Long Weekend Getaway

February 17, 2013
 

Happy Valentines Day!  I know many people had extended weekends recently thanks to midwinter breaks and other holidays.  We were no exception and all of us teachers were very excited to get away from La Union and do some traveling and adventuring.  For one of the first times besides Christmas all of us teachers were not traveling together.  Harriet and Beth ventured towards El Salvador and Guatamela, Kara and Lenny relaxed in Gracias and Cassidy, Brooke and I ventured to Gracias also but we hiked Celaque which is Honduras’ highest point. 

Our sleeping arrangement...all huddled together on the wood floor.

The trail straight up to the top.

We arrived in Gracias by bus and made our way to Hotel Guancascos, where we stayed when we first made it to Honduras and had orientation.  Frony, the owner, had set up a guide for us and transportation out to the national park.  We said our good byes to Kara and Lenny and ventured off.  After the half hour ride, we spent the next 6 hours hiking the most grueling trail I have ever attempted.  The trail to the top is about 5 miles long and covers nearly 10, 000 ft of elevation.  There are 2 camps along the way and we had been informed by previous climbers that the second one is the better option as far as timing and convenience.  When we arrived at the first camp, out of breath and already exhausted our guide, Santos, informed us that the most difficult part was yet to come.  We ate some trail mix and granola bars and decided to continue on.  What we realized was that Santos was not kidding.  Shortly before the second campsite was a section that ventured across a rock face and was nearly a straight vertical.  At this point we were completely exhausted and had no strength left.  I will gladly admit that I may have crawled through parts of this because it was so challenging. 

We finally arrived at our camp though and enjoyed being able to drink water straight from the stream (we didn’t have to have bottled or filtered water).  Santos built us a fire and we relaxed and stretched for the afternoon.  As eveening drew near, another group arrived at the camp which included an older couple from Spain, I was very impressed that they had made it up, a guide and 2 young Honduran men.  They began setting up their tents and as it got darker we all had dinner around the fire.  Then the moment of truth came, they asked if we wanted help setting up our tent and when we replied that we didn’t have one they were all shocked and didn’t know what to say.  The site offers a shelter which we knew about, but shelters here are different than in the states.  Here the shelter was a woodfloor with three wooden siides that had gaps between them and a tin roof.  We were definitely questioning our decision about the tent but when we retired to bed, our sleeping bags under the shelter roof, we just huddled together and it was just fine.  The night was a little cold but we didn’t get wet.  Of course the wooden floor was hard and we didn’t sleep all that much so when morning came we were excited to get a move on.  We climbed for about an hour and a half without our packs to reach the top.  It was a partly cloudy day so there wasn’t much of a view but it was still pretty to be in the clouds and to know we made it to the top.  Santos then guided us back down to the camp and we grabbed our gear and began the hike down.  It took us about 5 hours to get down.  There were numerous parts that seemed to steep going down that I couldn’t believe we made it up.  When we finally made it down our legs were like jello and our feet were very sore.

 

Since it was only Friday we planned on spending the rest of the weekend relaxing and eating good food, so we met up with Kara and Lenny at their hotel in Gracias and got a room.  We were very grateful to have the opportunity to shower which was even extra amazing because it was a real shower (not the kind with the electricity running through them to heat the water).  We all went out for chinese food which was served family style with huge plates.  We greatly enjoyed the food and told stories of our journey, but since we were so exhausted we retired back to the hotel early and went straight to bed. 

The next morning we woke and not surprisingly we could hardly move.  My body was so sore, and still is, that even just flat walking was difficult.  We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then caught a bus to Santa Rosa.  We have been to Santa Rosa before but since it is slightly larger than Gracias it has a few more things to offer.  We had lunch at Weekends, the great pizza place we enjoyed when there before.  We then visited the teacher store and did a little other shopping.  The afternoon was spent relaxing at a coffee shop while it rained outside.  When it slowed down, we made our way to the big grocery store where we found a lot of things that we don’t have here in La Union.  While there we caught up with Harriet and Beth and together we all made our way back to Gracias.  We spent the evening at a restaurant called Café Kalil.  They had delicious wings and bruschetta and even had brownies with ice cream for dessert.  We enjoyed all catching up and spending somet time together again.  Sunday morning we relaxed in bed because the power was out and then once it came back on we had breakfast, watched some TV and then ventured to the grocery store.  We were able to pick up some dairy products, mostly cheese and yogurt, before we headed to the bus station to make our way back to La Union.  The ride went well except that because of the rain our bus struggled to make it up some of the hills.  Of course it was Albin (our landlord and the owner of the buses) to the rescue, he used one of his larger trucks to help pull the bus up the hills.  We finally made it home though and got all unpacked. 

