Thanksgiving Bonanza(s)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly did. Thanksgiving break here is great because only the international schools have days off. The rest of the city continues on, unaware. Short lines at the bank and the grocery store, no one at the pharmacy to overhear you explain your unsavory bowel issues.

Vacation started on Wednesday for IST teachers. After parent-teacher conferences (during which I met all of 4 parents out of 75 students), the teachers were allowed to leave school at 1:30pm. Hooray!

Estee, Kayla, and I ended having a slumber party complete with homemade chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries, The Lord of the Rings (the movie - not the flaming eye), facial masks, straight-out-the-oven  chocolate chip cookies, and other slumber party-y things. The only thing that could have completed the theme was Mall Madness. Alas. I think Honduras ran out of that game in 1989.

On Thanksgiving morning, we made a French toast bake in the crock pot and sat around watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'm helpless against the forthcoming rant: BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL? ELF: THE MUSICAL? I was forced to watch Buddy the Elf do jazz squares and spirit fingers. Come on, people. Really?

I mentioned in the last post that I anticipated enjoying two Thanksgiving bonanzas. It's true. The first involved around 15 or so people and was held at Green House (all of IST's houses have color names). Had a great time with my friends - especially when we played Fish Bowl, the Couch Game, and Spoons afterwards!

The second fiesta happened at the Allen's house. The Allen's are a missionary family here in Tegus. Besides spreading the Good News, this family is concerned with creating jobs for folks here. They sell a number of products such as leather bags, journals, and belts from the south of Honduras as well as Hope Coffee, a delectable Honduran brew. Sales from Hope Coffee provide shelter and water for needy Honduran families. The website is Tierra Linda Goods (Beautiful Earth Goods) if you are interested in unique Christmas gifts. Matt also started Cabra Rides, a bike tour business which takes bikers on half-day and full-day tours of different parts of the city. This would be exceptionally appealing to me if not for mountains.

Matt and Jen have 3 adorable boys and it was wonderful to spend Thanksgiving with a family. After the delicious meal (which Jen prepared almost single-handedly), we played Settlers of Catan. I had never played it but it was a blast. Basically, you roll dice and collect resources to settle around the board. The more settlements you have, the more points you get. You can also build cities on your settlements. But there is a robber card that can befall your state and other various disasters. I didn't win, but I did really well for my first time.

Here's some Turkey Day photos:

Table is set at Green. It looks a bit stark/bare because the walls are white and the chairs are gray, but to us it looked more like home than anything.

Green house set up a "turkey" for us. We wrote what we were thankful for on construction paper hands and these made up the turkey feathers.

My thankful hand. Sorry about the shadow. I was pretty hasty with the pictures.

 Close-up of the googly eyes.

Well done, Green! 

Estee and I are chillaxing at home today. Later, we're heading to a local restaurante to eat some comida tipica. A Christmas-y movie and jewelry-making tonight!

All my best and a thousand hugs from Honduras,

Julie

That's My Kid

Right now, I have a love-hate relationship with my students.

Ok, about 30-60% of them are awesome at doing their homework and participating in class at any given moment. They deserve much more of my time than they actually receive. The other 40-70% seem to drop off at a steep incline.

"Forgetting" homework.
Copying homework.
Sleeping in class.
Failing quizzes.
Disrupting class
(Doing everything they can, in fact, to get away with making every kind of noise).
Goofing around.
Speaking Spanish left and right.

Ay no.

But I do love them. I really do. They're hilarious and smart. (They have so much potential. They just need to apply themselves. - the old teacher adage is so true!) They are creative and sneaky and goofy and passionate and dramatic and - Good Lord! - are they sassy. The other day, after I reprimanded one student for speaking Spanish, another student told me, "You're wrong, Mees." Really? Am I now? Today, I caught two students copying when they both wrote the word "reaten" instead of "written." Ah HAH!

I just love 'em.

And how about that student who simply decided not take a quiz last week? Hmmm? He is the same student who, in response to the question, "In Honduras, what does it mean to be a "real" man?," announced that a man is someone "who has a penis." This was after I announced that the answer should not be biological. Did not get the memo, apparently. I love you, too, Oh Quiz-less One.

How about my last class today in which TWO students completed the homework out of 20. Yes! I love even you, 6th hour!

They are funny, though. So funny.

