My Apologies

I am so sorry. I know it has been way too long!  I've even started writing several blogs but then I never finish them and forgot to go back.  So, my deepest apologies and let me catch you up real quick...

I went to La Ceiba, Honduras in September (pics on Facebook) and I had an amazing time.  Had my first canopy/zip lining tour where our guide tried getting us to eat termites from his hand!  We met other Foreign teachers that were also vacationing and in discussion with them I realize how lucky I am to be teaching at the school where I am.  Our hostel experience was incredible...had a cliff jumping spot into the river which, unfortunately gave the BIGGEST wedgie after jumping but it was SO fun!  I also white water HIKED which ended up being a personal highlight of the weekend!  One day we took a tour out to Cayos Cochinos - islands where people live with NO electricity.  The residents of the island have a history on how they came to Honduras (slaves but bc of ship wreck they ended up living there???)  but they have brought their culture to HOnduras and Honduras has accepted and adopted part of their culture as their own...one example The Punta dance.  On the island I was able to enjoy my first ever REAL, EYES ON PLATE, FRIED FISH.  Literally the creepies thing I've ever eaten and also the TASTIEST thing I've ever eaten!  Sometimes it is good to go outside your comfort zone.  Also on this tour I was able to hold a Boa Rosada (pink boa) which is only found on that island!  Our boat ride back to the mainland was breathtaking...we saw at least 4 tornado clouds hitting the water in the distance and then we were in a torrential downpour for at least 30 minutes!  It was insane!  Seriously check out the pics on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.542866829989.2034130.162800662&type=1&l=9d39c897dc

Since then, a lot has happened.  Let me see...

One of our foreign teachers returned home after being sick for sometime from the food and the stress 
of our job!  

Our superintendent/HS Principle is no longer working at our school (*reminder this is the 2nd HS 
Principle I've had since moving here...anyone sense that something isn't right here?)

I've made a few more friends from school!

We've had several more celebrations at school (which means less days of teaching for me!)!  

I went to a Honduran soccer game (professional and city league) which was a blast.  The professional 
game was between Tegucigalpas two teams, Montagua and Olympia.  This was an experience that I 
can't begin to describe and unfortunately I don't have photos either...bc it wasn't safe to have my camera out...shhh!  But these fans were like wild dogs who could not be controlled...scary but entertaining!  :)  
We got the tickets bc the owner of Montagua works out at our gym and Kristi has made friends with him!  It was nice!  I plan on going back!  I also went to a local game where Sarahs fiance, Nahun, was playing!  
This again was some good tastes of culture!  I stuck out like a sore thumb but I didn't really care...there 
were plenty of athletic Honduran men to keep me entertained...haha.  Just kidding!  I think I may be a 
soccer fan by the time I leave this country!  :)

Que mas?  

Animal Planet Honduras was at Wal Mart the other day so we got to see some cool reptiles!!!

Found a DELICIOUS Creperia to eat at...really helps with the diet!  haha.

There were more but I thought I would spare you...I don't want you getting too  hungry!  :)

Ate at a new Mexican restaurant Tacontento which was quite tasty...

This was all for me!  Ahh!!!

Just kidding by the way...there were four of us to share the big plate...but I was a main culprit in finishing it!  :)

As you can see, Jenn and I are bak to being our usual selves!  haha  AHH: funny story here.  Jenn went to the

 bathroomand after a LONG time, we were getting worried, thinking maybe she was sick, right?  So I go into the

 bathroomand check and at that time she is just walking out of the stall.  I give her a puzzled look asking if she is

 okay and she begins to explain that we was LOCKED IN THE STALL!  HHAHA!!!  She couldn't get the door open and 

she kept trying to ask for help but the other ladies in the restroom weren't responding...and Jenn was even trying to 

use her Spanish!  HILARIOUS!  We had quite the laugh after that one!

