So I've had a great couple days. I actually feel like I experienced Honduras yesterday. Friday was my second half day of teaching. It was a great day. I love teaching. I had my 8th graders and they are hilarious. They had problems adjusting last year with being a chatty class and just behavioral problems. The school worked with them a lot last year so we'll see how this year goes. I am not a teacher who needs the classroom constantly quiet so hopefully we'll get a long just fine. It is night and day difference with my 7th graders. They don't say a word! I am sure that will change. We'll see how Monday goes when I actually have to teach a math lesson.
We still don't have a maid but last Wednesday and Friday we've had subs. Maids will often cook for you if you asked, so we asked and came home from school to arroz con pollo (rice and chicken). It was so nice after being in meetings all afternoon. So after another sweet walk we chowed down, watched The Office and went to bed.
Saturday morning up at 6 AM. No sleeping in here! Every other Saturday a school bus will take us to the market. I love doing stuff like that. The market is every Friday and Saturday when people from the country bring in their fruits and vegetables to sell. So we stocked up on fruits and veggies. I also bought a bed side table and hangers. You can find just about anything there. We ate some food while we were there too, baleadas. I love feeling like I am actually in Honduras instead of being in the complex.
That afternoon we met up with a returning teacher, Caroline. She is involved in working with feeding centers. She also has a car which we are thankful for! So we drove to a gas station and waited for a pastor to pick us up. On the way to the gas station some police that were standing around decided to flag us down because 5 white girls driving around looks a little odd. But it all was fine. The pastor came and we piled into the back up his truck to pretty much drive straight up a decently steep river bed road. It was a fun bumpy ride! :) We got up to the feeding center and there were about 100 kids there. Every day during the week there is a crew that goes to the feeding center to feed sponsored kids and then on Saturdays any kid can go, I think that is how it is at least. Anyway, some of the leaders lead prayer and song and then we lead little lessons. Caroline led a lesson and I added my 2 cents too all impromptu which was a fun challenge. After the lesson the kids lined up with their cups and waited for their rice. We also handed out little bananas and we ran out of everything with at least 20 kids to go. Sad. We had some time to interact with the kids talking to them and loving on them before we headed back down.
When we got back we had to wait for another teacher so that we could follow her. We ended up sitting in a gas station parking lot for about 20 minutes as there was a demonstration supporting Zelaya (the former president). It was peaceful. There were maybe 100 cars with flags taking up the whole road honking and yelling. No violence though. They did however block the road we wanted to take so we ended up having to go another way. But it all worked out.
Today I went to church with one of the Honduran teachers. It is a bit outside of the city. The people were very friendly and it was fun to get out of the city. What was church like. A bit charismatic and the preacher was a yeller. A good 2 hours long, but it was nice! Afterwards we went out for lunch and now it is time for a Sunday afternoon nap!

So 1st day of teaching in Honduras under my belt...Well I would hardly call it a day of teaching...It was a half day and I taught 2 classes. The first class was helping 7th graders open their lockers and the 2nd class was trying to get them to say 2 words. 7th graders are scared. It is fun and refreshing to be a new teacher and have students scared of you. Maybe it is because I stand head and shoulders taller than them. They are so little! I have my 8th graders tomorrow...that should be interesting. I hear they are a little more challenging. I have my inflatable bat to knock them into place. No really I do...
I wasn't nervous this morning. I guess I am at peace for where I am at. It is a blessing. I am just thankful I am here! I decided to not teach the mindless method. I was told I didn't have to so I am not. I decided that yesterday after talking to my peer coach. She is an amazing teacher and challenged me to do whatever I felt comfortable doing. In my opinion teaching should be a conversation with your students and filling in the blanks is definitely not a conversation. Math to most isn't fun so I want to attempt to make it a little fun. We'll see how it goes!
So what are my kids like? I will be teaching 7-8 white kids out of 140 kids. So they are Honduran kids. They have to wear uniforms. I am glad I don't have to wear the uniform. They are forest green pants with white and green checkered shirts. They can wear whatever shoes they want though. The kids have to speak English in my class. You can definitely tell that English is their 2nd language. Some of their sentence structure is weak and phrasing different things. Like typically I would ask you 'Where are you from?' They on the other hand asked 'Where did you come from?' It will be interesting to teach math in their 2nd language. Math is hard enough in a 1st language! So the kids are just kids. They love to socialize, just not when the scary tall teacher is around!
One of the benefits of living on this mountain is the gorgeous walks you can go on. Granted you can't go by yourself but the different areas that you can walk around are endless, and it is a great work out. We don't live at the top of this mountain so there are lots of hills to climb.
Oh so you all are going to love this. My roommate and I are the chess club advisers! No one else signed up to do it so we said, hey why not! And I am a Math Olympics Advisor and probably a basketball coach. And I am going to lead a 11th grade Bible Study. Maybe I am getting a little too involved but hey, why not?! If I get burnt out I'll back off.
It is 9 o'clock and I'm going to bed. It gets light at 5:30 and dark at 6. And I have to be at school at 6:55!
Some of you should comment on this blog so I know people are actually reading it...It is nice to have a little reinforcement!

