Catching Up on Things

Long time no talk ya'll. It has been two weeks since my last post, but that means I have been very busy and there is lots to talk about in this post. So...not this past week but the week before was the week that the new president of Honduras, Pepe Lobos, was inaugurated into office. That meant we had the day off school. After talking to Padre Alberto (we'll get to him later), he says one of the problems with Honduras is corruption in the government...hopefully this new president will make some positive changes.
Anyway, although we did have school off, we teachers had a meeting to discuss the upcoming science fair this spring. It should be a great experience for the students. More on that in weeks to come. After the meeting though, myself and some of the girls (volunteers) headed to one of our regular restaurants, Tacos Mexicanos. This place will make your mouth burn, which is unlike most Honduran food. I used to be under the impression that the farther south you go from the USA the spicer the food got, but actually, only Mexico seams to have the spicy food. Down here and during my time in Costa Rica last summer, I have found the food to be pretty bland.



Speaking of food, on the following Sunday, Liz and I had one of the art teachers, Karol, over for brunch to practice our Spanish. We had a great conversation when she arrived....when she arrived. Besides bland food, punctuality is another little cultural regularity I have learned about. When a Honduran says they will be at your house at 1:00, they really mean 3:00. This is something that can drive us Americans nuts, but if you are patient you learn to live with it.

The next week of school, was a funfilled week because it was catholic school's week. This meant that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all had themes or activities, and then Thursday and Friday we had parent teacher conferences.

Monday was dia de los calcetines locos (crazy sock day).

Let's see 'em Kevyn.

Nice.

Here's a fifth grader, Carlos David.

Jonathan, my little 7th grade math wiz.

Me and the girls. I didn't have much in my wardrobe for crazy socks, but I wore unmatching ones.

Yes Alex.

I think quiet Katherine's took the cake.

Then Tuesday was "students dress like teachers and teachers dress like students" day.

Here is the 5th grade Honduran teacher, Ivonne senior, with her 7th grade daughter, Ivonne junior.

Megan, the 6th grade American teacher, with one of her students.

Jonathan, again, dressed as one of the art teachers.

I was flattered when Karol's son Carlos, a first grader, came as me. He really had me pegged. He even had minature sunglasses just like mine. As for my dress, this is pretty close to the 7th grade PE uniform with one of my students hairdos... I got some laughs.

Also on Tuesday was the schoolwide spelling bee. It was pretty intense. In the primilinary rounds some kids were brought to tears.

Here is probably my favorite student, yes teachers do have favorites, Jose Carlos. Sadly he got out in one of the later rounds on the word "encode." I figure he must have never heard this english word and so preceeded to spell it "i-n-c-o-d-e." Your still my hero Jose Carlos.

This is the 6th grade girl who ended up winning. She was really good.

Then on Tuesday night, some Honduran teachers, some American teachers and myself went out to the movies to see Avatar. It was a great movie even in Spanish.

Little Alejandro, the son of one of the Honduran teachers, joined us as well.

We had to stop in the park to get some food before the movie though. We had gringas and baleadas. Gringas are cheese, meat, some seasonings and maybe a few other things in a tortilla, while baleadas usually include beans, cheese, mantequilla (a sort of sour cream butter), eggs and maybe some avacado and meat... mmm.

Wednesday,was a big day for all of Honduras. It was the day of the Virgen de Suyapa (Virgin of Suyapa). The story, according to Wikipedia, says that a man named Colindres, was traveling home from being away at work, but before he reached home night came. He decided to sleep outside, but while he was sleeping he felt a sharp pain in his side due to an object he was laying on. He threw the object only to find it beneath him again when he layed back down. In the morning he discovered it a statue of the Virgin Mary. In years following, the statue has been accredited with miracles throughout Honduras. Our Lady of Suyapa is the patroness of Honduras.

For the special day, we gathered in our nice outfits and said a rosary in spanish and english.

However, after the prayers it was playtime. The rest of the day was dedicated to a schoolwide soccer tournament.

And if you know anything about Central America you know they get excited about soccer.

My 7th grade boys, taking on the 6th grade boys.

7th grade won the tournament!

The rest of week was dedicated to parent-teacher conferences, which went smoothly. Then on Friday we played some soccer and basketball with some of the local university students who wanted to practice their english...it was fun. Saturday, found us doing our youth group and stocking up on peanut butter for the lunches of the week ahead.

And Sunday morning Sarah, Beth, Nicole and I invited Victor, our fearless busdriver, over for lunch at my place. Burritos with guacamole...mmm.

The just about brings things up to now, except for Sarah, Beth and my little expedition to find a tv for the Super Bowl. We had been told that we could watch it at the Bishop's house, who has Dish Network. He is actually from Boston. The Bishop was actually back in Boston, but another priest, Padre Alberto, who he lives with him told us he would let us in to watch the game. When we got there though, it turned out that they didn't get the correct channel, so we ended up talking with Padre Alberto for a bit...and what a interesting guy! He's a chain-smoking, swearing, beer drinking priest with strong political convictions from Malta who can speak about four languages and has built more establishments here than one would believe: an orphanage, a prison, a soccer stadium, and the list goes on. Needless to say it was cool to talk with him. Sadly, I didn't get my camera out before he had to leave to hear confessions. Above is Sarah and Beth in Padre Alberto and the Bishop's place.

If you are wondering how I am doing, I am great.

I hope today finds you the same.