Blogs from Comayagua, Central, Honduras, Central America Caribbean - page 5

The first thing I asked myself, when I walked into school this morning, was "Why does David have a gun?" My second question was "Why do Josue, Cris, Kevin and Ramon have guns too?" It turns out that this week we are celebrating El Alba's 24th anniversary. So it only makes sense that the students should bring guns to school. I must say that, after I made the connection, I felt a little embarrassed. I mean, why shouldn't students be allowed to bring guns to school? It made me think back on my first big date with Karina, a year after we met... perhaps I should have brought my nine. Or maybe just a boot knife would have sufficed, I don't know because this custom is all new to me. I am from a crazy backwards ... read more

I didn't have class yesterday, which was nice. Except that instead of teaching classes, we got to sit through a long day of teaching workshops. I am still not sure why our school sent us all to it. It was about multiple intelligences. It basically reiterated what we all know. Everyone learns differently and that there 9 different types of intelligences. It is a great idea in theory that we can all go into class and teach 9 different ways for the different intelligences. What they don't seem to understand is that we only have 40 minute periods, so to include reading, writing, speaking, drawing, singing, outdoors, body movement and so on and so on...doesn't really mesh well for us. I personally like to switch it up and not have the kids just writing or reading ... read more

It was Friday, so it was a very good day right from the beginning. Friday also means Friday Folders get sent home with kids. These folders have comments from me about how their child behaved through the week and what they could improve on. I have 6 very hyper active kids in my class which may not seem like too many compared to regular classrooms. But, I do find it difficult to try to watch them at all times, get them to stay in their seats and not talk to everyone else. I have watched them quite a bit and I know for sure that 3 of them are only crazy after lunch, when they have had coke. 1 of them, I believe is just bored. I have seen his tests and his workbooks and I ... read more

Yesterday was the Presidential Inauguration and I can't believe I spent it in Honduras! During school, the older classes got to go to the library with the teachers and watch it live on CNN. I on the other hand, teach the 1st grade and there is no way they would sit still for that long. Plus, they wouldn't have understood most of it anyways. They are very new to the English language and it is their first year having their classes taught to them in English. I was lucky enough however, to have two free periods back to back during the ceremony. I can officially say I watched that moment in history live along with millions of others. I found the experience to be truly incredible. Here I am in Honduras in some remote city, watching ... read more

In an effort to keep my travel blog subscribers interested I am now posting another blog. It has been eleven days since my last and I am, once again, sorry for the delay. Life in a slow moving Central American country can get pretty busy. Just recently I went to visit Karina's uncles in Tegus. Their families both share a house in a smaller neighborhood in the outskirts of the capital city. It was nice to get to know the city a bit more. I only know a few malls in Tegus, and I never have the chance to wander around. When you live in a place like this, and you are given the chance to explore a new place rather than just run errands, you typically choose the latter. I always tell myself, "Hey I ... read more