Life in Ruins.

The ruins of Copán, of course.

While having the student teachers here has been invaluable within the classroom, it's also giving us an excuse to travel and visit different parts of Honduras that we haven't made it to yet. Case in point? Our weekend trip to Copán. The city of Copán is about 6-7 hours away from Sigua, which is a manageable yet not incredibly practical weekend trips. The student teachers really wanted to see it (as well as some of the English teachers), so it was a opportunity for all of us to go.

Parrots in the wild. What. Now.

We left the school Friday afternoon and arrived in Copán sometime in the evening. I don't know about anyone else, but I went straight to bed. Being in Grade 1 and 2 wears me out, my average bedtime is about 8:30pm these days.

Hieroglyphic stairs.

An early start on Saturday morning to beat the heat that plagues all of Copán meant that we found ourselves at the ruins around 9 or 9:30am. Which still seems unreasonably early to me despite my 8:30pm bedtime. Just sayin'. Sarah and Ricky opted out because they'd already seen the ruins, and honestly, once you've seen them, they aren't going to change. So Hannah, Elizabeth, Brent, Stephen, Emily, Keith, Erika, and I spent the majority of the morning climbing all over rocks, taking ridiculous pictures, sweating to death, and getting yelled at.

But really though. We're going for a record. Elizabeth, Stephen, and I all got reprimanded on different occasions. I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I could stand on THIS rock, but THAT rock is off limits. A rock is a rock is a rock. In my mind anyways.

While I wouldn't compare these ruins to the ruins of Teotihuacán in Mexico City (as far as size and grandeur is concerned), there were actually a TON of different ruins. I felt like every time we climbed up and over one ruin, there was another one waiting for us on the other side.

Three pieces of advice for anyone heading over to las Ruinas de Copán anytime soon:

1: After giving your ticket to the ticket takers, go straight instead of right. You'll be more disappointed initially, but it pays off in the end.

2: Don't go when it's hot. It was cloudy and not even hot when we were there and I still had back sweat. Gross, but true.

3: Skip the tour guide. Like I said, a rock is a rock is a rock. All of this information is online. Anyone can Wikipedia these days. Save yourself the time and money, travel at your own pace. However leisurely you decide you want that to be.

The group began to part ways post-ruins. Some of us stayed around the city of Copán (which is adorable, I might add. I want to live there), some of us when on a coffee tour, and some of us went to the hot spring. I opted for the trip to the hot springs. Another good decision.

There were a series of different hot springs serving various purposes (mud bath, foot massage, scalding hot back and neck massage, etc) that you could travel between freely. I preferred the mud bath as well as the regular hot spring pools. Although I did feel like I was slowly cooking from the inside out.

While hanging out in the mud bath, we were joined by a lovely little family that had three young children. Stephen, Sarah, and I had mud caked all over our faces and the children looked at us like we were the most disgusting human beings on the planet. They soon warmed up to us and we had a wonderful chat. There's nothing that brings people closer together than rubbing mud on yourself together. We decided to move on to the next hot spring pool, so the three of us simultaneously stuck our heads underwater and blew bubbles while scrubbing the dirt off our faces. There is nothing more hysterical than the look on those children's faces when I took my head out from underwater. They were looking at us as if we were certifiably insane.

Dinner at a nice pizza restaurant followed up by "un cono de 26 de galleta" (a 26 lemp ice cream cone with Cookies and Cream ice cream) from KOBS rounded out our time in Copán. What a relaxing, adventurous, and outdoorsy weekend it was.

And then we stopped at the mall in San Pedro Sula where Sarah and I proceeded to go spent 450 lemps on candy. Its 20 lemps to 1 American dollar. Go ahead, do the math. I'm not ashamed.

One Day Without Shoes-- 2013 Edition

Potentially my favorite day of the year-- TOMS One Day Without Shoes. TOMS philosophy is simple; One for One. Every time someone buys  pair of shoes, another pair is donated to a child who needs it. There are millions of children worldwide who go without shoes everyday and who have a drastically lower quality of life because of it. By providing children with shoes, TOMS is opening doors for these children to attend school, receive an education, prevent sickness and disease, and overall change their lives.

