A lot of things have happened since I last wrote. I also cannot believe it has been just 4 weeks that we have been here. It seems like a lot longer, and that I have known these people for a very long time.
Let's start with the past week. It was the first (almost) full week of school. It was crazy too. There were multiple scheduling conflict. Monday I literally went from Plan A to Plan G and then probably Plan Z. I lost track. Welcome to Honduras. I had forgotten to send a worksheet to get copied, so I had to change what I was doing. Then I found out I couldn't be in my room for general music, and couldn't go in the auditorium because of chapel. So I took my class down to the cafeteria, in which parents were meeting. We ended up on the soccer bleachers. The only downside was my students saying, "Miss, I'm going to turn black." (from the sunshine. oh dear.)
Later that same day we realized that we had 6th grade at the same time I had to teach the other general music class. The other teacher ended up taking all of the 6th grade for that day. ah well. That day ended with me and her collapsing in chairs in relief the day was over.
The next day I spent a lot of time talking to the vice principal about discipline because my 9th grade general music class was too big and very rowdy. I must admit I worried about it all day, writing out what I needed to do differently; making a seating chart etc. Then as I was lying in bed, I realized the 9th grade was going to be gone that day! The next morning, Mrs. Bert the principal who had agreed to sit in on my class, gave me a huge hug when I told her what I had realized!
Friday we had open house in the afternoon. Basically we had parents come through and talk with us. I gave a ton of Honduran greetings and smelled like 10 different lady's perfumes by the end of the day.
Yesterday I decided it was time to clean the rug I had set on the back porch. When I moved it, there were two ginormeous cockroaches under it. Blah. So I yelled for one of my roommates, who came out with matches to light it on fire (supposedly you're supposed to burn it so the eggs don't hatch). Needless to say, cockroaches aren't immediately flammable. She's yelling and I'm hooting and the whole apartments were getting entertained. About that time a guy walked by and we made him smash them and then we set them on fire with paper. The end.
A few things from last week...In Honduras having a headlamp is a key asset. We had the power go out and we ended up making pancakes by candlelight for supper. (Thankfully we have a gas stove).
We can hike up our mountain and there are some good trails and really awesome views. After school one day a huge group of teachers decided to go on a hike. We may have gotten lost. Twice. We were trying to go to a look-out, and I was with a 2 others and we got separated from the larger group. We veered off when we weren't supposed to and ended up taking a
very steep detour. When we finally met back up with the larger group and started following them back, we ended up on the wrong side of the mountain. By this time we had to book it back because it was soon to be getting dark, and it gets dark fast here. We found our path and made it back in the nick of time, but we were certainly tired.
(View from the first look-out. About 20 min up the mountain. Pretty cool!)
Ahh. So last weekend at the mall I decided to get some Honduran food for lunch. I ordered the soup, which looked good, in my wonderful Spanish, and the lady asked if i wanted the mondongo soup and I said "Si, si." My roommate came over and asked what I was getting and I said some kind of soup, so she asked the lady, who said mondongo, and my roommate looked at me and asked if I knew what it was. By this time it was already on my tray and as we walked away my roommate said, "You know that's cow stomach, right??" whooops! I tried it, that's for sure, but mostly I ate the veggies around it. hmmm.
Last weekend the other music teacher and I went to the church of a Honduran couple who teaches at Pinares to play violin at their service. It was a small congregation who appreciated our music, even though I couldn't really see my music, and one thing I have found over and over is how incredibly welcoming the people are. The previous Sunday I had attended a small Mennonite service down in El Centro with a gal who is actually also from Archbold and who now lives here. I didn't understand everything that was said, but once again the people were so welcoming. One lady told me that there is a chair here every Sunday for you. A little girl named Marilyn decided to talk to me and pretty soon I had a whole group of little kids trying to talk to me and laughing at my attempts at Spanish. It was pretty cute!
Today I am playing guitar with the praise band at CCI, an English service that I have gone to regularly. It is a blessing to worship in English, although it is wonderful all the same to worship in a different language. I am amazed at how much I have played guitar in different things, staff morning devotions, worship night, the first day assembly. It is something I haven't done for a while and it is a great thing.
Pray for confidence in my classroom discipline. Pray for support in a new, albeit great, community. Pray for daily strength and energy.
~Psalm 40:3 "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."
