This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to the U.S. to visit my friends at Grace College in Winona Lake, IN. It was so strange to be back in the U.S. again! I flushed toilet paper, drank out of the sink faucet, took a real shower, washed AND dried my clothes, and overall had a fantastic time. I was able to play in the Grace College alumni soccer game while I was there and saw lots of friends that I didn't think I would see again.
When I was packing for my trip, I realized I did not have very many warm clothes to take with me, but figured it would be fine because how cold could it really be, right? I am pretty sure I did not stop shivering the entire trip!! It was only about 50-60 degrees there, but it has not gotten that cold in Honduras even once since I moved here so I was not prepared for it. Thankfully my friends kept me well clothed, however I did get a rather bad cold from the weather. Don't feel too bad though - as soon as I got back to Honduras I was informed we were going to have the hottest day of the year today and everyone was warned to dress accordingly for school.......talk about a shock to the system after being cold all weekend!!
Surviving the airports was an adventure in itself! I have been to many jungles down here and survived them all fine, but place me in a U.S. airport and then things really start to get interesting! I was held up at customs for a while when a man a few people in front of me attempted to sneak into the U.S. with fake documents. After this everyone was stopped and finger printed, had their picture taken, and interrogated......I however somehow made it through without any of the above steps being taken.
I then proceeded to walk through the airport taking everything in. I stopped in one store to see if they had any headphones to replace my broken ones. I walked up to the counter and asked {in Spanish} "How much?" The lady looked at me weird so I quickly recovered {in English} with, "Sorry. How much do these cost?" She told me they would be $10. "Ten dollars!?!?!," I said, "No, no, no. I will give you $7." She looked at me weird again and pointed at the sticker that said $10 on it. This is when I realized I was trying to haggle in a country that does not believe in that and shamefully said, "I am so sorry. I'm just gonna go now." Great way to welcome yourself back into the country!
The rest of the trip included Taco Bell, Starbucks, real chocolate, watching Rocketman with my soccer team, driving my old car I owned in college, a road trip with my girls AK, Sam, Holly, and Natalie, lots of soccer, and many other things I love.
I am now back in Honduras and preparing to finish the school year out strong. Only 8 more weeks until I get to see my family!!! {And only 44 days until the World Cup begins!!}
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A great way to end a fantastic week
Friday was one of the most entertaining/interesting days of my week! I had been looking forward to Friday mainly because I could not wait to head downtown to see the guys from the street again, but never imagined how many events would lead up to it!
To begin with, the sky had been somewhat overcast when we headed to school giving a little bit of relief (albeit not much) from the blazing sun. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to sit outside during my plan periods to enjoy the fresh air, seeing as I am not outside a whole lot in this country - mainly for safety reasons. That morning I had gone and gotten a HUGE cup of coffee from my friend Matt and had just began drinking it out on a bench when I heard a "plop." I turn and look, only to find a big floating ball of bird poop bobbing in my hardly touched coffee! A bird flying over had aimed it just right to try to dampen my day a little - joke is on the bird though because I laughed so hard over this (and so did the rest of the teachers when they heard) that I guess it was worth the sacrifice in coffee for the story.
We then had Dia de las Americas (Day of the Americas) where the 10th and 11th graders set up booths for each of the countries in North, Central, and South America. Teachers were allowed to go around and sample food from each of the countries......amazing!!! We also got little souvenirs from each country including Jamaican coffee, Belizian key chain, Dominican Republic cigar, etc.
Soccer that afternoon was fantastic as always, although now that I have shown the boys I come to play, they have decided they are no longer treating me like a lady: after an hour of soccer I had been smashed into the cement walls several times, thrown to the ground by my shirt tail, took an elbow to the jaw, and almost cracked my shin bone. It took them long enough, but they finally treat me as an equal and I love it!!
Finally, as I was getting ready for bed last night a terrible storm began! If you know me, you will know that I am TERRIFIED of thunder. This thunder was worse than anything I had ever experienced and was shaking the loose window panes quite harshly as deafening rain poured down on the metal roof of our house. I went to bed earlier than usual to try to sleep through the worst of it, but it continued long into the night. I turned my music on as loud as possible to drown it out, but little seemed to be working. After hours of this, it finally began to subside and I drifted off to sleep. I woke up an hour later completely soaked! I had left my windows open, but had no idea how the rain was reaching my bed that is placed clear across the room. After waking up a little more, I realized the rain was not coming from the window, but from the ceiling directly over my bed!! It was literally raining in my room. I guess patchwork metal roofs mixed with styrofoam ceiling tiles do not do a whole lot to keep rain out!
I have come to expect unusual events to dominate my daily life now and they hardly seem to phase me most the time, but always seem to brighten my day! Honduras is quite the adventure and one I wouldn't trade for anything!
