This blog post is overdue! I have so many things in head that have happened recently. Here’s kind of a basic overview of how things are going right now. You can skip to headings below to read more about individual topics. :) Things are going well. I’m really busy, but I’m happy. I like teaching, but it is pretty difficult. I’m finding myself constantly redesigning lessons right in the middle of classes as I see that what is and what’s not working. I think that my Spanish has gotten a little better just out of necessity in the classroom… stop! sit down! hands to yourself! I love my students, but most of them are angsty preteens that are just on the verge of being too cool to learn English. Definitely still trying to win some of them over.
Vacation!
I just got back two days ago from my first vacation. It was wonderful. The other volunteers and I took a couple buses to get to Tela, a coastal town. It was wonderful to eat in restaurants and cafes and sit on the beach. The water was really clear, and there very few people there. We only had one full day there, but it was worth it… cold drinks, good company, a beautiful Mass, and pizza. I really missed the kids, and I’m feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work.
Dia del Nino (Kid’s Day)
A couple weeks ago we celebrated Dia Del Nino. The festivities began with a fiesta during the weekend. Everyone dressed up and got “guapo” for the event. The fiesta was in our cafeteria and was pretty legitimate complete with a disco ball, Honduran pop music, classic rock (Rock Around the Clock), and Gangnam Style. Needless to say, we were all sweating profusely the entire time. The night ended with a present for each kid, which was a new shirt, unless you were lucky enough to be a preschooler and get a giant stuffed animal. Later that week, we celebrated again at the school with a carnival of sorts. Everyone got the day off of school, and all of the teachers planned and ran games. After games, there were pinatas and cake.
Since the older boys/teenagers weren’t too thrilled about the carnival/pinatas, they got their own treat for Dia Del Nino. The principal of the school invited all of them to hang out at his house that night to watch the Honduras Panama soccer game. I got to go too, and it was a pretty cool experience. Side note here, the principal of the school, Osman, is amazing. He’s 23 (younger than me!), and he owns a modest house in the neighboring village where he lives with his wife and baby girl. He works so hard, really cares about all of the kids, and is leading a team of teachers that don’t all speak the same language. Anyhow, back to the story, Osman dragged out his plasma screen tv onto his little front stoop, and fashioned some homemade benches from cinder blocks and random scraps of wood. About thirty of us crowded around the tv for two hours, and I loved watching the emotion of the game. When Honduras scored, there were back slaps and cheers that lasted for several minutes. The sad part was that the game ended in a tie after Honduras had been leading. The teenagers still had a good time though.
The teachers/volunteers put in a lot of work before the festivities
Doesn't he look fancy for the fiesta?
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| Fiesta! |
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| The little one in the middle is our youngest kid here |
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| These two goofballs are my students |
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| Pinata with circle of safety |
Day-to-Day Life
During the week, the kids get up at 5:00 to get dressed and do chores before breakfast, but I get up around 6:00 to get ready for school, which begins at 7:15. Sometimes I go to breakfast in the comedor, but more often than not I hide in the house to enjoy cornflakes. Typical Honduran breakfasts consist of beans, tortillas, cheese, and maybe eggs. My digestive system is just not ready for that before 7:00… or at least not yet. During the school day, I teach four to five 45-minute classes. We have a thirty-minute snack break in the morning, which is always some type of fresh fruit. Lunch lasts about 30-40 minutes. The food served in the comedor is usually pretty good and we have a nice variety: beans and tortillas of course, chicken fried rice, spaghetti, chop suey, balleadas, baked chicken, etc. Every once in a while we’ll get a day where every meal seems to be based around beans, but those are rare. No one needs to worry about me withering away here, I’m well-fed! School ends at 2:15. The kids head back to the hogar where they do more chores and their homework.
Usually I do some planning or grading after school, and then head home for a little break before evening activities/dinner. A large portion of that “break” is also spent doing laundry. Laundry is a losing battle here. It’s done one article of clothing at a time by hand in a basin type thing called a pila. I kind of like using the pila. It’s relaxing; it just takes so much time. After the whole cleaning process, the clothes are hung to “dry.” It’s the rainy season right now, and the climate is so humid that you’re lucky if your clothes dry before they get rained on or get that musty smell that’s just horrible and need to be washed again. Anyhow, usually I head back out to the main hang-out areas in the hogar an hour or so before dinner, which is at 5:30. After dinner, everybody just kind of hangs out in the main area of the hogar for about two hours. We end the day with prayer circle, which is pretty beautiul. We hold hands and people take turns saying intentions aloud. We end with an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and “Buenas Noches” hugs for everyone.
There are some variables within the week. Twice a week my community (the other volunteers and I) have community time with dinner, conversation, and prayer in English. Once a week, I spend two hours with the teenagers during an afternoon homework session time. On Thursdays, we have a holy hour with some type of religious activity/service after dinner. So far, I’ve found time for about one run a week, which consists of me running laps around the soccer field after the kids are in bed. Weekends are a little bit different, but I think that you’re a hero if you’ve made it this far in my musings so I’ll save your eyes and my thoughts for a different post.
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| Our Living Room/Kitchen |
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| My Room shared with my friend/fellow volunteer Emily |
One Final Story
Last week, the volunteers were in charge of the holy hour for the week. We based our theme around forgiveness, and planned a mini-skit of the prodigal son. We were going to watch the complimentary Veggie Tales episode, but of course the power and internet went out an hour before the holy hour started. We brainstormed to come up with another activity. We decided to do an activity to show a relationship between two people represented by a string. During the activity, the string would be cut with scissors to show an offense/sin, and then it would be tied back together to show forgiveness. To kill more time, we decided that we wanted all of the kids to do the activity at the same time… all 92 of them. Yep. It was raining cats and dogs outside, and the kids were wound up. I was the one giving directions (in Spanish) on the microphone during the activity. It was utter chaos. Kids were refusing to do it or had no idea what they were doing, and nobody was listening. Finally, I pointed at a pair of kids who were holding a string between them and seemed to be doing the right thing, and said, “This is a good example right here.” I failed to notice that at least one and possibly both of the kids had the string in their mouths. Next thing we knew, everyone around the room started putting the strings in their mouths or looking at me or the other volunteers with very puzzled expressions. I tried to say “not in your mouth,” but I think it got lost in translation. Somehow we muddled through the rest of the activity, and I think the message of the activity got across to maybe about half of those present. During the quiet reflection time that followed the activity, I just kept laughing quietly, and the whole thing still makes me smile now. Things may not be perfect or easy here, but they are pretty entertaining and interesting all of the time.
