Carne Asada es Muy Rico

Last Tuesday night we were invited to have dinner with the bishop of Juticalpa. He served us some great spaghetti and meatballs and provided us with some excellent dinner conversation. It was a great night with good company. 

Before we left for the night we were invited to a marimba party the following evening. It was being held at one of my student's houses and her parents said she would love it if I came, so I couldn't really turn them down. Plus I found out they were grilling carne asada for us and I never pass up carne. It's the most delicious beef I've ever had! Even though it was Wednesday night and I knew I would be exhausted on Thursday, I put on my dancing shoes and headed out. I'm so glad I did because it was a great night!

They had this marimba band come just for us! The bishop was there with his two nieces and their two friends who were visiting from the states. Then we had Anne, Carrie, Lacey, Andrew, Jeff, and me form our group. So in total we had eleven gringos and five Hondurans. We couldn't believe we had the band all to ourselves, but we made the most of it and had a lot of fun with them.

Here's the group of marimba players....

I really wanted to try out their instruments -- and as I was waiting for them to finish with the current song they were playing the drummer saw me eyeing this guy and passed it over. I was really excited...

 So was Anne...

After they finished with their first set, and took a break to eat, we jumped right in there...

We were the worst marimba band to set foot in Honduras!

It was much harder to play those instruments than I thought. You really have to hit the marimba in just the right way to get the desired sound. I'm impressed with the music these guys make!

The family also had a foosball table at their house and it got a lot of use that night. I tried my hand at a few rounds and lost horribly to Anne. I think Jeff and Bishop Muldoon took the trophy for the night... 

Rita in the background is one of my first graders. 

There were a bunch little kids watching us from the street...

I tried to get them to come in and dance but they just giggled and ran away from me. I think they watched us dance from out there for a solid two hours though. I guess gringos dancing to marimba is pretty solid entertainment.

I had never seen a marimba band before coming to Honduras but I really love them. If you ever get a chance to check one out I definitely recommend it!

“To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are”

Feliz Cumpleaños Ash

Happy Birthday Ashley...

Sorry this picture is so bad. I took it on my computer so it's not the best quality. But it says "Happy Birthday Ash" and then I drew a picture of you, haha!

Here are a few of my little rug rats giving you a shout out!

I hope you have a wonderful day :)!

“Earth laughs in flowers” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

100th...

Day of school and my 100th blog post! I haven't written a 100 blog posts since being in Honduras, but I've written a 100 since I've started this blog and it's so awesome that I'm submitting this one on my 100th day of school!

We have a major trash problem at Santa Clara. Honduras in general has a major trash problem and our students are use to just throwing their trash on the ground. Even though we have numerous trash cans in each of our hallways, it doesn't matter. The trash still somehow makes it out into the field. It's something that all of the teachers have talked about fixing. So I decided that for the 100th day of school the first grade class would challenge the rest of the school to pick up a minimum of 100 pieces of trash.

Each class was given one large trash bag to fill that would then be given to me for judging. The fourth, fifth, and sixth graders however got so into it that they asked Arlington for more bags from the school. I think fourth and fifth grade ended up with four full bags and sixth grade had five. I was so glad they got so into it but I told them they could only submit one bag for the contest.

Carrie was telling me after school that her fourth graders were on their hands and knees begging to go outside and pick up more trash. Mary's fifth graders got so wrapped up in the competition aspect that they actually snagged a bag of trash out of a trash can to submit on their behalf. It had all of the sixth graders in an uproar and that bag was disqualified from the contest. Then Jeff's sixth graders strategically planned out what they were going to do to win. When he asked them what they thought one little boy said "We could all go buy something and then throw our trash away"...haha! Then Jeff told me he had planned to take them out after the little kids recess "to clean house". I love that everyone got so into it. It was great to see all of the kids working together to achieve a set goal.

Even though my students weren't participating in the competition I had them go outside and fill a trash bag. They loved it so much they wanted to fill more. After school today I asked one little girl what her favorite part of the 100th day was and she said "picking up trash" -- how funny!

Section A got to go out first to collect trash for my class. Here is Joseemir carrying a ton of bottles to throw away. It was really sunny out this morning!

Jose Reginaldo got his fair share too...

I was cracking up that Maria Jose told me she was tired after five minutes of being outside. But my 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 really worked because she ran and grabbed all of this...(and even looks excited about it...or is that just squinting from the sun ;) )

When it was time for my first class to pack up Omar decided to do a pile on and crushed Gerardo. Here are the after effects...

These kids are absolutely nuts and I just love them anyways!

Then it was section B's turn...

