Saturday, May 18th

On May 18th we headed to the island of Roatan. Roatan is located in the Bay Islands and is a very popular tourist destination. We took the ferry at 9:00 a.m. in the morning and we sat outside on the deck of the boat and began soaking up the sun. We arrived an hour later and took a taxis over to the West Bay where the resort Coconut Tree 2 is located. When we arrived we checked into our room on the water and headed down to the beach. We layed on the beach all day reading, swimming, and just relaxing. We got some lunch at a restaurant on the beach and then returned to the beach to tan. We ended the night at a restaurant with live music where Brion James was playing. Roatan is a definite destination when traveling around Honduras. It is absolutely stunning. We had an amazing day.

Always Trying New Things

Casabe – a flatbread (pan) made from yucca (yucca is a root) Purchased this at the supermercado (super market) and since it comes uncooked (although it is hard, similar in texture to a wasa cracker or maybe stale pita bread…) what Luis showed me to do was smooth a garlic butter over the bread and then bake it in the oven. Delish garlicky buttery treat.  We enjoyed it along with chimole, frijoles y quesillo (beans and cheese).

Chimole – very similar to pico de gallo, or fresh cut salsa. Los ingredientes son : chiles (chili peppers) cebolla (onion) tomate (come on now) pimientos verdes (green peppers) y jugo de lima (lime juice) oh and salt y pimienta (salt and pepper to taste) There are many varieties to this recipe.  Awesome light form of veggies!

Machuca – when on Cayos Cochinos (the Bay Islands off the northern coast of La Ceiba) we had lunch in a Garifuna village.  The Afro-caribe-honduran-creole lunch we selected was Machuca.  Well well well this is a coconut fish soup, with a whole fish in it!  On a side plate was white rice and mashed plantains.  You are supposed to take a spoonful of the sides and a scoop of soup and enjoy! The fish was delicious and you only had to watch out to not swallow the small/sharp bones.

…And revisiting old favorites:

Ceviche – this variety was of camaron (shrimp) concha (conch) and pescado (fish) served with saltines. My favorite!

Now comes my guilty confession: We have eaten at KFC (the Hogar kids go after church most Sundays) but I will say we had pollo, camarones y papas.  Burger King (because of the AC and free WIFI) hamburguesas papas y te helado…. Pizza Hut (because WHO doesn’t like pizza on a Sunday) and Subway in the mall un sandwich, oh and a Baskin Robbins for a malteada aka milkshake. Guily (culpables).  For the record, La Ceiba is FULL of chain restaurants, you can’t go down the main road without seeing all of the familiar fast food icons.

In the classroom:

In the fifth grade the daily routine goes roughly as follows:

·         Matematicas

·         Espanol

·         Ciencias Naturales

·         Estudios Sociales

(M,W,F,  Ingles) (F computacion and if there is time physical activity, the kids wear white tops ands red shorts with sneakers on Fridays)

In reflecting on how the educational system in Honduras works, working in one school under unique circumstances, gives me little/limited ability to describe it.  I would be more than happy to have a conversation and tell about my experience, or answer any questions. 

Briefly: the Jungle School the students are respectful of their teachers (and volunteers) they are responsible for cleaning the classroom both at the beginning and the end of the day.  The school day is from 7:00am to 12:20 (with a 30 min recess) so to compare it to U.S. schooling, the day is most definitely short.  Textbooks stay in the classroom, so the students copy their assignments from the board or the pages of the books to take home as assignments.  The kids took direction well and were able to work alone and/or in groups with little intervention from the teacher.  Without the Jungle School (Built, funded and kept up by HHK) I doubt that many of these children would receive an academic education.  It is wonderful to see the work of HHK, the teachers, the families, the volunteers and everyone else involved have such a positive influence on the community.  I am grateful to have participated J

 

Friday, May 17th

Today, May 17^th we got the bus in the morning and headed to school. The routine started as normal. The kids said their morning prayer and cleaned the classroom. The teacher was busy doing something so the volunteer teacher had the kids singing songs. When the teacher arrived she took attendance and I handed out vitamins to the kids. The kids finished copying down the Spanish paragraph from the day before and then started a new one. When they finished copying down the science the English teacher came in and they had class. The kids went over their shapes, and numbers and then they reviewed how to spell some of the numbers for a quiz on Monday. The kids then moved on to Spanish and learned the letter Ll and ll. After learning the sound it makes and how to spell using it the kids started remembering words that had the letter Z in it. After recess the kids brushed their teeth . After brushing their teeth the kids were given time to draw pictures. While the kids drew their pictures I worked with the teacher on English.  After they were finished drawing the kids had gym where they stretched, play games, and hop scotched. The kids had so much fun at gym. After the gym the kids were given five minutes to take a ciesta which at first they thought she said a fiesta but she didn’t. While they took a ciesta we wrote their homework in their notebooks and then the day ended. We took the bus back to the Hogar where we are hanging out with the kids until they have church at 6.