Once a year, TOMS sponsors One Day Without Shoes where they challenge the world to go barefoot in order to raise awareness for the children are faced with this reality everyday. Awareness leads to change. And TOMS is hoping to change the lives of children one pair of shoes at a time.

I love being barefoot. I love TOMS shoes. I love One Day Without Shoes. I love sharing this love with my students. So for the second year in a row (you can read about One Day Without Shoes-- 2012 Edition here), I organized the event with my students. Which then spiraled into all of elementary school participating. Not complaining one little bit.

This year we chatted about the things that each student can do to change the lives of those around them. It can be difficult for students to see that although they are young, they still have a profound impact on people they come in contact with. As they did last year, the students blew me away at the honest and raw answers they were giving and observations they were making.

The highlight of their day was when they painted the bottoms of their feet to help create the One Day Without Shoes poster. Every student from Grade 1 to Grade 6, as well as all of the teachers and administrators, participated in the day long event and the painting.

As a teacher, it can sometimes be difficult to see how well your students are absorbing what is being taught to them. I frequently wonder if they are retaining information or if they are simply regurgitating the information that I am giving to them. Are they actually storing facts away for future use or are they only keeping them until the test?

Sometimes we are given the sign. The one that says "Yes, I am paying attention. What you are saying is registering with me and I can apply it in my life." Sometimes that sign is obvious right away, other times it doesn't become visible until later.

Grade One.

We had parent meetings on Thursday-- two days after participating in One Day Without Shoes. I had received a lot of feedback from the students about how they looooooved going barefoot, but I wasn't always confident that they understood the real reason why we were doing so. Other than the obvious fact that Miss Caitlin is just an awesome teacher and likes to do fun things. While talking with one parent though, I was able to see the effects that One Day Without Shoes had on her student. The student, Any, is in my Grade One class. Her mother was telling me that last weekend they were sorting through her closet, looking for clothes to donate and clothes to keep. Any kept saying "No, I wear that. I still love that. I still want that." Even though her mother knew those things to be untrue. Instead of engaging in an argument, she let Any keep the clothes. Any, very excitedly, came to school on Tuesday without her shoes on and proceeded to keep her shoes off the entire day. She participated in discussions, completed our activities, and had a great time. That night when she went home and said her prayers with her mother, she prayed for the children who didn't have shoes or people to take care of them when they got hurt. And after the prayer when her mom asked her again about donating her clothes, Any said "Yes. There are poor kids who need those clothes more than I do. I want to give them away."

Grade Two.

I can't speak for every child. I can't say that every child understood why they were allowed to go barefoot on April 16. But I can confidently say that we reached one child. And, as is the hope with One Day Without Shoes, that child is going to do something that changes the life of another. Thus beginning the ripple effect. 

CEE Elementary School.

My Precious Babies.

We've been blessed to have some student teachers down from Canada for these past three weeks. Miss Hannah has been working with Grades 1 and 2, and while I'm sure it's been a huge challenge, the students have really enjoyed learning with her (and not having to listen to me run my mouth all the time) and I have really appreciated having her in our classroom.

With time I've gotten used to the strong personalities of my Grade Ones and the challenges that come with teaching them. I've accepted the fact that my Grade Twos aren't at the same level of English speaking and comprehension of classes I taught in while in the States. I've grown and been challenged right alongside of all 47 of my crazy students.

But it wasn't always this way. I didn't always have this understanding and background knowledge. Parcial One was comprised of many tear-filled nights and conversations that included "Why did I come here? These students are too difficult. I don't know how to handle them. I want to go home." I felt a lot of hopeless and despair at the beginning of the school year because the students were so much more than anything I had ever been exposed to before. That is kind of where some of the student teachers find themselves these days. When you are in that stage it is so easy to feel discouraged or alone and to make comments about how difficult the students are or how under-prepared you are as a teacher. I know, I lived in that stage for a really long time.

While I initially took these comments made out of frustration very personally, I quickly realized how positive of an interaction it actually was. My gut instinct when hearing these comments was to fight for my students. To protect them. To vouch for the progress they have made and to point out the strengths of each one of them as an individual.

