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. :)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
a win and a fail.
win:
today i rented an overhead projector for the first time from the library. these can be rented for the entire year... it was mere laziness that kept me from getting one sooner. my kids' jaws dropped when i started explaining it and using it. i definitely held their attention all of math, although i'm not sure if it was me or if it was the pretty shining light. when i finished explaining whatever i was talking about with addition, i asked for questions, and i got "but mees, how does it work?" so i might have to reteach tomorrow. :) it was worth it for their faces.
fail:
this week my kids starting writing in their own agendas. this is something that up until now, my assistant has done for them. i decided they're ready to do that themselves. we have them write in their agendas in spanish, because most of the parents don't read english, and the kids... can't read. so i was in a hurry, writing their assignments in spanish on the board. i abbreviated things that i thought could be abbreviated. for example, in science, rather than writing "hoja de ciencias" for "science paper," i wrote "hoja." i was pretty sure this was fine; i'd heard it happen that way before. today i was super confused when i had quite a few kids bring in leaves from trees.
well, "hoja" also means leaf. i guess i'll have to be more clear. :)
today i rented an overhead projector for the first time from the library. these can be rented for the entire year... it was mere laziness that kept me from getting one sooner. my kids' jaws dropped when i started explaining it and using it. i definitely held their attention all of math, although i'm not sure if it was me or if it was the pretty shining light. when i finished explaining whatever i was talking about with addition, i asked for questions, and i got "but mees, how does it work?" so i might have to reteach tomorrow. :) it was worth it for their faces.
fail:
this week my kids starting writing in their own agendas. this is something that up until now, my assistant has done for them. i decided they're ready to do that themselves. we have them write in their agendas in spanish, because most of the parents don't read english, and the kids... can't read. so i was in a hurry, writing their assignments in spanish on the board. i abbreviated things that i thought could be abbreviated. for example, in science, rather than writing "hoja de ciencias" for "science paper," i wrote "hoja." i was pretty sure this was fine; i'd heard it happen that way before. today i was super confused when i had quite a few kids bring in leaves from trees.
well, "hoja" also means leaf. i guess i'll have to be more clear. :)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
can't wait til monday?
today has been one of the most comically terrible saturdays of my life. i am sharing not to complain, but rather to try to show how ridiculous it actually was.
first, today was saturday school. enough said. but things compounded to make it actually worse than a normal school day. or maybe it was just that every time i thought about how the rest of the school-attending world was in bed, i teared up a little.
after school, two friends and i went to the mall to watch a movie and eat sushi. as it was finally the start of the weekend, we were thrilled to go out and make the most of our few hours of saturday. we took a taxi to the farthest-away mall, which is also the nicest. on the way, our taxi got into a crash. the driver was going way too fast and slammed into a car that had already crashed with the car in front of him. he was going very fast on impact... we're thinking at least 40 mph. the car that we crashed into had already crashed with the car in front of him. our taxi's air bags went off, the windshield shattered, and our taxi's hood ended up completely under the back of the pickup truck in front of us. we ended up fine for the most part, and we were so blessed that no one hit us from behind as well.
the hardest part for me to think about now is how the taxi driver lost his job with that crash. i mean, there's a chance that he has mechanic friends who can help him out, but generally taxi drivers barely enough to gas their cars. we can get a ride completely across town for US$4. almost all of that $4 would go to gas. but now with his car smoking on the side of the road and the hood crushed under the back of a pickup, things aren't looking up for him.
fortunately, the elementary school assistant principal came by in her car and took us away from the crash. this was amazing because none of us had our phones, and so we weren't able to call anyone. she just happened to be passing by the place where we crashed. she made some calls and decided to bring us to the mall. she was so excited to help, because she was going to the mall anyway. :)
today ended up being fine, all in all. we ended up seeing a movie that i wouldn't rate higher than a 2/10. but it was great to sit in air conditioning and eat popcorn. tomorrow holds all of my hopes for an entire weekend's worth of work and fun. then the next day starts yet another week.
first, today was saturday school. enough said. but things compounded to make it actually worse than a normal school day. or maybe it was just that every time i thought about how the rest of the school-attending world was in bed, i teared up a little.
