Week 40: Henry and Mommy's Birthday

Day 274 May 8
I woke up earlier than was desired and lounged around bed until about 10. I went down and discovered Henry making breakfast for Sierra and me. It was delicious. We hung out and chatted all morning until they left to go to the bird park.
I spent the rest of the late morning/early afternoon cleaning the house and doing my laundry. Around 2:30, I hopped in the shower and got ready to go to Casa Villamil to met Megan to go over applications for next year. We reviewed, discussed, and took notes until about 4 when Viki and all of her students came to hear our stories. We hung out and explained our lives, one at a time, until around 6. The application meeting then wrapped up with semi-final decisions.
Between everything I spent some time online and updated my blog, chatted with Alex Kramer, and caught up on a variety of other things. A bit before 7 I headed on home.
I created a pasta dish with, well, pasta, ground beef, tomatoes, onion, garlic, milk, gouda cheese, cauliflower and carrots marinated in jalapeno juice for spice, and olives which made the dish wonderful. I ate and washed the dishes shortly before Cid came over. I was pretty tired, so we sat around talking. We had plans to watch a movie, but I didn't make it that long. I ended up falling asleep before 9.

Day 275 May 9
Happy Mother's Day, Mothers!
I woke up feeling very refreshed and ate the leftovers of my pasta dish. I did the rest of my laundry. I sat around talking to Sierra for a while, both of us wanting to shower but first there was no power or water and then there was no water.
We went out grocery shopping, which was very productive. I saw Viki while I was out and said my goodbyes. We saw a variety of other people as I went from store to store and market.
I got back home and found Henry had woken up. He went out to buy food to cook and when he came back he had found a friend of his from La Ceiba, very randomly. They cooked and then we ate lunch, all the while practicing Spanish. His friend, Ben, is a United Statesian who was taking Spanish classes in Ceiba.
Around 1, Sierra and Carolina came back from French class and I departed to call my mom. I called as they were sitting down to dinner, so I waited around until she was available to call back. We had a nice chat and I got to see my brothers and dad also.
I went home and cooked up a new dish I've been working on. It smelled good, but I was making it for the week to come. I ate a pb and j sandwhich. The guys had come back and wanted to try my cooking, saying I had kept it a secret that I could cook. I then made banana pudding, of sorts, and went to church.
Megan wanted to make sure the guys would not still be in the house when we went to school the next day, so I called Sierra and asked if she had talked to Henry yet. She had not, she said she would. We started church up late, and as I always do when we have it in the evening, I was zonked by about 7:30. I left around 8 and discovered the guys, Sierra, and Cid up on the roof.
Cid joined me downstairs and we chatted about roommates, my past roommate situations, how little drama this one has, and the current situations being dealt with.

