Monday, December 27, 2010

A Random Sampling

I have now set up my Project 365 blog: http://antesandafter.blogspot.com/.

I enjoyed a trip to Santa Rosa, which is colder than Copan and helped prepare me for the States.  I also haven't traveled in a while and was able to enjoy  the crowded chicken buses again.  I actually really enjoy traveling around Central America, it's quite the cultural experience.  My favorite part is that at many of the crowded stops, people will climb onto the bus with food and/or drinks to sell.  I can get a bag of my beloved green mango with salt and salsa or a bag of coca with a straw.  It makes long days of travel much more bearable.  On the way to Santa Rosa, however, I experienced a new, but not surprising, phenomena.  At the start of the bus ride, a man stood up at the front of the bus with his Bible and preached to us.  He talked about how anyone can change their life, after all, he had.  He talked about the importance of faith.  He asked who on the bus believed and how everything would change if they would give their lives up to God.  I was glad my Spanish was as far along as it is so I could understood where he took it.


Being home hasn't proved to go according to plan, but it has been nice.  I've been sick with a nasty cold since I left Copan and a heavy snowstorm hit the east coast.  With their powers combined, some of my travel was canceled and I actually ended up with down time (which was really good, considering the cold.)


Unlike most of the snow we get in Williamsburg, this heavy fall was real snow.  Not ice.  Not slush-by-noon, but a solid 10 inches that stayed on for a few days.  It didn't roll well, so we didn't make snowmen, but we could make some snow balls, play with the dog, make snow angels, and enjoy walks in the snow.

It's been good to see family, be home, and have a mommy to help take care of me when sick (That hasn't happened in a while).  I've also had the chance to get a few useful things before going back to Copan for my last 6 months.  Which has been decided, once and for all, that I will be leaving Copan to move back to Williamsburg.  I'll have a summer of vacationing and finding work followed by a year of community college to get the credits I lack for licensure.  During that year, I will be boosting my undergrad GPA, studying for and taking the GREs, and applying to graduate schools.  I'm looking closely at a few schools, but more are always welcome.  Any suggestions?

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!  I only plan to keep up this blog as long as I'm in Honduras, so until part way through June.  Until then, I will be working on both my blogs and then switching over completely.  Here goes!

Feliz Navidad y prospero año nuevo!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

The New Year is just Around the Corner

I've been finding myself online an absurd amount.  Instead of trying to curb my online time, I've just tried to make it more productive.  I look for memory and mind improvement websites (like http://www.khanacademy.org/ and http://www.knoword.org/) or writing exercises (http://oneword.com/ and http://www.onepageperday.com/) or simple do-it-youself fixes and recipes I can manage in Honduras.

I always think grandiose new year's resolutions are silly.  Thinking that the new year is some magical time to change our whole lives is unreasonable.  Most people embrace the joke that they won't even make it out of January with their resolution.  Failure is assumed at the start. 

Two and a half weeks ago I started my new year's resolution (since I'd figured it out already, I didn't see a reason to wait until the first.)  I'm going to spend the next 12-ish months in 6 week segments.  It takes the human mind 6 solid weeks to break and form a habit.  I am marking off on a calender each successful day, and Xing off each failed day for the first small 6 week goal.  Once 6 weeks are done, I shall move onto another small, manageable goal. (The first one is embarrassing, and I hope my dentist doesn't read this, but I'm finally getting into a rhythm of brushing my teeth twice a day, every day.  Next 6-weeks will be flossing.  And I have 10 weeks to figure out what comes next, but I'm starting up a list of small, daily changes I can work on.)

(This would have been the picture of the day)
This was going to be THE resolution, but then during a conversation about new year's resolutions I was introduced to Project 365.  I've really enjoyed learning a bit about photography during my time in Copan, and I think joining Project 365 for my other new year's resolution would be a lot of fun, insightful, and self-improving.  The project is to take one photo every single day for a year.  By default it improves photography skills, it helps you realize what things are most important to you, and it's a concise photo diary.  I'll be able to capture my 6 months in Central America and my first 6 months of my new, transitive life.  I also think this is the best year to do it because of the great change I'm about to go through.  I will be more aware of my surroundings at I leave Copan and when I return to the United States.

So, starting January 1st, I will be keeping a photo journal as well.
Enjoy the end of 2010!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Getting Better

After several busy weeks and abnormal schedules, I've finally been able to catch up on cleaning and laundry. As exciting as I know that sounds, it has made this weekend a breath of fresh air. As a part of my cleaning spree, I put up all of my Christmas things from last year and have either purchased, or figured out all of my Christmas gifts.


I've also been getting along better with the Land-family. Not that we ever didn't get along, but for a reason even I couldn't figure out I get beyond nervous around them and when I'm nervous, I cannot speak Spanish. I got my electricity bill, payed this month's rent, and have chatted with them on several occasions during the weekend. They invited me to dinner on Saturday night, but I had a birthday dinner for one of my coworkers, followed by a goodbye drink for a good friend who's moving back to Denmark. The landlady also invited me to Christmas even dinner, but I'll be in the States, but I think I can actually go to the New Year's event they're throwing! Today, I went down and talked to them for a while. I showed Jonathan, their 5 year old son, my new turtle (I'll get to her!) and we talked about Christmas, the improvement of my Spanish, and school. I'd say it's a big improvement! I've always been able to understand them, but my hesitance or difficulty in speaking made them uncomfortable and unsure about what I would understand. Which, in turn, made me even more nervous talking. Now, I think we'll both do better with communicating. Also, this week I should be getting new cabinets above my sink, which are full of termites and drop droppings all over the kitchen.

And...I have a pet turtle. She's a hatchling red-eyed slider, which aren't legal to sell in the States when they're smaller than 4 inches because of salmonella risk. Usually kids get it, because they aren't good at basic sanitation measures. I keep a bottle of purell next to the tank to help keep things from going poorly. She's currently still nameless, but considering one of my friends took 3 weeks to name her son, I figure my turtle can wait a little while. It's an important decision!

She's living in a small, shallow pool that's perfect for her current size, but as a water turtle, I'd like to give her something with more room to stretch her legs. Cathy, my boss, has a 10 gallon fish tank that she doesn't use anymore because every time the power goes out, one of her fish would die. She said I can borrow it. I haven't yet figured out what I will use to line the bottom--something heavy so I can build a land area, and something round and hard so it's easy to clean. I've started building a floating island for basking. It's made of Popsicle like sticks, which float on their own, but sink when something's on them, so I've fastened pumice stones to the corners (I got those in Belize). I don't have the tank yet, but I'd like to be ready when it gets here. 

Today I learned that, as well as her food pellets, she'll eat insects I drop in her tank.  When I first got her, I dropped an ant in to see if she'd hunt, but I guess she was still too uncomfortable to hunt.  I bought her a lamp for basking, and in the last few days she has started nap-basking during the day, which is good, healthy, and a sign of comfort.  She also jumped on the three small beetles I put in the tank after I found them in my beans.  I'll be careful because I read that hatchlings that eat shrimp sometimes choke on the shells.

I'm still welcoming name ideas.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

David was in Copan!

It's official: my entire family has now come down to visit. Mom and Dad came over Christmas last year, James came for Easter, and David just left after his Thanksgiving visit.

We hit the beginning of his trip pretty hard and ended pretty light. Any day that I was working, I was able to get a wonderful breakfast over at the hotel.

I had school on Wednesday. So he just slept to recover from his travels. When I got home we went into town, walked around, saw a few things, and ate dinner. Thursday we wanted to go on the Canopy Tour, but it didn't pan out. Originally we thought we'd still be able to go in the afternoon, so we went to the bird park. I had my first “yeah, that's what happens when you hang out around a pissed off animal, even if you're not messing with it or even in it's vicinity—it can fly” experience when a bird flew at me, clung to my shirt, and clamped down on my arm. It was unexpected to say the least. When we found out that we would not be going to the Canopy Tour, we instead went to the ruins before they closed. All the English speaking guides were already out, but between my Spanish-ish and Cid's Spanish, we made it work. I was really excited at how much I understood for myself (sometimes even correcting details that Cid missed) but it was nice to have someone actually fluent to fill in the gaps. It was a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving.

We were able to go on the Canopy Tour in the morning. Unfortunately for me, I made poor decisions the day before and regretted them for the rest of the night. Around 6 water became an option, and a wonderfully vital one, and by breakfast time at the hotel I was taking 30-45 minutes to eat my plate of fruit and just as long if not longer on the two plain waffles. It was all fine, as the problem was already taken care of, and most of the day's problems were simply to result of tiredness and dehydration.

Luckily, I'm better at mornings, so I was able to enjoy the tour and we just took the rest of the day easy, which was fine, because those two days combined had whipped us out.

Saturday we got up early and toured up to the pottery aldea of Llanitios. It was fun, and the guide was nice. Usually their tours are about 3 hours, but I asked for a special tour to a particular place where we then hung out, made and ate food, and chatted with Dona Lucas. We paid for the guide's food and David got some nick-nacks from her pottery wall. Then, we rode back down into town, thought the horses were rather tired by then.

Sunday was mass followed by hanging out and talking. We caught up and did a little bit of tourist shopping. We discussed the different experiences different cultures can bring to the church, but the sameness it can still retain.

Monday I went back to work, and I was in no mind to work, and the kids were in no mind to listen, and David came early in the day and all and all we were all off. We got through though, and then David and I played tourists in the shops (or I played and he embodied) and did his bit to help the local economy. I got an awesome new bag that carries my computer and all my school books and isn't my backpack. We had our last dinner, hung out for a little while, and went to bed early.

