you know you're in Honduras when

This week was a week of milestones! I reached my 100th day mark and I surpassed my length of stay in Spain, so this is officially the longest I've lived in another country. With these milestones, I decided to reflect on what I've learned and noticed about this amazing country.

So, you know you're in Honduras when:

- you show up early at a party at 3:00 that was supposed to begin at 1:00

- everywhere you go people are riding in the back of pick-up trucks

- you can't go anywhere without calls of "Goodbye" "I love you" "Hey Baby" "Gringa" and of course the loudest lip smacking kissy noise

- you can't sleep because of the random animals making noises all night (dogs, cows, horses, chickens)

- you realize that roosters crow round the clock, not just when dawn breaks

- "se fue la luz" doesn't even phase you

- you feel clean after dumping buckets of water that have sat in your pila for days over your head and then proceed to use the same water to wash dishes and wash your clothes

- you no longer bother to swat the tiny ants that crawl on your arms off because you know they are everywhere, even after religiously cloroxing everything

- you also know any piece of food will attract 50,000 ants within seconds

- you no longer use your finger to point at things, instead you make a kissy face and do a lip point

- you nod your head and blink your eyes at a student and they will run right over to you

- you rejoice that it rained on your drying clothes because that means an extra rinse cycle and it'll be your only chance at getting all the soap out

- you don't trust any dog and you are on edge every time you see one

- you often have wireless internet and no running water

- you can't travel anywhere without a microwave and jug of water, haven forbid the food isn't hot

- you ride to school on the same school bus as your children, throughout town for an hour, driving through dirt roads, paved roads, fields, and impossible pin point turns

- the first thoughts in your head in the morning are: Is there power? Will I have water?

- when you get home the first you check is to see if there is power, internet, and water

- you know your in Honduras when no school activity can be done with out lots of styrofoam and glitter

I love Honduras. What a life! :-)

Happy Honduran Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving all! While it is always very difficult not to be at home for Thanksgiving, with the best family ever, Honduran Thanksgiving proved to be top notch as well.

We celebrated Thanksgiving in school too. Made turkey hands, talked about what we were thankful for, and they wanted to wish y'all a Happy Thanksgiving too!

We began our Thanksgiving celebration with a Wed. evening house dinner of pumpkin pesto pasta sent to us in a care package by Jess' wonderful mother.

On Thursday, a group of us went to a high-quality establishment by the name of AutoPollo. Have no fear, this does not mean automatic chicken. It simply gets its name because a. its on the highway and b. it's a restaurant and car wash. We chose to spend T-giving here because they have rotisserie style chicken. You basically have three order options: 1/4, 1/2, or whole chicken. Then they go get your chicken and roast it over a fire for you and serve it with some slaw and sauce and tortillas. It made for a good Thanksgiving adventure and it was nice to be in the company of community.

The real Thanksgiving was on Saturday. Padre Ricardo went to Teguc to import 2 turkeys for us. I got the pleasure of making one of the turkeys, ahhhhh....I love cooking and especially cooking turkey. I spent all day Saturday rocking out in the kitchen. I made dinner rolls, stuffing, and of course the turkey. It was great!

Then we all went over to the university where Padre had appetizers and drinks and we feasted. We feasted like no other. Especially after eating simply for so long, it was a whole lot of food, but it was nothing short of amazing. I am so impressed with all of our hard work and effort because we truly made Thanksgiving happen in Juti. We had: 2 turkeys, gravy, cranberries, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, roasted veggies, roasted broccoli, creamed corn, cooked carrots, green beans, dinner rolls, roasted squash, pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple tart, and chocolate pumpkin bread. HOLY COW! So delicious. Apart for the food, it was wonderful quality time at the kids table with friends.

Reflecting on the true meaning of Thanksgiving (beyond the food) I truly have so much to be thankful for and grateful for here in Honduras:

- 48 beautiful, energetic, and loving students

- a fantastic team of first grade teachers that supports me unconditonally

- a community of volunteers to grow, laugh, and love with

- the BEST family that is always there for me, loving me, and skyping me in the middle of Wii dance

- the BEST friends that remember to check-in with me, catch up with me, pray for me, guide me, learn with me, make me laugh, and so much more

- the opportunity to wake up to a brilliantly shining sun and the puffiest clouds (Honduras truly has the best sky)

- learning to live in flexibility

- living simply

- God and His constant presence in my life

- my safety

- my home

- my health

- carefree timelessness

- spontaneity

- the opportunity to learn and grow

- discovering God's presence around me

- the chance to just be and listen

- learning more and more each day about my vocation as a teacher

- being able to teach

- Sarah time

- baleadas, tajadas, cooking

- love, support, prayers, and kindness from the Hondurans, community, and back home.

So much to be thankful for, I am truly blessed!

Living on the Edge

I love a lot of things but 3 things that I really love about living in Honduras are: living on the edge, carefree timelessness, and flexibility/spontaneity. This past Sunday I got the perfect mix of all three.

My Sunday began as a pretty ordinary one. Catie and I walked down to the Cathedral for mass and picked up some groceries on the way home. As we were walking along the highway, we saw our neighbor's car. They proceeded to pull over and Mari got out of the car, crossed the street and came to talk to us. she informed us that she had been searching for us all day. She wanted to see if we would like to join them on a family outing. See, her 2 children, Harrison and Bradley, go to another bilingual school in town and sometimes they come over for tutoring help. On one such occasion, Marilinda, their mother, asked us what we do on Sundays. After explaining to her that we're often free and willing to explore/adventure on Sundays, she said that she would invite us to go soon. Well I guess this was the weekend. So she asks us if we still want to go this Sunday or if we should go a next. After a brief pow-wow with Catie, we agreed to go. Why not? Who wants to go home and lesson plan when you could join in on a mysterious, spontaneous outing. Vamanos!

