Tis the Season

Yes, we ate all of those

               Christmas has come and gone but I am still on vacation so it still is on my mind. Christmas has been a little different than what I'm used to. Firstly, the fireworks. They started right after thanksgiving and I think I've heard at least one firecracker every day since. Second, the heat. It's about 81 degrees outside right now and I have been gallivanting about the countryside in shorts. Three, christmas trees. Proper christmas trees are nonexistent. They try with fake ones but it's more like a tree of astroturf rather than actual branches. Finally, this is the first christmas I have spent without my family.
                   Vacation started with a trip to the beach. We went up to the Northern coast of Honduras to a place called Tela. We laid out on the beach, scraped fresh coconut out of the shell with whatever we could find, saw other white tourists, and I got in the ocean. It occurred to me that this is the 6th country in which I have been in the ocean.

Christmas Eve Dinner: No Jeans Allowed

We had a wonderful christmas with the remaining SMs (4). For the first time ever, I was responsible for cooking at least 1/4 of christmas eve dinner. In case you're wondering , I am a genius with sweet rolls. We enjoyed dinner with candles, christmas lights from the SM office, and soft music (thank you pandora ). We finished off with white christmas. Leftovers were consumed by all on christmas day.
             I enjoyed christmas, but I couldn't help thinking about what I would be doing at home. I think just about every christmas movie has some kind of stress on family. Tim Allen finally bonds with his son, Jonathan Taylor Thomas just wants to go home for christmas,Wallace and Davis begin to start families after a white christmas, and George Bailey doesn't care about $8,000, he is happy to have his family. Even the Whos down in Whoville realize that if they have each other, they don't need the packages, boxes, or bags.

I totally made these. We all decorated

I'm glad I'm here. I looked back to August and realized I have grown tremendously while I'm here. I cook, I deal with kids all day, I understand a lot of Spanish, and my kids are even giving me an idea of how God probably feels about us. I hope that God teaches me more in the next half of my mission experience, but I will be glad to experience the next christmas season with my family.

Thanksgiving

Some of my girls

Wow. It has been awhile. This is because I have been super busy. We have had partial (final) exams, recuperation exams, turning in grades and having them checked, and a reworking of the school system. To explain, the quarters are called partials here. At the end, there is final exam week when the kids are in school for 3 hours take their exams and leave. We are in school the full time because everybody is grading exams, tracking down copies of exams they have written, and waiting their turn to input grades on one of three computers that has the grading program. If the kids fail their classes, they take another exam the following week which counts for all of the tests they have had in the quarter. This process is called recuperation and gives them another chance to pass. If they still fail, they just have to get better grades next partial. This process occurs every partial. If they fail all year, they take another recuperation test in June. If they fail that, they come back and take another recuperation test in August. That is the point where if they fail, they fail the grade.

My Thanksgiving Dinner

          Anyways, the big news is really that thanksgiving has come and gone. Christmas season here we come. I am told that this can be the hardest time for an SM because usually, we are home with our families at this time of year. So far I am okay. Thanksgiving was very different from other ones I have had but it was really nice. I spent my morning in school. The kids have parties at school to celebrate thanksgiving. We ran around outside. 3-legged soccer was surprisingly unsuccessful because the boys tore the tape holding their legs together. We played a running game instead. I would just like to say that these are much more scary when you are the teacher because all of the kids try to catch you at once. Trampling them though inviting, is not advisable.
           After school, we went to eat dinner at the hogar in town run by the baptist missionaries. Of note, most of the teachers at the school are not adventist. There are 2 missionaries who are baptist. We brought vegetables and salad. I most definitely was not stuffed physically, but it was a blessing. After dinner we went around the table and the 40 or so of us shared something we were thankful for. The people there don't have much. There are girls with special needs and teen mothers who are victims of abuse. The youngest mother is twelve. They have experienced so much in life but they are so thankful for the good things that they have. It reminded me that I have so much to be thankful for. I get hot showers at least half the time, I have enough food, I have a nice house to live in, I don't have to go house to house picking through garbage bags for cans, and I have internet. I hope God will help me to remember as I spend my first christmas season away from my family.

First Bus Adventure

The kids at the hogar. Camera = excitement.

          As stated in the title, I rode the public bus for the first time this weekend. Destination: Santa Barbara. Sarah and I went to visit the hogar del ninos and the other SMs posted there. Last week, we missed the bus by about 4 minutes and were very sad. This week, as we were headed out the door one of the parents from the school pulled up to turn in a project and then offered us a ride. It was like a little sign from God saying "hey, I know you missed the bus last week so I'm giving you some extra help to catch it today". We arrived in darkness and were greeted by our friend Logan straight off the bus.
               At the hogar, we spent our first evening swinging kids around, being pulled around the compound, and attempting to demonstrate duck duck goose. This was only moderately successful as the kids definitely grasped the entire run when you get goosed concept but they never figured out that they were supposed to come back to the circle after a single turn. Then we had about 3 kids trying to tag people at a time. It was pretty cute.

I took a whole walk in this scenery. 

              On Saturday we went to church ...... and it had a piano. It was drastically out of tune and I got to play it for 3 minutes but I didn't even care. It was wonderful. I haven't gone so long without a keyboard since the age of four. I felt complete. In the afternoon we went on a walk. It's also been a long time since I took a walk out in nature. There were galloping cowboys, nature sounds, herds of cows, and rivers to cross. It was a blessing. We walked out to a river which was brown but hey nature is nature.

Photo Credit: Logan. Notice this picture is the best.