By 4:45 we were out in the morning. There were no taxis, so we walked down, with all the stuff, to the bus station. We were early, but that's fine. I waiting around until he loaded up and then walked back up the hill to finish getting ready for school. I then taught, a little more back to normal pace, had tutoring after school, walked into town for tutoring with Isaac, went to class where I talked about it all, and went home to have Sarah-is-alone time in my hammock, which is now up on my porch.

Monday, November 15, 2010

It's Time to Start Thinking Forward...

I've recently been coming to terms with the fact that my entire, for all intents and purposes, adult life has been here, in the mountains of Copan Ruinas, Honduras. Imagining my life in a year, is nearly impossible. It's so easy to imagine being a part of my old life in the States, but whatever life I go back to, it will not be my old life, and besides, it's really hard to imagine not being here. This place houses almost all of my independence.

On the other hand, I cannot imagine not being in Virginia. Despite moving to another country and living there for two years, the idea of moving to a foreign State is simply beyond me. I suppose that in part it is because I can't imagine leaving here for anything that isn't home. This place has become my home, so to give it up, it almost has to be so that I can return to the things and people I miss.

I have rolled around ideas, such as staying in Honduras, but at a school where I can further my other academic goals. Or leaving VA for other alternative certification programs. I've thought of looking for jobs at schools that don't really care if I'm already certified and would help me get there, but at the end of my thought process comes this:

Most of these alternative methods will only get me certified, and, eventually, I want my masters. Once I have my masters, my options will be pretty limitless, so I might as well buckle down and just get it done.

However, I need about a years worth of undergraduate credits in order to even get certified. I'm basically a career switcher, because the original plan was to go into Secondary Ed. Now, I'm lacking in a lot of the basics I need to be a primary teacher.

The programs I have talked to told me that I can get my undergraduate credits taken care of while I'm in the program, and I think I would if it was 3 classes. However, with as many as I need, I think I'm looking at a year of community college followed by about 2 years more of school.

Three more years. And then, where? William and Mary seems to make the most economical sense, but I simple can't move back home for three years. I'm going to have to find another way. Longwood also has a draw on me because it's already known. Anywhere in Virginia has the in-state advantage.

It's hard to imagine not going back, but it's also very difficult to go back to a world in which I have nothing. I'm like a child in the States. If I go to another State for school, I still have to build up from nothing. I have to create community all over again. Even in Virginia that will be true to a certain extent.

This is why I hate moving and I hate change. It's weird, because I came down here. But it was scary too. I want some kind of magic to bring me back to the States, but with a sturdy foundation already in place. That's simply not possible. What I have to keep telling myself is that I cling to the notion of home very hard, but where ever I go, that seems to be the home I'm clinging to.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Walking vs. Riding

On Monday, I had a bit of a premonition experience. I woke up, and refused to believe it was time to get up. I simply could not believe it was 5 o'clock. Granted, I'd been up more than an hour later than usual on Sunday night (I was up until 9:40!) but I still couldn't believe that the amount of rest I had gotten was the amount of rest I was going to have to trudge through with. Nope. Not possible. I was so convinced, that I came to the conclusion that my fancy-pants radio alarm clock, that is set to a time zone, had reset itself in the night to daylight savings time. My clock still thinks we're in the States. However, upon checking my phone and watch, I had to face that it was 5, or by not, 5:30, and time to get up.

This morning, I woke up to my alarm, and felt amazing. I had gone to bed at 8:30 and woke up to my alarm at 5. At 5, except the sun was already shining. At 5, except the street noises were too loud. At 5, except my alarm had reset itself a few days too late and it was really 6. 6, which means the bus would be leaving the bus stop, which is 3 minutes from my house, in about 4 minutes. No go.

I skipped some of my normal routine and got ready in 15 minutes and then did something I haven't done in weeks. Something I did every day last year, but have somehow avoided this year almost entirely. I say “somehow” but really, I mean that there's a new bus driver who come by at 6 and gets me to school by 6:15, which is the most bang for my buck. I still get there fairly early, but I have more time in the house, and in bed. When I miss the bus, I usually end up catching a ride with one of the Honduran staff members on their way to school.

But today, I walked. I forgot why I liked it so much. I still think I'll usually end up taking the bus, but I there are some things I need to remember to appreciate about my walk to school.

Being in Honduras, I find myself in a giant bubble, lacking in news, current events, and the culture that I will one day return to. This became obvious to me when I was home over the summer. After just one year, the day-to-day cultural references were completely out of my grasp. I can only imagine what it will be like after two years. However, by being a Mayatan teacher and a gringa, I'm in another bubble. I'm not really apart of the day-to-day happenings and culture here either. Most of the people I associate with are ex-pats, fellow teachers, or tourists. I do have Honduras friends, but I find that most of the time spent together is still not similar to the daily interactions I sometimes glimpse when I'm walking around town.

There are a variety of people who frequent my walk to school, in the opposite direction. When I walk regularly, I form a kind of 5-second-a-day relationship with them. But we recognize each other and when we see each other outside of our work, we are friendly. I like that relationship, but I do wish I was more outgoing, and more able to be closer to more locals. It's one of those things I've been working on.

When I walk, I have the opportunity to glimpse very small, but significant day-to-day interactions. I live a pampered life here. It's easy to get caught up in it. My house is comfortable, my shower is warm, I have a fridge, a stove, and a small oven. This is how my Honduran friends, most of them, live, but it is certainly not the norm.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Whew! Busy!

The last few weeks have been full. This week is the end of the first quarter, so the end of grades and a lot of paperwork. I've been on top of my grades, but I did just get back a big, multi-faceted project from my kids. The individual comments take the longest, but we also have to grade the students on morality, punctuality, attitude, organization, and sociability. I think the school is being more organized about how grades are turned in this year, and that should help smooth things out for everyone, especially darling Marisol who is in charge of putting it all together and translating all the comments. We also have our year long plans to finish up for Friday.

Last weekend was Kyle (and my Daddy's!) birthday. I was the pinata lady and followed through with his request for a bird. Most of us were still tired after the short 3 week from the depths of horror. It wasn't really so bad, but we had observed during the month of October that each 4 day week was worse than the one before. The students were all off their rhythm, we also were off our game, and the 3 day week, started with a spelling bee for Library Week (which was a lot of fun and I was really proud of my students), was the hardest. It didn't help any that we arrived back in Copan late at night the night before we went back to school after 12 hours of traveling to Belize.

I know I won't get much sympathy for that one, and I don't expect to. Belize was incredible. It would be wonderful if we could spend more than one day there for the 24 hours of round trip traveling, alternating between boat and bus. I love Belize, and I adore Placencia. I got to go snorkeling for the first time and it blew me away. I got see a barracuda, a tarpin, two nurse sharks (I spotted one before anyone else. It was sleeping in the reef and our guide pulled him out and he swam away), a variety of sea cucumbers, urchins, anemones, different types of seastars, coral, and a host of tropical fish. It was an overcast day, so the water wasn't that shocking blue I saw the year before, but it did keep us from getting burnt.

The trip was great, I have no complaints. Plus we got to meet some locals (including Robinson Crusoe. He showed me three forms of ID, he's actually a Jr.). But I maintain it's brutal to travel 12 hours, get back late, and wake up for school the next day.

This week has been worlds better. I actually caught up on cleaning, laundry, and some of my schoolwork over the weekend, which losing a weekend meant I hadn't really done much for about 2 weeks. Plus, and most importantly, I caught up on sleep. I've been making it to bed at a beyond-reasonable hour (for me, you might judge my 8, 8:30 bedtime.) I've had more energy in class and my kids have been very responsive. I've been working after school on my plans, and I've gotten a lot done. However, most of the work I've been doing is not actually what should or will go into my year long plans. It's very useful for me, and therefore good to have done, but not so good for what I need to get done for Friday.

This weekend is Halloween, which is another reason I need to be sleeping now. All of the Peace Corps volunteers in Honduras will be here in Copan for this “satantic cult festival”. It's times like this I'm particularly glad that I live in Copan, because Mayors around the country are being encouraged to shut down any celebration of Halloween. Copan is touristy, and they make a lot of money this weekend. Plus, there is a more liberal side to this town that understands that just because people dress up, doesn't mean they are worshiping Satan.

I look forward to seeing many of the friends I met last year and figuring out what exactly I'm going to be. Kat and I have been out costume hunting once already and will go again this afternoon. I'm also looking for things I can re-wear and reuse. I might try to borrow something, but if it's something I need to buy, then it has to be worth the money.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Writing, hiking, building

The last few weeks have been trying. It's just been one of those “when it rains, it pours” times. So, in an effort to not get taken under, I've been trying to keep my focus on the things going well, because there are many.

I haven't really been getting much sleep this week. That's mostly my fault, but the nights I did actually go to bed at a good hour, I was unable to sleep and when I did sleep I dreamed poorly, but yesterday I took a two hour nap and last night I slept for 9 hours. Catching up is upon us.

I know I still have a long way to go with my teaching, but I am worlds better than I was a year ago, and better, even, than I was at the end of last year. Teaching a new class for science is giving me a different perspective too. When they came in, I had to adjust to them, and they've had to adjust to me. This class has a different personality than my class and I find myself having to teach them differently to keep their attention as a whole. This class, however, only has 5 students passing because almost no one turns in my homework. Emily is having similar issues with my class for Math. We've tried expressing that, yes, you do get a grade for this class, but they just don't get motivated. We make them write it down, when they go back to homeroom, I remind them of Math work they have and Emily reminds hers of Science. When they don't bring it in, remind them daily for a week, sometimes a few will bring it in then. I fear that it's going to take quarter grades, a lot of parent-teacher conferences, and about 15 science recuperation tests for anything to really change. But, if if it works, then I'll take it. I should probably just prepare a statement in Spanish to share with each parents I need to meet with about Science. The kids also had a chance to make up their quiz grades, and most did not.