Thursday, May 16th

On May 16^th, we went to school for a half day at 9:00 because we had hoped to Skype with the school for my check-in. However, due to other scheduled events at home they were not able to Skype. We got a ride to school with the other group of volunteers and when we got there we helped them carry up the food that they were bringing to the families. By the time we were finished it was time for the kids to have recess. Recess went a little longer today because it seemed that all the teachers gathered for a meeting. The kids didn’t mind they were singing and playing games. After recess the kids were given ten minutes to finish their math which consisted of writing the numbers from 1 to 100 down. When they finished their task was to draw pictures and write the names of the items next to them. After this the kids began natural science. In natural science class they learned about the reproduction of animals. After school we headed over to the Hogar where we helped the kids with their homework and just hung out. We left the Hogar around 4:45 and headed into town to go souvenir shopping and to dinner at the restaurant the Ex Patriates. After we went home, relaxed, and went to bed nice and early to rest up for an early day.

Wednesday, May 15th

On May 15^th, we woke up and went to school as usual, catching the bus as 6:00. Today the first grade teacher was absent so the director, a volunteer, and one of the high school girls Charlin taught the class. To start the day off I reviewed with the kids the shapes, and numbers in English. When we finished that the kids moved on to Spanish dictation. They reviewed all the letter sounds such as ma,me,mi,mo,and mu. In the middle of this exercise the English teacher came in so the kids put away their work and started English for ½ an hour. When they finished with English they went back to dictation where they had to combine the different letter sounds to make the words and write them into their notebooks. We then moved on to math where the kids practiced writing the numbers from 1 to 100. After math the kids had recess and snack time. The kids had fun doing math today because every time they would finish copying the section they would get to shout goodbye as the director erased it. After recess the kids had natural science. In natural science the kids talked about different plants and what they can be used for. They acted out eating the fruit and acted out making a salad. The kids then drew pictures of the different foods and had to write the names of the things next to it. When we got home we relaxed and took a shower. Luis then took us into town to see the mass celebrating the patron saint of La Ceiba, San Isidro. The mass was huge with tons of people. When the mass was over there was fireworks shot off from the middle of the street and it was like a mini carnival. Lined along the street were different games you could play and food you could eat.

Tuesday, May 14th

On May 14th, we caught the bus as normal at 6:00. To start off the morning in the 1st grade the kids did their chores and prayed. When they finished this they started Spanish class and reviewed their letters and the sounds that they make. The kids listened and discussed the difference between n and ñ.  The kids then continued on to do dictation in their notebooks where they used the chunked letter to make words. (One of the coolest things I have learned while here) When the kids went to write the words they counted the syllables so they knew how many letter chunks were in the words. While the kids were doing dictation the electricity went out again so their was no lights or fan. The teacher had to work on some paperwork so she had me finish the lesson on dictation. At recess time a whole bunch of kids and went and ate snack while others ran around playing. After recess Ms.Edwards and I took a break to regroup and plan for the next couple of days while the kids took a test. After recess was over the kids worked in their Spanish workbooks on learning about names. They learned that names are all special and that there is a difference between short names and long names. The electricity at our house in El Sauce went out today. The kids cut out a group of long names and short names and had to order and group them in two groups. When we got home from school Ms.Edwards had her interview and after we walked all the way down 14 de Julio to check out the sights. When we were done at 14 de Julio we went to the Megamall to walk around.

Monday, May 13th

Today started our second full week of school. We got back into the practice of waking up early to be on the bus by 6:00 a.m. When we got to school the kids played around for a little while and then had their usual Monday morning welcome ceremony. After the ceremony I headed to the class with the first grade where they started off the morning with English class. In English class  the kids first reviewed the animal names, colors, and other items. Then they started to learn their numbers. They copied into their journals numbers one to ten. They then reviewed the numbers, how to spell them, and what letters made up the numbers spelled out. Today was one of the girls birthdays in the 1st grade her name is Heylin. For Heylins birthday the kids sang to her. When they were finished with English the kids started math. Today in math the kids practice addition. For example, they practiced 10+1=11 and 11+1=12 and so on. The kids had to copy the problems down into their journals and then write in the answers. The kids went to recess, brushed their teeth, and then came back and finished their math. When they were done with math they started class using their Spanish books. The lesson in their books was about first names. The assignment was to cut out the picture of the girl and boy and glue them in the right spot and trace their names. While the kids worked on this assignment a story called "Ali Baba" (I think, or something like that) was read to the kids. When the kids finished this assignment they went on to the next two pages which were about capital letters and lower case letters. They did an exercise where they had to trace the letters that were capital in green and the letters that were lower case in read. On the same page there was a second exercise where they looked at pictures that had a word caption and had to color only the pictures that started with an upper case letter. When they all finished with the work in their books we wrote their homework in their journal and they began working on it until the end of the school day. Tommorow we are going to school again and then after school we have to come back to our house because Ms.Edwards has an online interview.

