Okay…so i´m going to try and keep this story as short as I can…
Friday first thing I do in the morning is take 3rd B to chapel. Well I am on my way to the classroom and the first thing I see is Steven running out of the class with a bloody nose. I mean blood was going everywhere. He was crying and I was trying to calm him down and keep his head up. Emily was on her way to her 4th grade class when she saw me and immediately said ¨what can I do¨…all my kids were yelling about Jorge hitting Steven in the nose so I just said ¨someone needs to find Jorge¨. Then next thing I know Greg is there and has Jorge and Miss Claudia and Miss Natalie take Steven. I had to get my kids to chapel…but after I had them settled in the church I went to check on Steven. He was doing fine and was back in class later that morning. It just made me so sad that they could do that to each other.
This is where the craziness of the day comes in…some how counsellors of the school decided not to suspend Jorge. You have no idea how angry this made all the teachers. Miss Graciela (the homeroom 3rd grade teacher) was chewing them out about it by the time Greg and I got there to talk about it. We were pretty much blown off and told that well since Steven was hitting Jorge with a paintbrush they were not going to suspend him. I was so angry and told her that by them not suspending him it is showing all my students that it is okay to behave like that in the class. That it is okay to punch someone in the nose cause there will be no consequences. This is why my class room has been so insane! The students here are not afraid of anything because no one follows through with what they say!
Greg and I were so frustrated so we decided to go straight to Principle Trundle. We told him the whole ordeal and I told him how disappointed I am with this especially because I had just come to him on Wednesday and talked to him about getting counsellor support and needing them to help me out by cracking down on my kids and having some consequences for their actions because as it is now they are not afraid of anything and my class has been out of control and it makes it impossible to teach. And he had told me that we would talk with Denis and we would get this problem fixed…and now two days later one of my students punches someone in the nose and there are no consequences. Greg told Trundle that this should not even be an issue because the school has the policy that fighting means suspension…but that’s the problem! This school does not follow through with anything they say! These kids are allowed to run wild and do whatever they want!
All of us are having trouble with this. And I don’t just mean the missionaries. It’s a whole school issue. Tomorrow I am going to Principle Trundle and asking him when we can have a meeting. Us missionaries have decided to sit down with him and go over the issues we are each having and then we want to ask for a meeting with him and the counsellors and see if we can get some support in the area of discipline.
Please keep us, our students, and the Maranatha School in your prayers.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
My kids
Ramon and CarlosWritten Thursday Feb. 21, 2008
Looking through my pictures of my students I am filled with this incredible love. Its an insane feeling of love…so strong that it makes my heart feel like it will burst. It’s a feeling of a totally complete fullness of love.
Today I was sitting at the teachers desk…which is a rare occurrence cause normally I am chasing someone around the class room or rushing from desk to desk trying to answer questions. They had a math test today and I told them that after the test it needed to stay quiet and they could work on a picture until the next class period. I was actually really amazed at how good they were. I mean it was not perfect…about 6 of my boys were actually writing sentences cause they were running around the class before the test. But anyway back to the story…so I was sitting in my desk and I looked around and for once every single one of my students where in their desk as well…and working on their test or picture or sentence or something it did not really matter what they were doing I was just so impressed that they were actually listening to what I had said…and I just watched them. I looked at them so intent on what they were doing and all I could do was smile because I realized how much I love them.
And they love me to…as crazy as it is…even this week when I have felt like I have had to be such a mean teacher trying to get my class room under control…and some times I even get ¨Miss you are bad¨ because they are not happy with me for making them write sentences because they are not obeying the rules or that I won’t let them go the bathroom the second I walk in the door. Even when I think they hate me…it is still guaranteed that every time I walk into a class I will have at least 3 students run up and rap there arms around my waist for a hug. And just today I received two pictures telling me that I was a great teacher and that they loved me. It makes me feel good to know that they still love me even when I feel like I have to been so mean.
Looking through my pictures this evening and feeling so full of love…I also realize how hard it is going to be to leave here in 4 months. To think that I wont be here next year to teach them, or play with them, or joke around and laugh with them.
Today I started talking funny trying to get my students to actually listen to me in science and Angel says ¨Miss you are a cowboy¨…he has said this before so I’m thinking that the only other voice I can do must sound pretty hickish…probably cause I come from Walla Walla. Oh and that’s another thing! My students love to say Walla Walla. They think it is the funniest name in the world. I have a green water bottle that says Walla Walla University and it happens quite frequently that one of them will see it and start saying it and before I know it the whole class is saying Walla Walla and cracking up. There are just so many fun moments that I have with my students that I know I am going to miss so much next year.
Ay the mix of emotions I have had this week! So ready to go home and tired of everything, feeling like my students don’t even care and just wanting to give up…and at the same time realizing that when I have to leave how heart breaking it will be.
Written Friday Feb. 22, 2008 11am
Yep more crazy emotions! I am so mad and frustraited with this school and the administration and the counsellors. Its all a bunch of crap! But I have to teach soon so I dont have time to go into it...there will be another blog about this all soon though.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Bittersweet (Bug Spray)
The other day I put on some bug spray that I have not used since coming back from Christmas. The smell reminded me of an earlier time in Honduras, towards the beginning of my adventure here…I realized it is a bittersweet smell and I wondered if the smell of cutter skinsations insect repellent will always remind me of Honduras...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Packages!!!!!!
