I'm Here!

Yes, it's true. I'm here in Tegucigalpa. I arrived around 11:30am, after a 3 hour flight. The flight was so quick - I spoke with a Honduran man sitting beside me, wrote in my journal, and napped for about 45 minutes. The Honduran man was really nice and had been in the U.S. for business. All of my conversation with him was in Spanish :-). I feel confident in one-on-one situations (talking in Spanish, that is), but when I get in a group setting, I have trouble using my Spanish, when I know that there are other people in the group who speak Spanish. I'm not as bold as other people when it comes to using the language, I guess. The landing was not bad, actually. It's been said that the Tegus airport has the shortest runway in the world (for a commercial jet, I'm sure). I had also been told that people on the plane erupt into applause when the plane lands safely. I experienced the reality of both of those things today. #1: The plane stopped quite abruptly. #2: People did, indeed, clap as soon as we landed. The airport itself was actually pretty nice.

I arrived in my house. It's pretty nice, but small. The floors are tile throughout the whole house, and the walls are white. My roommates have decorated their rooms, but because of the length of my stay, my walls will stay white. Boring, but conventional. I was reminded, after being introduced to the kitchen, that I will need to make my own dinners. This might be a learning experience, my friends. We'll see ! Especially when using foreign ingredients, my dinners might be interesting.

We talked for awhile, then played volleyball at the school with about 3 other teacher friends. It was fun and entertaining for a few hours. I unpacked, and then at 5:30, we went to Gelato y Creperia. It's a restaurant, as well as a dessert place. Mode of transportation: taxi. Comfort of ride: I don't think I'll ever be able to use "comfort" with the word "taxi" in Honduras. Let's just say the taxi sounded like it could've fallen apart at any moment. Seeing cows in the street is a common occurance, too.

The restaurant was quite good - I got a Sandwich de Pollo (Chicken Sandwich) con Papas Fritas (fries). They were really good and quite American. Nice for a meal on the first day out of the country. I don't want to shock my system too much. I was with 5 other IST (International School of Tegus) female teachers. It was really fun, and they are a good group of girls. I'm sure I will be spending quite a lot of time with them. There are only a few male teachers in the whole place, so most of my interactions will be with young, single females. Mom, no need to worry about me bringing back a Honduran man!

The taxi on the way back was also interesting. We had to wait forever to get one, and we scrunched 6 girls plus the driver into a small car. It was cheaper!

I hope I have a lot of opportunities to practice my Spanish. I spoke with one of the teachers about this issue, because she knows Spanish well. She said that it is sometimes really difficult to gain enough practice in Spanish, because teaching is the main focus. While this is true, I hope that I will gain enough practice so that my Spanish improves a lot.

It's been a long day for me, so I'm going to head to the cama for tonight...This is probably the earliest I've gone to bed in...at least 2 months!

Hasta luego, (until later)
Christy

This was an awefully long blog. No worries, for those of you who are impatient with long blogs. I'm sure once teaching picks up I won't have time to write such long posts.