Day 196 February 20
I woke up and finished the 4th book in The Great Book of Amber. I then headed downstairs to make breakfast and clean up some. Unfortunately, I was too sleepy to remember to make coffee until I was almost done with my breakfast of scrambled eggs mixed with broccoli, carrots, eggplant, onions, garlic, peppers, some vegetable I don’t know the name of, cilantro, potatoes, and avocado. Delicious.
I spent the morning and early afternoon on laundry and, using Picame internet, creating a blog on blogspot. I think it’d be fun for more than just Facebook users to be able to read my “notes.” It was inspired by hearing from Coach Biasi, who does not have Facebook. I’ll probably keep updating them both, but now my blog is updated with weeks 1-28, each with a theme or title. It’ll help me reference them also and know what happened during which week if I want to look back through them.
I also did what Allan referred to as “Honduran cleaning” which consisted of sweeping and cleaning the “outdoors.” It had been mentioned that our entry area was a mess, so I decided to correct it. I scrubbed down under the door and dusted and scrubbed out window panes, both sides, as well as taking out the screens and cleaning them (which were filthy with dust.) I started on the window to my room also, but didn’t get very far because it was getting dark. I swept out the ground around our door and the stairs to the roof and the walls to get all the webs. I think it looks much better, but it’s subtle enough that I doubt most people will even notice.
At 3 I received a text from Luis informing me that I had mail (it was sent much earlier, but I wasn’t near my phone.) Forgetting that the post office closes at 12 on Saturdays, I showered and left the house for the first time and hurried over. But, of course, it was closed. Instead, I bought bananas. I got back home and continued cleaning.
I made dinner and Marlon and Beto came over. I get really tired dealing with those boys when they come over, but I never have the heart to send them out. I didn’t have enough to share, but I have them a couple of bananas each while Allan played with them. Abby and Beth came over to make dinner and couldn’t bring themselves to cook and eat in front of the boys so they bought them street baleadas and sent them home.
I then headed over to Nash’s to watch Pan’s Labyrinth with Nash, Tammi, Theo, Chris, Katie, and Luis. They had a projector, which was good most of the time but far too dark when the scene was dark, which happens a lot in this movie. Luis was amused by their Spanish accents. When it was over, at 10:30, I headed on home.
Day 197 February 21
I woke up earlier than I wanted to and ate my left over pasta from dinner. I showered and did the dishes before heading to church, which was packed full. I arrived 5 minutes early and it was already out the door. I still don’t have a clear understanding of what was going on, but instead of a regular homily, there was a train homily consisting of 10 different priests/decans who each gave a short homily and they were sandwiched by our regular priest and he ended with a normally lengthed homily. Then, a whole lot of the congregation moved up front and all of their names were read off. It was a lot of names. I do not know why. The mass was about 2.5 hours this time. Luckily, Megan’s mom is in town and the Urban Promise folks are gone so our usually scheduled worship was cancelled, so I didn’t miss it. I did get to see one of the other teachers who I don’t normally see at mass and a couple of students, which was nice.
I got home and made an egg-cheese-onion sandwich and started getting caught up on grading. After a while of grading I decided to dust and clean the windows that lead to my bedroom much like the ones I cleaned downstairs. I took out all of my earrings from the screen and cleaned inside and out. It was a lot of going up and down the stairs, but now my windows have lost the dust film I hadn’t even noticed, but was aware enough of that I now feel cleaner. Mmmmm…cleaner.
I went out and did some grocery shopping including picking up 6 lemp (30 cents) shoe polish for my church shoes and my school shoes. I shined up my church shoes and they look much better, but I’ll have to wait til I get to school to touch up my school shoes.
When I finished, I made a PB and J and got water, my phone, my keys, my notebook, and The Great Book of Amber and headed to the roof hammock. I stayed there until I was half done with the 5th book (which I was starting) and then came back down to make dinner.
I was working on my green beans when Marlon and Beto came over, which is beginning to get overbearing. When Abby got home we discussed how convenient it is that the boys always come when we’re working on dinner and the do have food to eat. We don’t mind feeding them every once in a while, but it is getting to be too much. Aside from the food part of it, having them over for a couple of hours every night is just draining, and we’ve started kicking them out earlier. We teach and then we get to relax and have adult time. They make this difficult on a, now, daily basis.
