Me Voy a Nicaragua

I'm going to Nicaragua! The story is way to long to tell here..but basically, I had the top people of International School on the phone with the bus company, the head people at the Honduran Immigration Office, and anyone else they could think of. Clearly they could see that I was worried...We pulled some strings (also called "personal connections") and I got my passport! I feel very loved by the IST staff, because they bent over backwards for me.

One more week of full-time teaching! I have to say that I'm really glad. I don't know what else to do to with them, talking-wise. I have gotten to know the students better, but still don't feel really attached to them. Maybe it's because they know I'll eventually leave? Who knows. I just know that this weekend will hopefully be GLORIOUS, because it will be time away from school and will be time with fun, quality people. And, hopefully, I'll get in some sleep as well.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Happenings in my Honduran life

There is currently a birthday party underway outside my house. A child (apparently one of my neighbors) is having his or her party in the street. They had a piñata, sang Happy Birthday, and everything. There is a special tune to Feliz Cumpleaños here. Actually, it´s a totally different song - one that I do not know yet. I love the sounds of the birthday party - kids playing in the street, obviously having fun. They´re comforting and encouraging sounds. All seems well in the world - for awhile, at least - when kids are happy.

A problem I have run into - I need to renew my permit to be here in Honduras. They gave me a 30 day permit, and I am here for exactly 60 days. Today marks the 1month anniversary of me leaving the States. Thus, I brought in my passport to school, and they took it to the Honduran office of immigration or whatever. I was informed (today) that it usually takes 3 days to get your passport back.

I bought a bus ticket to Nicaragua last night for $66. We leave on Thursday.

See a problem? Today is Tuesday. Three days from today is Friday. The bus leaves early on Thursday morning for Nicaragua (a different country) which requires me to have my passport.

Uh oh. Problem. What am I going to do? I don´t know yet. It looks like my options include these -
-try (again) to persuade the immigration office to get me my passport TOMORROW!
-stay in the country, at my house, with my roommate and find some ministry opportunities
-go on a trip with other IST teachers and stay in the country
-take the bus to Nicaragua and try to pay off the guards at the border. Possible? Yes. Scary and somewhat risky? Yes.

If you have input or divine wisdom, please let me know. It looks like things will be different (at least somewhat) than I anticipated. I should have known..... or as some teachers say TIH!! (This is Honduras)

La Vida Dura

An American teacher just found out today that the waitresses at the coffee shop we always frequent only get paid 100 Lempiras a day. That's about $5 for an 8-hour shift. It's minimum wage here, apparently. That means, that if they worked every day of the year, they would earn 36,500 Lempiras a year. The first-year teachers at IST earn 90,000 Lempiras (about $5000) a year. Basically, the baristas at the coffee shop would earn roughly $2000 a year. The IST teachers' housing, electricity, and insurance is paid for by the school.

Apparently beans and common staple foods in Honduras have been increasing in price, because the Honduran food company that produces many of these staples can sell them for cheaper to the neighboring countries (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala). So, Hondurans have to pay an import tax on the beans, which were made in their own country. For this reason, beans which used to cost 50 Lempiras now cost 80 Lemps. Asi es la vida, I guess.

This is what I like talking about instead of lesson planning. :-)

Oops

Worst cultural "fo paw" (clearly I don't speak French) of my life so far:

I was reading a book to the students about what life was like on the Mayflower. One section talked about food and what the Pilgrims and passengers on the Mayflower ate. The sentence said that they used a _______ to heat their food. The word was "brazier." Well, I had not read this book before, so I paused a little before the word, because I was unsure of the pronunciation. I wound up saying "brazierre," which actually means "bra" in Spanish. Way to go, Miss Carlson! So I had just said that the Pilgrims used bras to heat their food on the Mayflower. Needless to say, my kids were laughing pretty hard. I couldn't help but to laugh myself. Oh my.

It was a pretty good day - filled with ups and downs, but the kids were better. Still talkative like crazy, but better.

I bought my bus ticket for Nicaragua today, so I'm officially going ! Yay!

Now off to read and learn about electricity. Hijole....

Pure Honduras

Alejandro, Alex, and Kyle.
Fernando, Daniel, Mario, Eduardo, Juan, and German. They all dressed up for the Thanksgiving chapel and meal.
I love this picture! Mario, Eduardo, Juan, and German. It pretty-well captures their personalities (all except German's).

The view from the apartment next to my house.
Neighbor's house.
The street on which I live!
Ahh, this is Honduras.
The teal house is mine!

Otra informacion

I'm going to Nicaragua over Thanksgiving Break. It should be a good time. It's going to be 6 of us - Jen Walsh (from TU), Roshanna Lehman (from TU), Emily (from Calvin), Deanna (from Colorad0), and Jony (from Honduras). Details need to be figured out this weekend.

I AM going to see my family's Compassion child - he is coming on December 17th. I'm meeting him at McDonalds en El Centro and we're going to the Copan Virtual museum. I'll have to detail more on my blog as the next month passes. I'm beyond excited.

I'm meeting with some American missionaries on Sunday. I think it'll provide good insight into the Honduran culture. I'm looking for ministries to invest in my last week here, so that might provide me with some contacts.

Mejor

Today was much better. I had a more positive outlook on the day, and I tried to channel that attitude through the students. Tomorrow will be good, I think, because my teacher is going to be gone at a conference. I need to think about a fun activity that I can do with my students.

I'm so ready for the weekend. I'm tired! I came back from school and watched a movie. Christy watching a movie on a week day? Yup. The movie choice: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It was a good choice. :-) I always need to chill for about an hour before approaching the evening ahead.

Haha. My teacher and I are finding out about male-female relationships between our students in our class. It's so funny when I find love notes. The students are horrified, of course, that I have retrieved such a valuable item, but I just laugh when I read it. Actually, though, I have to talk to some students about these "relationships." No wonder they did horribly on their math exams. Ah, young love....

I have a ton of grading and recording to do for tomorrow, so adios!