Sunday May 12th

Today we went to Cayos Cochinos for a day trip. We got picked up at our house at 7:00 by the tour company and got taken to Sambo Creek. When we arrived four more people showed us to join the tour so the price we paid went down from $75 to $45. The trip was completely worth the money that we paid. We headed out in a small motor boat to the islands. The first island that we stopped at was the island that held the Eco Reserve. We watched a video about the islands and what can and can’t be done on them. We then left and went and headed to the next island. When we were quite a distance away but close enough to see the island we jumped off the boat and started snorkeling. We snorkeled all the way from the middle of the sea to the island. While we were snorkeling we saw different types of coral, and many different fish. When we got to the island we took some pictures and then we headed out to where we could hold starfish and conch shells. We then hiked a little way into the jungle to see the pink boa. I actually was brave enough to hold it. It was gross! After taking many pictures in the Jungle we headed to the last island were we had lunch. For lunch we had fish soup that consisted of a plate of rice, and banana mixture and then a bowl with a whole fish in it and broth. To eat the soup you had to pick the fish off the bone and then ate everything in with the broth. After lunch we laid down in the sun for a little while and swam in the sea. After this we headed back to the shore because the waves were getting very big and hard to navigate through. Overall I would 100% recommend this tour and trip. It was so convenient and easy to get to because they picked us up and dropped us of right at our house. Everything was included in the prices of the trip except lunch which wasn’t very expensive. When we got home we relaxed and had dinner. We are getting ready to get up and go back to school tomorrow. Make sure to check out the pictures on the Facebook link to see the beautiful  cayos cochinos and to see me holding the pink boa.

Saturday, May 11th

On May 11th, we woke up and got ready to attend the Mothers Day celebration at the Jungle School. We headed to Kim's house around 7:30 to be there to help Kim load the cakes into the van. We headed up to the school where we set up the chairs and everything for the celebration. The mothers arrived at the school and were given numbers to wear on their shirts. If their number was picked they were named "mother of the year". The celebration started with a welcoming and consisted of games, songs, and even ballet routines. A couple of the games that the mothers played included musical chairs, throwing a syringe and balloons to try and pop one, and a singing competition. The girls did an amazing ballet routine for everyone and one of the classes put on a mothers day skit. After games were played, speeches were given and prizes were awarded lunch was passed out. Lunch consisted of chicken, rice, and bread. Along with lunch, pepsi was served and the cakes that we made with Kim. Everything was very delicious and it seemed that everybody had a great time, I know I did. After we finished cleaning up from the celebration we took the van back to the orphanage. At the orphanage we worked with the kids on their homework. Ms. Edwards worked with Carolina, and Francisco on fractions while I helped Ana do her subtraction and addition homework. The kids had youth group at three so we caught a ride to the church with them and then walked home. After taking some time to relax we decided to go out to dinner at the Downtown Grill again. After dinner we came home and went to bed to rest up for our trip to Cayos Cochinos.

Local flavor

Did you know? ... Sabias que? ...

There is a New Orleans influence here in La Ceiba, which originates from the banana trade in the early twentieth century?  "New Orleans style" is featured on some restaurant menus, and I heard that after hurricane Katrina, flooded out vehicles were repaired and brought here for use (or brought here and repaired for use).
Old school busses are used as public transportation, they're painted fun colors.
School vacation is from the end of November until the beginning of February.

Some of the rules I learned about pronunciation and intonation (textbook and Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama and Spain) are different here.  Usually the second to last vowel in a word carries the most weight, for example "agua" or "casa" unless it has an accent mark, where obviously that vowel then is enunciated "informacion" (I cant find the accent button but I hope you get the idea). When you add a syllable to a word by adding a pronoun (WHAT! haha) so I sit down is "me siento (pop quiz: which vowel is enunciated???) if you said the "e" you are correct. So anyways when it changes to a command like "SIT DOWN" the pronoun is attached to the end of the word and an accent is added to preserve the original pronunciation of the verb "sientate" but naaaaaat here, it comes out sientate.  At first I thought I was missing something, but the more Ive listened, Ive realized its the local accent here. 

Local speak:
Vos is used instead of tu to say "you"
Vaya pues = esta bien = its all good, alright, or ok
Aseo is used for "chores" instead of "quehaceres"
Motorista is used to refer to the bus driver
Dinamica is what musical chairs is called (I thought it would be more literal like "sillas musicales"
Bote is an abbreviated for botella (bottle)
Pucha hombre - is what I hear the older kids say when they get frustrated, exact translation, idk.

