Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
8 Days
What happened today?
Today...
Was my last day of classes of my first year of teaching
I had to tell some of my students goodbye (and probably never see them again)
Is my last Bible Study meeting
My stomach starting knotting up just thinking about leaving
Is ten months since I knew I had found the man of my dreams
Today...
Was my last day of classes of my first year of teaching
I had to tell some of my students goodbye (and probably never see them again)
Is my last Bible Study meeting
My stomach starting knotting up just thinking about leaving
Is ten months since I knew I had found the man of my dreams
Sunday, June 5, 2011
11 Days
As a gift for taking care of the girls, Scott and Mimi gave Jess and I a free night at the Humuya Inn along with a full body massage and pedicure! Talk about a great day.
Yesterday Jess and I went to the Inn around noon and were able to completely relax and enjoy a Saturday full of absolutely nothingness. I ended up sitting on the roof and reading for the majority of the day, besides getting my first massage, free dinner at the Inn, and then a sweet pedicure. Only to wake up in a comfy bed, in an air conditioned room, more reading on the roof and then a delicious fruit and cereal breakfast.
One thing I'll miss about Honduras: Some of the most delicious (not to mention inexpensive) mangos, bananas, pineapples and guavas I've ever had!
Yesterday Jess and I went to the Inn around noon and were able to completely relax and enjoy a Saturday full of absolutely nothingness. I ended up sitting on the roof and reading for the majority of the day, besides getting my first massage, free dinner at the Inn, and then a sweet pedicure. Only to wake up in a comfy bed, in an air conditioned room, more reading on the roof and then a delicious fruit and cereal breakfast.
One thing I'll miss about Honduras: Some of the most delicious (not to mention inexpensive) mangos, bananas, pineapples and guavas I've ever had!
Friday, June 3, 2011
13 Days
This was my last week of teaching because next week is review and then exams begin on Thursday. I really can't believe it's already Friday. This last month is really flying by. I'm going to miss my kids and all the crazy things they do and say. Now that it is getting close to the end of the year, some of my students are really pushing my buttons, while some are pulling at my heart. This has been such a great year. I definitely won't leave Honduras as the same person I was when I came.
Tonight was a blast. Dan and I took our Math Olympics team, a.k.a math nerds, out to dinner. We had a great time joking around, telling our most embarrassing stories and just getting to know each other outside of school. We went back to Dan's apartment after dinner and played Settlers of Catan (a game none of us had played except for Dan). Everyone had to leave before we finished, but hopefully we'll get a chance to play again. The more I get to know my students, the more I realize how much I will miss them.
p.s. If this blog doesn't make sense, you should know that I wrote the first paragraph before I left for dinner and the second after I got back.
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| Juniors Class Picture |
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| Leda, Gracia and Andrea |
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| Debbie, Raul, Eduardo, Lizza and Ester |
Tonight was a blast. Dan and I took our Math Olympics team, a.k.a math nerds, out to dinner. We had a great time joking around, telling our most embarrassing stories and just getting to know each other outside of school. We went back to Dan's apartment after dinner and played Settlers of Catan (a game none of us had played except for Dan). Everyone had to leave before we finished, but hopefully we'll get a chance to play again. The more I get to know my students, the more I realize how much I will miss them.
p.s. If this blog doesn't make sense, you should know that I wrote the first paragraph before I left for dinner and the second after I got back.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
18 Days
As some of you have noted, I've been able to do quite a bit of traveling and vacationing this past year. I figure that I might as well go as many places as I can and see as many things as I can while I'm in Central America. Otherwise, I'll probably never get the chance again. With that said, I just got back from a weekend trip to Amapala, an Island off of the west coast of Honduras. I have been there before, but just for a day trip. I got to actually see the whole Island and do a little more than just lay on the beach for a few hours.
We left Friday after school (which was a half day) and made the two hour drive to Amapala. It was really nice because Matt has a car and was able to comfortably take Meredith, Dan and I. We packed up and were out of Tegus by 1:00pm. Once we arrived at the coast we had to park the car and catch a water taxi (tiny boat) over to Amapala. It only took about 10-15 minutes, but the ride was quite enjoyable. The island isn't very big, so as soon as we walked off of the boat we could see our hotel. We unpacked our things and basically headed straight out to the beach. We opted to go to Playa Negra (Black Beach, because of the black sand) because everyone except for Matt hadn't been to that beach yet. It was really nice, but we only had about an hour and a half left of daylight so we enjoyed it while we could. I was pretty hesitant to get into the ocean because I knew, with the sun going down, that I would be freezing. However, once I decided to just feel the water, I couldn't help but go in because it was like getting into a warm bathtub. The water felt amazing and Dan, Meredith and I played frisbee until the thunder started rolling in.
