semana santa: FAIL(?)

this week has been the long anticipated semana santa, or holy week. schools have off, and so my housemates and i planned a trip to costa rica, thanks to wicked cheap airline tickets. sounds great, right?

we flew to san jose monday night and then rented a car tuesday morning to drive to the nicoya peninsula, which is about 4 hours away on the pacific coast. it was pretty enough--tropical with a beautiful beach. we packed our car up wednesday morning and headed to the beach. while we were parked there enjoying the waves and heat, someone got into our car and stole absolutely everything. well, not quite everything. but they got all of our clothes, except for kendra´s suitcase, all of our cards and money, except for bethany´s, and two passports. since it`s semana santa, all of the businesses and offices are closed until monday, which means that jenny and i can`t fly out today as planned, because we no longer have passports.

that day was just unbelievable. we had everything stolen, which we found out about by about 1:00. then we tried to get money wired to one of the girls who still has a passport, and then we hit the road. it took us about 12 hours to get all the way back to san jose, since we couldn`t get on the ferry we had been aiming for. then, while waiting in the line of cars for 2 hours to get on the ferry, a bird actually pooped on my leg. it was a thing. it happened. and it really worked to be a metaphor for the day.

basically, we havent had an amazing time in costa rica. we`re fairly jealous of our two roommates who get to go home this afternoon, while we`ll still be here for another several days at least. it doesn`t seem like a bad thing, and we`re going to do our best to make the most of it while also pinching colones and doing our best to not run out of money. we are considering a coffee tour which involves acting out the coffee making process. cheestastic? yeah, but it might just turn this thaaaang around.

one thing`s for sure. we havne`t been able to have taco bell yet because of semana santa businesses closing, but rest assured: we WILL have taco bell before we go back to tegucigalpa. probably many times.

you're welcome, 1st grade.

today while i was teaching kids about maps (think painful amounts of repetition and acting out bird's eye view), i noticed an especially blotchy kid sitting and looking hot (it was, after all, about 97 today, sources tell me). i ask the kid if he itches, and he says no. i ask if a bug bit him, and he looks at me all confused. then one of my good english kids threw out the spanish word for chicken pox. my itchy blotchy kid said, 'yeah.' and i just got confused. excuse me?! send your kid to school with the chicken pox? when you know he has them?! the other kids promptly moved away from him with scornful, "ayyy, eduardo!"s. then i asked the kids to raise their hands if they've never had chicken pox. most raised their hands. thinking it was a language misunderstanding (after all, most 1st graders have?) i changed it, "raise your hands if you have had them" and the other kids raised their hands. awesome. thanks, eduardo, for single handedly taking out half my class in the (very) near future.

dead fish wednesdays

so i love wednesdays anyway, but today i stumbled upon something that makes them so much greater. today, my first graders played Dead Fish for the first (of MANY) time(s).

the 23 6- and 7-year-olds walked around the room, showing off their swishy/bubbly noises and rocking invisible fins. when i said "dead fish!" those 23 children dropped to the floor and were completely motionless and silent. it was unbelievable. and some of the positions these kids chose to drop in were hilarious! i had one little girl with her hands framing her open-eyed face. VERY risky move, those open eyes. but she lasted quite a long time. i had little boys piled on top of each other using their friends' arms as pillows. strangely enough, my most hyperactive and noisy kids were the best at the game. we will definitely be playing again. probably as soon as they come back from library.

gringas.

as white american females, it's fair to say that we get a bit of attention on the streets. walking anywhere will warrant kissing noises, vulgar comments, or just general "flattering" words. tonight we were walking back from the store and there was a 10ish year old boy with an adult. they were playing with a ball and they stopped to watch us pass. the older guy said to the younger kid as they stared at us shamelessly, "do you want to get a gringa? you have to study."

and that's why hondurans are staying in school.

blizzard in tegucigalpa?

today at school, kids and teachers alike came to school bundled up for a cold that one would've thought comparable to blizzards in the states. kids were bundled up with long sleeves under their uniforms, leggings, sweatshirts and coats, scarves, mittens, and ski caps.

why the fuss over the weather? because it's 65 degrees! crazy hondurans.

i'm not one to talk; i'm freezing. :)

back at it

today was pretty great. it was fun to be back with my kids. 7 were missing, likely because it's only a 2-day school week and parents are likely figuring on starting them up again on monday. we spent time talking about our christmas breaks. we talked a bit about the snow, and the kids were amazed with my (mostly made up) tales of the things i did in the snow. one of my little studs said in an extremely serious spanish voice, "it's always been one of my dreams to see the snow." his face was precious, and i really just wanted to take him to michigan for a bit. i showed them a drawing of a snowman becuase i was modeling what i wanted them to do. even though i made it very clear that i wanted to see what they did, i still wound up with about 15 snowmen drawn on papers. little liars. oh, and one little girl wrote that she went to el salvador, but she was very efficient in her translating and wrote that she went to "the salvador."

it's good to be back.

suddenly it's almost december

The past month has absolutely flown. I'm teaching kids about American Thanksgiving, practicing songs for our Christmas program, and quickly becoming consumed in countless little things that have to be finished before Christmas.

Next week is a 3 day week thanks to Thanksgiving, and school has given us the following Monday off, as well. Things will likely get a bit sketchy as Honduras' elections are next Sunday. It's hard to tell what to expect for elections, and no one knows how bad things will get. Based on what we've already seen when Mel returned, it seems clear that this won't be a peaceful process. The Embassy and our school has said that anyone staying in Tegucigalpa should have an overnight bag ready in case of the need for evacuation. I probably shouldn't be writing this... sorry mom. :)

My roommates and I have decided to probably go to Guatemala for the break. We have 5 days, and we're goign to go to Antigua, and maybe explore a bit more around that area. It involves a huuuge bus ride, so that's a bummer. But from what we hear, it's worth it. We're slightly concerned about getting back into the country, as Sunday is election day and there could be border closings or difficulties getting back in or around Honduras. But our first day back in school after break is December 1. Awesome. :)