Written Friday, May 28 2010
Sorry for the delay. No excuses other then its been raining and that has made me really lazy.
Last Sunday was a good day. I had gone to town early because my school’s girl’s soccer team was playing the other bilingual schools team early in the morning. Rachel, LB and I made our way to town at 10 to watch the game. Now there are no referees that you hire to come and referee these games, it is usually a parent or someone who happens to be there. The first half ended up being refereed by a student of the other bilingual school. Therefore, it only made sense for the second half to be refereed by someone affiliated with our school. The whistle was handed to our principal at halftime and before I knew it he walked over and handed it to me. The girls went crazy and started chanting my name, so I had no other option—I refereed the second half. I would like to think this gave the girls motivation because they ended up breaking a 0-0 tie by scoring two quick goals two begin the second half, but I’ll give our coach Mr. Bran the credit. The girls went on to win 3-0 and I feel like I refereed a pretty good game.
After the game Rachel and I went into town to grab lunch at Guancascos and I used the Internet to work on my TEFL class. At 2 we made our way to another field where we watched the first half of our 3rd and 4th graders play. It ended raining pretty hard so we went back home but the boys were down 1-4 at halftime (they ended up coming back and only lost 5-6).
The rest of the day we just hung out and relaxed.
This week went by very quickly, and I think the next two weeks will be the same way. Things are wrapping up. I have officially planned out the rest of the year for my classes and it is hard to believe it is almost June (let alone my 24th birthday…). I just felt like I arrived here in Honduras. Anyway, more update later!
Written Sunday, May 30 2010
My back hurts, my legs hurt, my knees hurt, shoot, my entire body hurts. But I did it. In just under 10 hours Rachel and I, and the father of the family I live with, made it up and down Celaque. At just over 9,300 feet it is the tallest mountain in Honduras and was one of the most physically demanding things I have ever done.
Rachel and I had decided midweek that we wanted to do this on Saturday (yesterday). And although the weather forecast looked unfavorable with a chance of thunderstorms we figured it would be our last opportunity to do it. So, at 5 AM yesterday morning we started our trek up the mountain.
Going up was difficult. In order to reach the highest point we had to go up and down what I counted to be at least 3 other mountains. The number of switchbacks we went up were numberless and the terrain was less that favorable. We have been getting pounded with rain here in Honduras over the last week and the trail was wet and muddy. As we went up we had a few peaks of sunshine, but it was only teasing us because our downhill trek after reaching the top would be miserable.
After about 4 hours we reached Camp Naranjo. This is the last camp and stop before you take the trail to the top of the mountain. Don Luis (our guide) said it was about 2 hours to the top from this point but it only ended up taking us about an hour and a half. The trail from Camp Naranjo to the top was beautiful. Large trees covered in Spanish moss surrounded us. Add the fact that we were in a cloud forest so there was fog all around us as made it seem like we were in a dream. However, getting to the top was rather anticlimactic. We made it, and there was a nice sign welcoming us along with a Honduras flag. But being in the middle of a cloud forest meant that we couldn’t see anything (no spectacular view of the mountains) because it was all white. However, we did hear the wind blowing across the mountain and it sounded really powerful. We had made it to the top in 5 and a half hours and after taking a few pictures and resting we began our descent.
By the time we had reached Camp Naranjo again it started to rain. This was going to make the hike down even more difficult. Don Luis said going to the top would be “easy” but coming down would be more dangerous. Dangerous was right. Rachel and I were slipping and falling constantly, and even our experienced guide slipped a few times. With the pouring rain I began to count the hours until I could hop in a hot shower and lay in bed the rest of the day. After being at the highest point in Honduras 4 and a half hours earlier I finally marched into the Comedor with achy knees and feet. I sat down for a few minutes before taking a shower and going to bed for 2 hours. What a trip.
All in all it was difficult and even miserable at times. But we did it, and have one heck of a story to tell about our trip up and down Celaque.
Anyway, I am going to let my body continue to recover as I sit around all day today and work on my TEFL class and other schoolwork. I hope all is well and in a week from today I will be 24! Yikes… my mid twenties…
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Saturday May 21, 2010
So it was an up and down week. First the up part.
I had the students (Nivalacion) evaluate me and in that evaluation I asked them to write something they would like to learn in English. Many of them (including some of the girls) wrote that they wanted to learn vocabulary related to soccer. I decided to do this and gave them some basic soccer vocabulary at the end of last week. On Monday I assigned them a project in which they had to construct their own soccer stadium out of anything they wanted and then label the parts (positions and parts of the field). The projects were due yesterday and I was amazed at some of my students work. The students really liked it as well—many of them commented that it was a really cool way to learn the vocabulary. That always makes you feel good as a teacher. You can see all of the stadiums in my Picasa albums.
On the other hand there were a few downers. My seventh grade class has been a little rough the last couple of weeks. It is not only my class, but it is with all of the teachers and their classes as well. There are 28 of them and it is a relatively small classroom, therefore they are all sitting really close to each other, which allows them to get distracted rather easily. Add this with their age and it is almost a perfect storm for chaos on a regular basis. A few weeks back I caught two girls cheating (see May 9 post) and I have had problems with students copying homework, and making it obvious, as in doing it in class or in front of another teacher during her class. Well, I had another new one this week. Two actually.
