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…