Dia de Gracias

The school held an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for all the teachers (11/19).

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's an excerpt of my daily adventures in learning Spanish:

I'm getting together with a bunch of teachers for a potluck dinner today, and my assignment is to bring cranberry sauce. Yesterday, I went to the store hoping that I'd see a can of it, or at least fresh cranberries to use in a recipe. But, when my friend and I were trying to describe it to the helpful store clerk: "pequena y roja y dura," (small, red, hard), he brought us a bag of grapes, a jar of cherries, and a box of strawberries. We then started picking up things in the store that might help get the point across: a Christmas wreath with berries on it, a bag of trail mix, and finally, a bottle of Cranberry juice. "Arandanos!" The clerk finally understood, and we were so excited, thinking he would point the way to the cranberry section or pull a jar of cranberry sauce (salsa de arandanos) off the shelf. But then, his face fell, as he admitted, "No tenemos arandanos." (We don't have cranberries.) Disappointed, yet grateful, we said, "gracias," and headed to the check-out with the bottle of cranberry juice. Close enough, right?

Spiritual Emphasis Week

The elementary choir lead us in song--two of my students are on the far right, front row!

Students praying. God is at work here.

Clapping along to the songs.

This first grader shared her testimony with us. Precious!

Flags of the World around our meeting tent

Worship time!

The IST choir led us in song.

2 of my students and the elementary school chaplain

It was great to take a moment out of our usually busy schedule and gather together to praise God and listen to different speakers/performers share their testimonies.
Continue to pray for God's hand on International School and his daily work in the students' lives.

In Honduras..

A funny thing happened Friday. Our teacher bus couldn't make it up the steep hill that leads to school, so it had to back all the way down the hill, in order to get enough momentum to make it up. We joked that maybe school would be canceled because the teachers couldn't get to school. Two full buses of IST students passed us, before the driver decided to unload us and have us get on another bus.
This got me thinking about the things that make Honduras unique:
**I'll be adding to this list as the year goes on and I discover more about this country : )

In the classroom:
*Students will choose to play soccer rather than watch a movie.
*You will be called "Miss" (pronounced: MEES) only and you will get confused when there is another female teacher in the room.
*You will spend extra time teaching them how to ask a question. Then the next day a student will ask for something: Miss, lend me a pencil? or Miss I borrow you marker.
Okay..from the top!
*Students will use silly bandz bracelets as collateral. I swear that they multiply, because each day the students come back they have more. There are bracelets up to their elbows. And I predict that one day, a student won't be able to move their arm due to the amount of bands (and rings) they're wearing.
*A student will come to you one day and tell you they're moving to the States. You ask them questions and they don't have a response.
Where? I don't know. Why? I don't know. When are you leaving? I don't know.
So let's say goodbye and hopefully you're not leaving till the end of the quarter.
*Praying at the beginning of class, before a test, and to open parent/teacher conferences is completely acceptable.
*You will assign a U.S. Regional Food project and one student will bring in fish "from California" and forget to take it home the day before parent/teacher conferences. With fans blowing and windows open, it will still take a few days to get the smell out.
*You will probably get invited to a student's birthday party. It will most likely be held at McDonalds. You will wrap a couple Dorito's bags inside a tissue box and the kid will be ecstatic.
*The school will put up their Christmas tree the day of the Thanksgiving dinner. : )

Around the city:
*Every restaurant has a play place for kids. Some restaurants even have a separate building to house the playground area.
*If you want typical Honduran food, you will probably end up eating outside (open air restaurant or buying pupusas off the street).
*Your housemate will get 2nd place in a 10K race and win an all-out paid vacation to a resort in Ceiba.
*You can't get a taxi when you want one, but when you don't want one, every taxi honks at you as they drive by. This is especially true on a Friday night when it is raining and there is a Christmas tree lighting at the mall.
*When you climb in the taxi you will hear one of three things: 1) 80's music (they LOOVE it here; especially Michael Jackson), 2) Love songs in English, or 3) Gospel radio. One time a cab driver kept playing the song "Stand by Me" on our drive and the 5 of us started singing along.
*You will give the driver a complement if the taxi's seats are not falling apart and they have an air freshener on the dashboard. You never know until you get in.
*You will see little to no birds, then one day will drive home on the bus and see two bright red macaws sitting in your neighbor's tree.
*You will enjoy the late-night trumpeting of a neighbor's birthday party down the street.
*You should never try to order "agua fresca" at a corner restaurant. They will only give you a strange look and bring you Canada Dry.
*Also--try to avoid an awkward situation and NEVER ask for "bebes", if you forget the word for drink (bebida), just say Sprite or Coke.
*You will carry small bills for the fruit guy, a L.20 ($1) for a taxi ride or granita (delicious coffee drink), and L.100 just in case you walk by the grocery store and you realize you're out of bread.
*People talk on their cell phones at work, while driving your taxi, in the middle of church, and pretty much whenever it rings. I'm learning that Hondurans value relationships and Americans value time.
*Store owners examine your L500 ($25) so closely you'd think it was a $100 bill.
*You will take a trip out of the city, and be so excited to see stars, that you tell everyone around you to look up.

Science Fair

Today was the 4th grade Science Fair!
It was so exciting to see the students' final projects and hear them share with the judges and the visiting younger grades about what they learned from their seed experiments. Also, one of my boys won first place overall in the entire 4th grade! I couldn't be prouder!

