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.