Living things that I have encountered since my last post:

• small snake (culebra) in the road on the walk to the bus. The kids asked me why I didn't kill it. Well, 1) because that's just not my style, and 2) who wants snake on the bottom of their shoe?
• star fish (pez estrella) BIG AND BEAUTIFUL
• conch (concha) also BIG AND BEAUTIFUL
• pink boa (boa rosa) lives ONLY on Cayos Cochinos, and nowhere else in the world. Katie held it, I touched it, not because im scared, but snakes make me gag.
• sea urchin
• barracuda, translation, BARRACUDA, and who was wearing silver jewelry while snorkeling...? This girl.
• Fish (peces) of all colors and shapes and sizes.  Imagine the variety in Finding Nemo, and you'll get the idea,
• Sea pickle. Not sure what that was all about.
• Crab (cangrejo)
• Vultures

Food/drink I have tried:

• tamarind juice - this I LOVE.
• guanabana - green and prickly on the outside and white on the inside. This is also a fun word to say, just ask Katie, it comes out of my mouth periodically throughout the day.
• (I had jambalaya last night with my seafood - hola New Orleans)
• almond fruit, so you think its just a nut... on one of the Cayos islands today there were yellow oblong fruits under the trees. Alex, our tour guide (guia) ...quick! where does the accent fall??!... told me that when the almond is ripe the fruit turns red. Today is was inmadura (not ripe) and was yellow, I tried it, it was bitter! (amargo) So what is a fruit in Honduras, is a nut at home in los EEUU (USA) ...the pit/seed whatever you want to call it.

Stay tuned for my next post which I dedicate to "things kids say" and "in the classroom"
-EMILY

Friday May 10th

Today May 10th we headed to school the normal time. The kids in the first grade started off the morning doing dictation. For example, I would say a word out loud and the kids would have to write it down in their notebooks. The kids were supposed to use their knowledge of letter chunks and sounds to figure out how a word is constructed. After recess the kids brushed their teeth and did natural science and learned about nutrition. The kids copied down an excerpt about the diets of different animals for example if the animal is an herbivore, carnivore, or and omnivore. The kids finished up the day by cleaning the classroom, saying a prayer and heading to lunch. After school we came home for a quick break and then we walked to Kim's house where we helped her bake cakes for the mothers day celebration at the school tomorrow. After we finished baking the cakes we had grilled chicken for dinner that was so delicious and then we headed home. Tommorow we are getting up to get a ride to the school for the Mothers Day Celebration.

Thursday May 9th

On May 9th we headed to school on the bus at the same time as normal but at a new bus stop that was closer in walking distance to our house. We woke up this morning and there was no water which lasted all day until late at night or early morning. The water was shut off all throughout the neighborhood because a pipes valve was being replaced. To start off the morning in class at the Jungle School in the first grade the kids recalled the numbers that they learned yesterday. The teacher then had to run and errand so she had me practice have the kids individually recall numbers in no particular order. After we went over the number the number 1 through 5 were written out and the kids had to fill in the table. For example they had to put a 0 next to the 1 to make a ten, then they had to put a 1 next to the 1 to make 11 and so on all the way to the number 59. After the kids completed the number chart they practiced counting by tens in Spanish all the way to 100. They then copied these numbers into their notebooks. During math class the electricity went out at the Jungle School so there was no lights or fan. During the day, Danelia (the director of the Jungle school and the hogar) came into the class to give the kids the invitations to give to their mothers for the Mothers Day Celebration on Saturday. After recess was over the kids had Social Studies where they discussed what is in a house and what a house is like. The discussed that the four main parts of the house are the kitchen, bedrooms, living room and bathroom. The kids and I were all hot and sweaty because without a fan it was very hot. When we got home from school we relaxed for a little while and then headed to the beach.

Link to our Honduras photos on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200509707899070.1073741825.1648951023&type=1

The album is titled Honduras part 1 and contains our photos from the last week or so.

Wednesday May 8th

May 8th, today, we started our day off at 6:00 where we waited at a new bus stop closer to our house. The bus stopped, picked us up and brought us to the Jungle School. The kids all followed their normal routine in the morning. I worked in the first grade today and the kids started with their normal routine and then Spanish class started. The kids were learning the letter ñ. The kids were told to (lee y forma la palabra) read and form the word. The exercise consisted of the kids looking at letter chunking and putting it together to make a word. For example, the kids would be show pa-vo=? And they would have to figure out what the question mark is. In this case the question mark is Pavo. While the kids were working on this assignment two volunteers came in and did an English lesson. For the English lesson the kids went over the names of animals and shapes. The kids would look at a picture of an animal and have to say what it was in English.  After they continued working on their Spanish assignment. For math, the kids had to (Orden de los numerous hasta 100 (order the number up to 100). At 9:20 recess began and the kids ran outside to play. When the kids got back from recess and finished brushing their teeth the kids finished their math while I wrote their homework in their notebooks. For homework the kids has to practice using ñ. After school we headed back to the house where I Skyped for a little while with Provincetown Schools and saw some of the kids. After Skyping we headed to the beach in Carazol which is a Garifuna village. We rested here for a while and met some of the Garifuna people. We took a cab back to el centro in Ceiba and I had a pupusas for dinner. For the rest of the evening we relaxed and I worked on some of my work for school.