As and SM receiving a package can totally make your day. Seriously I had close to one of the worst days again. Students still don’t listen and are fighting in class…counsellors and administration still not helping. I am tired and worn out physically and mentally but I got a package slip today! Oh yes a package slip and that can totally turn your day around! Karen and I both received a package slip so after school we walked together to the post office in the burning afternoon soon…sweating to death hauling our backpacks. Its been getting crazy hot and will only get worse from here on out! March, April and May are supposed to be killer. I can’t wait!
Anyway it was a package from my aunt. When I got back to house…it was void of roommates which is a rare occurrence. So I set my package down on the table and tried to cut the tape with the closest object I could find (a pen)…that did not work so well so I went and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. The first thing I see is plastic bags from Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart. Its weird but when you are living in a foreign country even plastic bag from stores from home can make you smile. As I searched through my package I find ritz crackers, two types of pasta, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate…including my favourites reeses and almond roca, sweethearts, animal crackers, pretzels, granola bars, popcorn and goldfish. This might not sound amazing to someone who is living in the United States but trust me as an SM I was ecstatic to receive these things! You can just feel the love when you open up a package…knowing that they took the time and thought of putting together all these things for you…not to mention that it cost an arm and a leg to send to Honduras!
Anyway this blog goes out to all the amazing people that have sent me packages while being here in Honduras! And its also to remind me that I have to make sure and send friends packages who go out next year…
Anyway it was a package from my aunt. When I got back to house…it was void of roommates which is a rare occurrence. So I set my package down on the table and tried to cut the tape with the closest object I could find (a pen)…that did not work so well so I went and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. The first thing I see is plastic bags from Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart. Its weird but when you are living in a foreign country even plastic bag from stores from home can make you smile. As I searched through my package I find ritz crackers, two types of pasta, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate…including my favourites reeses and almond roca, sweethearts, animal crackers, pretzels, granola bars, popcorn and goldfish. This might not sound amazing to someone who is living in the United States but trust me as an SM I was ecstatic to receive these things! You can just feel the love when you open up a package…knowing that they took the time and thought of putting together all these things for you…not to mention that it cost an arm and a leg to send to Honduras!
Anyway this blog goes out to all the amazing people that have sent me packages while being here in Honduras! And its also to remind me that I have to make sure and send friends packages who go out next year…
Exhaustion takes over
Written Tuesday Feb. 19, 2008
I’m exhausted, discouraged, worn out, overworked, tired, outvoted, lonely, drained and just ready to go home. And I still have 4 months to go…
I have had insomnia or nightmares for the past two weeks…this makes teaching difficult since I am always tied and have trouble finding the energy to deal with my very energetic 3rd graders. They have given me so much trouble for the past three weeks. 3b will never listen and I can never get through anything I have planned to teach them. Today I took 2 class periods to just to teach math and had to skip science. During bible (the last class of the day) I just kept sending kids out to run around the cancha whenever they acted up. I just can’t deal with them in the class…there is no hope in teaching when they are running around yelling and fighting with each other…so since they have energy and seem to want to run that’s what I let them do…plus I was tired of yelling and running around trying to get then to stay in their seats…its all in vain anyway…the second I turn my back to get someone else in their seat they are back up and running around again. I feel like a bad mean teacher…can I just have one day where they all listen and want to learn?
I actually found myself jealous of a chicken today…no for real I am not joking. I was on my way to the internet café to call home when I saw a mother hen with about 7 baby chicks…they all followed her every move. They were so obedient! I stopped to watch them for a minute…they were really cute and I could not help but think…how come baby chickens can be so obedient but my students wont listen to a word I say.
Again I ask…can I just have one day where they all listen and want to learn?
I’m exhausted, discouraged, worn out, overworked, tired, outvoted, lonely, drained and just ready to go home. And I still have 4 months to go…
I have had insomnia or nightmares for the past two weeks…this makes teaching difficult since I am always tied and have trouble finding the energy to deal with my very energetic 3rd graders. They have given me so much trouble for the past three weeks. 3b will never listen and I can never get through anything I have planned to teach them. Today I took 2 class periods to just to teach math and had to skip science. During bible (the last class of the day) I just kept sending kids out to run around the cancha whenever they acted up. I just can’t deal with them in the class…there is no hope in teaching when they are running around yelling and fighting with each other…so since they have energy and seem to want to run that’s what I let them do…plus I was tired of yelling and running around trying to get then to stay in their seats…its all in vain anyway…the second I turn my back to get someone else in their seat they are back up and running around again. I feel like a bad mean teacher…can I just have one day where they all listen and want to learn?
I actually found myself jealous of a chicken today…no for real I am not joking. I was on my way to the internet café to call home when I saw a mother hen with about 7 baby chicks…they all followed her every move. They were so obedient! I stopped to watch them for a minute…they were really cute and I could not help but think…how come baby chickens can be so obedient but my students wont listen to a word I say.
Again I ask…can I just have one day where they all listen and want to learn?
Monday, February 18, 2008
Just a few Valentines Day pictures...
Me with German and Gustavo
This is Jorge!
Stiven posing for the camera
Jimena and Vera working on Valentines Day Cards.
Lori And I at school with out favorite juice in a bag!
Well these are just a few of the pictures that I took last week on Valentines Day! I´ll post more again soon! To all my friends and family who are reading this back home...I miss you oh so much!
All my love!
