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!