While many people were off relaxing on the beach, I spent the break climbing a mountain, which I severely underestimated.  While it was very challenging and there were many moments of self doubt I am very glad that I did it.  I also got to enjoy a lot of time relaxing and eating great food, which makes coming back to La Union much easier. 

Decisions...

This past week was our deadline to make a decision about staying another year or moving on to new things.  For those of you who know me, I hate making decisions.  Sometimes I just wish that they were made for me and I just had to find a way to deal with whatever choice had been made.  So this was a very difficult decision and I spent a lot of time thinking about it.  My students here are so great and I enjoy the subject matter.  I must say though I also miss a lot of things and people from home.  The comforts here are just nonexistent.  What ended up winning for me was my family and friends back home.  It also didn’t help that the past week or two had been very challenging and that I had felt like I lost some of the passion for the school.  The way the administration had handled a few things and the demands they put on their teachers swayed me toward looking for something new.  In all of my previous jobs I have believed in their mission and enjoyed the people I was working with and under because everyone cared about the company and it success and it was very evident.  For some reason I felt a disconnect with the administraton in Tegucigalpa and our school.  While I am a bit sad about the decision I am excited to see what new adventures life will take me on.  I will surely miss the great people I have met here and become family with along with all my students and the community that has surrounded me. 

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

January 26, 2012

Last Thursday the temperature dropped to about 50 degrees and began raining…and it hasn’t stopped!  It has been kind of miserable and makes me feel very unproductive.  Because of all the rain and cold weather, I spent most of last weekend inside my sleeping bag.  Brooke and I watched a couple movies and with a few of the other teachers played some Settlers of Catan.  We were all looking forward to getting out of town this weekend for Beth’s birthday.  We had planned on spending the weekend in Gracias and ziplining on what is supposed to be Central America’s tallest!  Unfortunately, with the cold and rainy weather we decided not to go because we weren’t sure the bus would make it.  Instead we are celebrating Beth’s birthday here in La Union. 

Besides the crummy weather things have been going well.  I am back into the swing of things and the students have been great.  The directors from Tegucigalpa were here visiting and checking on us this week.  We all passed!  They actually didn’t even sit in on any classes but they met with the sponsored students from 8-11^th grade.  They made them sign a contract that asks them to uphold the Christian values even outside of school.  They are also required to do 4 hours of community service every Saturday (except when we are on a school vacation).  The students were not very excited because that started this weekend at 8am. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately because it is that time of year where we have to decide about staying for another year.  There are a lot of people and things I miss from home, but I know that what I’m doing here is a good thing and my students are so great.  There is a lot to think about and a big decision head. 

Christmas Break and Becoming a Honduran Resident

January 11, 2012

I never had the chance to write about the week before Christmas break because things were so busy.  Many people heard the stories while I was at home but in case you didn’t I have to tell you how awesome the student’s at our school are.  Our last day of school was Wednesday the 19^th so on Monday evening I got a knock at my door, it was one of the 11^th grade students and he said him and his classmates were all hoping to have a prayer circle that evening with the teachers because one of the fellow classmates was really sick.  I was shocked and of course agreed to go.  When we walked to the student’s house it was dark and out of nowhere all of the 11^th graders popped out and started singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”  It was so nice and they made us chili and tacos and we ate and hung out with them for the evening.  They even taught us to dance some typical dances of the area.  It was a big surprise and such a blast to see the students in their own element outside of the classroom. 

