Well, to catch you all up on my happening here... where should I start? The first day of school was great and has been going well for the last 2 weeks. I have 22 students now: 11 boys, 11 girls. I play soccer with the boys on Monday and Wednesdays; and I jumprope with the girls on Tuesdays and Thursday. The kids really enjoy me spending time outside of the classroom with them. They are a good group of students. I've only had problems with having perfect lines (so we're working on that!)
These are my housemates and I on the first day of school.
We had a school wide open house last week Friday and I got to meet most of my students' parents. It was really neat to meet them and be able to communicate with them in Spanish. All the families are so generous and loving and offered to help me in any way they can. Here they say "a la orden", which means "at your service."
At Pinares, lesson plans are due the Friday before the week begins which is really great because then you have the weekend almost all to yourself. I've gone to Valle de Angeles with some old family friends. It's a cute touristy city with lots of good food and artisan and Honduran souvenirs. I'm actually going there again this weekend and will be sure to take pictures for you all. I laid out on my porch this past weekend and actually got a tanline ;) I went swimming in a pool today and went to my old church that I use to go to as a little girl.
Yesterday was really fun. Gina, Julie, Devon, and I decided to walk down the mountain, about 4 km through the winding road to El Picacho. El Picacho is a national park and hosts the Jesus statue which you can see from pretty much anywhere in Tegucigalpa, the national zoo, and replicas of Mayan ruins. It was fun because it started out as a beautiful sunny day, then, we had torrential rains and the park closed, but we were all determined to see the statue which we walked 45 minutes to see... so, we decided to climb the wall made of rocks to capture a few photos. It was a fun adventure with some wonderful friends.
The people here are really amazing. I live with 3 other girls: Julie, Elisa, and Charith. Most of the teachers live in the apartment complex or the houses across the street which is very convenient. We have game night, potlucks, movie night, dinner parties, and unannounced visitors. It's a loving Christian community which I am truly blessed to be a part of. I have seen myself grow in many areas: physically (thanks to Rachel DeJong and her aerobics classes AND soccer on Tuesday nights), spiritually (through small groups, Bible study every morning, chapel at school, church, and fellowship), mentally (learning how to effectively teach these students through research and trial and error), and emotionally (not necessarily in culture shock, but being away from people you love and cherish).
To close, my prayer requests are for my students and their continual growth in all areas of life; as well as for me and my ability to teach them to be like Christ and to learn and do well in everything. Thanks for your support and friendships. Love always.
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