Take One:
Thursday I was checking their homework and came across one of my student’s assignments. It was a boy student’s assignment and the handwriting was definitely not a boy’s. I looked closer and he had written his name in the left hand corner but in the right hand corner there was a whiteout spot and clearly through the whiteout you could read the girl student’s name whose work it actually was. This may be partly my fault, but sometimes my students do their homework in their history notebook and they don’t want to rip it out—they want to keep it with their notes to study. This particular girl student whose name was “hidden” behind the whiteout had asked if I could just check her homework in her notebook the day the homework was due so she didn’t have to rip it out. I did this and didn’t think anything of it because I had done it before. On Thursday while I was checking the homework I realized what was going on and I went and talked to this girl student (the boy student was absent that day). I was clever and first asked her to go get her history homework that I had checked for her. She said she had left her history notebook at home because we don’t have history on Thursday. I said fair enough, and then I took out her homework with the boys name and asked her if it was hers. She said yes. I then asked why the boy’s name was on it with her name “hidden” by whiteout. She said she didn’t know why, but said admitted that she had given her homework to this particular boy student so that he could copy it. At least she was honest. The boy though was the one that blew my mind. Instead of re-writing in his own handwriting, which would have been harder to pick up, he just whiteouted her name and put his…
Take Two:
Yesterday I was hanging out with Mrs. Lopez and my Nivalcion class after lunch—it was my off period and the kids were watching The Pursuit of Happiness. My principal, Mr. Calderon, came and asked for me and went on to tell me that he had talked to the girl student about the above situation and she had given him more information about some cheating going on in seventh grade. Evidently there was another boy student who had done the same thing. This boy student had just turned in his homework late and I hadn’t checked it yet. So I went to go look at it and sure enough, a boy definitely did not do the work, the handwriting was too neat. So we pulled the boy student and the accused girl student out of class and asked both of them about it. The girl said it wasn’t her handwriting, but the boy insisted it was. After comparing the girl’s handwriting in her notebook to the homework in question we (Mr. Calderon and I) determined it wasn’t hers, but she was still very hesitant and was holding something back. My principal and I sent the boy student back to class and kept the girl student. Within a few seconds after this she broke down crying and started to talk very fast in Spanish to my principal. As she did this the principal made a sign that told me that she liked this particular boy student (crossed his fingers). I stopped her and asked her to explain what she was saying in English. Evidently, because she liked this boy student, she had had a friend of hers (who doesn’t even go to our school) do his homework for him and then he turned in that homework. The irony of this is that this girl student hadn’t even turned in HER homework, but had had a friend do the homework for a boy she liked. Seventh graders…
Anyway, today has been an extremely successful day. I got up early and have planned the rest of the year for both 7th and 8th Grade and am about to start on my TEFL class. I might post again tomorrow, but for now, adios.
So it was an up and down week. First the up part.
I had the students (Nivalacion) evaluate me and in that evaluation I asked them to write something they would like to learn in English. Many of them (including some of the girls) wrote that they wanted to learn vocabulary related to soccer. I decided to do this and gave them some basic soccer vocabulary at the end of last week. On Monday I assigned them a project in which they had to construct their own soccer stadium out of anything they wanted and then label the parts (positions and parts of the field). The projects were due yesterday and I was amazed at some of my students work. The students really liked it as well—many of them commented that it was a really cool way to learn the vocabulary. That always makes you feel good as a teacher. You can see all of the stadiums in my Picasa albums.
On the other hand there were a few downers. My seventh grade class has been a little rough the last couple of weeks. It is not only my class, but it is with all of the teachers and their classes as well. There are 28 of them and it is a relatively small classroom, therefore they are all sitting really close to each other, which allows them to get distracted rather easily. Add this with their age and it is almost a perfect storm for chaos on a regular basis. A few weeks back I caught two girls cheating (see May 9 post) and I have had problems with students copying homework, and making it obvious, as in doing it in class or in front of another teacher during her class. Well, I had another new one this week. Two actually.
Take One:
Thursday I was checking their homework and came across one of my student’s assignments. It was a boy student’s assignment and the handwriting was definitely not a boy’s. I looked closer and he had written his name in the left hand corner but in the right hand corner there was a whiteout spot and clearly through the whiteout you could read the girl student’s name whose work it actually was. This may be partly my fault, but sometimes my students do their homework in their history notebook and they don’t want to rip it out—they want to keep it with their notes to study. This particular girl student whose name was “hidden” behind the whiteout had asked if I could just check her homework in her notebook the day the homework was due so she didn’t have to rip it out. I did this and didn’t think anything of it because I had done it before. On Thursday while I was checking the homework I realized what was going on and I went and talked to this girl student (the boy student was absent that day). I was clever and first asked her to go get her history homework that I had checked for her. She said she had left her history notebook at home because we don’t have history on Thursday. I said fair enough, and then I took out her homework with the boys name and asked her if it was hers. She said yes. I then asked why the boy’s name was on it with her name “hidden” by whiteout. She said she didn’t know why, but said admitted that she had given her homework to this particular boy student so that he could copy it. At least she was honest. The boy though was the one that blew my mind. Instead of re-writing in his own handwriting, which would have been harder to pick up, he just whiteouted her name and put his…
Take Two:
Yesterday I was hanging out with Mrs. Lopez and my Nivalcion class after lunch—it was my off period and the kids were watching The Pursuit of Happiness. My principal, Mr. Calderon, came and asked for me and went on to tell me that he had talked to the girl student about the above situation and she had given him more information about some cheating going on in seventh grade. Evidently there was another boy student who had done the same thing. This boy student had just turned in his homework late and I hadn’t checked it yet. So I went to go look at it and sure enough, a boy definitely did not do the work, the handwriting was too neat. So we pulled the boy student and the accused girl student out of class and asked both of them about it. The girl said it wasn’t her handwriting, but the boy insisted it was. After comparing the girl’s handwriting in her notebook to the homework in question we (Mr. Calderon and I) determined it wasn’t hers, but she was still very hesitant and was holding something back. My principal and I sent the boy student back to class and kept the girl student. Within a few seconds after this she broke down crying and started to talk very fast in Spanish to my principal. As she did this the principal made a sign that told me that she liked this particular boy student (crossed his fingers). I stopped her and asked her to explain what she was saying in English. Evidently, because she liked this boy student, she had had a friend of hers (who doesn’t even go to our school) do his homework for him and then he turned in that homework. The irony of this is that this girl student hadn’t even turned in HER homework, but had had a friend do the homework for a boy she liked. Seventh graders…
Anyway, today has been an extremely successful day. I got up early and have planned the rest of the year for both 7th and 8th Grade and am about to start on my TEFL class. I might post again tomorrow, but for now, adios.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
**This is my second post for today. Scroll down to see the finale of my food blog and then read this, it will make a lot more sense!***
Sunday May 16, 2010
So it was a tough weekend. First, you heard about the food. Maybe its because I have been thinking more about getting some American food once I am back in the States, but between bugs and chicken neck it was rough. Not only this but something I ate on Friday (or seeing that fly on Saturday) really set my stomach off and I have been fighting a stomachache since.