Day 276 May 10
Sierra left later than usual and I wasn't sure if I was being avoided or not, but I gave her her space. As I walked out of the house, however, I heard someone call my name. I turned and saw Kelvin walking down toward me. He was in town for Mother's day and had to get back to work that day so he was taking off on the 6am bus. We chatted until 6 near the bus and then said our goodbyes. He said he'd come back into town for my birthday weekend.
I got a ride when I was most of the way there from Gilda. She gave me a banana. I was later than usual also, so I didn't have as much prep time as I like to have on Mondays.
I started out the day telling them how proud I was of them from Friday and how we now have 4 weeks left of school. Four weeks to prep for being fourth graders. They told be they didn't want me to prep them to be fourth graders, they want me to teach them. Even Carlos and Isaac. I didn't say anything about it, but told them I would do a better job and that I wanted them all to do their part.
We got our new spelling words, did a mini lesson on “a” vs “an”, finished our pizza fractions, did a timed science activity on renewable resources. Norma had asked me on Friday if I would come to her class today, so I did. The kids all had questions to ask me based around my childhood, when I was in primary, becoming a teacher, being at Mayatan, being in Honduras, and my favorite things. The interview was in Spanish, which my kids didn't expect me to be able to do. Norma pointed out that I came not knowing Spanish, but now can understand questions and answer them with few (many, I think) errors. They certainly enjoyed it. The end of the day was mayhem, but a moderate mayhem.
I spent my free periods writing out recipes on index cards and color coordinating them based on the type of dish it is. Many of these dishes, some from mom, some from the internet, and some from my brain, are even manageable here! I'm excited about it.
After school, we had a house meeting, which I thought went well until the end when I discovered it had not. I just have to hope it blows over. I walked home with Megan. When I got home things were a little awkward and the angry biting ants at the door didn't help when I went to let Jesse in. Jesse and Sierra left and I went off to tutoring.
We did his homework and then finished a book we started reading a while ago. When I left, I saw Chris and we chatted for a while, making a dinner date for tomorrow. I got home and tried to talk to Sierra, but she wasn't up for it. I went upstairs and finished the recipes I had saved to my computer and my progress reports. By the time I was done, I had 27 recipe index cards, and had watched my neighbors, two young boys, try to kill each other. It made me think of David and James. I kept an eye out and decided not to intervene unless they started threatening real damage to each other. They were very angry children, though. They worked it out and then mom came out to scold them.
I cleaned up downstairs and picked up my room. Jesse came back over and I got another recipe from him. I went out to chat with Cid, Denny, Esteban, and Jessica as I'd been hearing Cid's voice from the house. Denny wants to have a cook off.
I came back in and continued on, cutting up mango for tomorrow and doing other general prep. I went to sleep shortly before 9.

Day 277 May 11
It was a hot night, and I was not able to sleep through it. This resulted in a sleepy morning and a sleepy day. Yesterday my eye was red and puffy and it was today also. It hasn't been hurting or itching, but my kids ask about it a lot.
We had reading groups for the first time in more than a week. They went well and we actually went to the computer lab, which I usually avoid like the plague. I'm always scared being the only teacher in a room with 25 computers and 20 children. The potential for disaster is too great. But today we went and went well.
We started added fractions, learning about mixed numbers, and what are fossil fuels. I also managed total control during our out of control period at the end of the day. They were pleased with themselves, too. Let's see if I can make a pattern out of it.
After school, some of the kids hung around my room for a while, but at 2:30 I rushed down the hill to get to the bank before it got a line. It was a construction day on the road, which inspired me to walk all the faster. I succeeded in getting to the bank when it had short lines and came home for a bit. I made Sierra, who had gone home sick, some tea. I discovered a spilled container of honey in the house, and cleaned it up before going to tutoring. I am scared of getting more ants.
After tutoring, I went home and was shortly called by Cid. He came over for a while and informed me that he'd be stuck at the hotel for the next 10 days because Howard and Angela were going to Guatemala and Mexico. After he left to go back, I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Sierra and went to sleep.

Day 278 May 12
My kids have literally been planning my surprised birthday party for 2 weeks. I thought they would lose steam, but now I do not believe it is the case. My birthday falls on a Thursday, which means I have no specials to break up my day. I will have 3 periods in a row, 20 minutes of recess, and 3 more periods, then the last period at the end of the day. This is the plan: play the first 3 periods normally with reading groups and a question of the day. I will inform them of my plan during this time so they do not riot. During the second long period, I will essentially give them a one manned field day. We can do trust activities, play games like telephone, have relays. I refuse to give up too much at the end of the school day, so they will all be educationally based. Telephone is practicing English skills, relays can have a question element added. I will also tell them that I'm coming back and going to 4th grade. They've started asking, and this way I won't be losing class time. That's the plan...
I've been having a harder and harder time getting out of bed, but did and walked up the hill. Sierra is still a bit sick, so she decided to take the bus. When I got to school, I got set up, set up the board, and borrowed some push pins from Anne, as I had come ill prepared. Despite this, I managed to have a good day. Wednesdays tend to be like that. I stayed late and then walked home.
At home, I watched the movie Revolutionary Road. It was well done, but one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. I had a slow movie and then went over to Cid's. We were going to watch The Men who Stare at Goats, but he was stuck working later than expected. He was in a skype call with Howard, who's still on vacation, for some time after I got there. I actually, awkwardly, fell asleep on the couch and woke up when a guest came in, who looked at me very strangely for not just going to my room. Of course, I don't have a room there.
I did wake up and we chatted for at least a little while before I went off to sleep.