And through all this I realized how much I genuinely love and care for each one of the chatty, vibrant Hondurans who walk through my door each day. I wanted everyone else to love them and care about them as much as I do. I wanted everyone else to see their successes. It can be so easy for me to get caught up in the day to day. To focus solely on the lesson plans and not the learners. To harp on the disobedience and defiance as opposed to the growth and optimism. It was only when I heard someone else focusing on the negative when I realized how much positive exists in my "normal" with these children.

While I was quick to anger when hearing comments made about my classes (despite the fact that I knew exactly where these comments were coming from and why they were being said), it was exactly what I needed to be reminded why I am here. To love on my students. To share my love of learning with them. To teach them Biblical principles and to provide them with a safe place to come each day. They are my babies and I love each and every one of them. They are the reason that I am teaching here in Honduras.

Not only has having the student teacher here really reminded me of how much I love and care about my students, but it has caused me to reflect a lot on the growth that my students have all shown throughout the year. As with anything or anyone that you spend a lot of time with, it can be hard to see growth. It can be hard to see the day to day changes that quickly add up to monumental advances. I can so easily forget where we all started the year. In defending my students' behavior as well as academic performance, I realize how far we have actually come. Grade Two speaks almost exclusively in English, Grade One hasn't had anyone climbing on the windows in weeks. I can't remember the last time that someone was stabbed with a pencil and Spelling Exams are completed in (almost) complete silence. My reality in the classroom today is a complete 180 from what it was back in August.

I am so, so proud of my students. They have grown and improved so much in all aspects of their life, not just in their academics. They have taught me more than I have taught them this school.  There is not doubt that they are crazy, rambunctious, and yes, exhausting. But they are mine. My precious babies.

So while the students will be thanking Miss Hannah for her help with writing friendly letters and teaching them about the life cycle of butterflies, I am going to be thanking her for the most important lesson she taught while she was here. The one that came without a lesson plan. The lesson that showed me how much I love my students, that confirmed that I am meant to be teaching here at this school, that reminded me of the progress we have all made since August.

OH. MY. GOD. WHAAAAAT.

Spring Break 2013-- another one for the books.

Sarah, Daniel, Cristian, Hector, and I planned for a week long vacation filled with surf, sand, and sun in the small-ish little Nicaraguan town of San Juan del Sur. SJDS is located right on the beach and is big on catering to the needs of North Americans. Almost EVERYONE spoke English. All the time. Kind of freaked me out a little bit.

The view of San Juan del Sur from the Christ Statue.

Our anticipated 8 hour journey (that began at 4:30am) actually took 18 hours. Needless to say we were all cranky and tired upon our 10:30pm arrival to our hotel. The drive was filled with lots of sleeping, lots of talking, lots of sweating, lots of searches by the cops, and lots of stops to give the over-heating radiator a break.

Most common sight on our trip.

The next three days were spent equally between the beach and the pool. We hung out in downtown San Juan del Sur (and walked the entire length of the beach twice), visited the Christ statue (Rio throwback, anyone?), spent a day at Playa Hermosa (for a less crowded beach experience), and ate more fried chicken/ ice cream than I ever thought possible (my two favorite foods). Cristian, Hector, and I cut our time short and came home on Wednesday on account of Mom and Joey arriving in Honduras on Friday.

We packed up the car, waved goodbye to the sleepy little beach town that darkened our skin while brightening our spirits, and set off on another 18 hour journey.


God bless zoom lenses.



The progression of the sunset.

Christ Statue.

One afternoon Cristian, Hector, and I decided to walk the entire length of the beach. Okay, no problem. We were climbing over some of the rocks when Hector slipped and fell. He cut his foot pretty badly, so we stopped at the firefighters for some medical assistance. There was a group of American nursing students there completing some of their practicum who were more than willing to assist. Apparently Hector's injury was the first injury they'd encountered while being in Nicaragua, so everyone wanted to participate. One person held his foot, another person poured water over the wound, another dried his foot, another ripped the gauze, another placed the gauze. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. Cristian and I were killing ourselves laughing at the whole ordeal.

We also spent a lot of time quoting commercials from TLC. Including, but not limited to, "Oh my God! Whaaaaat?!" and "Idon'tbelieveinspendingmoneyonsomethingthatI'mjustgoingtothrowaway." One of us could be heard quoting said commercials at any given time. Regardless of the situation.

