Turns out, I am a lot more focused on blogging when I'm in Honduras than when I'm in the USA! After a painful layover in Atlanta when my flight was cancelled and the snowstorm was making air travel nearly impossible, I am finally home. And my overwhelming emotion about being home is simply how nice things are in America. Things are really, really nice here. The bathrooms smell amazingly disinfected. I can flush my toilet paper. The public sinks have hot water. I had also forgotten how efficient things are in the USA. I went into a drugstore yesterday, and there were aisles and aisles of makeup, shampoo, groceries, skin care... pretty much anything imaginable, under the bright glow of fluorescent lights. I felt similarly overwhelmed in the grocery store- so much fresh food that doesn't have to be washed in bleach, so much room in the aisles, so many varieties of salad (pasta salad, potato salad, chicken salad, tuna salad).
So, America's nice. However, America is also cold. It's freezing, actually. My skin and lips are so dry and chapped, and I hate standing outside. Ohio is very flat, also. I miss the mountains. I miss the expanse of the Honduran night sky. I miss not having the television as a distraction. I miss the river. I miss speaking Spanish. I am already starting to appreciate the things about my life in Honduras that I took for granted, like the slower pace and the simplicity of my life. I definitely miss my friends and neighbors.
I love being home and seeing my family. I like America a lot. But my heart is definitely in two places. I like all the efficiencies of home, but I don't need them. I am really excited about having two weeks here, but I know when I go back to Honduras, I will feel excited for many reasons. For now, I will simply enjoy the niceties of American life, which includes delicious food, time with family, movies, and central heating.
In any case... happy holidays and merry christmas to all :)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Go tell it on the mountains...
...that the Christmas show is over!!! Yesterday was exhausting, frustrating, and rewarding all at the same time, and right now my overwhelming emotions are ones of relief and excitement for what's to come. Our day was just about as long as we expected it to be. First, let me explain a little more about this Christmas show. The "show" is actually songs and dances that come between scenes of acting. It was just a huge joke to me- the scenes weren't spoken by actors, they were played on a CD and the actors would lip-sync the lines. Furthermore, the actors weren't students from our school. They were students from the Vida Abundante school in Tegucigalpa. Weird? Very. But furthermore, FURTHERMORE, the scenes had nothing to do with Christmas! There was one scene of Jesus healing a blind man, another of Jesus healing a man who couldn't walk, and Lazarus made an appearance also. As we were walking out, Jacki commented, "I missed the part where Jesus was born in this Christmas show." Very unfortunate that in the story of Jesus' birth, baby Jesus didn't make an appearance. But whatever. It wasn't like the songs were all that Christmas-y either. (My song, "He was born in a barn," was one of the better ones. For anyone familiar with Pink... think of the Pink song, "I'm coming out so you better get this party started," and imagine the lyrics, "Time's running out so we better get the season started.-- yeah... that was one of the songs.)
So, the actors had never been to the church in Gracias before, and the children had never practiced with actors before yesterday. It was very, very frustrating to do all of that on the same day as the actual show. My children also received their hats for the first time yesterday, which is a pretty major prop in their dance.
However, although we had many frustrations with the organizational aspects of the program, the show itself was really, really cute. How could it not be? It was a bunch of little children bopping around in cute costumes on stage. I have my share of complaints about the show, but at the end of the day, the parents were just really happy to see their children on stage. A mom of one of my students came up to me after the show and grabbed my face and said to me, "Dios le bendiga, Dios le bendiga! Muchas, muchas gracias por todo!" (God bless you, God bless you, thank you so much for everything) and then she gave me a huge hug and kissed my cheek and ran away. My students were so excited and proud of themselves. It was really cute. As soon as I get home (this weekend!!!) and have fast internet, I'll post the video of my students dancing.
Unfortunately, the students were also really exhausted... they had such a late night last night. One of my little boys actually fell asleep on my shoulder before the show ended, and today in school they were so tired. I had trouble trying to get them to focus enough to learn anything. They are done, and ready for their vacations.
And so am I. I have expressed my love for Honduras, for my job, and for my life here before... but I am so ready to see my family and get a little dose of America. The next time I update this blog, I will probably be home! So, culture shock here I come. I couldn't be more excited.
So, the actors had never been to the church in Gracias before, and the children had never practiced with actors before yesterday. It was very, very frustrating to do all of that on the same day as the actual show. My children also received their hats for the first time yesterday, which is a pretty major prop in their dance.