Mindy
Weekend Update
It was a typical Comayagua weekend for the most part. Except I stayed home from church on Sabbath…I took the day and listened to some sermons that we received from some WWU packages. I took a nap and had some quality chats with Mark and Lori. When I got bored I baked some cookies for everyone…and Lori helped me sort some beans so they could soak over night. We have never soaked them over night but a lot of us get stomach aches after any meal with beans (and we have a lot of meals with beans) so we decided to see is soaking them would help…plus it cuts down on the cooking time so it saves us some propane as well.
Oh I have one fun story to tell that happened Saturday night…Marks toilet exploded…and I do mean that in a pretty literal sense. I guess water just started gushing out…pretty much water covered his whole room cause all the water in our water tank drained out of his toilet and into his room. We thought we were going to have to go without water till his toilet got fixed…but thankfully Pastor Trundle told us about some gage on the side of the toilet that we just had to shut off and now we can have water back! We are very thankful for that cause it was going to be a pain in the butt to have to go over to the house anytime we need to do anything that takes water…showers, brushing teeth, cooking, cleaning dishes, laundry…its no fun not having water!
This afternoon I went to the internet café and called home…my parents were gone into town but I got to talk to my foster brother Billy. It was just nice to be able to talk to someone form home. But don’t worry mom I’ll call again soon!
Friday was my last day teaching 9th grade language. Basically since the first day of class I felt that I should not be teaching them. Secondary teaching is just not from me. If I could just chill and talk with them that would be great…they are good kids with great personalities but I just don’t know how to teach them. Language is a hard class too…and they really don’t like it. When I talked with Pastor Trundle and Norma about not continuing this class for the third and fourth parcial I was given a pretty big guilt trip…they really wanted me to continue…I felt like they were not hearing me out and understanding what I was saying. Honestly I feel like I have not taught them anything…they sit in class and talk in Spanish for the entire 40 minutes…they do not want to listen to anything I ever say. I tried to explain that I did not feel like I had the respect of the students and it was impossible for me to discipline them and any time that I tried I never felt supported. One time I had the students working in groups and the next thing I knew two of the groups were chucking rocks at each other (who knows where the rocks came from). I ran out and grabbed a counsellor only to have her come in a joke around and laugh with the students in Spanish.
Mark was willing and able to take the class…he also teaches the 9th graders literature and he really enjoys teaching them so hopefully it will all work out for the best. Over all though I just feel like this is for the best…
Please keep all of us missionaries in your prayers this week. Discipline has been difficult these past few weeks…we are getting tired and burned out and basically don’t have any counsellor or administration support in the area of discipline. They just don’t follow through with anything they say so the kids are not afraid of anything. In some ways its just a cultural thing and there is not much we can do about it…but its been difficult for us all.
Oh I have one fun story to tell that happened Saturday night…Marks toilet exploded…and I do mean that in a pretty literal sense. I guess water just started gushing out…pretty much water covered his whole room cause all the water in our water tank drained out of his toilet and into his room. We thought we were going to have to go without water till his toilet got fixed…but thankfully Pastor Trundle told us about some gage on the side of the toilet that we just had to shut off and now we can have water back! We are very thankful for that cause it was going to be a pain in the butt to have to go over to the house anytime we need to do anything that takes water…showers, brushing teeth, cooking, cleaning dishes, laundry…its no fun not having water!
This afternoon I went to the internet café and called home…my parents were gone into town but I got to talk to my foster brother Billy. It was just nice to be able to talk to someone form home. But don’t worry mom I’ll call again soon!
Friday was my last day teaching 9th grade language. Basically since the first day of class I felt that I should not be teaching them. Secondary teaching is just not from me. If I could just chill and talk with them that would be great…they are good kids with great personalities but I just don’t know how to teach them. Language is a hard class too…and they really don’t like it. When I talked with Pastor Trundle and Norma about not continuing this class for the third and fourth parcial I was given a pretty big guilt trip…they really wanted me to continue…I felt like they were not hearing me out and understanding what I was saying. Honestly I feel like I have not taught them anything…they sit in class and talk in Spanish for the entire 40 minutes…they do not want to listen to anything I ever say. I tried to explain that I did not feel like I had the respect of the students and it was impossible for me to discipline them and any time that I tried I never felt supported. One time I had the students working in groups and the next thing I knew two of the groups were chucking rocks at each other (who knows where the rocks came from). I ran out and grabbed a counsellor only to have her come in a joke around and laugh with the students in Spanish.