Mariela is so dainty and does not care for physical labor. I love this picture of her with the princess crown on as she lightly clings to her cup with the tips of two of her fingers.

HAHA

It's so funny that the kids walked with the trash can as they called for students to go and pick up more trash...

This is my favorite picture of the day...teamwork :)

After we got finished picking up all the trash we could find I had ten of my kids stand on the back of this sign to get a 100 fingers shot...

Wendy is subbing for third grade the rest of this week because Kandice left for Costa Rica. She came out with her class to pick up trash at the same time as us and as you can see the kids already miss her -- so cute!

After I took the above picture of her she told me to go and get in one. Anyelo (who's on my lap) couldn't be more excited about it!

Throughout the day (between both classes) we wrote 100 words in English. All of the students had sheets and they copied down what I wrote on the board. We wrote ten words in a sitting. So for example in my morning class we wrote ten words, completed our daily journal, wrote ten more words, had calendar time, wrote ten more words, picked up trash outside, wrote ten more words, etc. The students had to give me all of the words themselves. If they told me an English word but couldn't spell it correctly we didn't add it to the list. I was really impressed with some of the words they came up with. Most of them they pulled off of our word wall. But words like happy, puzzle, heart, and house are not words we've had as vocabulary or on any of our spelling tests. Nice job First Grade -- I'm so proud!

That's a lot of English words :)

At 1:30 all of the classes had to have their trash bags submitted for judging. I based my judgement on fullness, weight, and how well the class worked as a team.

It's crazy that this much trashed was picked up in one day from OUR school!

It was a tough judgement call but the winners had to be the fourth grade class. They filled their bag to the brim and worked wonderfully as a team. Every time I saw them outside they were running around with their trash bags and picking up every piece of trash in sight.

Sixth grade was a close second with this extra large bag they submitted...

After we got finished writing our 100 words I had the kids draw a picture of 100 things. Some of them drew apple trees with 100 apples, which I thought was very creative. Other kids literally started drawing a 100 little things, like Leah...

Then, Kare, I stole your 100 toes idea. I asked ten students to come out into the hallway and asked them to take off their socks and shoes. The way they were smiling and giggling you would have thought it was Christmas morning. They were so excited it was hard to even get this picture, let alone one that focused more on just their toes. Aren't they just adorable though?!?!

Happy 100th day of school!

I can still remember days 3, 5, and 8 of school. I remember thinking then "I have no idea how I'm going to make it to day 100 at this slow rate". Now it's here and the time is just flying by. I don't want June to come too quickly though!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Carrie for letting me borrow her camera for today's photos!

I'll leave you with a quote from "The Alchemist". I'm currently reading it and loving it!!

"This is the most dangerous of obstacles because it has a kind of saintly aura about it: renouncing joy and conquest. But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why you are here" -Paulo Coelho

Loss and Gain

Last week was really tough for me and a little bit of that is carrying over into this week. Last Monday one of my favorite students, Darien, came up to me and handed me a note written in Spanish. It said:

"Dear Miss King,

Hi! How are you? I am very sad because we won't be seeing each other anymore. Tomorrow I am going to CECOM (another school). I wish you a lot of love and friendship!

Love,

Darien"

I thought he was confused at first because other students had told me that they were switching schools and it wasn't true. But he had written a letter to every student in the class and when I showed Wendy the note she confirmed that he was indeed going to CECOM the next day. I'm so sad to see him go. Out of all my students he could always make me laugh the hardest. He has this little man laugh and I couldn't help but laugh too when I heard it. He is a very smart little boy and I wish him nothing but the best at CECOM and whenever else he ends up in life. I hope he remembers me, because I will definitely never forget him!

I also found out on Monday that the previous Thursday was my little Maxi's last day at Santa Clara. Maximino had a lot of difficulties in my class and it was decided that it would be best for him to switch to Nazareth (a special needs school). He knew a lot of English, but he couldn't reproduce information to me in a written format. Even when I tested him orally he was failing most subjects. I know going to Nazareth is what's best for him but I miss having him in my class. He had a lot of behavior problems but he's such a happy little guy and he was always smiling and laughing. It was hard to stay mad at him for too long. When he found out he was going to Nazareth he told Rosita that he didn't want to go because he was beautiful and didn't look like those other kids. Then he told her that he'd been doing his homework every night at the orphanage and that he'd be good for her and me in class. The last two weeks his behavior was phenominal -- which made it that much harder to say good-bye. I did get to see him yesterday at the orphanage though. I asked him if he liked his new school and he told me that he did, but he misses me and Santa Clara -- how sweet!!

It's ironic now that I have this photo of both Darien and Maxi. I posted it on a previous blog, but here it is again...

