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Even though nothing very exciting has happened, I wanted to give you an update. It is still raining here almost everyday but luckily the water has been not been shut off again. The electricity went out one night so we had to cook and eat by candlelight. In the middle of my candlelit "shower", the electricity came back on.
One day I rode my bike around exploring new parts of our barrio. Only the main road here is paved and all side streets are dirt. I rode down a side street until the road turned into a lake and then I turned around and headed down another street. I repeated this until finally a young man stopped me and asked if I was lost. I explained that I was just out exploring. We began chatting and he seemed to be very friendly and harmless. Since he only speaks Spanish, I decided hanging out with him would be a great way for Christina and I to practice more. I showed him where we lived and he has come by a few times to chat with us. Christina and I are both happy to get more time to practice conversational Spanish. Hopefully we will meet more people to practice with also. Here are some houses and building along the way.
This one always make me think of pirates. 
Now that I have been able to teach for a string of days in a row, my students are making some real progress. They have been finishing up their letters to their pen pals in San Diego. It has really motivated them to improve their English writing skills so their pen pal can understand them. We also are just finishing a math unit on subtraction which everyone seemed successful at. In science we have been learning about animals needs, adaptations, and classifications. Even with limited resources, I have been able to create a few games for math and science that they enjoyed. Reading is progressing but slower. It is hard to have small group reading time when I only have one copy of each book. I just set it on the floor and have the reading group crowd around it. We don't even have a rug or carpet. I did bring a box with a series of books that starts very basic (on, in, the, a, etc.) and each successive book scaffolds on the previous, reviewing previous words and adding new ones. It is great with my really low ones.
Since next week is Thanksgiving, Christina and I were asked to have our classes perform a song. We found some song about giving thanks and have been teaching it to our students. Next week the students need to make a costume for it which will be a headband with colored, paper feathers going round. I am still unsure as to why our school is celebrating an American holiday. I had to teach a really cheesy, generic lesson as the kids didn't even know what Thanksgiving was about.
Our school also had some more frustrating teaching news. When our week-long roommate, James, left in September, the school had to settle for two 17 year olds to take over his 7th - 11th grade literature and grammar classes. Granted they are fluent in English but they know nothing about teaching. One of the girl-teachers hates to read and is teaching literature. How motivating. Well... one of these girls is quitting Monday and the other in December. Now the only other volunteer, Kim, who has been teaching here 3 years has decided to quit and take a non-teaching job at a hotel. She had been teaching science, philosophy, and psychology to the junior high and high schoolers. The school is very desperate for teachers. The school now has no one to teach 7th - 11th grade literature, grammar, science, philosophy, or psychology. The founder and principal are trying to convince Christina and I to do some of it but we don't want to. It would be way too much work and we would have no time to run errands or just to enjoy our time here. The school posted job opportunities on the internet (same way I found out about it) but no one has been responding. It is really sad. Even with the frustrating situations the school puts us in sometimes, they are deep-down trying to do a good thing for these kids. If you know anyone looking for an adventure, send them down here.
The school's founder, Graciela, and some other teachers and staff have invited Christina and I to a soccer game this weekend. Apparently they are all huge fans of a big Honduran team, Olympia. So on Saturday we are all going to get on the bus, bright and early at 6:00am, and go to Copan. It is about a 6 hour bus ride away. The city, Copan, is supposedly very cute with cobblestone streets. They said the soccer games get really crazy. It should be fun. As usual, I will write all about it next week.
Oh, and some men came and fixed our leaky, moldy ceiling. As they were working I realized the white slabs on the ceiling are only pressboard. When he took down the moldy ones to replace them, I could see above them is only a big space and then a corrugated aluminum roof. We were surprised to learn we don't have a real roof. Only corrugated aluminum above pressboard. The men climbed on the roof and replaced the leaking aluminum pieces with new ones.
What a fabulous weekend. So you want to know what it is like to live in Honduras? This weekend was a good example.
We got back from Pico Bonito on Sunday and it rained off and on all week. One cool side note: Last Monday, the high school kids learned how to weave hammocks! Oh, and we actually got to teach real lessons the whole week! Weeks like this remind me why I am here and I begin to get really excited and feel like the kids are making progress...until the next "holiday".