 

Tuesday May 7th

On May 7th, we got up early like any other day and got ready quickly. We walked to the bus stop at Burger King (Yes, there is a burger king, and a popeyes, KFC, and Wendys). Its amazing how many people fit onto the bus. Normally by the end of the bus ride it is about 3 or 4 kids to a seat. When we get to the school in the morning all the kids run up the stairs to play before they have to go to their classes. On Tuesday, I was in the first grade again and class began with the kids sweeping, watering the plants and taking their vitamins. The kids Spanish class began with a competition of sorts, two kids had to go to the board and write down the letter the were told, in both a capital letter and lower case letter. Whoever completed the task first or the closest after 5 seconds, earned a sticker. The game then continued in the same fashion but instead of letters the kids had to write whole words. After playing these educational games the kids wrote in their notebooks a couple of sentences to practice their writing. The kids in the class call me maestra (teacher) which is really cute. Ms. Edwards is worked in the fifth grade again and has been teaching everything from math to social studies to biodiversity. The names of the kids in the first grade are Betsaida, Melisa, Daniel, Walter, Cinthia, Estrella, Sulma, Raul, Julio, Kimberlyn, Dareen, Misael, Keyla, Carlos, Heylin, Genesis, Leiryn, and Nelson. On Tuesday there were 18 kids in class, 10 girls and 8 boys. One of the most interesting things that I learned this day was the way in which the kids learn to read here. In the United States we use sounds to teach children how to sound out words and then be able to read and write them. In Honduras the kids learn the sounds of letter chunks for example, a letter such as "H" with all the vowels. So if they were to learn the letter chunks for the letter "H" they would learn ha-he-hi-ho-hu. After learning these sounds they are able to spell words. For example, the world bonito is a word that can be spelled using letter chunks. First you go through the letter sounds and pick out the letter b, ba-be-bi-bo-bu. From these sounds you pick which one matches the beginning sounds of bonito, "bo". Next you go through the letter sounds for n, na-ne-ni-no-nu. From these sounds you pick the middle sounds which happens to be "ni". Lastly, you take the letter t, ta-te-ti-to-tu. From these sounds you pick out the sound "to". When you put together all of the letter sounds you get bo-ni-to. After finishing up in Spanish the kids headed to recess for 30 minutes and when they came back they brushed their teeth. After brushing their teeth it was time for Ciencia Naturales (natural science), The teacher read a passage from the book and asked the kids to answer questions related to the passage. The kids then copied down the passage into their notebooks. At the end of the day we took the school bus to the Hogar to help the kids with their homework. When the kids got home to the Hogar they went and changed and ate lunch. After lunch they rested for a little while. When the kids were finished resting we went into the homework room and helped the kids with their math homework, they were doing fractions. After finishing their homework the kids went outside and played a game of soccer. We took a cab to the Megamall and bought food from the supermarket to make for dinner.

Monday May 6th

On May 6th we took the bus to the Jungle School where the kids all gathered at the top of the school and had a sort of "welcoming ceremony" that happens every Monday to start the week. After the gathering the kids returned to their classrooms. Originally, I was suppose to be with Ms. Edwards in the 5th grade but then was moved to the 1st grade. The first grades teachers name is Yeymi Hernandez Mejia. The schedule of classes during the week changes daily but on Monday the schedule was Ingles, Espanol, Espanol, Recreo, Mathematicas, C.C.SS (social studies), and C.C.N.N. (natural science). The day started with English class in which the English taught the kids the alphabet, colors, and shapes. The kids learned circle, rectangle, square, diamond, and triangle. When Ingles was over we switched right over into Spanish, dictado. The kids listened to me while I said a letter and wrote it on the board. The kids then repeated the letter that I wrote and told me that sound that the letter makes. When we were finished with that to reinforce what they had just done the kids took out their notebooks and wrote down all the letters with all the vowels.For example, the teacher would say the letter "P" and then the kids would write down pa-pe-pi-po-pu. The kids did this with all the letter in both capital letters and lower case letters. While the kids did this the teacher had to leave to go with a meeting so when the kids finished I had the kids go back over their shapes and colors in English and Spanish. When we finished the Spanish lesson it was time for recreo (recess) where the kids run around like crazy. Following the kids recess, the kids in the 1st grade head down stairs to the sink where they brush their teeth. The reason they brush their teeth at school is because some kids don't have toothbrushes at home or don't brush their teeth. After brushing their teeth the kids had math in which they had to draw a number line and fill in the numbers from 1 to 20. While the kids worked on their timelines I wrote their homework in their notebooks and they began to copy it down. At the end of class before lunch the kids played "simon says" in Spanish and the teacher read them a book. Interestingly enough, this day the kids work that they did all day was not looked at until the end of the day. For homework this day the kids were expected to write on four pages over and over again oveja, dibujo, moja, jinete. When class is dismissed all the kids run out into the yard to get lunch and then get on the bus. After school we headed home in Davids pick up truck with the girls that were going to do homework until ballet.