So we hopped in the back of the pickup truck, it's the only way to travel in Honduras after all, and set out on our adventure. The ride out was fun. We sat with Rosa and Ana, who were both about our age. The ride was my longest yet in the back of a pickup truck, but so worth it, because we soon arrived at a National Forest.

It was so pretty. We started with a light hike with the whole fam bam. The grandmother did the whole hike in heels might I add. But, anyways, our very pretty, but rainy hike followed a river through some mountains. At certain points we crossed over bridges or stopped to peer in caves to see bats. I just love bats!

Then we reached the Cave de Talgua. We got a guide and entered the cave. I love hikes and I love caves. It was great because we had a lot of experienced company and a guide to point things out to us. The cave was so cool. Rock is so fascinating. It just moves, forms based on water after years and years. We saw some good ole' stalactites and stalagmites. The cave also had neat-o phosphorescent lights in random areas that gave off sweet patterns on other rocks. For example, we found the Virgen Mary and Jesus' face hidden in some rock areas. My favorite parts though were the calcium deposits. The way rock changes and forms is so cool. The calcium deposits are a pretty white and glittery color. There was one section of the cave called the grave yard because the calcium deposits formed what looked like a series of bones. It was so fun to be in a cave and hike around. I love bats, caves, and adventure.

After the caves, we hiked back. We stopped to jump rocks in the river and take a few pictures too. It was kind of chilly and rainy though, so we headed back to the truck for our next adventure.

Our next stop was a swimming pool. Unfortunately the day turned slightly overcast, so it wasn't the normal sweltering heat, but it was still fun. The boys really wanted us to go swimming so we obliged. They only wanted to swim in the kiddie pool and play shark attack. This meant that we stood out even more because no we were not only the only gringas at the pool but we were the only adults chilling in the kiddie pool. Oh well, it's more fun to be with the kids. After swimming for a bit we had dinner. They ordered the most amazing food! we got 2 huge platters of like every food you could imagine eating in Honduras. We had tajadas, rice, refried beans, cheese, tomato salsa, fish, carne asada, fried chicken, beef, chorizo, and more. It was so yummy.

After eating, the boys wanted to go back swimming. I was done though, it was chilly and I didn't want to get wet all over again. So Catie and I just hung out at the table talking with our neighbor Marilinda and her husband's mom. The conversation was great! We talked for at least an hour in Spanish. The best part was she kept praising our Spanish, yay for improving! But, it was all such wonderful conversation too. We discussed school and educational styles. We talked about life in the US. We discussed living in Honduras and Juticalpa. We talked food and cooking, boys, marriage, and life. It was some pretty great conversation. It was so nice to talk with a Honduran and really get to know the strength, beauty, joy, and beliefs of one such person's life.

After our chit chat we had this delicious honey bread for dessert and headed back into the truck to go home. The ride home was the coldest I've been in Honduras since it was pitch black out, we were travelling like 60, and I was wet, but it was also awesome because it was so quiet, peaceful, and the sky was full of stars. It provided a great atmosphere for reflection on the day, because honestly it was the perfect Sunday: a little spontaneity, living on the edge, and quality time.

Challenges and Trusting

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa

I feel like this quote accurately sums up my adventures in Honduras so far. Well, looking at the number of challenges I've been faced with, it most certainly has to be. I have to believe that God continues to find ways to challenge me, because He knows that I can handle it, that there are new lessons I am ready to learn, and new things for me to discover about myself and life. I have to keep on believing just as Mother Teresa said.

This past week we had conferences with out students' families to deliver the grades and discuss student progress. I enjoy parent teacher conferences as I learn so much about my students and how I am doing as their teacher. As such, I've given a lot of time to reflecting on this past parcial.

A couple of weeks ago I got the chance to sit down with our principal and volunteer coordinator, to discuss an observation she did and to just check in on my adjustment to life here in Honduras. When we got to the part of the conversation about daily life, I shocked myself by saying, "But I mean I'm really loving it here." In my head, I was like, "Did I seriously just say that? Do I really love my work here? I mean it's so difficult and the challenges never cease."

But, the reality of the situation is that I am or I at least want to. At the same time, however, it just seems like I can never catch a break. Can't I just have one week without a major hindrance, obstacle or challenge to surmount? Can't things just be calm, simple, and laid back for a little while? With each new challenge, I think this must be it, my last test of strength and courage for a while and then something new happens.

After this conversation I had one of the best weekends I've had here in Honduras. We had a bridal shower for my roommate Catie who is getting married in like 6 weeks when we go home for Christmas. It was such a celebration. I made homemade bread that I turned into cucumber sandwiches and I made raisin scones. All of the volunteers came over and we had a tea party. It was such quality time to just hang out and chat about life and everything but school.

That night we got back together to welcome a new volunteer, Andy to our community with a delicious meal of tajadas. Tajadas are like nachos. They are chips made from plantains and then topped with repollo and salsa and meat. So yummy. We got them at a place called the pink garage or Donde Vivia Erasmus. My students’ family also owns it. Afterwards we had more quality time as we got together to watch a movie. And then Sunday was filled with church and a baleada outing.

But then the end of Sunday came and I hit probably my lowest point since being here when one of my closest friends here decided to leave Honduras and go back home. She had been having a very difficult time adjusting to the Honduran lifestyle and unfortunately she had an insane class at school. She is such a beautiful person and I learned so much about life, God, and serving through her. She brought such a joyful spirit and light to our community here in Honduras that saying goodbye to her was extremely difficult on all of us volunteers. I still miss her presence everyday, but I also know that she needed to leave. Things were going so great and then Lucia left and sadness overcame everybody.

