Friday, August 29, 2008

Bumps in the road...

Well, week one in Honduras is over, and I have to admit that I have had a couple of difficult days, but I am pressing along. Yesterday, my computer caught a virus. I had Carlos and James take a look at it, and it looks as though I am going to need a disk...which of course I left in the states...to restore it. Therefore, communication is going to be very scarce for the next couple of weeks until Father Donahue goes to Boston and my parents can get him the disk so it can be repaired. I am a bit upset about this as I will feel like I am totally öut of the loop¨as far as everything is concerned back home. However, I am going to try to look at it as part of this experience. I should be spending my time here getting to know the people here and mingling with my ¨mission teammates¨rather than sitting on the internet emailing people from back home. I have to try to view it positively, as a means of causing me to become more independent. It is just hard, because I have already begun to rely so heavily on my computer for entertainment in the evenings . I guess I will be reading a lot over the course of the next couple of weeks. There is a great stack of books at my apartment that I am ready to dive into!
In any case, I really enjoyed a lot of teacher training week. On Wednesday, we all boarded a bus into Tegus....as a sidebar, excuse my punctuation on this post. I am using Annie´s computer and it is set to spanish mode and it won´t let me place parenthesis, question marks, and other punctuation in my sentences. So don´t think I have lost my skills with the English language already. haha. I just simply don´t know how to find those keys! In any case, we went into Tegus on Wednesday and we had a blast! We went to a children´s museum, and I have to say that it was a lot cooler than the museum in Boston. I think the best exhibit was this gigantic nose that visitors go inside of. Inside the nose, you press a button and all of the sudden, a huge sound is made and it is supposed to replicate someone blowing their nose. What fun! In any case, we had a blast there. We then went to two teacher stores which are exactly like the stores we have in the states. Despite the fact that I had TONS of bulletin board and supplies, I decided that I wanted to keep with a ¨Clifford the Big Red Dog¨theme, and purchased a calendar, alphabet border, and teacher´s helpter bulletin board. I know that Honduran children know about Clifford, as that is Janca´s dog´s name.
Anyways, things here are MUCH different than in the states as far as teacher training is concerned. We were supposed to have several hours more of group orientation this week. Well, those just never happened. We have a parent orientation tomorrow morning...and we know pretty much nothing about it, only that we have to be there at 8a.m. The guys have both never taught a day in their life, and have pretty much been handed materials and had to figure things out themselves. It is both a nice feeling to know that I have freedom in my classroom, but it is also a bit frustrating as I am used to such order in my classroom and more direction. I guess this is just all part of the Honduran way!
In any case, I don´t want this blog to come off as totally negative, because I am definitely having a great experience here. I have just had a few ¨low days¨and I suppose those are going to come. Hopefully the ¨high days¨will outweigh them. To end this entry, I want to share a few comical stories and observations with you all. First and foremost, did you know that Hondurans are obsessed with Bryan Adams!!! Everywhere you go...be it the gas station, on a public bus, someone´s house...Bryan Adams seems to be playing. It is not like he has even put out an album or anything! They are also big fans of the Beatles here. I heard ¨Hey Jude¨in Spanish at least 10 times this week in the room next door. Another comical part of this whole adventure is surely my Spanish knowledge. Or rather, my lack thereof. I have tried speaking several times and each attempt has been met with laughter by the Honduran teachers. For example, the other night one of the teachers asked how my brother was. Another teacher asked who Christopher was. Well, I responded with ¨Christopher is mi hombre¨. Now, I know that ¨hombre¨means man, not brother. But when you are trying so hard to recall words, the wrong one always seems to come out. So yes. I called my brother ¨my man¨. At least everyone is very lighthearted about it and they all seem williing to help. I DO hope my Spanish improves to a point where I can at least communicate with some people. It is VERY difficult to be the social butterfly that I am not and not be able to converse with all of these new people in my life. Hopefully, the frustration level will lead me to just try even harder to learn the language.
In any case, I am out to enjoy a Friday night out in Juticalpa. One of the other volunteers, Sarah, is leaving tomorrow morning. So we are going to dinner at a restaurant called Oregano´s. According to Annie, it is the only restaurant in all of Juticalpa that has dishes similar to what we have at home...in Italian restaurants, anyways. I have to say that I am looking forward to it. And I refuse to get meat tonight. I think I have eaten more red meat in the past 8 days than I have in the past YEAR. And the meat is always super tough and chewy. It hurts my jaw to chew it! Anyways, I love and miss you all and will try to blog at least weekly. Monday is the first day of school, and I am super excited about it! I got my final list today and it looks like I have 39 children rather than 46. But this is Honduras, so essentially anything can happen! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers on Monday. I am going to need them!

