I just read an AP article that says that after facing "condemnation abroad," Micheletti decided to backtrack on his repeal of civil liberties. It's pretty alarming that he tried, but at least dictatorship's not happening yet. Thanks international community!
It's pretty sad that Hondurans are faced with having to choose between a power-hungry communist and a power-hungry dictator. No wonder they're rioting.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Changes
Things are changing here in Honduras! Today I received the following email from the U.S. Embassy:
The Embassy advises citizens residing in and visiting Honduras that the de facto regime issued a decree suspending certain rights under the Honduran constitution on Sunday, September 27, 2009. This decree affects all people in Honduras, including non-Hondurans. Specifically, the following articles of the Honduran Constitution have been suspended for the next 45 days (until November 11, 2009):
Article 69: The right to personal freedom
Article 72: Freedom of Speech
Article 78: Freedom of Association
Article 81: Freedom of Movement
Article 84: The right to due process
So, okay. The right to personal freedom has been revoked? Free speech? Due process? Maybe I better start obeying the curfews. I have read about governments that do things like this, but living in a country that imposes those sorts of limitations is extremely, extremely scary. Freedom of Speech and the right to due process are two of the most fundamental tenants of any functioning democracy, and the fact that they've been revoked truly indicates the lengths that this government will go to in order to maintain control of its citizens.
Since I no longer have the freedom of speech, I'll leave it at that.
But those aren't the only changes taking place in Honduras. On a more personal note...I'm moving! Everyone who thought I was crazy before will really think I'm crazy now...but I'm moving out of the city of Gracias and into the mountains. Currently, I live in a small house in the city of Gracias. My house is very nice and as I think I've mentioned, I really love the family I live with. About five miles up a rocky road is our school, and about a mile above the school is Villa Verde. There are fewer amenities in Villa Verde (no internet, sketchy cell phone reception, no stores, certainly no television), but it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The mountains will be my backyard! I like Gracias, but it's very...dry, dusty, and busy. We have a TV in my house, which I'm not a huge fan of, and I hate walking anywhere because the men in Gracias are so nasty and vocal. In Villa Verde, I will walk to and from school every day breathing the crispest, cleanest air, surrounded only by the mountains and the trees. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to live in a tiny, tight-knit community, and I'll finally get to spend time with the other American teachers!
I'm really excited about it. So, my blog posts will become fewer after I move, which should be sometime in October. But of course, that's the point. :)
The Embassy advises citizens residing in and visiting Honduras that the de facto regime issued a decree suspending certain rights under the Honduran constitution on Sunday, September 27, 2009. This decree affects all people in Honduras, including non-Hondurans. Specifically, the following articles of the Honduran Constitution have been suspended for the next 45 days (until November 11, 2009):
Article 69: The right to personal freedom
Article 72: Freedom of Speech
Article 78: Freedom of Association
Article 81: Freedom of Movement
Article 84: The right to due process
So, okay. The right to personal freedom has been revoked? Free speech? Due process? Maybe I better start obeying the curfews. I have read about governments that do things like this, but living in a country that imposes those sorts of limitations is extremely, extremely scary. Freedom of Speech and the right to due process are two of the most fundamental tenants of any functioning democracy, and the fact that they've been revoked truly indicates the lengths that this government will go to in order to maintain control of its citizens.
Since I no longer have the freedom of speech, I'll leave it at that.
But those aren't the only changes taking place in Honduras. On a more personal note...I'm moving! Everyone who thought I was crazy before will really think I'm crazy now...but I'm moving out of the city of Gracias and into the mountains. Currently, I live in a small house in the city of Gracias. My house is very nice and as I think I've mentioned, I really love the family I live with. About five miles up a rocky road is our school, and about a mile above the school is Villa Verde. There are fewer amenities in Villa Verde (no internet, sketchy cell phone reception, no stores, certainly no television), but it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The mountains will be my backyard! I like Gracias, but it's very...dry, dusty, and busy. We have a TV in my house, which I'm not a huge fan of, and I hate walking anywhere because the men in Gracias are so nasty and vocal. In Villa Verde, I will walk to and from school every day breathing the crispest, cleanest air, surrounded only by the mountains and the trees. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to live in a tiny, tight-knit community, and I'll finally get to spend time with the other American teachers!
I'm really excited about it. So, my blog posts will become fewer after I move, which should be sometime in October. But of course, that's the point. :)
Sunday, September 27, 2009
I climbed a mountain
Well, I spent the weekend in Villa Verde with four of the other teachers in Vida Abundante. I just love those girls and I had such a wonderful weekend with them. Anyway, as I said, they live in Villa Verde, which is this teeny little community that is literally nestled in the mountains. Fifty feet from their backyard is the entrance to the National Park, Celaque, and when you look out their windows, all you can see are mountains in every direction. The air up there felt cleaner and fresher and crisper than any air I've ever felt. I can't talk enough about the beauty in Villa Verde. It's overwhelming. 
We woke up on Saturday morning and headed up the mountain with the Phys. Ed teacher from our school, as well as one of the girls' neighbors, Don Louis. Don Louis is this little man who looks really old, but is actually fifty five. Also, he was in much, much better shape than we were! Anyway, he took us up the mountain. We wanted to get to the waterfall viewing point, which is probably 4-5 miles from the entrance to the park. We hope to actually hike to the waterfall sometime this year, but it's a two day hike and at this time of the year it rains pretty much every night, and we wanted to avoid getting wet-- haha.
Anyway, the trail started out pretty easily, with Don Louis stopping to point out different flowers and plants that can be used as medicines. He also picked really sweet fruit straight off the tree for us to try. It was awesome! We crossed the river in the photo (I fell in, of course), saw all sorts of enormous spider webs, and explored the Honduran mountains! The trail, however, did not remain easy for very long. When I say that we climbed the mountain...we literally climbed the mountain. Toward the end, it was so steep that we were on all fours, using tree trunks to pull ourselves up. I actually thought, towards the end, that I just could not take one more step. We all had to keep stopping, and I had to laugh because I think Don Louis could have sprinted up that mountain. (That's him in the photo, waiting patiently for us as we panted our way up to him). 
