Day 11, but who's counting

Yesterday I went to a festival across the street at the Catholic church. They had many traditional foods of Honduras: enchiladas, tacos fritos, pupusas, etc. There was also a small soccer competition as well. It's great to be immersed in a new culture once again.

This past week, the teachers have been busy setting up their classroom and settling into their apartments. We went to a huge store called Price Smart which is equivalent to a Costco. I ended up spending more than I wanted to, but everything came in bulk, even the chocolate chips.

My flatmates and I hired a maid. Her name is Ana and she comes to our apartment 3 times a week. She washes our clothes and dishes, mops the floors, cleans the bathroom, and cooks for us. It's hard for me letting someone do those things for me, but at the same time, it allows me to do other things with my time, like going for hikes.

I live in El Hatillo which is the mountain in Tegucigalpa with the giant statue of Jesus and the Coca Cola sign. It takes 20 minutes to drive down the mountain because there are a lot of turns and potholes too.

Here are pictures of my apartment:







Here are pictures of my unfinished classroom:




Please pray for the students in my 4th grade class. There are 21 of them. Pray for their safety, their attitude, and their spirtitual growth this year. Also pray for me as I plan and prepare for our first day of school on Thursday. I feel pretty calm now and pray that this year will be great one.

May God bless you today and always. Miss you. Hugs and un besito, An

Viva Honduras!

I'm finally here and I feel right at home. People here are so wonderful! The school and city has changed ALOT since I've been here: new library, new gymnasium, new offices, and I'm even in a new building to teach 4th grade.

I've been going running (or I should say attempting too) but the high altitude is killing my lungs. We learned how to clean our fruits and vegetables by soaking them into bleach water... I know, it sounds like a health hazard to me too. But that's life in a third world country.

My apartment is huge and there are 4 of us living there. I'm really excited to get to know them better as well as the other staff member. There are 4 other graduates from Calvin here so that's been really nice.

I will post pictures soon, but off to cooking my first dinner. Wish me luck.