Also last week, in honor of Halloween (which no one here celebrates and they all think it is bad), I read scary stories to my class and had them write their own. They even illustrated them. The stories came out surprisingly well considering only 3 kids said they had ever written a story before. All the rest of the 18 kids had never written a story before!!! The teachers never have them write, they only use the workbooks. How truly depressing. I am so glad I am here. We also got our pen pal letters from Mrs. Miller's class in San Diego. My students were so excited. They began reading theirs to friends and writing back immediately!
So anyway, back to our rainy weekend...On Friday morning I needed to go to the post office and it was a sprinkling a little. I knew it would probably rain more so I put on some beach clothes (shorts and a tank top) that I wouldn't mind getting wet. I rode my bike the 20 minutes to the post office. And of course they were out of the 15 lemp ($0.80) postcard stamps and I had to buy the 25 lemp ($1.30) stamps instead or wait until whenever they might get more. When I finished, I turned to walk out of the post office and it began pouring. So I biked home while getting soaked. The rain would occasionally get in my eyes and obscure my vision. At least it wasn't cold out and now I no longer needed to avoid puddles...I just rode right through them. Along the way, some guy rode his bike along with me trying to become my new friend. Great. I got home, towelled off, hung my clothes to try, and went to work.
It was still pouring rain when we got home. I washed the dishes in cold water, as usual, since we do not have hot water. (The only place you will get hot water in Honduras is in a fancy hotel or if you boil some). While eating, we noticed the dining room ceiling was beginning to leak and turn a little moldy. It was only dripping a little though. Then we watched a movie and went to bed. We tried to sleep as the rain pounded down the entire night.
When I awoke Saturday morning, Christina and I found the water in the whole house had been shut off (not all that unusual, it probably happens once a week, but usually the faucet in the shower works...not this time). We couldn't go out because it was still raining so we were trapped in the house. We read, watched movies, read, ate...etc. Meanwhile the ceiling in the living room was getting worse. There was a good-sized puddle forming on the floor and the mold was spreading. Now there was a wet spot forming on my bedroom ceiling also. Luckily that one was not dripping. I moved my bed over just in case. (FYI: this photo is the dining room, not my bedroom.)
That night the water had still not come back on. Just to clarify, this means we could not fill our bucket to shower with, we could not flush the toilet, we could only wash dishes using a pitcher to rinse them, we couldn't even wash our hands or faces. So I decided to put buckets and bowls outside to catch some rain water. 
It got a little chilly so I put on some socks but all I really have for shoes are flip-flops so I looked like a little geisha walking around the house. We went to sleep to the sound of thundering rain yet again.
Sunday morning, the water was still shut off. It was also still raining so we were trapped in the house for another day. Argh!!! We were beginning to go stir crazy. I mean, how many hours can you just sit on your bed and read or watch movies or go check to see if the water had been turned on yet. That night, we used the rain water to shower with and flush the toilet. Since it has been colder (about 65 degrees F, the coldest it will ever get here), we have been boiling a pot of water to add to the water in our shower bucket. This makes the water just warm enough to "shower" with but I still have goosebumps the entire time.
On Monday morning, the water finally was turned back on. It was still raining but we had to go to town to pay the internet bill. We decided to fork out the 15 lemps ($0.80) for the cab ride there and back so we could stay dry (or drier than riding our bikes anyway). During the cab ride home, we had to drive over a dirt road, a good stretch of which had been transformed into a lake. The water reached up to the bottom of the car doors. Luckily we stayed dry inside.
Then we got ready to go to work only there was one problem...flooding. Our front walk was just a giant puddle. A few weeks ago when it flooded I put wooden boards down to walk on (like a gangplank...arrgh matey!) but someone stole them...Why? They were all rotted! This time I tried putting some big rocks there. They were wobbly but we made it across without getting soaked. Then we had to balance on the curb and jump over the puddle to the middle of the street. (Improving my acrobat skills so I can join the circus and save all the animals.)
At work we mentioned the leaking ceiling and they came and looked at it. They said they would check it out when it stopped raining. Great idea, fix it when it's dry out. And when will it stop raining? They all said not until December.
After work, we came home and the water was shut off again. Ahh... the joys of living in Honduras. Isn't it a bit ironic that they shut off the water when there is so much supply (rain). My only conclusion was that it must be contaminated...except we often turn on the faucet to find brown water with things floating in it so who knows. The soccer (football) players never let the rain bother them. They play in the field next to our house almost everyday, mud or not. Oh, and if you look close, they are not wearing any shoes. They always play barefoot, ouch!