However! For the first time in my teaching career, I gave a test that actually appears to have grades that completely reflect the student's understanding. The kids who get it, got good grades, the kids who don't get it and don't try, got very poor grades, and the kids who struggle, but work hard, got decent grades. Which, I can and will also share with the parents when it's meeting time.

I've also really been missing writing recently. I've been trying to get some of my old writing buddies to edit some of my work, but it's slow as they have no motivation to get it done and have other lives going
on. Plus, I just don't have that much to give because I haven't been writing much.

I found a word generator, that gives you 60 seconds to write the first things that come to mind, and I've started doing that a couple times a day. I'm also going back through my old notebooks where I wrote down ideas that never came to anything and looking up journals online to submit to/read their works. Kat and Emily are fiction writers, and Emily actually started a website for free expression concerning
domestic violence. She's printing an issue and is still working on it from here and I've volunteered my services since I worked in editing for two years at the Dos Passos Review and I miss it. Even though we're different genres, we've started playing with the idea of starting a mini-workshop here. I think that'd be great.

I've really gotten into stumbleupon.com and have spent the last couple of days just going through the categories “writing” and “poetry.” I've been reading more, writing more, and saving journals that I think I might like, or other tools (like a cliché finder, though it only does word-for-word cliches, not whole images, but that's okay).

I've also been hiking a lot recently. Yesterday a few of us went up searching for illusive waterfalls that we never found, but we did learn a little more about the flora and got to stretch the legs. Plus, Kat and I were able to geek out of the obsidian sprinkled road we were walking on. We just walked really slowly and picked up all the pieces we could find. Some were very clearly a part of tools, and the others are just pretty. We're thinking about going back up tomorrow and taking it more slowly.

I think, sometimes if you're missing something, you need to build it where you are. The tools are here.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A Random Mix, Ending on a Serious Note

Fun Facts:
*It's the tail end of the rainy season and I haven't bothered to replace my lost umbrella since I got here
*Fly bites lend to interesting results
*I'm finally breaking out of my Spanish-nervous-shell

Things I've been considering:

~I have a tv this year, and some of the shows are in Spanish, but there are a few channels that are almost exclusively English with Spanish Subtitles. When I watch these channels, I always read the subtitles. For a while, I was coming to the conclusion that Spanish isn't as dynamic as English. Subtleties to the language were being lost in translation. Otherwise, the translations were good. I couldn't figure why they would leave out the equivalent phrases unless they didn't exist. It's recently occurred to me that there are many different “Spanishes.” Guatemalan-Spanish is different from Honduran-Spanish, is different from Spain-Spanish, is different from Ecuadorian-Spanish. So, I'm now taking comfort in that the subtitles probably use the most direct and simple form of what is being said so it can be understood by a broader audience instead of choosing the colloquialisms that may only work for a couple of countries.

~I love taking pictures. I love the act of taking pictures. I love cropping them down to just capture the best parts of the scene. I have really enjoyed playing with space and light in my pictures. Feel free to give me tips!

~Probably the most important is: No sex ed leads to absolutely incredible rumors and beliefs among the students. Things you or I wouldn't even consider.

In a sixth grade classroom discussion, HIV/AIDS came up and the teacher was quickly informed that men, or boys, cannot get HIV. Every student in the room believed it was true.

The seventh grader boys, during their library time, all gather around the book called “Where Babies Come From” but refuse to check it out because they don't want anyone else to know they are curious.

There's a lot of controversy about how sex ed is taught, or what it should entail. In this conservative society, it always been strongly suggested to me that I just avoid all topics that could lead to those topics (though, I do teach younger children, but they are getting old enough to start being very curious.) But nothing is not good enough. It never occurred to be how little is understood if no one at school OR home will talk about it. It is not okay.

The teachers have begun to get very concerned about the lack of sex ed. With so little understanding of how things work that an entire class can believe that males cannot contract HIV, the consequences have the potential to be horrible. We've started to push the administration to allow a sex ed class, starting in 6th grade and continuing into secondary. Someone needs to teach these kids the facts of live, or at least, the consequences.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Three Day Weekend

This weekend had another hike up to Yanatios to see Dona Lucas. This time with 4 new teachers. We told her that we would be back up in 3 weeks. Hopefully that will work out. I find it incredibly refreshing to go up there.

Sunday, we went on a horse tour up to another aldea for Sarah Harrington's 30th birthday. This was a couple of first for me. I haven't been on a horse tour and I haven't been to this aldea. The only downside was that my camera died within 5 minutes of us starting out.

When I first got on my horse, I was worthless. My horse only moved when the guide, Enrique, told it to. Every time Enrique was away helping someone else, my horse, Lito, would stop or slow down again. I got to chat with Enrique a bit in Spanish, which was fun. He asked if we knew any songs, but I don't know any sing-alongs in Spanish.

On the way back down, I was good at directing my horse, and having him listen, and slowing him down (since it was downhill). Enrique was adamant about the importance of going slow on the downhill, especially for those of us who hadn't known what we were doing when we got started. When we got back to flat, we started testing going faster. After I'd been experimenting
some, and even galloped a few steps, he asked if I wanted to gallop again and I did and we went a little ways like that. It was a lot of fun. The whole extravaganza was less than $10.

Enrique also says they're going to be starting up a school for riding in November. He hasn't worked out logistics or pricing, but he'll come up to Mayatan to talk to us about it later in October. I can see
being interesting and so are 4 or 5 other teachers. It might actually be cheap enough here for it to be worth it to me, but we'll see.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Staycation!

So, a few things have been going on lately. We had our first 4 day weekend. Almost all of the teachers went traveling around for our Independence/Teacher's day vacation. They took off Wednesday after the Independence Day parade and trickled back in Saturday and Sunday. There were mixed reviews of the vacations, but they all had stories to tell.

Kat, Lauren, and I felt a tightness on the ol' wallet and sprang for a Staycation. I was also house/dog-sitting for a missionary family that's back in the States for a few weeks. The main house/dog-sitter wanted a mini vacation too, so I subbed in for her. The house had internet, is about half a block downhill from my house, and has a very active golden retriever puppy.

Out big outing was on Friday when we walked and hitched up to the hot springs. We gave ourselves a kind of spa day and then hitched back down to town. It was a blast. Otherwise, I mostly cleaned, did laundry, or hung around in the other house. I did not do most (any) of the school work I intended to do, but I made up for it later this week.

The school week had two notable events. The first was when I learned and had the pleasure of informing one of my brightest students, who was previously being paid for by the Mayatan Foundation, which will only carry her to 6th grade, that a woman in the United States has decided to sponsor her through secondary. The look on her face was pure joy. She's the full package too. Sometimes we have stories of heart-break when a sponsor pours time and money into a student, but because of social pressures they drop out of school and get married. Elvira is smart, ambitious, and she has the familial support to go all the way. If her sponsor decides to take her through Colegio, which are the last high school years, Elvira could go college bond, easily.

The second, is the school came down with a widespread virus. Thursday night, around midnight for most of us, about 5 teachers found themselves ill. At school, 3 more came down with it, and a host of students too. That was less than exciting. Luckily, it was short lived.

Yesterday I hiked up to Yanitios with Christina and Kyle. It took us about an hour and a half to get there and on the way we saw the most incredible, huge, hairy caterpillar. I geeked out over it a tad bit. Once we did get there, both Napoleon and Dona Lucas greeted us and brought us 2 oranges each. We ground corn, then ground it more, then patted out tortillas, and cooked them. We ate a huge meal of beans with ground roasted squash seeds and tortillas. Then we explored around. Napoleon gave us nancies from a tree and took us down to where they grow sugar cane where we stood around, talking, and sucking on sugar cane. When we came back up to the house and Dona Lucas got clay so she could teach us to make whatever we chose from her pottery wall. I made a little serving dish and the others made bowls. Before we left, she gave us each a whiskil, we bought some pottery and paid her for the food. We hiked back down, stopping again at the caterpillar, who had finished his leaf and moved on to another one, and had pineapple smoothies at their house.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Dia del Nino

Friday was Dia del Nino at the school. We went to school an hour late, left at 11, and just played games and partied.

As per usual, the school was not on the ball. We were supposed to arrive at 7:30 to set up our stations and get the rooms ready for the party. However, none of the administration was here at that time. By 7:55 we were still waiting on the woman who had the maps of where the stations were, so no one knew WHERE to set up, I was still waiting on the woman who had my supplies (I was in charge of sack racing, and I had no sacks), and the woman with the copies for the students to get checked off when they went to each station was not there. Fifteen minutes later, stalling with a class of crazed, out of uniform students, we finally got everything we needed (15 minutes is a long time when you have nothing to do with them!) and sent the kids off and went to set up the stations, a bit after the fact.

I was in a high energy station, in which I was running around, helping the kids, and yelling instructions. I got to wear a silly hat one of my students brought me, because he didn't want it after making it at the hat making station, and the younger students ate it all up. For each race, I gave sticker to the winner and if it was anywhere near close, I called a tie. It was a lot of fun, but it was exhausting. I finally had to send one 1st grader away because he won 7 times and I wanted some other kids to get a chance to play.

After the events were done, the kids came back to the room, which was decorated while I was away by parents, and we gave our Secret Friend gifts. My secret friend was Luis, and I got him a chocolate and a toy truck. I was Fernando's secret friend and he got be a new giraffe mug and a bobble head cat. It took up most of our party, which was good. We still had plenty of time for our three pinatas, pizza, and cupcakes. My kids were surprisingly well behaved during pinata time, until the pinatas burst open, but that's excpected.