Darien (left) and Jose Maximino

I've been sad about losing both of these boys and I'm also dealing with a severely emotionally disturbed little boy in my class. He lives in the orphanage and it's the worst environment for a kid like him. It BREAKS my heart to know that's where he goes everyday. His mom actually lives in Honduras and has been in and out of the picture throughout his life, but is unable to emotionally care for him on her own. I don't completely understand how these things work in Honduras, but basically a mother can put her child in an orphanage and still have the right to see him/her whenever she wants to, no matter how detrimental it may be to the child. I've had problems with this little boy since the beginning of the year but since I've been back from Christmas break he's been impossible. He refuses to do his work, he tries to play mind games and manipulate, he bothers other children, and just has a whole slew of other issues. When I went to visit him at the orphanage this weekend I talked to the head nun about some of my issues with him at school. She told me during our conversation that his mom came to visit him over Christmas break but has been in a deep depression ever since and hasn't been back. So that has left this little boy feeling abandoned and unloved. When I asked him if he wanted me to come back and visit next week he said "no" and I'm sure I got that response because he doesn't want to be vulnerable, say "yes", and then have me not show. So I've realized that the best thing I can do is be a constant in his life. I need to make sure I make it to the orphanage every Sunday so I can show him how much I care and that he can count on me. Peggy had a long conversation with him at school the other day and asked him if he thought no one loved him. At that point he got emotional and said "No". I could never express fully how much that makes my heart hurt. I can't imagine being 8 years old and feeling like no one in the world loved me. How awful! Peggy asked him specifically if he thought she loved him or I loved him and he said "no". I've cried a lot of tears over this little boy and the situation at hand. I'm just at a loss of what to do and I feel so helpless. Please keep him in your prayers, because he could use all he can get!

On a lighter note I had three wonderful stand-out moments last week!

While writing "I like" sentences in English little Pablo wrote...

I love that he just labeled me "King". It made my day!

Later in the week I wrote some sentences on the board and called on students to read them out loud. I was pleasantly surprised when a lot of them could read the sentences. They were excited too and after the activity was over a little boy said in English "I like, Miss King" and I said "you like what?" He said "I like this! I can read that (as he pointed to the sentences on the board)!" I welled up instantly with tears and then couldn't stop smiling. What a great teaching moment!

Then on Friday a volunteer group of 22 from New Hampshire came to visit the school. Peggy was on a 6th grade retreat that day so Flavia asked me to talk with the group and give them a tour of the school. As I started to show them around one of the women asked me if she could meet Solangel (one of my first graders) because she was her sponsor. Sol was in Profe Rosita's class so I went to get her and it was definitely a Kodak moment to watch her meet this woman for the first time. When Sol realized who she was you could just see the gratitude in her face. Then she just gave her the most sincere hug, it was really sweet. I'm so grateful for all of the sponsors from the US who give these kids the wonderful gift of a good education!

Tomorrow night all of the volunteers are invited to have dinner with the bishop, apparently he makes a mean spaghetti and meatballs. Then Wednesday is our 100th day of school. The first graders have challenged all of the other classes to pick up 100 pieces of trash in our campo "field". A bag of suckers will be given to the class who can fill their bag with the most trash. Then on Saturday we've all been invited to a previous volunteers wedding, and you all know how much I love weddings :)!

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down.

Without the rain, there would be no rainbow."

- Gilbert K. Chesterton

No Más Cámara

My camera is officially broken :(

I'm trying not to be too sad about it because it's just a material possession, but man I loved that thing!

I was getting a travel size bottle for Kandice to take on her trip -- when I grabbed the bag it caught my camera and before I knew it I heard a big clunk! Now the lens won't come out and the camera just makes a clicking sound when I turn it on.

I'm hoping by some miracle it'll work again, but I troubleshooted for a few hours and nothing has worked. Luckily, enough of the volunteers here have cameras that I can borrow one if I need to. I just want to make sure I have something better than a basic point and shoot to take with me to Costa Rica, which is eight short weeks away now :).

So, do any of you have a camera similar to this:

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_sx30_is

that I could borrow for my trip? Or that you're trying to sell?

I can't afford the over $400 price tag on this one, but something more in the $100 range.

If anyone had one I could borrow Theresa could bring it down with her and then back to the states. I have two memory cards so I wouldn't need any of that -- just the camera itself.

I would love you forever! My life just doesn't feel right without my camera!

Hoping for a better tomorrow...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference"
-- Reinhold Niebuhr

Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad

I have SO much to write about and update all of you on, but I'm just too tired to do much updating this week. Maybe over the weekend I'll find some much needed blogging time and get you all caught up.