Saturday afternoon Rachel and I went into town to buy food for the dinner she was making me and as we walked around Dinora (the supermarket where we grocery shop) I could barely stand up. Not only was my stomach off but I also ached all over. She told me to go sit down somewhere while she finished shopping, which I did. But I still didn’t feel much better. I went to the pharmacy and bought some Pepto, which eventually helped, but it was no fun. We eventually made it back home and I took some ibuprofen for my achy body and then passed out in bed for 2.5 hours. When I woke up my stomachache was better but now I had a pounding headache. I took some Excedrin and went up to see how Rachel was doing on dinner. She had just started and after being told to sit down and wait for dinner I just relaxed. After enjoying dinner we just hung out and relaxed the rest of the night. I think the meds I took countered all my symptoms for the rest of the night. Although, I’ve been fighting a stomachache all day today too—the chicken neck really didn’t help.
Along with all of this we (as in the comedor where I live) have been out of water most of the weekend. I’ve only taken one hot shower since Friday with the rest being cold-bucket showers. It’s not that big of a deal but it further makes me appreciate constant running hot water that I am spoiled with back home.
Also, because of my sickness I did not get a chance to work on my TEFL stuff at all on Saturday. So today I have locked myself inside to finish my current module. After about 4 straight hours of work this afternoon I completed Module 6, which means I am halfway through the course. In fact, I think Module 7 is the last one with a reading lecture, quizzes and assignments because Module 8 is a unit lesson plan, Module 9 is all paperwork and Module 10 is course review. So I am getting close to completing this online course and having another certification, this one in teaching English as a second or foreign language!
Anyway, I don’t want to complain more because I am still really enjoying my time down here and believe this is where I am supposed to be right now. I felt that way when I got here and I still feel that way. I feel like I have grown so much personally and professionally down here as well over the last 4 months. Its going to be interesting to see what life is like for me back in the United States before I ship off for Spain at the end of August! Craziness…
Anyway, I hope all is well back in the States and I will continue to try and stay on top of my blog entries.
Take care.
Sunday May 16, 2010
So it was a tough weekend. First, you heard about the food. Maybe its because I have been thinking more about getting some American food once I am back in the States, but between bugs and chicken neck it was rough. Not only this but something I ate on Friday (or seeing that fly on Saturday) really set my stomach off and I have been fighting a stomachache since.
Saturday afternoon Rachel and I went into town to buy food for the dinner she was making me and as we walked around Dinora (the supermarket where we grocery shop) I could barely stand up. Not only was my stomach off but I also ached all over. She told me to go sit down somewhere while she finished shopping, which I did. But I still didn’t feel much better. I went to the pharmacy and bought some Pepto, which eventually helped, but it was no fun. We eventually made it back home and I took some ibuprofen for my achy body and then passed out in bed for 2.5 hours. When I woke up my stomachache was better but now I had a pounding headache. I took some Excedrin and went up to see how Rachel was doing on dinner. She had just started and after being told to sit down and wait for dinner I just relaxed. After enjoying dinner we just hung out and relaxed the rest of the night. I think the meds I took countered all my symptoms for the rest of the night. Although, I’ve been fighting a stomachache all day today too—the chicken neck really didn’t help.
Along with all of this we (as in the comedor where I live) have been out of water most of the weekend. I’ve only taken one hot shower since Friday with the rest being cold-bucket showers. It’s not that big of a deal but it further makes me appreciate constant running hot water that I am spoiled with back home.
Also, because of my sickness I did not get a chance to work on my TEFL stuff at all on Saturday. So today I have locked myself inside to finish my current module. After about 4 straight hours of work this afternoon I completed Module 6, which means I am halfway through the course. In fact, I think Module 7 is the last one with a reading lecture, quizzes and assignments because Module 8 is a unit lesson plan, Module 9 is all paperwork and Module 10 is course review. So I am getting close to completing this online course and having another certification, this one in teaching English as a second or foreign language!
Anyway, I don’t want to complain more because I am still really enjoying my time down here and believe this is where I am supposed to be right now. I felt that way when I got here and I still feel that way. I feel like I have grown so much personally and professionally down here as well over the last 4 months. Its going to be interesting to see what life is like for me back in the United States before I ship off for Spain at the end of August! Craziness…
Anyway, I hope all is well back in the States and I will continue to try and stay on top of my blog entries.
Take care.
Sunday May 16, 2010
The week meal blog continues…
Thursday:
Breakfast: this morning I was given a more “traditional breakfast—refried beans, scrambled eggs with onion mixed in, a spicy sausage (same from last night) and 4 tortillas. I also had a loaf of that sugar bread and a cup of coffee.
Lunch: Funny how I mentioned 84 East yesterday because today at lunch we went Italian (and this time not spicy spaghetti). We had lasagna today and it was actually pretty delicious. We had had this once before a couple months ago and I was impressed with it then too.
Dinner: So I had the usual for dinner tonight—beans, scrambled eggs with onion mixed in, montequilla and tortillas. No meat or avocado tonight. Three nights in a row… but that’s okay, I was hungry and I am used to it by now.
Friday:
Breakfast: This morning I had baleadas (from Monday morning) with eggs again—three of them with some Don Julio’s (the extremely good hot sauce down here).
Lunch: I really don’t know what the things are called that we had for lunch today, but they aren’t my favorite. They are tortillas that are folded in half and are stuffed with shredded chicken (and the last two times we’ve had them, including today, I’ve bitten really hard into a bone that wasn’t taken out of the shredded chicken) refried beans and I think a little montequilla. They are then covered with a mock marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese. The ones today didn’t sit well with my stomach either. But you eat what you get and I was hungry.
Dinner: Yup, you guessed it, beans, eggs and tortillas tonight. Not much else to say about that.
Saturday:
Breakfast: I slept through it and by the time I had showered it was 11 and told them I could wait until lunch for food.
Lunch: I had spaghetti today with an unpleasant surprise—a large fly in the middle. I don’t know if it was the fly or something I ate the previous day (I am thinking lunch) but at that point my stomach went off the rest of the day.
