Day 2

As per usual, things didn't work out quite the way I expected. I went to Eagle's Christian Academy thinking I'd be in training all morning, learning how to teach, and what was going to be happening with the school. But I spent the first half of the morning working on a big poster with information about Honduras on it with another teacher.

Then, I did spend some time talking with Miss Erin, a young woman who grew up in Indiana and is now living here. She showed me the book I'd be teaching out of, going over what a normal day in the class would look like, warning me about this and that, and preparing me for a year of teaching young children who don't understand what I'm saying or how to properly behave in a classroom. I did find out that I will be teaching "preporatoria" which is actually kindergarten: kids about 5 years old. Many of the kids I'll have were at the school last year, so they should be pretty ok, but there is at least one girl I'll have who hasn't ever been to school before, and likely has never heard english before.

I did find out that I will be teaching all in english, and the only subjects I'll be teaching are all language related, grammer and phonics and language arts. There are math, science, and art classes that the kids also go to, but I won't be teaching those, though I might be teaching science. I guess we'll see.

After that, we had some amazing soup for lunch, some kind of tortilla soup that tasted like tomatoes, and was really good. Then, we headed out to work with the bordo that the family I live with works with. We picked up our pastor friend on the way, as well as another woman who works at the school. At some point, I will start learning names. :) I recognized this bordo from one of my mission trips several years ago. I remember doing a pupped show on the steps outside of thier small school/chrurch. And it was in that small building (that fit about 30 people, though not very comfortably) that the pastor gave a message, and Linsey made announcements about future classes that she's offering to them. She speaks very good english and is teaching it to the people in the villiage there. They also introduced me, and I stumbled through a few lines in Spanish and gave up.

Then, we went outside and prepared to hand out donuts to the kids, who miraculously multiplied when the food started coming out. They rushed the truck, pushing and shoving each other to get to the front of the line. I stepped in to stop several shoving matches before the pastor stepped in and got them all to calm down and move back. I do love seeing the older siblings protecting their younger siblings, putting them right in front of them in the line. The donuts we get are donated from a local Duncan Donuts, put into a large garbage bag. Smaller bags are filled and handed to mothers, and then the rest of the bag is given to the kids, and there are plenty for everyone.

My mother insists that it's God-given, so I suppose it must be. I think it's just because I take the time to give them a smile, but kids are attracted to me. Many of the young ones ran to Linsey when we got there, and then some to me as well. The people here are naturally very touchy with each other, so the kids have no problem latching onto me. I have learned quickly to not be afraid to hold them, play with their hair, scratch their backs, or just keep my hand on their shoulder as they stand near me. They always respond to my touch, either leaning in, or looking up and smiling. I just love them.

After the donuts were gone and the children scattered, I noticed that the pastor was nearby talking with a woman and holding a small green parrot. I do love animals of all kinds, and birds are in my top 5 list for sure. Maybe top 10. I like a lot of animals. At any rate, I don't usualy rush in to see something that's only here in Honduras because I don't want to look like a gawking tourist. Especially since I'm here to stay now, I don't want to act that way. But I couldn't resist, and the pastor was there, so I went over to see the bird.

He was beautiful, and would occasionally call out, and was answered by another bird in a nearby house. The woman handed him to me, and I let him climb all over my hands, and put his beak around my finger to steady himself. Birds just facinate me. I think because I didn't get to interact with them a lot when I was young, so they seem exotic to me, and I suppose they are. Later, someone brought out the bird that had been talking with him the whole time, and I was shown the difference between the male and female birds. I was then introduced to the woman's two young children, Jennifer and Luis. Jennifer was one of the girls that had been hanging on me earlier, so it was nice to have a name to go with her face now.

I'm looking forward to doing more work with this bordo. I'm thinking about helping out with the english classes on Thursdays.

Well, it's storming now, but I think I'll head downstairs to see what the family's doing. It's difficult sometimes, surrounded by Spanish all the time, not really knowing what's going on or what people are talking about. But it'll get better, I suppose, as I learn the language and get brave enough to actually speak to them. I'm finding myself understanding a lot. And at the bordo today, I explained what the blue thing on my neck was (chiropractic tape for my car accident neck injury) and I think the girl understood. I don't know. I'll get there, I guess.