But in the meantime...

I HAD to write a brief entry to thank my mom and my friends Heather, Ashley, and Amanda for their awesome care packages -- that I received on Valentine's Day :). I wanted everyone to see how excited I get when I receive a box so I took a video of myself opening them for the first time. Amanda, Heather, and Ashley - I had a GREAT video of me opening your box, but sadly I realized after I recorded it that the sound wasn't working :( -- what a bummer! So I thought about posting it anyways, but you honestly can't tell what's going on. The good news though is that Wendy came in when I was recording so I had to stop and then record my last little bit. That part does have sound :)! So without further ado...



Amanda - As you can see I love the slim jim's -- AHAHAHA!
Heather - Oh my gosh -- the perfume is amazing! Muchas gracias :)
Ash - Thanks for the grande peanut butter and getting me hooked on sweedish fish :)



Mamasita - I can't tell you enough how amazing you are! I love that you send me packages and when we talk it's always the highlight of my week :)! I love you oh so much!!

Peg - Thanks for donating to the cause! You're the best!!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the people you love!

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls" -Audrey Hepburn

Magnifico Día

This just in...

HEATHER ROSEMARY SCHMOLL IS COMING TO HONDURAS IN MAY!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

I had to share! Now on to my original post...

Yesterday we didn't have school so that we could have an OAF (Olancho Aid Foundation) retreat. The day was spent at a retreat center right down the road from Santa Clara. There are over ninety people working for OAF currently and all of them came to spend the day together. It was absolutely wonderful!

When I arrived to the grounds in the morning I was greeted by this large turkey...

I honestly don't think I've ever seen a turkey that big! He was not a happy bird while we cruised past him. Some of the teachers stopped in their tracks because they were scared he was going to attack them. He was making that "gobble, gobble" sound and everything!

Once we got past the wild turkey we were all put into groups based on what our name tags said. My group was the "Lempira" and I got to be with Ella who I adore. She is this loud/opinionated/joyful woman who loves to laugh and have a good time. Just my kind of person :)!

Rosita was sad we weren't in the same group, but since we're right next door to each other every day it was good to be in separate groups. She is absolutely insane, but I still love her! She's trying to learn more English and her two new favorite things to tell me are "Get out of my life Bridgy" and "Don't bother me". AHAHA..Hysterical!

Me and Rosita - Maestras de primero grado

We headed outside to create the OAF letters after playing some human bingo and participating in some other contests. Carlos had my camera and didn't get any shots where you can clearly see all of the letters, but he has a program he's going to use to merge the different shots he took. Should look pretty cool when he's finished with it.

I'm part of the A

After discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the foundation we had an amazing lunch of rice, salad, beef, and chicken. Yum, yum, yum -- It was so good!

Yohely and me during lunch

When lunch was over we celebrated a beautiful mass together. On the way into the chapel I was attacked by a sheep. This same little guy attacked Jeff and Karol earlier in the day. I guess Karol took off running and the thing charged after her. Well I didn't know that previously so when it kept coming after me I took off and it chased me down too. I was leery to take a picture with it and sure enough it tried to eat my shirt!



I was cracking up that our day started with a wild turkey and ended with a crazy sheep. Usually it's cows and chickens, so it was a nice change of pace :)!

The little chapel where we had mass was perfect...

I loved the ceiling!

Todos - Ninety some people (Crazy!)

The day was filled with laughter, lots of hugs, and a few tears...

It was great to spend a day gathered with people who share in a similar passion. I love OAF and everything it stands for. I am so proud and honored to be working for such an extraordinary foundation!

"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist" - Indira Gandhi

Super Bowl 2011

Andrew, Jeff, and Lacey hosted the 2011 Super Bowl party at their casa.

Before heading over to their house I heard my little neighbors screaming "Gringa, Gringa, Hola Gringa!" and as I'm combing my hair in the doorway to my room I can see a little hand sliding back and forth under my gate...

Soon there were three little people under there...

Haha..they're so cute! The funniest thing was their aunts were sitting in front of our gate in platic chairs just watching them lay down by our gate. So Kandice and I layed down on the other end and talked to them for a minute but then I had to head over for the party. As I was walking down my road one of the little boys screamed "Gringa, donde va?" (White girl, where are you going?) It cracks me up that they always call me gringa when they've asked me what my name ten times now.

Guests arrived at 5 for the party and shortly after we were all in the house we could smell burning plastic. Just as we were wondering what it could be Andrew comes into the house and says "there are some kids burning a barbie outside" (read this with an English accent for the laugh factor). So I HAD to get some pictures...