To begin with, the sky had been somewhat overcast when we headed to school giving a little bit of relief (albeit not much) from the blazing sun. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to sit outside during my plan periods to enjoy the fresh air, seeing as I am not outside a whole lot in this country - mainly for safety reasons. That morning I had gone and gotten a HUGE cup of coffee from my friend Matt and had just began drinking it out on a bench when I heard a "plop." I turn and look, only to find a big floating ball of bird poop bobbing in my hardly touched coffee! A bird flying over had aimed it just right to try to dampen my day a little - joke is on the bird though because I laughed so hard over this (and so did the rest of the teachers when they heard) that I guess it was worth the sacrifice in coffee for the story.
We then had Dia de las Americas (Day of the Americas) where the 10th and 11th graders set up booths for each of the countries in North, Central, and South America. Teachers were allowed to go around and sample food from each of the countries......amazing!!! We also got little souvenirs from each country including Jamaican coffee, Belizian key chain, Dominican Republic cigar, etc.
Soccer that afternoon was fantastic as always, although now that I have shown the boys I come to play, they have decided they are no longer treating me like a lady: after an hour of soccer I had been smashed into the cement walls several times, thrown to the ground by my shirt tail, took an elbow to the jaw, and almost cracked my shin bone. It took them long enough, but they finally treat me as an equal and I love it!!
{Afterwards when we were feeding the guys, 3 little Honduran boys were talking to my friend Megan, asking her all kinds of questions. One of their questions: "Is it true that gringas cannot have babies and so they have to adopt?" hahahaha! So cute!}
Finally, as I was getting ready for bed last night a terrible storm began! If you know me, you will know that I am TERRIFIED of thunder. This thunder was worse than anything I had ever experienced and was shaking the loose window panes quite harshly as deafening rain poured down on the metal roof of our house. I went to bed earlier than usual to try to sleep through the worst of it, but it continued long into the night. I turned my music on as loud as possible to drown it out, but little seemed to be working. After hours of this, it finally began to subside and I drifted off to sleep. I woke up an hour later completely soaked! I had left my windows open, but had no idea how the rain was reaching my bed that is placed clear across the room. After waking up a little more, I realized the rain was not coming from the window, but from the ceiling directly over my bed!! It was literally raining in my room. I guess patchwork metal roofs mixed with styrofoam ceiling tiles do not do a whole lot to keep rain out!
I have come to expect unusual events to dominate my daily life now and they hardly seem to phase me most the time, but always seem to brighten my day! Honduras is quite the adventure and one I wouldn't trade for anything!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Students Brighten My Day!!
Dealing with teenagers every day makes for one very interesting job. They are always saying hilarious things! One of the best quotes from today (yes, there are multiple per day), came from one of my boys who is usually extremely astute and on top of things.
Context: As the students walked into class I had an announcement up on the board saying, "I know the journal on your desk is not yours!!! I also know that no one will read this before saying, 'Miss, this is not mine!' Sit patiently and I will explain the activity to you."
Quote:
- Student: "Miss, you must be psychic!!! How did you know that I was not going to read the board?!?!"
Hahahaha!! I know them so well :)
Context: As the students walked into class I had an announcement up on the board saying, "I know the journal on your desk is not yours!!! I also know that no one will read this before saying, 'Miss, this is not mine!' Sit patiently and I will explain the activity to you."
Quote:
- Student: "Miss, you must be psychic!!! How did you know that I was not going to read the board?!?!"
Hahahaha!! I know them so well :)
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Guatemala
I have returned! Guatemala was amazing and impossible to capture in writing, so I will give a brief rundown of the events of the trip and allow you all to ask for stories later!
Highlights of the trip:
- Traveling throughout Guatemala (Guatemala City, Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, Antigua, Omoa on the North coast of Honduras).
- Seeing the Guatemalan people in their traditional clothing and hearing Mayan people speak in their native language
- Sailing around Lake Atitlan visiting all of the villages around the island
- Seeing the giant processions and street carpets made out of colored sawdust in Antigua
- Climbing a giant, active volcano that had a river of lava running down it that we roasted marshmallows over (everyone else on the climb thought we were so cool for bringing marshmallows to the top of the volcano); we all got slight burns from the heat of the lava, but it was still definitely worth it!!
- Being mistaken for an expert climber by a guy from Germany
- Staying in a hostel where Che Guevara once stayed and getting to lay in the bed in the room he was in.
- Getting to pet the bunnies that lived at our hostel in Omoa (a small beach town on the Caribbean)
- Getting to do lots of relaxing and card playing with a great group of friends/travel buddies!
School is now back in full swing and as we are finishing up 4th Partial, I can't help but look back and realize how fast my first year of teaching has flown by. I have grown a lot through my experiences in the classroom and love seeing how far my students have come :) I'm sure there are still plenty of adventures in store for me this year though and cannot wait to see what they will be!!
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