Sunday, May 5th

 

On May 5^th, we got a ride to church with Cristy. Church started at 9 and began with a concert of sorts with lots of singing and dancing, the church service finished around 11:30. After the music stopped there was a portion of the service that was for announcements of events, services, and groups that were happening during the following week. After this blessings and prayers were done along with a collection of money. After the collection of money the kids went off to bible study and the “homily” began. The homily consisted of a women talking for a while about several bible verses. The homily lasted about one hour and forty five minutes until the kids came back from bible study and then more music was played followed by family blessings. Family blessings consisted of all the families going to the front of the church to get blessed and to pray. Since it was the first weekend of the month communion was served in the form of bread and wine. All together,  from the mass I gathered most that the service was about spirituality in general. Following church all 24 of us piled into the van and drove to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). It was Ms. Edwards and my first time eating at KFC. Spending this portion of the day with the kids you can see how precise the pattern and routine that the kids have fallen into with David. Finishing up at KFC we headed up into the mountain past the Jungle School to Paola’s  abuelo’s house (grandmother). Paola’s grandmother’s house burnt down and David helped to build them a new house. The difference between their new house and their old house is their new house has running water and electricity. When we got to the house we parked on the side of the road and walked down a path to the house. The house was made out of cement and had tons of clothes line hanging outside with tons of clothes and there were chickens running around everywhere. After everybody changed into their bathing suits we crossed the dirt road and trekked down the side of the mountain to the Cangrejal River. The river was beautiful with a small rock water fall and a huge rock in the middle that the kids loved jumping from. The current in the river was so strong and had a huge rocky bottom. At the end of the day I had multiple bruises and scrapes all over my body but it was 100% worth it. We swam in this river for a couple of hours and then headed home. I spent this night relaxing and updating this blog.

Saturday, May 4th

On May 4th we woke up early to be ready to get picked up by David to head to the orphanage and then to Belfate. In Belfate is a villa owned by Carolinas madrina and padrino. The trip took a total of just over an hour but it was very cramped because there was 24 of us in a 15 passenger van. Most of the trip was on a bumpy road with many rocks and pot holes. By the time that we got to the house it was overcast and rainy but some of the kids went outside and played futbol, some of the kids sat inside and watched the movie Mission Impossible, and other kids went outside and swam in the little river attached to the ocean. For lunch we had rice with veggies and chicken and small hot dogs. As the day went on the rain stopped and the sun came out for a little while. More kids went outside and swam in the ocean and some of the kids played jump rope. After hanging out and playing around we headed home back in the van. On the way home David dropped us off nearby the house and we walked the rest of the way home. We relaxed at home for the night and went to bed early to be well rested for church the next day.

Reportando de Honduras

Muy buenas tardes.  Les escribo de La Ceiba, Honduras, donde tengo el placer de ser voluntaria en La Escuela de la Jungla y también el Hogar de Amor.  I’d like to write my whole blog in Spanish, however, I think for the majority of you English might be a little more recognizable… That’s not going to stop me from trying to teach you a thing or two ;)

Perhaps you recognize the underlined words…

A brief recap of our trip so far from my punto de vista (point of view):

It was one of the EASIEST international travel days I have had to date.  The only hang up was that it was NOT CLEAR how to go from the airport to the Hedman Alas bus station.  If you ever fly into San Pedro Sula and want to grab the Hedman Alas bus (very nice coach bus, and you can make reservations online) after you go through customs and immigration, you will see a sign for the bus, this is NOT the bus that will take you to your final destination, but to the actual bus station… had to fork over more money (only $6USD each more) for this shuttle… glad to not have had to take a taxi, but this part was slightly confusing and it didn’t help that it was 99 degrees and each of your bags weighed 50 lbs.  Complaining stops now because the journey was worth the experience we have been granted so far.

Nuestra casa (Our house) is very nice.

El MegaMall esta cerca (is close) as is el supermercado (supermarket)

We can walk to la parada de bus (bus stop)

So much about this place reminds me of when I was living in Costa Rica, before I had a job, paid rent, bought a car, a dog, etc.  Its nice to have a change in responsibility (Soy chaperona y voluntaria y amiga).

I am working hard on memorizing names, not only of the 21 muchachos del Hogar (kids in the orphanage) but of the estudiantes (students) in the 5^th & 6^th grade where I have been placed.  In the two days that I have been in this room (the 5^th & 6^th share a classroom, the maestro –teacher- instructs one side as the other side practices their lessons and then they switch back and forth) At times “hay mucha bulla” LOTS of noise.  I have gotten to teach fractions. (EWWW, haha jk) manage instruction of estudios socials (social studies/geography) y ciencia (science – biodiversidad – biodiversity y preservation del ambiento – preserving the environment.)  On Monday, Wednesday and Friday they have English class, yesterday they were learning progressive verbs (I am running, talking, eating, etc.) Right now the 5^th grade is learning the technicalities of the art of writing letters. The teacher is great, he is chistoso, like me, we make jokes with the kids…

Anyways in effort to get the most out of this experience, not only are we spending as much time with the kids as possible, but also trying to get out and experience la cultura de La Ceiba.  So let me tell you about the FOOD!

