One more week...

So, once again, it has been a while since I have updated this… sorry.  A ton has happened since I last posted, so I’ll try to give you a taste of everything but probs won’t dive into that much detail. 

Ashley is here!

Sor Xiomara, Profe Hector, and I went to San Pedro Sula to pick up Ashley on Monday the 4^th.  It was actually kinda weird speaking in English when she first got here having not really spoken any English to another native English speaker here for a month.  My first instinct was to actually talk to her in Spanish which took me by surprise.  But that feeling really didn’t last all that long.  Ashley is an adorable accountant from just outside of Dallas, Texas.  She was here three years ago for about a month and a half when she first graduated from college and is now taking about 2 and a half months off of work to volunteer again. 

Tracy and Molly came too!

Tracy and Molly, two previous volunteers also came to visit this past week.  Molly was here and in El Salvador as well for a grand total of 2 years at the same time Ashely was here.  Tracy was here 2 years ago for a year.  Molly only came for 4 days and then was traveling to El Salvador to say hi to the sisters there too.  Tracy will be here until the 25^th.  It was a party in our room for a while, which was a ton of fun.  At night, Tracy and Molly would share the stories of their escapades while they were here.  It was really interesting listening to the stories of their adventures and comparing their stories to what the Sisters have told us about what they did.  Apparently they had quite the adventures while they were here.  Tracy was picked up by a couple of the volunteers who were in El Salvador in a car that they had rented and then drove to the Ruins by themselves using nothing other than a coloring map… apparently this adventure involved yelling out of the car to strangers in the towns which way they had to go and then taking a “short cut” through the aldeas and needing to drive across a small river.  Yeah, my stories aren’t nearly as good. 

Also, the sisters always told Thalia and I that the volunteers always met gringo friends.  And we blamed the fact that we never did on the fact that Peace Corps is no longer in Honduras.  However, talking to Molly and Tracy, they had like one or two American friends and that was it.  Hearing this makes me feel a lot better… I was concerned that I was just anti-social here.   

We visited Swami’s house!

Ashely’s first weekend we both went to Swami’s house.  Swami is one of the Segund Curso girls who lives in Lempira.  Ashely, when she was here before, Swami’s aunt, I think her name was Rudi, was a student at María and Ashely visited her house so she had previously met all of Swami’s family.  Rudi actually came home from Gracias where she is currently studying to be a nurse, so I was able to meet her and her family.  While we were hanging out, Swami’s younger sister and cousin got both Ashley and I to play tag with them (in Honduras it is called oofa) for hours on end.  When we needed a break, they girls stole our cameras and took a bazillion pictures of themselves and us and just about everything you can take a picture of. 

 

On Saturday morning, Swami’s dad and brother took us to one of their family coffee farms.  It was super cool!  I always wanted to visit one of the girl’s coffee farms but was afraid to ask because a majority of them are rather far away from their homes.  The coffee won’t be ready until November, but the family cut down some bananas that they brought back to the school. 

On Saturday night, we went to the town’s school where they were playing a movie… it was Drag Me to Hell which is a comical scary movie.  There were a ton of young kids there who thought it was hilarious… I couldn’t watch.  I am so totally not a scary movie fan!

Oh, and funny story!  I don’t remember if it was Friday or Saturday night, but there was a HUGE bug flying around in our room.  Ashley called it a “Flying Cockroach” which it basically was.  Anyways, we were about to go to bed and this thing was flying around and Ashley was screaming (but quietly because Swami’s family was sleeping) and I was laughing (but once again quietly) and trying not to make a whole lot of noise… but the bug was seriously gross.  Eventually, it landed on Ashley’s bed and I trapped it in a plastic bag and threw it out the door.  It was hilarious, and if I had more time/wanted to write more, I promise this story would have been better, but maybe you had to be there.  I do, however, miss the dry season when there were significantly fewer bugs.  On that topic, though.  The other day in our room at María, Tracy told me that she stepped on a cockroach… I was perfectly content believing that we didn’t have cockroaches in our room… that bubble has officially been popped!

My class ended!

I finished my last week of class on Friday and I handed in my grades today… I am officially a retired English teacher!  The girls actually did really well with this module which makes them, me, and Sor Mirna really happy. 

I went to Guatemala.

I went to Guatemala on Tuesday with some of the sisters who were traveling to a retreat in Guatemala.  We dropped them off in Esquipulas where they caught a bus to Guatemala City.  However, there is a really awesome Basilica in Esquipulas where the Cristo Negro is.  So we saw the Basilica, walked around the town, took some pics and then drove back to Santa Rosa. 

I only have 7 days left.

So, for those of you who don’t know, I’m coming home on June 28.  That gives me 7 more days here.  And while I'm super excited to go home and am starting to get everything ready for when I leave - the girl's and sister's presents are almost done, it really is bitter sweet.  I love all of the girls here SO much.  And they are all leaving for vacation on Friday, which means that they are having my despidida tonight and I have to say goodbye to everyone tomorrow... it really is coming to an end... and I'm not sure if I'm ready.  I already said goodbye to the three sisters who went to Guatemala.  It is very surreal... and doesn't feel real yet.  