Anyway, when we finally made it to the top, it was so rewarding and incredibly breathtaking. The waterfall was exquisite and we were so excited that we made it all that way!On the walk back down, it started thundering...and then the rain came. The word "rain" is a bit of an understatement. It was torrential downpour. And all we could do was laugh, because we were so, so wet and there was just nothing we could do about it. It was really fun, I had such a blast.
I had such a wonderful time up in the mountains. I had so much fun playing with the children in the neighborhood and spending time with the girls here. The weekend was a really welcome break from all the politics and messiness that's happening in Honduras right now. It was the weekend I needed.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Still no school
Honduras isn't a great place to be living in right now. Our curfew was extended again last night, so classes were cancelled. However, they are allowing people to go outside between 10:30 and 4 today, so I came downtown. Unfortunately, downtown is insane. The hotel I usually get internet at is closed (I'm sitting outside of it right now, typing on the sidewalk), and I think everyone who lives here is trying to get errands done during those five and a half hours. There are guards with machine guns on every corner of our little city. It's ridiculous.
I'd like to make a retraction on a statement I made yesterday in my post. I said that people have died in the capital, but last night I found out that actually no one has reportedly been killed in Tegucigalpa yet (thank goodness, when things turn violent it will get really scary). I talked to several Hondurans yesterday, both on the phone and in person, and they all said that people were being killed. Those are the kinds of crazy rumors that get warped into facts when there's no official news and the government keeps everyone in the dark.
Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed off. I think this situation is being handled extremely poorly, I'm really annoyed that no one knows what the hell is going on, I hate that school is getting cancelled and I wish someone would step up and take a leadership position here! Come on!! Where's the media? Where is the order? Where is the president? Last night a spokesman for Micheletti came on the television. A spokesperson? They are calling this the biggest crisis Central America has faced in a decade, and a spokesperson comes on the television? Give me a break.
(Vote Kirsty McNamara, Honduras President '09)
I'd like to make a retraction on a statement I made yesterday in my post. I said that people have died in the capital, but last night I found out that actually no one has reportedly been killed in Tegucigalpa yet (thank goodness, when things turn violent it will get really scary). I talked to several Hondurans yesterday, both on the phone and in person, and they all said that people were being killed. Those are the kinds of crazy rumors that get warped into facts when there's no official news and the government keeps everyone in the dark.
Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed off. I think this situation is being handled extremely poorly, I'm really annoyed that no one knows what the hell is going on, I hate that school is getting cancelled and I wish someone would step up and take a leadership position here! Come on!! Where's the media? Where is the order? Where is the president? Last night a spokesman for Micheletti came on the television. A spokesperson? They are calling this the biggest crisis Central America has faced in a decade, and a spokesperson comes on the television? Give me a break.
(Vote Kirsty McNamara, Honduras President '09)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Politics
I’m on political lockdown, and if you’ve never experienced being forced by a government to stay in your house…well, it’s awesome. Just kidding. “Mel,” as the Hondurans call their ousted president, snuck back into the country last night. He has been hiding at the border since the military coup over the summer, and last night he managed to return. He is now camping out in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. As soon as that happened, the government ordered a “curfew” on the entire country. It originally was supposed to begin at 4pm last night and end at 7am this morning, but then they extended it until 6pm tonight. So, our classes were cancelled (I’m thinking of it as a political snow day) and I am on house lockdown. I actually don’t have internet in my house, and I was getting really frustrated with the lack of news and overabundance of governmental control...so I walked into town to get internet. Yeah, I'm sticking it to the man right now.
Actually, there are quite a lot of people outside in Gracias, and that adds to the frustration of everything. Here, everything seems normal. Furthermore, the news isn’t showing anything at all about what’s happening in the capital. I am such a political junkie, and the United States is such a news-happy culture that I am not thrilled about being in a place where the news is censored. The lady I live with told me that there are no news stories because the government doesn’t want to alarm Hondurans or attract international attention. That is an incredibly frustrating and dangerous idea—keeping the citizens in the dark to prevent alarm, when their lives might be in danger? Several people have already died in Tegucigalpa because of the political protests, and the citizens should know what’s going on. By the way, we do have CNN in Español here, and when I turned it on, they were doing a story about how to can food. Thanks, CNN. As always, you’re on your game and reporting on what’s important.
Currently, the Honduran government is asking the Brazilian embassy to either give Zelaya political asylum, or turn him into the authorities. Now let me just say… I don’t really have an opinion about Zelaya. Most of the people I’ve talked to around here do not like him; they think he’s dangerous because he’s allies with Hugo Chavez, and they think he wants to run Honduras the way Chavez runs Venezuela. However, the country is divided; he also has many, many supporters and I am far too ignorant and unable to understand Spanish to be able to make my own informed opinion about this situation. All I know is that I do not like any government that 1) makes me stay in my house, or 2) censors the news. Smells like a dictatorship to me.
Actually, there are quite a lot of people outside in Gracias, and that adds to the frustration of everything. Here, everything seems normal. Furthermore, the news isn’t showing anything at all about what’s happening in the capital. I am such a political junkie, and the United States is such a news-happy culture that I am not thrilled about being in a place where the news is censored. The lady I live with told me that there are no news stories because the government doesn’t want to alarm Hondurans or attract international attention. That is an incredibly frustrating and dangerous idea—keeping the citizens in the dark to prevent alarm, when their lives might be in danger? Several people have already died in Tegucigalpa because of the political protests, and the citizens should know what’s going on. By the way, we do have CNN in Español here, and when I turned it on, they were doing a story about how to can food. Thanks, CNN. As always, you’re on your game and reporting on what’s important.