Dinner: Since Rachel had beaten me in our NCAA Basketball brackets and I had to buy her dinner she said she would “make up” for it by making me dinner sometime. So this was the night. She made some garlic and lemon pepper baked chicken (boneless, thank goodness) with white rice and green beans and broccoli. It was delicious and was a nice change of pace from beans, eggs, and tortilla.
Sunday:
Breakfast: I was up for breakfast this morning and had a glass of orange juice and some vanilla wafer type cookies. Very delicious.
Lunch: I had rice, potatoes and chicken. Now the thing about the chicken down here, and I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, you never know what you are going to get—dark meat, white meat, both. There isn’t exactly a specific cut like there is in the US (breast, leg, wing, etc.). Well, the chicken I had today, at least part of, had to be from the “upper body” portion of the chicken because there was definitely a bone sticking out of it that looked like a neck. Pair this with my stomach still being a little off today and it wasn’t a good combo. I ate as much as I could because I hate leaving food on my plate down here, but it has not been my weekend for food service at the comedor. First a big fly and now neck-chicken. Oh well, that’s Honduras, maybe better luck next weekend!
Dinner: And again, tortillas, eggs and beans. But I got a slice of salami and half an avocado this time around.
The week meal blog continues…
Thursday:
Breakfast: this morning I was given a more “traditional breakfast—refried beans, scrambled eggs with onion mixed in, a spicy sausage (same from last night) and 4 tortillas. I also had a loaf of that sugar bread and a cup of coffee.
Lunch: Funny how I mentioned 84 East yesterday because today at lunch we went Italian (and this time not spicy spaghetti). We had lasagna today and it was actually pretty delicious. We had had this once before a couple months ago and I was impressed with it then too.
Dinner: So I had the usual for dinner tonight—beans, scrambled eggs with onion mixed in, montequilla and tortillas. No meat or avocado tonight. Three nights in a row… but that’s okay, I was hungry and I am used to it by now.
Friday:
Breakfast: This morning I had baleadas (from Monday morning) with eggs again—three of them with some Don Julio’s (the extremely good hot sauce down here).
Lunch: I really don’t know what the things are called that we had for lunch today, but they aren’t my favorite. They are tortillas that are folded in half and are stuffed with shredded chicken (and the last two times we’ve had them, including today, I’ve bitten really hard into a bone that wasn’t taken out of the shredded chicken) refried beans and I think a little montequilla. They are then covered with a mock marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese. The ones today didn’t sit well with my stomach either. But you eat what you get and I was hungry.
Dinner: Yup, you guessed it, beans, eggs and tortillas tonight. Not much else to say about that.
Saturday:
Breakfast: I slept through it and by the time I had showered it was 11 and told them I could wait until lunch for food.
Lunch: I had spaghetti today with an unpleasant surprise—a large fly in the middle. I don’t know if it was the fly or something I ate the previous day (I am thinking lunch) but at that point my stomach went off the rest of the day.
Dinner: Since Rachel had beaten me in our NCAA Basketball brackets and I had to buy her dinner she said she would “make up” for it by making me dinner sometime. So this was the night. She made some garlic and lemon pepper baked chicken (boneless, thank goodness) with white rice and green beans and broccoli. It was delicious and was a nice change of pace from beans, eggs, and tortilla.
Sunday:
Breakfast: I was up for breakfast this morning and had a glass of orange juice and some vanilla wafer type cookies. Very delicious.
Lunch: I had rice, potatoes and chicken. Now the thing about the chicken down here, and I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, you never know what you are going to get—dark meat, white meat, both. There isn’t exactly a specific cut like there is in the US (breast, leg, wing, etc.). Well, the chicken I had today, at least part of, had to be from the “upper body” portion of the chicken because there was definitely a bone sticking out of it that looked like a neck. Pair this with my stomach still being a little off today and it wasn’t a good combo. I ate as much as I could because I hate leaving food on my plate down here, but it has not been my weekend for food service at the comedor. First a big fly and now neck-chicken. Oh well, that’s Honduras, maybe better luck next weekend!
Dinner: And again, tortillas, eggs and beans. But I got a slice of salami and half an avocado this time around.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thursday May 13, 2010
Big news coming out of Honduras today—I heard back from CIEE today and was given my teaching placement for Spain next year. I will be teaching at a secondary school (12-18 year olds) in Motril in the province of Grenada. It is right on the Mediterranean (well technically a few miles from the actual coast) and is only a 40-minute drive away from Grenada itself. Sounds like a pretty awesome place.
The beach in Motril.
A view of the town.
I am starting to learn more of the details for the program too. I need to be in Spain by August 23rd. I will then be taking a 4-week intensive Spanish learning/immersion course and will then have a one-week orientation for the teaching program after that. I officially start teaching on October 1 and will teach until May 31st. I am about halfway done with my TEFL course so that will be out of the way soon as well. Hearing my placement news today has gotten me super excited about going to Spain. Woo Hoo!!
Big news coming out of Honduras today—I heard back from CIEE today and was given my teaching placement for Spain next year. I will be teaching at a secondary school (12-18 year olds) in Motril in the province of Grenada. It is right on the Mediterranean (well technically a few miles from the actual coast) and is only a 40-minute drive away from Grenada itself. Sounds like a pretty awesome place.
The beach in Motril.
A view of the town.
I am starting to learn more of the details for the program too. I need to be in Spain by August 23rd. I will then be taking a 4-week intensive Spanish learning/immersion course and will then have a one-week orientation for the teaching program after that. I officially start teaching on October 1 and will teach until May 31st. I am about halfway done with my TEFL course so that will be out of the way soon as well. Hearing my placement news today has gotten me super excited about going to Spain. Woo Hoo!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday May 11, 2010
So I am going to try and do a better job at posting more often during the week. To do this I was trying to think of different things I could do to make sure I post. I decided that this week I am going to give you guys a running account of what I have for each meal down here in Honduras.
I often get a hodgepodge of meals and hopefully you will see this over the next week. I came up with this idea some time ago and have been meaning to do it. So lets get this started.
Monday:
Breakfast: Three baleadas. Baleadas are one of the staples down here in Honduras. They are tortillas that are stuffed with refried beans and butter (called montequilla). There are then bullibaleadas that in addition to the beans and butter have egg and avocado. On this morning I had egg, but no avocado. I add hot sauce for a little more flavor. They are pretty good and are growing on me.