La Comida Tipica (typical food)

Arroz – rice (white sometimes with shredded chicken in it or onion, or small chopped veggies)

Frijoles – beans

Juevos- eggs (boiled, fritos- fried, etc)

Pupusas- look it up ;) I’ll try to include a picture

Baleadas – Hondura’s own version of something similar to PB&J EXCEPT its made with a thick tortilla with frijoles and queso (cheese) but the cheese has a consistency similar to feta, not the taste, taste is rather bland.  Since my favorite food is the sandwich, this hits the spot.  Again look it up, and if I don’t forget I will try to post a picture. 

Other new thing I have tried:

Nance – it’s a small yellow berry

Since Katie is posted our day to day activities I think I will focus on things I see, what I am enjoying and various facts about the area.

v  Vendedores (vendors) who walk/bike/ride through the neighborhoods selling their merchandise.  There is an Afro-Honduran woman who walks through with a basket balanced on her head selling pan de coco (coconut bread)and pan dulce (sweet bread), and man does she shriek. There’s a man who petals his cart full of melons (melons) and bananas, and he yells “May-looooooone.”  The man who I want to hit up is the guy with the refrigerated cooler  selling paletas (popcicles).

v  Animales (animals, heck I hope you figured that one out on your own)

-Vacas – cows

-cerdos – pigs (HUGE PIGS)

-gallinas y gallos y pollitos (chickens, roosters, and chicks)

-patos- (ducks)

-cabras – goats

-Perrros y gatos (cats and dogs) the cats seem Ferrell and the dogs are pets, more or less

-lagartos – lizards, the little cute gecko ones that run up walls, I think they are cute, Katie, not so much

-cucarachas – cockroaches. One ran over my foot last night.  I don’t even want to talk about this.

v  El agua – you must must drink agua enbotellado (bottled water that has been purified) even the locals do.  In efforts to conserve energy and water, there are certain times daily that the water turns off.  Where we are staying in the volunteer house is in a  neighborhood called El Sauce (sow-say) sow like a female pig, not sow as in sow your crop.  Anyways, the water here turns off from 10pm to 5am, which is just fine, just no toilet flushing, and I put a container of water in the shower so I can wash my dirty feet before I crawl into my clean sheets!

Today we are going to El Hogar after school on the bus to hang with the kids and maybe do homework, and tomorrow, the teacher just told me that I get to teach 5^th grade all day by MYSELF!!!

Hasta Pronto (Talk soon) CHAU. Emily

Friday, May 3rd

On May 3rd we got up relatively early, packed up our bags, and donations and got ready to be picked up to go to the orphanage with David. May 1st was Honduran labor day so to celebrate the kids didn't have to go to school on this Friday. David picked us up around 9:30 and we headed to the Hogar. Along the way David told us that the major exports in Honduras are sugarcane, melon, cantaloupe, and coffee. When you first arrive to the orphanage (HHK) you pull down a dirt road and arrive in front of a gated house that the kids and tias (aunts) live in. The house is guarded 24/7 by guards in order to insure the protection of the kids and tias. When we pulled up David called into the house for the "big boys" to come out and help us with our suitcases that were full of donations of toys, clothes, and other items. After that the kids gave us a quick tour of the house and then we sat down with the kids while they did their homework. While Ms. Edwards (my former Spanish teacher and "chaperone") helped the kids with their homework I took Mainor (my "godson") and gave him his presents that I brought him. His presents included a backpack with many gifts inside such as pencils, clothes, hot wheels cars, and a jump rope. Mainor pulled each item out one at a time and taught me how to say it in Spanish. After Mainor opened his gifts we brought Santos, Lula, and Ruth their gifts from Jennifer Smith and Hannah Marvin. The kids were really excited to get gifts from their sponsors. After I went back to the homework room, one of the boys Joel asked me to read him books. We read "El Patito Feo", "Huevos Verdes y Jamon", and "Una dia en la biblioteca". Around 11:30 or 12:00 we had lunch which was rice with beans and eggs. After lunch the kids had rest time and David helped us sort through the donations to put away for later. After finishing up with the donations the kids went back to their homework. The kids then got ready for church and we all piled into Davids truck. With five kids in the back, three in the front and the rest in the back pickup part of the truck we made it to our drop of point and walked the rest of the way home. When we got home from the Hogar we showered and got ready to go out to dinner with Luis. Luis took us to a cute little restaurant in el centro where we shared a mixed grill plate with different meats, potatoes and cheese (queso), corn, beans (frijoles), and a cabbage salad. When we got home from dinner we relaxed a little and then headed to bed.