Mark was willing and able to take the class…he also teaches the 9th graders literature and he really enjoys teaching them so hopefully it will all work out for the best. Over all though I just feel like this is for the best…
Please keep all of us missionaries in your prayers this week. Discipline has been difficult these past few weeks…we are getting tired and burned out and basically don’t have any counsellor or administration support in the area of discipline. They just don’t follow through with anything they say so the kids are not afraid of anything. In some ways its just a cultural thing and there is not much we can do about it…but its been difficult for us all.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Pizza Hut and Valentine´s Day Concert
Written Thursday Feb. 14, 2008 Happy Valentine’s Day! Honestly I did not even attempt to teach today. I have learned that on Holidays or before a vacation there is no use to even try. The students are so hyped up on candy and excitement for the day that there is no use in even trying to open a book. So today I just let them make Valentine’s Day Cards and run around the class room. I took a lot of pictures today. They always love the camera and go crazy when they see it. It’s hard to get pictures that aren’t blurry cause they move around so much…but I got some really cute ones. After school they took all the teachers and staff to Pizza Hut to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It might sound weird but Pizza Hut seems to be the way they celebrate everything here. Pizza Hut is what they consider fine dining here. They took us to Pizza Hut the first day we came to Honduras, they took us to Pizza Hut for Women’s day (yup they have a woman’s day and this is different from mother’s day…don’t ask cause we don’t totally understand it either), and now for Valentine’s Day. It’s an interesting way to celebrate but hey its free food so we are not complaining. After Pizza Hut we came back to the house and got showered and dressed up for the music program…pretty much this program was put on by the missionaries. All 8 of us sang Glory Glory together…and then there were quite a few other songs put on by various groups of missionaries, a few songs by some students, and staff…Karen’s 6th grade class did a painful piece on their recorders with Karen on the flute. Pastor/principle Trundles song was supposed to be the second to last song but toward the end of his song the power blacked out and everything went pitch black…all the kids started screaming and freaking out…the best part was I was recording and got it all on video. We had a good laugh about that, and the program was cut just a little short. As we were trying to clean and pack up the gym in the dark the power came back on. They have the craziest power outages here. The sucky things is you never know how long they will last…anywhere from 10 minutes to 4 hours…I have heard it can sometimes take days…but luckily we have not had to go through that yet. On my way back from the program I was talking with Mark about how crazy it is that this is our life for 10 months. It really is such a temporary thing here. Next year we will be back at our schools and living our lives back home…but for 10 months this is our life. Honduras is where we live. These people are people we have grown to know and love. This culture is what we have come to know and become accustomed to…things don’t surprise us anymore…we still get frustrated but we don’t get surprised by it.This is life here and now…I am learning to live in the here and now…I am living life, I am loving life…and that life is now…my life is here in Honduras…it’s not what I had last year…it’s not what I will have in 6 months from now…yes, that will be my life then too…but this is my life now.We always get caught up on the future and we seem to live our lives for the future. I was just reading a book called ¨the life you’ve always wanted¨ it talks about how we are always waiting to live life. We are always saying I’ll be happy “when”...you know you do it…we all do! But the thing is when we do that we are not truly living life…we are merely getting by…it’s like waiting in line your whole life. Just waiting to get to the next point, then once you reach that point you find yourself waiting to get to the next one. There will always be a next point and to some extent this is good. We all need to have goals and destinations in life…but we can’t forget that we need to live and enjoy the life that we have. Every part of our life is important. We can learn from everything that happens to us and everything that we go through.I don’t have this all figured out…I am only now coming to this realization after being here in Honduras for 6 months now…I am just beginning to realize that this is life…what I am doing is life…I can’t live my life waiting to get back home…this is home…we can’t live life waiting to get back to what we call ¨normal life¨…this is real life. Like the Black Eyed Peas sing ¨we only got one world¨…it might be a messed up world, but this is our world, our life, and we need to learn to live it to the fullest!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Dead Gecko
This morning as I walked into the class room of 3b to teach agriculture I find most of my students all crowed to the left side of the class squealing and jumping up and down. This is never a good sign…I am immediately rushed by 3 or 4 students telling something about someone killing a gecko.
I think great my favorite thing to deal with (for those of you that don’t know I cannot stand bugs, snakes or lizards of any kind. Though I have gotten better about this fear since living here in Honduras…more on this later though). So I walk over and tell them to get to their seat…quite a few of the desks have been moved around in the ruckus of killing the gecko though. One of my boys starts kicking the dead gecko. I am totally disgusted by this but try to hold in my utter disquietedness in fear that they will then turn on me with the gecko.
I eventually have to go stand by the gecko to keep the kids from kicking at it. Estefany volunteers to get the broom and I agree to let her go because I have not better idea of what to do with the dead gecko. We eventually get the thing out of the class after much squealing and laughing form my students. Once we are rid of the distraction I ask them why they felt the need to kill it. I explained to them that geckos are harmless creatures and next time they should just let it be. I was just glad to have the experience over with.
Now for a cockroach story. It’s nothing too exciting…but last night I woke up in need of the bathroom. I always hate waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom cause it is almost always a sure thing that I will find at least one cockroach. The only uncertain thing is the size I will find. Sometimes they are massive and other times they are just tiny things…but not matter what the size it is never fun to deal with at 2 in the morning.
I always get such an adrenalin rush when I see one of these disgusting creatures. First of all they always seem to freeze and point their creepy little antennas in my direction. And I am 100% certain that they can sense my fear and half the time they seem to run straight for me…knowing that will totally freak me out and is their best option of escape. Well last night was no different. I grabbed the closest flip flop I could find and took a wild swing (standing as far from it as I could, knowing that at any moment it would attack) only to miss and have it run at me and head straight into my bedroom. I was not too excited knowing it was in there but at least now I could go to the bathroom in peace.
Heber the schools PE teacher was in a motorcycle accident yesterday. Julio and I went to visit him after school today. Nothing to crazy like broken bones or anything but he does have a swollen knee the size of a grapefruit and a few scratches. The school has been pretty crazy this week. Now with Heber gone, the other 6th grade teacher out cause she is pregnant and has been sick, and Denis the main counselor of the school out all week cause he has been sick, and a few other people have been MIA a few times this week as well it’s made for an interesting week.