Lunch: I always get lunch at school and today’s school lunch was Asian style beef and vegetables with rice and tortillas. You get tortillas with everything down here. In fact I had tortillas with spaghetti this past weekend.
Dinner: Now this was a hodgepodge and a perfect example of the randomness I sometimes get for dinner. I had a giant plate of French fries, scrambled eggs, and 4 tortillas. The French fries were delicious, but paired with eggs and tortillas you have Honduran randomness. Sounds like something I would eat in college… minus the tortillas…
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Well, I mentioned spaghetti and tortillas above and what did I get for breakfast this morning? Spaghetti and tortillas. It was a spicy spaghetti sauce too. There is definitely no Prego down here—the spaghetti sauce is always something a little different that doesn’t resemble 84 East spaghetti sauc whatsoever. Mmmm spaghetti pie…. Anyway, I had 4 tortillas with my spicy spaghetti. Not a bad start to the day. Oh, and coffee with that spaghetti too.
Lunch: So school lunch today wasn’t that bad, we had some fried chicken (that was actually a little too overcooked) with rice and a salad. It was pretty good and one of my favorite lunch meals we get once every two weeks or so.
Dinner: Now if there is a staple dinner down here this was it: beans, eggs, avocado and tortillas. I had a new cheese with it tonight too that reminded me of a mozzarella stringy-cheese stick, which was good. I usually eat a meal like this by grabbing a bite of beans with some eggs, throw that down, and then bite off a piece of tortilla. But tonight I was feeling lazy and I mixed everything together on my plate and ate it with a bite of tortilla. I sometimes get a hot dog or two or some other type of sausage with this dinner, but not tonight. I usually eat this for dinner 2-3 times a week. It took me a month to get used to it but I throw it down pretty easily now.
Wednesday:
Breakfast: This morning I got what I could eat for breakfast every morning down here—a cup of coffee and three small loaves of this sugar bread. This bread is incredibly good with a cup of coffee; they were made for each other. Delicious.
Lunch: School lunch today was something we’ve only had a handful of times since I’ve been down here. I am pretty sure it is shredded meat (I at first thought it was pork, but the kids told me it was “carne” which is meat) with lemon juice on it with salad and rice. It was pretty good and you have two ways of eating it, mixing it all together or eating a bite of each and then biting off a piece of tortilla. I prefer the latter. I did get ambitious today and was still thirsty after lunch so I tried one of these canned juices that the school sells. I had never tried it before and bought a “Nectar de Manzana” (apple). Boy, I am not going to get that stuff again. You know that syrup that is in the can of mandarin oranges? That is what it tasted like but of the apple variety. A lot of sugar in that stuff.
Dinner: So, repeat on dinner from last night—beans, eggs, and instead of avocado it was two small spicy sausages with tortillas. That is twice this week and its only Wednesday!
So I am going to try and do a better job at posting more often during the week. To do this I was trying to think of different things I could do to make sure I post. I decided that this week I am going to give you guys a running account of what I have for each meal down here in Honduras.
I often get a hodgepodge of meals and hopefully you will see this over the next week. I came up with this idea some time ago and have been meaning to do it. So lets get this started.
Monday:
Breakfast: Three baleadas. Baleadas are one of the staples down here in Honduras. They are tortillas that are stuffed with refried beans and butter (called montequilla). There are then bullibaleadas that in addition to the beans and butter have egg and avocado. On this morning I had egg, but no avocado. I add hot sauce for a little more flavor. They are pretty good and are growing on me.
Lunch: I always get lunch at school and today’s school lunch was Asian style beef and vegetables with rice and tortillas. You get tortillas with everything down here. In fact I had tortillas with spaghetti this past weekend.
Dinner: Now this was a hodgepodge and a perfect example of the randomness I sometimes get for dinner. I had a giant plate of French fries, scrambled eggs, and 4 tortillas. The French fries were delicious, but paired with eggs and tortillas you have Honduran randomness. Sounds like something I would eat in college… minus the tortillas…
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Well, I mentioned spaghetti and tortillas above and what did I get for breakfast this morning? Spaghetti and tortillas. It was a spicy spaghetti sauce too. There is definitely no Prego down here—the spaghetti sauce is always something a little different that doesn’t resemble 84 East spaghetti sauc whatsoever. Mmmm spaghetti pie…. Anyway, I had 4 tortillas with my spicy spaghetti. Not a bad start to the day. Oh, and coffee with that spaghetti too.
Lunch: So school lunch today wasn’t that bad, we had some fried chicken (that was actually a little too overcooked) with rice and a salad. It was pretty good and one of my favorite lunch meals we get once every two weeks or so.
Dinner: Now if there is a staple dinner down here this was it: beans, eggs, avocado and tortillas. I had a new cheese with it tonight too that reminded me of a mozzarella stringy-cheese stick, which was good. I usually eat a meal like this by grabbing a bite of beans with some eggs, throw that down, and then bite off a piece of tortilla. But tonight I was feeling lazy and I mixed everything together on my plate and ate it with a bite of tortilla. I sometimes get a hot dog or two or some other type of sausage with this dinner, but not tonight. I usually eat this for dinner 2-3 times a week. It took me a month to get used to it but I throw it down pretty easily now.
Wednesday:
Breakfast: This morning I got what I could eat for breakfast every morning down here—a cup of coffee and three small loaves of this sugar bread. This bread is incredibly good with a cup of coffee; they were made for each other. Delicious.
Lunch: School lunch today was something we’ve only had a handful of times since I’ve been down here. I am pretty sure it is shredded meat (I at first thought it was pork, but the kids told me it was “carne” which is meat) with lemon juice on it with salad and rice. It was pretty good and you have two ways of eating it, mixing it all together or eating a bite of each and then biting off a piece of tortilla. I prefer the latter. I did get ambitious today and was still thirsty after lunch so I tried one of these canned juices that the school sells. I had never tried it before and bought a “Nectar de Manzana” (apple). Boy, I am not going to get that stuff again. You know that syrup that is in the can of mandarin oranges? That is what it tasted like but of the apple variety. A lot of sugar in that stuff.