The Christmas Carolers even came to Brooke's house

On Tuesday evening the 8^th graders did a similar thing so we spent the evening hanging out with them and enjoying more good Honduran food.  They even had a bonfire going and we once again listened to some good music.  After this we met up with a lot of the secondary students and went Christmas caroling.  Lenny organized this even with the 11^th graders but many of the other students thought it would be fun so they joined in too.  We stopped at all of the Honduran teachers houses and they loved it! 

Wednesday was the day of the Christmas play.  The students had been practicing for weeks so I was excited to see what the final show would look like.  They did awesome!  The little ones were very cute in their matching outfits and all danced so well.  The older students did a great job acting and one of my 10^th grade students even sang a solo, which gave me goosebumps.  I was so impressed with their talents and effort to put on such a great show. 

One of the closing scenes where a 10th grader sang a solo.

6th and 7th grade Dance

5th Graders Dance

Skiing with Rachel

Christmas break was great.  I got to see a lot of people and spend time with my family.  I also enjoyed the warm and powerful showers, the great food variety, skiing, and the company of some of my favorite people.  It was weird though because by the end I was ready to come back to La Union.  I wasn’t necessarily ready for school, but I wanted to see my students and I wanted to see my fellow teachers which are now a big part of me and whom I consider family. 

Out for a Christmas Day walk in the snow

Upon arriving in Honduras we unfortunately didn’t get to come right back to La Union instead we traveled to Tegucigalpa in order to become official Honduran residents.  It was a long weekend with lots of traveling and few disappointments.  I made it with only 1 minor problem back to San Pedro Sula and took a transfer back to my hotel.  When I checked in for my flight they told me I couldn’t get on the plane because I didn’t have a visa to stay longer than the 90-day tourist visa (my return flight is booked for the end of the school year).  I called Delta and booked a refundable one-way ticket home for some day in January and they let me through.  Once I arrived my mom was able to just call and cancel the ticket and get the money back.  I arrive in the afternoon and then later that evening I went back to the airport to meet Brooke who was flying in from her travels in Ecuador.  I was very excited to see her but she seemed to be missing something…her luggage.  Unfortunately her bag didn’t make it and she would spend the next week or so chasing it down. 

The next morning Brooke and I met up with the Gracias teachers (who didn’t even know we were there) and were picked up by the Gracias bus.  We stopped at the airport and picked up Kara and Lenny along with one of the Gracias teachers and a new teacher for Choluteca.  We then left San Pedro Sula to make the 4 hour bus ride to the Tegucigalpa.  Unfortunately on the way got a flat tire and had to spend some time fixing that.  We arrived late evening into Tegucigalpa, where the rest of the La Union teachers were waiting for us.  We had a reunion, telling stories of our travels and exchanging Christmas gifts and then we all went to bed.  We got up early and spent all of the next day at the immigration office where we all became official Honduran residents.  The original plan was for us to then ride back to Gracias with their teachers and then we would be picked up on Tuesday by a truck.  The Gracias teachers didn’t want to have to get in late and teach the next day so they convinced their administration to let us stay another night in Tegucigalpa and all travel back the next day.  This way we got to spend the evening at the mall and go to Wal-Mart again.  This was nice but it also meant that we bussed the 7 hours back to Gracias with them and then had to ride another 3 hours in a small pickup to get back to La Union.  This meant that now we would get in late and have to teach the next day.  It also meant that we would have to leave most of our luggage in Gracias because it didn’t fit in the truck.  Instead, it was brought on one of the buses the next day. 

We have been back to school for 3 days now and although I felt very unprepared for the week it is going well.  My luggage made it and I was able to give my students their Christmas gifts this morning.  They loved them and have already been eating the Cherry Republic Cherry Sours that were in there.  I was so happy to see them and am excited for the rest of the year and all the fun things to come.  For Christmas I got a book of easy science experiments (hopefully this way I will have the materials for them) and I am excited to try some with my students so they can see some science in action. 

A Long Overdue Update

 December 11, 2012

I know it has been awhile since I have posted any updates so here is what has been happening.  I also must note that after long days at school the last thing I want to do is write blog posts so I apologize that my posts have become so sporatic. 