Emily and I had our first big moment of teamwork, when one of her students confessed to not bringing in a gift for her secret friend. Her secret friend is a special boy who already has a number of problems at home, so we didn't want him to know she hadn't bothered to get himsomething. We quickly went through out classrooms and got him a page of stickers, a box of markers, a grizzley bear bookmark, and a dinosour. We wrapped it in tissue paper and used airplane stickers ro seal it. At the end of the day, he told Emily that this was the best party he'd ever been to, so we assume he doesn't know, or if he does, he's not too bothered. (This is a boy who was born to a cleaning lady, adopted by his birth mother's employers, never wanted by his adopted father, who is a rich man, but will not pay for anything because he already has kids and treats our student like a chore.)

* * *

On Sunday, I went to the library because Norma Murcia had invited me to go to Los Sepulturas with a few folks from the library for a lunch. This was my understanding of it in advance, anyway. When I got there, more details began to unfold, as more people arrived, including Tiffany and Davean. By the time we had loaded up the truck with bags of clothes, pinatas, and candy, I still was sure what was going on. When we drove past Los Sepulturas (another part of the Mayan ruins, that I actually haven't been to yet), to the next dirt road, drove down it and were greeted by a host of children from the nearby villiage, I began to get a better idea of what was going on.

We parked the truck and let the kids help us carry all of the supplies we brought. We crossed a wooden hanging bridge, with several repaired spots, that swayed as we walked. We continued to walk through a large grass field with old drying barns for tobacco, that are now used as chicken houses. I was dressed as though I'd be walking a firm trail, not through puddles and in ankle deep mud.

We called all the kids down from the villiage. We set up the pinatas, played games, and read them books. We gave out cookies and coca-cola. At first we gave out 3 cookies to each child, but there was plenty left over, so I then gave them to the mothers who were around and to children who looked at me with any amount of longing. Some of them were just hungry.

Before we left, we gave each child a bag of candies and an article of clothing that would fit. There were left overs of the clothes, so we kept handing them out, but some of the girls, especially the older ones, and some of the mothers were very pushy. It was hard to blame them, there were two early girls, budding into puberty who wanted all the cute clothes. It was interesting, and probably good for me to see, that it's not just in our culture of excess that teenage girls want more and want to be as pretty as possible. They got fairly grabby by the end, and it was hard to make sure that the more timid kids also got their share of the clothes.

After we'd given it all away, we picked up all the trash, left it in a bag, packed up the rest of our things, walked back through the field and mud, across the bridge, and to the car, where we sat in the back and ate empanadas with cabbage. We then drove back to town.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Finally Settling In

With the first two weeks down, I am amazed at how much easier this is the second time around. I still tired very easily, but I think I am doing a much better job of establishing myself this year and preparing them for what is to come. I also feel like I have control of the class, unlike last year. We practice procedures over and over so that all of my expectations of the class are very clear, last year, I had expectations, but too often they would learn them by not meeting them and that's not okay.

As we've stepped into review, I find myself presenting the information in a much more logical and understandable manner. More of my kids are getting it faster. Between their grown minds and my growth as a teacher, we're moving leaps and bounds faster than last year!

Though, nothing is ever certain, and my class list that was finally complete after the first week, has been changed again for the third week. Silly me, in a blind moment, had written out my kids in my grade book...in ink. Now, I will not be getting the twins when they arrive, I will be getting Sophia because she is new and having problems in the other class. Me getting Sophia had been the original plan, but the mother didn't want to switch her (so by original, I mean original after it was decided switches had to me made) to my class and let Emily get the twins. Now that there are problems, the mom has requested the switch, and the twins still aren't back from the States, so they won't get jerked around.

Speaking of Emily, last night, I went to the bus station at 10 to 6 to meet her. As I walked up, the guards were closing and locking the door. I asked if the station was closed. The man said, “No.” I said, “Then why are you closing the door?” The man said, “We're closing the door.” I stood there a moment, until the man said, “What do you need?” I said, “I'm meeting a friend on the bus.” He said, “The bus will not come until 7 today.” I said, “So, should I wait on the other side?” He said, “No, the bus won't come until 7.”

Around this time Cathy came up and she got the same info I did, but another man told us the bus comes between 6 and 6:30, so just to make sure, we waited around. At about 6:40, a taxi driver came up and said that he had a friend on the bus and the bus was just no leaving San Pedro. It would get in around 9:30. Fantastic. Poor Emily.

I was exhausted, and knew Cathy would pick her up. I told Cathy if she needed anything to call me or stop by the house (because we both knew my phone as been out of sorts for the last two days) and I went home to bed. I simply hoped that Emily made it and I would see her at the park at 7:45 when I met all the teachers to take them to the breakfast at Casa de Cafe, a hotel that always offers the new teachers a free breakfast at the start of the year as a “welcome to town” and a “when you're family and friends visit, they should stay with us!”

She was there and after the breakfast we took off on a quick tour and then went up to the school to hash out some school things. She's taking on Math, I'm taking out Science, and we're taking the other's class first right after recess. So I'll call her kids in and bring them to my room for class, then we'll switch back. We talked a lot about standard problems, parents, and theories of teaching. It's still shaping up to be a good year.

Last Friday, I saw my student, Juan, who didn't make it back to Mayatan this year. It was a tad awkward, but I got a hug out of him, asked him when school started and told him if he needed anything to please let me know. Today, I saw his father and told him the same things.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Ants in the Night

Ants. I get obsessed with the ants here. I even did a presentation at Nature Camp over the summer about ants I've seen here. I had been thinking of writing up an entry on my latest observations: the nocturnal ants of my apartment, when I came across this blog entry:
http://lagringasblogicito.blogspot.com/2010/09/organic-fire-ant-control.html

La Gringa is a blog I've been following for a while. She's an ex-pat in La Ceiba, Honduras who married an Honduran and knows a lot more about the cultural differences and political situations that go on than I do. She's pretty well informed and thought out. Sometimes she writes about obscure things I have no interest in, but generally, I find her blog useful. I love that she wrote about ants.

However, she didn't mention the night ants. They're still in the house when I wake up, and I have to be careful, they stray from their lines frequently and I'm not sure how aggressive or painful they would be. They are large and red, some have huge heads, others have large abdomens, they stop to communicate a lot, but never for long enough for me to get a decent closeup photo. They always leave around 5:30. I don't see them again until a few hours after dark. I have spent the last few mornings trying to get a decent picture of them, but so far it has failed.

They come in and swarm my trashcans for small particles I can't even see and they go under the toilet through a hole. I don't know what's under there, but they like it. I really can't be worried about them, yet, because they are rarely around when I am awake. I may have felt one on my arm one night while sleeping, but I brushed it off and that hasn't happened again. I've never actually seen them in the bedroom. I have noticed an increase in the morning numbers, but hopefully that's because last night's trashcan was just particularly exciting. I've emptied it, so we'll see where we are tomorrow.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Student Series: Students sick in the middle of class

With my new schedule, I teach the first 40 minute period, then the next two are Spanish classes, and then I teach the 4th period, right before recess.

During this 4th period, on the second day of school, we were practicing procedures and I had three students who didn't show me the procedure properly. Two of them corrected their errors, but the third lay with his head down, refusing to move. I gave him a warning for disrespect.

A few minutes later, one of the girls told me he was crying. I tried to help him subtly leave the room so I could talk to him once the class got rolling, but he wouldn't budge, or speak. With recess just 20 minutes away, I continued on and figured I would talk to him during the break, not in front of the whole class.

So, we kept going. About 5 minutes later, he started vomiting all over his desk. At this point I was able to whisk him outside, but not as quickly as may have been desired. I tried to urge him to go see Gilda, the school-everything, but he sat on the side of the futbol field and continued to throw up. I brought him some water and went back to the class, getting them occupied with anything while I tried to take care of him.

He couldn't talk, let alone walk well. When I took the kids to recess, a bit early, I took him to Gilda. She was convinced he had a cough, because he was choking on it, until he continued it the way that he had been (we even argued about it, “Miss, it's a cough” “No, it's a stomach thing, he's been vomiting. Oh, wait...there you go. You see?”). She called home and we went back to the room to get his things. I sent him on his way, which seemed to be fine, to go deal with some of my kids who were misbehaving in an area they aren't even supposed to be during recess, when he fell to his knees and continued to throw up.

He had nothing in his stomach from the get go, so it was getting ugly. I sat with him until 5 minutes to the end of recess, when I had to go get food myself. Ronnie, the school vigelante, asked if he could call the kid a taxi, but I knew his mom was coming, I wasn't comfortable putting him in a taxi with a driver I don't know, and I couldn't imagine how horrible that bumpy tuk-tuk ride would be for a kid this sick. I asked someone else to look after him until his mother came and ran to get myself some food before I went into my next segment of teaching, which is substantially more than 40 minutes.

As I sat down to eat, I saw my kids back in the not-okay-to-be zone and had to go talk to them again before finally finishing my breakfast. At the end of the day, after I had class, I went by his house to check on him. His mom was out, but the new girl working at the restaurant his family owns said that he had made it the doctor, gotten medicine, and was doing better. He was asleep when I went by and he didn't come to school the for the rest of the week, which I imagine is for the best.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Student Series: Back log

So here are my favorite student stories from my first year of teaching:

During small groups for Reading, a couple of my students were having a side discussion while I was helping one of their classmates. One of my girls approaches me and says, “Miss, Como se dice prostituta in English?” I look at her, dumbfounded for a moment, trying to compose myself so I don't show her that I'm shocked at her question (as well as trying to figure out what sparked the question). Before I get a chance to say anything, she says, “You know, a bad woman who sleeps with many men?” I have to catch myself from letting my jaw drop for 1)the original question, 2) her ability to explain to me what a is prostitute, and 3) her knowledge of the subtleties in the English phrase “sleeps with.” I keep my face straight and say, “It's a prostitute, Ileany.” “Oh, la misma, Miss.” “Yes, Ileany, they are almost the same.”