Dinner: So, repeat on dinner from last night—beans, eggs, and instead of avocado it was two small spicy sausages with tortillas. That is twice this week and its only Wednesday!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sunday May 9, 2010
What a tough week. I don’t know if it is that point in the school year for me or what but I am really lacking energy with the kids at school and one of my students even called me out this week. During class he basically asked me why I wasn’t as energetic while teaching them now as I was back when I first got here. Ouch. I sat down on Thursday and talked with Laura Beth about it. She is one of only two other trained teachers down here and I wanted to here what she had to say. She reminded me that where we are in the school year is one of the most difficult times in regards to having energy with the kids because it is close to the end of the school year but we aren’t there yet. She also said that this is my fourth month of teaching (their seventh month) and that back in the states the third and fourth months are usually the most difficult (write before Christmas in a typical school year). With this said I have had a couple times down here where I’ve had to remind myself that I am down here for the students and the experience. That is what I had to do this week because that’s what gives me the energy to work with these kids on a daily basis. It is draining though, and when you just finish grading a test where the average grade was a 62 percent it is even more difficult. Speaking of that test, I had to give 0’s to my first students for cheating. It was blatant. She was making hand signals—the first being numbers (holding up fingers) and the second making letters (a,b,c,d). I gave the signaler and whom I believed was the primary target of the signals 0’s. They are getting demerits as well so I think I will let them try and redeem themselves on a make-up test—a really hard essay response question. We’ll see. So that’s another reason it was a tough week. I hope the following week goes a little better as well as the remaining 5 weeks we have here.
I had to refocus myself this week as mentioned and one of the ways I did that was by putting together a video on iMovie using pictures and some video I took of my nivalaicon kids performing a fashion show. They did this on Wednesday and it was a lot of fun. I finished the video and I am hoping to upload it to my YouTube account and post a link (if not the actual video) on my blog. Hopefully I can get it working.
Today was a fun day (other then working on school work and TEFL stuff). There is a Filipino couple that are missionaries here in Honduras who also teach at the school and it was their son’s birthday today so we had a party. Rachel and I got put in change of decorations for the party so we were up early this morning decorating the comedor (where I live). We had bought a birthday sign, some balloons, and some streamers in town yesterday. I tied at least 50 balloons this morning, but luckily didn’t have to blow all of them up thanks to the help of some of the neighbor kids. The party itself was a lot of fun with the highlight being the food. We had some really good sandwiches, potato salad, and chips and cheese and salsa. We even had a fresh fruit salad and a cake. It was fantastic. As mentioned, after the party I spent the rest of the day working on schoolwork and my TEFL class.
Yesterday Rachel, Laura Beth, Paola (the fourth grader of the host family I live with) and I went to town around 9 in the morning to watch some of our kids play soccer. Our kids were split into two teams, the U12 team that we watched at 9:30 and the U14 team that played after. Unfortunately we weren’t able to watch the older boys play because Rachel and I had to run to the bank and we promised Paola we would take her out to lunch. After the soccer game, in which our boys punished the other team 9-0, the three of us went to the bank in town. The line was so long (reminded me of Semana Santa in Tela…) that we decided to forget the bank and just go buy some decorations for the party and grab lunch. Rachel had enough money to cover these expenses. We grabbed some lunch at Guancascos and afterwards headed back home. I ended up doing some TEFL work and graded the tests I mentioned earlier in which the average grade was a 62 percent. Ugh.
Anyway, that’s a pretty good update. Sorry it took a week for me to post again, but with my TEFL class and school work I have been super busy. I have even unfortunately gotten out of the habit of running 4-5 times a week. I need to get back on that.
Anyway, I hope all is well and I hope all the mothers who read this entry had an excellent Mother’s Day!
What a tough week. I don’t know if it is that point in the school year for me or what but I am really lacking energy with the kids at school and one of my students even called me out this week. During class he basically asked me why I wasn’t as energetic while teaching them now as I was back when I first got here. Ouch. I sat down on Thursday and talked with Laura Beth about it. She is one of only two other trained teachers down here and I wanted to here what she had to say. She reminded me that where we are in the school year is one of the most difficult times in regards to having energy with the kids because it is close to the end of the school year but we aren’t there yet. She also said that this is my fourth month of teaching (their seventh month) and that back in the states the third and fourth months are usually the most difficult (write before Christmas in a typical school year). With this said I have had a couple times down here where I’ve had to remind myself that I am down here for the students and the experience. That is what I had to do this week because that’s what gives me the energy to work with these kids on a daily basis. It is draining though, and when you just finish grading a test where the average grade was a 62 percent it is even more difficult. Speaking of that test, I had to give 0’s to my first students for cheating. It was blatant. She was making hand signals—the first being numbers (holding up fingers) and the second making letters (a,b,c,d). I gave the signaler and whom I believed was the primary target of the signals 0’s. They are getting demerits as well so I think I will let them try and redeem themselves on a make-up test—a really hard essay response question. We’ll see. So that’s another reason it was a tough week. I hope the following week goes a little better as well as the remaining 5 weeks we have here.
I had to refocus myself this week as mentioned and one of the ways I did that was by putting together a video on iMovie using pictures and some video I took of my nivalaicon kids performing a fashion show. They did this on Wednesday and it was a lot of fun. I finished the video and I am hoping to upload it to my YouTube account and post a link (if not the actual video) on my blog. Hopefully I can get it working.
Today was a fun day (other then working on school work and TEFL stuff). There is a Filipino couple that are missionaries here in Honduras who also teach at the school and it was their son’s birthday today so we had a party. Rachel and I got put in change of decorations for the party so we were up early this morning decorating the comedor (where I live). We had bought a birthday sign, some balloons, and some streamers in town yesterday. I tied at least 50 balloons this morning, but luckily didn’t have to blow all of them up thanks to the help of some of the neighbor kids. The party itself was a lot of fun with the highlight being the food. We had some really good sandwiches, potato salad, and chips and cheese and salsa. We even had a fresh fruit salad and a cake. It was fantastic. As mentioned, after the party I spent the rest of the day working on schoolwork and my TEFL class.