Oh some more great news…tomorrow is Valentine’s day and the school has committed to this music performance tomorrow night…well the thing was this vocal group was supposed to come only to have them pull out at the last minute and by last minute I mean yesterday. So now us missionaries have been asked to sing a few songs…funny thing is it’s not even that surprising to us anymore.One more story for the day…kind of a culture shock moment…or more just a thing about this culture that continues to anger and frustrate me.
Today as I was eating lunch outside as I always do…and I see one of my student Coto walking and set his banana peel on the ground…I look at him and say ¨are you serious¨ (luckily I think he missed this part) I then tell him to ¨pick it up¨. He does only to walk about 5 feet and drop it by a plant. He looks at me and I get up and say ¨do I need to take you to the trash can¨…so I do and I open the lid and let him drop it in…then he runs off to play…I was too frustrated with him to even say anything else. I walk back to the table my table where Karen is sitting and has just seen this all play out…and we vented about how frustrated we are with our students and how they seriously think they can get away with things like this all the time.
Mark asked me how it was going today and I said ¨it’s been crazy but I love life¨…and its true...life is crazy…but I love it! As much as I hate it here I love it and I would not want to trade this experience for anything.
I think great my favorite thing to deal with (for those of you that don’t know I cannot stand bugs, snakes or lizards of any kind. Though I have gotten better about this fear since living here in Honduras…more on this later though). So I walk over and tell them to get to their seat…quite a few of the desks have been moved around in the ruckus of killing the gecko though. One of my boys starts kicking the dead gecko. I am totally disgusted by this but try to hold in my utter disquietedness in fear that they will then turn on me with the gecko.
I eventually have to go stand by the gecko to keep the kids from kicking at it. Estefany volunteers to get the broom and I agree to let her go because I have not better idea of what to do with the dead gecko. We eventually get the thing out of the class after much squealing and laughing form my students. Once we are rid of the distraction I ask them why they felt the need to kill it. I explained to them that geckos are harmless creatures and next time they should just let it be. I was just glad to have the experience over with.
Now for a cockroach story. It’s nothing too exciting…but last night I woke up in need of the bathroom. I always hate waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom cause it is almost always a sure thing that I will find at least one cockroach. The only uncertain thing is the size I will find. Sometimes they are massive and other times they are just tiny things…but not matter what the size it is never fun to deal with at 2 in the morning.
I always get such an adrenalin rush when I see one of these disgusting creatures. First of all they always seem to freeze and point their creepy little antennas in my direction. And I am 100% certain that they can sense my fear and half the time they seem to run straight for me…knowing that will totally freak me out and is their best option of escape. Well last night was no different. I grabbed the closest flip flop I could find and took a wild swing (standing as far from it as I could, knowing that at any moment it would attack) only to miss and have it run at me and head straight into my bedroom. I was not too excited knowing it was in there but at least now I could go to the bathroom in peace.
Heber the schools PE teacher was in a motorcycle accident yesterday. Julio and I went to visit him after school today. Nothing to crazy like broken bones or anything but he does have a swollen knee the size of a grapefruit and a few scratches. The school has been pretty crazy this week. Now with Heber gone, the other 6th grade teacher out cause she is pregnant and has been sick, and Denis the main counselor of the school out all week cause he has been sick, and a few other people have been MIA a few times this week as well it’s made for an interesting week.
Oh some more great news…tomorrow is Valentine’s day and the school has committed to this music performance tomorrow night…well the thing was this vocal group was supposed to come only to have them pull out at the last minute and by last minute I mean yesterday. So now us missionaries have been asked to sing a few songs…funny thing is it’s not even that surprising to us anymore.One more story for the day…kind of a culture shock moment…or more just a thing about this culture that continues to anger and frustrate me.
Today as I was eating lunch outside as I always do…and I see one of my student Coto walking and set his banana peel on the ground…I look at him and say ¨are you serious¨ (luckily I think he missed this part) I then tell him to ¨pick it up¨. He does only to walk about 5 feet and drop it by a plant. He looks at me and I get up and say ¨do I need to take you to the trash can¨…so I do and I open the lid and let him drop it in…then he runs off to play…I was too frustrated with him to even say anything else. I walk back to the table my table where Karen is sitting and has just seen this all play out…and we vented about how frustrated we are with our students and how they seriously think they can get away with things like this all the time.
Mark asked me how it was going today and I said ¨it’s been crazy but I love life¨…and its true...life is crazy…but I love it! As much as I hate it here I love it and I would not want to trade this experience for anything.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Learning how to love
Written Tuesday Feb. 12, 2008
I walked into 3b this afternoon and was meet by a rush of kids telling me Jorge was crying. I know its bad to choose favourites but Jorge is definitely one of mine. He is such a cute little kid and he can read people so well. One day he could tell I was stressed out and tired of trying to get the kids to listen. He looks at me and says ¨Man kids uh miss…that’s why I´m not going to marry¨. He is always cracking me up like that. He talks like he is so much older than a little 3rd grader. It gets him into trouble though too…cause he knows everything there is to know so he gets bored in class a lot. The homeroom teacher says his mom pretty much teaches him everything. I don’t think she trusts the teachers at the school. She is also the mom that pretty much hates the missionaries. I tried talking with him to find out what happened and he tells me he forgot his homework for another class and the teacher says he can not turn it in later. I tried to calm him down and told him maybe he could talk to her about it at lunch. What he really needed though was just to cry…he sat there and cried for the first 15 minutes of math class. The crazy thing about kids is how quickly they can recuperate from things…the next thing I know he is laughing and jumping around me trying to show me what one of Santa’s elfs act like. This kid has got one amazing imagination too…he is always telling me some crazy story about something that happened to him or a place in the world he has seen. Just randomly throughout class he will run up and rap his arms around me to give me a hug.
