During the first week of every month we have a mass. Padre Ricardo said the mass.
He got the students involved in acting the homily...it was cute.
Here is a picture of the backside of our school.
On Monday, I got sick and had to go home early. I stayed home on Tuesday also. I think I ate some bad cheese. Luckily I had plenty of good people around to take care of me and was back up and teaching on Wednesday.
One routine that my roommates Liz, Tony and I like to do, is a nightly reflection over our day. This is Tony and Liz in our living room with a little lit candle on the floor.
During the week Liz took some shots of me explaining some math to one of my students, Ivonne.
She has improved a lot from the beginning of the school year. Her mom, Ivonne Sr., was the 5th grade Spanish teacher, but sadly this week Ivonne Sr. and our 1st grade Spanish teacher left Santa Clara for public school teaching jobs. Public schools offer a much better salary and better benefits. In fact teaching positions at public schools here in Honduras are sought after professions, unlike the USA. It was amazing how fast our teachers left. Monday the 1st grade teacher was gone for interviews with the public school and Tuesday she came to school to say that her new job started that day and she had to leave. No two weeks notice or anything. Very similar situation for 5th grade. Students were upset and people were worried about who was going to teach these classes, but so far Annie has managed to find some replacements until we get things settled. Again, expect the unexpected while volunteering in Honduras.
It was a full week of school with the science fair preparations, rushing to make lesson plans, but not forgetting to celebrate small victories with some wine in the evenings. I think I am getting better at this teaching thing thanks to all the support I receive from the people around me. I have a long way to go though.
Friday comes like it always does and after some intense basketball games with the university students Tony, Liz and I went to get some pizza and beer.
It was just perfect for Friday night.
On Saturday I made lesson plans for the coming week, but I also found time to accept some coconuts from our neighbor Norma.
Tony tried to cut some open but ended up cutting himself open.
Luckily, Norma had a machete (who doesn't down here?) and so we got to eat our coconuts.
Saturday night a bunch of us went up to Nazareth, the special needs school, where a new group of temporary volunteers are staying for a week. They are from Massachusettes. Here is Sarah, Liz, Tony and Carlos's son Andre. It was a beautiful evening in Juticalpa.
Here is Tony next to Tula, one of the office staff, demonstrating how he is probably the tallest person in Olancho.
If not Honduras.
It is always great hanging out with the volunteer groups that come down, not only to get free food, but to talk with them.
And that brings us to today. Liz was feeling especially wonderful this morning and so made Tony and I banana pancakes...thanks Liz!
buen provecho (bon appetite)
After breakfast, Liz went to Jutiquele for mass while Tony, my old roommate, Mario, Mario's current roommate, Jay, and I went up to Mario's hometown, San Francisco de la Paz.
Here is Jay and Tony in the town square.
And now Tony and me. This is the first town square I have seen with a basketball court in it.
We went to mass.
I liked this shot. Notice the cowboy hats on the window sill. All the men put their hats up there during mass.
Then it was off to enjoy Honduras's favorite sport.
futbol (soccer) Here is the town's soccer stadium.
Mario's team was in the city finals. After this they play teams from other cities.
It was a great day for a game although the sun was definitely out in full force.
Here are some people trying to find shade next to the stadium's snack bar.
The other team was pretty physical but over all it was a clean game.
And what a game it was. At the end of regulation time it was 2-2. This is after these players had played in the intense sun for over 1:30 hours. Then they played a 30 minute overtime, which still left them tied. Next they went to penalty kicks where each team got to take 5 shots. Both teams made 3. So finally they went into penalty kicks where a team would take one shot and if they made it and the other team could not answer the first team won.
Here is the other team about to shoot. The eventually beat Mario's team for the city championship. It was quite a game, but Mario's team still gets to go the next level, just as the 2nd seed.