Yesterday Rachel, Laura Beth, Paola (the fourth grader of the host family I live with) and I went to town around 9 in the morning to watch some of our kids play soccer. Our kids were split into two teams, the U12 team that we watched at 9:30 and the U14 team that played after. Unfortunately we weren’t able to watch the older boys play because Rachel and I had to run to the bank and we promised Paola we would take her out to lunch. After the soccer game, in which our boys punished the other team 9-0, the three of us went to the bank in town. The line was so long (reminded me of Semana Santa in Tela…) that we decided to forget the bank and just go buy some decorations for the party and grab lunch. Rachel had enough money to cover these expenses. We grabbed some lunch at Guancascos and afterwards headed back home. I ended up doing some TEFL work and graded the tests I mentioned earlier in which the average grade was a 62 percent. Ugh.
Anyway, that’s a pretty good update. Sorry it took a week for me to post again, but with my TEFL class and school work I have been super busy. I have even unfortunately gotten out of the habit of running 4-5 times a week. I need to get back on that.
Anyway, I hope all is well and I hope all the mothers who read this entry had an excellent Mother’s Day!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Saturday May 1, 2010
So this is a catch up entry on everything that has happened the last 3 weeks. Have fun.
Since returning from break I have been rather busy. The first week back was one of the busiest I’ve had down here. I hadn’t done too much work before break (tired and lazy and looking forward to break) so I had a lot to do with regards to schoolwork—grading, planning, you know, teacher stuff. However, along with this I started my TEFL class. This is a class I am taking to help further prepare me to teach English in Spain. It is a two-month online course that requires me to write several 300-500-response papers to questions as well as respond to other’s post. It is all done on an online discussion board run by Microsoft Blackboard. I am trying to work ahead in the class and am currently a week ahead of schedule. I am mostly doing this (working ahead) because the Internet is so spotty and I never know when and if I can post an assignment. Also, I’d like to finish it early, the class ends June 11 but I am hoping to be done by the end of May. This has required me to go into town more often and use the Internet at Guancascos. I have been doing this a lot more often because I think the rainy period has started and with rain and clouds comes poor internet service.
Along with the TEFL class I was busy figuring out final grades for the third partial. In Honduras there is a national law that students who fail a partial must have the opportunity to take what is called a recuperation test. The score on this test can replace the test grade for the class and create the possibility that the student can actual pass the class. I had 4 seventh graders who failed my class and had to take the recuperation test, 1 eight grader and no ninth graders. All five of these students failed the recuperation test thus failed the third partial. I had parent-teacher conferences yesterday and I only met with 3 out of the five who failed. More about that later.
Two weekends ago I went to Lake Yojoa, which is the largest lake in Honduras. A couple of the girls had gone here over Semana Santa and said it was one of their favorite places they’ve been in the country. Along with this the only microbrewery (LINK) in all of Honduras is near the lake and even has rooms you can rent. We did not have school the following Monday so we took a trip there. It was fantastic. The food was good, the beer was good, and the rooms were pretty good as well. I also had some good conversation with people. First, unexpectedly my buddy Pat and his boss (microfinance people) along with Renske and Laura were at the Lake that weekend too. When we walked in I heard my name called and there they all were. We ended up having drinks and dinner with them later that night, but an unfortunate accident where Pat’s boss (the graduate student from U of M) fell out of the back of a truck and needed 15 stitches led to us not seeing them the rest of the weekend. I was also sporting one of my several Michigan shirts while at the brewery and was stopped by a couple that asked me if I was from Ann Arbor. I found out she grew up in Ann Arbor. We ended up hanging out with her and her boyfriend much of the weekend and had a great time with them. He was in the Peace Corp working in a small town about 30 minutes outside Gracias and she was just hanging out in Honduras and had just finished teaching English for a year in Ecuador. Good people.
The highlight of the trip to the lake was the expedition Rachel and I took to a waterfall about 25 minutes away from the brewery. We were told this was the place to go so we went. When we got there we were asked if we wanted to take a guided tour behind the waterfall for a little extra money. We said sure, why not. Neither of us were prepared for what was about to happen. Our guide first told us to put our stuff in the restaurant because we were about to get really wet. We did that. We then followed our guide (who spoke English) down a rocky path. Now there was a smaller waterfall that we had seen when we entered the park. I laughed and thought, wow, this better be worth it. However, as we walked down the path we began to hear a large rush of water. We then saw a large drop off. And then we saw it—the 139-foot waterfall.
It was incredible. As we walked down the path we ended up going right towards the base of the fall. We made our way to a gate—which the guide unlocked and preceded to walk through, right towards were all the water was falling from 139 feet. He then jumped in the river, beckoned us to follow, and swam underneath the fall to behind it. We explored two caves and then went back out from under it. The whole time I had to breath through my mouth because the water was so strong and had to keep my eyes partly closed because I thought my contacts were going to fall out. It was awesome. We then proceeded to cliff jump from about 9 feet and about 26 feet. Yeah, I cliff jumped from 26 feet. Three times. My left thigh still hurts from how I hit the water the first time. This was by far one of the coolest things I have ever done.
We ended up leaving the lake and had a terrible time getting home (broken down buses, missed buses, expensive taxi rides) but we eventually made it home to Gracias. Another epic weekend in Honduras.
The following weekend (last weekend) was a pretty good weekend too. Rachel and I ended up walking to town to do a few errands and in the meantime explored the fort that overlooks Gracias. It was built in the 1860s and gave us some pretty cool views of Gracias. Later in the afternoon I played some soccer with Mr. Bran, Mr. Rodrigo, and the guys of Villa Verde at the school. This was a lot of fun and I actually kept up with all of the guys. All the running I have been doing is paying off. Later that night we all celebrated Jackie’s 23rd birthday along with Fernando’s 5th birthday (one of the neighborhood boys). You can see pictures of this entire weekend in my Picasa albums on the right. Sunday I just hung out and caught up on some work—school and TEFL.
Yesterday we had parent teacher conferences from 3-6. I needed a translator because even though my Spanish listening skills have improved, my speaking skills have left a lot to be desired. I ended up meeting with about 14-16 of my kids parents including only 3 out of the 5 who failed my class. I had a frustrating moment with a mom of a student who failed my class when she asked if we could help her daughter be more discipline and study at home. Not my job—I can do all I can do at school and in afterschool tutoring sessions, but she is in charge of holding her daughter accountable at home too. This led to me suggesting a study time sheet that must be signed by her mom and turned into me every Friday. We’ll see how that goes.