After we sent them out I went up and read a couple more chapters. As soon as I turned my light out, a man outside my window started calling Sierra’s name. I ignored him at first, but he persisted and informed me that he could see me, so I told him she wasn’t here. He asked if she lived here, and I said yes, but she wasn’t here and would probably be sleeping soon anyway since we have school in the morning. He wouldn’t go away and asked to see me (as my light was out) to see if he knows me. Abby heard me talking and came by to see what was going on. I told her, and then he asked me where our door was, and I told him downstairs. He left. Abby and I talked about it for a moment, apparently he had been downstairs about 10 minutes before asking Abby and Allan for Sierra, but they thought she had left. It struck us as likely that he had been outside my window while I was reading. He then came back to the door, trying the same things, and when we asked who he was, again, he just said “a friend.” Abby was getting upset and sent him off.
Once he was gone, we went and talked to Esteban to see if he had noticed anyone, but he had been in the restaurant. He said he hadn’t seen anyone, but he would be here for another half hour and would check the roof before leaving to make sure the man was really gone. We thanked him and I fell asleep shortly after I heard Esteban come back down from the roof with his flashlight.
Day 198 February 22
When I woke up I found I was still a little freaked by the man from last night. I ended up leaving the house a little late and hurried along when I did get going. I caught up to Tammi and we walked together for a while.
We asked Sierra, but she’s not sure who she would even know who’d come by the house like that. My kids were pretty well behaved, which I was thankful for. They asked me if I saw the light and heard the boom at 9:30, but I did not, as I was sleeping. Apparently, there was a light in the sky followed by a loud explosion, which I missed completely. Several students said that their parents said it was from a rocket, but I can’t find anything on it in the news online.
I’m implementing a new system at the end of the day to try and calm things down. Day 1 was a success, we’ll see how it goes from here.
I left school and got a ride part way down. I checked my mail, but she had just handed the mail to Megan so I walked up the hill and got my mail from her. I also got to meet and chat with her mom for a minute before I went home to change my shirt (it’s no longer “cold” here, it is now full on summer.) When I got to Picame, Esteban said that our friend from last night had been back again, looking for me, and he goes by the name Chile Verde, but he doesn’t know his real name. He had some words with him and sent him off. I love you Esteban.
I then went to tutoring at Isaac’s. The restaurant is open again and when I first came in I had a gringo convinced I spoke fluent Spanish. It amused me. There seem to be new employees and I miss the old ones (just because I don’t like change.)
I left tutoring and went straight to class. Class went well, though I was obviously out of it when I did my homework last week. Luis overheard Abby and I discussing Chile Verde and was concerned, so we talked about it some during class.
I went home and relaxed for a while, finishing the 5th book in the Amber series. Luis and Josue came over for a while, but I went to bed at 8:30. Many jokes were had about Chile (if someone knocked at the door or even when Allan got home and I asked who was there.) He did not show again, however.
Day 199 February 23
The mornings are cool enough, but the afternoons and nights are blistering. It gets hard to fall asleep. I’ve been losing some weight, I think just because I’m walking faster and further these days and have been easing out less.
My class was well behaved and we had a good time with multiplication Bingo, which actually motivated them to pay enough attention to learn the tricks I had to make things easier and then jeopardy for science review.
After school I had tutorias and we had a good time making flash cards to study at home. Juan was very sick, so I sent him home from tutorias early.
I stayed at school until 3:10 when I rushed home for tutorias at Isaac’s. They were fine, though not particularly energetic. On my way back, I ran into Eileen, followed by Ann, and then Beth and Josue. It was a little party in the central park. I even saw the tourist I met yesterday who thought I spoke fluent Spanish.
I got home and went up on the roof to read and write. While I was there, I got a call from Sierra asking if she could barrow my headphones. On my way back up I noticed that the sky had changed to a sharp pink, so I rushed back down to get my camera. I didn’t have the best vantage point, but the deep colors were captured. I’ve been pig on editing pictures recently, but I didn’t even want to touch these. Not that they’re great colors, I just didn’t want to ruin the colors. I played with other settings and found I really like sepia and I can take panoramic photos. Good times will follow.
I then decided I wanted to go to Villamil and see who was online. Megan and her mom were there, so I sat with them for a while. I did some catching up and even got to chat with mom. I then came home to get ready for bed and finish up my writings for the night.
Day 200 February 24
The dust has been unreal. Sometimes, when you step on the ground it literally billows up like you’re stepping in flour or powder. It can consume half you leg. In most places, though, the women sweep the streets and then wet it down to keep it from taking over the world. Dust is in everything. It’s not as bad as I thought, but I do carry my scarf with me to school so I can use it on the way back to cover my mouth.
I also love that four wheelers are an acceptable form of transportation.
I’ve been leaving later and later every day, and this morning I got to walk beside the sunrise. It was rather nice.