Thursday, May 2nd

On Thursday we woke up at 7:30 and made eggs on a tortilla with half an avocado. We brought our breakfast out onto the front patio and watched the different people walking by while writing in our journals. Last night on our way to the supermarket (Maxi Dispensa) we passed a fair (una feria). While writing in my journal a man riding on a horse with a carriage attached went by shouting "melon". Also a woman and man passed shouting "coco helados". From this we can see that parts of the economy are very informal. After we ate breakfast David (founder of HHK) came and picked us up and brought us up to the Jungle School. The Jungle School is a private school run by Helping Honduras Kids that serves the poor and those in need. On the way to the Jungle School Davids truck broke down and we were stuck at a Texaco gas station for like 30 minutes. However, in the time of waiting we were able to talk to and get to know Kim, (the nurse at the Jungle School). At the Jungle school we were given a tour of the three classroom buildings, the lunch kitchen and the two bathrooms. In the classrooms the 3rd and 4th grade are together, the 5th and 6th grade are together, and the kinder, 1st and 2nd grade are separate. David then sat down with us and told us about the history of the Jungle School and how it first started out as one building and how it has now grown to over 100 kids. He also told us that the bus costs $1,000 to run a month and the kids only pay $2.50 a month for everything. He explained that this payment by the families is more of a gesture than anything else. David then had us go into the 1st grade classroom to get to know some of the kids and the school. In the first grade there was roughly 15 kids with one teacher. The teacher in the 1st grade was only 18. In Honduras you don't need an education degree or a college degree to teach grades 1st through 6th. While in the 1st grade I watched the children color in pictures and then helped the teacher write their homework into their journals. On this particular days the kids were learning the letter, "J". The kids go to school from 7:00 to 12:30 and have lunch and brush their teeth during the day. They brush their teeth at school because many kids don't have toothbrushes or don't brush their teeth at home. At the lunch time all the kids except the Hogar de Amor kids go and eat lunch. The Hogar de Amor kids wait until they get home to have lunch.At the end of the day after lunch many of the kids go and see Kim (nurse) to get Benadryl or another type of medicine. Kim explained to us that the kids see her to "get something sweet" or to be able to sleep well at night. Many of the kids have allergies or can't sleep because of the heat. After many of the kids visited the nurse we headed down to take the bus home. The bus dropped us off near the end of our road and we walked the rest of the way home. However, when we got home we encountered our first problem our key to the gate didn't work. The issue was quickly resolved when Cristy came to the house and let us in. The heat was so intense today it was close to 100 degrees and being out and about made the sweat just pour off my body. After resting up on the patio for a little while we walked from our house in El Sauce to Calle Uno. The walk took a total of 2 1/2 hours in which we walked from one end of San Isidro (a main street) to the other end and back. The streets here are labeled by numbers starting from one and going on. The town is a strip of buildings and lots of taxis. At first appearance the town is not a tourist attraction at all however after being shown around by Luis (a man that lives in the same housing as us) we have eaten at a couple good restaurants and have been told about the hidden gems of La Ceiba such as some of the bay islands, the good beaches, and places to hang out. After walking down town we went back to the house, relaxed, took a shower, and watched some tv. Luckily it was Thursday night and we get English tv so we watched Greys Anatomy. After Greys we headed to bed to rest up for the next day.

Wednesday, May 1st

Here is a catch up of the last couple days. May 1st was Honduras labor day or workers day so we didn't get our internet back until Friday so I haven't been able to keep up with posting everyday. On Wednesday May 1st, we headed to Boston's Logan Airport at 6:00 a.m. and checked in for our flight that left at 8:00 a.m. Our flight stopped over in Miami where we got Cuban pulled pork sandwiches and waited for our next flight to San Pedro Sula. We landed in San Pedro at about 1:15 and was surprised that the area was completely rural. We later found out that the airport is outside of San Pedro Sula and in a little town called La Lima. The airport was surrounded by farmland and people riding horses and tons and tons of cows. The bus situation was quite confusing but we ended up figuring it out. We took a shuttle bus to the Hedman Alas bus terminal, where we waited for our bus ride at 3:20 to La Ceiba. The bus ride to La Ceiba took 3 hours and was basically a straight shot on one road, it seemed like forever. On the road we passed lots of little tin shack houses and lots of farm lands with many different kinds of animals such as cows, goats, pigs, horses, and chickens. It was amazing the beauty of the landscape with the mountains and greenery but it is shocking  the condition that so many of the people live in. When we got off the bus it was 99 degrees out. So hot. Cristy( volunteer housing manager) picked us up from the bus terminal in Ceiba at 6:30 and took us back to the volunteer housing that we will be staying in for the next three weeks. The volunteer housing is very nice with a closed in patio, a kitchen, a living room, and seven bedrooms. After we dropped our stuff off at the housing Cristy took us to the supermarket to get some food to cook for breakfast the next day We got eggs (huevos), tortillas, apples (manzanas), onions(cebollas), avocados (aguacates) and some stuff to drink. The neighborhood that the volunteer housing is located in is El Sauce which is in walking distance to many different places including the megamall plaza, el centro, many restaurants, and the grocery store. After we got back from the store,we settled into our room and went to bed. An interesting thing here is that the water is shut off from the hours of 10:00 P.M. until 5:00 A.M to conserve water. That means that nothing works including the toilet, shower, and sinks. Also the water here is only cold water but it doesn't make a difference because it is so hot here that all you want is a nice cold shower. Also we have cockroaches and lizard looking animals here. Overall we had a pretty easy travel day with no major problems.