Poor barbie didn't have a chance in those flames...

Oh the weird things these kids do for entertainment...

Lace is from Wisconsin so she was pumped for the game and got decked out in her green and yellow attire, complete with the Greenbay G...

Anne also heavily rooted for the Packers because Aaron Rodgers is from Chico, the same city she's from.

Most of the crew was really into the game, but Maki and I -- not so much:

But after a lot of screaming and excitement I decided to jump on the bandwagon -- I know, I know I'm not a true football fan...

Andrew whipped up some nachos and some manwiches for the big game...

I live for the manwich! YUM!

During the fourth quarter commerical breaks Jeff provided us with some hand shadow puppet entertainment:

Whoo hoo Packers! It was a close game but Lacey's team came through for her!!

I wish we could have these kinds of parties every night. I love having everyone together!

"Pro football is like nuclear warfare. There are no winners, only survivors" ~Frank Gifford

Cumpleaños and Catacamas

Yesterday Jeff, Anne, Carrie, Kandice, Lacey, and I headed to Catacamas to hike to a waterfall with Oscar. We got up early so we could catch the 8 o'clock bus out of Juticalpa. There are two different bus companies you can go through when traveling the 45 minutes to Catacamas. The "chicken bus" which is a big yellow school bus that is always packed, or the Discovery bus that costs the same amount of money but is a much nicer ride and doesn't stop to drop people off along the way. Since it's the same price we decided to go the Dicovery root. We arrived at the bus station at quarter til only to find out that the bus had been delayed and wasn't going to come until 8:30 a.m. We took a group vote on whether to stay there or head to the chicken bus across the street. Since we had already missed the 8 o'clock chicken bus we decided to stay at the discovery station and wait for the 8:30 bus to come. But of course everything has to be harder than it needs to be, and by ten til 9 the bus still wasn't there. We were all super frustrated and anxious to get to Catacamas to start our day -- so I suggested that we demand our money back and run over to the chicken bus station. I don't know enough Spanish to have that kind of conversation so Carrie graciously agreed to do it. While Carrie went to get the money back Lacey and I ran over to the other bus to grab some seats and have the bus driver wait for everyone else. As soon as we got onto the bus I was doubled over in laughter because there was a man jammin on his guit in the middle of the aisle! I had a great time dancing to my seat and right away I knew the bus wait was worth it! I was bummed when the man finished his song a short minute later and then exited the bus, but much to my delight and horror two Honduran clowns climbed aboard. Check these guys out:

They started walking up and down the aisles screaming stuff back and forth to one another and then they performed this weird little skit for everyone:

After all was said and done they asked people to give them a lemp or two for their services. They rode with us for the first twenty minutes and then they got off. After that it was just a normal bus ride -- bummer! I was hoping for some more eclectic people!

When we got to Catacamas to we walked to Oscar's smoothie shop and ordered some burgers and fries to go before heading out for the day. Oscar had this sweet hat that I got to wear :).

Jeff, Kandice, Me, and Lace

Shortly after we started on our waterfall journey we came across a GIANT snake. It was the biggest snake I've seen in a nature setting. Kandice and Lace were screaming "Snake!" and I was so exited to see it I started to run towards it, which I guess wasn't the smartest thing since I wasn't positive yet if it was dead or alive. We discovered pretty quickly that it was dead though and Oscar pick it up for a picture. It was so long you can only see about half of it here:

Oscar hiked in jeans and carried a bottle of coke along. Oh Hondurans!

The trail was beautiful...

Jeff spotted this little guy, who blended in almost perfectly with the leaf...

We hiked for two hours only to discover the path to the waterfall had been blocked by a large rock, so this is where our journey ended...

But boys being boys couldn't stand not to climb it, so they figured out a way to scale the side of the large hill and made their way to the top...

SUCCESS!

While we waited for the boys to climb back down, we took a picture of all the girls...

Jeff was really excited to be back...

And here's the whole group...

After we got back home Kandice and I hosted a birthday party for Jackie!

Jackie and Andrew

The guys wanted to take some knive pictures...

Jeff, Andrew, and Dan

I felt left out and wanted in on the knife action so I grabbed my machete and jumped in, but I definitely don't look mean enough for this kind of picture. I'll have to practice my mean face!

Andrew spilt some of my raspberry lemonade on his shirt and I think this is the funniest picture of the night...

After a few rounds of Catchphrase, Apples to Apples, and some Liars Dice (A fun new game I'll have to teach all of you when I come back home) it was time for birthday cake...

Jackie was super pumped to get her cake!

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Make a wish!

Happy Birthday Jackie!

"It is with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye" - The Little Prince