The kids and I had a talk about why I have been getting more strict- not because I’m angry and not because their worse, but to help make the classroom a better place for them to learn. Some of them understand, I’m sure some do not.
My health lesson was on emergencies and peer pressure. They now know Stop, Drop, and Roll, what to do during and earthquake, and what peer pressure is (and that only they can decide whether it’s good or bad pressure.)
After school, I stayed to do some planning and do my homework for class. Some of my girls came in, and I will never turn down a chance to let them practice English, so I gave them my giant rainforest book and we talked about the pictures while I did my homework. As soon as they saw what I was doing they were fascinated. They looked through my past homeworks, and at my past mistakes. Then they tried to tell me the answers to today’s homework, but I told them I need to do it themselves. We had a long chat about why some people can’t roll their Rs easily (I compared it to Latinos who can’t say ‘th’ easily.)
I then walked home and went to class, which was good. We talked about Jose, whom Luis had seen the day before, and we talked about my girls trying to help me cheat on my homework. Luis had told Jose everything I had hoped to tell him, but oh well.
On my way out of class, I saw Jose. He called me over and we talked for a while. He’s not mad anymore and claims he never was. I’m glad I stayed out of all the he-said, she-said to it. I figured either he would figure it out, or not and either he would forgive me, or not. I’m glad we’re friends again. He tried to get me to buy him school supplies before I left, but we’re just not there yet.
I went home and did some cooking and school work before I packed up and went to Villamil. I went early to chat with other folks, but at 7 my mom got on and around 8 my dad came home and I got to skype with them both. It was really nice.
Luis came to the cafĂ© and we chatted. I showed him my ticket to the Steelers game from back in December (I knew I had packed my ticket, but I hadn’t been able to find it) and my old sketch book from when I was a teenager, which was just entertaining.
When he left, I went to sleep, hoping the cold front was on its way (rumor has it that how hot it’s been is about as hot as it gets, which I can live with.)
Day 201 February 25
I think I’m getting better at Thursdays. I used to consider them really hard days because I have three classes in a row, recess, and three classes in a row. That second set of three classes got really long. But I think as a combination of attituute shift, better planning, and an ideal theft from one of my elementary teachers has made it all go smoother. If I have a test, it’s right after recess, not after another fun activity. It’s easier to sober them up when they first come into the room than after getting them energized in the room. If we have a high-energy activity, we do it right before we leave. We now enter “The Game Zone” for 5-10 minutes in the middle to get out energy. It’s working like a champ and I hadn’t even noticed, but for several weeks in a row, I said “Thursday was better than they usually are” or “This Thursday didn’t feel as long as usual.” But now it’s a pattern, and that’s awesome.
We had a science test, which was really hard, but my kids stepped up (most of them.) I also had grades due, but the power went out at 7, and I simply could not insert the new grades I had from Thursday or access my grades to figure out who needed progress reports (not every one gets mid-quarter grades. It’s up to us. I give them to any student who has less than an 80 in any class. 70 is failing at Mayatan.)
In the morning, Andrea brought me a note in her pink notebook from a gringo names Bart who’s living with her family while he takes classes at the other language school. He had heard from her that I was from Virginia and he is from Charlottesville, so he was wondering where I was from and how I ended up here. He’s volunteering in El Progresso until May. I wrote back. It was a funny situation and now Andrea jokes that he is my boyfriend.
I had spelling tutorias and was pleased to see that all day and on into the afternoon Juan’s cough had eased. He was back to his old antics. I then walked home and had tutorias at Isaac’s house. Isaac and Jaqui were not there, so I chatted with the new woman who works there (I asked her name…but I already forgot. She’s so sweet!) Then a British tourist came in and we talked for a while. Yoela came in to wait for Isaac also (she’s been sick a lot this week, including today, but was still coming to my tutorias? I’ll take it.) The tourist and I talked about her travels and my teaching. She loves Copan, of course, and was jealous I get to stay here. Eventually Jaqui and Isaac came back in (he was in desperate need of a new belt, so they had run out to get one before the store closed) and I had tutoring. I found that he still isn’t comfortable saying a whole lot in English, but he makes more jokes about the subtleties, which is something. I told him I had noticed a lot of improvement and if he would try to practice more he could improve even faster. I told Yoela that I’d heard that her English was worlds better than it was last year and that I was proud of them both.
I left at 5 to go to class, which went well. This time no students had tried to make me cheat on my homework. I tend to try to make more complicated sentences than my homework really requires, which is where most of my errors come from.