after school, two friends and i went to the mall to watch a movie and eat sushi. as it was finally the start of the weekend, we were thrilled to go out and make the most of our few hours of saturday. we took a taxi to the farthest-away mall, which is also the nicest. on the way, our taxi got into a crash. the driver was going way too fast and slammed into a car that had already crashed with the car in front of him. he was going very fast on impact... we're thinking at least 40 mph. the car that we crashed into had already crashed with the car in front of him. our taxi's air bags went off, the windshield shattered, and our taxi's hood ended up completely under the back of the pickup truck in front of us. we ended up fine for the most part, and we were so blessed that no one hit us from behind as well.
the hardest part for me to think about now is how the taxi driver lost his job with that crash. i mean, there's a chance that he has mechanic friends who can help him out, but generally taxi drivers barely enough to gas their cars. we can get a ride completely across town for US$4. almost all of that $4 would go to gas. but now with his car smoking on the side of the road and the hood crushed under the back of a pickup, things aren't looking up for him.
fortunately, the elementary school assistant principal came by in her car and took us away from the crash. this was amazing because none of us had our phones, and so we weren't able to call anyone. she just happened to be passing by the place where we crashed. she made some calls and decided to bring us to the mall. she was so excited to help, because she was going to the mall anyway. :)
today ended up being fine, all in all. we ended up seeing a movie that i wouldn't rate higher than a 2/10. but it was great to sit in air conditioning and eat popcorn. tomorrow holds all of my hopes for an entire weekend's worth of work and fun. then the next day starts yet another week.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
currently canadian
tonight i went out with a couple of friends, and we ended up at tgi friday's while several important soccer games were being broadcast on tv, including those of 6 different latin american countries. there were people up in the bar area getting very enthusiastic about an ecuador- uruguay game, to the point of singing, yelling, and cursing out people on the other side of the bar who were voting for the other team.
currently, honduras is playing the USA in san pedro sula in northern honduras. about 12 people from our group went to go watch, but i decided to stay back, along with several other people. we had even received an email from the US embassy in tegucigalpa telling americans that they were not permitted to go to san pedro for this game. that's not why i didn't go; i had decided to pass based on my general lack of interest in all things soccer.
when we were at the mall around game time, almost everyone we interacted with wanted to know if we were americans, because this game is such a big deal for honduras. we told everyone who asked that we were from canada. it was so interesting to see the responses of these people as we told them, too. it went from an anxious, curious, competitive stare to complete indifference. we didn't really tell people we were canadians because we felt unsafe, but it's strange to try to put into words the discomfort and unknown that comes from being against almost every single person in the country. seeing the passion that hondurans have for soccer is something that i can't even begin to in relationship to something like a sporting event.
i don't really know what's going on with scores or anything of the sort, but it definitely seems that this game means more to honduras than it does to the US. of course it does; the general population of the US hasn't the faintest idea that we're even playing tonight, whereas almost every honduran is wearing a soccer jersey. the mall was a sea of white and blue and face paint. i've never seen anything like it bring a country together. it seems that for hondruas, this game is much more of a way to unite the country again after its whole political crisis. hondurans are genuinely thrilled to be having this game in hondruas. a few weeks ago, it was highly doubtful that the US would even send its team to play. it seemed sure that the game would be moved to the US. but it wasn't, and as a result, i think that it means a lot to honduras. they need this win much more than we do.
currently, honduras is playing the USA in san pedro sula in northern honduras. about 12 people from our group went to go watch, but i decided to stay back, along with several other people. we had even received an email from the US embassy in tegucigalpa telling americans that they were not permitted to go to san pedro for this game. that's not why i didn't go; i had decided to pass based on my general lack of interest in all things soccer.
when we were at the mall around game time, almost everyone we interacted with wanted to know if we were americans, because this game is such a big deal for honduras. we told everyone who asked that we were from canada. it was so interesting to see the responses of these people as we told them, too. it went from an anxious, curious, competitive stare to complete indifference. we didn't really tell people we were canadians because we felt unsafe, but it's strange to try to put into words the discomfort and unknown that comes from being against almost every single person in the country. seeing the passion that hondurans have for soccer is something that i can't even begin to in relationship to something like a sporting event.
i don't really know what's going on with scores or anything of the sort, but it definitely seems that this game means more to honduras than it does to the US. of course it does; the general population of the US hasn't the faintest idea that we're even playing tonight, whereas almost every honduran is wearing a soccer jersey. the mall was a sea of white and blue and face paint. i've never seen anything like it bring a country together. it seems that for hondruas, this game is much more of a way to unite the country again after its whole political crisis. hondurans are genuinely thrilled to be having this game in hondruas. a few weeks ago, it was highly doubtful that the US would even send its team to play. it seemed sure that the game would be moved to the US. but it wasn't, and as a result, i think that it means a lot to honduras. they need this win much more than we do.
