Open my eyes, I see sky!

Any Joshua Radin fans out there? I love listening to him up here on the mountains, especially in the mornings when I'm walking to school. His music would definitely be in my life-movie soundtrack.

Sorry for the lack up updates. I forget to blog sometimes because of the routine I find myself in now. It's not a bad thing, at all, because of the beauty of my routine. I love my job, I love my students, I love the mountains. I also know that my decision to come home in June only makes those feelings more palpable. I am aware that my time here is limited, and that knowledge drives me to try to constantly feel grateful for what I have left. Even the things I don't like aren't too bad. It's all just part of it.

Tomorrow's Friday, and next week is Semana Santa. My dad's coming! We should have a blast exploring Honduras. We are going to Lago Yajoa, the only lake in Honduras. Then we're going to swing by the ruins and then spend a few days here in Villa Verde. It will be awesome. I'm excited to break the routine a little and have some time off of school.

At the same time, though, I'm very aware that Semana Santa is the last big break before the end of the year. Really? The end of the year? I can barely believe it. I realized that since Christmas, I have felt extremely connected to my students. I take real joy in their accomplishments. There's one little boy in my class that I am so, so proud of. He's the one in the middle:

At the beginning of the year, he couldn't count. He wrote random numbers on his math tests, his average was a 22%. These last couple of months, though, he has been working so hard. He has learned how to add and subtract and multiply. And on his last test, he earned a 91%. I don't think I've ever been so excited to hand a test back. And he literally threw his arms around me and jumped up and down when he saw it. It's moments like that, and watching students like him, that make me never want to leave. Those moments reinforce to me that I am doing something important this year. Not that the students' accomplishments have anything to do with me, they really don't. But I feel like I'm a vehicle to help them realize their own potential, and that is something that I'm so happy to be able to do.

I'm so blessed. I don't even know how to count my blessings... they are just too abundant.