of us wolves running around Honduras.