favorite

my favorite thing about school today was going to make copies, and not knowing where i was going, so two five year old girls from class led me there, i'm sure it was a sight to see...a clueless gringa following two young hondurans, the story of my life as of late....mind you, the school does not have a copier, and they had to take me to the store, a few blocks away...i really do love honduras sometimes...

also..my other favorite thing is that one of the kids had a birthday today...in the states, this means over sugary treats..in honduras, this means the family basically brings a meal...we had rice with chicken, vegetables and hot dogs, along with white bread.  OH, and this horrendous drink that I have been warned about called "Tropical Banana" it looks like a refreshing cup of Fanta, but it is quite deceiving...it tastes like a juice of banana runts..it is AWFUL but the hondurans love it...if ever traveling to honduras, i would recommend avoiding it at all costs....

strange no more...

since living in Honduras for the past month, there are a few things that are no longer strange to me, such as:

chickens in the kitchen
randomly spotting chicken poop/pee in the living room, and cleaning it up
ants in the sugar
ants in my coffee...fish them out and continue drinking
lizards scampering out from behind everything
walking everywhere...because it is actually faster than driving
having irregular bowel movements, always of interesting consistency (or lack thereof)

and, there are still a few (actually a lot) of things that I'm still getting used to:

lizards scampering out from behind everything...they get me every time.
evidence that mice and/or rats have also been studying my spanish
always being a little dirty
running water every other day (for 2 hours)
showering every other (or every 3) days
freezing. cold. bucket. showers....they take my breath away every time, in the most unromantic way possible

changes....

things in Honduras rarely change quickly, but from time to time they do...and they change really quickly! so..last week Erin told me that a bi-lingual school in a small town called Camasca, near where she works, that was in need of an English teacher for the pre-kinder class...so, who better to warp the minds of young Hondurans than yours truly?  I mean, I tought swimming lessons a few times...so I should be able to teach education...right???

Apparently they have a teacher, but she speaks little to no English, thus defeating the purpose of a bi-lingual school...and they may or may not have even been holding classes, so they needed someone right away.  I was offered the job on Thursday, and they asked me to start Monday...so, I canceled the last 2 weeks of my Spanish school and hopped on a bus to La Esperanza (about 4 hours from Camasca) on Saturday morning.  I will be doing a home stay in Comasca with a total Spanish speaking family, and I plan on finding someone to teach me more Spanish..so the learning will continue!

I have to admit, I'm really nervous about this whole teaching thing, but it's with little kids, so it will probably just be a lot of singing and playing and coloring...and luckily there is a real teacher there, so I just have to hope that I can understand Spanish well enough to translate what she is saying to the kids...

here's to hoping and yet another new adventure....

mosquitoes

in honduras, they are relentless...

Tuk Tuk!!

One week of Spanish lessons are done, and I feel like I have learned a ton, but still have so so so much more to learn.  I can usually follow what my host mom is saying to me, luckily she speaks to me slowly. I feel like a  two year old, just learning to talk...i don't know many words, when i do use the words i know, they come out wrong and nobody can understand me.  Maybe i'll just start crying until i get what i want.

I went to the bird park/sanctuary thing that they have here.  It's a pretty cool project to try and rebuild the population of their native birds..such as parrots, toucans, etc...but i'm not much of a bird person, and one of the toucans hopped right up to me and bit my toe. I'm not going back...

BUT...the bird place did have a coffee shop with coffee that is all grown in honduras, and that made up for the bird incident...so i spent about an hour doing this:

OH!! and I finally got to ride in a tuk tuk!! In Copan, and in Utila, tuk tuks are what they use for taxis here, and they stuff 3 adults in the back seat...I've been wanting to ride in one since i got here!

learning...despacio

I have successfully(ish) made it through 3 days of Spanish class....learning a new language is hard work, and trying to communicate when only knowing a few words is even more difficult. My dictionary has become one of my most valuable possessions...

Not knowing a language and not being able to communicate effectively is really difficult, and incredibly frustrating at times.  On my first night with my hose family, my host mom (who speaks no english) told me that her son had been shot and killed, and I think it was either on his birthday, her birthday, or that day was the anniversary of his death...either way, i felt horrible for her, and she is still very upset about it.  In these situations it is hard to know what to say when you know the language, and when you don't know it, it is even worse..i felt so unsympathetic, and all i could come up with was "que triste." Such a horrible tragedy.

Meanwhile, I am learning little by little, but it just takes lots of repetition and practice.

spanish...say wha???

today was my first day of spanish class, and i feel completely lost...oh, and erin left this morning, so i am totally on my own for the next month...from the moment i walked into school until the moment i left i pretty much only heard spanish....then i went and met my host family..well, so far i have only met the mom, and she only speaks spanish. however, we somehow managed to communicate, though i am sure painful and slow for her..i have a long way to go...to console myself, i am drinking a coke out of a glass bottle with a straw...it makes everything better.

oh, and i purchased a spanish dictionary, note cards, and a pencil...i need to study...A LOT...i feel like this, like all the time:

and this:

back to spanish brain...