Monday, September 28, 2009
pain
Saturday afternoon at a church downtown that has many, many International School connections, the praise team was practicing for Sunday morning worship. One of the team members ran out to move his car because looters were going through the street ahead of a protest that was marching. A few men in motorcycles drove ahead of the march, and, seeing this man moving his car, pulled out a gun. He ran for cover in the church door, but was hit by a bullet as his family looked on. His family included his 6-year-old daughter who is my class. She saw the whole thing. She saw her dad bleed to death on the church steps.
The death was random; the shooters declared that he was a Micheletti supporter (there was no way they could have known). Later, the same shooters came back to take pictures of him and try to pass it off as the police killing a Mel supporter. This has unfortunately spread through the media as well, thus making this man's already tragic death an even bigger tragedy. Now he has been turned into a martyr for a cause he did not support.
But tomorrow I return to a class of bright-eyed 6-year-olds with the job of explaining that Marcela's dad is with Jesus and won't be coming back. But I don't want them to know about the world they're living in right now.
The death was random; the shooters declared that he was a Micheletti supporter (there was no way they could have known). Later, the same shooters came back to take pictures of him and try to pass it off as the police killing a Mel supporter. This has unfortunately spread through the media as well, thus making this man's already tragic death an even bigger tragedy. Now he has been turned into a martyr for a cause he did not support.
But tomorrow I return to a class of bright-eyed 6-year-olds with the job of explaining that Marcela's dad is with Jesus and won't be coming back. But I don't want them to know about the world they're living in right now.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
impact of the coup
I've been really thinking lately how the poverty here in Honduras must color this coup and this routine of curfew and rioting for so many people. A very large percentage of Honduras is poor; this is something that I've known for a very long time. Yet, what does it mean to be curfewed if you're homeless? How do you make your living if you're a taxi driver, barely making enough money, who has to completely stop working for several days and then risk danger driving? We have vendors who walk or ride motorcycles through our neighborhoods selling tortillas and fruit, and they had completely stopped until about yesterday. Not hearing them shout the names of the items they sell made a strange silence for the past few days. They say that for each day that Honduras is under a daytime curfew, (there were two last week), the economy loses US$50 million. That is an extreme hit to such a poor country, especially now that the US has pulled out almost all of its monetary aid. I read somewhere that Micheletti (the interim president) thinks that this country could survive 6 months on the food that it has, but that just isn't realistic at all; one day during the curfew, the stores were completely emptied out by Honduran shoppers. Each time there is a curfew, all of the borders close, not allowing any importation of food.
We have vigilantes who stand guard in our (and in most middle class) neighborhoods. They, like so many people in Honduras, are underpaid. But recently, I have realized just how dangerous their job is. The top story yesterday in one of the Honduran news websites was that people have been donating food to guards, especially those in the military. I can't imagine that they have been able to get home much over the past few days. But even if they had, I love that the people are showing their gratitude in that way.
The rich are suffering, now, as well, but in very different ways. International School has many families who are very well off, and with money comes danger. Many children get threats on their lives from people wanting their parents' money. There are threats of kidnappings; there were several actual kidnappings at the end of last year, one of which ended in the child's death. Talking with my teacher friends, there are a significant number of students preparing to leave the country, some of them due to threats of kidnapping and violence. I cannot imagine this life, either.
It's hard for everyone in Honduras right now, and I'm realizing how extremely good I have it.
Watch this video.
Please continue to pray for Honduras.
We have vigilantes who stand guard in our (and in most middle class) neighborhoods. They, like so many people in Honduras, are underpaid. But recently, I have realized just how dangerous their job is. The top story yesterday in one of the Honduran news websites was that people have been donating food to guards, especially those in the military. I can't imagine that they have been able to get home much over the past few days. But even if they had, I love that the people are showing their gratitude in that way.