Currently, the Honduran government is asking the Brazilian embassy to either give Zelaya political asylum, or turn him into the authorities. Now let me just say… I don’t really have an opinion about Zelaya. Most of the people I’ve talked to around here do not like him; they think he’s dangerous because he’s allies with Hugo Chavez, and they think he wants to run Honduras the way Chavez runs Venezuela. However, the country is divided; he also has many, many supporters and I am far too ignorant and unable to understand Spanish to be able to make my own informed opinion about this situation. All I know is that I do not like any government that 1) makes me stay in my house, or 2) censors the news. Smells like a dictatorship to me.
Friday, September 18, 2009
I love second grade
I love my little students. I just love them. They are so mischievous and cheeky, but they are also so cute and funny. I am becoming a lot more comfortable with my job. I think that I am getting more used to being around lots of little children all the time, and I'm also getting used to the culture here in Honduras. I also understand Spanish pretty well now, which helps a lot. Getting over the culture shock has been a big part of feeling more comfortable in my job.
A couple good and bad things happened in the past few days.
Good thing: I conducted my first parent-teacher conference. In Spanish. Haha, a parent wanted to come talk to me about her daughter, so I had scheduled a conference yesterday morning. We have two principals at my school- one who speaks a little English and one who speaks no English. I had assumed the one who knows a little English would be there...but nope. So I had a full out conference by myself with this lady, in Spanish! I was scared, but it went pretty well. I think I was able to get my point across and I understood her concerns, so I feel good that I've reached that level of Spanish proficiency.
Bad thing: Food poisoning. And let's just say that we share a bathroom with the little kids (4 teeny stalls), and trying to deal with diarrhea in them is pretty awkward.
Good thing: I had a meeting with the school principals and administrators, and they made me feel really good about the job I've been doing. They told me that they're really happy with my work here, and that they can see significant changes in my students since the end of last year (I don't think I can take credit for that, but it was a nice thing for them to say). They said that they are really grateful that I'm on staff and they said that they appreciate me doing all the extra work I do. I felt so good that they said that, because I do feel like I do a lot of extra stuff. It was really nice of them to give me that feedback, it made me feel motivated.
Bad thing: We lost our electricity for all of last night, and our running water for most of today. Yeah...try getting ready for school at 5am with no lights...it's pretty hard.
Funny thing: When I was in college, I did laundry maybe once a month, if that. I would just let it pile up and pile up and then when I was finally out of underwear, thongs, and bathing suits, I would do my laundry. Well, I tried to do that here, but it turns out that it's much harder to do a load of laundry when you have to wash every article of clothing by hand. So I ended up standing in front of the pila for literally hours, trying to get my clothes washed. haha... maybe this trip will teach me how to stop procrastinating? Doubt it.
I think so far this experience is teaching me 1) Patience, 2) Organization, 3) Appreciation, and 4) Spanish, and probably other stuff too. Not too shabby, considering I only left five weeks ago. :)
A couple good and bad things happened in the past few days.
Good thing: I conducted my first parent-teacher conference. In Spanish. Haha, a parent wanted to come talk to me about her daughter, so I had scheduled a conference yesterday morning. We have two principals at my school- one who speaks a little English and one who speaks no English. I had assumed the one who knows a little English would be there...but nope. So I had a full out conference by myself with this lady, in Spanish! I was scared, but it went pretty well. I think I was able to get my point across and I understood her concerns, so I feel good that I've reached that level of Spanish proficiency.
Bad thing: Food poisoning. And let's just say that we share a bathroom with the little kids (4 teeny stalls), and trying to deal with diarrhea in them is pretty awkward.
Good thing: I had a meeting with the school principals and administrators, and they made me feel really good about the job I've been doing. They told me that they're really happy with my work here, and that they can see significant changes in my students since the end of last year (I don't think I can take credit for that, but it was a nice thing for them to say). They said that they are really grateful that I'm on staff and they said that they appreciate me doing all the extra work I do. I felt so good that they said that, because I do feel like I do a lot of extra stuff. It was really nice of them to give me that feedback, it made me feel motivated.
Bad thing: We lost our electricity for all of last night, and our running water for most of today. Yeah...try getting ready for school at 5am with no lights...it's pretty hard.
Funny thing: When I was in college, I did laundry maybe once a month, if that. I would just let it pile up and pile up and then when I was finally out of underwear, thongs, and bathing suits, I would do my laundry. Well, I tried to do that here, but it turns out that it's much harder to do a load of laundry when you have to wash every article of clothing by hand. So I ended up standing in front of the pila for literally hours, trying to get my clothes washed. haha... maybe this trip will teach me how to stop procrastinating? Doubt it.
I think so far this experience is teaching me 1) Patience, 2) Organization, 3) Appreciation, and 4) Spanish, and probably other stuff too. Not too shabby, considering I only left five weeks ago. :)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tela
Well....the beaches were incredible, the ocean water was warm, the hotel was nice (and air conditioned, and had TV), there were geckos everywhere, and the margaritas cost $3. Needless to say, it was a really amazing break!!! I have never been swimming in the Caribbean before, and the most striking element of the ocean to me was its temperature. It was just warm! Not the kind of temperature that starts out cool and then you get used to it and it feels warm...it was just warm water. We spent a lot of time in the sun, a lot of time at the bar, and a lot of time in the air conditioning. There were also no tourists there, so the beach was really quiet. And as always, the prices were insanely low! We had a blast, and it was so nice to get away from all the responsibilities of school.