I have a student who's mother runs my favorite place to get baleadas. Baleadas, if you don't know, are the Honduran staple-food. It is a large, thin tortilla with a spread of beans, crema, and salty cheese. I usually get them with egg and avocado also. The Urban Promise folks in town know her as the “Chicken Lady” because she also serves good chicken, but I stick to the baleadas. Her comedor does not have a name, you just have to know it's there and when to go, which I do. However, every time I do go, Katia, my student, will sit or stand just out of sight and try to listen in on my conversations, whether they be in English or Spanish. I call her out on it regularly and it's just become a game we play, and I know that I can't talk about anything private there.

During recess, while I was watching my kids go through the line, Judy, an ex-pat friend of mine from Pittsburgh came up to talk to me. We were chatting about a variety of things and my student, Issella, was sitting with us, just listening. After some time, Judy turned to her and said, “Why are you listening to our boring conversation? Why don't you go play?” Issella responded with, “Oh, I do that in class.” Fantastic, recess is English time, class is play time. At least she still wants time for English.

As I mentioned earlier, the baleada is THE Honduran food. Any one who knows much about latin culture knows that soccer, or futbol, is THE sport. All my kids ever want to do is play and talk about futbol. At recess, we have a rule where the kids must keep their food in the caseta (cafeteria) because otherwise they litter all over campus. However, I had a student who, when he could get away with it, would take his baleada with him to play futbol. This child could have been the Honduran flag, going for goals with baleada in hand.

Some of the students at my school have a lot of money, some are on scholarship, and some have parents who make great sacrifices to pay for their kids to come to this school. Because of the uniforms, you can't always tell who is who, but sometimes a child will break your heart. One of my girls doesn't have a mother in the house. I'm not sure what the story is, but I know she has a lot of aunts, uncles, and grandparents around who take care of her. For mother's day, I had the kids make picture frames with photos I took of them reading (everyone looks beautiful when they are reading!) and give them to their mothers. I told the kids who didn't have a mother around to give it to an aunt or grandmother. However, at the end of the year when the kids gave me a book for my birthday with a picture and write out by each child, I found that this girl had taken the photo out of its frame, cut around the edges with patterned scissors to make it new, and put it in my book because it was the only picture she had of herself.

My weight fluxuates, but never to a degree I've ever been too worried about it. However, working with children has taught me two things I've always known but never experienced: 1)kids will say anything and 2)they will get up close and personal. My students touch me all the time. They want hugs, they touch me to get my attention, they use me as a stop, they try to direct me, and so on. They are about at belly height, so the hands always fall on my stomach. When I've gained weight, my kids would always notice and, without fail, comment on it. But, I live in a culture where I'm relatively old not to have kids, or at the most, I'm at an age where I should be, so their comments are often along the lines of, “You're belly has grown. You are pregnant, Miss!” However, the first time this happened it took me a moment to translate, because it was in spanglish, with the important word in Spanish, “You are embarazada, Miss!”

I have no shame admitting that I have an addiction to caffeine. In fact, I use it to my advantage as a means of humor, and to help force my kids into good behavior on certain days. Sometimes, the power goes out and when this happens, there is no coffee. On these days, I will walk into class and say, “There is no power, what does this mean for Miss Sarah?....that's right, no coffee. No coffee means?...that's right, no patience. So, if we want to have a good day, you're going to have to work really hard at being good, right? And if Miss Sarah has no patience, it might not be your fault, right? Good.” On one such day, when I was ill, I actually drew up a patience meter on the board and adjusted it according to their behavior. There was no real consequence attached, but it did cause them to help each other behave better. That's one to save for special occasions, though, or it will lose it's potency.

I had a student who goes my three different names, and it just depends on the day. I got to where I have a rotation for what I call her each time I call on her. On the last day of class, after all was done and we were free, several of us teachers went out for drinks. The next day we still had to be up to give recuperation exams (as required by Honduran law) to any student who had failed the quarter/year. We weren't going to make a long night of it, but I was still in my going-out clothes, and my tolerance was down from living in Latin America. After two drinks I had a steady buzz and it was about this time that my roommate Abby came up to inform me that my student, with three names, was desperately looking for me. Turns out, she had lost her study guide for her recup exam and was terrified. The fact is, she's a smart girl and had no business failing. I wanted to give her the chance to study up, catch up, and do better next year. I went down, and sat on a street corner with her and her cousin to recite the study guide so they could go study, buzzed, and in my party clothes.

I lost one student during those recuperation exams, and it simply broke my heart. This child would have been low in the first grade class, but was sweet as can be. He was always willing to help and to try, but English just wasn't sticking. Without English, the other subjects are really rather difficult. The best subject he had was math during multiplication and I tried to build his esteem on that, but it wasn't enough for him to have faith in himself. We tutored 3 days a week, but he always seemed to fall short and I couldn't foresee things going any better in fourth grade. The only hope was if all his subjects were in Spanish, maybe he could catch back up. But, when he came in for his recuperation, he was so excited because he had studied really hard. It was true, he obviously knew and understood more than he had before, but it still only gave him a 50%. He was crushed and I tried not to show that I was too.

My students knew that my brother James was coming to visit, but when the first student met him and asked his name, she just stared at him and nodded her head. James simply didn't make sense as a name. So, before he came to school, we practiced staying his name and almost all of them had it before he came in. But on the day he was to come in, the kids rushed to the room and looked at me like I was a traitor. “Where is he, Miss?” “He's coming during recess.” “But, he's not here.” They were crushed. Until he did come, and then he was the best thing to ever hit Mayatan, of course. He's James Barr.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Gearing Up For School And All That Comes With It

I have spent my first two weeks back in Honduras as the go-to girl and tour guide. After last years show of Shy-Sarah, Social-Sarah is making a come back. I have simply had a blast helping the new teachers adjust and learn about Copan. They seem like a really good group, and take teaching very seriously, but they're also willing and ready to explore this new land.

Some of them have a lot of experience traveling and living abroad, while others are like I was...in way over their heads. However, this year I have one thing I did not have last year and it has made all the difference in the world—I'm in my element.

I've been more forward with my Spanish and more willing to make mistakes, I've been getting out of the house, I've been working hard at the school. It's been incredible to come back here and know what's going on.

As I've explained to them, I obviously loved my experience last year, but the whole year is flavored by last year's group, so I really have no way to prepare for what the coming year will be like because all social dynamics are being rewritten as we go.

Last week was orientation, and so we got all situated for school. It's 2 days before school starts, and my class list isn't even secure. I have two new students, lost one from last year, lost one to the other fourth grade section (she and her twin want to be in the same class, but my class was already full so they had the option of being together in the other section of separate), and am waiting to hear on a couple others.

The woman originally hired for the other fourth grade section and I exchanged a myriad of e-mails and information. I was thrilled about her coming. She sounded like a fantastic teaching partner and I was eager to soak up her experience and teaching skills during the next year. However, when her husband lost his job, she had to decide to stay back in the States. Not long ago, they hired her replacement—a very sweet seeming woman named Emily from Pittsburgh. Emily is having to shut down her whole life: give notice at work, close out her apartment, and completely shut down her life on very short notice. She will not be coming to Copan until two weeks after the start of school.

This means that I need to make sub plans...for two weeks, for the first days of school. I was just going to give Cid, the sub, my plans, but there are too many stylistic and situational differences for them to really work. I already know my kids, I WILL be their teacher for the next year, and I have a lot of procedures I want to drill into their heads before the year gets going. He doesn't know these kids, he doesn't know what kind of procedures to teach them for Emily, and he has a very different approach to how the first days go. We've set up her room, and at the open house on Friday, I will get to meet with all of the parents and explain that Emily will be coming late, through no fault of her own.

I'm sure everything will smooth out within a month, but until then I feel like I'm running in place. I don't want to take off with my kids and dive into lessons unless her class can too. Cid and I will have to work out how we should go about the intro to the year, because 2 weeks is a long time to stall and just do review. However, the more he does with her class, the more she'll either have to change when she gets here or be stuck with.

I have tried talking to her about her preferences, but she's so overwhelmed at home right now that she can't even start to think about setting up here yet. I also think she's a first year teacher, though I'm not sure.

I look forward to meeting her and finally being able to hammer out some concrete details on how we want to run the year. In the mean time, I'll just focus on setting up a better classroom environment than I had last year and enjoy getting to know the other new teachers better.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Settling in For Year Two

By the time I had to get ready to leave, I had adjusted enough and gotten into enough of a routine that I was used to being in the States and it was really starting to feel like I HAD to get ready to leave, not that I GOT to get ready to leave. But, it was in the plan, and I'd signed my contract, and I was sure it would be better once I actually got back.

I finally started to get excited as I felt the plane dip down to land. Once I landed, I rushed off to get in line for immigration, but I was coming from the back of my plane, so I was in the back of the line, and we landed almost an hour late, so two other planes had come in before us. It was a long line. I was stuck waiting with an impatient, but nice, woman from Spain. We were behind a group of Korean-American teenagers in a group, and they were very annoying. They also split in the line and the group leader came in front of us so she could go first, which made sense to me, but then, when we were finally getting close, 5 more members of the group cut in front of us. They didn't seem to know a lick of Spanish, so the woman and I were able to complain about them. I got through, got my bag, and got out.

When I got to Copan, and as I drove in saw a student and a different student's parent, and Megan, I finally felt like I was coming home. It was good, because I was beginning to be afraid that I wouldn't feel that way and I will be living here for another year, whether I felt at home or not.

