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Published: April 2nd 2009
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March came in like a lion and left like a lamb, true to the saying. We are now in the throws of summer and it is just wonderful. Sunny days, blue skies, hot, hot, hot! But I love it. There is nothing like feeling so hot and then searching in the stream for a place deep enough to swim, then plunging it!!! This month I have been especially busy with school activities.
The first thing that happened of interest is a "field trip" to San Pedro Sula with the teachers of Los Pinos. We went to the Three T conference, "Teachers Teaching Teachers". We had a wonderful time there, learning in English and Spanish how to be better teachers. I really needed that conference, there was a lot of good information there. And the teachers got a little bonding time too!!
When we got back from the trip to San Pedro, we were all excited to start teaching again and start using the things we learned from the conference. But plans got changed a little, and we spent a week getting ready for the Father's Day presentation instead of doing "school". Here Honduras celebrates Father´s Day in March, not
in June. After a week of practicing songs, dances, poems, and verses, the children and their fathers came to the hotel in a local town called El Jaral. They enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with their fathers, then the kids put on a big presentation, as a thank you to their fathers. It was wild, the kids were singing, dancing, changing outfits every two minutes, but it turned out ok and the parents were happy. I had the second graders memorize Proverbs (especially ones speaking to fathers) and the kids shared them with the fathers. It turned out really nice, and now almost every child in my class has memorized at least one Proverb.
Then in my church we also had a Father´s Day celebration. All the ladies of the church put together their funds and forces and we had a surprise dinner for the fathers after the service. I made about 90 tortillas with Vilma, the pastor's wife, and we made enchiladas. They were so yummy. After everyone ate, the guys started fiddling around with the guitar and some recorders they got from their kid's music class. They started putting together hymns and it was so fun. It reminded
me of my church Hickory, when the guys get together and sing with the guitar. I felt more at home for that party than I have felt here in a long time.
Then I called my father on the Father´s Day and wished him a happy Father´s Day, and told him he could celebrate it twice this year!!
Then the school had a Soccer Tournament, and our little guys played against some rather BIG guys. Four schools competed, and our boys played their best. They came out second, which I was rather surprised. All the teachers worked really hard. Some sold refreshments, others helped coach the boys, some worked with the cheerleaders, and I got the unfortunate task of filming the event. And I missed filming both goals the kids made. Hopefully their parents won´t hate me forever!!!
Then after cleaning up and getting a ride back into town, I left to help set up for a wedding in Copan. We set up the streamers and blew a hundred balloons and put the decorations and tablecloths out...we worked all afternoon! Then the wedding supposedly started at 5, but that is Honduran time, which means it really didn't start
until 7. The wedding went almost flawlessly, the bride was gorgeous, and the food was amazing. I helped serve the food because they really didn't have that part planned, who was going to serve, so I jumped in and served tortillas. Then we did a photo shoot, everyone wanted a digital photo with the bride! And finally we ended the night with a beautiful starlit ride back to Santa Rita in the back of a pickup. What a beautiful day!!
The next thing of interest was a contest we had in my second grade class. The kids worked all month correcting sentences that I wrote incorrectly on the board. If they did a good job correcting the sentence, they recieved a star. A friend from the states sent me a huge box full of prizes, so we had a prize day in my class and most of the children received a prize for their hard work. Now that they know there are prizes, they are encouraged to do this month's contest. This month is hard work, they have to have a full conversation of at least 3 spoken sentences in English. They understand English but it is hard work
to get them to speak it, so hopefully the prizes will help them speak!!!
The teachers took a time out last Friday and we went to a local stream for a picnic and a dip. We hauled an extremely heavy watermelon along with Honduran fast food, fruit, chips, etc. up the side of the mountain and found a nice secluded spot in the stream. After we ate till we could eat no more, we waded in the stream looking for a good spot to dip. Most of the stream is pretty shallow right now because it is the summer and very dry, but there was one place deep enough to swim and splash around. We had a lot of fun doing absolutely nothing. I really enjoyed that day, it was so relaxing. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped by the construction site of the new Los Pinos school. The current school is too small and it doesn't have any room, this new school will be very nice for the teachers and the students next August. It is a beautiful place and the classrooms are a good design and size.
Then I spent this past weekend
with my friend Carol, her family, and her church. Saturday we went to the young people's service and celebrated two birthdays and played Pictionary. The Sunday I went to the service which Carol's brother translated in English (he did a good job) and we spent all afternoon playing with the youth group. We played baseball, soccer, tag, dodge ball, the plague (like tag but worse), hide and seek, duck duck goose, etc. We had so much fun. I have not played like that since I was a kid, it was another really refreshing day. To end out the day, we went back to Carol's house and ate the most delicious tacos I have had since I went to Mexico, then we watched Love Comes Softly, a fabulous romance movie.
This next month will be even busier, with Semana Santa (Holy Week) and then church and school activities. I will need prayer for endurance to keep up with everything!! Also, I need prayer to finish strong at school. I get discouraged with the way things go at school and sometimes I think it is easier to just give up and survive, but it is more important to give it my
best and do what I can with the time God has given me.
Thanks for keeping up with the blog!! I will be posting three more, as I have three more months here in Honduras. God bless you this month!
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Solana
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Hacienda El Jaral
Our medical and building teams used to stay there when the Bullocks lived near Ruinas de Copán. I am so excited about you being there in Santa Rita. You are an answer to my prayers that God would continue to encourage the pastors and their families that Clifton and Jane worked with. Saludos de mi parte a las familias de Pastor Cayetano y Pastor Victor Manuel de Santa Rita; Pastor Nahún de San Pedrito Abajo en Ruinas de Copán; y Pastor Francisco de Ruinas de Copán. Los hecho de menos y espero un día visitarlos de nuevo. Sigo orando por ellos, sus familias, y sus iglesias. <3 Solana