And now to almost the present...about 2 weeks ago we had a 3day weekend so Jenn and I decided to get

 out of dodge (aka Tegus) but we weren't sure where to go for such a short time...plus we needed it to be

 cheap.  So, we were talking to a coworker who is from La Ceiba and he was going there for the

 weekend...so we thought we would join him!  SO we went back to the beloved city we had visited just

 a month earlier!  We even stayed in the same hostel and it was so nice recognizing people and being 

recognized in return!  Some of the workers even remembered us!  So, our journey started at 4:30 am on 

Saturday morning when our taxi picked us up to take us to the bus station...Eew!  ha.  The bus ride was 

boring so I'll spare you the details, but from Tegus to La Ceiba (with one 45 min stop) it took us 8 hours!

  It was almost unbearable!  BUT we made it on limited spanish and no one tried bothering us!  The bus 

guy even tried making us put our backpacks down under with the other luggage and I got to argue with 

him, in spanish, about why we NEEDED our bags with us...I won!  We went to our hostel first thing to

 drop off all of our stuff.  And take a quick nap/rest since we'd been cramped on the bus for so long with 

crappy sleep!

Our room!  Same one as our last trip!!!  

THe bummer part to this trip was it was raining when we got there and pretty much didn't stop until our 

weekend was over, with the exception of spastic hours through each day.  Our first adventure was to the

 mall where we were able to have coffee, buy some clothes, and our favorite part - get our hair washed at

 the salon!  Only $3 to let someone else wash my hair...SO WORTH IT!  I then proceeded to get my hair

 cut because it was NASTY long!  haha.  I was scared but they did an okay job.  I was nervous trying to 

explain what I wanted in Spanish...not something I really wanted to screw up on...but i think i made my 

point clear enough.  After shopping/walking for quite some time our friend David called and picked us up

 for dinner.  We went and ate out and enjoyed some nice conversation.  We also went to see a movie.  

Jenn and I weren't really excited bc David picked the movie and it was Gigante de Acero (Real Steel) and

 we were thinking...robots?  Really?  He is such a oy!  Then when we get into the movie he tells us he's

 already seen it!  WHAT?  Oh well, too late now.  SO we watch...and literally within 15 minutes I'm captured...and turns out it was an AWESOME movie (in my opinion!)  And watching a movie in 

Honduras is a very different experience bc most ppl aren't that quiet...so when I was getting into the 

movie and talking back to it...I didn't get yelled at or popcorn thrown at me!  :)  Anyway, we had a good

 time together.  

Sunday we slept in...we were supposed to go get massages but nothing was open on Sunday so instead 

we walked back to the mall for coffee and then David picked us up again and took us to his house where

 we had the chance to meet his family!  And we had lunch over there which ended up being such a 

blessing because I haven't had a family meal since leaving the states...so it was nice to sit around a table

 with a home cooked meal and a family feel to conversation and such.  His mom is a principle at a 

Christian school in La Ceiba and his father preaches at the church that the school is associated with.  SO,

 his mother is bilingual and was SOOOO very nice!  We met his brothers and sisters and at one point we

 were playing guitar hero all together then we had an UNO competition!  OH and that afternoon we went

 to another Soccer Game which was fun...not near as crazy as my first soccer experience here but we still

 had a good time...

Victoria is the team we were cheering for...but they didn't win. :(  

After the game we toured the school and then went back to their house for a bit.  We weren't sure what

 else to do but then David and his brother Jimmy took us to a go cart place and we got to drive go carts.

  This was an exciting adventure.  The place only had 3 working cars...which should have been a sign! 

 haha.  So Jenn, David, and I were the three to start.  My car wouldn't start at first so I got a late start to 

the other two.  Then, Jenn traded cout with Jimmy and by that time I had caught up with David so I was

 trying to race him...well there is a part in the track that was still wet from rain and long story short...I 

whipped around the corner and hydroplaned which caused me to crash into the corner of one wall - 

projecting me out of my seat (bc the seatbelt didn't work) and throwing me into another wall which then

 stopped all motion of the car.  It was the scariest AND most exciting part of the night!  I was unharmed 

"Gracias a Dios" but it was pretty scary.  I took it much slower for the remaining time!  

This was before the crash!