On the way back to the hotel, we got poured on but it didn't really matter at that point. We were on vacation.
The Mantings (Ben and Lauren) were at the hotel when we got back. They left a little later than us from school, but stayed in the room right next to ours. The Mantings weren't the only surprise we found when we got back though, because of the storm the power had gone out on the island. We took showers in the dark (no hot water whether there was power or not) and then went down for dinner at the hotel. They were able to make dinner because the kitchen was gas powered, but then the power came back on and we were able to enjoy dinner with lights and then played cards for the rest of the night. I learned 2 new games: Up and Down the River; and Stupid (both very fun)
Mere and I retreated to our room, read a little and then went to bed. The air conditioning felt great to fall asleep to, but I was awakened around 2:00am because I was so hot. Power had gone out again and didn't come back on until the next day.
Saturday we woke up early to go for a hike up the volcano (very old volcano and you couldn't see in at the top) which was just like a big mountain. We started at 7:30 and finally reached the top at almost 10:00. It was a pretty strenuous hike, but felt great to finally get to the top! I don't think I've every sweated that much before! We stayed and relaxed for about an hour and then headed back down. Since nothing was open for breakfast, we were starving at this point and immediately went into town for a delicious pizza lunch!
Back to the hotel, then off to the beach. This time we went to Playa Grande (you can figure that one out) because Lauren knew of a private little cove that she had found on a previous trip. It was really nice, no one else around and we could enjoy laying out without Hondurans looking at us like we were crazy. The cove was surrounded by rocks, like you would see in a movie, and had a little beach. The only bad thing was that there was no breeze, so it was incredibly hot!
Back to the hotel for showers, but just after we finished, storm came up and no power once again. This time it lasted all night, and we never got it back. It poured and poured so we had to stay at the hotel and have dinner again. The bad news was that our rooms were ridiculously hot, and so falling asleep was a little more difficult. Wasn't the best night sleep and I'll be looking forward to my own bed and fan tonight!
The island is small, but not small enough to walk everywhere. You may be wondering how we got around everywhere, from beach to beach and into the city? Well, instead of taxis everywhere, Amapala has Tuk-tuks. These are great for carrying 3 or 4 people anywhere on the Island. Tuk-Tuks are little, open doored scooters with one wheel in the front and two in the back. They drive with handle bars like a motorcycle and are quite enjoyable (as long as it's not raining).
It was a great weekend getaway! Now I only have two weekends left until Jeremy comes. Bittersweet. (But definitely a little more sweet.)
We left Friday after school (which was a half day) and made the two hour drive to Amapala. It was really nice because Matt has a car and was able to comfortably take Meredith, Dan and I. We packed up and were out of Tegus by 1:00pm. Once we arrived at the coast we had to park the car and catch a water taxi (tiny boat) over to Amapala. It only took about 10-15 minutes, but the ride was quite enjoyable. The island isn't very big, so as soon as we walked off of the boat we could see our hotel. We unpacked our things and basically headed straight out to the beach. We opted to go to Playa Negra (Black Beach, because of the black sand) because everyone except for Matt hadn't been to that beach yet. It was really nice, but we only had about an hour and a half left of daylight so we enjoyed it while we could. I was pretty hesitant to get into the ocean because I knew, with the sun going down, that I would be freezing. However, once I decided to just feel the water, I couldn't help but go in because it was like getting into a warm bathtub. The water felt amazing and Dan, Meredith and I played frisbee until the thunder started rolling in.
On the way back to the hotel, we got poured on but it didn't really matter at that point. We were on vacation.