As I said things at school were going so well too. I felt like I finally got into a good rhythm with my all-stars. I finally had a plan and routine for my teaching style. We're starting centers and my kids are beginning to read (!!!!!). But, then I lost my aide. After Lucia decided to leave, my principal sat me down with the rest of my first grade team to inform us that she was going to have to pull my aide from first grade to cover 5th grade until a replacement was found. Peggy apologized for doing this, but felt that we were a strong team and could handle it. Which is true, we totally can. Rosa's (gosh I just love her) response to this was that we are and always will be a team and nothing will ever change that, just because Fanny is gone doesn't mean we won't continue to support Sarah and do what we need to do to be a strong team. Thank you Rosa!

So now school has been more stressful than usual. I was so used to our rhythm and pace of working with Fanny that I find myself losing patience with my kiddos when they don't understand me or when I don't have that extra set of hands to accomplish tasks at the same rate. Fanny's been teaching 5th grade now for 2 weeks and still no replacement teacher has been found. Rosa and Flor have helped me out so much and I am so grateful for all they do, but I can't wait to have Fanny back.

Then to top it all off I got sick this past week. Colds, congestion, and terrible stomach pains...gross. Feeling sick certainly doesn't help when you're teaching first grade solo either. I went to the doctor (a whole other story) and got some meds, so I hope to be feeling better prontisimo!

Not everything has been upsetting either. I feel like I am getting closer and closer to the Honduran teachers everyday too. This past weekend we got to go to a baby shower for our consejera, Sylvia who is having a baby girl soon. It was so much fun. When we walked in there was a big sign that said "Bienvenidos a Mi Baby Shower." They played lots of hilarious games. Catie and Laura entered a game in which there was a race to see who could chug the baby bottle fastest. I tied in the quarter game in which you had to dance with a quarter between your knees and drop it in a cup; unfortunately I lost the tiebreaker. But I mean I lost to Yoehly who is an incredible dancer. And during conferences this week I got to have a lot of quality time with Rosa and I feel like we are getting closer and closer.

But, it's just so frustrating because I just want to love it! I want to be my normal happy, go-lucky, joyful self, but it just seems like each week there is a new challenge that seems even more difficult to overcome than before. One week it's community issues, then Lucia leaves, next week I lose my aide, and then I get sick . . . I can't help but ask, "So, what's next? What awful thing is going to happen next to try and get me down?"

I definitely don't want to do this, which is why I've taken to repeating Mother Teresa's words daily.

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. I know I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.

If I know one thing it's that this year in Honduras is teaching me a lot about my faith and trust and I know that if (or should I say, when) another challenge does come my way, I will be able to face it firmly believing that God will give me the necessary tools and strength to meet the challenge and learn something new about myself/life/faith along the way. But as I do face these challenges, the prayers and support from home are much needed as well :-) So, please, keep the prayers coming. And, hey in 4 weeks I'll be home with the fam bam in Chicago.

As I also discovered at the conferences this week and during my reflecting, I love what I'm doing in the classroom here. It may be difficult, I may be sick, I may face issues with living, but I LOVE my students and I love watching them learn. One of the best part of the conferences that I noticed was that, with 95% of our students, the parents had positive things to say about the English and Spanish classroom. Also with the majority of students, we see the same issues in both classrooms, which really tells me that I am doing at least something right in my teaching. This past week too my kids were actually reading a story in their StoryTown books, how awesome is that!

A new parcial is here and with that new chance and new opportunities. Challenges, yes, but nothing that a little prayer, trust and faith can't help me get through.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3

25

So as my wonderful Aunt Judy reminded me on November 8th, I was a very lucky person--I got to turn 25 in Honduras, fulfilling a lifetime goal of mine to teach and serve abroad. And thankfully, my birthday was a wonderful celebration of just that.

I started my birthday off with a small roommate celebration on Tuesday night at our house in La Colonia. It's a tradition that every year I have my mom's chicken and/or eggplant parmesan for my birthday dinner. I cannot even remember a year in which I didn't have that for my bday meal. So I set out on my mission to make that happen here in Honduras. Unfortunately I think eggplant has gone out of season as our usual store stopped selling it, so I had 2 verrrrrry tiny eggplants to work with. Then I couldn't find any bread crumbs in Juticalpa. But I did find pasta, tomato sauce, and zucchini. I also amazingly found the right cheeses and had quite the experience explaining to the lady behind the deli counter that I would need 10 slices as thin as possible in Spanish. So the resulting meal was a "fake" parmesan that was very delicious but was more like a cheesy eggplant/zucchini bake. Nevertheless, a fantastic kick-off meal.

fake eggplant parm

The morning of my birthday I woke up to an "S" shaped scone and birthday signs courtesy of the roomies. Irish Breakfast Tea and raisin scones, heavenly way to begin the celebration. At school the celebration only grew in size and joy. I was greeted with hugs and well wishes from the other volunteers and teachers at school.

bday breakfast

The best part though was my kids...they were obsessed with it being my birthday. Apparently birthdays are a huge deal here in Honduras. When I walked next door to the Spanish section of 1st grade to give some papers, I was greeted with a huge "Feliz Cumpleaños" Later when I returned to my classroom after religion, they serenaded me with some sort of Spanish birthday song that I really couldn't understand until they got to a part where they started chanting "Ya queremos pastel, ya queremos pastel" (now we want cake!) and then changed that to "y ya queremos casarse" (and now we want you to marry) and I screamed in shock. Then the religion teacher was like y un fuerte aplauso y un gran abrazo. And suddenly I was bombarded with my 25 kiddos going in for a hug. I almost fell over. After recess, Mr. Fellows (a new volunteer) was teaching a quick lesson for me while I was working on a test with a student and when I returned he had them sing "Happy Birthday" for me followed by another everybody-tackle-Miss Nardozzi-hug.