After that is when we returned to their house for games and such.  Eventually David took us back to the

 hostel to get some rest before our bus ride back on Monday!  Our ride home was worse than the first.

 Luckily the first 4 hours the bus was next to empty so Jenn and I were able to spread out and sleep a bit

 better.  But when we had our stop...instead of 45 minutes - it was a 2.5 hour layover!!!  NOO!!!!!  So in

 waiting for our next portion, we made a friend and went to the upstairs of the bus terminal which was a

 huge mall/market place.  We found lunch and killed some time.  Our new friend only spoke Spanish so

 we had fun practicing with her.  She was super nice...heading to Tegus to visit her boyfriend...her ONE 

way bus was longer than the time she even had to spend with him before she had to return again...I felt

 awful for her.  Anyway, we reached Tegus at 7ish at night (which was DARK) and we really didn't 

know where we were.  We called for a taxi but everyone had cleared out pretty fast so here we were, two

 white girls, standing on the side of the street in the dark not sure what to do.  We remained calm, prayed 

a few prayers, and eventually our taxi came to take us home.  Overall we had a splendid time but we

 learned some along the way.  Next time we will take a DIFFERENT bus company to avoid the stupid 

layovers AND to save us money bc ours was more expensive than others.  Anyway, it was a successful 

weekend and we hope we can do it again sometime!  

Since then, it's been all work, little play.  The dynamic has changed not having our other foreign hire 

around so we are trying to do more together so noone gets lonely!  OH - the school called us foreign 

hires in after the one went home and we had a little heart to heart about how we were feeling.  We told

 the school how we felt and what things we needed changed in order to keep us all here...and I've actually

 noticed a difference!  So good things are happening.  One of those changes is that they took us shopping

 to buy things for our house...the most exciting being PAINT!  We have colored walls FINALLY and it

 totally changes the feel!  It's outstanding!  Our downstairs is a grayish purple and upstairs is bright

 turquoise!  It's very inviting!  We also got chairs for our patio and have already enjoyed a cup of coffee

 out there taking in the beautiful weather and scenery!  Life here really isn't so bad after all.  It's taken me

 a while to say that...but I'm finally fitting in.  

I continue to work on my Spanish.  I'm getting better but no where close to where I want to be.  It's funny

 how I expect all my students to do their homework overnight...and then I realize I haven't done any of 

mine!  Oops!  I suppose I should lead by example!  I'm finally adjusting to the ways of the school...there

 are still extremely frustrating days but I realize most things I can't change so I just have to deal with

 it...and smiling makes it a little better!  We found out we can 'rent' a driver for the weekends if we want

 to go places so we'll be doing that sometime soon!  

Not sure what will happen for Thanksgiving yet...possibly visiting Roatan (an tourists island :) bc some 

of our friends we met on our first trip will be there!  It will be hard being away from family...but my flight

 home for Christmas is only 44 days away!!!  YEAH!  

Well, thanks for catching up on my journey.  I apologize again for it's lateness.  I'll try harder next time! 

A few pics I forgot... 

Getting pampered at the salon!

This HUGE bump came out of nowhere in the morning.  Luckily it went away within hours but we were a little worried!

This was practically Davids front yard!  Amazing!

At the school/church

Rockin it out to rock band!

And this picture is for the sole purpose of capturing the kids shirt.  It says:

"Free Chorizo" with an arrow pointing down!  

WHAT MOTHER WOULD PUT THAT ON HER 4 YEAR OLD CHILD?!?!  

Well, that's all for now.  God Bless everyone!  Thanks for your prayers...God is faithful!

OH:  Had parent teacher conferences...of the 19 parents who came to see me - not one of them was 

mad at me!  I was awful nervous but it went very well!  Thanks to God!

Hola Amigos y Familia!  Le extrano mucho!  Como estan?  Estoy bien.  Aprendiendo mas espanol, usando mi espanol mas que antes, y estoy lista aprender mas.  WOOT WOOT!  I sound awesome, don't I?  Please don't copy and paste that into google translate...just imagine with me that I sound like a true Latin American!  Deal?  Great!  Muchas gracias!  :)

Well, I'm back and I know it's been a while but you'll get over it!  It's been so long that there is no way I can recount all the things that have happened but I'm gonna try.  