Today, returning to school felt amazing because it's Wednesday already! I swear, I have never appreciated a four day weekend more than I did this past week. I have something else that I need to start thinking/worrying about now. I can't believe it, but I have to figure out what next year will bring for me. My plan has always been to work in Honduras for this year and during this fall (as in, right now) apply for law schools. I'm trying to apply for law schools, but it's incredibly difficult here. It's difficult because 1) I can't always load the LSAC website on this slow connection, 2) I don't have that much time to compose a meaningful personal statement, and 3) I don't really feel all that motivated to go sit in an office for the rest of my early/mid twenties when I could be working abroad. I feel extremely overwhelmed most of the time here...but I also really believe in what I'm doing. I love traveling, and there is an awful lot of the world that I haven't seen yet. I wish I didn't have to think about this right now! I feel like as soon as I begin something, I have to start planning what I want to do for the next year. I like the idea of law school (it fits my interests, and is a very practical choice)...but I also like the idea of living in Thailand, or India, or even another central American country (I've heard Costa Rica's incredible) and keep helping people this way. I know that eventually I have to settle down...but every time I look at the mountains here, I can't help but think that I'd be crazy to settle now.
Today, returning to school felt amazing because it's Wednesday already! I swear, I have never appreciated a four day weekend more than I did this past week. I have something else that I need to start thinking/worrying about now. I can't believe it, but I have to figure out what next year will bring for me. My plan has always been to work in Honduras for this year and during this fall (as in, right now) apply for law schools. I'm trying to apply for law schools, but it's incredibly difficult here. It's difficult because 1) I can't always load the LSAC website on this slow connection, 2) I don't have that much time to compose a meaningful personal statement, and 3) I don't really feel all that motivated to go sit in an office for the rest of my early/mid twenties when I could be working abroad. I feel extremely overwhelmed most of the time here...but I also really believe in what I'm doing. I love traveling, and there is an awful lot of the world that I haven't seen yet. I wish I didn't have to think about this right now! I feel like as soon as I begin something, I have to start planning what I want to do for the next year. I like the idea of law school (it fits my interests, and is a very practical choice)...but I also like the idea of living in Thailand, or India, or even another central American country (I've heard Costa Rica's incredible) and keep helping people this way. I know that eventually I have to settle down...but every time I look at the mountains here, I can't help but think that I'd be crazy to settle now.
Friday, September 11, 2009
El Dia del Niño
Today was an extremely fun day!! Yesterday was El Dia del Niño here in Honduras, and in small towns like Gracias, it's a really big deal! And I loved it, because it's just a day dedicated to making children feel really, really special about themselves. We played all day, took lots of photos, and generally had a blast. I love being around the students when I don't have to act like a disciplinarian, because I can just play with them and give them hugs.
My class full of monkeys:
They keep me smiling.
I really can't get over the exquisitely beautiful location of our school:
So many of them wore their jerseys!! Vamos vamos todos!
Children's day activities:
More to come :) And tomorrow morning, I'm off to Tela!!!
My class full of monkeys:
They keep me smiling.
I really can't get over the exquisitely beautiful location of our school:
So many of them wore their jerseys!! Vamos vamos todos!
Children's day activities:
More to come :) And tomorrow morning, I'm off to Tela!!!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesdays = the bane of my existence
Tuesdays are simply terrible for me. Most days, we have planning periods scattered throughout the day so that we have a break from the children (and they have a break from us) and we can have a little bit of time to breathe and figure out the rest of the day. On Tuesdays, I only have one planning period (40 minutes long) and it comes at 1:40pm. Furthermore, we have mandatory tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So that means I leave my house at 6:30am and at school until 4pm, with only a forty minute break. That is a very, very long day. When I get home, I feel like my legs just won't be able to hold me up any more, and my voice is hoarse from trying to speak loudly and clearly without yelling.
Additionally, I have no idea how to reach some of my students. At first, I couldn't figure out how, after two and a half weeks of reviewing, some of my students still don't know the sounds that the five vowels make. But then I sat in on their Spanish class today. The teacher asked them what the five vowels are (in Spanish) and they said, "A, E, I, O, U," pronouncing "I" the way I taught them to pronounce it (like the word, "eye"). But their teacher yelled, "I (read: eye)? What is I? The vowel is I!" But she pronounced it like a long E. So, I don't know if that makes sense, but basically the long I sound doesn't exist in Spanish, it's more of an 'eeee' sound. How are the students supposed to learn two sets of vowels at once? I'm sorry, but it's absolutely ridiculous. At the same time, I am getting a lot of pressure to finish this garbage curriculum this year. The curriculum really is garbage. It's dated, it's ineffective, and it's written for rich Americans. I am so frustrated that we don't have a curriculum that is geared specifically for children in a bilingual school. It's not fair to the children or to us that we are expected to work with an old American curriculum. I don't know what to do. I have to give my students a phonics test this week and I think most of them are going to fail it because they don't know the vowel sounds. So what do I do? Give them the test I've scheduled (that the school made me schedule) and watch them all fail? Or keep trying to teach them these lessons that aren't getting through their heads? I have no idea. Seriously...any suggestions would be very welcome.
Another note- just to clarify what I mean when I say, "Zelaya protests." In the big cities (Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula), there are constant protesters marching on the streets. Most of them are supporters of Zelaya, the ousted president, because he's still not back in the country. Most of the marches, from what I know, have been peaceful. However, there always seem to be some people who get rowdy and burn cars or small bombs (don't worry mom, no one gets hurt, they're all just supposed to be symbolic) but that's why there are always police and armed guards everywhere- to keep the protests under control. There was one rally that I saw in Gracias, where a huge parade of cars drove through the little town with Liberal party flags and Zelaya support signs, and they were honking and yelling. In general though, it's just in the big cities. Also, as a side note- most of the liberals I've talked to here don't like Zelaya, either. Everyone I've talked to thinks he's trying to do what Hugo Chavez did, and use a corrupt version of communism to take over the country. But his supporters are loud and determined. It will be interesting to see what it turns into during the election!