When it came time to switch classes and I went back over to Profe Rosa's room she had the kids sing to me in English and then they gave me cards which all pretty much said "Happy Birthday, I love Miss Sara, You excellent teacher" Mad props to Rosa for the English on those :-) They were so cute. And then one of my students Andree, gave me a card from home and 2 dry erase markers, which is best present ever when everyday you face off in the epic dry erase marker vs. Honduran humidity battle (and usually lose). Carlos, Andree's dad, said that they had gone to the grocery store the night before and he was trying to convince Andree to get me like an apple or pistachios or something but Andree insisted on getting me the markers. What a smart kid!

Then at lunchtime, Fanny came and got me and said we had to have a lunch meeting about grades. When I walked in they had music playing and Rosa and Flor were dancing around. They proceeded to encircle me while singing and dancing. We then sat down where they had lunch prepared for us. Rosa cooked a salad, saffron rice, and fried chicken. Flor brought a cake which was like a white, ice creamish sort of deal and Fanny got somebody to cover her 5th graders to come be with us. It was awesome. Then during the meal, they went around the table and affirmed me in Spanish, which promptly began a series of tears for me. It was so special. I am just so lucky to have an amazing first grade team.

The downfall of my school day was that I did ZERO teaching. All my kids wanted to do was sing. Literally anytime I would say a word beginning with the h or f song they would break out in a chorus of Happy Birthdays or Feliz Cumpleaños. I've never been sung to, hugged, or loved by a group of kids so much on my birthday before. It was truly an incredibly joyful day and reminded me of why I want to be here.

Wednesday is our normal community night here, so in honor of that I decided to cook for everybody with my roommates. I love cooking so it was a great birthday treat. We made pizza dough and pizzas, which were awesome! And we had a salad alongside.

For dessert my roommates got the most delicious cake. It was a chocolate cake, but it was so moist it was almost like gooey with strawberries inside. It was heavenly! The whole meal and dinner was wonderful to be exact.

apparently you have to smear your name and put it on your nose?

It truly was a great birthday. I am so thankful for all the wishes and love sent my way from here in Honduras and back home. I love birthdays, simply for the occasion to celebrate and connect with my dear friends and family. Here's to a great 25th year :-)

Happy Halloween

Boo! haha. Happy Halloween from Honduras! I wouldn't say I'm the biggest Halloween fan by any means, but I always enjoy a good holiday/occasion together for some quality time, laughs, and funny business. Being in Honduras, though, I've been craving Halloween. Probably with the lack of fall-ness in my life (fave season, tear) and the lack of anything Halloween, I was super pumped to celebrate Halloween in Juti.

Okay, well, maybe not so much Halloween, as the opportunity to have our first party here--like I said I love celebrating, people, laughs, good time, and funny business.

Friday night we all get ready and dressed up for Halloween. Lacey and Eileen decided to host us with a lovely Halloween party. We had a costume contest where everybody paid 5 lmps. We weren't supposed to buy anything for our costumes, rather just get creative with what we could find in our houses. I'd say we all did a pretty good job, considering the lack of resources and costume-y things we all brought with us. We had a Pippi Longstocking, Jackie O, hippie/Diana Ross-esque, a French maid, Mother Earth, a pink lady, nerd, and last but not least, I was an owl! I've loved owls ever since my grandma gave me an owl and a poem as a child and more recently as I discovered all the amazing teaching-owl related connections. Then over February, I met the best owl ever at Emily's lake house and I've been obsessed ever since. As I was pondering what to be, I found a random piece of sheer brown fabric and was trying to figure out a costume that would incorporate it. When chatting with my friend Moe from home she told me she was going to be an owl. She also told me I could be one too, I still feel a little bad about copying, but....... I do really love owls and it just worked out perfect with my piece of fabric. For Honduras, I think my costume turned out pretty decent :-)

Anyways, we had a great Halloween party! Our hosts made some arroz con leche and boo cake. They had decorations and such. But the best part was that Fran came over with some friends and had a legit like dj-ing setup. The music was playing allllll night long. My kind of party. I didn't want to leave the dance floor all night. I think I pretty much stayed there from like 8-12. It was the perfect mix of music too, Reggaeton, Bachata, Pop/hip hop/rap, classic dance songs, etc.

The party was great because it was one of the first occasions in which all of us volunteers let loose and did something other than talk about teaching. I laughed so much and just had a blast dancing all night. Another highlight was that the Honduran teachers from our schools came. Magnolia and Milsa even came in costume! It was so great to see them there and to have fun with them outside school. I feel like we are bonding and getting to know each other better.

Here's a picture of all of us volunteers in costume. Happy Halloween everybody!

Feria de Sociales

So I'm fairly certain that I can safely say I have a favorite day here in Honduras and a best day yet (cause' obvi more are to come...but anyways....). Friday was the feria de sociales at school followed by Honduran Halloween. It's a pretty great combo and each deserve their own spotlight so I'll post about both separately. Also, blog post logistic, check out the link on the side for videos of what I'm about to describe!

