Blogs from Central, Honduras, Central America Caribbean - page 27

What a day. Yesterday we were informed by word of mouth from other teachers (there is no such thing as memos here), that we would be having an 8 hour inservice today at the school. We arrived at 8 in the library, but word of mouth had not informed us that the eight hour inservice training would be in Spanish without translators. For the first two hours before the break, all the teachers who did not speak spanish were forced to just sit there. Needless to say at the break there was a revolt and they did not return for the rest of the trainings. I however could not convince the principal that I did not speak Spanish and was forced to sit through 6 more hours of boring lectures about values and virtues. It might ... read more

My decorating is coming along slowly but surely. It is true that everyting takes a little longer here, especially when all of your classroom decorations are home-made, and in my case home-ly. Luckily for me however, Karen has mailed me some decorations all the way from Madison (Cottage Grove), Wisconsin to help out. I am very excited for their arrival. Karen informed me that mail sent by plane will take about 3 weeks to arrive, while on the other hand, mail sent by boat will take about 3 months. Sounds about right for Honduras :) After finishing the remainder of my bean curry soup, I went next door to learn how to play Settlers of Catan. I had never heard of this game before. Apparently it is a cross between Monopoly and Risk. Last year's teachers ... read more

Pretty impressed with the school. I guess it used to be a shopping mall and it is open air at the top. Check out the photos. It'sabout a 20 minute walk everyday, and in the morning it's not so bad, because it's not that hot yet, but the walk back at 2 or 3 in the afternoon is BAD. We still haven't gotten bikes yet, not sure why, but I've heard a lot about Honduran time, and I guess that's what we're on now. I've heard the bikes aren't that great anyway, always falling apart. Also put some photos of our place, which is inhabited by less and less people, for whatever reason, people are being placed all around even though there are still 4 rooms avaliable throughout the 3 houses here. I am ok with ... read more

This list was compiled by Sarah and I last night. I copied and pasted it from her blog. Enjoy. #1. Stray Dogs are not uncommon. #2. We are told stray children are about as common as stray dogs. If you feed them, they will not leave you alone. #3. Things like "Hey white girls, we love you!" are heard on a regular basis. #4. When you go to a soccer game and chant "Hon-du-ras!", you will be made fun of for pronouncing the 'H'. It should be pronounced "Own-doo-rus". #5. Wearing a Honduras jersey to a game will not make you Honduran. You will still stick out. #6. Crowds of people will cheer "Asshole" in Spanish to a ref who has made a bad call. #7. People who pull out their cell phone when you walk ... read more

More planning and decorating at school today. However, it was what we did after school that made my day. Sarah and I decided to accompany Chris to the bank in the mall near the school. We had seen an ice cream "shop" last time we were there but no one was working then. This time, however, we were in luck. I had peanut butter/caramel/chocolate ice cream scooped the way they do back home. It was heaven, although half of it melted on the way home. In other noteworthy happenings for the day, we heard knocking on our door at around 8pm and when Toni (our security guard) opened the door it was the little lady that lived down the street. "Estan las muchachas?" she said. "Are the girls home?" Toni looked confused as to what she ... read more