279 May 13
Happy Birthday Mommy! You are wonderful!
I was able to chat with my mommy in the morning. My kids wished her a happy birthday also. The kids and I had a good day, except for one hour. One horrible hour. I came down hard on them hard and brought order back, but it was not a delight. We ended the day with a play by the 5th graders on bullies. It was well done and my kids were listening!
I stayed a little late to finish up some work and then walked home with Megan and Beth. I was only home for a minute before I rushed off to tutoring. Isaac had been sent home with a bill, and when Jaqui saw it, she panicked. She tried to talk to me about it, but even if I had understood everything she was saying...i still don't know anything about money at Mayatan. I just agreed to take in her receipts saying she had paid each month and told her who to talk to. When I told her to talk to Alexis, she ran out the door with her recite book, came back in and said she would cook for me first. After she cooked , she went back out to sort things out. When she came back, she had sorted it all out and she was not being charged for past months, but what she still had to pay for the end of the year, which was fine. I stayed later at tutoring to help her sort it out, and to comfort Isaac since he was getting concerned.
During school, I had had a brief conversation with Nash and Tammi about maybe going for a run. While I was at tutoring, I took out my phone, in case they called, but they never did. As I was leaving Isaac's, I saw Cid and he needed to run by my house to pick up his phone charger. Isaac saw us together and gave me a curious look, but luckily he's not much of a gossip. He just likes to make sure I know he knows.
When I got to the house, Nash and Tammi were there, waiting to run. It was 30 minutes after the agreed on time, but Nash had only been there for 10 minutes and Tammi for 2. I had given up on the idea of a run, but Nash wouldn't let it go, so I dressed quickly and we went. We ran to the ruins and ran through the nature trail. I saw my first wild snake since getting here, which is a little late in the game. I don't know what kind it was, but I almost tripped Tammi when I stopped to look. Oops.
We got back from the run and I stretched, did a few more exercises, and showered. I was then late to dinner with Alex, Megan, Chris, and Rachael. Rachael came a little after I did. We had a wonderful dinner full of good company and conversation.
After, I went home and went to bed around 8:30.

Day 280 May 14
I was running late in the morning, but walked quickly to make up for it. The class spent the day on the brink of chaos, and I was constantly afraid we'd slip into it, but I managed to keep things together just enough that we didn't. We did have a major let down when Katia was expecting her mom to come with cake at the end of the day to celebrate her birthday and no one came. It was sad for the class, but mostly for Katia. I hope she was greeted at home with something or at least a reason. She handled it well, though. I get the feeling she has a strained relationship at home and so she wasn't surprised.
I stayed late and did a lot of work. I made a lot of worksheets and did planning. I'm gerring up with prep for the end of the year. We'll see how it goes. I cleaned up the room and listened to music, while Victor and Marlon brought in several very large beetles.
When I did leave, I played a little basketball with Abby and Allan before heading home. I left earlier than I normally do on Fridays because there was no power. I went into town and bought saldo before calling and meeting up with Rachael.
We chatted for a while, much more casually than most of our conversations are, but it was broken up by the need to buy tres leches cake and get it to one of the local boys who was having his 9th birthday. There's no one who would celebrate his birthday. We took him up on my roof to give it to him and he was a very good sharer. Abby was in the house by this time and she heard us up there, so we told her it was Jimmy's birthday and she brought up some shoes, shirts, shorts, and briefs her family had donated to the area, but she hadn't yet figured out how to distribute. She thought this was as good a time as any to start. After Jimmy left, beaming in his new shoes, we set up some new ground rules for future church meetings.
I went to Cid's and we watched Inglorious Bastards, which wasn't as good as the hype I had heard. I was very sleepy, and we talked for a while after the movie before I finally decided I needed to get to bed.