So Friday we didn't have regular school, instead we celebrated the school's first feria de ciencias sociales or Social Studies Fair. In the most simple explanation one could liken it to a cultural/heritage day in the US or a country diorama presentation day. I've essentially done the project before--4th grade create a representation of what it was like to live in the prairie during the 1800s or 6th grade celebrate Greece with Greek day or cook a dish from your family's heritage or United Nations Day. Essentially it was your typical day to celebrate your country, learn about its traditions and cultures and share it with the school, family, and community. It's been done before, but as I knew I could expect, there are no representations, models, or short-lived presentations. I've decided that Hondurans don't believe in posters or dioramas, I mean why go through the work of building a model when you could just do the real thing? So that's exactly what they did.

Honduras has 18 departments. So the departments were divided among the grades so that each had roughly 2 departments to portray. The students worked tirelessly to learn abou their department--the environment, culture, people, food, history, culture, lifestyles, clothes, animals, plants, music, you name it--they knew it. Then they worked in class, at home, and with their parents to develop a champita. A champita is I guess what we would call a hut in the US, or a very simple, traditional home. So all this week parents from each grade level showed up at school and legit built champitas. They nailed the wood together, covered it with leaves, bamboo, straw, etc. and essentially built life-size huts. It was insane the amount of time and work that must have gone into building those. From there they spent hours decorating each champita to represent their departments.

champitas

My students did the departments Paraíso and Francisco Morazán. One of the best parts of this day was that it was a huge learning experience for me. I got to learn, live, and experience Honduran culture around the country. I learned a lot! Francisco Morazán is where Tegucigalpa, the capital is. It's the most like business-focused area of Honduras so the students decorated the inside of their champita with mannequins sitting at a desk working and dressed in suits. They also had plants from the departments, spices, herbs, animal representations, and a marimba. In the champita for Olancho the students had a fire going with somebody making tortillas and coffee. In the champitas for the more tropical departments there were live parrots and turtles. They also had people to braid hair.

Turtle action

In addition to the champitas there were presentations. We built a large performance stage, which terrified me. It didn't exactly seem safe or secure, but what do I know. On both sides of the stage there was seating for the kids, families, and judges. Each class was responsible for defending their departments. So about 8 kids per class got up on stage and shared a memorized speech with everybody about the history and culture of their area. I was amazed that even the 4 year old Kinders did this! I felt so bad for them, some of them were so scared and completely forgot what to say, others left the stage sobbing. Poor kiddos. One girl in prepa, cried through her whole speech, but she did it! I was so proud of her that I started crying as well. My students did a really good job. I was super impressed and happy to watch them present.

I was so proud of David speaking here, because he can really struggle in school, but he did it!

Their parents were right there to coach and help them through as needed. One of my girls (always an overachiever) had some sort of graph and beans visual aid to help with her speech. I was incredibly proud of their confidence and speaking skills. The older grades had even more elaborate presentations with styrofoam posters and visual aids. Overall all the kids did a fantastic job sharing information and talking about their research.

In addition the expositions, there was a contest for the India/o Bonita/o del 2011. So one girl from each grade dressed up as an Indian and walked the runway. Three boys did it too.

Then they each gave about a minute long speech to the judges explaining their costumes and how it represented his or her department. Lineth went for 1st grade. She was beautiful! Well, she always is. But she was wonderful, her costume was great, and her speech was so slow, careful, and honest. She was the winner for the Kinder-grade 2 contest.

For the older grades, the winner was a 4th grader and HOLY COW did she ever deserve to be the winner. Even though a grumpy Honduran behind me was complaining that she doesn't have any legit Indian blood in her, she by a landslide had the BEST costume. She was stunning, complete with a Peacock headdress and shoes and just ever tiny little detail.

d

My class also performed a lovely traditional dance. They each wore a traditional white dress or pants outfit and had a partner. They were so cute and did a really great job with it. They did so well that the crowd asked for an encore. Hooray 1st grade!

Andres and Lizzy--dancing partners.

The best part of it all though was the FOOD (obvi a huge part of culture and representing a place). So each champita also had a ton of food for purchase. I can't even begin to recall everything I ate, but I can certainly tried. From my 1st graders I had horchata, tamales, and a corn rice soup with a banana and brisket-esque meat (reallllly good). I also had arroz con leche, tableta de coco, fried fish, ceviche (a cold fish soup), a sweet plantain and meat soup, plantains, yucca, chicharron, pan de coco, squash with honey, salad, and much much more. It was so good.

The only downside of the day was that the speeches, dancing, beauty contest lasted a good 3 hours. It's just very different from home. Here, I'm told, longer is always better. So the length was a positive thing. But it's also okay to talk, play around, get up and buy food, hang out in the champitas, or with your friends during said presentations. Personally I would have preferred shorter performances in which everybody is listening, than longer, more elaborate ones, in which most people are playing around, but chalk that up to cultural differences.

Marimba band!

I think that the best part of the day though for me was that it was just the best school event I'd ever been to. It was the PERFECT mix of fun, learning, hands-on, teamwork. I've never seen such dedication from students, parents, and teachers to make an event come together. We stayed after school late some days to prepare for this day. Parents attended meetings, came after school, spent days building and cooking, making costumes and practicing with their children. The kids learned SO much about the departments and were so proud and willing to share their knowledge with you. When the judges came by to judge our champita, each of my students presenting stood with their parents and showed the judges. I watched Alexa and her mom talk about the traditional foods. It was great to watch them explain them and then offer plates to the judges. There was positive collaboration between the Spanish and English teachers. Somebody mentioned how one of the parents said that they loved this day because they had the opportunity to learn so much. I learned, the kids learned, the parents learned, I worked, the kids worked, the parents worked, I had fun, the kids had fun, the parents had fun. It was a day filled with such positive country pide too. In a country that is so poor and where I often just hear thoughts of, well I just want to go to the US, it was great to see the kids talking about the great things Honduras has to offer. I am just amazed by the positivity, energy, enthusiasm that was present from all the people involved. I felt like a truly united team with my Spanish counterpart, my students, and each of their parents. It was one of those days where I was like, this is what school should be like, this is what learning is, and this is why I teach. (Plus 1st grade won :-) ) hahah.

