Glad to see you again. Last time we talked I believe I was announcing my decision to stay for another year. Before getting too carried away in the future though let's look around and see where things are at now. Well, we are in the homestretch of this school year. We have 3 weeks left of official classes followed by a week or so of grades and paperwork before we are out for the summer!
Many of us teachers begin each day with the thought that the end is near. It is bitter sweet for some. Sweet in that everyone can't wait for a two and a half month vacation, but bitter in that many of the teachers will not be seeing their kids again once they go back to the states.
However before too much emotion takes over there is still work to be done. For me that means trying to fit in all the things I wanted to teach this year, but never seemed to get to. This past week in math the 7th grade learned about scale drawings and proportion, then we made proportionally correct floor plans of our classrooms. Next week I hope to get my kids thinking about the value of their education by looking at the children of Afghanistan and Pakistan that Greg Mortenson (3 Cups of Tea, Stones Into Schools) has been building schools for who otherwise wouldn't have an education.
This sounds great in theory, but another reality at school is that kids are getting harder to keep focused on school. They know the summer is close too! I am having some of my greatest challenges in classroom discipline right now....which brings to my next point....Fridays.
Our regular Friday basketball games with the local university students is nothing short of sacred. We really let out the steam from a week of frustrating students, grading, lesson planning, and all the curveballs teaching can throw at you.
We had a big group this past Friday since and group of volunteers just arrived on Thursday. Three of them, Rosie, Sam and John have been volunteers here in the past. Like many of the people that come down here, they are great people and fun to be around.
Some of our students even came to the game.
Like always, we played hard until it got dark.
We all had a good time.
This Friday, however, there was a little extra bonus because Padre Ricardo, who is the founder of the Olancho Aid Foundation, invited us over for spaghetti and beers. Here is Beth, Nicole and Rosie digging in.
After a long week, basketball and dinner at Padre's we slept like rocks. Today, Saturday, one of my student's family invited myself and a few other teachers to a river to swim and barbeque. This river, Rio Boqueron, was actually the same river that some of us teachers went to last weekend to go hiking. That hike was suppose to be a pleasant hike with a nice view at the end, but instead it turned into a death march: our guide (the security guard from school) didn't know where he was going, there were all kinds of poisonous and thorned plants, barbed wire, fires, steep cliffs, bees, spiders, ticks and not enough water (I have some pictures on facebook of this if you want to check it out). This Saturday was much nicer.
We went to a nice swimming hole,
cut some wood,
and got the BBQ going.
We cooked up some chata (a variety of fruit in the banana family)
Oh and then we cooked up some great beef and pork. I probably ate a whole cow by the end of the day,
but there was enough for everyone.
It was great hanging out with our students outside of school,
enjoying each other's company,
looking at the fish,
and swimming.
We had a great time. It was a great way to unwind from a long week of school.
Some of our students even came to the game.
Like always, we played hard until it got dark.
We all had a good time.
This Friday, however, there was a little extra bonus because Padre Ricardo, who is the founder of the Olancho Aid Foundation, invited us over for spaghetti and beers. Here is Beth, Nicole and Rosie digging in.
After a long week, basketball and dinner at Padre's we slept like rocks. Today, Saturday, one of my student's family invited myself and a few other teachers to a river to swim and barbeque. This river, Rio Boqueron, was actually the same river that some of us teachers went to last weekend to go hiking. That hike was suppose to be a pleasant hike with a nice view at the end, but instead it turned into a death march: our guide (the security guard from school) didn't know where he was going, there were all kinds of poisonous and thorned plants, barbed wire, fires, steep cliffs, bees, spiders, ticks and not enough water (I have some pictures on facebook of this if you want to check it out). This Saturday was much nicer.
We went to a nice swimming hole,
cut some wood,
and got the BBQ going.
We cooked up some chata (a variety of fruit in the banana family)
Oh and then we cooked up some great beef and pork. I probably ate a whole cow by the end of the day,
but there was enough for everyone.
It was great hanging out with our students outside of school,
enjoying each other's company,
looking at the fish,
and swimming.
We had a great time. It was a great way to unwind from a long week of school.
Tomorrow we go to Mario's soccer game in San Francisco and then it is onto the lesson planning for next week. Before we know it this year will be over. Before everyone leaves, some of us plan on taking a little vacation throughout Honduras to see some of the islands off the north coast and the Ruinas de Copan (some ancient Mayan ruins on the west side of Honduras). I plan on staying this summer working on the farm with Mario and possibly teaching some English classes. More to come as time unfolds.
Hope all is well back home and life is treating you well.
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