By the way, Monday we had parent conferences but we weren't allowed to show the parents the report cards unless they showed us their receipt proving they paid October's tuition. Nice. The meetings went well otherwise. I had about half the parents come and it was raining so that seemed like a good turnout. Tuesday we got to teach all day (yippee!) and Wednesday school was canceled because of too much rain. Unfortunately the teachers still had to go in and make a new bulletin board featuring famous Hondurans. Oh how fun. Hopefully we will get to teach Thursday and Friday. Oh, and for each Friday of November, some lady comes to each class for 40 minutes and reads Bible stories and talks about God and Jesus with the kids. No pretense of separation of church and state here.
At least we have running water again...for now. Here is the lovely murky water I am about to shower with. Well, we haven't developed any weird rashes yet.
On Thursday evening, Christina and I grabbed our bags and hopped on the bus for Pico Bonito National Park. Luckily, we made the last bus at 6:30pm. It is about a 2 hour bus ride to La Ceiba and then we took a taxi to the Jungle River Lodge in Pico Bonito (about 20 minutes down a bumpy, gravel road). (I visited this same place in January with my sister and 2 friends). We decided to stay in a private room (as opposed to the dorm room that you share with up to 6 other people and has a shared bathroom outside). Our room had private bathroom and a full bed with another full bed in a loft above. It was late so we ate dinner and went to sleep.
On Friday, we woke up and went to breakfast. The lodge is situated right in the jungle perched on the edge of the Rio Congrejal.
The dining area/bar has the best view of the river and jungle and has a pool and adventure equipment stored below. As in most of Honduras, it doesn't really get too cold here so everything is open air. The window in our rooms only have screens. 
The view is so amazing it almost seems like a painting.
The lodge offers a few different adventure day trips: white water river rafting, kayaking, jungle hiking to waterfalls, treetop canopy tour, and mountain biking. I had hurt my foot fairly bad during the UN day and was worried about hiking. Some people mentioned the rafting was fun so we decided to try it.
Neither of us had done it before so we were a little nervous. The guides, Darwin and Elias, gave us life jackets and helmets and then led us up the river. They taught us how to row forward and backward, how to get on the floor in rough rapids, how to ride on the side of the raft, and what the commands are for each action. They also had us practice floating on our backs with the current and grabbing the rope in case we fall in and missed the handles on the raft.
Then we hopped in the raft and headed down the river. Overall, we rafted through Class I - Class IV rapids. Not too shabby. The water was cold and it was raining out but with the adrenaline pumping through us we barely noticed. It was a rush of excitement. The end of the river was calm and we got to just lazily float by and take in all the gorgeous scenery and wildlife.
Afterward, we dried off and changed into warm clothes. We then walked up the dirt road to a suspension bridge that crossed the river. Those afraid of heights would not want to attempt crossing this. The view from the middle was great though. 
We headed back to the lodge to read, eat dinner, and talk with the other guests. We met people from places like: Texas, Russia, Germany, Boston, and Washinton D.C. One girl from Germany had been working and living at the lodge for 7 months and she had to go back to Germany on Sunday for an unplanned reason. She didn't want to leave and it was a sad weekend. We spent a lot of time with her and the guides and owner (all Honduran). We quickly were included into their family. They even have two macaws that will occasionally talk to you. 
On Saturday at breakfast we discussed which adventure to try (I had already been on the hike back in January and my foot was still recovering so that was out). Somehow, unexpectedly, we both decided to do the treetop canopy adventure. Neither of us had done this before and we were once again a little frightened. We had the same main guide, Darwin, as the day before. We were strapped into our harnesses and donned our helmets yet again. We were led through the jungle to the first platform. On the way we learned about some plants you can use for soap, for stomach aches, and for good dreams.
There are 9 ziplines altogether, the first and last go over the river and the rest are through the jungle. Basically, your harness has two cords with a clip attached to the end of each one and those are attached to a trolley which attaches to the top of the zipline cable. With thick gloves on, one hand holds onto your harness cords and the other holds onto the cable so you can keep yourself straight and you can slow down when needed. As you fly across the zipline cable, you lay back, put your feet up, and enjoy the quick ride. It was very relaxing and fun and not the least bit frightening. My only complaint is it didn't last long enough.