However, although we had many frustrations with the organizational aspects of the program, the show itself was really, really cute. How could it not be? It was a bunch of little children bopping around in cute costumes on stage. I have my share of complaints about the show, but at the end of the day, the parents were just really happy to see their children on stage. A mom of one of my students came up to me after the show and grabbed my face and said to me, "Dios le bendiga, Dios le bendiga! Muchas, muchas gracias por todo!" (God bless you, God bless you, thank you so much for everything) and then she gave me a huge hug and kissed my cheek and ran away. My students were so excited and proud of themselves. It was really cute. As soon as I get home (this weekend!!!) and have fast internet, I'll post the video of my students dancing.
Unfortunately, the students were also really exhausted... they had such a late night last night. One of my little boys actually fell asleep on my shoulder before the show ended, and today in school they were so tired. I had trouble trying to get them to focus enough to learn anything. They are done, and ready for their vacations.
And so am I. I have expressed my love for Honduras, for my job, and for my life here before... but I am so ready to see my family and get a little dose of America. The next time I update this blog, I will probably be home! So, culture shock here I come. I couldn't be more excited.
Friday, December 11, 2009
He was born in a barn?
That's the name of my class's Christmas song.. "He was Born in a Barn." I am guessing that I have heard it approximately... a million times in the past week. Today we had another 3 and a half hour practice in the tiny church, and it was an exhausting way to end the week. However, despite my frustrations I found some redeeming qualities about the rehearsal. First of all, I'm impressed with my students. Most of them are seven years old, and they were able to sit for all that time and behave. I am really proud of them for following directions so well. Secondly, they're incredibly endearing. They were hot, and grumpy, and bored, and the fact that they're little kids just really comes out under those conditions. They were sitting in my lap and putting their heads on my shoulders, and I just love little kids! I just want to hug them all the time. It's also really nice when the whole school is together. It's nice to see the ninth graders interacting with the first graders, and watching kids in their element. It's weird, being a teacher and seeing it all happen from this angle.
There are a few stereotypes about Americans that I have encountered during my time in Honduras. One of these stereotypes is that all Americans are rich. The second is that all Americans are lazy. Now, because I do not want to perpetuate the second stereotype, I hesitate to complain about work here on this blog. The truth is that I love my job, I love being around the students, and it hardly ever feels like work to me. But today the administrators told us our schedule for Monday, the day of the Christmas show, and it's unbelievable. We have to be in town at 7:20am. (They had originally told us 8.) Because we live in the mountains, that means we're going to have to call at mototaxi to pick us up at 6:45. The children are practicing in that church from 7:20-noon. That's over four hours. From noon to 1, we have a break for lunch. Then we are supposed to decorate the church from 1-4:30. From 4:30-5:30 we can eat dinner, and then we have to be back at the church from 5:30 until the end of the program, and then we have to clean up the decorations. The program is supposed to start at 7. So that means if we are out by 10pm, we'll be lucky, and then we'll get home at 10:30. So, it's a day that will go from 6:45a-10:30p, and then we have school the next day. It's insane. Absolutely insane. It's going to be singularly the worst day I've had in Honduras. And the next Tuesday will be a close second.
A variety of people read this blog, but for anyone who's reading this: if you're a person who prays... please pray for me. All I want to do is go home!
There are a few stereotypes about Americans that I have encountered during my time in Honduras. One of these stereotypes is that all Americans are rich. The second is that all Americans are lazy. Now, because I do not want to perpetuate the second stereotype, I hesitate to complain about work here on this blog. The truth is that I love my job, I love being around the students, and it hardly ever feels like work to me. But today the administrators told us our schedule for Monday, the day of the Christmas show, and it's unbelievable. We have to be in town at 7:20am. (They had originally told us 8.) Because we live in the mountains, that means we're going to have to call at mototaxi to pick us up at 6:45. The children are practicing in that church from 7:20-noon. That's over four hours. From noon to 1, we have a break for lunch. Then we are supposed to decorate the church from 1-4:30. From 4:30-5:30 we can eat dinner, and then we have to be back at the church from 5:30 until the end of the program, and then we have to clean up the decorations. The program is supposed to start at 7. So that means if we are out by 10pm, we'll be lucky, and then we'll get home at 10:30. So, it's a day that will go from 6:45a-10:30p, and then we have school the next day. It's insane. Absolutely insane. It's going to be singularly the worst day I've had in Honduras. And the next Tuesday will be a close second.
A variety of people read this blog, but for anyone who's reading this: if you're a person who prays... please pray for me. All I want to do is go home!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Christmas preparations
I can't remember the last time I was this tired. Our Christmas program is next week, on Monday. The administrators decided that for today and Friday we would leave school at noon to go practice in the auditorium where the show will be. They scheduled the practice to be from 1-4:30.
