I'm hoooooooooooome!!

Well, after 18 hours of travel, I am finally back. And it was a WONDERFUL trip! I can't wait to go back. My last few days were lovely. I got to go to the English classes one last time and see my lesson ideas and behavior management programs come to fruition. I took a walk on our one sunny day and listened to my iPod. Carlos Santos came up behind me and gave me the gift of a small bracelet he had made me. It is my new prized possession! I went to mass again, but it was pouring down rain. The church is covered, but we managed to still get wet. We Washingtonians are familiar with the phenomenon of sideways rain. I had one last dinner with my San Francisco boys and then watched the talent show. I made myself go back to the hogar for one last good-bye before bed, and I'm really glad I did. We left at 6:00 yesterday morning, and Carlos snuck out to "despedirme." It feels kind of weird to be back...it's like a completely different world. But I am grateful for the experience and look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Cheque pues

Well, the trip is winding down. We celebrated at Padre Renaldo´s house last night since Donna and Lorianne (another visitor) had to leave this morning at 8:30. It was a nice way to see them off, but I´m definitely feeling a little lonely and a bit antsy to come home. Fortunately, there are still some visitors here and the visitor coordinator Laura is awesome. I´m spending most of my time in the English classroom. Today I did some pull-out enrichment and also observed the first grade Montessori classroom. I´m also continuing to tutor Alvaro in English in the afternoons, and I go to the little boys´ hogar each night for dinner. I leave early Sunday morning and should get into Seattle by 9:30 p.m.! I can´t wait to see you all!

Happy Birthday to me?

Sorry it's been so long between blogs. With my roommate gone, it's been hard to get to a computer. I've been working hard with Renee, the volunteer who teachers fourth, fifth, and sixth grade English. She has been extremely frustrated with the lack of respect and poor behavior of her students. We implemented some individual and group reward systems, and the difference is incredible. I am absolutely thrilled that it is working so well and feel like I have really won over some of the kids. One of the head honchos here indicated that there may be a position for me here next summer coaching the teachers, which I would LOVE. I had a super weekend! I celebrated the Feast of San Pablo with some of the pequen~os on Friday and followed up with a good ole American Fourth of July BBQ at the Volunteer House. On Saturday, I was invited to go to the city with friends for a little descanso from the ranch. We got a hotel, sat by the pool, went out for dinner and salsa dancing, and altogether had a fantastic time. Unfortunately, I became violently ill the next day. My birthday, of course. I've decided that I'm now going to celebrate it the 5th since that day was so much better. I didn't do a thing but sleep Sunday and yesterday, and Donna and the new visitors have taken wonderful care of me. I'm feeling much better today!!

I am an idiot

So I found my camera today...underneath my bed. I am so embarrassed! I know I should be relieved, but I can't believe it was there all the time. I swear I looked there. Oh, well! That's one less thing to be worried about. Today was my first day kind of on my own. Donna is still here, but she has lots of meetings. I went to the pre-school Montessori program this morning and it was really neat. Both teachers complimented me on my Spanish, so that was great. They also invited me to the farewell party for one of their students. His parents are doctors from Germany, and their family has been here in Honduras for a year and a half. At lunch, I met the school librarian who kidnapped me for the afternoon. The library is so fantastic! She has worked REALLY hard to make something really wonderful. They're still in need of books for younger kids in Spanish...I'm thinking maybe a classroom project for next year? Today, I met a young man in his year of service (all the pequen~os here have to give back to the ranch for funding their continuing education) who wants to learn English. He's been using a workbook but really needed a native speaker. I'm going to tutor him every day at 4:00 for an hour. Our first lesson went great, and I even managed to get a second student for next time. :) I'm going to see my future godson Axel for dinner in his hogar tonight. Brooke and I went last night and got to be part of story time and tucking in the munchkins. So fun! Love to all!

El grupo se va :(

It's been a fun couple of days. This weekend we did our big activity days with the kids. I played a lot of marbles with kids outside and also was la reina de Play-Doh. The kids even made me an anillo and a corona. (Get out those Spanish-English dictionaries). I also went to the town of Talanga with my friend Laura who used to live there. We met a lot of her friends and held some very cute babies. The weather has been pretty yucky - lots of rain that has completely soaked me more than once. My bad news is that my camera was lost/stolen at mass. There's pretty much no chance of getting it back. I had some tears but am okay now. I'm not worried about getting pictures because everyone has taken so many, and Roger is going to burn us CDs of all of them. The Kerins family is letting me borrow their second camera, which is very generous, but it's also ginormous. Anyway, I'll have to replace that when I get back. Yesterday, we went to Tegus and visited the special needs house. I was absolutely tickled to be able to communicate with a deaf girl who is learning sign. ASL is a bit different, but there are some similarities. We did some shopping at Valle de los Angeles, which was a bit too touristy for my taste. For dinner, we brought pizza to the high school kids in the city, and I had a great little conversation in Spanish with a carpentry student. Tonight, we're having a birthday party for Padre Renaldo (the priest on the ranch). I'll also have to say good-bye to the rest of the group which leaves tomorrow since I'm staying on. I have made some good friends and will be sad to see them go. That's all for now!

It had to happen sometime...

So, I was feeling a little wonky this morning and took a Cipro. I wasn't able to get any breakfast down and ended up throwing up shortly after. So I spent some time resting this morning. I felt well enough to run the Play-Doh station at the baby house this afternoon and to go to the restaurant nearby with the NPH volunteers. Tomorrow, I go to Talanga with Laura to meet her family from when she lived here. Yesterday, I discovered a new talent. I am a master egg collector. Just call me the Chicken Whisperer. I'm so glad I don't get freaked out about that kind of stuff anymore. More later...

Wednesday

Laura got the wireless connection to work in our room, so I can access the Internet more easily now, at least until she leaves on the 2nd. Today, I ended up hauling donations down to the school and then observing the English classes. Boy, are those kiddos wild! I talked with the teacher quite a bit and am hoping to get back in there more! Our lunch of cowhide stew didn't sit too well with me, so I just rested this afternoon. Brooke and I ate dinner with our boys at their hogar. Axel is very excited to be my godson! I might sponsor an older boy named Jeffrey as well. He calls me "Teacher" and wants to study law in the U.S. Tomorrow I'm hoping to go shopping with some of the kids (they go once a year) in Tegus! I'll let you know how it goes.