Please let me know what you think I should do about the curriculum/language barrier. I'm so frustrated! 3 days till the beach.
Additionally, I have no idea how to reach some of my students. At first, I couldn't figure out how, after two and a half weeks of reviewing, some of my students still don't know the sounds that the five vowels make. But then I sat in on their Spanish class today. The teacher asked them what the five vowels are (in Spanish) and they said, "A, E, I, O, U," pronouncing "I" the way I taught them to pronounce it (like the word, "eye"). But their teacher yelled, "I (read: eye)? What is I? The vowel is I!" But she pronounced it like a long E. So, I don't know if that makes sense, but basically the long I sound doesn't exist in Spanish, it's more of an 'eeee' sound. How are the students supposed to learn two sets of vowels at once? I'm sorry, but it's absolutely ridiculous. At the same time, I am getting a lot of pressure to finish this garbage curriculum this year. The curriculum really is garbage. It's dated, it's ineffective, and it's written for rich Americans. I am so frustrated that we don't have a curriculum that is geared specifically for children in a bilingual school. It's not fair to the children or to us that we are expected to work with an old American curriculum. I don't know what to do. I have to give my students a phonics test this week and I think most of them are going to fail it because they don't know the vowel sounds. So what do I do? Give them the test I've scheduled (that the school made me schedule) and watch them all fail? Or keep trying to teach them these lessons that aren't getting through their heads? I have no idea. Seriously...any suggestions would be very welcome.
Another note- just to clarify what I mean when I say, "Zelaya protests." In the big cities (Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula), there are constant protesters marching on the streets. Most of them are supporters of Zelaya, the ousted president, because he's still not back in the country. Most of the marches, from what I know, have been peaceful. However, there always seem to be some people who get rowdy and burn cars or small bombs (don't worry mom, no one gets hurt, they're all just supposed to be symbolic) but that's why there are always police and armed guards everywhere- to keep the protests under control. There was one rally that I saw in Gracias, where a huge parade of cars drove through the little town with Liberal party flags and Zelaya support signs, and they were honking and yelling. In general though, it's just in the big cities. Also, as a side note- most of the liberals I've talked to here don't like Zelaya, either. Everyone I've talked to thinks he's trying to do what Hugo Chavez did, and use a corrupt version of communism to take over the country. But his supporters are loud and determined. It will be interesting to see what it turns into during the election!
Please let me know what you think I should do about the curriculum/language barrier. I'm so frustrated! 3 days till the beach.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Football, Tear gas, and donuts
When my friends here told me that we had secured tickets to a World Cup qualifying match in San Pedro Sula (Honduras vs. Trinidad and Tobago), I was absolutely thrilled. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I love soccer-- I love playing it, I love watching it, I'm planning on marrying Victor Valdes (viva Barca!) and I've been to my share of professional soccer matches. My parents used to deck me out in Everton apparel before I could even walk to take me to games at Goodison park! I was very, very excited to go to this game. So...here's my story.
We piled onto a chicken bus at 6:30am on Saturday morning. A chicken bus, for anyone who doesn't know, is a straight-up, yellow and black school bus. When we began our journey, there were maybe ten people on the bus. Very quickly, however, we realized that 1) we would be stopping every five-ten miles to pick people up, and 2) a LOT of people would be getting on this bus. By the time we were well into our journey, my educated guess is that there were 125 people stuffed into that school bus. There were three people in every seat, and people standing in the aisles. We were all really grossed out because we were getting sweated on and pushed around and we obviously couldn't sit comfortably and there were a lot of really smelly people in there. It took five hours to get to San Pedro Sula from Gracias. Anyone who wants to visit me should probably know that unless you're willing to rent a car, a chicken bus is the only way to get from San Pedro Sula to Gracias.
So okay, we arrived in San Pedro around noon and wandered around for a little while. It was pretty amazing to be in a big city again...I have never been so appreciative of air conditioning, sandwiches, or donuts. We went to the hotel, which was very nice, and met up with the guys who had helped us organize the trip. The climate in San Pedro made me really, really appreciate the cool mountains in which I live!! I didn't realize how hot and humid Honduras is, because the weather here in Gracias is so lovely. But anyway, I digress.
We went to the game three hours early, thinking that should be enough time. It wasn't. There were thousands of crazed fans running around everywhere-- it was complete pandemonium. So the first thing that happened was that there were Zelaya protests happening outside of the stadium, so there were armed guards everywhere. Then, some fans tried to break down one of the gates to the stadium, and the police responded by using tear gas. Yeah... I was tear gassed! It was a pretty ridiculously awful experience. I saw the cloud coming but didn't know what it was, and then one of the guys was yelling, "cover your face! cover your face!" People were running and screaming and crying, and then I felt the gas hit my face. It was pretty horrible, my whole face felt like it was burning and my eyes were watering. A lady came by and gave us all bags of water to squirt on our faces. So my first experience at the Honduras football game was getting tear gassed.
After that happened, we jumped in one of the lines. I don't really know how to describe this line. I was pushed up against the guy in front of me (one of my friends, thank goodness) and my other friend was pushed up behind me. We couldn't move. There were people on either side of me also, people I didn't know. Sometimes the line would move forward, but I had no control over that- I was just carried with it. It was bad enough that my head falls somewhere in the middle of everyone else's back so I couldn't get any fresh air, but I had to keep my hands on my pockets because I was certain that I was going to get pickpocketed. There was just no way to tell whose hand was whose and who was touching me or why. The police were patting down everyone who went in, and they were hand-picking people to get into the stadium. So we stood in that line for about two hours without moving. I started to feel claustrophobic a few times, but I hit my limit when I (and I was not alone in this experience) realized that I was being groped by some old man, and I couldn't even move my hands to defend myself. I got the attention of one of the guys I was with and he got the old guy out of my way, but it was just too much for me. I couldn't breathe, I felt really out of control, we had been standing there for two hours without moving and I kept thinking about the football accident that happened in England in 1985 when all those fans were killed by being crushed against a wall. Anyway, I started crying and I couldn't stop.