Since Thanksgiving, I have been counting down until Christmas.  I am beginning to feel a bit burnt out and am ready to see all of my loved ones.  Teaching 6 different classes has really taken a toll on me but I know that challenging myself is the best thing I can do at this point.  The kids seem to also be ready for break because their behavior has been heading down the slippery slope.  Each class seems more difficult to keep engaged and they seem to be putting less effort into their studies.  I am hoping that coming back from they will all be renewed and ready to finish the school with a lot of motivation. 

The 9^th graders have been the best example of this.  Over the last couple of weeks they have begun to consistently talk over me and use class time to discern their social standing with others rather than do their work.  Yesterday it all became too much.  I heard from Brooke that they had been the same way in her class and that she snapped with them in the morning.  She abruptly ended the lesson only 1/3^rd of the way through and told the students to do their homework.  So when they were acting out in my class I figured I would be consistent in punishment and did the same.  I knew this alone wouldn’t fix the problem though so today after their quiz we built a web where we brainstormed what it means to be a good student.  Tomorrow they will write me letters about their behaviors and how they can become a really good student…including what I can do to help them.  I will have to let you know how this turns out and if I see any changes. 

On top of everyone being ready for break we have 3 other headaches that have been plaguing us.  First off, we have not had a copier for over a month now, which isn’t a big deal because we can have them sent out (you just have to be really on top of things and a couple days ahead).  But then last week our printer also ran out of ink so now we have no way to print things to send to the copier.  I have made more worksheets by hand than I ever thought I would have to since I was teaching in the 21^st century.  Although this isn’t the ideal situation we have been making due and have only increased our creativity in our teacher toolbox. 

The second disruption has been a lack of internet.  For some reason our download allowance has been severely decreased.  We have been running out of it quite often and rarely have internet at the school.  Luckily we can still visit the church to borrow those when necessary and to keep in contact with our friends and families. 

The third thing is the Christmas play that the school is putting together.  Unfortunately they started very late and because of that have been trying to make up time.  So they decided to use the last two class periods of everyday to work with students.  Unfortunately communication hasn’t been that great and some classes are needed on certain days while others are not.  This has made planning, which is already a challenge around a break, very difficult. 

These things have really taught me flexibility.  I thought that student teaching had taught me that, but that was just a minor step to what I would eventually learn.  I realized this is a great talking point for future interviews as I know that my experience here will be brought up.  So far my major learning experiences have been flexibility, creativity, and learning about myself. 

I have spent the last couple weekends just hanging out and getting a lot of school work done…making worksheets by hand takes extra time!  Girls nights have increased from once a week to sometimes 3 since our frustrations have also increased.  We have been getting very intrigued by season 2 of Downton Abby and I would suggest the series to anyone, I have heard it is available on Netflix.  The weather has been beautiful here and while I miss the snow that I have heard about and seen pictures of, I am happy to be enjoying sunshine and dryness.  I am sure though that rain is coming this week and we will once again be in a muddy place where I have to wear my rain boots (which now have holes in them) constantly.  Today our laundry was done and since it was so beautiful out most of the clothes dried (which hasn’t happened in a couple months).  I am even more grateful for the fact my sheets got clean, are dry, and smell nice.  I am looking forward to crawling into bed with clean sheets, my book and my Christmas lights! 

I would also like to mention with the holiday season upon us, if anyone is interested in gifting to the school or students I would be more than happy to talk with you.  They can always use materials and sponsors are always desired so that more students can experience the gift of education.  There is also another company here who is a microfinance group that works with coffee farmers.  They do some amazing things here and can always use support, which you can do by purchasing their coffee.  The follow is a link to their main order page…

They are also working with our Abundant Life Christian School on a coffee that is grown at a farm owned by some of the teachers and they are offering to give some of the profits back to the school… here is a link to that page:

I hope you are all looking forward to a special holiday season where we can spend time with our families and take part in the traditions of gift giving.  9 days until I arrive back in Michigan and yes I will be welcoming the snow!

