Yea for Vacays!

So instead of having a normal turkey/stuffing Thanksgiving, I went to the Carribean coast!!! I had an AMAZING time! Plus this trip was completely gratis (free). My lovely roommate, Jenny ran a race a couple months back and placed 2nd! The prize was an all-inclusive stay at a resort, flight included! I def benefited by being friends with such an athlete!!!

We spent our time, reading (for fun, imaging that), kayaking, taking walks along the beach, taking lots of goofy pictures, and swimming. (but not in the ocean, within minutes of being in the ocean I was stung by a jelly fish. It hurt so bad, and yes I relieved the sting the natural way)

I really needed this vacation, it had been a rough week and a half before this trip. Between the normal everyday struggles at school, to a lack of security here in Honduras, I needed to get away. Now, I have come back refreshed and ready to see my kids!!!

Parent teacher conferences!

Eeeek! My very first parent teacher conferences....ever! I was a bit nervous. In our faculty meeting the day before we were reassured with horror stories and a list of do's and don'ts to say to parents. This amounted to "Don't curse at the parents or tell them their child is as dumb as a rock." So I was left with a feeling of anything can happen, prepare for the worst. PTL, my parents are wonderful. They were very supportive and willing to work with their kids in areas of weakness. I was so thankful. I am amazed that I could love my kids as much as I do. While I want to pull out my hair somedays, I always look forward to seeing them in the morning. I am truly blown away by this fact. (It has to be a God thing) Precious teaching moment #1: Teaching students that are learning English as a 2nd language has proven to be very difficult. But, I am constanly presented with moments that literaly make me LOL. Student writing: Shitting is wrong, I will never shit again.

He was trying to write cheat!!!

These vains bleed purple....

Even though I live in a soccer dominated country, I want my fam and friends to know the that my roots of being a Minnesota Viking fan run deep and true! The word football in my vocabulary does not refer to a round ball and the only goal I speak of is a field goal.My Vikes may be struggling this year, but I stand by them! GO VIKES!!!!!

I thought I would include a picture of myself, for once! :)

Class pet!

3B now has a class pet. What is it, you may ask? Well, it is a giant grasshopper or a locust (the jury is still out) It is an incredible creature, it hardly looks real. It is about 6 inches long, and is brown with plastic looking eyes! I saw this grasshopper on school grounds on a Saturday and thought it was too interesting to pass up without a try. So I found a box and quickly covered it, it was actually pretty easy. I may have screamed once or twice, but our class pet was caught! I showed it to the class and they LOVED it! I let them vote on names, some of my favs: Shaq, Mr. Molstre, and Mr. Grass Jumper. We ended up going with Mr. Grass Jumper.

Fiesta Catracha

The North American teachers were priviledged to take part in an Honduran party (Fiesta Catracha) put on by the Hondurans at the school. It was a BIG deal, every grade did something to contribute to the fiesta.The 3rd graders sang an Honduran song while waving a flag around. They were so cute! The 4th or 5th grade put on a fashion show displaying a lot of traditional Honduran costumes/clothing. Some high school classes make little huts with information about different locations around Honduras, very impressive.

Some of my little chicklets in their Honduran soccer jerseys, after their flag song performance !

Beside the entertainment, food was also provided for us. I was able to sample a variety of Honduran cuisine. It was really good! Some of my favs : baleadas, and plantanos

The Opera in Honduras????

Yes, this past Friday I went to the opera! Tickets were donated to the school for the teachers. The tickets normally run about L. 4,000, which equates to $200. So we were very fortunate to go. I have to say that the opera isn't my favorite. But I was thrilled to be out with other adults doing adult things and not having to worry about kids running around hitting each other :) Fellow teachers: myself, Diana, Danielle, and Miriam

After the opera there was a wine hour, where we all socialized while they served us wine!

Independence Day Break

September is the month to celebrate Honduras' independence. As a result we got a few days off from school!!! So, the majority of the 1st year teachers took a trip to the Caribbean Coast. It was a great time to relax, soak up some rays and NOT talk about school!

This break was much needed! After 3 grueling weeks of nothing but planning, teaching and grading I was very content to sit and do nothing except stare out at the big beautiful ocean! Well I guess I rotated between taking naps in a hammock and swimming in the ocean :) We were able to stay in cabins literally 100 yards from the beach for 3 days...so amazing!

This was my vantage point!!!

Bobby (our Honduran go-to guy) and his family came with us on the trip. I am with two of his adorable children and Kristi...she's cool!

Soy super gringa!

This statement is true for many reasons but for this post it is true because of my inability to 1)dance like a Latina, 2) say no when an Espanol teacher asks me to dance infront of the whole school (when people speak Spanish to me very quickly I tend to get nervous then nod and say "Oh si claro" Oh of couse yes!) So for Children's Day (yes, it is an acutal holiday here in Honduras) the school put on a big elaborate show to celebrate. To start the assembly the Spanish teachers and MYSELF came out running and jumping to get the students excited. We then proceded to dance a little jig, to which I botched 3/4 of it, luckily they placed me in the back! Outta sight, outta mind..right?

So the program went on and towards the end I was summoned again for a reprisal! The second time was much better, I still stood out like a sore thumb but atleast I was in sync with all the other ladies this time!

I ended up having a lot of fun! Definately a good memory to write about!