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 14. Valentine's Day. A holiday that you either love or hate, I have yet to meet anyone who is just neutral about Valentine's Day. If you aren't keen on the idea of a holiday centered solely around love and hearts and gooey things, maybe you'd love the Spanish take on it. Día de amor y amistad-- day of love and friendship.

Dia de Amistad with these crazy kids? Yes please.

We started out this holiday season with our "John 3:16" bulletin board.

        "For God

                  so loved the world

                       that He gave His

                      only

               begotten

                      son so

                         that whoever

                    believes

                        in Him shall

                   have everlasting

                                 life."

Followed by many talks about how God is our very best valentine.

Our Valentine's Day craft.

Multiple reading buddy classes were spent creating various valentines and telling people reasons why we love them. We really focused on verbalizing our feelings of appreciation for each other as well as making sure our actions mirrored our words. Trust me, there were many, many discussions to be had about loving each other.

Crosswords. Please note this concentration.

The big day finally arrived and the students came to school ready to party. Ropa de color and everything. I spent the morning with my Grade Two's and we spent the first two classes doing our real work-- Language and Reading class. Let me tell you, one would have thought that I had 21 students all getting root canals. They were so unhappy to be having to do "real work". The 8:50 recess bell rang and the students went crazy knowing that the rest of the day was a party.

Mr. Cristian came to play with Grade Two.

Enter the room after recess and we filled the rest of the morning with Valentine's Day crosswords, Kiss the Lips on Miss Valentine, and soem heart related crafts. Lunchtime was spent chowing down on Pizzeria Cantonese and pastel. Enter-- sugar high.

Games with Grade Five.

After recess, I had the joy of hanging out with my rambuctious Grade One's. I lined them up and sent them up to Mr. Cristian's room. Grade Five's came down to hang out with me and we played about fifteen minutes of games before we rotated again and Grade Four graced me with their presence. We enjoyed fifteen minutes of random games before our final switch.

Girls versus Boys race in Grade Four.

Grade One's came back and we played some Bingo before heading outside to blow off some steam. Which quickly went sour because Mr. Cristian was having a water balloon/ water gun fight with his Grade Four's and I made my students watch. Worst. Teacher. Ever. I got lots of nasty comments including being called "Señora Aburrida". All afternoon. Especially when the Grade Four's doused me with some water, I shot them with some water guns, and I still made my students stand back and watch. Señora Aburrida, in the house.

Grade Four water fight.

Mr. Cristian versus Senora Aburrida. Holla.

Awfully unimpressed with me.

Lauren's class of Grade Five's met us in the comedor for our last class and led us in some wonderful games of Duck, Duck, Goose, Simon Says, Follow the Leader, and Red Light, Green Light. 23 out of 25 of my students LOVE hanging out with the big kids and were having the best time with the Grade Five's. The other two? Well, they were spending quality time with Miss Caitlin. In the classroom.

Elementary English staff.

And there you have it, my Happy Valentines Day 2013.

Still Alive And Kickin'

I promise, I promise, I promise. I am still alive and well. Things have been wild down here in Honduras since coming back from Christmas vacation. We've finished up Parcial 2 and moved into Parcial 3, I played tour guide to my father while he was here visiting, Grade 1 and 2 took their 'viaje educativo' to San Pedro, and we've been cramming the weekends full of adventures.

Fancy Dinner:
Sarah and I got the bright idea to be super domestic one Friday night and cooked dinner for Daniel, Hector, and Cristian. The catch was that they had to dress in their finest formal wear. Lasanga? On the higher end of above average. Garlic bread? A little crispy. Salad? The high point of the meal. Apple pie? Should have made sure I wasn't using corn flour first. Have you ever eaten a piece of cornbread and an apple at the same time? That is exactly what this pie tasted like. Not exactly a high point.

Looking so fly.

 Joya Grande:

Sign me up for this zoo adventure. We spent more time taking pictures with random flags and dinosaur statues than doing anything else. Best part of the afternoon was when Sarah and I launched into a perfect rendition of "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" at the lion cage.

So diverse.

Daddio's Visit:
Pilgrim makes a trip down to Sigua every January/ February which is how I ended up falling in love with this town in the first place. Due to hearing me sing it's praises and the fact that I was now living there, Dad came down on the trip this year. We spent the week eating baleadas, ice cream, and Los Rancheros as well as shooting off fireworks and taking him to the scary playground. Dad really jumped into Honduras with both feet. And fell in love. It was a little weird at first having my two (very different) worlds collide, but I kind of loved it.

