Pepsi on Strike

First, I heard someone chanting over a loudspeaker. I was organizing my room and doing some grading, and thought, "okay that's kind of odd, but not too out of the ordinary." At least once a day, I'll hear someone yelling through a megaphone about shoes or fish or whatever they're selling from their pick-up truck. I continued to grade, unphased, when I heard a group cheer and what I thought was a round of gun shots going off. I ran to my window and leaned out to see what was going on in the street below.

Across the street from the entrance of the school, there was a large gathering of Pepsi factory workers protesting for higher wages. They carried a banner and angrily pumped the air with their fists to punctuate their echoed chants. Each person held a piece of paper, maybe of what chants they were saying next, and wore a red shirt. It was definitely a sight to behold.

I quickly learned that the "gunshot" noises, were, in fact, large firecrackers they were setting off after giving really powerful statements. The firecrackers left smoke in the air and seemed to rock the school building like a mini-earthquake. I watched them for awhile from our balcony alongside some other teachers, then, finding I couldn't concentrate anymore in my classroom, went over and joined in a teachers' volleyball game going on in the high school poli.

What an afternoon!

Spanish Slip ups

Well, I've had three weeks now to get back into the swing of life in Honduras and, as part of a new year's resolution to get the most out of my experience, I've been attempting to speak Spanish every opportunity I get.

Three quick stories:
1. I was playing a card game with a mix of N. Americans and Hondurans, and I leaned over and asked one of the Hondurans how to say "your turn" in Spanish. He replied, "Te toque." I rehearsed the phrase a few times, but when it came time to actually use it, my sounds got mixed up and I ended up saying "Tu taco," which means "your taco." Now, when we play card games, we tease each other by saying "It's your taco."

2. I was trying to practice my Spanish on a weekly student behavior slip; I had wanted to communicate that a student was having trouble focusing in class. So I had written " a veces ella ha hablando y no se foca" (which literally translates to: "sometimes she is speaking and not a seal"). Fortunately, my student corrected me before the nota went home, and the parents and I had a good laugh at parent/teacher conferences over the mistranslation. Next time, I'll use a Spanish dictionary.

3. Last night, my housemates went with a Honduran family to go see "Enredados" (Tangled). They had taken us to the only theater in town that had a showing of it in English, which we found out after we arrived, wasn't playing that night. Even without subtitles, it was an enjoyable movie, and surprisingly, I found myself understanding a lot of it (although it definitely helped to have seen the movie before).
Prior to a fun night of movie watching, we went with the family to cheer on their daughter play with the IST Junior/Senior futbol team at a tournament in town. It was a tied game, but we had fun cheering alongside students, teachers, and a man with a bullhorn. I learned the cheer, "Vamos Inter" (Let's Go Inter.--like international school).

More adventures to come!

Christmas Videos

from Tegucigalpa (1st-3rd graders at Christmas program) to Chico (my dad and I playing in church)

Copan Poem

click on pictures to enlarge them

Crafted with care
by Laura Diaz

December 2010

Inspired by a trip to Copan Ruins

Like a Glorious temple buried under thick jungle brush
Is a life undiscovered

Meaningless lost
It sits there slouching on a hill, unused
Slowly being encircled by vines
Until the color fades to gray
And weeds poke out like a fuzzy layer of hair on a newborn baby

Buried under the weight of centuries
Waiting in a coma
thinking all hope is lost
There is no way out

Until

The Architect returns and

Shovels off the rubble
Chisels away the cakes of dirt
And hacks away the tightly wound vines that have squeezed the song out of this former temple

The Architect whistles as he works
almost as if beckoning the sun to visit this remote spot in the jungle
And tiny beams of light start to trickle through the budding branches above

Piercing the shadows and illuminating the temples' stains and regrets

The Architect climbs

until there are no stairs
and he stands on an overgrown patch, bare feet feeling the cold stone underneath

He looks out at the distant horizon
Recalling his original floor plans

how he formed the temple
He still knows it inside and out
Still loves it deeply
Yet
He has been waiting for this moment

For He is
The one who
sadly watched it's new creation grow apathetic and dull over the years
Fading into the static gray of the world's backdrop
Who watched the magnificent structure lose it's meaning
Lose it's place
Become trapped and absorbed into the wild nature around it
Instead of standing erect and distinct as it was created to be
Though the Architect cried out to it and thrashed his way through the weeds only to be choked out again and again

by the temples stubborn will

The structure sags ashamed
Of it's past
Never having invested it's treasures to gain interest
Not having been prepared for the return of the Architect

Broken beyond repair
It surrenders it's whole self to the Architect
The only one who can restore it and renew it's purpose again

The process is painful
and slow
But the architect is wise
and gentle
Making changes for only what the temple can bear
Patting the newly sanded corner
With reassurance and reminders to be patient and trust despite the desire to escape

Gradually the temple is refinished
And the Architect steps back to admire its grandeur

And steps are formed out of the rubble
leading upward
To a pinnacle where there is a clear view of the sky

He Restores the temple to it's former glory
And it stands
Purposeful and knowing it's
Treasured by the one who built it

The Architect climbs with sure feet
Knowing this temple will always be His home

Christmas Break

Home in Chico for Christmas! More blog updates to follow!

Prayer Requests

Thanks to those who have been following my adventures and praying!
Here are some requests as we finish up the last two weeks before Christmas.

Please pray:
-for energy and that God would sustain us to continue to teach well and we would be well rested
-for health (parasites, chicken pox, and the flu are plaguing the group right now)
-for patience (every day with the children, with the copy guy, with administration, with each other; pray that we can give each other grace and speak peaceful words of encouragement that lift each other up)
-for wisdom (we have a lot to fit in the last days of the Partial and need to figure out how to make sure we teach it all; also for wisdom in making decisions about Christmas Program and how to manage the classroom during this hectic time)
-for true joy and perseverance (that we would look to Christ as the source of our joy transcending circumstances, that we would remember God has a purpose for us here, and that we would continue to fight the good fight all the way until we have a break)

Here is a list of my students. I'd really appreciate prayer for each of them, especially during this Christmas season where we are all reminded of God's gift to us:

Andrea E.
Andrea H.
Armanda
Cathy
Genesis
Laurens
Marjorie
Sofia
Valeria
Vicky (who moved to the States)
Allan G.
Allan E.
Andres
Edgardo
Gustavo
Jose E.
Jose M.
Kristian
Kevin
Ronald

God bless!

Only in Honduras (continued)

*Christmas music plays everywhere in the malls, but you can't find it on the radio.

*A marching band comes up your street at 4am and fireworks start going off at 2a, stopping at 5a and resuming around 8:30p. (There is a carnival for a saint's holiday in your neighborhood.)

*You walk out of your house on a Sunday morning, only to discover there are 5-6 cows just wandering around your street.

*You get stuck in a traffic jam with 5 lanes going the wrong direction and people jumping out of their cars to try to direct traffic. No one is honking (this is normal). Two crowded buses pass just inches from your car.

*You attend a Christmas play at your church and it involves a neon Jesus in black light.
You are quite impressed.

*Denny's is considered a fancy restaurant. If you wear jeans there, you will feel very out of place.

*Five months into your stay, you discover that you can buy milk, eggs, and butter from the pulperia (little store) down the street. Rejoicing ensues.