For example, I graded journal entries today. In one of these entries, my students had to draw pictures that represented the vocabulary words for that week. For the word "tentative," one student drew a man with one hand on his beer belly next to the quote, "I'm fat and I want chocolate." Tough decision. For "loquacious," one student drew Hamlet with a speech blurb which read "Blah, blah, blah." They haven't even read that yet, and they already understand it. Also, in reference to "verbatim," another student drew a New York Times issue with the title, "George Harrison Dies - 'Love Each Other.'" I'm pretty sure that's an actual quote from a 2006 New York Times issue.

Finally, I had my students write monologues from a different person's perspective (an old lady, a child, a movie star, etc). I asked them to write about what this person would be thankful for. One delightful journal entry read:

OLD LADY: "I'm thankful because my husband is not here . . . that old man! I'm also thankful for my kids, they give me clothes and money"  

I laughed out loud. And, yet, the "George Harrison" student above wrote this impressive response:


"I am thankful for many things, um, for example for the short years I passed and lived with my mom. For the Great Years we had in Hamburg with John and George. For meeting Ringo. For all the experiences we had in The Cavern. For all the friends I made. For having 2 or 3 meals a day. For all the LP's and the EP's we recorded together. For the lovely 10 years we stuck together. Though the last 3 years where tough, we made it through. I am thankful for my wife and for my kids, for Linda will always be in my heart. For the chance of having this awesome band. The Drop T drumcase, for my life." 

Sir Paul McCartney, from Liverpool

That's my kid.

In the end, I love them and I am thankful for them. I need to remember that when yet another student tells me that he or she forgot to do the homework. If not, my drama class always makes up for it.

On a side-note, here's a glimpse of the sun highlighting a portion of Tegus' beautiful mountains.

I see this everyday from my classroom.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I will be attending two Thanksgiving feasts (I'm quite popular these days). This is mostly because everyone else is heading to some beach on some coast of some country. Who needs the beach anyway? I am getting over a sinus infection, so I decided to rest this weekend. We don't have school on Thursday or Friday so, hopefully, I can keep working on my novel which is just over 10,000 words and 22 single-spaced pages.

All my best and a thousand hugs from Honduras,

Julie

Sweaters, Hot Vanilla Chai, and a Gentle Gape

The weather in Tegus has been chilly lately. I enjoy this weather because I enjoy sweaters and hot vanilla chai. I would much rather be chilly than overheated any day of the week. This is possibly my Michigan upbringing showing itself.

For example, when I unlock my classroom in the morning, it's usually the temperature of a well-kept sauna. The air is heavy and the windows are fogged up. When I stepped into my classroom yesterday, it was pleasantly warm, but not so warm that I expected to see wooden benches and sweaty people in towels. I opened the windows and a chilly breeze swept in. I welcome this cold front, because the first few months here were sweltering, mostly because the classrooms were designed to keep the air in (for when the high school gets air conditioning in 2016). Plus, we do not have classroom fans yet. Of course, my students complained of the cold, but I told them that they will concentrate better this way. I made that up.

Speaking of concentration, my students took my exam yesterday. Weirdly enough, the worst section for them so far has been the vocabulary section. I have 15 fill-in-the-blank vocabulary words and many students are getting 8-12 of them wrong:

Read the following lines out loud to yourself like everything you read is completely normal. The boldfaced words are the words my students put in the blanks.   

"When the shocked little girl saw the Christmas presents under the tree, all she could do was stand there and peppered."
"She was given a gentle gape from her father after jumping in the lake without a life jacket."
"She was walking around dressed like Winnie the Pooh. What a weird augment!"
"When Jim received the news, it didn't affect him at all. His face was gape."
"His hair is always messy and his clothes are wrinkled. He always looks gibe."
"The teacher is so stern and augment; she never lets me turn in late work."
"After my career was taken from me, I felt insidious of a life."

How creepy would it be to receive a "gentle gape" from anyone, let alone your father?

Curiouser and curiouser. Well, I've graded about four pages of 40 exams out of 80 eight-page exams. Not sure how that figures. One-fourth of my exams are done? This is why I don't teach math.

I will leave you today with some pictures of a football game in Santa Lucia from a few weeks ago. Some of us teachers were walking the winding, cobblestone way to the bus after a get-together, when we came upon this soccer game. I managed to snap a few photos.

It gets pretty foggy in the mountains. Can you imagine playing soccer in this cloud?

On a side-note, Last night I experienced "Skyfall," the new James Bond movie, at an IMAX theater. It was excellent! The theater is located at the brand-spanking-new City Mall in Tegus. This mall is so modern, it has a large, below-ground parking garage which has a green and red light over each parking space. When one is searching for a parking spot, simply look for the green lights and avoid the red lights (those spaces are filled). AND the president of Honduras funded the whole thing, or so I'm told.