Over your Labor Day weekend (when WE HAD to work), Jenn and I finally made it to the pool for the first time.  You'd think we wouldn't let a facility like ours go to waste but we had.  So we decided to change that.  We took a leisurely walk down the hill to get to Casa Campo and had the morning/afternoon of teacher in need of some R&R.  We did some water aerobics (made up by us!), worked on our single handed handstands (bc some of us still have to plug our noses when we go under water), and we soaked in some sun.  Some of us (ME) soaked up a little too much sun and was experiencing unwanted pain for the rest of the weekend!  Oh well, my fault...didn't put sunscreen on until after hour 3 outside!  I'm just tryin to get a tan so I fit in around here!  Anyway, after the sun soak, some of us decided to have dinner out so we went to a cute little pizzeria/Italian eatery!  It was quite nice. 

You can tell I'm a little red!  

To top it all off, Sunday we went to a fair in Zamarano (SP?) with our friend Sarah.  Zam is an agricultural college where students from all over Latin America come for school.  So every year they put on a cultural fair so that all students have a chance to share their culture.  There was TONS of food and LOTS of dancing (by performers, not me unfortunately).  We had a lot of fun but again I got burned on my burn!  OUCH!  Since it was an agriculture school we saw some disturbing things...

Below you can see how Jenn felt about them...

haha.

Other than all the cultural dances I got to witness, my favorite part was by far the food!  They had a food stand from EVERY central american country!  I thought I was in heaven!  Unfortunately I did not get to eat in all of them (due to lack of money and stomach space), but it was my goal.  I succeeded in eating at 3 of them!  DELISH!

On the way to and back, Jenn and Yasmine decided to ride Honduras style in the back of our borrowed school truck.  The funny thing was, it started raining on the way home!  hehe...glad I passed that one up!  Plus, I was doped up on dramamine so I wouldn't get sick (it was 45min treck down true Honduran roads!) 

All in all we all had a great time!  It was definitely hotter than Tegus but a good experience for us all.  

Another event I remember happened at school.  I'll spare you some of the details...but one day I ran into an emergency and had to have someone take me home for something.  I left over lunch and knew it wouldn't take long to get back, none the less I warned the office that my lesson plans were on my desk in case I don't get back in time for class.  Well, I returned about 10 minutes late to find all my kids sitting outside of my classroom just chillin!  No one had even noticed I wasn't there (the kids of course but not admin).  That tells ya something about the school.  Well, to top it off, I get down to my room to let them in and realize I have left my classroom key at home.  This wouldn't be a huge deal at any other school...but of course my room is the ONE classroom the office doesn't have a spare key for.  Yeah, not even the principal has a master...REALLY PEOPLE?  So the office maid tries tracking one down for me.  She thought she found one and it didn't work.  Finally we found the cleaning staff and they let us in...after sitting outside for 30 MINUTES!  No joke!  Well, the kids loved the class - we didn't do anything.  But that is just a taste of what I'm working with here.  

What can you do?  

Later on that week...or the next...I'm not really sure, we had a Happy September Celebration!  September first is known as Flag Day in Honduras...a day that was created to honor their country bc they didn't feel as if they were getting the recognition they deserved.  And the entire month of September is special to them.  Their independence day is the 15th so it's all a big deal.  I didn't mind because I got out of teaching 2 classes on the first, all classes on the 13th and then again on the 30th!  Gotta love assemblies! (I should have gone to school for 'How NOT to teach' and this school would be the perfect place! (i mean no disrespect by that, fyi)) Plus, those teachers with advisories had to make a booth that represented one of the districts here in Honduras.  I didn't have to do that either so it was a beautiful day.  We had a huge assembly and all types of performances.  The little ones were my favorite!  

They were SOOOO cute!