I know that a year ago I swore up and down that I'd only be in Copan for a year, and now I say again that I'll only be here for another year, but this time it's true (honest, let me earn back some credibility!) The reason I'm the only returning teacher is because of the pay. It's also the reason I can only stay one more year. It's plenty to live on, but it's not enough for the plane fare back and forth.

I am now thinking of coming home for at least a year of schooling, probably at TNCC, to take care of some undergrad courses that I need to be certified as a primary teacher. From there we'll see if I got straight into a graduate program, start a grad program online and in the summers, or come back to somewhere in Central or South America for an international school (which would really help me get away with not having to take out loans.)

But...for now, I have moved into my new, awesome house. And, it is, if you couldn't guess, awesome. I was mostly set up by noon on my first full day (yesterday) and I got started on it around 5:30 or 6 when I woke up (and had some coffee).

The house is awesome (pictures are on facebook) and the view is fantastic. Next week my landlord is paying someone to come replace the kitchen shelves, because they are full of termites, and to paint the wall, because the paint was washed away by a leak. I was sad to see that my big beautiful mango tree is not producing right now. It's too wet for it, apparently.

Now that I'm settled in, I'm going to be helping the new teachers figure out the town. Three came in last night and they seem very nice. It'll just be us until Monday night, so I'll have plenty of time to show them around and get to know them.

I plan to start taking classes again on Monday, because, just like a child coming back from summer, my Spanish is not doing very well. This year, I will not break from Spanish classes for the first month or so of work like I did last year, I'll just stick with it and hit it pretty hard. The new teachers, at least these 3, are already more experienced than I am with Spanish. It just gives me more incentive :)

Monday, August 2, 2010

Care Package Ideas

As I gear up for my second year, I have reassessed the kinds of things that would be useful to get in the mail.

I don't want anyone to feel under obligation to send me things, but I had a number of people sending me packages, and so if anyone is so inclined, these are some things to keep in mind:

1) I currently have more stickers than I know what to do with (but I will come up with ways of dolling them out) but should you find some really awesomely cool stickers, feel free to send them my way.

2) Individually sealed candies can be a great way to fill in the nooks and crannies in a package. Try to think of candies that don't melt so easily and that ants will have a harder time getting into.

3)Music is great. Pop-music aimed at kids or on one of those kidz bop CDs are good mood setters and motivators. I now have portable speakers to help liven the classroom.

4) I have taken up a good deal of cooking, so spices and flavors that will keep on a shelf and might be hard for me to find are great. You can ask me what in particular my kitchen is lacking once I've been there a few weeks. (I didn't cook so much last year, so I really don't know what i will be missing.) Also, instant oatmeal.

5) Art and Science project supplies. All summer, especially in any craft store/section my mouth would water at the idea of buying supplies, but it simply wasn't practical to pack. Look for bargains, or easy projects. Little craft-things can go a long way. If you have an art or science project in mind PLEASE share it with me. I was never meant the be an art teacher. I have just under 20 students, so don't over do it on fancy things, keep in simple, but I don't have access to/money for many crafts.

6) Books aimed at third-fourth graders. Pictures are good. Stories are good. Non-fiction is good. You can even go younger if you want. I had a great library last year in my room, but the school seems to be lacking in classroom books for upper-elementary. Any books you send will be left to help future generations of students. All books should be in English (unless they are children's books for me) and ESL specific is also excellent.

7) Books aimed at me are also great. I love reading in my spare time and last year I read all the books in the teacher's room. That means I will not have that resource this year. William Goldman, Orson Scott Card, Paulo Coelho, or anyone else you might think I'd like. I recommend people bargain hunt before sending me books, though because books are heavy and chances are I won't be bringing them back with me.

8) Decorated pencils (I have half boys and half girls.)

9) Magnets, velcro, googly eyes, those new shape bracelets the kids are raving about

10) Last but not least, Holiday or season appropriate decorations. For this one in particular, I would like to remind you that it takes roughly 3 weeks for a package to get to me. I do not have glass windows, but I can tape things to my door. Halloween is not really smiled upon.


I love getting mail, not just packages, so for about 98 cents you can send me a letter! I will write back!

I could really use art ideas and science experiment/demonstration ideas. So, if you recall a favorite project from when you were in school, even if you don't send the supplies, tell me about it! I have a few multi-class ideas like making jewelry for Mother's Day, tye-dye clothes, and making t-shirt pillows. If you want to send supplies for any of those, please talk to me first so that I can 1)make sure I don't get a double-up on it and 2) we can talk about the kind of supplies that are cheaper for me to get here and what I would need from the States.

All in all, I just like to keep in touch, so even if you don't send any form of snail mail, e-mail me and tell me about life. :)

Sarah Barr
Mayatan Bilingual School
Copan Ruinas, Copan, Honduras

Take care y'all!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Poverty Ramblings

After spending a year in Honduras, I'm even more aware of the excess that I was already sensitive before I went. The excess in the choice of product and brand in the grocery store, the size of the store. The excess of size to everything from cars, houses, and portions. Fun things like the hobby of reenacting is a sign of the extreme excess. People can pour their extra money into their hobbies. People can have hobbies.

I'm not trying to say I'm different. Luxury is nice and I drive everywhere. I want to use the AC on a hot humid day. I enjoy hot showers and cold drinks. I like having my own room with a big bed and extra pillows. What I'm saying is it is hard for us to know what real poverty is when the microwave breaking is the problem of the week.

In the United States, poverty is defined as something very different than what I've seen. I'm not saying that there aren't people who struggle, but it's a different world. Here, a family can qualify for food stamps when they have money for two cars, television sets, and a number of gaming systems. 1st) they can afford a lot of unnecessary stuff and 2nd) there's such a thing as food stamps for the poor.

Earlier this summer, I went to a large two story house with a basement. They had 9 cats, which appeared to be everywhere. The basement had a “man cave” decked out in Redskins paraphernalia and comfortable chairs around a massive TV. There was an ultimate gym, which hadn't been used since the day it was set up, an x box that was purchased and never hooked up, a Wii that had been used once, a few other game systems I didn't recognize. In another room there was a full sized kiln for which the house lacks the proper wiring to support, a pottery wheel that no one in the house knows how to use, and a work area that has never been touched for wood work and art projects. This couple has lived in the house about 4 years. They are in debt.

I have to keep putting things in perspective, because there's nothing wrong with indulging sometimes. Or enjoying your success by living a comfortable life. It's good that extreme poverty is rare in the States. Things like volunteerism is more common in the States anyway. People are trying to help other people.

There are rich in my community in Copan, too. They indulge, spoil their kids, and lead comfortable lives not so unlike those I'm now struggling with in the States. They are also less likely to go out of their way to help the poor in their community. It's not that it never happens, but it is less likely. I haven't been able to pinpoint this cultural difference. It seems possible to me that they then open themselves up to exploitation. Maybe it's just a mark of pride that they got to their status and they don't feel a need to make the road to wealth any easier for others. I'm really not sure.

What I do know is that little helps will only help little situations and big helps can actually hurt people in the long run. The only way for real change is for a dynamic shift with intention to completely revamp the internal governing structures. Until the basics are available, or more available, then nothing else can get better. Water, food, health care, housing, and education must be improved and available. Without water, food, and housing, children need to be at home or working to help do their part for the family, and without education it is much harder to learn how to improve their circumstances. The education system is already in need of a great deal of help, but it is better than nothing.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

What's to Come in the Coming Years

Though I was more convinced than my mother that I was only going to stay for one year, I'm preparing to go back down to Honduras. Right now, my options are endless.

If I get two years of teaching experience, I open the door to international schools. Internationals schools prefer, and some only accept, applicants with a degree in education and are licensed, but there are some that will work with you. Some will pay to get the degree, but that means more than the already implied 2 year commitment because they won't pay for it just for me to leave. Even if I don't have the school pay for a degree, I'll be paid real money with a still shockingly low overhead. Many international schools in Latin America pay between 18-25 thousand dollars a year, airfare, housing, and some provide a car if the living situation requires it. That leaves a lot of free money to put toward online classes.

However, the only online degrees I've found are post-licensure, which won't really work for me. There is a question of quality with a completely online degree, and for education courses it can get to be fairly hands on. Of course, to get licensed, there has to be some kind of student teaching or equivalent, which means being in range of an observer.

It would appear that Virginia has 60 credits of undergrad prerequisites for licensure anyway and I am missing roughly half. I have ordered my unofficial transcript so I can actually figure out what can count or what. These I can start taking online at community colleges to help save money. Some I don't look forward to, but some are classes I had always wanted to take but it wouldn't further my degree goals, so I never got around to it.

Right now I've talked to one graduate program that is flexible and willing to work with me. I could lay both the graduate and undergraduate groundwork while abroad, online, and in the summers, on campus, and then come live in the area for a year to finish up with the student teaching and another hands on class. Because I would already be relatively experienced at that point, they have said that I could even get a teaching job locally and they would work my job into my last year of course work and work it as my student teaching.

The only downside to this program is that it's at my Alma-mater. Not that I have any objections to Longwood, but I am unsure about having both degrees from the same school. The upside is that I would be in a different department.

With the exorbitant number of classes I have to take in a community college, I wonder if I'm better off coming home after next year to take those classes and then work at an international school, starting online classes for the grad program then. This leads to one main complication and fixes one other complication.

The added problem is that I would really need to get a job and loans. In the mean time, I'm sure I'd be itching for my abroad experience to continue and feel a little...trapped. Would substituting be enough of a job? Could I work in a library? I don't know and it really depends on what school I would go to. Not to mention housing. Those are things I haven't even begun to work out because I don't know if that's the route I want to take. On the other hand, coming home for a year and clearing out those classes would a)clear out those classes and b)making getting to the conference much more reasonable.