An American Thanksgiving in Honduras

November 29, 2012

Thanksgiving break arrived upon us in what felt like record time.  While August, September, October and the majority of November has gone by quickly we were still exhausted as teachers and ready for a break.  We were also stoked because we would get to travel to a real city!  We spent weeks preparing/reminding each other of all the great things we would get to experience and see and more importantly all the wonderful food that we would have. 

On Wednesday morning we met at our principal’s house who was going to drive us in his truck to Santa Barbara where, if we were on time, we would catch a direct bus to Tegucigalpa (known to Hondurans as Teguc), but we would actually get off at a rest stop about halfway where the Gracias teachers who were traveling on an Abundant Life bus would meet us and pick us up.  This was a great plan, but things quickly ran off course.  First, Jake accidentally slept in so when we were all ready to leave at 6 am we were missing him and had to call and wake him up.  He got ready quick though and we were on our way to pick up a few people and things on our way out of town.  Just as we got everything and everyone loaded in the truck started smoking and when the hood was opened we found that the truck had actually lit on fire.  The next best option was to walk to the main road and catch the 7ish bus out of town to Santa Barbara.  We did this and the ride wasn’t too bad, but since it left later we had missed our direct bus so we took a packed mini-bus.  There were no seats left and so we stood in the aisle basically on top of each other staring at the floor because the bus was just a bit short.  This took us to an intersection where we got off and waited for a mode of transportation that was heading in our direction.  A few minutes later a large van stopped and said they would take us to the rest area to meet our group.  We once again piled in to a tight space, but we arrived to meet the Gracias teachers…and Surprise! Their students too.  This meant another very full bus and with loud students, but the good news was they had gotten us all chicken sandwiches and fries from Wendy’s.  We finally arrived at our hotel in Teguc to discover that all of the girls (students and teachers) had been placed into one large bunk room that was just packed with bunk beds…and had only 1 bathroom.  After the frustrating day of travel we had and the screaming students we couldn’t handle it so we had a conversation with Jake who, bless his heart, was able to get the La Union female teachers their own room.  We took quiet naps and relaxed before we met for some Pizza Hut and got ready for a benefit concert at the Vida Abundante church.  Of course as a side note, this is when my body decided to rebel against me and I was stricken with a cold. 

The evening was spent at a concert that was actually a benefit for our La Union school.  I don’t remember the name of the group but it was 4 young people who played guitar together and had dancers that danced to a few of their songs.  Unfortunately for us it had been a long day and the concert was not of the super exciting kind so it nearly put us to sleep.  We gratefully retired to bed after it. 

On Thursday we went the Abundant Life School in Teguc and had breakfast.  We also got to see a bit of the school which was pretty cool and made us La Union teachers a bit jealous.  After the school we went to the Vida Abundante clinic and received a tour.  Many teachers, including myself, also had our eyes checked.  Glasses here are much cheaper even for designer frames like 50-100 dollars including exam, lenses and frames.  Unfortunately since I am so blind my lenses are very thick and they don’t have the lens thinning here so I decided to wait for a new pair when I get back to the states.  Once we had seen everything we went on to lunch at a local pizza place which was really good.  In the afternoon we stopped by a cultural fair that was being set up and took a look around; it was fun because it was taking place in this really old prison so it was quite unique.  We then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. 

The table was all set

For us La Union teachers dinner was an exciting affair because we haven’t dressed up for anything and rarely put make-up on or do our hair.  So we got ourselves all dolled up and joined the whole group for dinner at one of the directors’ houses.  It was AMAZING! Her house was up in the mountains around Teguc and was absolutely gorgeous even by American standards and was all decorated for Christmas.  We spent time talking with everyone and thanking God for all of the wonderful gifts we have been given in our lives.  The food was great and much like a typical Thanksgiving at home.  We had turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, fruit salad with candied pecans, wine and pumpkin flavored flan for dessert.  My stomach and I were very content and I was able to sleep well that next night. 