Here are some pictures from the Fair:

Lago

I couldn't see, I couldn't breathe, and I had no idea where I was stepping. Last Saturday, I went "behind," more like "underneath" a waterfall in Lago de Yojoa, and it was an adventure like no other.

After a day at a tranquil little hotel by the lake, the other teachers and I made the drive to Pulhapanzak to see the infamous waterfall and ziplining area. Several Honduran families were enjoying a Sunday afternoon at the park there, and I saw some strange looks from them as they watched this bus full of gringos unload and go trekking down the cliff-side path to see the waterfall.

The waterfall was magnificent, roaring over the rocks, in a continual downpour. And the returning teachers pointed out where the waterfall tour would begin. "By those rocks down there, and then you go into some caves." Cool, I thought. I don't often do crazy things, with the exception of choosing to move to Honduras for 2 years, and the waterfall tour seemed reasonable enough, with several people emerging from the falls unscathed. So, I convinced myself to go, along with 10 other teachers who decided to brave the tour.

The path curved along nicely down the cliff, then we had to climb over some boulders to get to a large pool of water we had to swim across to get to the tour entrance. That was the point that if you wanted to back out, you could turn around and head back. I looked at the other first-year teachers and saw determination, even if it was the "what have I gotten myself into" kind, in their eyes, and again, pushed myself to continue on.

It was not long before I was soaking wet, standing alongside the others, dripping buckets and squinting into the white mist ahead. I followed the most-experienced waterfall explorer, aside from our Honduran guide, and pressed on toward the next rock. As we neared the falls, the volume increased. The water pounded all around us, making it difficult to hear, and the mist/spray obscured our vision. Everytime I snuck a peek at our location, the swirling white around us made me think we were inside a blizzard. Stepping down, we blindly felt about until we caught each other's hands and then held on for dear life as we made our way across the slippery rocks and into the river. What I thought was going to be a little jaunt through a thin wall of water and into a cave, turned into a torrential threat, which only prayer, adrenaline, and the leading of others carried me through.

You had to keep your head down, and I could only open my eyes at specific intervals where the water stemmed. I took a big gasp of air before I went under, but there were a few times that I realized I couldn't breathe, which fortunately didn't last long. Deprived of my usual senses, I had to completely rely on the person in front of me to guide me where to go and help me find shelter.

Finally, after these initial frightening moments, we reached a rock crevice where we could pause, catch our breath (literally), and stare at each other in utter shock that we underwent such an experience. A little ways past the resting point, the guide told us to crawl up into a cave. I was pretty sure I wouldn't fit, but when I got up there, about 10 of us fit into the space. It was pitch black, and the girls and I tried to comfort and encourage each other, while the guys were outside in the center of the waterfall celebrating the thrill of it all.

The trek back was cake compared to the way there. In fact, there was one section of the walk, where it felt like a light rain, and I thought I could stay there and swim for the afternoon. On the way back, I also jumped off a large boulder into the water, which previously, would have been pretty daring for me, but then, again, we did just walk through a waterfall.

Up the trail and through the gate, we emerged a little shaken, but victorious nonetheless. Some of us would return and do it again in a heartbeat, and some of us are still saying, "never again in our lives." All I'll say is, it was definitely an experience to remember!

The "After" Shot

Logic

The other day, one of my students comes to school with a sizable hole in his P.E. shirt.
First, he grabs tape off my desk to try to tape the hole shut.
Later on in the day, he finds a few paper clips and tries to pin it shut.
And finally, when the tape and paper clips have failed, he uses the stapler to put an end to the hole.
I watched the progression of "solutions" and had to smile, when he came to me and said, "I need a new shirt."
Ah, the logic of 4th grade boys.

And, thinking about it more, this story resembles the logic we often use, as God's children. We see the problems/sin in our lives and try silly ways of fixing it on our own, relying on our own attempts until we finally realize that its impossible-we need a new shirt. We need God to clothe us anew in his forgiveness and redemption through the blood of Christ. Is it not until we are more mature in realizing this, that we realize right away that only Christ can mend our lives.

Revelation 7:15
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

Matthew 9:17
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

La Catracha

Saturday morning, we trekked up the hill to school for Fiesta La Catracha. "Catracha" is another name for "Honduran," and this festival was an incredible glimpse into Catracha culture and history. The fiesta is almost completely put on/organized by students, and I was very impressed at the quality of everything from traditional performances to information booths.

The school was transformed with banners and balloons, and everyone was dressed in traditional Honduran attire. The festival kicked off with an adorable parade of preschool-kindergarteners demonstrating different parts of Honduran history (vaqueros para ninos y vestidos para ninas) and representing the different Central American countries as they marched to the sound of the xylophone band. The parade ended in the main/H.S. polli and parents, teachers, and the rest of the school squeezed into the bleachers to try to get a good view. Videocameras galore.

There were several events throughout the day that gave me further insight into Catracha culture/people. The juniors and seniors had set up these amazing booths (complete with bamboo poles and palm branches as roofs) about each region in Honduras; you walked into a booth and they told you everything you wanted to know about each region (in English!). Each booth had the typical/most important produce and handicrafts from that area and delicious samples of food known from that area. It made me desperately want to travel! Copan is top on my list; then Roatan, but eventually, I'd love to go everywhere.

Other events included a fashion show (2 of my students were in this), traditional dancing where they pulled people from the crowd onstage, a historical museum, performances from different grade levels, and overall socializing while enjoying plates of delicious Honduran cuisine.

It was a wonderful experience to learn more about Honduras, as well as see the closeness of the IST community. I'm so thankful to be part of it!