I still love them :)

Oh my. During recess 3rd grade A decided they wanted to throw a party for one of the teachers. So without supervision they began to celebrate. I was teaching a class in the room next door and all of a sudden I heard a loud bang come from their room. I immediately stopped teaching and ran over to 3A's classroom. There was no teacher present and the room was a complete disaster. One of the students had brought snow in a spray can. She sprayed it all over the room and the entire room was white with fake snow. "Miss Miss! Christopher brought a firework to class and lit it off!" There were fireworks going off in the classroom and there was cake everywhere on the floor mixed with confetti making it completely sticky. I made my way to the bathroom to help some girls get cake out of their hair. When I got there I found 2 of my girls pulling each others hair screaming. The instant they saw me they let go and one of them, Melany, starting bawling her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong and why on earth they were pulling each others hair. Through tears and Spanglish she managed to tell me the 'oh so tragic' story of why they were fighting. It was nothing I hadn't heard before. I let it go and returned to the classroom to help clean up. Within a few minutes I walked back to check on the girls and all of a sudden Melany started throwing up all over the place. I was in complete shock. I had 6 kids around me trying to explain what happened and I finally managed to get the story out. The other girl, Daniela, had punched Melany in the back and Melany then started to vomit everywhere. Heaving and crying, we took her to the nurse and conveniently she wasn't in her office. I took her back to the bathroom and the poor girl could hardly breath she was crying and heaving so much. 3A spent the lunch period cleaning the room and the rest of the day writing sentences. Enough punishment? I think not.

My kids are completely wild.

When I walk into class there are kids in the back punching each other and wrestling on the floor. I once walked into class and one boy had red marks around his neck while the other had a huge purple bite mark on his arm. One had been strangling the other and in return had bitten the other ones arm to get him off. Girls lift their skirts at boys and dance on their desks. Everyday, I have at least one student crying about SOMETHING. Either it's because someone stole their pencil, called them a name, kicked or punched them. I spend half of my class period yelling at them to be quiet and sit down. But I can say that it has gotten better. I no longer spend 20 minutes telling them to sit down and be quiet. It is down to a mere 10 :)
I really love my students though. They are so affectionate and thoughtful. If I am ever having a bad day, I can always count on a hug, a kiss and an I love you from at least one of them :) I have been given enough hugs to last me a lifetime, no doubt! I cannot stay mad at any of them for too long no matter how terrible they may have been. I will miss them this Christmas break. I have been blessed with students who are molding me to become more patient and loving through every day's crazy events. Can you think of a better way to grow spiritually than teaching a bunch of crazy 3rd graders? I think not! ;)

So my nickname among the teachers at school has been Nica (Nicaraguan) all year. Well the other day we found out that Nica means bed pan (for going to the bathroom in when you are sick). GREAT! We all laughed about it and then we were told that calling me Muca would be more appropriate, another name for Nicaraguan. Ok so Muca was the new name. Well, Muca sounds very similar to moco, meaning boogers, or snot, in Spanish. I have to laugh every time I hear it. So between the two, they decided that they are still going to call me Nica. Bed pan it is!

Yesterday, the women who work in the copy room at school were selling lingerie to the teachers...awkward.

The new dinner hit for the 7 of us? LENTIL BURGERS! That may sound a little odd, but since only 3 out of the 7 of us eat meat, we have to find alternatives to it. Look it up, it's great :)

We watched the ever anticipated soccer game between Honduras and Mexico. To say the least, soccer games are pretty boring....until a goal is made. Then the whole room explodes and people are red in the face from screaming so loud! Then, soccer is fun. After the long game, a bottle of banana pop, and a massive bowl of popcorn, Honduras won 1-0 and we then hit the boulevard. We walked down the street and there were hundreds, maybe thousands of people in cars and lining the street in celebration of the win. People were cheering and honking their horns and waving the Honduran flag in pride. We paraded around as well in a van and joined the hundreds of other cars driving down the boulevard. People were shaking cars and jumping into random trucks. It was the craziest, biggest, loudest, band wagon of fans I had ever seen. After screaming Hon-du-ras and Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole for more than an hour straight, I was exhausted and loosing my voice. The next day at school, one of my students said, "Miss! I saw you on TV on the Boulevard yelling 'Hon-du-ras! Hon-du-ras!'" For some reason, in many events we participate in, we end up on TV....I'm pretty sure it's because we're gringas ;)