The water cycle exhibit at the Chiminike

On Friday, we went to Chiminike in the morning.  This is a children's science museum and yes I was in heaven.  It was like having a kid in a candy shop, everything was soooo cool.  I even climbed my way through the digestive system and got sneezed on in a giant size nose.  I have decided one of my life goals might just have to be to own/direct/design exhibits for a children's museum.  After the museum we went to lunch at a local place in the what is known as the District.  This unfortunately was not the best experience.  There were 3 choices on the menu and we still waited over 2 hours for food and still they forgot about one of our orders so we had one person not get food at all (we shared of course). 

The afternoon was spent paint balling, which many of the teachers skipped out on, but our whole La Union crew was prepared for some domination.  Unfortunately we had 8 people and all the other schools combined only had 6 that wanted to play so we decided we would give them Jake (he wanted to shoot at all of his teachers anyway).  The others were worried this would be unfair because it meant that the La Union team had 6 girls and 1 guy while they had 5 guys and 2 girls.  Lets just say that we shut them up quick and while we let them win a couple we dominated in the rest.  This was my first time paint balling and I had blast; I even came out with a nice battle wound bruise on my leg where the ball hit and bounced off, not breaking.  After our domination they let us go back to the hotel and change which was good because I had also gotten shot in the head a few times and had paint all over my hair, so I was able to shower.  We then went to a Mongolian type restaurant and had a great family style meal.  The food was great including a curry, rice dish, beef in oyster sauce and chicken in peanut type sauce. 

After dinner the group was going bowling, but the La Union teachers decided to go back to the hotel.  We wanted to keep with our Friday night traditions of watching Downton Abby, so we took a cab to McDonalds and got McFlurries then cuddled up and watched an episode of our show, retiring a little early to bed. 

This is Otis the Owl, Kara and I deliberately acquired him from a special place and he spent the rest of the trip traveling around with us, this is just one of the many pics we got with him around Teguc.

Saturday morning we ventured out of Teguc to a place called valle de los angeles which is a tourist town that has lots of shops selling local artisan crafts, pottery and other goods.  We wandered around a bit and finished our Christmas shopping.  We then headed for the mall where we had our choice for lunch as McDonalds or Quiznos.  I ate at Quiznos and then headed straight for Wal-Mart.  I filled a cart with practical items that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else, powdered sugar, febreze, brown sugar, some wine, granola bars, Christmas lights…all the good stuff.  After the shock of WalMart wore off I ventured through the rest of the mall, but didn’t find much that caught my eye.  We had a late lunch so at dinner we just ordered a bunch of appetizer sampler plates and shared those before we all headed to the movies.  Some people went to see the last installment of the Twilight series but I went with a group to see the new James Bond film and I was quite impressed.  I liked the movie a lot and was happy to be in a real theater with comfy seats and it only cost me like 4 bucks!

Sunday morning we left the hotel early to catch the 7am direct bus to Santa Barbara.  Of course as plans go, the bus we thought left at 7 actually left at 8:30 so we spent some time waiting around.  We eventually arrived back to La Union safe and sound but tired from traveling.  I unpacked and went to bed early arriving at school the next day a little unprepared but I didn’t worry much because the break was all worth it.  Little did I know though that this week would be crazy…I’ll explain this weekend with some pictures of the fun things my students have been doing in science class. 

Parent Teacher Conferences and More

November 19, 2012

Good morning!  I know it has been awhile since I put up any type of update, but life has been pretty normal for the past couple weeks.  I’m taking the time and opportunity to write this because our internet is currently down and writing this is better than that stack of 8^th grade science papers that have been staring at me all morning…They can wait a little while longer!  After my birthday things returned to normal for a couple days and then on Saturday November 10, we had parent teacher conferences.  I had a good experience with parent teacher conferences when I was student teaching except for one parent who went off on me.  I was not very worried about that because all of my 10th grade students are really great people and their grades are all quite good, plus I wouldn’t understand a word they were saying.  So I went in to them feeling pretty confident. 

