6 Months Today

A Bus Stop. Photo Credit Sarah Wart

Today marks my 6 month anniversary of arriving in Honduras and a lot has changed in the past couple of weeks. For starters, life is just brighter on this side of christmas. When I think of home, I know I'm actually going to be there in three months. On that note, thank you to every person who sent me a package or note. My grand total came to 16 packages for christmas which significantly brightened my experience here. I am not yet bilingual but I find that I can understand a lot more Spanish as long as the speaker is not rattling away like freight train.

Finally, at school, one of the secondary teachers wanted to move to primary and administration hired a new teacher. So, my science and math classes with 3rd grade were passed off to somebody else and I got 7th and 8th grade Bible.  I now only have to see 3rd grade 6 hours a week as opposed to 24. I find that I like them a lot more now. Since then, the new teacher who took my classes went back to her old school, a new teacher taught the classes for about 3 days and left, and they have now given the classes to a new teacher. My kids are very confused. Every time I walk in somebody asks me if I'm still going to give them Bible class or if I'm going to teach them math and science again.

I also felt really appreciated here when I moved classes. My kids were very indignant when they learned they would only see me three times per week. The first week of the switch, it would take me about 3 minutes to get out of the classroom because I had so many girls around my waist. I would walk in to them chanting "Miss Lauren" and even one of my worst problem kids has decided that he misses me. They asked me to give them Math and Science almost every time they saw me for two weeks.

Not all has been well though. This last week there was a fire in the Comayagua Prison and most of Comayagua has been affected. They almost closed down the schools on the day of the fire. One of my 8th graders had a cousin who was a prisoner die in the fire. A boy in 5th grade lost an uncle. The uncle wasn't even a prisoner, he was carrying people out and didn't make it out with his last person. My Spanish tutor lives close enough that she could hear the screams of the men as they were dying. At least 350 men were killed. There are still prisoners who are unaccounted for. We have seen as many as three trucks full of policemen who are on the lookout for escapees.

In the good and the bad times, I am starting to realize that there I things I will miss when I leave here. I'm going to miss having worship every night with the other missionaries. I'm going to miss baleadas (the national food) and platanos. I'm also going to miss the relaxed way of life here. Realizing that there are things I will miss has made me happier. I hope that in the last 3 1/2  months, I can take advantage of every moment here and continue to let God work me into into someone better.