2 great things happened in the past couple of days.
1st great thing...I was able to attend church in El Centro. These days El Centro can be a bit dangerous with protests but Sunday was a peaceful day, only fitting, so we got to go worship there. A couple veteran teachers worship there and they invited us to check it out so we did! It is great to have returning teachers around that can help us find ways to connect and get off the mountain. The service was a bit different than a typical service at this church as a lot of teachers from the international school were there checking it out and so everything was translated as we went. It was still a great service just a lot of gringos. I like worshipping God in Spanish. There is just something about singing in Spanish that just speaks to my heart. You all should try it sometime. After church we took a bit of a walking tour of el centro looking for a place to eat lunch. There was evidence of protests in a few broken windows. But have no fear there was nothing that even resembled a protest when we were there. So that was my first great thing...
2nd great thing...I got to hang out with some students tonight. Some seniors came in to make posters for the hallways and just to hang out. They are pretty cool kids. It was just fun to be able to learn about them a little bit and hang out. It is hard to sit through all these meetings and not be interacting with kids. Now I am motivated again. :)
I keep forgetting that I am going to be teaching 7th and 8th grade. I am used to teaching older kids. It will be an adjustment from me to say the least. Pray that it will go well!
I found out today that my job is designed is rather mind numbing. The way this class has been taught in previous years is that each student receives a notetaking guide. This is a workbook that has fill in the blank notes in it...So my job is to display a transparency and fill in the blanks for them. A monkey could teach this class. I might rock the boat a little bit and at least have a little fun! Not really sure what the school's thinking is as to why the class is set up like this.
2 more days and then I get to actually have kids in the desks!

First off correction...I speak English in the classroom and at home... :) oops!
Here are a few culture things...
We ate at a mall food court. I got what looked like sweet and sour chicken...The chicken had bones and not a whole lot of meat...I stuck to the rice.
Today at PriceMart which is our Costco or Sam's Club they had samples; every other sample was an alcoholic beverage. I did not sample, I am not allowed to.
We and when I say we it usually means my roommates and I. :) Anyway we were talking to the music teacher, Mr. Kolmodin for all you Unity Christian West MI people, and he was telling us that he asked his 8th grade girls choir to come sing at a church. Everyone said they would come; 2 out of 16 showed up. When you ask someone to come you don't have to show up whether it be to dinner or to sing at a church.
Random Honduran Laws having to do with schools. You may not take away points from a student you must give them a certain amount of points. So instead of saying I will start you at 2 points a day and if you show up late you lose one and if you get a warning you lose one; instead I must say you get a point for showing up on time with your stuff and you get a point for not getting a warning! Random... Another law is that you may not have food or drink, with the exception of water, in the classroom. Last year there was a situation that student A had tea and student B asked for a drink and student A decided to throw the drink at her spilling it all over her so student B decided to start beating on student A. Who is at fault? The teacher for allowing the drink in the classroom. Lawyers were involved etc...the joys of working at a rich school.
Other random facts...one of the families of the school owns 45 miles of land on the Pacific ocean...45 miles of beach!!!
On the way up the mountain we live on there are mansions and there are shacks. In a few of the shack communities there is no running water. They city's solution? Have an exposed pipe that is continually flowing...So along the side of the road there is this 'spring' that people bring their buckets to in order to have water in their home. They will wash their clothes there...All the while the rich are driving buy to go to their mansions...We live in a mixed up world!
Last random thing...fireworks/fire crackers and lit off at all hours. 4:59 this morning sounded like gun shots...got to love that on a Saturday morning!
I posted pictures on facebook...check it out..

The story of my life the past few days…meetings, meetings, and more meetings. A few highlights without the boring details. The history of Academia Los Pinares (ALP): The school started off as a missionary kid’s school. There was a population of Mennonite missionaries so they created a school for their kids. After a while other missionaries from different denominations asked if they joined in and so if they added kids they had to add a teacher so it became a multidenominational school however with the Mennonites in charge. After a while locals started to ask if they could join too, so they locals joined…The Mennonites then decided they didn’t want to be in charge of the school so they created a board with the Baptists, Christian Reformed, Brethren, and one other. And now the school will be starting its 45 year. The school started to let pretty much anyone come making a very secular student body and they are in the process of trying to get more Christian families in the school to balance it out. This they are also starting a scholarship program otherwise it is mostly upper class kids.
So that is the brief summary of the school…I won’t bore you more with all rules we learned etc…
My classroom…Its 3 years old…it’s really nice! It has lots of white walls…My largest classes are 24 students.
Adventures…My roommates and I walked further up the mountain and I made them venture with me through a fence to find a lookout of the city. We found one…it was awesome.
There are little pulperias which are corner stores…you can get snacks for cheap and meet people. Did that a couples times.
Met the returning teachers and a couple of them are going to help us get connected to organizations in the community which is a huge blessing. Honestly being here you could totally stay on this hill and never really experience Honduras. You speak Spanish in the classroom, at home...you aren’t forced to learn Spanish or get involved. NO THANK YOU! So we are going to hopefully help out with street ministries handing out shoes and clothes and food etc…