The way they do parent teacher conferences here is a bit different though.  Instead of visiting all of your childs teacher you only visit their homeroom.  So I represented all the teachers who taught the 10^th grade.  Likewise, I had to give my recommedations and comments for students to their homeroom teacher.  I also was in possession of the only copy they could get of their report card so it was incentive for the parents to show up because their kid was very interested in what their grades had totalled out at.  One of the volunteers from England sat with me and did my translating throughout the morning and we enjoyed hanging out between parents because I only have 8 students so I had a lot of extra time.  The one thing I experienced that I didn’t in the states was the pure gratitude from the parents that I was here and working with their children.  They were so thankful that I had chosen to come here and that I am a part of their child’s life; it was a great reminder of the reasons I’m here.  The last difference I will make note of is that the parents were less concerned with their students actual grade than they are in the states, but every parent asked the same question…are they well behaved in class?  I found this very entertaining, but a sign of a cultural difference.  Here they concern themselves a lot in showing respect and conducting yourself in a proper manner (atleast in school) and it would be very troubling for a parent to hear that their child was disrespectful or rude. 

Waking up early to go to conferences really put a damper on our Saturday and didn’t help that the weather was cold and rainy and we were all completely freezing!  We decided to do what we know best and we plopped ourselves on the couch with our down blankets, a bucket of popcorn, and a bowl of cookie dough and we spent the afternoon watching movies cuddled together.  Cassidy and David then cooked a spaghetti dinner for everyone and we played games…more Settlers of Catan.  Sunday we went over to the Brits house to watch football because the Lions vs. Vikings game was being shown.  It was a disappointing loss for the lions but I was able to get some work done while watching so atleast I had been productive. 

Last week went smooth and many of my students had tests which they all did quite well on especially Chemistry.  I was concerned because it was a difficult unit on molar mass, limiting reactants and percent composition, but they proved to be the wonderful students I have come to see that they are.  I did several demonstrations with multiple classes and they enjoyed actually getting to see and experience science rather than just hear about it.  My creativity skills have been greatly improving as I constantly look for things that I can do with the few materials have in my teacher toolbox here. 

This weekend was a rather relaxing one once again.  Lenny and Kara ventured back to New York City for a wedding they were both in.  So we were short a few people from our group plus Cassidy and David left Saturday morning to take him back to the aiport for an early Sunday flight.  We had girls night Friday and watched a couple episodes of Downton Abbey complete with more cookie dough.  On Saturday Brooke and I came up to the school and got a lot of work done for the week when we come back from Thanksgiving, so that we have less to worry about over our break.  It also helped that the internet wasn’t working then either so we had no other choice but to work on stuff.  We then ventured over to the Brits and watched some wedding shows including Say Yes to the Dress and then went out for some fried chicken for dinner.  Sunday consisted of church and then a nice brunch of omelettes that Brooke and I made.  We then laid on the couch and watched a couple movies while eating popcorn.  Since we had time we decided to cook a nice dinner and enjoy some wine that I had gotten the last time I was in Gracias.  I helped her grade papers while our Cajun shrimp cooked and then we enjoyed this fabulous meal while we awaited the election results. 

Yesterday was election day here.  Which is why we had planned a lazy day Sunday because we didn’t want to go out since the parties were supposed to get pretty intense.  We were told it was actually calm all afternoon and things didn’t get crazy until the results were announced.  At which point we could hear the celebrations and there were tons of fireworks going off well into the night which made it difficult to fall asleep.  Last night was also one of the colder nights we have had.  I woke up several times and was quite cold, I was told this morning it was less than 50 degrees.  This seems like I have become a wimp for cold weather, which might be partially true, but then you can consider the fact that I have no heat and no insulation in my house.  Not only that but our roof is tin and the walls cement so the cold just surrounds us. 

I am looking forward to a shortened week.  We were supposed to have school on Wednesday but after asking our permission they decided to cancel it.  Us teachers were probably more excited than the students because not only do we not have to teach that day but we will get to leave a day earlier for Tegucigalpa and will get to see a concert that is being put on as a benefit for the La Union School.  We are all very excited for our trip to Teguc and I’m sure I will have an exciting blog post when I get back that will include lots of Thanksgiving food, Thai food, paintball, bowling, movies and the best yet, WAL-MART.  I never thought going to Wal-Mart could be so exciting but I have been feeling deprived of such American things and I have a list of things I can get to help with my science experiments a bit. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and is reminded of all the wonderful things they have to be thankful for, I sure will!