One of my friends saw me crying and he was amazing and tried really hard to calm me down ("esta bien Kirsty, tranquile, tranquile") but I couldn't get control of my breathing, I felt like I was having a heart attack or something. So anyway, he was able to get the policemen's attention, and the crowd kind of let me through and then the policeman lifted me over the gate and into the stadium. My ticket was never checked, there was no order whatsoever. It was just complete and utter chaos.
Not long after, my friends made it through too. We were all really shaken up and in shock. One of my friends had a completely horrific and violating experience with a guy in line. Another one of my friends also came into the stadium crying. None of us had ever experienced anything like that before. After we had regrouped a little bit, we tried to get into the seating area, but we couldn't squeeze in. We decided to watch the first half on TVs in the stadium, and to sneak in during halftime.
So we did exactly that! We waited until halftime and then wiggled into the seating area, and we actually made our way all the way down to the very front row. It was an awful lot of unpleasantness, but we did get to watch half of the World Cup qualifying match from the front row of the Honduras stadium. And my students today were very excited to tell me that they saw me on TV! We were crazy, we had bought jerseys and painted our faces and were jumping up and down like crazy, singing the fight song and chanting when Honduras scored (which happened quite a few times!). It was an absolute blast. The energy in the stadium was incredible, everyone was dancing and singing. It was a blast.
Was it worth it? Yeah, I'd say so. Not everyone gets to watch one of those games from the front of a stadium! But getting tear gassed and groped and having a panic attack wasn't cool. Jumping in the hotel pool that night was one of the best experiences I've ever had....chlorine has never felt so cleansing and amazing! We went through an awful lot to watch that game, but we ended up having fun. It was a good experience to have, anyway. We're looking into getting tickets to the Honduras-USA game, which might be a bad idea. Something tells me we might be real targets at that game. I don't know...it's so tempting to just keep trying. The guys said that they have never experienced anything like that before- they said everything was exacerbated by the Zelaya protesters and that the stadium overbooked the tickets so there were just too many people there. Apparently that's not the norm for the games. The next morning we enjoyed our free breakfast, picked up one last donut, and jumped back on the chicken bus for another joyful five hour ride back home.
Overall, it was a crazy weekend and a crazy experience. I am so excited because next weekend we are going to Tela beach for our four day weekend! Just four more school days to go. :)
A few pics from the game:
Pleased fans:
Honduras stadium:
The girls:
We piled onto a chicken bus at 6:30am on Saturday morning. A chicken bus, for anyone who doesn't know, is a straight-up, yellow and black school bus. When we began our journey, there were maybe ten people on the bus. Very quickly, however, we realized that 1) we would be stopping every five-ten miles to pick people up, and 2) a LOT of people would be getting on this bus. By the time we were well into our journey, my educated guess is that there were 125 people stuffed into that school bus. There were three people in every seat, and people standing in the aisles. We were all really grossed out because we were getting sweated on and pushed around and we obviously couldn't sit comfortably and there were a lot of really smelly people in there. It took five hours to get to San Pedro Sula from Gracias. Anyone who wants to visit me should probably know that unless you're willing to rent a car, a chicken bus is the only way to get from San Pedro Sula to Gracias.
So okay, we arrived in San Pedro around noon and wandered around for a little while. It was pretty amazing to be in a big city again...I have never been so appreciative of air conditioning, sandwiches, or donuts. We went to the hotel, which was very nice, and met up with the guys who had helped us organize the trip. The climate in San Pedro made me really, really appreciate the cool mountains in which I live!! I didn't realize how hot and humid Honduras is, because the weather here in Gracias is so lovely. But anyway, I digress.
We went to the game three hours early, thinking that should be enough time. It wasn't. There were thousands of crazed fans running around everywhere-- it was complete pandemonium. So the first thing that happened was that there were Zelaya protests happening outside of the stadium, so there were armed guards everywhere. Then, some fans tried to break down one of the gates to the stadium, and the police responded by using tear gas. Yeah... I was tear gassed! It was a pretty ridiculously awful experience. I saw the cloud coming but didn't know what it was, and then one of the guys was yelling, "cover your face! cover your face!" People were running and screaming and crying, and then I felt the gas hit my face. It was pretty horrible, my whole face felt like it was burning and my eyes were watering. A lady came by and gave us all bags of water to squirt on our faces. So my first experience at the Honduras football game was getting tear gassed.
After that happened, we jumped in one of the lines. I don't really know how to describe this line. I was pushed up against the guy in front of me (one of my friends, thank goodness) and my other friend was pushed up behind me. We couldn't move. There were people on either side of me also, people I didn't know. Sometimes the line would move forward, but I had no control over that- I was just carried with it. It was bad enough that my head falls somewhere in the middle of everyone else's back so I couldn't get any fresh air, but I had to keep my hands on my pockets because I was certain that I was going to get pickpocketed. There was just no way to tell whose hand was whose and who was touching me or why. The police were patting down everyone who went in, and they were hand-picking people to get into the stadium. So we stood in that line for about two hours without moving. I started to feel claustrophobic a few times, but I hit my limit when I (and I was not alone in this experience) realized that I was being groped by some old man, and I couldn't even move my hands to defend myself. I got the attention of one of the guys I was with and he got the old guy out of my way, but it was just too much for me. I couldn't breathe, I felt really out of control, we had been standing there for two hours without moving and I kept thinking about the football accident that happened in England in 1985 when all those fans were killed by being crushed against a wall. Anyway, I started crying and I couldn't stop.