Monday, August 25, 2008

What am I getting myself into....

I woke up at 4:45 a.m this morning. It is now 2:00 a.m and I lie awake worrying and thinking "what on earth have I gotten myself into". Today was the first day of teacher training. First and foremost, I should mention that the ENTIRE thing was in Spanish. Secondly, I should mention that my Spanish training is almost nonexistant. Annie did give a very BRIEF translation in English, but I sat in a sweltering hot room for several hours listening to her go on about school policies in a language which I did not understand. Afterwards, I was able to get the assignment from one of my fellow volunteers; Eric, who is fluent in Spanish. I am starting to worry immensely about my ability to carry out my job responsibilities. I am hoping to keep the faith and be positive about things as the start of the school year approaches, but it is impossible to hide my apprehension. 30 children English speaking children with 2 teachers was a challenge enough. But 46 children who speak Spanish with an English speaking teacher? It is looking like the challenge of a lifetime....keep me in your prayers, I surely need them right now!

On the upside, I had dinner again tonight with all of the volunteers and I had an AMAZING time! Around 10p.m, it started downpouring and I grabbed a bar of soap outside and proceeded to start showering in the rain. It wasn't raining hard enough to wash my hair, but I have to admit that I feel very clean and refreshed right now. It is amazing how quickly one can learn to appreciate running water! It was a really nice night. All of us sat around and discussed our reasons for being here and what we wanted to gain from this experience. I shared with everyone that Honduras for me restores my faith in the good of humanity. I feel beyond blessed to be here. These people have so little material wise. But what they don't have in money and material goods, they make up for in love and kindness. The fact that I get to spend a year amongst these beautiful people is an amazing blessing! I love and miss you all though; and wish you were sharing in this experience with me!

P.S Mom, I found my bed sheets! They were in a box marked "adult diapers". Haha...wish you guys were here!.....

Settling in...

It is 4:45 a.m and I am wide awake. I am actually up on my computer ready to blog. Back home, I would have had difficulty prying myself out of bed even 2 hours from now. I'm not a morning person at all, but I think I am going to have to become one. I am officially in Honduras. The temperature in my bedroom already feels as though it has climbed above 90 degrees making it difficult to sleep. Rather than the sound of the MBTA whizzing by or homeless people digging through the trash in the dumpster next to my apartment, I instead hear the sounds of various types of lizards crawling around on the tin roof and roosters crowing. (Did you know that roosters don't "cock-a-doodle doo" at dawn online? They do it 24/7!)

I feel guilty that I am just starting to blog now, as I know that everyone back home is anxiously awaiting to hear about the start of my adventure. Please forgive me for taking a few days to get acclimated and "dilly-dallying" on starting this. As many of you know, this is the Honduran way!

I had a nice, relaxing weekend here in Juticalpa. I got a lot of down-time to get acclimated to the area and "find my bearings". It really isn't that difficult to quickly learn your way around here, with the exception of the fact that it's impossible to give directions! There is only one real street with a name in Juticalpa, and that is the Boulevard. Essentially, if you head down that street you will find your way to the "guys house" where Eric, John, and James (the male volunteers) live, and the "girls house" (where myself, Bree, and Maria) will be living. I am currently staying in the Colonia, a government owned housing area with Annie (the principal of Santa Clara) and her husband Henry. Two other volunteers are still staying here, and they are still staying in my place. It is really nice to stay with Annie and Henry as I know the both of them already and they are so friendly and welcoming, but I am kind of anxious to get into my own place. I don't really feel "settled" yet as I am kind of living out of my suitcases right now. I am afraid to unpack them, because closing the both of them was a nightmare. Therefore, I guess I will just deal with the mess of living out of them for a few more days and enjoy my quiet time here in the Colonia. It is so quiet over here that at night, you could hear a pin drop.

