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 :)

Lago Yajoa

About a week ago the 7 of us girls packed up and headed to D&D Bed and Breakfast at Lago Yojoa where we all crammed into one room (we are cheap ha ha) and wallowed in pure relaxation. We met a very earthy man named Malcom who was thoughrouly, (obssesively) enthralled with brids. He talked to us about his travels through India and France and pretty much every country you could think of. His waist long hair and beard, holey work out clothes, and awful smell, ha ha, clearly indicated his devotion to nature! The fellow was by far very interesting speaking Spanish in a British accent. Imagine that!
We rented a row boat complete with our own personal guide and hit the lake. We met 6 students from Calvin College and they tagged along with us. We were so thrilled to see Americans our age. I got to jump from 30 ft high white volcanic like rocks into the lake. Awesome! Weekends like that keep me motivated to face more challenging days here in Honduras!

Journey Through The Jungle

A few weekends ago we went to a national park about 2 hours north of Comayagua. We needed to get away from this city so badly and we were all so happy to have a break. We loaded up to go right after school and headed to the bus station. The area where the station was seemed pretty sketch and I think all of us were a little unsure about ourselves and exactly what we were doing. To add to that, we had forgotten the Lonely Planet book we used to find the park, so we were basically going into this blindly. When we finally got on the bus, I of all people, sat alone. Great, I thought, I probably care the most about sitting alone. Despite that I was excited to leave but at the same time unsure of it all. The bus made a few stops right in the city and people would sell food in little bags on poles with spikes on them to hold them up to the windows of the bus. The food looked like someone had picked up poo on the side of the road, sprinkled sugar on it, and threw it in a bag. Not appealing. At one of the stops, my worst thoughts came true.


A man sat right next to me. Of course! I was really near the front though so I wasn't too surprised. The man had a machete too... hah! But of course it was for cutting grass... ;) Still, anyone carrying a large knife makes me tad bit scared. Well he didn't say anything to me the whole time and boy was I glad. He got off shortly after and I was quickly relieved for a short moment until another man sat next to me not long after. The whole time, I was holding my bags with all my life.



The music on the bus was quite unique I must say. While I was thinking about how awfully smelly the guy next to me was, a meringue mix of a Micheal Jackson song accompanied my thoughts. Talk about weird. Anyway, we finally got to our stop and they let us off on the side of the road. By this time it was dark and raining. Before we came, we had called the national park ahead of time to tell them that we were coming so they could pick us up. Conveniently, the number was disconnected.



So we stood there for a few minutes with our backpacks and fresh scared faces thinking and hesitating on what to do. There happened to be a van sitting there on the side of the road as if it were ready to take us up the mountain. (I'm pretty sure it was God sent.) We asked for a ride and they more than gladly took us. We rode the rough road in the dark and pouring rain up the mountain. It was like a Jurassic Park ride. When we got the park, we stayed in a huge cabin with 20 bunk beds and we all felt like little kids on our first day of camp.



We settled down on our bunks and ate junk food, grapefruits (of course) and had worship. Since we were in the middle of the jungle, of course it rained all night long. The following morning we had planned to have breakfast made for us in the restaurant they had there at 7 a.m sharp. Well, naive as we were, (we should have known by now) we were there at 7, and we waited for about
45 minutes before they let us in, then we waited about a half an hour more, AND THEN they were ready to serve us breakfast. Hah, of course we weren't surprised the slightest bit. When we finally did eat, we ate with a crazy beautiful view of the lake and jungle. After breakfast we hit the trail up the mountain at 8 with our personal guide Renee.
On my back was packed a change of clothes, food, food, and toilet paper. The essentials of course. We hiked for no more than 10 minutes and arrived at our first waterfall. We kept hiking and hiking. It was a hard hike though. There were some built in wooden steps along the way and they were like stepping up onto a chair. Add 100% humidity and I was a human humidifier. I hadn't even gone swimming yet and I was dripping wet. Despite exhaustion, it was a blast. We had to rest every 5 min because half of us felt like dying.