I’ve been busy

So… apparently it has been a couple of weeks since I have updated this… sorry about that.  I have been rather busy as of late and when I have had some down time, I haven’t really wanted to write for the blog.  My Sunday classes ended and a new set started up which means that I now have to prepare for two classes instead of only one.  Before I had the same grade two times in a row, but now I have two different grades.  Additionally, I have to create a make-up exam for all of the individuals who failed last session’s English class (only about 10 of the 50-some students passed) and prepare for a review session that I held for them today.  I’m telling myself that they just didn’t study – which if you look at the scores that they earned, they obviously didn’t.  And the exams that are given through the book that we have to use are really hard.  And that is just for Sundays.  I have my usual weekday class to prepare for.  This past week I was preparing a project for them that I’m actually really excited about.  I re-wrote fables or fairy tales such as Cinderella, the Three Little Pigs, and Little Red Riding Hood (stories that they should know) with simple English words or words that we have already seen as vocabulary.  The assignment is for them to re-write the story in English as a skit and then next week, they will act out the play in English in front of the class with costumes and props.  I really hope that they have fun with it and it turns out well… I’ll keep you posted.  On top of that… our WiFi in the community currently isn’t working which means that the ten of us are all using one rather small computer for all internet access, which makes it kinda hard to post. 

Anyways… what else has been going on?  May is Mary’s month and all the Catholics here are VERY into Mary – and the Salesians are the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians… so they kinda really like her.  Anyways, these past couple of weeks every grade, the hijas de la casa, and the teachers have “presented their flower” to Mary during the Buenos Días that occur every morning before school starts.  They were all really kind of cool to watch.  Each group put on a skit, or recited some kind of prayer, and then the group got together, sang as song, and gave their flowers (both symbolic and real) to the Virgin.  I was somehow roped into being part of the Hijas de la Casa’s flower.  This means, that yes, I was singing and dancing in front of all 300+ students and teachers at the school.  And it was in Spanish, and I only learned the song about a day and a half before I had to sing it… and when I say learned, it was the first time that I had listened to the song.  Needless to say, I had to fake quite a few of the lyrics… I hope I was convincing.  I had the dance moves down though! 

This past weekend, I went with Banessa to her Aunt and Uncle’s house (she lives with them) for her sister’s Quinsinera party (for those of you who don’t know, Hispanics celebrate a girls 15^th birthday with quite the celebration… kinda like an extravagant Sweet 16, only a year early.  The girl gets all dressed up in a prom dress-like dress, has group of friends – girls and guys – who act like the bridesmaids and groomsmen in a wedding, and has an escort.  Like I said, it is kinda a big thing).  Anyways, Banessa’s house is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  She lives in the mountains at the end of the road.  It is incredibly peaceful.  There are flowers and fruit trees everywhere.  In addition, her house was the nicest I have been to so far… it may have even been bigger than my house at home.  They had three bedrooms, a large kitchen, a dining room, and family room – and they had an INDOOR BATHROOM with a FLUSHING TOILET!  I truly was in heaven! 

There were a ton of people at Banessa’s house all weekend… a bunch of women cooking.  Friday night, the women were all cutting veggies for I’m not entirely sure what… but they started cutting onions, and after half of an onion, the woman cutting them was crying quite profusely… I offered to cut them.  After so many Thursdays cooking for Newman dinner, I’m kinda immune to onions.  Everyone was impressed that I wasn’t crying… who knew that was such a unique skill?  Saturday, we went to the church to decorate it with pink balloons and paper flowers and spent about 3 hours there, re-stringing curtains and decorating. 

The Quinsinera itself was really nice.  They had mass at 4:30 on Saturday night (with an absolutely full church).  And then everyone went to the school for dinner and dancing.  It was basically a wedding reception.  Yes, for all of you wondering… I did dance… but they were dancing what I think is called Machatta (I’m really not sure on the spelling).  But the guy who I was dancing with was really sweet and understanding… and helped me learn the steps.  However, after the cake break, he did not ask me to dance again, and instead opted for someone with a little more Hispanic rhythm… oh well, I had fun while it lasted! 

The party ended at 10:30 – yes some of you may think that that is early… but I was grateful… after waking up at 6:00 after not sleeping very well the night before and then having to get up at 3:30 this morning so that we could be back in time for me to give English class at 8:15… getting to bed at 11:30 was plenty late for me!  Yes, I woke up at 3:30 this morning so that we could leave by 4:00… however, I forgot that here we are on Honduran time, which means that 4:00 really means 4:20.  Oh, well, we got to the school in plenty of time… around 7:15… I was able to supervise the girl’s breakfast, eat my own breakfast, and take a quick shower before I had to give class… score! 

That’s what I’ve been up to as of late… I’m going to San Pedro tomorrow with Sor Xiomara to pick up Ashley, my new co-volunteer.  And I have less than a month left here… it is crazy to think that this will all be coming to an end soon! 

Loves to everyone!