Kids are just amazing to me. Its crazy how they can go from a crazy fist fight of anger and rage to laughing and joking with each other in under 5 minutes. Kids know the true meaning of Love that it talks about in Corinthians 13.Espically where it says love keeps no record of wrongs, love trusts, love hopes and love perseveres. Love never fails. The love that it talks about in Corinthians seems like an unattainable love. And that’s probably because it truly is in this sin filled world that we live in. But I really think we can learn a lot form watching the way children love. I know I am learning how to truly love more and more everyday from my students.
Today I was lecturing 3b about staying in their seats while I am teaching for the millionth time today and I look over at Carlos…he is sitting in the far left row of the class with the biggest most cheesy grin on his face…I can not keep my composure of the mad teacher anymore and I just start to laugh. Before I know it all my students laughing at me for laughing at Carlos. Laughter really can be the best medicine. I would rather laugh with my students then lecture them any day. I am not made for the lecturing part of teaching.
I walked into 3b this afternoon and was meet by a rush of kids telling me Jorge was crying. I know its bad to choose favourites but Jorge is definitely one of mine. He is such a cute little kid and he can read people so well. One day he could tell I was stressed out and tired of trying to get the kids to listen. He looks at me and says ¨Man kids uh miss…that’s why I´m not going to marry¨. He is always cracking me up like that. He talks like he is so much older than a little 3rd grader. It gets him into trouble though too…cause he knows everything there is to know so he gets bored in class a lot. The homeroom teacher says his mom pretty much teaches him everything. I don’t think she trusts the teachers at the school. She is also the mom that pretty much hates the missionaries. I tried talking with him to find out what happened and he tells me he forgot his homework for another class and the teacher says he can not turn it in later. I tried to calm him down and told him maybe he could talk to her about it at lunch. What he really needed though was just to cry…he sat there and cried for the first 15 minutes of math class. The crazy thing about kids is how quickly they can recuperate from things…the next thing I know he is laughing and jumping around me trying to show me what one of Santa’s elfs act like. This kid has got one amazing imagination too…he is always telling me some crazy story about something that happened to him or a place in the world he has seen. Just randomly throughout class he will run up and rap his arms around me to give me a hug.
Kids are just amazing to me. Its crazy how they can go from a crazy fist fight of anger and rage to laughing and joking with each other in under 5 minutes. Kids know the true meaning of Love that it talks about in Corinthians 13.Espically where it says love keeps no record of wrongs, love trusts, love hopes and love perseveres. Love never fails. The love that it talks about in Corinthians seems like an unattainable love. And that’s probably because it truly is in this sin filled world that we live in. But I really think we can learn a lot form watching the way children love. I know I am learning how to truly love more and more everyday from my students.
Today I was lecturing 3b about staying in their seats while I am teaching for the millionth time today and I look over at Carlos…he is sitting in the far left row of the class with the biggest most cheesy grin on his face…I can not keep my composure of the mad teacher anymore and I just start to laugh. Before I know it all my students laughing at me for laughing at Carlos. Laughter really can be the best medicine. I would rather laugh with my students then lecture them any day. I am not made for the lecturing part of teaching.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Monday evening thoughts...
Written Monday February 11, 2008
I am sitting in my room on this Monday evening. Feeling clean and fresh with my fan tuned on the lowest setting sitting on my bed in my Walla Walla shorts and t-shirt. The temperature is just right. Trust me it gets hot during the day but come evening it turns nice and cool…kind of like late spring time in Walla Walla.
Story of the day...well I decided I wanted an easier Monday…Mondays and Wednesdays are always my busiest days cause I only get one free period. Well Mondays I teach 3 bible classes (once to 4a, then to 3a and finally to 3b). So instead of trying to get my kids to sit still and listen to me tell a story as I normally do I decided to show them a veggie tales (thanks to my grandma who sent me a package that I recieved last week with 3 veggie tales dvds). The kids loved it and I had a lot of fun watching them laugh as they were enthralled by the story of David and the Giant Pickle.
3b has still been crazy as ever. I really don’t know what to do with them…they used to be my good class…and now it gets so loud and crazy in there that other teachers are coming in yelling at them to be quite cause they cant teach. Its crazy how the attitude of one kid can change a whole class of 20 other kid into a ruckus. The homeroom teacher has even talked with his parents about it…but she told me today that the parents don’t believe her and are actually backing up their son…sounds like he is telling them he is being picked on when really he is the one starting most of it with the other students. I have had a few talks with him and now frequently after class he will come up to me and ask how he is behaving. So at least he is being a little conscious of his behaviour at times. Any prayers for my 3b class room will be much appreciated at this time.
Its weird to think that Thursday is valentines day…I think this might be because here in Honduras we are not bombarded with all the crazy Media that we have in the United States. So holidays just kind of creep up on you rather than get thrown in your face every time you walk into a store or turn on your tv. Just a random thought…
I am sitting in my room on this Monday evening. Feeling clean and fresh with my fan tuned on the lowest setting sitting on my bed in my Walla Walla shorts and t-shirt. The temperature is just right. Trust me it gets hot during the day but come evening it turns nice and cool…kind of like late spring time in Walla Walla.