So it was a great week, overall, with nothing out of the ordinary, but still extraordinary. This coming up week I will be at school for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but for the latter half of the week, I get to go to the capial, Tegucigalpa, with Annie and another teacher volunteer, Mary, for a teacher workshop. I am really excited.
One routine that my roommates Liz, Tony and I like to do, is a nightly reflection over our day. This is Tony and Liz in our living room with a little lit candle on the floor.
During the week Liz took some shots of me explaining some math to one of my students, Ivonne.
She has improved a lot from the beginning of the school year. Her mom, Ivonne Sr., was the 5th grade Spanish teacher, but sadly this week Ivonne Sr. and our 1st grade Spanish teacher left Santa Clara for public school teaching jobs. Public schools offer a much better salary and better benefits. In fact teaching positions at public schools here in Honduras are sought after professions, unlike the USA. It was amazing how fast our teachers left. Monday the 1st grade teacher was gone for interviews with the public school and Tuesday she came to school to say that her new job started that day and she had to leave. No two weeks notice or anything. Very similar situation for 5th grade. Students were upset and people were worried about who was going to teach these classes, but so far Annie has managed to find some replacements until we get things settled. Again, expect the unexpected while volunteering in Honduras.
It was a full week of school with the science fair preparations, rushing to make lesson plans, but not forgetting to celebrate small victories with some wine in the evenings. I think I am getting better at this teaching thing thanks to all the support I receive from the people around me. I have a long way to go though.
Friday comes like it always does and after some intense basketball games with the university students Tony, Liz and I went to get some pizza and beer.
It was just perfect for Friday night.
On Saturday I made lesson plans for the coming week, but I also found time to accept some coconuts from our neighbor Norma.
Tony tried to cut some open but ended up cutting himself open.
Luckily, Norma had a machete (who doesn't down here?) and so we got to eat our coconuts.
Saturday night a bunch of us went up to Nazareth, the special needs school, where a new group of temporary volunteers are staying for a week. They are from Massachusettes. Here is Sarah, Liz, Tony and Carlos's son Andre. It was a beautiful evening in Juticalpa.
Here is Tony next to Tula, one of the office staff, demonstrating how he is probably the tallest person in Olancho.
If not Honduras.
It is always great hanging out with the volunteer groups that come down, not only to get free food, but to talk with them.
And that brings us to today. Liz was feeling especially wonderful this morning and so made Tony and I banana pancakes...thanks Liz!
buen provecho (bon appetite)
After breakfast, Liz went to Jutiquele for mass while Tony, my old roommate, Mario, Mario's current roommate, Jay, and I went up to Mario's hometown, San Francisco de la Paz. Here is Jay and Tony in the town square.
And now Tony and me. This is the first town square I have seen with a basketball court in it.
We went to mass.
I liked this shot. Notice the cowboy hats on the window sill. All the men put their hats up there during mass.
Then it was off to enjoy Honduras's favorite sport.
futbol (soccer) Here is the town's soccer stadium.
Mario's team was in the city finals. After this they play teams from other cities.
It was a great day for a game although the sun was definitely out in full force.
Here are some people trying to find shade next to the stadium's snack bar.
The other team was pretty physical but over all it was a clean game.
And what a game it was. At the end of regulation time it was 2-2. This is after these players had played in the intense sun for over 1:30 hours. Then they played a 30 minute overtime, which still left them tied. Next they went to penalty kicks where each team got to take 5 shots. Both teams made 3. So finally they went into penalty kicks where a team would take one shot and if they made it and the other team could not answer the first team won.
Here is the other team about to shoot. The eventually beat Mario's team for the city championship. It was quite a game, but Mario's team still gets to go the next level, just as the 2nd seed.
So it was a great week, overall, with nothing out of the ordinary, but still extraordinary. This coming up week I will be at school for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but for the latter half of the week, I get to go to the capial, Tegucigalpa, with Annie and another teacher volunteer, Mary, for a teacher workshop. I am really excited.
So, until next time, vaya con Dios (go with God).
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