One of my3rd grade girls, Jennifer, had a huge birthday party during school. The class turned into a dance floor and Hannah Montana was blaring in the background. The class ate fried rice and listened to Jennifer sing her favorite song. During her song, 2 boys wrote her name on 2 pieces of paper. One said 'Jenn' and the other 'ifer'. They held up the sign chanting her name while she sang. Jennifer looked like a star ;) She had the biggest Bell from Beauty and the Beast pinata I had ever seen and after it broke, billions of pieces of candy and confetti rained on everyone. She had a 2 tiered cake and and very proudly put her chair in the middle of the room and ate it. Ha HA. Teachers and students alike had a ball with all of the confetti. I of course got to sweep it all up when the party was over :)

Oh what a Sunday!

Where can you visit the Caribbean, a castle, and a mall all in the same day? Honduras of course! And this past Sunday, we did just that. We were lucky enough to get a ride with a friend who had a 15 passenger van which made the whole trip possible. We visited Castillo de Omoa. A castle right on the Caribbean coast in a little town called Omoa. The entrance fee to the castle was 10 Lempiras for Central Americans (50 cents) and 38 Lempiras for foreigners($2).... Puchica! The castle was beautiful of course with amazing views, and falling apart as well which made it all the more rustic :)
We encountered many close calls on the bus ride. Changing lanes onto oncoming traffic and stopping in the middle of the road dodging large canyons in the road ;) There were so many pot holes I don't understand how on earth the wheels stayed on. Some of girls came away with bruised knees and sore heads from such a bumpy ride. But the thought of the beach just made it all better :) We had been waiting 3 months to see the Caribbean and alas we finally made it! Although we couldn't swim and the sun wasn't out, it was well worth the wait.


It is so amazing how different every part of this country is. One minute we were driving through the jungle, the next we were driving through complete poverty, then we suddenly ended up in the middle of San Pedro Sula (the biggest city in Honduras) where there were huge buildings, Mcdonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Wendy's, Burger King, Subway, Quiznos....ok you get it. I felt like I was in the U.S....despite the fact that next to fast food joints there were banana vendors, outdoor meat shops, and falling apart buildings. It went from one extreme to another. We drove from raw jungle to a big city within minutes. We went to the city mall and I was blown away by how Americanized it was. They had a food court selection that was very comparable to the Mall of America. Leaving the mall and our amazing day, I had to laugh and wave goodbye to Versailles Coffee; the Honduras version of Starbucks

Fall Bash! Honduran Style

It's Saturday night and I'm indulging on a caramel frosted strawberry filled vanilla cake. (Yes, I have gained weight....) Ha ha. Anyway, Honduras has taken me on an emotional roller coaster. One day I'm loving life, and the next I just want to be AWAY from everything and everyone. I guess you could say I'm still adjusting to life here after 2 and half months. Time seems to fly, a little... This coming week we have a full week of school and the following week is partials week. It is like the end of the quarter and there are 2 hour tests a day. Thats it, so we get to go
home early. After that week it's Thanksgiving
and we are planning on going to the military base here in town for food! After that, it's December and it's cake from there.

The school put together a fabulous cultural dance competition night. The school yard was completely decorated with tents decorated to the T and filled with traditional food from different parts of Honduras. I ate just about everything in sight! My 3rd graders had been practicing their dance for weeks and it was their time to shine! When they started dancing, I felt like they were all my own kids and I couldn't have been more proud of them! It was priceless to see the boys
and girls holding hands and twirling all over the cancha. They may be out of control in the classroom, but when it came to dancing, there was no messing around! Ha ha. We had such a fun night and it was so cute to see my 3rd grade girls all dolled up for the dance with makeup and curls. There were corn husks decorated everywhere, music, food, dancing, and lots of socializing. It felt like a barn party in the states! Just like fall :) To add to that, it has been so cold here! Believe it or not! Well, it feels cold to us, although it maybe only 70 degrees... burr!