Story of the day...well I decided I wanted an easier Monday…Mondays and Wednesdays are always my busiest days cause I only get one free period. Well Mondays I teach 3 bible classes (once to 4a, then to 3a and finally to 3b). So instead of trying to get my kids to sit still and listen to me tell a story as I normally do I decided to show them a veggie tales (thanks to my grandma who sent me a package that I recieved last week with 3 veggie tales dvds). The kids loved it and I had a lot of fun watching them laugh as they were enthralled by the story of David and the Giant Pickle.
3b has still been crazy as ever. I really don’t know what to do with them…they used to be my good class…and now it gets so loud and crazy in there that other teachers are coming in yelling at them to be quite cause they cant teach. Its crazy how the attitude of one kid can change a whole class of 20 other kid into a ruckus. The homeroom teacher has even talked with his parents about it…but she told me today that the parents don’t believe her and are actually backing up their son…sounds like he is telling them he is being picked on when really he is the one starting most of it with the other students. I have had a few talks with him and now frequently after class he will come up to me and ask how he is behaving. So at least he is being a little conscious of his behaviour at times. Any prayers for my 3b class room will be much appreciated at this time.
Its weird to think that Thursday is valentines day…I think this might be because here in Honduras we are not bombarded with all the crazy Media that we have in the United States. So holidays just kind of creep up on you rather than get thrown in your face every time you walk into a store or turn on your tv. Just a random thought…
Fire Dancers and Jalapeño in the eye
Written Sunday February 10, 2008
Last night we were all feeling kind of stir crazy and just needed to get out of the house. We decided to go to the central park cause they were having some kind of show down there. When we first arrived there were some fire dancers performing by the central fountain. It was pretty cool but they could defiantly use some work…they seemed like they were just a group of travelling hippies to me. Then the show started over by the church so everyone turned and ran over to it. I felt bad for the fire guys cause they were asking for any spare change but everyone was preoccupied and rushed over to the other show so I don’t think they got much. Lori and I decided to give them some limps to help them out. Then we went over to watch the play in front of the church.
It was rather weird…none of us could really figure out what was going on. I´ll admit I was a little concerned about going to this considering last time we went to see a show in central park it ended up being a America bashing performance put on by a Canadian that I pretty much had an anxiety attack after and was ready to go back home to America that night. But this one was nothing like that. I guess it was about how Christianity came to Honduras…the thing we could not figure out was why there where roman soldiers. There were also nun like women and colourful masked people with shacking instruments. It was interesting to say the least but mostly just nice to get out of the house and do something for a change.
This morning Stacy, Kimmie and I all headed out to the Market to by our groceries for this week. For the past 3 weeks all 8 of us missionaries have had to live out of one fridge so we have not been able to by as much food. Lori accidentally broke the seal on their fridge and it took awhile (we are in Honduras after all) to get it fixed. That was a bit challenging let me tell you but thankfully we now have both fridges and are back in business. So anyway with our fridge all to ourselves again we bought a lot of food let me tell you! My arms and shoulders were aching on the walk back from the market carrying all our bags.
It really is amazing how cheap produce is here! We bought 8 ears of corn, limes, onions, cilantro, and green pepper all for 46 limps that’s about 2 American dollars.
When we came home Stacy and I worked on making some salsa for tomorrows meal of fajitas! I had a little jalapeño juice squirt its way into my eye which is not a pleasurable experience in case you were wondering. But don’t worry it was worth the pain cause in the end we wound up with some pretty tasty salsa.
Now as it starts to rain I realize I have forgotten to hang my clothes up to dry…what this really means is that tomorrow’s uniform shirt will not be dry by morning. Honestly though I am not too sad about this fact.
Last night we were all feeling kind of stir crazy and just needed to get out of the house. We decided to go to the central park cause they were having some kind of show down there. When we first arrived there were some fire dancers performing by the central fountain. It was pretty cool but they could defiantly use some work…they seemed like they were just a group of travelling hippies to me. Then the show started over by the church so everyone turned and ran over to it. I felt bad for the fire guys cause they were asking for any spare change but everyone was preoccupied and rushed over to the other show so I don’t think they got much. Lori and I decided to give them some limps to help them out. Then we went over to watch the play in front of the church.
It was rather weird…none of us could really figure out what was going on. I´ll admit I was a little concerned about going to this considering last time we went to see a show in central park it ended up being a America bashing performance put on by a Canadian that I pretty much had an anxiety attack after and was ready to go back home to America that night. But this one was nothing like that. I guess it was about how Christianity came to Honduras…the thing we could not figure out was why there where roman soldiers. There were also nun like women and colourful masked people with shacking instruments. It was interesting to say the least but mostly just nice to get out of the house and do something for a change.
This morning Stacy, Kimmie and I all headed out to the Market to by our groceries for this week. For the past 3 weeks all 8 of us missionaries have had to live out of one fridge so we have not been able to by as much food. Lori accidentally broke the seal on their fridge and it took awhile (we are in Honduras after all) to get it fixed. That was a bit challenging let me tell you but thankfully we now have both fridges and are back in business. So anyway with our fridge all to ourselves again we bought a lot of food let me tell you! My arms and shoulders were aching on the walk back from the market carrying all our bags.
It really is amazing how cheap produce is here! We bought 8 ears of corn, limes, onions, cilantro, and green pepper all for 46 limps that’s about 2 American dollars.