              On the way back the bus broke down. No big deal. Everybody just hopped off on the side of the road and waited for the next one. I was impressed. It only took about 20 minutes to get another bus out there. Score. I lost that bet. I expected an hour. There were not enough seats so I ended up standing for about 3/4 of the trip. Then, this guy's luggage fell on my head so he gave me his seat. Not a bad deal. All in all, it was nice to have a trip right after the stress of preparing for finals. We most definitely will be going back.

Nose to the Grindstone

My Hair After China Bumps. 

                So I haven't posted in awhile because I have been super busy. Last weekend I went to the first all-Honduras adventist youth retreat. Or something de Jovenes. It was at this point that I realized my Spanish really has improved in this month. I can now get the main idea of a talk without consulting my handy-dandy dictionary. I also learned that it's better to just get the cheaper ticket and sleep on the floor rather than signing up for a bed at the last minute as you will probably end up on the floor anyways. (true story) Honduran time means you can be late for just about everything without being rude, but you had better be on time for youth meetings because the seats fill up when it is actually supposed to start. Also, to be on time girls will get up at 4:30 in the morning to shower and they are not quiet. Investigate your 3rd level bunk bed before you climb up on it. If it is supported with plywood, it just might crack if you put all of your weight in one place. Finally, there are other adventist white girls in Honduras. We found 2 of them.
                 I also had my first parent-meeting experience. The other girls told me to stick to my guide teacher. I thought it would be okay if I was ten feet from her. When she finished talking, I could join her and she could translate for me with the parents. Incorrect assumption. They really meant: you must be no more than three feet away from the Spanish-Speaking teacher at all times. The parents came to me and I ended up fumbling on my own in Spanish. I guess it's a good thing I know the important school words like tareas, cuaderno, escuchar, estudiar, correr, prueba, and compartamente. They also can't be really upset with you if you don't know what they are saying.
                 Other than that, I've just been pretty busy keeping up. I can now whip out lesson plans in a short amount of time, I have cooked my first meal for the rest of the house and they actually ate it, and I have begun working out. Running on the street is inadvisable but I can do exercises in the privacy of my own home. Some of my kids have started eating with me at lunch and telling me about the relatives they never see in the states and the missionaries who have promised to come back but haven't. I'm starting to care about them, especially when they aren't all feeding off each other's energy in my classroom. Things are becoming easier, but I could still use your prayers every day.
            

Settling In

Oh.. the life of a missionary is so hard

      Well, tomorrow I will have been in Honduras for exactly one month. That's the longest I have ever been in a foreign country or without my parents. So far I am doing okay. I have been to the market twice and can ask how much things cost and give the correct amount of money. I have marched in the annual independence day parade. From this experience, I can tell you that moving a parade takes forever. Also, people do recognize the USA flag and if you hold one, they will shout out USA or estados unidos.
           It turns out that lighting a gas stove or oven is not really that frightening and it is best to not be in the midst of a shower when the power goes off. If you happen to have a roommate that will discreetly put a flashlight on the toilet, the experience is much improved. If you ever wondered why there is a Mother's Day and Father's Day but no kids day, you are living in the wrong country. Kids day or dia del ninos has been hiding out in Honduras for years.
           Finally, teaching is very hard but very rewarding. At the end of the day all my kids want to do is get out that door and teaching them is only marginally successful. However,  I am the most awesome teacher at recess just because I know a couple common clapping games. My kids tell me they love me all the time, and the parents are wonderful. Just this week a parent took us up to their second house so we could eat, swim, and relax by the pool.
           One month down, 9 months to go, and they're going to be awesome.

Animals Animals Animals

Random Cow

There are many animals I am not used to seeing here. For example, there are a few cows who walk by the house just as free as you please while they graze.

Sherwin

There are dogs everywhere but even if they are not strays I have only seen two on a leash. A frog who has been named Sherwin sits at our gate begging to be let out every time it really rains. Finally, we have little geckos in our house. One has a gimpy leg... thus I have named it Nemo.


The first week of class is done and I am glad for it. Trying to impart new information and yet hold a class's attention without actually giving them something to do is a challenge. I have taken to having even my 3rd graders copy a bunch of notes from the board so I don't lose them when I'm talking. I have purchased a whistle and I have started assigning worksheets. This week drastically improved from Monday. I hope this week improves on last week.

There is a gecko on the corner

First Impressions

Well guys, I am now in Honduras. I have learned lots of new words, zapped bugs in my water with the power of my ultraviolet light, started a war on the ants who have decided to make our house their gathering place, and made lemonade from lemons I picked off a tree myself. Thank goodness, my house has two girls who like to cook and two girls who can do the dishes. As far as school goes, I have been assigned to teach 3rd grade science, math, and bible as well as 9th grade literature. I'm a bit nervous but also excited. The school is very nice. There are smart boards, water coolers, air conditioned classrooms, and a basketball court. In addition to teaching this year, I am going to learn from my fellow missionaries. I have been told that I'm going to learn about black hair, getting my groove on, cooking, and how to be city wise. I am going to teach them how to camp without bathrooms or tents and how to do the splits.

School is coming so pray for me please,

Lauren

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I am still in the USA as of this moment, but I thought I would set this up now so I would have a place to direct people in my thank you notes. Now that you have been directed, thanks for visiting my blog. Once I depart for Honduras, I cannot promise that I will post often but I will attempt to post at least once a month. Hopefully in that time I will have something interesting enough to share with the world. I can promise that I will not post every time I learn a new word, brush my teeth, or have a semi-original thought.