Some random thoughts....and I finally met my kiddos!

Sara and I are finally realizing that sleeping in is never going to be an option here. For those of you that know me well, sleeping in has ALWAYS been an option for me, but leave it up to Honduras to prove me wrong! I wake up startled EVERY morning to the annoying voice of a man yelling "hamburguesas," which I don't really understand. Is he selling cooked hamburgers, or just hamburger meat, and even then, who in the world would need to buy either of those things at 6 in the morning???

All hours of the night/early morning, there are huge garbage trucks, and buses speeding through the street right in front of our house, it's not a main street, and I swear sometimes it sounds like they are driving straight through the house?! Not to mention, the extreme heat creeps into my room as soon as the sun rises! Other random questions I need to get answered while I'm here: Why are there always random donkeys, horses, goats, and other animals wandering around, and they never seem to have any owners? How can they sell milk that doesn't need to be refrigerated (you find it right on the shelf by the cereal at the store)?? Why is it that I end up with 2 new mosquito bites to take the place of one that is FINALLY getting better (my bite # is now up to 24), and the list goes on and on..........

Anyways, today was the first official day of school. It surprises me to think that just a week ago was my first day in Honduras, and now I'm teaching a classroom full of kids here! One big thing to get used to here is that our teaching schedule is from 12- 5pm. I can't decide yet of that's a good or bad thing, I guess it doesn't really matter, it's the same kind of unbearable heat and humidity any time here anyways!

I got to work around 11, thinking I was going to have time to calm some of my nerves before the kids got there, but of course nothing ever goes as planned, and at 11:10 I was greeted by my first student and his mother. They were very nice, but both spoke very little English. While trying to introduce myself and answer some of her questions, I realized that my broken Spanish, their broken English, and the endless nods of the head, looks of confusion, and flipping through the pages of my Spanish dictionary were going to be something all too familiar to me for at least the first few months. Then, sure enough the other kids and parents came pouring into the room until about 12:10 when I was told to go upstairs for an assembly.

As soon as I got back to the classroom with the kids, I quickly began to realize just how little English they understood. I tried my best to talk slowly and clearly, and as the looks on their faces illustrated, most of them were completely confused, and/or nervous, I'm still trying to figure that out. Talking to Sara last night about all the textbooks and workbooks the kids are expected to work in every day made us think about some of the kids we've taught in the US that already have trouble reading textbooks at their grade level, and for some of them, English is their first language! Then I thought of these kids in Honduras, who have only had about 2 years of any exposure to English, and most, through teachers that speak only a little bit of English, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed! How could I expect ALL of these kids to be able to read and fully comprehend a second grade textbook, especially when they're all expected to read at the same level?! There has never been any opportunity for these kids to read books at their own level, to help gain the comprehension that the other teachers all say they are lacking so much! SO THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE FOR THOSE DONATIONS AND BOOKS!!! With all this negative aside, I am really excited to be teaching here, a mean, come on....look at them, they're adorable!! And if nothing else I want to at least try to leave these kids with the idea that reading and writing doesn't always have to be in a textbook or workbook, and that they can actually read and create things outside of what they're used to!