** This picture is for Josh, who truly treasures embarassing pictures of me!

Oh I believe I failed to metion the wardrobe! We wore bright shirts with crazy hair, heavy eye make-up and wacky tube socks with our pant legs rolled up! Yes, I know ridiculous :)

No Blood=Success!

Right now this is my motto, if I get through the day without any bloodshed I am a happy camper! I am hoping that my motto will change as I grow as a teacher but for right now my no blood motto works.

In science we are learning about invertabrates and more specifically insects. Last week we went searching for bugs, we didn't have to search very hard because Honduras is infested with bugs. Then we got out our maginfying glasses to identify the 3 main parts of an insect (for those of you who don't know: head, thorax and abdomen) The kids loved searching for bugs, it is so much easier to teach kids about things that they actually like! Go figure!

Independence Day

Someone reminded me that it is about time I updated my blog, so much has happened since the last time I wrote on this thing. :)

Independence Day celebration was September 1st, the school was decked out in blue and white. The kids loved waving around the flags. There was a ceremony with a flag salute, and we sang (they sang) the national anthem. It was a lot of fun to see a traditional Independence Day ceremony, the Espanol teachers put on a great show.

- Here are a couple of pictures from the day. I told my kids we were going to take a silly picture, they love any

opportunity to be goofy.

1st week....done!

What a whirl-wind of a week! Monday started out by my door not working. We couldn't get into the classroom until an hour and a half into the school day. What a great start to my 1st day of teaching. The kids and I walked around the campus, I read them a couple of books , I learned their names and favorite colors. I was practicing the skill that every teacher must possess, improvising!! Oh and then I spilt coffee (cold) on one of my students!! Needless to say I was pretty discouraged about my 1st day, but then came Tuesday.

Tuesday, I was able introduce my policies and procedure and get to know my students a little more. I have 24 students, of course all English Language Learners. A sweet little girl, Elis, brought me a chocolate cake. Thinking I was the worst teacher on Monday, this little girl brings me a cake on Tuesday. I was so touched.

Wednesday, the students are beginning to feel comfortable with me and I am with them. I notice their personalities starting to emerge. The leaders, and follower are becoming clear. This is also the time when they are testing me. At IST we have a card flipping discipline system set in place where colored cards are flipped based upon behavior and participation. I have a boy named Kenneth (I call him Kenny G to the other teachers), smart kid but the most unmotivated kid I have ever worked with. As a class we were grading a math paper and he absolutely refused to do it. So I told him that he had the choice to grade the math paper along with the rest of the class or to flip a card. He said he would flip a card!!! Argh, this kid! I guess I need to find out what motivates him.

Thursday and Friday go well, I still have the glazed over, overwhelmed look on my face whenever I come out of a staff meeting or recall all the things I need to do but I'll survive and hopefully thrive at this whole teaching thing.

The one thing that remains the same (besides God) are the kids, kids are kids. Each day is new for them, yesterday is gone and today holds so many possibilities. Despite a few bumps in the road this week, teaching 3rd graders at IST is where I am supposed to be...I love it already!

Thanks for all the prayers this week, I really appreciate it :)

Oh and here are some pictures of my classroom!

Monsoon Time

So, around 1 pm it starts raining. By 1:15 I am moving things away from the windows because the hail, rain and severe winds are coming into my classroom!!! The Hondurans were telling me that this was the worst storm they have seen in years. My classroom flooded, but luckily no books were ruined...I wish I could say the same about my bulletin board :(

But besides the freak monsoon I have been super busy getting my classroom ready (pictures soon to come) for open house on Saturday and school starting on Monday....providing we can get the school up and running, due to the storm damage! I am exhausted and overwhelmed everynight after work....why didn't anyone tell me that teaching is hard work :) I love it! I can't wait to see my kids on Saturday!!

I'm still alive....

I made it safely to Honduras Thursday afternoon. My days have been filled with unpacking, meeting many new people, staff meetings and getting aclimated into a new culture.

We saw the school yesterday, and I love it!!! The views are amazing and I was surprised by how the school was so nice and well kept. I also met the principal in our staff meeting, and he assured us that he is there to support and encourage us. All of the administration were so thankful for our presence, which is an encouragement to know that we are wanted and treasured at school by the higher ups. This is a picture ouside the stairwell in the elementart building.....simply amazing!!!

Today we are going on a "tour" of the city in small groups. This is to teach us how to use the public transportation and then we'll meet up for a real Honduras meal downtown Teguc.

I am having a wonderful time and again thanks for all the support!!!

Jess

The start of my adventures....

Ok! So here it is, I have promised many that I would start a blog before I left for Honduras. I get on a plane this Thursday that will take me to Tegucigalpa (Tay-goo-see-gul-pa) (it took me a week to finally master the pronounciation of the city in which I will be living in for the next two years). Once we land I will have eight days to get my classroom set up, my lessons planned, meet and get to know the people I will be living and working with, make my apartment livable, and adjust to a new culture....no big deal!!! Well, atleast I'll fit right in with all the other blonde hair blue-eyed gals....O wait nevermind!

I really am excited to start this new part of my life and am open to any and all adventures that come my way. There will be more pictures to come once I am in Honduras but I'm posting a picture of the house I will be living in, "Casa Verde".

-Next post will be from Honduras :)