One of my friends saw me crying and he was amazing and tried really hard to calm me down ("esta bien Kirsty, tranquile, tranquile") but I couldn't get control of my breathing, I felt like I was having a heart attack or something. So anyway, he was able to get the policemen's attention, and the crowd kind of let me through and then the policeman lifted me over the gate and into the stadium. My ticket was never checked, there was no order whatsoever. It was just complete and utter chaos.
Not long after, my friends made it through too. We were all really shaken up and in shock. One of my friends had a completely horrific and violating experience with a guy in line. Another one of my friends also came into the stadium crying. None of us had ever experienced anything like that before. After we had regrouped a little bit, we tried to get into the seating area, but we couldn't squeeze in. We decided to watch the first half on TVs in the stadium, and to sneak in during halftime.
So we did exactly that! We waited until halftime and then wiggled into the seating area, and we actually made our way all the way down to the very front row. It was an awful lot of unpleasantness, but we did get to watch half of the World Cup qualifying match from the front row of the Honduras stadium. And my students today were very excited to tell me that they saw me on TV! We were crazy, we had bought jerseys and painted our faces and were jumping up and down like crazy, singing the fight song and chanting when Honduras scored (which happened quite a few times!). It was an absolute blast. The energy in the stadium was incredible, everyone was dancing and singing. It was a blast.
Was it worth it? Yeah, I'd say so. Not everyone gets to watch one of those games from the front of a stadium! But getting tear gassed and groped and having a panic attack wasn't cool. Jumping in the hotel pool that night was one of the best experiences I've ever had....chlorine has never felt so cleansing and amazing! We went through an awful lot to watch that game, but we ended up having fun. It was a good experience to have, anyway. We're looking into getting tickets to the Honduras-USA game, which might be a bad idea. Something tells me we might be real targets at that game. I don't know...it's so tempting to just keep trying. The guys said that they have never experienced anything like that before- they said everything was exacerbated by the Zelaya protesters and that the stadium overbooked the tickets so there were just too many people there. Apparently that's not the norm for the games. The next morning we enjoyed our free breakfast, picked up one last donut, and jumped back on the chicken bus for another joyful five hour ride back home.
Overall, it was a crazy weekend and a crazy experience. I am so excited because next weekend we are going to Tela beach for our four day weekend! Just four more school days to go. :)
A few pics from the game:
Pleased fans:
Honduras stadium:
The girls:
Friday, September 4, 2009
End of week 2
Well, I ended the week feeling better about things. I have completed my lesson plans for the rest of the year. Yeah, the entire year. Today I couldn't stop thinking about how cute my students are. They are just so ridiculously cute. Even when they're being mischievous, or not listening or when they look at me with blank stares because they don't speak English, they are so cute. I think I am starting to catch on a little, in terms of managing children. I am starting to understand what they respond to, and they are getting used to me as well. We'll see what the next week brings. I think the next few months are going to bring a lot of ups and downs, but hopefully by the middle and end of the year, I'll be on the upswing.
I feel good because it's the weekend, I'm eating platanos, I'm going to San Pedro Sula with a bunch of cool people to watch a football game tomorrow, and a Honduran lady just told me I speak good Spanish (not true, but still nice to hear). Next weekend, for Honduras's independence day (aka a four day weekend), we are going to a Honduran beach!!! I bet it will be amazing.
Today I killed a cockroach in my room. Let me write that again: A cockroach. In my room. I killed it with my shoe and it left a pile of goo on the floor. I am getting to be so rugged! haha :)
I feel good because it's the weekend, I'm eating platanos, I'm going to San Pedro Sula with a bunch of cool people to watch a football game tomorrow, and a Honduran lady just told me I speak good Spanish (not true, but still nice to hear). Next weekend, for Honduras's independence day (aka a four day weekend), we are going to a Honduran beach!!! I bet it will be amazing.
Today I killed a cockroach in my room. Let me write that again: A cockroach. In my room. I killed it with my shoe and it left a pile of goo on the floor. I am getting to be so rugged! haha :)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Must get centered
I'm going zen. First, thank you for all the encouraging messages and emails that followed that last blog post. Yes I am struggling, but it's really helpful and wonderful to hear from the amazing people I have in my life.
Second...today a miracle happened, and we got books!!! ahhhhh I have never appreciated workbooks so much in my life! That will make teaching so much easier. Third...I'm going to the Honduras football game this weekend in San Pedro Sula!! Should be ridiculously awesome. That means that I will have attended professional soccer games in four different countries, which I think is pretty sweet. And fourth...right now I'm drinking a beverage called "Licuado de frutas" (liquid fruits) that is literally made out of watermelon and ice, and it's so delicious.
I'm taking a step back from stressing, because I'm living in Honduras and in the scheme of things my life is good and beating myself up every night or allowing myself to go crazy won't do anyone any good. I will serve the students the best if I emit positive energy! Doing that will make me happier also. Like I said...I'm going zen and finding my center. Big breath in, big breath out. :)
Second...today a miracle happened, and we got books!!! ahhhhh I have never appreciated workbooks so much in my life! That will make teaching so much easier. Third...I'm going to the Honduras football game this weekend in San Pedro Sula!! Should be ridiculously awesome. That means that I will have attended professional soccer games in four different countries, which I think is pretty sweet. And fourth...right now I'm drinking a beverage called "Licuado de frutas" (liquid fruits) that is literally made out of watermelon and ice, and it's so delicious.
I'm taking a step back from stressing, because I'm living in Honduras and in the scheme of things my life is good and beating myself up every night or allowing myself to go crazy won't do anyone any good. I will serve the students the best if I emit positive energy! Doing that will make me happier also. Like I said...I'm going zen and finding my center. Big breath in, big breath out. :)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
What was I thinking?
No, I'm serious. What was I thinking?