When we came home Stacy and I worked on making some salsa for tomorrows meal of fajitas! I had a little jalapeño juice squirt its way into my eye which is not a pleasurable experience in case you were wondering. But don’t worry it was worth the pain cause in the end we wound up with some pretty tasty salsa.
Now as it starts to rain I realize I have forgotten to hang my clothes up to dry…what this really means is that tomorrow’s uniform shirt will not be dry by morning. Honestly though I am not too sad about this fact.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Its been awhile...
Written Saturday Febuary 9, 2007
Well I have now been back in Honduras for a little over a month. I was able to go home for Christmas and spend time with friends and family back home for about two and a half weeks. It was great to be back but at the same time it was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to do coming back to Honduras. Especially knowing that I had an even longer stretch ahead of me…6 more months and I had only endured 4 before Christmas. In fact as soon as I got back to my house here in Honduras I took my bags to my room and started to cry. I could not believe I was here again.
The next thing I knew it was Monday morning and I was waking up to my blaring alarm at 5:30am knowing that back home it was only 3:30am and all my friends and family would be sound asleep for a good 4 hours still. I was out the door by 6:40am to make it to the school in time for morning staff worship that is almost always in Spanish (which means I never know what is going on).
But everything changed when I was on my way to my class room and saw all my kids standing in the doorway with smiling faces to great me waiting for the okay to dart out of the class room to the auditorium for hora civica. It was then that I realized the reason why I am here. I am here for these kids…my kids. 40 children that I have grown to know and love. I have come to know each of their individual personalities and though much of the time I don’t feel like I have a clue how to be a teacher and to how get through to them but one thing I have learned how to do is how to love them. Yes they are crazy and drive me nuts most days but at the same time there is this crazy never ending love. I don’t know where it comes from or how it got there but it is there. Recently even when I have tried to lecture them when they have been bad (as in running around the class room out of control, wrestling in the back of the class room, yelling, over all not listening, throwing things in around the class and much more) I end up laughing at them when I look at their cute little faces staring up at me as I try to be the big bad mean teacher. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I really enjoy just being able to play and joke around with them. It makes teaching hard at times though. That is one reason why I have realized I am not cut out to be a teacher. I would much rather play and have fun with my kids then teach them about math, science, bible, or agriculture.
I was thinking this past week about what it will be like to leave when June comes along. As excited as I am to get back home and be back in Walla Walla and back to my normal life. I was also thinking about how heart breaking it will be to leave my kids. I teach one 4th grade bible class…and yesterday after their parcial test I let them go outside to play. It was the last class period of the day and Friday and I did not feel like teaching anymore…as I watched them play I started thinking about how I wont get to see my 3rd graders at that stage. It really is a big difference that even just a year makes in the maturity and understanding that the kids have when they are so young. I hope that they will have a great teacher next year that will care for them and get to know them and love them they way I have come to.
Well sorry its been so long since I posted...i´m going to work on being better about this in the next 5 months ahead. Much love!
Mindy
Well I have now been back in Honduras for a little over a month. I was able to go home for Christmas and spend time with friends and family back home for about two and a half weeks. It was great to be back but at the same time it was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to do coming back to Honduras. Especially knowing that I had an even longer stretch ahead of me…6 more months and I had only endured 4 before Christmas. In fact as soon as I got back to my house here in Honduras I took my bags to my room and started to cry. I could not believe I was here again.
The next thing I knew it was Monday morning and I was waking up to my blaring alarm at 5:30am knowing that back home it was only 3:30am and all my friends and family would be sound asleep for a good 4 hours still. I was out the door by 6:40am to make it to the school in time for morning staff worship that is almost always in Spanish (which means I never know what is going on).
But everything changed when I was on my way to my class room and saw all my kids standing in the doorway with smiling faces to great me waiting for the okay to dart out of the class room to the auditorium for hora civica. It was then that I realized the reason why I am here. I am here for these kids…my kids. 40 children that I have grown to know and love. I have come to know each of their individual personalities and though much of the time I don’t feel like I have a clue how to be a teacher and to how get through to them but one thing I have learned how to do is how to love them. Yes they are crazy and drive me nuts most days but at the same time there is this crazy never ending love. I don’t know where it comes from or how it got there but it is there. Recently even when I have tried to lecture them when they have been bad (as in running around the class room out of control, wrestling in the back of the class room, yelling, over all not listening, throwing things in around the class and much more) I end up laughing at them when I look at their cute little faces staring up at me as I try to be the big bad mean teacher. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I really enjoy just being able to play and joke around with them. It makes teaching hard at times though. That is one reason why I have realized I am not cut out to be a teacher. I would much rather play and have fun with my kids then teach them about math, science, bible, or agriculture.
I was thinking this past week about what it will be like to leave when June comes along. As excited as I am to get back home and be back in Walla Walla and back to my normal life. I was also thinking about how heart breaking it will be to leave my kids. I teach one 4th grade bible class…and yesterday after their parcial test I let them go outside to play. It was the last class period of the day and Friday and I did not feel like teaching anymore…as I watched them play I started thinking about how I wont get to see my 3rd graders at that stage. It really is a big difference that even just a year makes in the maturity and understanding that the kids have when they are so young. I hope that they will have a great teacher next year that will care for them and get to know them and love them they way I have come to.
Well sorry its been so long since I posted...i´m going to work on being better about this in the next 5 months ahead. Much love!
Mindy
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