"Now i realize what we all are, and if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people they are all walking around shining like the sun."

-Thomas Merton

Hogar del niños

Simultaneously one of the most enjoyable and difficult parts of my week is when I visit the orphanage. Usually after mass at St. Gertrudi’s and after pan de banana (claro), Jess, Catie, and I head over to the orphanage to spend some time with the kids there.

This weekend I made the great decision to go on Saturday with Deirdre and Katie. This decision was great for two reasons: 1. It gave me the chance to go somewhere by myself for once and on a bike. BEST BIKE RIDE YET IN HONDURAS. It was such a great ride and it just felt so nice to be on a bike. 2. I had an amazing time being with the kids

Unfortunately Honduras doesn’t really have any programs for adoption or fostering children either domestically or internationally, so for various reasons when kids are born or taken from their families, they go to the orphanage. And they will pretty much stay in the orphanage until their young 20s. Right now the orphanage has about 30 kids from 0-20ish. There’s a handful of Sisters that work tirelessly to take care of the children, but alas, the fact remains that there are 30 kids craving the nurturing love and care of a family.

I know the Sisters do their best to give each child the most love, safety, nurture and protection they can, but it’s just not enough for those kids. The orphanage is usually pretty dirty. They have a large lice problem, which in a place without hot water, showers, and dryers is pretty tricky to get rid of. One of the volunteers ended up catching it. And everyday in school when my student in the orphanage, Yuliza, sits at her seat scratching her head, I just cringe. Yuliza has also come to school twice now with pretty intense injuries (scratches down her face, a huge, deep gash in her hand). So there’s just not a lot of supervision. Even when we were there another girl at the orphanage just toally pushed her off the swing and she fell down really hard and nobody was their to hold her and see if she was okay. Obviously we were, and Deirdre picked her up and held her and she just looked so happy to be held. And this is Yuliza, a first grader, we’ve got younger ones running around in this same situation too, like Walter who’s 1 and Jose David who’s 2 (I think).

Jose David

That said, the Sisters are so grateful for us coming to the orphanage. They need the extra hands and hearts. When we show up, its like a flock of kids all craving and desperately needing our attention. I’m happy to give it to them however I can. So we take pictures, play rayuela (hopscotch), escondidos (hide-and-go-seek), swing on the swings, and chat about life.

My student in the orphanage, Yulissa, is one of the best kids. She is such a ball of sunshine. She can be extremely active and tricky to control in the classroom, but overall, she’s just one enthusiastic learner! One of the highlights of my time at the orphanage this week was swinging with her spider style. We were on that swing together for probably like 10-15 minutes, which is a lot for me since I always get sick on swings. We talked about a lot of things. We talked about how much Yulissa loves school and learning. She even suggested that we make a deal that if she behaves a little better that maybe I could give her some new clothes. Considering the fact that this very tiny 1st Grader was wearing an age-inappropriate, size Small shirt from American Eagle, I can understand why she makes this deal. She loves to paint and my mom is sending her along a paint set, so I think that will make her happy. But, maybe I’ll look into some clothes for her as well, provided she’s good in school ☺ At church, we both get so excited to see each other and exchange the sign of peace. I swear she gives the most powerful and everlasting hugs ever, I too don’t want to stop because I know it’s something that she just doesn’t get very often.

spider swinging with Yulissa

While it’s a very challenging and emotional experience for me to go to the orphanage every week, I am so grateful that it’s something I’m able to do. I’m also just so incredibly grateful to whomever it is that sponsors Yuliza and all the children in the orphanage. When adoption isn’t really an option, it seems like the only hope for the kids in the orphanage is for somebody in the US to decide to sponsor one of them. Knowing that if this child is educated, they can use that education to leave the orphanage and create their own happy ending. Some day when I have a real life job, I hope to be able to sponsor one of these children to give them an opportunity, that to me is something I’ve taken for granted my whole life: the opportunity to have a family, feel love and care, and go to school. It just breaks my heart to see the reality for these kids, but then I’m with them and see their smiles and what joy they have in being able to go to school and learn and that’s what gives me hope.

Rando

Time's been a passing here in Honduras. It's already Halloween????!??!? Can't even believe it. It's actually been feeling a little like fall here recently since it's dropped into the 70s here and I needed to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants to bed. Yes, the unthinkable has happend, I, one of the warmest people ever, was chilly in 75 degree weather. Ooooh, Christmas you are going to be a shock to me!

Life is certainly adventurous here, it's up, down, all around. Sometimes all in one day for me and the rest of the volunteers. Last week Wednesday our community night reflection lead to a lot of sharing of negative thoughts and frustrations that we're having here. So over the 3-day weekend we took a trip to the Río for some fun away from Juti. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I woke up early and headed to mass at St. Gertrudis. I think I've found my parish community here. St. Gertrudis is cool because it's like a real parish and community. It's in a neat area surrounded by various missions of the Sisters in the area, the orphanage and old people's home. The people that go to the mass are super neat. Also, it's cool because it's the mass that the kids from the orphanage go to so i get to see them there as well. Yippeeee. Also, the priest is easier to understand. Anddddd...after mass we can go to the Sisters' bakery for a treat. They have wonderful baked goods and all proceeds benefit their missions so, I don't feel bad splurging on upside down banana bread or pan dulce :-) Although, everybody in town now knows that we are going to 8am at St. Gertrudi's. On Saturday night we were hanging out with our Peace Corps friend, Eyal and he was saying that he met a random guy in town who was like, "Hey, so did you hear that all the gringas are now going to 8am mass at St. Gertrudis?" We're regular celebrities around here.

