Ups and Downs and Inside Outs

This week I'm a bit beside myself in what to write; thus, I 've chosen to fill all those interested in on the ups and downs of living here in Honduras and some more 'differences' not bad things, just things I've realized are different and often forget to explain.

Let's start on a positive note. This past week at school we had a celebration called Fiesta Catracha. The entire month of September is a very patriotic month here in Central America. Thus, Fiesta Catracha (catracha being another word for Honduran) we celebrated the fact that they are Hondurans! :) That meant that we as teachers got to eat a lot of yummy food, have a break, and then sit on the cement floor through a VERY long assembly with restless kids who couldn't hear what was being said. What was presented was pretty though. Check the pictures. (Thanks to friends who share pictures as my camera is still broken. Donations for a new camera can be directed towards me. :) )

Jana with all of her food. We all had multiple plates!

My principal Mr. Greene with some kids in authentic clothing.

The authentic dresses.

This past Saturday I also got to be adventurous with three of my close friends here Jana, Megan, and Lauren. We heard about a park we could go to outside of the city and decided we were going to find out where it was and how to get there along the way. We packed our lunches and headed out. We took a couple of buses, asked around, and eventually found it 40 minutes outside of the city 2 hours later. We hiked around, ate lunch, looked at the zoo, hiked up to the bell tower, and enjoyed being away and being together. We then walked into the village of Zambrano to find the Catholic church which was gorgeous. We then hitched a ride back to Tegucigalpa in the back of a truck. Riding in the back of a truck on a gorgeous sunny day with the lush green mountains around you doesn't get any bettter. It's fun, and we try to be smart about it of course! I realized on this ride that as the road winds through the mountains that often the side of the mountain has been cut back in is rock. These rocks have lots of painted "billboards", mostly advertisements for politicians. Just a difference.

Scariest "fun house" ever. Someone trashed it.

That's one friendly Bambi.

My good friend Megan and I being crazy.

Megan using her cute white girl looks to help flag down a ride.

Doesn't this lake look inviting to swim in. Yikes.

Lauren and I
Posing like the Gringas that we are with the sign.
"We are the teachers that wishes we were still kids."
Megan not only helps me walk on balanace beams. :)

The catholic church.

That's who I'll be voting for.

On another note, I have two what I find hillariously ackward stories that involve my students. God love them. Well a student of mine who also happened to be the Star of the Week this past week had brought in pictures to share. The students know they are in charge of putting up the pictures at recess as it is their job of the week. Thus, I didn't really look over his right away. To say the least, his mother had done his responsibilites for him in preparing for being the Star of the Week. As he was putting them up, I glanced at one picture. This picture was of him as a baby being held by his mother. I also happened to notice that captions were written in Spanish. He confessed his mothter did it all while he was sleeping. Well later with a closer look and reading of this picture, I was horrified to find that the caption said "He likes to breastfeed." and there in the picture was his mother's nipple. I was so horrified and gently took it down and told him we just weren't going to include this one!!!!! Cultural...somewhat, but still not cosher.

Another funny thing happened with a different sweetheart. We are learning about the regions of the United States and we have been talking about beaches. Well as I glanced by his notes, I noticed a funny spelling mistake. Instead of writing "beaches", he had been writing "bitches". This is funny because this is how they pronounce it with their accents. I giggled and helped him copy it correctly. Once it was erased and correctly spelled, I told him that he had spelled a bad word. :) So precious.

I'm also very thankful for the relationships I'm developing with my students. I am very thankful for the few that care about me and say "I love you Miss." or just hug me all the time or that they are comfortable enough to cry in my lap at chapel. I have a very precious few. I'm loving them more all the time. Some day that love is weakened by frustration but still there. :)

I've also been thankful for the little things lately. Say for example that I can download my favorite show Prison Break off of Itunes for $2 an episode. Since my housemates chose not to get cable tv, I've been desperate for my show! Thus, it's been found. Takes 2 hours to download a 45 min. show but hey...what else can I do. :) Love it.

Another hard note is that my first love Carlos broke up with me this past week. I can't put into words how hard it has been being away from home for this. I already miss what's normal to me and now it got a little harder. I'm constantly relying on God to get me out of bed, to get me through the day, and to keep me going as it's God that I live for anyway. On a positive note, I coudn't be more thankful for the supportive people I have in this community of friends and at home. Friends here have embraced me with hugs, notes, cds, listening ears, and a shoulder to cry on. They are good to have and I'm thankful for them. With God's grace, it's one day at a time. I entrust all of my life to Him.

Keeping on...one day at a time.