Today has been rather busy. I’ve done a lot of TELF work again and some school work.
Anyway, that is the quick catch up on what is going on. Today is May 1, which marks the fifth calendar month I have been in Honduras. Craziness.
I hope all is well back in the states. I’ll be home before you know it. But then I leave for Spain…
So this is a catch up entry on everything that has happened the last 3 weeks. Have fun.
Since returning from break I have been rather busy. The first week back was one of the busiest I’ve had down here. I hadn’t done too much work before break (tired and lazy and looking forward to break) so I had a lot to do with regards to schoolwork—grading, planning, you know, teacher stuff. However, along with this I started my TEFL class. This is a class I am taking to help further prepare me to teach English in Spain. It is a two-month online course that requires me to write several 300-500-response papers to questions as well as respond to other’s post. It is all done on an online discussion board run by Microsoft Blackboard. I am trying to work ahead in the class and am currently a week ahead of schedule. I am mostly doing this (working ahead) because the Internet is so spotty and I never know when and if I can post an assignment. Also, I’d like to finish it early, the class ends June 11 but I am hoping to be done by the end of May. This has required me to go into town more often and use the Internet at Guancascos. I have been doing this a lot more often because I think the rainy period has started and with rain and clouds comes poor internet service.
Along with the TEFL class I was busy figuring out final grades for the third partial. In Honduras there is a national law that students who fail a partial must have the opportunity to take what is called a recuperation test. The score on this test can replace the test grade for the class and create the possibility that the student can actual pass the class. I had 4 seventh graders who failed my class and had to take the recuperation test, 1 eight grader and no ninth graders. All five of these students failed the recuperation test thus failed the third partial. I had parent-teacher conferences yesterday and I only met with 3 out of the five who failed. More about that later.
Two weekends ago I went to Lake Yojoa, which is the largest lake in Honduras. A couple of the girls had gone here over Semana Santa and said it was one of their favorite places they’ve been in the country. Along with this the only microbrewery (LINK) in all of Honduras is near the lake and even has rooms you can rent. We did not have school the following Monday so we took a trip there. It was fantastic. The food was good, the beer was good, and the rooms were pretty good as well. I also had some good conversation with people. First, unexpectedly my buddy Pat and his boss (microfinance people) along with Renske and Laura were at the Lake that weekend too. When we walked in I heard my name called and there they all were. We ended up having drinks and dinner with them later that night, but an unfortunate accident where Pat’s boss (the graduate student from U of M) fell out of the back of a truck and needed 15 stitches led to us not seeing them the rest of the weekend. I was also sporting one of my several Michigan shirts while at the brewery and was stopped by a couple that asked me if I was from Ann Arbor. I found out she grew up in Ann Arbor. We ended up hanging out with her and her boyfriend much of the weekend and had a great time with them. He was in the Peace Corp working in a small town about 30 minutes outside Gracias and she was just hanging out in Honduras and had just finished teaching English for a year in Ecuador. Good people.
The highlight of the trip to the lake was the expedition Rachel and I took to a waterfall about 25 minutes away from the brewery. We were told this was the place to go so we went. When we got there we were asked if we wanted to take a guided tour behind the waterfall for a little extra money. We said sure, why not. Neither of us were prepared for what was about to happen. Our guide first told us to put our stuff in the restaurant because we were about to get really wet. We did that. We then followed our guide (who spoke English) down a rocky path. Now there was a smaller waterfall that we had seen when we entered the park. I laughed and thought, wow, this better be worth it. However, as we walked down the path we began to hear a large rush of water. We then saw a large drop off. And then we saw it—the 139-foot waterfall.
It was incredible. As we walked down the path we ended up going right towards the base of the fall. We made our way to a gate—which the guide unlocked and preceded to walk through, right towards were all the water was falling from 139 feet. He then jumped in the river, beckoned us to follow, and swam underneath the fall to behind it. We explored two caves and then went back out from under it. The whole time I had to breath through my mouth because the water was so strong and had to keep my eyes partly closed because I thought my contacts were going to fall out. It was awesome. We then proceeded to cliff jump from about 9 feet and about 26 feet. Yeah, I cliff jumped from 26 feet. Three times. My left thigh still hurts from how I hit the water the first time. This was by far one of the coolest things I have ever done.
We ended up leaving the lake and had a terrible time getting home (broken down buses, missed buses, expensive taxi rides) but we eventually made it home to Gracias. Another epic weekend in Honduras.
The following weekend (last weekend) was a pretty good weekend too. Rachel and I ended up walking to town to do a few errands and in the meantime explored the fort that overlooks Gracias. It was built in the 1860s and gave us some pretty cool views of Gracias. Later in the afternoon I played some soccer with Mr. Bran, Mr. Rodrigo, and the guys of Villa Verde at the school. This was a lot of fun and I actually kept up with all of the guys. All the running I have been doing is paying off. Later that night we all celebrated Jackie’s 23rd birthday along with Fernando’s 5th birthday (one of the neighborhood boys). You can see pictures of this entire weekend in my Picasa albums on the right. Sunday I just hung out and caught up on some work—school and TEFL.
Yesterday we had parent teacher conferences from 3-6. I needed a translator because even though my Spanish listening skills have improved, my speaking skills have left a lot to be desired. I ended up meeting with about 14-16 of my kids parents including only 3 out of the 5 who failed my class. I had a frustrating moment with a mom of a student who failed my class when she asked if we could help her daughter be more discipline and study at home. Not my job—I can do all I can do at school and in afterschool tutoring sessions, but she is in charge of holding her daughter accountable at home too. This led to me suggesting a study time sheet that must be signed by her mom and turned into me every Friday. We’ll see how that goes.
Today has been rather busy. I’ve done a lot of TELF work again and some school work.
Anyway, that is the quick catch up on what is going on. Today is May 1, which marks the fifth calendar month I have been in Honduras. Craziness.
I hope all is well back in the states. I’ll be home before you know it. But then I leave for Spain…
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