One of our courts was then filled with all the different districts that make up Honduras.  Some groups went above and beyond in their display and others, well didn't.  But they did have a donkey, one group had two boxes of crabs (alive!), and others had colored chicks!!!

GET OUT!  I don't even know why they were there but they were cool!  Made me want Easter!  haha.

Anyway, those have been some of the fun festivities I get to experience here in Honduras with DelCampo International School.  There is plenty more where that came from so please stay tuned!  :)

One Month Down...how many more to go???

I am SOOO sorry it's taken me this long to post again.  Fortunately I feel as if things have slowed down, however that means less cool stories to share with the blogging world:)  But crazy thing, I feel like nothing has happened since I last posted but then I went through all my pics and I've got LOADS to tell you!  So let us begin:
We are officially through our first 2 full weeks of school.  I have mastered ALL Of my kids names...this may seem minuscule to some of you bc it is expected to learn names when you are a teacher...but I'm talkin I've got 5 different Andreas in one class, loads of Marias, 3 Diegos, and others I still have trouble pronouncing...but I'm there!  It makes classroom management a little bit easier when I can call out a students rather than just saying "Hey...excuse me...you there!"  haha.  We are still working through kinks at school.  Our online attendance, grading system still isn't up for HighSchool yet which is really worrying me.  I'm seriously the MOST organized I have ever been since I've started teaching, but I know that it won't last much longer and I would feel much better if I could get their grades on the computer and not on a piece of paper which I am sure to lose at some point!
I have had several students tell me that they love my class and I'm their favorite teacher....not sure if they are just sucking up or not...but either way it makes me feel good!  One of my classes was CRACKING me up on Friday before our quiz.  They are SO different than my old students.  Literally 15-20 of my 6th period students walk into my class on Friday looking like they are about ready to cry...because they were so nervous for my quiz.  They begged and pleaded and bribed and bartered for their quiz to be changed...and I stood at the board seriously laughing!  I'm just not used to that...and it struck me in an odd way and they did not like the fact that I was making light of their math stress!  :)  I haven't graded their quizzes yet to know if they had reason to worry...but it's life!

Anyway, enough about school.  The other girls and I finally got our gym passes so we no longer have an excuse for being lazy!  Our first day at the gym went fine.  We wanted to pace ourselves...and get a ride home with Sarah so we only stayed for about 35 min!  One of the workers even noticed and commented...said next time we were to stay an hour and a half to make up for it!  This was us afterwards!  We were feelin pretty good about ourselves!  :)

We continued to go for 3 days and then our bodies were screaming at us to take a day off so we did!  But we've enjoyed the people there...and the classes they offer are great.  We did one called TRX and it uses straps that hang from bars and it's all about lifting your own body weight and stuff...FUNKY moves but So fun!  

One evening after the gym Jenn and I were pondering what we were going to do for dinner bc we had ran out of food...so on our way home from the gym (we got a ride from Sarah and her fiance) I made a joke about have a party at Sarahs house and they said...sure why don't you come for dinneR?!  So, it was perfect bc we went to Sarah and Nahuns (pronounced similar to 'noun') casa for dinner!  Nahun is a Hondureno so we were talking to him about the culture and such.  He informed us that if we were looking to get married here, one condition MUST be met before we are eligible...we had to know how to make homemade tortillas!  :)  Lucky for us...WE LEARNED!  So we are now officially ON the Honudran man market!  hehe.  Making them was super fun.  I got to knead the flour and Jenn got to start fryin em up.  We made close to 30 tortillas.  I LOVED IT!  

 Below is the final step to insuring the tortillas are done.  You have to 'poof' them up!  THis was the most fun part of the process!

 I thought I should try one before we made too many more!  

 The final product...and man were they tasty!!!

So, Nahun said he would keep his eye out for any single Honduran men between the ages of 24-32!  Mom, if you want me to come home...ever...then you better start prayin his search goes sour!  HaHa!  

After our lovely dinner at their house, we all went out for dessert!  Here we got to introduce Nahun to the American delight of French Fries dipped in Ice Cream!  Here is what he thought of it...

 HAHAHAHAHA!  So funny!  

