Week 22: Back to Copan

Day 149 January 3
Coming back was much less terrifying than coming to Honduras the first time. And by the time it was time to leave, I was ready to come back. It has become home #5.
In Atlanta, I had more than enough time to get to my terminal, eat breakfast (and this time I was relaxed enough that I could eat) and read my book. Abby and Allan, who I hadn’t even known were coming back on Sunday arrived for the flight, and when we got in line to board, Nash was suddenly beside me.
I ended up next to Nash because he switched with the man who was supposed to be next to me so that he could sit with his wife and baby. Nash slept most of the way. When we were landing, Nash and I were talking about buses and the young man on the other side of Nash asked if we knew anything about the Hedman. I told him everything about the Hedman.
Billy, my new tourist friend, and I chatted while we waited to go through immigration, and he had two weeks to explore Honduras and wanted to spend the first part of his time in Copan.
When we got through immigration and customs, I found Megan and we went to buy tickets, but there was only one left. The three of us, Billy included, decided to split a taxi ride to the Casa Sola station and see if they had tickets. They were out for the 2 o’clock, but we got three tickets for the 3 o’clock for much cheaper than Hedman (but I was glad we were all able to go together.)
Billy and I chatted all the way to Copan, except the 10-15 minutes I fell asleep (first nap of the day) toward the end of the ride. I introduced him to baleadas, he witnessed his first power outage and I translated for him at his hostal. I then found my own way to bed, exhausted.

Day 150 January 4
We had plans to meet up at Megan’s house at 10 for brunch to meet the new teacher, Alex, and for the rest of us to see each other again. I was already back on Honduran time and arrived 20 minutes late, but was still among the first to arrive. The food was good, as was the conversation. I got to talk to Alex for a while and was apparently pointed out as the go-to person for how to budget, so I told him how I do that.
Around noon I headed home and got ready to head up to school. I swung by Alex’s house (after walking halfway there, realizing I had forgotten my school keys, gone back to my house and then walked up again) to walk with him up to school and then sat by working for 4 hours. I worked on lessons, implementing my new plans, and putting my room back in order.
When I got back to town I went online for a while and ate dinner at Casa Villamil. I saw my tourist friend Billy while I was there, but was too tired to be much entertainment and went to bed pretty early again.

Day 151 January 5
The first day back at school started off really well. My kids took well to my new methods and were on their best behavior for the morning. As the day went, they got a little rougher, but I straightened them out. I did not have tutorias after school and decided to go to Isaac’s the next day. When the day was home I just packed up my school work and took it home with me. I took a relaxing evening before getting to really early.

Day 152 January 6
My kids were more chatty, but we worked through it. I had a good day at school, but nothing too exciting. After school I had an “after school special” (oh aren’t I original…) on snow with some of my advanced kids who wanted to stay and talk about snow and see the pictures I took in Pitt and Philly for them. They were fascinated. After which I went to Isaac’s house for tutoring. When I was done, I was tired, but we were having some people over for a soup dinner.
The dinner was delicious, but a little drama ensued. I was up late, but it was all for the good.

Day 153 January 7
The morning started earlier than expected, but I still got to school plenty early. Early enough to drink 3 cups of coffee before the bell rang while chatting in the teachers lounge. I was wired for my students.
I had my first tutorias with just two kids and I think it works much better. Marlon wants to stay also, and I told him he can as long as he is not distracting an I still just cater the lessons to the kids I want to stay.
My coffee high ran out during my two hour tutoring session with Isaac, which is longer than I usually stay anyway. When I got home I just cleaned up some and went to bed.

Day 154 January 8
I hadn’t even realized when I planned my math quiz (and spelling test, but that’s standard) that they also had a Social Studies test today. So, between lessons, we played games like four corners and heads up, four up (I do four instead of 7 because they just get out of hand when there are seven.) I think it helped the day go a lot smoother. 3 tests/quizzes is a lot for 3rd graders on their first week back from break. They were good for me and I think they appreciated it.
When the day was done, I ran home and locked myself in my room for a few hours to just decompress after the week. I went out and bought doughnuts for dinner at Julia’s house and met everyone at Twisted Tanya’s. I just got a Pina licuardo, but I talked Alex into joining us for dinner at Julia’s.
The walk there was fun, she lives further out than I thought and dinner was delicious (and I probably had 10 of Tammi’s cookies. Ah, que rico!) We had a bit of a dance party and I got dragged out also. After the dancing died down, I swung in the hammock and talked with Alex, and for a while, Michael.
A bit before 10 the group decided to head out and I called Kelvin, as I promised him I would, and we met up. Some folks went home and some folks went to Tony’s Bar. A bit before midnight the group wanted to move to the Bamboo bar, but I was too tired and so was Alex (I still haven’t made it out there, but oh well, another night.) The two of us exited together and then departed to our homes.