So allow me to paint a picture. A relatively small auditorium with fold-out chairs, and ten grades of children running around. The room is not ventilated whatsoever, so it's incredibly hot and smelly. There is nothing for the children to do when they're waiting for their turn to dance, and the administrators have been really vehement about telling us (the teachers) that the church didn't want to let us rent the space so we have to be really careful not to incur damages, etc etc. (As a side note, I brought coloring books and colored pencils for my children to play with while they were waiting, and the principals told me that the children weren't allowed to color because they might get colored pencils on the tiled floor.) So, the students are all expected to sit on the floor quietly and just wait for the other nine grades to finish dancing. Surprisingly, though, most students were willing to do that... for the first two hours. But three and a half hours of that? They and I were all almost crying by the end.
On top of that, my students were so unaccustomed to a big stage that they couldn't get the blocking right at all and they looked really silly. They also didn't look like they were having fun, because they weren't! They were hot and bored and wanting to go home.
Overall, it was a really unfortunate afternoon, and I am absolutely dreading Friday, when we have to do it again.
Right now I'm going to order a cafe con leche and then I'm going back up the mountain to sleep. I'm annoyed and really ready for a break.
So allow me to paint a picture. A relatively small auditorium with fold-out chairs, and ten grades of children running around. The room is not ventilated whatsoever, so it's incredibly hot and smelly. There is nothing for the children to do when they're waiting for their turn to dance, and the administrators have been really vehement about telling us (the teachers) that the church didn't want to let us rent the space so we have to be really careful not to incur damages, etc etc. (As a side note, I brought coloring books and colored pencils for my children to play with while they were waiting, and the principals told me that the children weren't allowed to color because they might get colored pencils on the tiled floor.) So, the students are all expected to sit on the floor quietly and just wait for the other nine grades to finish dancing. Surprisingly, though, most students were willing to do that... for the first two hours. But three and a half hours of that? They and I were all almost crying by the end.
On top of that, my students were so unaccustomed to a big stage that they couldn't get the blocking right at all and they looked really silly. They also didn't look like they were having fun, because they weren't! They were hot and bored and wanting to go home.
Overall, it was a really unfortunate afternoon, and I am absolutely dreading Friday, when we have to do it again.
Right now I'm going to order a cafe con leche and then I'm going back up the mountain to sleep. I'm annoyed and really ready for a break.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The moon and the mountains
I absolutely love Honduras. I love living here. My life is so peaceful. I rarely face unpleasant conflict. I never watch TV or hear the sound of traffic. Every morning I wake up early enough to see the sun rise, and every morning (unless it's really dense up in our cloud forest) I can see it peek up over the magnificent mountains. I am surrounded by mountains; they are on every side of me.
I have never felt so appreciative of nature before this experience. When I eat my breakfast, I often see incredibly brightly-colored birds in my trees. The trees in my yard grow fruit that I can eat. I have no idea what the fruit is, but it's delicious. The sound of the river is my only background noise. I have never seen a night sky as magnificent as it is here. I can literally see galaxies. Last week the moon was so bright, I couldn't look directly at it without squinting.
Sometimes seeing things every day can make them seem commonplace, but somehow the mountains and the night sky remain as staggering as they appeared the first day I saw them.
I love the girls I live with. I love my students. I love teaching. And I absolutely love my life in Honduras. I have never felt so lucky.
In two weeks, I will be home. I am so excited to go back to something familiar in order to see how and if I've changed during my time here... by that I mean, if my priorities have changed, my habits, what I think is important, how I choose to spend my time, etc etc. Sometimes it's really hard to tell if things are changing, but the past four months have been so dramatic for me that I feel like I must be different now than I was when I came! Hopefully in good ways. We'll see.
I have never felt so appreciative of nature before this experience. When I eat my breakfast, I often see incredibly brightly-colored birds in my trees. The trees in my yard grow fruit that I can eat. I have no idea what the fruit is, but it's delicious. The sound of the river is my only background noise. I have never seen a night sky as magnificent as it is here. I can literally see galaxies. Last week the moon was so bright, I couldn't look directly at it without squinting.
Sometimes seeing things every day can make them seem commonplace, but somehow the mountains and the night sky remain as staggering as they appeared the first day I saw them.
I love the girls I live with. I love my students. I love teaching. And I absolutely love my life in Honduras. I have never felt so lucky.
In two weeks, I will be home. I am so excited to go back to something familiar in order to see how and if I've changed during my time here... by that I mean, if my priorities have changed, my habits, what I think is important, how I choose to spend my time, etc etc. Sometimes it's really hard to tell if things are changing, but the past four months have been so dramatic for me that I feel like I must be different now than I was when I came! Hopefully in good ways. We'll see.
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