The rich are suffering, now, as well, but in very different ways. International School has many families who are very well off, and with money comes danger. Many children get threats on their lives from people wanting their parents' money. There are threats of kidnappings; there were several actual kidnappings at the end of last year, one of which ended in the child's death. Talking with my teacher friends, there are a significant number of students preparing to leave the country, some of them due to threats of kidnapping and violence. I cannot imagine this life, either.
It's hard for everyone in Honduras right now, and I'm realizing how extremely good I have it.
Watch this video.
Please continue to pray for Honduras.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
worse than black friday.
as of this moment, we've been under curfew here in tegucigalpa for roughly 52 hours. most of this time has been passed at the house of some other north american teachers, which proved to be a lesson in humility, because we didn't have so much that we needed. we had some very gracious hosts, though, and now we're finally back in our house!! ever since monday at about 4, we haven't been allowed to leave, by orders of the police.
until today!
this morning we got an email saying that the curfew that was supposed to go through the day today would be lifted from 10-5 so that people could go shopping and get food. our school sent a bus to pick us all up, and we headed to the grocery store to stock up on essentials. i went more for the outing than for actual things, as i have plenty.
it was absolute panic-mode in the city. many of us commented that it felt like the y2k scare. everyone was out on the road; a trip that would have taken about 10 minutes any other day took over an hour. cars were backed up for miles waiting to get into gas stations. when we got to the store, people were stocking up on food like you wouldn't believe. people pushed 2 carts completely overflowing through the aisles. and there were so many people! i don't know that i had ever seen so many people in one store before. the checkout line wrapped entirely around the store, and was moving nowhere. in roughly 1 hour, we had moved 4 feet forward thanks to some type of sketchy merging going on further up. after about 3 hours of waiting in line, myself and three others decided to just give up and go out for lunch across the street. it ended up being a very good move.
throughout tegucigalpa, there was news of looting in supermarkets, of robberies in electronic stores overnight, and more. the news showed grocery stores that had been completely gutted and people fighting over food on the shelves. yet i'm not sure why the panic is so intense. even though the crisis isn't resolved, today showed just how unstable this situation is.
well, we are back in our house, which feels great. about 6:30 tonight we got the word that school tomorrow would be canceled again, but then at 8:30 we got a follow up email saying that administration had changed its mind. awesome. so we're back on. but those two hours had been enough for me to get completely out of any school-type zone i would have been in. tomorrow will only be a half day for students (full for teachers), but hopefully it's enough to again start to get into the groove.
until today!
this morning we got an email saying that the curfew that was supposed to go through the day today would be lifted from 10-5 so that people could go shopping and get food. our school sent a bus to pick us all up, and we headed to the grocery store to stock up on essentials. i went more for the outing than for actual things, as i have plenty.
it was absolute panic-mode in the city. many of us commented that it felt like the y2k scare. everyone was out on the road; a trip that would have taken about 10 minutes any other day took over an hour. cars were backed up for miles waiting to get into gas stations. when we got to the store, people were stocking up on food like you wouldn't believe. people pushed 2 carts completely overflowing through the aisles. and there were so many people! i don't know that i had ever seen so many people in one store before. the checkout line wrapped entirely around the store, and was moving nowhere. in roughly 1 hour, we had moved 4 feet forward thanks to some type of sketchy merging going on further up. after about 3 hours of waiting in line, myself and three others decided to just give up and go out for lunch across the street. it ended up being a very good move.
throughout tegucigalpa, there was news of looting in supermarkets, of robberies in electronic stores overnight, and more. the news showed grocery stores that had been completely gutted and people fighting over food on the shelves. yet i'm not sure why the panic is so intense. even though the crisis isn't resolved, today showed just how unstable this situation is.
well, we are back in our house, which feels great. about 6:30 tonight we got the word that school tomorrow would be canceled again, but then at 8:30 we got a follow up email saying that administration had changed its mind. awesome. so we're back on. but those two hours had been enough for me to get completely out of any school-type zone i would have been in. tomorrow will only be a half day for students (full for teachers), but hopefully it's enough to again start to get into the groove.
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