But we quite enjoyed ours!  They have Chips Ahoy McFlurries here!

So that was our last Friday...which leads us into Saturday.  After writing a weeks worth of lesson plans for two classes we treated ourselves by going out with some friends.  Joan is an IT teacher at DelCampo who invited to show us around!  He picked us up and took us to a FABULOUS little place to eat...ON THE STREET!  Two funny things about this...he didn't even think about the fact that our stomachs have not yet adjusted (or more accurately MY stomach) so we were a bit nervous about this adventure.  AND this place is known for their meat...and Yasmine (girl from London) is a vegetarian!  So all around, it didn't seem as if this place was really what we all needed....BUT MAN IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!  I had carne asada on the stick with some beans, cabbage, onions, and cheese.  I knew I should have played it safe by NOT eating the cabbage but I couldn't help it...it was so good!  

This place is seriously set up outside these ppls house and it is one of the most POPULAR places to eat around here!  And the best part is that for my entire meal...it was less than $4!  There was a line from when we got there to when we left of at least 30 ppl!  Crazy busy. Crazy good!

After dinner we went to a place called La Cantina.  They had live music which was really cool.  It was just a chill place where we all just were able to sit around and chit chat.  We met some new people and had a lovely time!  Worst thing about it...the bathrooms!  I went to use the restroom, and NO JOKE there was pee ALL over the seat, the floor, and used toilet paper SPILLING out of the trash can.  I seriously am surprised I didn't throw up...it was SIIIICK!  

Sunday we went to church with Nahun and Sarah.  Nahun's father is an 'associate' pastor there.  I think it would have been INCREDIBLE but it was Mission Month so all they did was talk about different places they have missionaries...don't get me wrong that is amazing but it just wasn't the most interesting of services.  However, the kids did a miming thing which was really cute.  I think we will plan to go back to this church (the ppl were SO VERY NICE and they had an overhead projector so it's easier for me to follow!) but we will wait until the Mission month is over.  

Our next big adventure was our trip to get water.  This was our first time to go get water on our own.  And literally we went ON OUR OWN!  Kristi lent us her car to go get it (bc she was supposed to take us and couldn't).  So I let Jenn drive bc I didn't want to be responsible for wrecking it!  haha.  The water place wasn't far from the house...but it was still a bit nervous.  It had been almost a month since either of us have driven...

Not that I didn't trust her...but...  haha.  Anyway we got there with no problem.  Had to wait in line but we got our three 5gallon tanks of water!  Well we were heaving them to the car when one of them we discovered was leaking!  SO, we had to lug it back to the counter and ask for a new one.  At this time, it was Jenn and I, and about 7 Honduran men.  We were definitely livin in CODE ORANGE!  Guards were up, but for your peace of mind...everything was fine!  We made it back to the car safely...with a new water jug...and trekked home.  It was exciting, bc we felt so independent!  Very satisfying!

Later in the week (thursday) Sarah had a birthday!  The same day as my wonderful brother!  So it was a day full of Happy Birthdays!  Jenn and I made Sarah a cake and a sign for her classroom!  I was quite impressed with my sign...thinkin about makin myself one even though it's not my birthday!

So after school we got together and cut the cake and enjoyed a little taste of heaven!  Haha!  Some enjoyed it more than others...

This is Lindsey...she seriously had icing on her nose, surrounding her mouth, and all over her hands!  Quite a sight to see!  During the day though I had a fantastic time bc I got 4 out of the 5 classes to sing Happy Birthday to my brother and was able to send him the videos for his present!  It was quite the fun gift to give!  They are on facebook if you want to see them!  My kids were so great...and excited to do it.  They asked on Friday if he liked them...they were so sweet!