Did I mention I started the hike with a sweater? That didn't last long! We crossed 2 really wobbly bridges to reach the second waterfall and this time we got in. There was a little cave behind it and the pool beneath was just deep enough to jump in from the rocks. After that, we kept hiking and our guide would occasionally stop because he would hear something in the jungle. We would all stop and be quiet in hopes to see something out of the ordinary. Me, wanting to capture everything, busted out my camera and started filming aimlessly and excitedly searched for the creature. The guide seemed to have given up and we asked him what he had seen. He said he thought he saw a wild chicken in the trees..... a chicken?! Give me a break. I didn't come to the rain forest to see a chicken! My camera remained off for quite a while.



Finally we arrived at our last and biggest waterfall. It was huge and standing under it took willingness to pain. It was a good beating. We climbed our way through it up onto the rocks behind it. What a view! After that we hiked even more. We reached the cloud forest where we could see the whole valley and the lake in the distance and decided to stop and eat. The whole hike was so awesome. There were vines hanging from the highest of trees just like in Tarzan falling down to the jungle floor. There were leaves bigger than basketballs, marching leaf cutter ants hard at work crossing the trail, plants beyond out of the ordinary, and so much greenery you didn't know were to look anymore. On the hike down I could hardly believe I had hiked so far! I was hurting coming down the mountain it was so steep. Shin splints anyone? It didn't matter though. I was just soaking up everything around me (when I wasn't thinking about how badly I needed to go to the bathroom) hah!



We reached our cabin 5 hours and 3 waterfalls later. The locals drove us down the mountain and on the way we took a little detour to a lake. It just might have been one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. The whole trip was so fulfilling and better than I could have ever expected it to be! I was happily reminded of the forest when I got home finding many red, itchy bites all over my legs. Oh I love the jungle!

Parade of Gringas!

This is an overdue update! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote! I have been so overloaded with planning, grading, cooking, and more cooking, that I have had zero time for myself! I will just tell you a little bit for now and finish updating when I have the time.

(Here is picture of me and some of my favorite boys! Krystian, Bryan, and Nelson. Just to let you know, I look pretty tired in every picture, because I AM....)

Yesterday was parent teacher conferences. I went into them confidently and did pretty well! I spoke broken Spanish for 2 hours straight with rarely a break. I talked to about 12 parents and only 3 of them knew any English. Believe me, when I asked them if they knew English, and they said yes, I felt as if a ton of beans were lifted from my shoulders. (We eat a lot of beans...) Anyway, I spoke just about every word of Spanish I knew and struggled to get my point across, but thankfully they understood me. Not to mention I sweating most of the time, well more than usual ;) Hah. It was nerve wracking, but it was awesome! I actually, for the first time, had a real conversation in Spanish. I was proud of myself :)

Here is a little about the Independence Day parade we were in a few weeks ago.

The morning of the parade we were told to be at the school bright and early at 6:00 am. But we have slightly become accustomed to central American time and we left the house at 6:00 because no one is on time here. EVER. Which means when I get back to the states I'm going to be later than I usually am ;) ha ha. When we got there, there were a few people but of course the majority didn't trickle in until 6:45, 7:00ish. The missionaries held up the back of the school in the parade and thankfully our group was 3rd in the parade which meant we started early and ended early. Our school had a big band and little cheerleaders in pink and white outfits.


As we all walked down the boulevard, random camera men would film us or take pictures. I'm not going to lie, I felt like a celebrity...hah I think I have been on TV 3 times so far, two commercials for the school and the parade. Anyway, we marched VERY SLOWLY in extreme heat for hours. HOURS. They drink water in mini bags here called Aguazul and they passed those out to everyone who was dying of heat. It was a bit odd seeing white Americans marching for Honduran Independence Day. There were alot of girls in tiny (I mean tiny) uniforms twirling batons around. One of the Catholic schools had these girls with the tiniest uniforms of them all (butt cheeks hanging out) dancing next to fully clothed head to toe nuns. Oh the irony! We were laughing pretty hard. Well, the parade wasn't the most eventful, but I can now say that I've been in one!