The conference, which you really have to go to get one of the jobs I want, was in Atlanta last year and flying up from Honduras mid-school year is just difficult. If I did it next year, it would mainly be an issue of money and timing.

I'm also currently inclined to stay in Honduras. There are several reasons for this. Two are personal: I already know a lot of people there which lends to connections and I'm already comfortable there. It will keep me closer to the community I've built and the friendships I've made and I generally know what to expect and how the people work. Mayatan has big connections to the schools in Tegusigalpa and I've heard tell of how to work the tables for the San Pedro schools. While I don't care for either city, I have heard that teachers who go to the San Pedro school tend to stay, which means they like it. There are safe places and I have a lot of friends there. I also think I'm more likely to get a job in San Pedro than anywhere else. One of the professors at Longwood does a lot of work in Honduras, as well and he has a lot of connections in administration. We'll see how that works because if I could get a job through him instead of going to the conference, that could clear up that complication.

On the other side of things, I know that other countries will have other, new experiences. Most other countries pay more, too. I don't want to stay in Honduras just because it is comfortable and I know I have a tendency to do that. There are a lot of reasons to leave, but the connections in Honduras are undeniable. As it stands, it might just depends on where things are with Cid. But even if things are good, it doesn't mean I have to stay and if things are bad it doesn't mean I have to go. It'll just be another thing to weigh.

I plan to talk to a few other programs, including ODU and William and Mary. It looks to me like ODU is more geared toward distance learning, though I'm not sure that means they can be as flexible as I'm looking for and that W&M is more stiff with the program. The thing about what I'm looking for is that I need a program that is already flexible AND someone who is willing to work with me. Longwood is already willing to do that, so no matter what, I can fall back there, or change the plan. William and Mary said in the past that if I wanted to start the program late (when I thought I'd only be at Mayatan for one year and then wanted to come back for grad school immediately) and was accepted, they would let me do that, but something about starting grad school behind didn't sit well with me.

As I said to Dr. Locascio, the Longwood professor I spoke with at length, the decisions I have on my hands are complicated, but it is a good problem to have. I don't think there is a right way to do this, it's just a matter of which goals I want to push ahead first and what things I am comfortable doing at the same time, but it will all get done.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Growing Forward

My time in Honduras, as was known from the get go, has led to growth in every area of my life. Personally, I have had the opportunity to meet new people, get to know myself in different ways, and the explore possibilities. I have been challenged, faced financial responsibility, and learned to ways to get along with roommates. Spiritually, I have seen how another culture worships, and gotten closer to finding the ways that I am most comfortable communing with God. Professionally, I am learning to teach and getting experience that can lead to better schools and better career options in the future.

Learning Spanish has always been on my to-do list. One, just because I hate to have failed at it. That grates at me. It also makes me a better world citizen and a better American citizen as more and more of our population is becoming Hispanic. It's a useful skill for me, as so much of the world does speak Spanish, and it's useful for other people. It also opens up some professional doors for later on, should I decide to work in the States, I could easily get ESL certified and already have that kind of experience under my belt.

I can also break out of my “Bachelorette Meal of the Month” routine and actually cook, which I've started here at home. As a way to not leech off my parents (not that they make me feel like a leech, I just don't want to mooch) I have been cooking just about every night. Some of the recipes are ones I have done before, but most are new to both me and my folks. Some of the recipes are manageable in Honduras, some will have to be amended, and some are simply not going to be done.

I've collected my family's recipes, recipes from people I met in Copan, local recipes, and recipes from online. I've been cooking things I'd never tried before, from the incredibly simple (rice) to much more complicated things. I'm even pickling things! The best part, to me, is that I'm enjoying these experiments and find myself disappointed when I'm not able to cook for the night. I hope to plan out my meals for the week and shop accordingly in advance next year.

After it got out that I was staying another year, I found a real connection with people I had thought I was already connected to. Many of the parents and other members of the Mayatan community seem to stay at least a little guarded to us until they know that we're invested in them, in more than just an experience. I also talked with some of the girls at the school and a couple of my students' moms and expressed my shyness with speaking Spanish is not a lack of desire to speak with them nor, really, an inability. Some of them started to try to help pull me out of that shell and I hope to continue the trend when I return.

In the coming year, I will be living on my own. This will force me to break out of my tendency to hermit away in my house after school. As the teacher who knows the town and community, I can be the leader in helping them around, giving me an opportunity to start out with great connections to all the other teachers.

Personal growth is not really something you can plan. You can put yourself in a position to change, but you never really know how the end result will look. I never planned to stay another year, and I never planned to change the whole direction of my future, but now I can't imagine living in the United States in the future. I also can't imagine NOT living in the United States in the future. It's a strange place to be in. But this is where I am after year one. I'd venture to say I'm a healthier, happier person than when I went down and now I have the opportunity to continue my growth, and add the new element of living alone for the first time in my life.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Summer: Week 1

Nothing quite leads to celebrity-dom as being gone from everyone you've ever known for a year and for them to all know you'll be leaving for another year. Time is very limited.

I missed people, but not really the place. I think that it's always been true. Wherever I go, I make a home and I miss the people from wherever home was before, but not the place. It's comforting to know that wherever I go after Copan, I'll be home.

I've been trying to stay engaged. I have books in Spanish that I translate every day, I've been reading the papers, making a scrapbook of the past year, working out at Curves, and reading up on what I can do to prepare for teaching 4th grade. I rejoined the library to get the Spanish books from the kids section. I read them out loud, sometimes to my folks, and translate them.

I've enjoyed watching Honduras play in the World Cup, even now that we know they won't be moving out of their set. I'm proud of them for going and it's been fun to talk to people back in Copan about it. Especially in Spanish, that's just been refreshing.

I'm largely adjusted now. It's not that this world is different from when I left it in August, it's that it feels so normal, while feeling very abnormal. Some comforts I missed, but largely I'm...I don't know the word, disenchanted? I think that's best. I was so tired when I first got here, just processing everything that was once normal. That's gotten easier.

I went up to camp and to Farmville, each of which is a world in and of themselves. It was strange but nice to be back. Camp was the best, but I saw so many people that I've loved for a long time. Farmville also gave me the chance to catch up with Debby and her family. I wish I could work at camp AND go back to Honduras AND spend time with my other friends and my family, but alas.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Week 44: The Last Week in Copan and Arrival in the US of A

Day 302 June 5
I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. It'd been a pretty restless night and all I really wanted was silence, so I put in my earplugs and read for a while. Around 9:45, I called Megan to see if she still wanted to get our clothes from the seamstress and we agreed to meet in the park shortly, which we did. We went down and got our clothes. She then went to a kinder graduation party and I went to give Cid back his phone, which he'd forgotten at my house, again.
I stayed for a late breakfast, spent some time on the internet, and then had lunch. Shortly after, I went home and tore my room apart. I spent hours dusting, sweeping, cleaning everything out, and organizing. I set up a suite case in the hallway to leave at Megan's and a suite case to bring home. I cleared everything out from under my bed, the other side of my bed, my table-side drawer, beside the bed, and under the “dresser.”
I then ate in Picame and while I was there Jessica returned from her two week trip to Panama. Jesse, the older man, was watching the store and we had a brief chat in which in informed me that I, as a Mayatan teacher, can never find community in Copan and he can't understand why I would want to stay. I didn't respond much, just listened and didn't feel much of a need to justify why I want to stay.
Cid came by and we talked for a long time.


Day 303 June 6
I stayed in med for a long time and read. I also mosquito hunted, using my legs as bait. I killed a couple and then got tired of waiting for them to come to me and covered my legs back up. Caroline called me and said that Jesse had called her and Sierra was locked out of the house and was at Villamil if I would go get her because she doesn't have her phone. I snuck on the internet from Picame and stole internet for long enough to let her know I was home and would be home for a while.
Since I was actually out of bed, I started cleaning up some of the dust that had settled since yesterday and organized some more. I made coffee and started on laundry. Sierra got home and we went out souvenir shopping. While we were out, Cid called wanted to know if I wanted to go to the pool. I went home and did some more laundry before Cid came by.
We walked on toward the ruins, past the ruins, past Los Sepuluras, and all the way to the pool. We were unable to get a ride, but we got there and relaxed for a while. As the only people at the pool, we took advantage and had a good time. The water was cold and refreshing. When we were ready to go back, we got a taxi back. I was a little burnt from the walk there.
Shortly after I got back it was time to go to church. It was our last Sunday all together, so those of us taking off were put in the middle and they prayed over us at the end of our time together.
I went back and met Cid at Picame and we talked for a while. I had more laundry to finish up and I got to that too.

Day 304 June 7
I started out the day with more, you guessed it, laundry. I want to have it all done and dry before I leave Thursday morning and it's the making sure it's dry that's making this a laundry crunch time. After I was done, I walked up to school, but got a ride up with one of Allan's kids in a taxi. He said the ride was free. Awesome.
Juan came in shortly after I did and he informed me that he had studied. He was obviously excited, and also excited when he realized there was a back to his test. That's why it was so heartbreaking to grade it. He obviously had studied. He obviously knew and understood more, but it was not enough. Not at all. He asked me to go talk to his father, which I did. I wish I knew how to help him better.
I spent the rest of the day bagging the classroom supplies and organizing papers for my class next year. I got a ride back with Cathy and hit the laundry again. I then went to the bank and then to Guacamaya to pay my long time outstanding bill. When I got back to Picame, Alex and Chris were there and I ate a burger with them.
Tammi wanted to pick up some professional clothes that weren't all worn out for her job this summer so I met her and Vanessa in the park. While we were out, I picked up some Honduran flip flops to represent the country while in the US and some capris with a lot of pockets.
Tammi and I went running around the nature trail at the ruins and then I showered to get ready to go to Nash's place to have pizza with Megan, Theo, Nash, Tammi, Julia and her husband. I didn't stay long and did eat much. Cid was late getting off work so I met him over at Picame and we ate together. We then hung out talking until bedtime.