I had intentions of going to the Thursday night service at the church, but because I’d had no power all day, at I had to take advantage of the power to do my grades and write up my progress reports. 11/19 students had at least one grade below an 80. Several of whom have recently become classroom problems and they never were before. I have noticed a maturity shift in my classroom as my students become more aware of each other. No matter where Nahomy is in the room, she is a distraction to most of the boys in the room. She also seems to lack the motivation to do anything in class because she is suddenly getting attention she never got before.
While I was working, Jesse came over. He had plans to meet with Beth to make dinner, but couldn’t get a hold of her. After half an hour or so he started making dinner in our kitchen (he was out of gas at home, also.) She called back and they had their dinner at our house. We found it amusing and Jesse did all our dishes, so we win! While they were making dinner I went up to try to get a good night sleep, but failed again.
Day 202 February 26
Friday was a really good day. I left for school 5 minutes later than the day before (which has been the trend all week) but still got there in plenty of time. The kids were good and we had fun. We made tiny settings for stories in toilet paper roll halves, took a spelling test, did times math, and played the science board game I brought at the very beginning of the year. I decided that we had covered enough science to play and they did well on the trivia questions we had gone over yet. They really liked it and it was great English practice. I had them broken up into 4 teams since it’s just a 4 player game.
During Social Studies, Helen had them clean and completely reorganize the room. The kids were so pleased with themselves, and it does give the room more space, but she wastes their class time like this a lot. I told the kids I was thrilled and we had a fun, relaxed last period. I spent my after school time continuing in the idea of clean and organized and set up a new system to put in place on Monday concerning a lack of students finishing classwork or writing notes. They can now earn a star a day according to what they do, and if they earn their stars for the week they get full credit and a star on the Reach for the Stars board. We’ve already talked about it and I think it will go well.
I was making up tests and other copies for next week when I got a text from Luis saying I had a package in the mail. I was sure I wouldn’t make it, so I didn’t even rush, at first. But 20 minutes later I decided I could not wait until Saturday for that package, so I finished up my work and headed toward home. I went from Mayatan to the Correo (which is across town from my house) in 15 minutes and walked in breathless. I told her my feat (and when Luis told me she had told him, he said he didn’t believe me.) I had my package from David— Thank you! I also had a letter from Nana and Granddaddy and a package with stickers and my class’s pen-pal letters. I was super excited.
I went home and unloaded everything onto my bed. I gushed over it for a while and showed it all off to Abby and read all the letters. I was pleased to see that their English wasn’t that far off from my kids. They have word order down better, but struggle with a lot of similar things.
I then got to work cleaning the downstairs in preparation for the surprise birthday party we were throwing for Megan. I cleaning up, and took in my laundry from the pila room. I was disturbed to find that the ants that own my house have taken an interest in my detergent, as many of my clothes hanging on the lines there were filled with ants. I worked through each article of clothing, checking for ants, and dropped the ones that had them on the ground. I then resoaked more than half of my clothes to wash out in the morning and took the rest upstairs.
I went shopping for the week and for hummus supplies, which I made for the party. I finished cleaning the downstairs (Abby did most of the big stuff, but I went after her to sweep up and tidy a little more.) I then started working on my room which hadn’t been cleaning in a week. IT had become a big mess, especially with my care package on the bed. I put everything away and swept it all out. I hung up my clothes and organized my books. I separated out the things I want to bring to school on Monday and packed up my bag. While I was working our first guests, Marlon and Victor, came over. They joined me in my room while I cleaned. Seeing all of my candy, they needed some of it too. I shared nicely, but not too much as most of it (except for the now and laters) is for my kids. Sierra came out for about a minute to talk with them, but then left me alone with them again.
Abby went down with the boys after a while and greeted other folks as they came in (who knew Hondurans would be early!) I finished my room and joined them downstairs. We had a huge turn out and a nice poster for everyone to sign. There was an abundance of food and a wonderful mix of Hondurans and gringos. Spanish and English were being spoken and switched in and out of. There were kids and adults, coworkers, and friends, students and parents. It was good.
We refrained from eating until Megan arrived. She had no idea until the moment they opened the door. I called Chris just as she got there, because he was in Cofradia, so that he could yell, “Surprise” through the phone. I told her later that he was there in voice and spirit. Folks ate, drank, played uno, stayed in the house, went on the roof, and all around had a good time.
Most folks left around 10 or 10:30 and the last Honduran family left at 11. Mirium wouldn’t charge us for the other food she made, only the cake, but we paid her extra anyway. She’s so good to us. Getting her son, Carlos of Allan’s class, to leave was difficult. He was really into the Uno games.
I finally got to bed around 12 and had my first good night’s sleep in about 8 days.
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