A great start to a nice long weekend

We have had so much fun these past few days. We finally have a long 5 day weekend and we all need it so badly! I have had the time to actually sit and read a book! I read Message In A Bottle in only 2 days, I think it's a record for me! Ha ha. I even laid out on the beach! Ok not really, but I got in my swimming suit and laid on our tiny patio and read. Man, it was awesome. It was a quiet break I had been needing.

Today we went to a mall! Yeah, when I heard there was a mall, I was in shock. We walked pretty far to get there and right when we walked in, I thought I was back in the US. It was by far the smallest mall I had ever seen though, despite the fact it had 2 stories. Anyway, we all felt so odd being there. Just a few minutes earlier we had been surrounded by poverty in a third world country, and then we were in an American like mall. We felt so weird! Ha ha. After that, we went to another mall. There was some kind of play going on there in the middle of the walk way. The skits were cute, but then all of a sudden a guy in a gorilla mask wearing a white gown ran into the middle of it and started jumping on random people in the audience. Then, his gown flew open and it reveled what looked like some crazy form of lingerie with fake nipples...it was REALLY weird. Definitely different. After that experience, we went to wendys and got frosties. It was our "American" day. We really enjoyed ourselves!

The other night the power went out(it happens often) and none of us were the least bit tired. So we decided to eat grapefruit (it is a staple food here for us, all 7 of us are obsessed with it, so say the least) and granola cereal. After that we played frisbee in the living room with a plastic neon plate. Then I killed 2 cockroaches. Doing all of this in the dark is by far more fun than in light. Ha ha.

On Saturday we went to the Catholic cathedral here in Comayagua. It is in the town square and it really is a sight. We went inside and found a large room that was unoccupied. It really was beautiful and we all decided to sing acapela together. The acoustics were great and all of us really felt God's presence. We decided that we are going to make it a tradition to visit the cathedral every Saturday to sing.

We have to wake up bright and early tom orrow because we are going to be in a parade! It is Independence Day here in Honduras and pretty much the entire city will be a t the parade celebrati ng.

I question my time here

I never thought I would feel this way here. I am lonely. I guess I am just so used to having close friends and family around that make me feel loved. There isn't really anyone I feel comfortable going to with my feelings and problems. So this has made me turn to God for comfort. Then I started thinking, this is awful. When I have nothing else, I turn to God. Like He is my last resort when He should be my first. I think a lot of us can relate. Going directly to God is what we should do. Of course, I am learning this the hard way. Although I do have God on my side, I still feel lonely at times.

We have a 5 day weekend this week. For the past 2 weeks we have been planning on going to a national park not too far from Comayagua. We were going to stay in cabins, go hiking, and swim in a waterfall. I had been counting on this weekend for a while and was so anxious to go. At the last minute, our plans fell through. I have been needing a break so badly. I need a break from everything. There is no where to get away. It's too dangerous to just find a quiet place outside and our house feels like a jail surrounded by a tall concrete barbed wire fence. At times, I feel pointless here. When I thought about being a missionary, I thought I was going to be in remote villages with a translator telling the good news to people who had never heard about Jesus. It was my dream as a missionary! But, sadly, I have not told a soul. So I question, what is the point of me being here? I know it may not seem relevant now, but I know God has a reason. I may not be directly speaking the words of God, but over time I hope I impact someone somehow. At the moment, I just don't see it. I spend most of my days yelling at my students to listen and behave. It is emotionally draining at times. I never thought I was going to be yelling at kids and sitting in detention with bad students everyday as a missionary. I begin to wonder how I am showing God by doing this. My patience has been tested to great levels. I try to find the positive aspects of this place, but most of the time I find it very hard to do. Prayer is what I hold onto for comfort. God is the only one by my side through my struggles here.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6,7

2 Weeks Later

The past few Saturday nights a few of us girls have been going to the school to play games with some people from the church and school. We play games I have never heard of and they are a BLAST! So far it is the most fun I have had since I've been here.