Anyway, that leads me to this weekend.  Friday I went to a dance class at the gym and it was AMAZING!  Afterwards Jenn and I spent an hour looking for a phone number to some pizza place but never found it.  So we took our chances and called a taxi, hoping they would know where the place was.  We made it...and then had to wait 30 minutes for it to cook.  In the meanwhile we got to watch a gecko on the wall of the restaurant scout his prey and then    ATTACK!  It was the coolest thing ever!  We definitely looked like crazy Americans because were were jumping, clapping, shouting and cheering for this little gecko.  It was like watching the discovery channel...LIVE!  :)  Haha.  We finally got our pizza, called the taxi back and got home to eat.  By this time it was already almost 9o'clock.  Long evening!  So we put in a movie, ate, and relaxed.  BUT we couldn't stay up too late because we had Open House on Saturday morning at the school.  BOOOO!  It actaully went very well.  I only had about ten parents show up, but they were all very nice and supportive.  I was expecting more parent involvement since it is a private school....but the others said that was typical...especially in HS.  Jenn had all but 5 parents show up so some were more successful than others!  We only had to work from 7:30-12 but it totally took away our Saturday.  We got home and I graded papers and Jenn napped.  But before we knew it it was 6 o'clock in the eve and we had to to go Sarah's bday party!  Unfortuantely all of our parent teacher conferences are on Saturdays so that won't be the last wasted work weekend!  :(

Sarah's birthday party was a BLAST!  We met some of her friends from her last school and met more of Nahun's family!  Once everyone got warmed up to each other...the dancing began!!!  Haha.  Bascially it was Nahun's family and me dancing in the living room while everyone else sat outside and chit chatted.  But i couldn't sit still so I just jumped right in!  It was awesome!  I was a hot sweaty mess by the end of the night.  Luckily, Jenn jumped in later and we both went crazy!

A little merengue action!

The girls arrived a little later and we had a welcome treat for them...by the look on their faces, it's safe to say that our jello concoction went bad...oops!

But that was soon forgotten when it came time to BUST OPEN THE PINATA!!!  That's right, folks, there was a pinata.  And from this day forward any party that I throw WILL have a pinata!  :)

It was classic to see grown adults fight over the candy spillage!  It was so much fun!  And it's inspired me to make a project out of it for my classroom.  We will paper mache (sp?) pinatas and relate it to finding surface area...or something!  I think it's a great idea!!!  Anyway, the party was a huge success! We even got to take some food home which is fabulous!  

Jenn and I did not make it to church this morning...but I really needed the time to work on school work...even though all I've done this morning is blog and check facebook...ooops!  hah.  Well, I'm about to start school work...

Later we have dinner with Venita (my old principle) and hopefully a trip to PriceMart (costco).  Alright...well I hope you enjoyed the catch up.  Nothing as exciting as previous posts but it's life...ups and downs.  OOOH!  

I just remembered...so after we ate the street food...I was cursed again!  Sunday night I woke up around 1:30 with the same dreaded stomach pains as my first week here.  After an hour of horrendous cramps I finally woke up my roommate and asked her to pray with me.  And I kid you not, the Lord heard our prayers and the pain subsided and i was able to go back to sleep and wake up feeling well enough to go to work.  It was miracle and I was sure to share it with others!  God is so good and has been so faithful to us here.  I can honestly say that the Lord is changing me/molding me for something and I am so excited to see where he leads!  Thank you for all your prayers!  Trust that they are being heard and answered.  I miss all of you so much!  Feel free to message me anytime and fill me in on life in the US! 

OH YEAH...another thing!  haha.  My classroom!  It is finally ALMOST done!  haha.  I had to work really hard to finish decorating before the parents showed on Saturday!  So, here is the 'finished' product.

 The back right has photos of all my students.  The orange is a bit blank bc I still have one class to photograph!  Its my crazy class of 31 so I don't find a lot of extra time to snap pics!

 My desk and such is set up on the right side at the front of the classroom.  It took me a while to get all this arranged. I do think my room is one of the smallest rooms in the school!

 My pretty CEREAL boxes used as their 'hw turn in trays.'  Another teacher showed me that recycling trick!

 And my Dr. Suess quote behind my desk.  LOVE IT!  Thanks to my lovely roommate who took the time to cut all the letters out for me (on her cricut machine...not by hand!).  :)  

Okay...NOW i'm done!  Have a good week everyone!