After church then we headed to the river. We took a nice hike through Mt. Boqueron that included scaling steep walls next to the river, following ant trails, and fording the river, until we arrived at a small watering hole. It's rainy season so the river was super high and the current was so strong. We seriously couldn't swim against the current for a second. I would swim and not move anywhere except maybe backwards, good workout, right? It was fun to sneak around the current and then grab a rock, let go, and fly down stream. I'll post a link to a video of us swimming against the current.

The river trip was short and simple, but exactly what I needed. quality, carefree timelessness with some great volunteers. We had a lovely picnic together and just chatted, swam, laughed, and enjoyed life. Things I love most :-)

This week we hosted community night at our house. It was our first opportunity to plan a reflection together. I love reflecting and community nights so I was super excited. I made a broccoli and zucchini pasta for dinner, which was quite good. For our reflection, we decided to mix it up a little bit. Everybody, especially at last week's reflection, was feeling a bit down, so my house was thinking, we need to spice things up and get some positivity flowing. Thanks to the lovely Joyce Rupp we found a great poem about awakening and did a flower affirmation activity with it. Good times, I hope, we're had by all. I know I certainly enjoyed the change of pace and opportunity to reflect on the positive things I've done here.

this weekend I was a little bummed because due to bad weather I couldn't travel. Life and school have been great, but weekends sometimes get long for me. I'm used to a very busy, busy life. Teaching, grad school, college, service, community, yadda yadda. I've also discovered that I'm very much a "yes" person. I love being surrounded by people and busy doing, doing, doing. Sarah, want to go get coffee? YES Sarah, want to go get a drink? YES Sara, want to go walk around the pond? YES Sarah, want to go on a grotto walk? YES Sarah, wanna sit around and laugh and do nothing? YES Sarah, want to do this, that, or the other thing? YES YES YES So being here, it's different because there's just not as much to say yes to. I have never been one to cherish much alone time and I don't have many particular activities that I enjoy doing by myself. I'm not a big reader, I don't like to paint or draw, I don't do many crafty things, I don't watch a lot of movies. I like to be on the go, go, go, with people, being active, and doing.

That said I knew coming here that this would be a challenge for me and part of my decision in coming here was to help myself learn how to be content not doing, doing, doing. I've been doing really well at it. I've read almost 6 books since being here so far, that's more than I've read in the last 6 years combined I think. I journal a lot, listen to music, and just think to myself. But, that also gets a little long. And so this weekend, when I found out I couldn't travel, the pain of all this alone time really hit me. I wish I had something else to do, places to go, and people to see.

I'm glad I'm at least aware of what's really challenging me, because i know what I need to work on. I'm super excited to see my kiddos tomorrow and I'm hopeful for a great week of school :-)

Here's the poem we shared by Joyce Rupp, may it inspire and awaken:

Risen One,
come, meet me
in the garden of my life.

Lure me into elation.
Revive my silent hope.
Coax my dormant dreams.
Raise up my neglected dreamsn.
Entice my tired enthusiasm.
Give life to my faltering relationships.
Roll back the stone of my indifference.
Unwrap the deadness in my spiritual life.
Impart heartiness in my work.

Riden One,
send me forth as a disciple of your unwavering love,
a messenger
of your unlimited joy.

Resurrected One,
May I become
ever more convinced
that your presence lives on,
and on, and on,
and on.

Awaken me!
Awaken me!
--Joyce Rupp

Battle of Jericho according to 1st Grade

Que Viva Que Viva Cristo

Here are some videos from the first grade retreat. If they don't work here, you can always click the link on the side to my youtube page to watch them:











Enjoy the silliness of 1st grade :-)

Thank you

One of my fave things to do with my blog, especially if I'm having a: Why am I doing something so difficult moment?!?!!?!?!?, is to check out my blog stats.

I can see how many people are reading my blog and from what countries.

Did you know that my blog has been read by people in: the US (obvi), Honduras (obvi), but also Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, Uganda, Germany, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia? Isn't that crazy.

Overall my blog has had about 1400 hits. THAT'S INSANE.

So basically the point of this post is to say thanks. I love sharing stories and writing, so whether or not people read this, I'd keep doing it. But knowing that people out their care about me, my adventures, and read/comment on it, means the world to me. Especially in those moments of desperation when school is frustrating, I don't feel support, and I question why I'm doing something so hard, I look over my blog and realize if I can't see any other reasons right now, I've got 1,400 right here.

Thank you. Thanks for the support. Thanks for the comments. Thanks for the prayers, the loves, and the reads. Each of you and your constant stream of support is what helps me serve and see the joy in what I'm doing. I am so grateful for each of you!

"In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices."

— Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

Retreat

Yesterday I had the best day ever since being here. It was one of those days where you go: Woah.....I'm in Honduras right now and this is why.

Sor Maglys planned a retreat for the first grade class this past Friday. So Friday morning, my kids came to school with lunchboxes, dressed in casual clothes and super pumped about the day ahead. We boarded a school bus and headed to the place where we had día del maestro. don't worry we didn't forget the water, toilet paper, or microwave :-)

Our bus ride there was quite an adventure. I sat next to a girl named Lizzy. She's one of the sweetest and most caring kids. I made a decision right then and there that today I wasn't going to worry about what language I spoke. Nobody asked me to help plan this retreat and I knew that there would be no English portion of it, so I said forget it, I'm speaking Spanish if I want to. It was such a relief from the normal struggle of fighting the English battle. I made sure to say everything in both languages but other than that I wasn't going to force English or hold back from getting to know my kids today because of a silly language difference. I knew that today was going to be a good day when I asked Lizzy what she was looking forward to today and her response was: "Que puedemos hablar con Dios hoy. (That we get to talk with God today)."