Anyone been reading about the political situation? You guys probably know more than I. We don’t have internet in our apartment so it is very hard to stay connected. And since we are up on the hill we have no clue what is going on in the city. Tuesday there were demonstrations and a Popeye’s restaurant was destroyed and a bus was burned. So it is real and it is happening but I am perfectly safe. There was a demonstration by the mayor’s house that we could hear and see a bit of the march from the balcony of our apartment. Again I am behind a locked gate so we are safe. Could make for an interesting school year if our busses can’t get through the city. We’ll just have to wait and see! Pray!

Honduras 1st impression…It is GREEN!
2nd impression…The roads are NOT user friendly. Reminds me of Santa Fe with the donkey trails.
3rd impression…it rocks my socks.
Things are going marvelously. My flights were as smooth as could be. 2 of my roommates and I found each other in Houston. Immigration was no problem. My bags came and weren’t searched. I was greeted by my principal right outside of customs. The bus driver helped me with my 99 lbs of luggage. It truly was marvelous. The school is located towards the top of a hill. The drive to the school from the airport is up a windy road that overlooks the city as you go up. It is an impressive sight. The city is located in the mountains/green foothills; so it just weaves its way through these hills creating this vast city of Tegucigalpa. Along the drive you will see homes of ambassadors that are mansions and homes that consist of one room. The higher you get on the hill the nicer the houses. It is a drawback to be on the hill because you easily can just live in this North American compound, but my goal is to not let that happen.
The school is a gated campus with a wall and barbwire fencing on the top of the walls. We are definitely safe. There are 4 apartment buildings that each house 8 people; 4 bedroom or 2 bedroom apartments. I am living in a 4 bedroom apartment. It is a very large apartment. You walk into an open area that is the dining area the living area and the kitchen; all open to each other and all spacious. Off each side of this open area are the bedrooms and bathrooms; 2 bedrooms and a bathroom off each side. The bedrooms are HUGE. They provide a dresser, desk and bed and the closets are about 7 feet long and 5 feet wide. It looks naked with my 2 suitcases worth of stuff! I feel spoiled to have such accommodations. And yes we do get hot showers.
Along with having such accommodations is the expectation of having a maid. So 3-4 times a week a maid will come in and clean for us, do our laundry, and cook. We are spoiled/blessed! It will be an interesting experience!
My roommates. Christa, Stephanie and Sarah. The school did a wonderful job of matching us up. I feel blessed. They are all kind, caring spirits with a passion to get out into the community and experience as much as possible. I can’t see any drama happening with us which I am so thankful for! Christa and Sarah are both teaching 2nd grade and Steph is the jr. high art teacher. They are already good friends.
The school. Very spread out. The high school is made up of 3 buildings. Plus the gym and auditorium. Elementary is also made up of 3 buildings plus random other areas. That will be an adjustment from the closeness of Rehoboth and the teachers eating lunch together and whatnot. My classroom is large and has a white boards and lots of white walls and nothing to decorate them! There are 350 students 7-12 and around 500 K-6. 7th and 8th are considered high school here. The school is 44 years old this year I think I remember hearing.
What have we been doing? Nothing…Saturday was fly in get yourself settled day…Sunday was go to church (Spanish speaking non-denominational church. Pretty much your average church but in Spanish) take Sunday afternoon naps, get a tour of the campus, eat dinner, play catch phrase, figure out shopping lists.
What am I thinking? This is going to be fun and an experience. I feel that my roommates will be great support on those tough days and even the good ones. I am thankful that there are people that don’t want to stay in their comfort zones and want to branch out. I am just thankful to be here!
Wrote that on Sunday...today is Monday night...
Today was lots of fun things like learning what foods to buy and how to wash our fruits and veggies so we don't get sick. Then we learned what our maids are to do for us and how much to pay....Then we filled out insurance forms etc...then we went shopping...I don't like shopping...We first went to a plastic store to buy buckets and tubs and laundry baskets etc...Then we went to a mall that has a Wal-Mart type store to buy groceries and other little stuff for the apartment. We accomplished a lot, buying a lot for not a lot of money and now we can eat all by ourselves.
Tomorrow is more meetings and working in the classroom! So next blog I can tell you all about my classroom...that will be so exciting! ;)