The Mantings (Ben and Lauren) were at the hotel when we got back. They left a little later than us from school, but stayed in the room right next to ours. The Mantings weren't the only surprise we found when we got back though, because of the storm the power had gone out on the island. We took showers in the dark (no hot water whether there was power or not) and then went down for dinner at the hotel. They were able to make dinner because the kitchen was gas powered, but then the power came back on and we were able to enjoy dinner with lights and then played cards for the rest of the night. I learned 2 new games: Up and Down the River; and Stupid (both very fun)
Mere and I retreated to our room, read a little and then went to bed. The air conditioning felt great to fall asleep to, but I was awakened around 2:00am because I was so hot. Power had gone out again and didn't come back on until the next day.
Saturday we woke up early to go for a hike up the volcano (very old volcano and you couldn't see in at the top) which was just like a big mountain. We started at 7:30 and finally reached the top at almost 10:00. It was a pretty strenuous hike, but felt great to finally get to the top! I don't think I've every sweated that much before! We stayed and relaxed for about an hour and then headed back down. Since nothing was open for breakfast, we were starving at this point and immediately went into town for a delicious pizza lunch!
Back to the hotel, then off to the beach. This time we went to Playa Grande (you can figure that one out) because Lauren knew of a private little cove that she had found on a previous trip. It was really nice, no one else around and we could enjoy laying out without Hondurans looking at us like we were crazy. The cove was surrounded by rocks, like you would see in a movie, and had a little beach. The only bad thing was that there was no breeze, so it was incredibly hot!
Back to the hotel for showers, but just after we finished, storm came up and no power once again. This time it lasted all night, and we never got it back. It poured and poured so we had to stay at the hotel and have dinner again. The bad news was that our rooms were ridiculously hot, and so falling asleep was a little more difficult. Wasn't the best night sleep and I'll be looking forward to my own bed and fan tonight!
The island is small, but not small enough to walk everywhere. You may be wondering how we got around everywhere, from beach to beach and into the city? Well, instead of taxis everywhere, Amapala has Tuk-tuks. These are great for carrying 3 or 4 people anywhere on the Island. Tuk-Tuks are little, open doored scooters with one wheel in the front and two in the back. They drive with handle bars like a motorcycle and are quite enjoyable (as long as it's not raining).
It was a great weekend getaway! Now I only have two weekends left until Jeremy comes. Bittersweet. (But definitely a little more sweet.)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
22 Days
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| Oh, Rafael! |
One of my ninth graders had an epiphany this week. His name is Rafael and he is going to fail math for the year, which means that he has to take a Recuperation Exam. Basically students have the opportunity to take a week long class and then an exam at the end over all of the material we covered all year and if they pass that exam then they get to pass the class for the year.
So back to Rafael....before class started on Monday he asked me, "Mees, can I come after school for tutoring for the Recups?"
To which I replied, "Of course, I'm here on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays after school. However, I have one stipulation. In order to get extra help you have to first pay attention during class."
"But Mees, if I pay attention in class then I won't have to come for extra help."
"You got it!"
Too bad he didn't realize this early, or he probably would have passed my class!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
23 Days
In case you were wondering how I get to school every morning...
This bus (or one similar) comes to our house at 6:33am. We usually can hear the engine roaring as it makes its way up our steep hill. Once Laura or I hear it coming (Jess is usually still getting ready), we yell "Bus!". Some mornings we are all ready and waiting outside before the bus arrives, but a typical morning goes a little something like this...
Laura makes her lunch and heads outside before the bus arrives. I pour my coffee, eat my breakfast and usually have everything all together (but for some reason I can always find one more thing to do instead of going and waiting outside, like take out the trash or wash the dishes). Jess, however, usually comes out of her room at 6:30, if we're lucky, and gets her lunch and breakfast ready as we yell "Bus!". Sometimes she gets a little flustered, but for the most part we all make it work and somehow get out to the bus on time. The bus drivers have graciously learned that it may be a few minutes for all of us to make it out, but they never complain (at least not in English!)
Laura makes her lunch and heads outside before the bus arrives. I pour my coffee, eat my breakfast and usually have everything all together (but for some reason I can always find one more thing to do instead of going and waiting outside, like take out the trash or wash the dishes). Jess, however, usually comes out of her room at 6:30, if we're lucky, and gets her lunch and breakfast ready as we yell "Bus!". Sometimes she gets a little flustered, but for the most part we all make it work and somehow get out to the bus on time. The bus drivers have graciously learned that it may be a few minutes for all of us to make it out, but they never complain (at least not in English!)
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