I am back

I am back in Honduras. I have not written since the last time I was in Honduras. I like Honduras.

My kids are working on a project with the librarian, and I am realizing that I don't have them as trained as I thought I did. Have you ever seen the show "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?"? Well, I am not and I am teaching it. I have to relearn everything about cell properties, dividing fraction, and in what kind of homes the native american desert southwest indians lived before I can teach it. I miss teaching second grade where it was almost guarenteed that I was a step ahead of them. I had a student ask me what the difference between the protist kingdom and the plant kingdom was. I have no idea. They both have cells with a nucleus; they both make their own food...I told him I'd look into it...I did, and I couldn't find the answet...then we had a long weekend and he hasn't asked about it since.

We had a long weekend because there was a government protest and it was unsafe for our students to be taking the bus. It may be scary and terrible that there is such unrest against the government, but I enjoyed my day off.

Let me know if anyone still reads this, and if you'd like to hear more tantilizing adventures by receiving my e-mails. Peace.

Still here

I can’t believe how long we’ve been here already! We had our first weekend; we actually had a lot of firsts.

Leslie and I are coaching the 7^th and 8^th grade soccer team. We had our first game on Friday. I regret to inform you that we lost 16-0, but we were playing the #1 team in Honduras for our division.

On Saturday, we went to a coffee house called CafeMania. It was 3 floors high and it kicked Starbuck’s butt on prices (a frozen drink was less than $1)!

We went to Popeyes here in Honduras…not recommended.

Leslie and I also went with a couple of friends to see Deju. Everything was super cheap, but the movie had Spanish subtitles that I can’t help but read, and babies are welcomed. People also answer and talk on their cell phones during the movie, and the bathroom is right in the theatre so you can still listen to the movie while you do your business. When we got out of the theatre, it was almost 9 so the buses had stopped running. We were bartering with a taxi driver when the last bus zoomed by. We yelled and caught up with the Rapidito, so instead of having to pay $5, we only had to pay .30! four white girls crammed into a van with a bunch of Hondurans and traveled back up the mountain to our apartments. Phew!

Teaching has been amazing. The kids tell me all the time how much they like me. I have been invited to a few houses and I think I’ll be having dinner at a student’s house in two weekends…weird. I have taken over a lot of roles in the classroom, but disciplinarian has been a much harder role to take on than I thought it would because they are so darn cute.

Quote of the day:          “My brothers have 12 years and 11 years but the one with 11 years is bigger than the one with 12 years. He is fat, but I still love him because he is my brother.”   ~Nelly, 8 years old

Thanks again for all of the encouragement. Also, I don’t know if all of you know my sister, Alicia, but she got engaged right after I left for Honduras. So, if you see her, give her a big hug for me. Thanks!

      Dana/Day

Hello from Tegucigalpa, Honduras!

  I am all settled in my four-bedroom apartment. I ended up moving into Leslie’s room and it has been a blast. Our roommates are fantastic and we have a great time together.

  I started in the classroom yesterday. The students are so different from American students…they fall in love instantly. I greet them in the morning with hugs (obviously different from America) and they bring little candies or cards for me after just the first day.

  The second graders are so adorable. They want to know every little detail about my life, and they get a kick out of quizzing me on my Spanish! “You know the word for mouse, Miss?” I loved seeing their reaction to a spider (they claim it wasn’t a tarantula, but I beg to differ) that dropped onto my cooperating teacher’s arm. To make the day complete, Miguel found a “cucaracha” (cockroach) in the reading center and the power went out! The school is actually really nice, though, for Honduran standards.

 Tegucigalpa is a huge city. We are living on a mountain that overlooks the city and another mountain range. It is beautiful. We went to the mall that is completely Americanized so I look forward to going to an authentic market.

 I hate roosters, dogs, and church bells. They rob me of sleep that I am so desperate for.