Check out the videos of us:
Here is a link to me flying over the river:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiGgoqxNZvA
Here is a link to Christina zipping over the jungle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkSGjZyyvGY
Afterward, we walked up the dirt road to a small nearby village, El Naranjo. There was a sign for a tourist center with local handicrafts for sell but we couldn't find the building. We asked a boy and he led us to a woman's house. She brought out a plastic bag and proceeded to take out some jewelery and carvings one-by-one for us to admire while chickens and ducks pecked around our feet. The "store" consisted of about 15 items total. It was lovely. Oh, and the woman had gold stars on her teeth.
Since Christina and I already went on 2 adventures and were running out of money, we decided we were going to head back to Tela that night. We informed the lodge we would need a ride to La Ceiba before 5:00pm to get the last bus back to Tela. They said it would be fine. Then at about 4:00pm the owner decided they all like us so much they want us to stay another night. We explained that we had no money to pay for a room or eat and he said it would all be on him. How could we say no to that? So we stayed another night hanging out with the owner, Oscar, the guides and the German girl, Roma, who sadly was getting ready to leave. We slept in the bunkhouse that night with 5 other people. Everyone was very quiet and respected the other peoples right to sleep.
On Sunday we woke and ate breakfast, pancakes and cereal, and basically relaxed with the others until our ride came at about 1:30pm. Our ride, by the way, was a huge army vehicle. The back had bus seats.
I was sad to say goodbye. Although I had only been there for 4 days, I spent a lot of time getting to know all the people and relaxing in the natural beauty of the area. It was all very welcoming. I will come back again.
For United Nations Day, each class was assigned a country to represent. 3rd grade (my class) was assigned the United States of America and 2nd grade (Christina's class) was given the Philippines. Each class needed to make a large banner to carry in the parade that showed the highlights of their respective country. They also had to learn and song or dance and wear clothing or a costume representative of their country.
We spent most of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday practicing our routines and making the banner. They was almost no teaching of actual lessons (unfortunately). The parade was on Thursday.
Christina and I arrived on Thursday at 11:00am as instructed and, of course, no other administrators or teachers arrived until noon. We set up tents and chairs for the parents and students. At about 1:00pm, all the classes lined up for the parade. We marched down the street, to the end of our barrio, and back again. We were even escorted by an ambulance with siren blaring. It all went very smoothly. (Notice the hamburger, hot dog, Statue of Liberty, and dollars on our poster. By the way, unlike other classes, my poster was all student created). 
Back at the school, we all took our seats to watch the student performances. The principal discussed the meaning of today and began to introduce the first class. Right then, the electricity was shut off. The city turns off the electricity at least once a week so we were not surprised. The problem is most classes had music on CD's to dance to and now they couldn't. The school didn't really know what to do. They had the parents go eat some food they had for sale and then we waited. And waited. 
Cuba is waiting (a Cuban rockstar guarded by Fidel Castro & Che Guevara):
We waited 2 hours. Finally, the principal had my class and another class perform since we didn't need musical accompaniment. My class performed "This Land is Your Land" with body movements. 
The other class (representing Brazil) performed a little Capoeira. One of the boys could play a unique wooden instrument. 
Then we continued waiting. Finally someone got the idea to locate a generator. A few cellphone calls later and the show was back on. Unfortunately by that time, many parents and students had already given up and went home. The cute kindergarteners and 1st graders didn't perform because not enough were left
but Christina's class got to go on. The performed a typical Filipino dance called Tinkling. The kids were great. Click on the link to see a sample of their dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2SakVoVuq0
Japan demonstrated a little dancing and karate:
Except for the electrical problems and waiting, it was a very enjoyable day. The kids had a lot of fun performing and dressing up. Plus, Friday we had no school for the holiday so after it was all over, Christina and I grabbed our bags and hopped on the bus for Pico Bonito National Park.
I haven't been able to write to the blog lately because I have been busy.
I got to go home to San Diego for a short visit. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to (including all the kids and teachers at Carson Elementary) but I got to see my sister, my parents, and some friends.
I went to 2 movies (Halloween and Darjeeling Limited). I was able to spend a day in L.A. visiting friends and going to an art gallery (La Luz de Jesus). I went an art show in San Diego (Ray at Night) and saw some live bands (Woggles, Creepy Creeps, Secret Apollo). I even got to wish my friend Tiffany Happy 21st Birthday and stroll down the O.B. pier. 
The best part was being able to go out to dinner and having my favorite foods: banana curry (Bombay), potato flautas (Pokez), zuchini tacos (South Beach), and of course bean and cheese burritos (El Zarape). I spent way too much money replenishing my supply of books and cd's.