Flood Mission

Well, there has been a lot of flooding and we had the opportunity to help! Because of all of the flooding, they had to let the dam open and many houses were destroyed. Some of our students lost everything and a fellow teacher also has nothing left. Anyway, we spent 2 days helping some needy families that lost their homes. Here are some pictures of a house we cleaned out from the flood.The patio around the house was completely covered in mud, so got shovels, brooms, a hose and buckets and heaved loads of mud out of there. We sang Christmas songs while we worked. Ha ha. It feels good to help people, see the improvements of your help, and actually be appreciated for it. Teaching, on the other hand, is a process that takes a lot more time to see your influence on. After seeing so many people with nothing left, I could only be humbled more by it all.


Here is Greg hauling out wet dresser drawers. We threw out the bad stuff onto the street where there were piles of mud and trash everywhere.

Here is a house that had been abandoned, full of mud.

The patio full of mud.


Sweeping!


Heidi and Lindsey spraying it all out!

Jenny and I sweeping, sweeping, sweeping!

Kandice, with her broken broom!

Kandice was sweeping out the mud and found a turtle in the rubble!


The abandoned street.

Buckets and buckets!

This is the owner of the house. His daughter goes to our school! What are the chances! Only God :)
After! It looked amazing.

Our hard working group! After 3 hours, we cleaned out that place and it looked so sharp :) What a day!

The best part of my day....

A girl in my 3rd grade class, Daniela, persistently asks me the same question everyday.
"Miss! How old are you!"
She insists I tell her everyday. She once guessed my age to be 20, then a boy shouted 15. After that, everyone decided to play the guessing game. One boy shouted 50 and the students looked at him like he was crazy. "No! She doesn't have wrinkles!" Another said. So they all started examining my face with a puzzled look and decided I had no wrinkles. Few! Daniela still continued begging me for my age and after no success moved on.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
I laughed and told her no.
"But Miss you are so beautiful...why don't you have a boyfriend?"
Ha ha! If only it were that true and easy.
"Miss, how many kids do you have?"
"Miss are you married?"
The questions never ended. Not long after, my students were suddenly standing on their desks screaming and pointing out the window. "Miss Miss! Look!" There was a HUGE iguana on a tree branch right outside the window. It was at least 5 feet long (not exaggerating). By far the biggest lizard I had ever seen. My kids were so excited and the girls could not stop screaming "Que feo!" We spent the last 15 min of math class watching the iguana eat and climb the tree. Later, I found out that iguanas are a delecasy here and that they taste like chicken....Yummy!

72 Hour Rainstorm

It has been raining for 24 hours straight now, without ceasing. It is forcasted to rain for another 2 days! For the first time last night I was cold. Ha ha. It was probably 70 degrees and I was freezing. I am wearing a sweater today at school. I think I have become accustomed to hot weather and now I can´t even handle the slightest of cold.

Despite all of the rain OUTSIDE, our house will not give a drop of water. We have been out of water for 2 days now. Kandice and Heidi and I take showers in the other house and they only have one shower that works. Ha ha, so that means the 7 of us are using 1 shower! Frankly, I find this quite ironic considering it´s flooding outside and not a drop will fall from the sink.

Last weekend was a blast. We had a sleep over in the living room and watched a chick flick. ( We have vowed to never watch them again because they are polluting our minds with unrealistic love stories.... ha ha.) Then we had a pillow fight and talked about girly things... we felt like we were 13 all over again.

We had plans to go to Tela this weekend, a little town on the Caribbean coast. We planned on staying in a hotel on the beach and spending the weekend on the sand but it´s RAINING!!! It has not stopped raining in 2 days. The rain is even worse on the coast. We have decided, instead of going to the beach, we are just going to pig out on junk food all weekend. We have another 3 day weekend relieved from classes :)
Life is good here right now. I don't want these days to end. I have finally learned to like Honduras :)