This morning, we officially start our new teacher training. I have to admit that I am extremely nervous and apprehensive about what lies ahead of me. All I know is that I will have two sections of first graders. One I will have in the morning, the other I will have in the afternoon. I am to speak in English to them only, which I clearly have no other option anyways as I don't speak ANY Spanish at all. What really scares me to death is that I learned this weekend that I will not have the teacher's assistant that I was promised. Therefore, I will have 23 spanish speaking little munchkins at a time ALL by myself. I know from teaching kindergarten back in the states that this is going to take every ounce of energy out of me. I am not scared about putting in the effort or working hard. I guess what I am most afraid of is that I will not be "good enough" to educate these children. I am afraid that the language barrier will hinder me from being a good teacher. Both Jess and Colleen (last year's volunteers) have warned me how difficult the first month or so of school is going to be, but I am afraid that I won't pick up the language fast enough.

It just amazes me how different things are here from in the states. Back home, it would be next to impossible to even find a teaching job as my undergraduate degree isn't even in Education. It would surely be impossible to find a teaching job in an inner city school where being billingual is a necessity. Here, it doesn't even seem to be an issue. Two of the other volunteers have never even stepped foot in a classroom in their lives! It just amazes me how we all seem so unqualified in different areas, yet everyone seems SO excited and so appreciative to have us here. Walking down the street last night to the cathedral, a group of little kids started yelling to us "hi teachers!" in English. I guess they know that any "gringas" that are here in Honduras are here to teach. Everywhere you walk in town, people stop and stare at you. It is SUCH a weird feeling to be considered a minority. I have never felt like that before anywhere back home! I would not say that I am homesick per say as this place is amazing, but it is definitely a lot different being here on my own rather than in a group like I was in April. I think what is most difficult for me right now is that I am seeing all of these familair faces and experiencing all of these amazing things and I can't share it with the people back home that I shared it with in April. I feel a strong desire to pick up the phone and just call one of these people and tell them about everything that is happening. At least I got to talk to my parents this weekend, which made me feel a lot better. I know that they share the same level of love and connection with this place, and it made me smile to tell them about my adventures thus far. (Even the fact that I we hung out at the Esso station for 2 hours to keep cool yesterday, they appreciated!) I feel as though I don't want to tell them TOO much though, as I know that they wish they could be on this great adventure with me. In regards to everyone else, I guess I am just going to have to work REALLY hard on keeping up with my emails! It will give me something to do in my "down-time" I suppose!

Anyways, I am going to cut this short because it is time to get ready for my first day at work. Getting ready is going to include an ice cold shower with a limited water supply. I must turn the water on and off as I wash to conserve water. When I get out of the shower, I will get dressed and throw my hair in a ponytail. It is so hot here that I have already thrown all of my hopes on looking beautiful to the wind. Makeup? It wound melt right off your face? Styling my hair? I'm lucky if I get enough water pressure and can withstand the cold water long enough to get the soap out of my hair. You know what though? I already like it better this way. It is so nice to know that in the mornings I will be able to just get up, comb my hair, throw on something comfy and cool, and go. Wish me luck! Today is going to be a VERY full day with LOTS to digest! I love and miss you all back home!

To my friends, I think about you all everyday! It was hard for me to leave, but please realize that this is something that I just have to do right now. It is going to be an experience of much growth and I have such a strong connection with these people that I know I have made the right decision. Don't think I have forgotten about any of you though!

Anyways, I am off! Hasta Luego!