Day 305 June 8
I walked up to school with Sierra, but part way up we got a ride with Kayla. I finished bagging my books and supplies and filled out the questionairs. Megan met with me for my exit interview. I went to a meeting on school finances.
The meeting was enlightening and interesting. We tried to give suggestions about what priorities they could have with money, but the big priority right now is putting a cover over the basketball court. We suggested adding more funds to the scholarship fund or paying more to second year teachers so encourage them to stay. They seemed to take to the paying more the second year idea, so we'll see what happens.
After the meeting, I finished moving my supplies into Allan's room and got various administrators to sign off on my to-do list. I turned in my classroom key and went home.
After I packed, I got a taxi over to the Casa de Cafe to store some things for the next two months. While I was over there, I got online and mom called on Skype. We chatted for a while and mom got to meet Cid through Skype. After we got off the phone, I called Megan and found out that I got her house for next year. I was pumped!
I went home and met Abby for our cleaning party. We cleaned for several hours, taking out trash, sweeping up, figuring out what belonged to who and cleaning out the fridge. We took out some of the bottles we had been saving all year—just in case—and left the rest for Sierra, as well as the stove top and her bathroom. The rest of the house we did ourselves.
I then got a couple of things together to take to Megan's on my way to a pot luck at Michael and Eileen's. She wasn't feeling well, and I stayed to chat a while. Cid came up and I got to show him the whole house before we went to the pot luck.
It rained on us on the way there, so Eileen lent me her red skirt since I was soaked. Cid and I made tea, which was really good and folks seemed to enjoy. The pot luck was great. There was good food and good company. When Cid and I left we talked for a while about ideas for next year.

Day 306 June 9
I woke up plenty early and got to the dished. I finished packing everything that I wouldn't need for the next day, cleaned and read. Judy came by to see if she could bake a cake because as soon as she put it in at home, the power went out. I told her she was welcome.
I snagged a taxi to Megan's and brought up the rest of my things. My taxi driver was very nice ans asked me how to say “a block and a half” in English, so I told him. He knew Megan's house when we got to it and offered to haul my things up the stairs. I paid him more than double, but he had hauled my things over his head up the stairs. His name is Carlos. When Megan got there, I asked her what “her taxi driver” was named, and she said Carlos. Ah-ha.
Once I dropped by things off, Megan and I got another taxi up to the school. I walked around inviting people to ViaVia for the night and saying goodbye to the Honduran staff I won't be seeing for the next 2 months. I tried to get to as many groups as I could before I left. Before I went, Megan and I picked an A-Z book for Juan to take as his final recup in August. I then walked home.
At home, I grabbed the last of my things that won't go back with me and took it to Cid's. He was busy painting chairs and tables out in the yard, so I didn't stay long. I swung by Yat B'alam for lunch, coffee and internet since the power is out and they have a generator. Francisco was there and I sat with him until he left and then sat with Hsuan. He'll be leaving Copan in about a week.
When I got home, Beth, Jesse, Caroline, and Sierra were eating in Picame. Caroline came to read since she had given me her staff shirts and still needed her green one for the graduation ceremony. We talked for a while and when she left I tried to talk to Sierra, but she had something else to take care of. I waited for a while, but then went out to take care of things.
I went to buy saldo, ran into my student Fernando, and went to the Casa de Cafe. We left so Cid could return a shirt and then left to go meet Luis for coffee. Luis and I talked for about 2 hours. I then went home and ate a giant burrito at Picame. I then headed to ViaVia to meet folks. As the first one there, I just sat at the bar and chatted with a tourist from Australia. He wasn't very chatted agter Cid came and 20 minutes later, Theo came. He thought he was being fashionably late.
As people trickled in, conversations grew. We talked and Alex's mom took pictures. I said my goodbyes, which were surreal. After living with this people for a year I was saying goodbye to most of them for life. I had some very good talks, though.
I went home and talked with Cid. We said our goodbyes.


Day 307 June 10
As there was no power on my last day in town, I got to go with a bucket shower. I got my things together and then walked to Billy and Mary's. I was there early, so I sat and chatted. We chatted and joked the whole way. I got a goodbye text from Judy.
We took a pit stop at the gas station between Copan and San Pedro. As I walked in one side of the convenience store, Denny and old man Jesse walked in the other side. It was just a crazy happenstance, but they were on their way to San Pedro as well. It was a little Gringo reunion in the middle of Honduras.
When we got to San Pedro we picked up Jimmy, from the bed and breakfast where James and I almost stayed, so that Jimmy could drive the car back to his place and keep it until Audrey and Steve return on Monday to go watch Mary and Billy's house for a couple months.
At the airport things went much smoother than last time. The woman behind the counter had to double check with someone about my dates, but I was on the safe side of my 90 day visa. I paid my exit fee and got a burger. The 5 of us went up and waited. I met a couple from a medical team that was working with the missionaries and they happened to be sitting next to me on the plane.
You know I don't have much experience flying because I'm always in awe of the clouds from above. I wanted to see the oil to help make it real for me, and I had a false spotting early on, but when we hit the USA coast, there were waves of black that were clinging to the coast. I've never seen a coast like that and there was no doubt that I did indeed spot the oil.
When we landed in Atlanta, I had an hour and a half, so I zoomed to get through customs and security. I took the stairs, not the escalator, which had a line, and I walking briskly along the moving sidewalks. Even though I was coming from the back of the plane, I beat most of the other folks on the flight. By the time I rechecked my bag and got through security, I had 20 minutes left. I got to where I could find my gate, since it wasn't on my ticket. It informed me that my flight had departed. I was a bit panicked, so I rushed to the gate and discovered that it wasn't even boarding yet. I rushed to wait.
Once we started boarding, a woman came up to the man collecting the boarding passes and handed him someone else's pass and told him that the man didn't speak any English and she was just there to help him feel comfortable. She turned to him and said, in Spanish, This man can help you. On the way down the hall, I decided to let him know that I know some Spanish. Feeling awkward about it I spoke quickly, Where are you from? Either because of my accent, him not expecting anyone to speak to him, the noise, or the tu form, he didn't understand me and responded, Washington, which is where we were going. I dropped it, but it opened to door for him. He ended up being in the row right in front of me, so I was able to show him where the plane bathrooms are. When he got back, he started telling his seatmates that he needed to sit on the outside of the row, not at the window because he'd have to go more often. They didn't understand Spanish, so I stepped in and told them and they had no problem scooting over for him.
I spent the rest of the flight talking to the inquisitive man next to me. He has had his fair share of travels and was curious about my experiences. I was happy to answer his questions and get his take on things. He's a Virginia man with a son who graduated from Tech, another from Longwood, and a daughter at CNU. He used to have a winery outside of Smith Mountain Lake. He once went to Nigeria to help with a faith based program there. By the end of the conversation he wanted to exchange information and I had told him about Urban Promise, as it seems up his alley, in case he ever wanted to help support them.
When we landed I just waited. I was in the back of the plane anyway and I knew several people on the flight had tight connections, plus I wanted to ask the older Hispanic man if he needed anything else. He said he needed water and the bathroom again, which I knew he could handle on his own. I asked him if he had someone meeting him and he said that they were waiting. I felt relieved and walked off at a brisk pace, knowing mom would be watching for me.
As I walked, he appeared back beside me and said You speak Spanish and I don't speak any English...He also informed me about why he had to pee so much. Turns out he was born in Santa Rita but has lived the last 40 years in Ocotepeque. He told me some sad story I didn't understand the bulk of. I'm glad I didn't because I don't think I could have helped him with it and he got the therapy of telling me after a day of not being able to talk to anyone and I'm not saddened by it. I learned that he had bags to claim, so I knew where to take him. Once I saw how big the airport was, I was glad he had caught back up to me. We had to go down the stairs, get on the train, get off the train in the right place, go up the stairs, turn, turn, and find the Delta baggage claim. It was easy for me because I read English, but he would have been in trouble.
Shortly after we got to baggage, mom arrived. Luckily, she had not been waiting wondering why I hadn't come. Much like the info on my flight in Atlanta, the information in Dullas never updated to tell her we'd arrived, or taken off, or anything. I introduced her to my new friend and he threw his arms around her, kissed her on the cheek and said, Praise Jesus, Glory to Jesus, Thank you for this girl! None of which did mom understand, but she got that he was happy.
His family came and he introduced me to them telling them all about how I had helped with on the plane, the bathrooms, after the flight, and so on. While he was talking to them, the man I had sat next to on the plane came and told his wife I was the young woman he'd been talking about and told mom I was fascinating to talk to. I was a hit on this flight!
Once I got my bag, I said goodbye and left him in the hands of his family. Mom and I went off to find a shuttle and the whole time I was talking a mile a minute as I tend to do when I'm coming back from something. We got the shuttle to the hotel, got a small dinner, and went upstairs. All the while I can't stop talking until finally we fell asleep.

Day 308 June 11
This morning, I woke up in the United States. It was strange. The cleaning lady came and knocked on the door at 8:30 and then I was up. Mom and I got dressed enough to go eat breakfast and then came back up and got ready really slowly, mostly because I couldn't stop talking. We finally headed out around 11:20. It was a nice trip and we arrived in Blacksburg around 4. I got situated and Nana, Mom, and I went shopping for birthday things. We went to Old Navy and made a pretty quick trip of it. We got back and ate dinner.
I went to a grocery store with Mom, which was more overwhelming than I expected. I was glad to get back to the house where we all just chatted and caught up.
I was thrilled to get an e-mail from Diane, my future teaching partner. She sounds awesome. I responded and went to bed.