The first day of school was on Friday. I wasn't nervous (thankfully) and I gave my third graders some classroom rules. When I was finished I told them to make their own rules for the class. Half of them had no idea what I was asking them to do. So I had to individually explain it them. So I've been thinking, how on earth am I going to teach them math and science if they can't even understand simple instructions like making their rules. This is going to be a challenge.
So the first day wasn't to bad at all. I really thought it was going to be worse by far. The little kids are so lovey here. I had only spent a few hours with my 3rd graders and they were already telling me that they loved me. A little girl wrote me a note that said "I love you mucho." I just about died! Ha ha.

We had 2 parties these past 2 days. The first one was the pastors birthday party. It was funny. The surprise party was supposed to start at 1:30 at the school. So we all went to the school at that time. Well, we sat around for an hour waiting for I don't know what. Finally someone asked what was going on and they realized that the pastor hadn't even been invited to his own party....so we had been waiting around for nothing! I thought it was really funny. It is really typical here that things are not on time and not scheduled. One of the things I have learned from being here is that you can't count on ANYTHING. For sure. The second party we had was last night and it was so much fun! The pastor is going to be gone in Costa Rica for 3 motnhs and we had a going away party at his house. There were about 40 people crammed into his small house and everyone made really loud barking noises ALL THE TIME. They have a song for everything here. It's all singing singing singing! We sang about 10 goodbye songs...and of course I had no idea what they were saying. Then everyone asked the missionary girls to sing a song to the pastor. So we sang Love is for the way you look at me.... it was so fun.

Well tomorrow is officially when classes start and to no surprise I have no schedule in my hand to figure out what I am going to teach tomorrow at what times. They will of course give it to me last minute. I'm not nervous and I am feeling really good about starting to teach!

WISH ME LUCK!

I feel bad...

People keep on coming to our house asking for food. Yesterday there was a man who asked for water and just would not leave. We had to tell him no. Then a boy came asking for food. It is so frustrating. I am assuming they think we are rich and can just give and give and give. We have just enough for ourselves and if we give to one, they are going to go tell another and it will be a never ending story and soon we would run out of food and water if we give to people. I am going to have to get used to this.

Oh Boy!

The plumbing in our house stopped working in our house the other day so we couldn't do the dishes. No big deal right? Well there were millions of ants everywhere and we couldn't clean anything to start making lunch and we were starving. I'll say it again, there were ants everywhere! So we didn't know what to do. Then the doorbell rang. It was an old man and right when I came to the door he immediately started talking to me in Spanish a million miles an hour. I had no idea what he was saying to me. So I told him in Spanish that I didn't know what he was telling me. He then began to tell me that he was hungry and that he needed money and hadn't eaten in 5 days. Oh gosh. I couldn't just go and get some food for him, we needed every piece of food we had. (Food isn't that plentiful here). So I told Kandice what to tell him in Spanish to go away. I felt so bad and I held back some tears. I just feel so badly for poor people and I wish I could help them all.

We (well I should say the rest of the girls) eat mayo on everything...Don't ask me why but they do.

I still haven't finished my lesson plans yet. It is pretty overwhelming. I still have to make the yearly lesson plans for all of my classes except for one and the 2 weeks of detailed plans for the rest, by Monday. Let me tell you, it's time consuming.

I have only been here for 6 days and it feels like a century. I already can't wait to go home :S

The picture to the left is a picture of down the street from our house. Below: Working hard on those lesson plans! Looks like we are in college again ;)