Our bus driver got a little lost on the bus route and we were on this very, very muddy, swampy country road which had no opportunities for us to turn around to find the correct road. So after driving on it for 15 minutes, we had to reverse our way out. But to help pass the time with the kids Rosita and Fanny entertained us with songs and stories. I'm going to post links to the videos I took of this because it was soooo fun. I love the Honduran Jesus songs, they are so incredibly full of energy and spirit that I can just feel God's presence so loud and clear. I love singing with my kids, I wish I knew more English songs and that my kids enjoyed the English songs as much so that we could have sung them too. But maybe in time, I'll learn some to teach my kiddos with as much gusto as they have for Spanish.

After we got bored with the songs, Fanny and Rosita stood up and starting making up stories on the bus. I also recorded these they were hilarious. I love the way they poke fun at each other and just have such zeal and enthusiasm to share with the kids. The energy and spirit was alive and well on that bus!

The retreat site was so beautiful. We had a beautiful field with trees, a small stage, futbol fields, mountains, and sky, sky, sky. My kids kept walking around saying, "que linda, que linda" How pretty How pretty! I think they were awed by the beauty of their country just as I was :-) When we first got their it was time for breakfast. And when my kids have breakfast, boy do they have breakfast...chicken legs, tortillas, beef, "steak", pancakes, cereal and milk, pizza, sandwiches, chips, cookies. it was ridiculous the amount of food they ate. My kids kept running over to share apples, cookies, candies, rice, etc. with me. Everybody just shares here so my kids kept asking, do you want a bite? hahah.

Retreat site for the day.

After breakfast we had some free time so I rotated between playing soccer and showing off, climbing trees, and playing hand games with my girls. I decided that if the Hondurans weren't freaking out about the behavior and activities my kids chose to do, I shouldn't either. So if my kids were allowed to climb trees, I was gonna climb as well. No reservations, no caution, today is about enjoying time with God and my students. We had so much fun. I was so happy because all of my kids remembered the word for monkey, so we started jumping and screeching around like monkeys in the trees.

Dance party

Climbing trees is one of my fave things to do.

Afterwards we had an opening prayer with sor Maglys. We gathered in a large circle and began by singing songs while Sor played her guitar. Sor has such an incredible, energetic spirit. She runs around our school with such enthusiasm, such a voice, presence, and the kids love her. I love her too! Man I wish I could have such an optimistic and endless supply of joy and love the way she does. She then informed us that we were going to make smaller circles of 5 students. So I went around and grouped kids. They were told they needed to pray in their groups. One of the groups of boys that i put together put their arms around their backs, their heads together, and started swaying as they prayed. It was the most adorable thing I ever saw and I was immediately moved to tears (shocker). So then all of my kids started doing it. We made our own teacher circle in the middle. I was literally surrounded by my kids circled up and praying their own organic prayers. I was so moved and could just feel God's presence all around me. After, one kid from each group shared what their group prayed about. They are such prayers and their only 5,6,7 years old. I was so amazed by their thoughts and joy and love of God. We ended our prayer time by singing and dancing some more songs.

Then we went back to the small stage area and Rosa and Sor put on a play with puppets for the kids I was following it along pretty well until apparently the doctor (Rosita's puppet) fell in love with the most beautiful one in the room and I knew she was talking about me. haahaha. The kids got a good laugh on that one and I burst out in my first real good Shard-laugh for my kiddos which I think they highly enjoyed. After the play Sor solo acted out the story of the Israelites in Jericho for the kids and we talked about victory and fighting for your beliefs. Afterwards we broke into 2 drama and 2 drawing groups to act it out. I worked with a group of artists and I had to draw the city of Jericho, hahaahahah. Funny stuff right there. But my kids thought I was a good artist.

Then we had another chunk of time to play together. I spent a large portion of my time climbing trees again and chatting with some of my girls. I love climbing trees. Then I went over and started a dance party with the other teachers and some other students. I just love to dance and everybody here does too. I wish I could keep up with them though. Felix came over and held my hands and we danced like 4 songs together. I don't think Felix left my side all day. Then I went out to the big field to climb some more trees, take some pictures, and play tag with some other kids. It was so much fun to just see them so free and happy and to be able to relate to them.

Even Rostia joined in the tree climbing festivities.

The following photos are the results of 1st graders with my camera.

Felix and I

Not sure why the angry face but Alejandro is suchhhh a cutie

Amazing tree.

Alejandro and Andres attached themselves to my legs and made me walk the whole length of the field like this, but it was so fun. Afterwards, I fell over and pretended that they "killed" me and then woke up and scared them. hah.

This was followed by lunch time and some more praying. It was just the best day ever with my kiddos. I wish we could have more retreats. It was so much fun to just completely be myself with them, enjoy God's presence, laugh, run, play, chat. ahhhhhh. It was the best. I couldn't believe when it was time to go home. i could've stayed forever. The bus ride home was similar to the first. Some worn out kids fell asleep and other sang their way back to school with as much energy as before.

Primer Grado :-)

I feel so lucky to have had such a special day with my kiddos. They touch my heart in so many ways and really helped me remember why I am here. I am so grateful to work with such an awesome team of first grade teachers and to have Sor Maglys lead us in a day that celebrate's life, love, and God. Not to mention, I am so grateful for the 5,6, and 7 year olds that brought me such joy and happiness and reminded me of God's innocent and pure love today.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow" - Melody Beattie