Oh, did I mention that he spent two days with Grade 1 and 2? What a trooper.

Hanging out with Pops in Comayagua.

Viaje Educativo to San Pedro:
Every child loves a field trip and I think that every teacher dreads them. Nonetheless, I boarded the bus at 5:30am (!!!) to endure a 2.5 hour busride up to San Pedro with my little angels. They were surprisingly well behaved and had an absolute blast. Not to mention the fact that we sang "Who Stole The Cookies From The Cookie Jar" Spanish verison for at least 3 of our 5 hours travel time.



Any and Lorena on our field trip to the Children's Museum.

J Biebs and Usher in the House:
For the Grade 9 final projects, the students have to create a music video. Therefor the teachers have to make an example video. We busted a move "First Dance" by Justin Bieber which no one of us had ever heard before, but quickly learned all the lyrics to. Don't worry, the big movie release is coming soon.

 

100th Day Of School:
Thursday marked the 100th day of school and due to an ill-prepared teacher, we celebrated on Friday. The students made glasses featuring the number 100, a worksheet where they had to color 100 items, a picture of themselves when they are 100 years old, and we had a discussion about what they would want to have 100 of and what they wouldn't want to have 100 of. Highlight of Grade Two's 100th Day of School? One student telling me she would want to have 100 people praising Jesus. Highlight of Grade One's 100th Day of School? Mr. Cristian made a guest appearance to help them with their art projects.



Any and Isai celebrating the 100th Day of School

El Nacimiento:
Another weekend adventure. Lauren and I made some sandwiches, brownies, and fantastic pasta salad and loaded up Cristian's car to go to El Nacimiento. Which is apparently the mouth of some river. Apparently. The water was crystal clear, the weather was perfect, the company was great. I spent most of the day thinking "Oh my gosh, this is actually my life. I actually live here." Hector tried to get us to go fishing. Which was successful. For him. He caught four fish throughout the course of the day, Cristian caught one, Lauren and I-- zero, and Daniel didn't even try. Our bait for fishing included leftover pieces of turkey and ham from our sandwiches. At one point in time, Cristian combined a little piece of bread, a little piece of cheese, and a little piece of ham to the hook creating a little sandwich for the fish. Sadly, the fish ate the food without getting stuck on the hook, but we were killing ourselves laughing over "fish sandwiches". There was also a rope swing that we had to try out. I chickened out and couldn't do it from the highest point and didn't have enough time to work through my fears. Guess that just means that we'll have to go back sometime.



Crystal clear waters.

One month summed up in a few quick bullet points. There aren't enough positive words or pictures to explain how much I love living here.

 

We're The Five Best Friends That Anyone Could Have.

I've said it once and I've said it again-- I have made some of the BEST friends while being down here in Honduras. Sarah and I have discussed, many times, about how awkward it is to just put yourself out there and made friends. Here we are, in our early 20's worried about making friends. But it's so true. It is not comfortable to go up to people and say "Hey, I don't know anyone here, will you please be friends with me?" But in the end it can be so, so worth it.

Case in point? Hector, Daniel, Cristian, Sarah, and myself.

At one point in time, we didn't know each other. We saw each other in passing and our conversations centered solely around teaching and our students. But then one day someone took that awkward step, someone reached outside of their comfort zone, and an incredible friendship was built.

I thank God each and every day for placing these wonderful people in my life. Multiple times a day I find myself thinking that I am so blessed to have such incredible friends-- both here and in the States.

After spending two long, treacherous weeks apart, the five of us decided to head on up to La Ceiba for some much needed R and R. And vitamin D. We left Sigua after school on Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday mid-morning. I don't think we stopped laughing the entire time.

The highlight reel.

The weekend was filled with flat tires, sand sculptures, baleada eating on the beach, trash talking, and name calling. We listened to "Call Me Maybe" more times than I could count and more times than any of the guys would care to admit. But it made a perfect weekend.

La Ceiba from our hotel, Art Deco Hotel.

I love my friends. I love Honduras. I love this Honduran life of mine.