When I returned to Honduras, the hassles started right away. My plane left at 2:00am from LAX. After waiting in an hour-long security line, I slept most of the way for the short flight. When I landed in San Pedro it was noon and I was hot, tired, and starving. I began looking for my ride (the principal's father) who was going to take me to Tela. Instead, I found the principals brother waiting for me. He explained that the father is out of town in La Ceiba and wouldn't be able to give me a ride. The brother was sent to meet me and take me to the bus station. Oh, great! So I got to ride on a sweaty, crowded, 2 hour bus to Tela. I was dropped off at the end of our street. By now it was 2:00pm, hot and humid, and I had to carry my backpack and two large suitcases (stuffed with food, books, and machine-washed clothes) down to the house. It was definitely not what I was looking forward to.
I finally made it to the house drenched in sweat and opened the front door. THE HOUSE WAS COMPLETELY FLOODED! The kitchen sink was on full-blast and there was water everywhere. Christina had left town 2 days before so the water must have been on the whole time. Since our water is shut off on a daily basis, Christina had turned on the kitchen faucet, nothing came out, and she forgot to turn it off again so when the water came back on later...Whoosh!
I immediately ran to my room to see what was ruined: my teacher plan book, my grade book, my Honduras travel guide, a book, and some student work. Everything else was soaked but not ruined. Then I had to spend the next 3 hours, in the heat, sweeping all the water out of the house. I hadn't slept or eaten a full meal in 2 days....this is really not what I wanted to do right then. After I finished, I laid out my books and papers to dry.
Christina had two friends, Abbie and Lindsey, come to visit us in Honduras (our first visitors) so they had gone to the the lake. The three of them returned to the house the next morning. We showed them how to get to the beach and we went to work. Then we met them at the beach after work. The next day they went to Punta Sal while we worked and after we all had birthday cake for one of the girls. Unfortunately they had to leave the next day but at least Christina and I had some guests for a few days. It was fun and I encourage you all to visit us. 
This week at school the students took their exams and practiced for the United Nations parade and celebration next week. My class was assigned to represent the United States and Christina's was assigned the Philippines. My class is going to wear blue jeans, white t-shirts, and red accessories. I am teaching them the words and hand motions to "This Land is you Land". We also have to make a United States banner to display in the parade. Ahh, time well spent.
Next week we practice Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The parade and celebration is on Thursday. Friday we have the day off so Christina and I will be headed to the Pico Bonito mountain for a jungle lodge, hiking, and waterfalls. I guess our life ain't so bad. I will make sure to get photos of it all for you.
This one always make me think of pirates. 
Now that I have been able to teach for a string of days in a row, my students are making some real progress. They have been finishing up their letters to their pen pals in San Diego. It has really motivated them to improve their English writing skills so their pen pal can understand them. We also are just finishing a math unit on subtraction which everyone seemed successful at. In science we have been learning about animals needs, adaptations, and classifications. Even with limited resources, I have been able to create a few games for math and science that they enjoyed. Reading is progressing but slower. It is hard to have small group reading time when I only have one copy of each book. I just set it on the floor and have the reading group crowd around it. We don't even have a rug or carpet. I did bring a box with a series of books that starts very basic (on, in, the, a, etc.) and each successive book scaffolds on the previous, reviewing previous words and adding new ones. It is great with my really low ones.
Our school also had some more frustrating teaching news. When our week-long roommate, James, left in September, the school had to settle for two 17 year olds to take over his 7th - 11th grade literature and grammar classes. Granted they are fluent in English but they know nothing about teaching. One of the girl-teachers hates to read and is teaching literature. How motivating. Well... one of these girls is quitting Monday and the other in December. Now the only other volunteer, Kim, who has been teaching here 3 years has decided to quit and take a non-teaching job at a hotel. She had been teaching science, philosophy, and psychology to the junior high and high schoolers. The school is very desperate for teachers. The school now has no one to teach 7th - 11th grade literature, grammar, science, philosophy, or psychology. The founder and principal are trying to convince Christina and I to do some of it but we don't want to. It would be way too much work and we would have no time to run errands or just to enjoy our time here. The school posted job opportunities on the internet (same way I found out about it) but no one has been responding. It is really sad. Even with the frustrating situations the school puts us in sometimes, they are deep-down trying to do a good thing for these kids. If you know anyone looking for an adventure, send them down here.