The kids stopped being cute about a week and a half ago. I feel like I look older every day. I have never been this tired in my life. I can't remember the last time I had solid poop. My arms hurt from trying to wash my clothes by hand over the weekend. Also, I ruined one of my shirts in that laundry-washing process. This morning I found two cockroaches in my house, and every day I find a new spider nest in my room. We lose electricity several times a week. My students don't speak English. They just straight up don't speak English. Today I asked them to write two sentences on a piece of paper, and half of them just wrote random words down. When I asked each one of them (very kindly!) what they were writing, they all just stared at me. This job would be hard in English... in Spanish, it feels impossible.
If anyone out there is feeling bored and/or feeling like they'd like a change of pace...please come to Honduras and be my teaching assistant. Another person in that classroom would make things so much easier for me! Think about it...
Anyway. Today was a really long day. Usually I have at least a couple of planning periods, but today I had my second graders from 7:40am-1:20pm. That is a very, very long time. By the end of the day, they were simply wild. I don't really have any efficient way to control them in the afternoons, because my only threat to them is to take away their recess for the next day, which seems really stupid to me. The curriculum is ridiculously demanding- it would be challenging for native English speakers! We didn't even get through half of the reading lesson for today. Furthermore, I know that although some of them can read, most of them don't understand what they're reading. I have no idea if my students are retaining anything I am trying to teach them. I feel like when I try to do things to make the lessons more fun or interesting or easy to learn, they just get so out of control so easily. For example, today I gave them pennies to count and they just started smacking the pennies on the desk and throwing them around.
We don't have any windows (we have open-air classrooms), so closing the door does nothing for noise. Half the time I don't know if my class is being loud, or if the noise is coming from outside. When it's recess, I can't hear myself talk, so there's no way the class can hear me talk. Trying to teach math during the other grades' recess is a nightmare, because balls are being kicked against the wall, children are screaming and laughing, etc. There is also always construction going on, which is really horrible to try to speak over.
In the morning and before they go home, my students will all run up to me and give me big hugs and hang on me and play with my hair (it's light- not something they're used to), and I would love to say that that makes it all worth it. But honestly, all I can think about is how tired I am and how inadequate I am for this position. I am scared of letting this kids down, of not being able to teach them what they need to know.
I can still say that Honduras is still one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, and every time I walk out of my classroom and see the mountains and the cloud forest, I am still overwhelmed with their grandeur. I love the family I live with, and the other teachers at the school, and I feel so lucky that I'm not sitting in an office every day. I love my students, especially the troublemakers. And I do still think they're really cute (except when they won't stop talking during class). I am just scared that I'm going to fail these children because I don't know what I'm doing. If I knew right now that my students would be fine and right where they're supposed to be at the end of the year, then I wouldn't complain anymore. But I'm very scared that for all my efforts, successes and failures, at the end of the year they won't be where they are supposed to be, and that will be my failure as a teacher. I guess I wasn't really comprehending the responsibility involved in this job when I signed up for it. :(
The kids stopped being cute about a week and a half ago. I feel like I look older every day. I have never been this tired in my life. I can't remember the last time I had solid poop. My arms hurt from trying to wash my clothes by hand over the weekend. Also, I ruined one of my shirts in that laundry-washing process. This morning I found two cockroaches in my house, and every day I find a new spider nest in my room. We lose electricity several times a week. My students don't speak English. They just straight up don't speak English. Today I asked them to write two sentences on a piece of paper, and half of them just wrote random words down. When I asked each one of them (very kindly!) what they were writing, they all just stared at me. This job would be hard in English... in Spanish, it feels impossible.
If anyone out there is feeling bored and/or feeling like they'd like a change of pace...please come to Honduras and be my teaching assistant. Another person in that classroom would make things so much easier for me! Think about it...
Anyway. Today was a really long day. Usually I have at least a couple of planning periods, but today I had my second graders from 7:40am-1:20pm. That is a very, very long time. By the end of the day, they were simply wild. I don't really have any efficient way to control them in the afternoons, because my only threat to them is to take away their recess for the next day, which seems really stupid to me. The curriculum is ridiculously demanding- it would be challenging for native English speakers! We didn't even get through half of the reading lesson for today. Furthermore, I know that although some of them can read, most of them don't understand what they're reading. I have no idea if my students are retaining anything I am trying to teach them. I feel like when I try to do things to make the lessons more fun or interesting or easy to learn, they just get so out of control so easily. For example, today I gave them pennies to count and they just started smacking the pennies on the desk and throwing them around.
We don't have any windows (we have open-air classrooms), so closing the door does nothing for noise. Half the time I don't know if my class is being loud, or if the noise is coming from outside. When it's recess, I can't hear myself talk, so there's no way the class can hear me talk. Trying to teach math during the other grades' recess is a nightmare, because balls are being kicked against the wall, children are screaming and laughing, etc. There is also always construction going on, which is really horrible to try to speak over.
In the morning and before they go home, my students will all run up to me and give me big hugs and hang on me and play with my hair (it's light- not something they're used to), and I would love to say that that makes it all worth it. But honestly, all I can think about is how tired I am and how inadequate I am for this position. I am scared of letting this kids down, of not being able to teach them what they need to know.
I can still say that Honduras is still one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, and every time I walk out of my classroom and see the mountains and the cloud forest, I am still overwhelmed with their grandeur. I love the family I live with, and the other teachers at the school, and I feel so lucky that I'm not sitting in an office every day. I love my students, especially the troublemakers. And I do still think they're really cute (except when they won't stop talking during class). I am just scared that I'm going to fail these children because I don't know what I'm doing. If I knew right now that my students would be fine and right where they're supposed to be at the end of the year, then I wouldn't complain anymore. But I'm very scared that for all my efforts, successes and failures, at the end of the year they won't be where they are supposed to be, and that will be my failure as a teacher. I guess I wasn't really comprehending the responsibility involved in this job when I signed up for it. :(
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