Today and tomorrow, I plan on grading, snacking, napping, and working on my NaNoWriMo novel. Every November, thousands of people around the world strive to write 50,000 words of a novel. I'm about 4,286 words in.

Wish me luck. :)

All my best and a thousand hugs from Honduras,

Julie

I got Bieber fever.

Hope everyone is enjoying the start of November! I . . . am. Mostly. Sort of. Ok, barely. This week is exam week at IST and it's been strangely relaxed and stressful at the same time.  I don't have to teach five classes a day but I am proctoring exams, running review sessions, and giving my own exam.

The thing is, doing work while proctoring exams is like trying to do work while driving. You constantly have to keep your eyes on the scenery. So I read one line and then scan the room, read another line, another scan. You get the picture.

As for my English exam, it happens tomorrow. It's 8 pages front and back, which is standard, but I'm nervous for my students. In fact, I was extremely frustrated today. I hosted two review sessions, neither of which I got through with much success. Plus, many of my students have failed to print out/look at the study guide that I posted on our page last week. Yikes!

Sigh. Honestly, I feel like I've tried most of the means at my disposal to help them study (we are not allowed to give our students copies of the study guide). We even had two days of review in class. Needless to say, I was disappointed when they could not properly identify a verb and resorted to shouting out all of our grammatical concepts, and even some terms they made up themselves: Pronoun! Indefinite! Phrasal! Predicate! Subject! Relative adjective! What?!

However, it is what it is. I will accept the advice of my colleagues and "shake it off."

At least my students still have the arts. This is one student's rendering of my face (along with a kiss from Lucia):

This is what my students think about instead of classes of nouns and cases of pronouns:

The egg-shaped Justin Bieber face was drawn by the same student who created the lovely drawing of my face. Danna added her two cents later.

Double sigh.

Big plans this week: grading exams, going to the mall to see Skyfall (the new James Bond movie), and then getting a hair cut. Hope your weekend is equally as glamorous.

All my best and a thousand hugs from Honduras,

Julie

My wife! My love! Mi amor! How you doing'?

When I walk around in public here, I avoid wearing sunglasses despite the ginormous ball of fire in the sky. Big, Hollywood sunglasses scream GRINGA! and MUG ME! I HAVE MONEY. Either way, I still get more catcalls than I can count on four hands. In Honduran culture, men are more forward, if I may say, in expressing their satisfaction with a woman's physique. A lady can expect to hear anything from kissing noises (this is a common one) to the Honduran noise for I want your attention (which sounds like a "ch ch" sound) thrown in her general direction. My first day in Honduras, for instance, we went to the grocery store. I was perusing the ever-flashy candy aisle when I heard the word "muñeca" whispered around me. I looked up and a few feet away from me was a middle aged man staring at me. He said it again, muñeca, muñeca, with an odd sort of smile. I thought to myself I don't see any dolls in this aisle. Later, I realized that that I was in fact the muñeca. Babydoll. 

Since then I've heard:

My wife! 

My love!

Mi amor!

Marry me!

How you doin'? 

Welcome to my country.

I love you, baby.

Mmmm. (Gross).

Mmmm. Que rico!

(How hot/lush/rich! - This word is actually used most often with food, as in How delicious! Double gross). 

Now, I try my best to notice the differences between my home culture and the Honduran culture, not the negatives about Honduran culture. For example, time is more relaxed here. This is different, not wrong or foolish. Because I'm accustomed to U.S. culture, it's easy to say that it's the best and the North American way of doing things is the smart way of doing things. This would be incredibly arrogant of me.  However, as a woman, I struggle with this aspect of Honduran culture. 

You would think it would feel nice, receiving attention from men, but catcalls are never the attention that you want. Sometimes, a bus or a car will pass me while I'm walking and from the vehicle a guy is literally staring me down, intense and unblinking, from the time I enter his line of vision until he can't see me anymore. I know this because I try to glare at men who do this. Unfortunately, they remain undaunted and seem to enjoy uncomfortable eye contact. 

This video, although taken by accident and completely unrelated, gives a pretty literal portrayal of this phenomenon.

It's difficult for me to not get upset because in the States, if a guy kissed at me from a two-story roof, it would be completely rude. I would be justified in getting offended, but here it seems like no big deal.  In fact, the other day, I went to the bank and the security guard outside kept staring at me. He knew I was aware of him and he slowly  looked me up and down . . . as I watched. Then he gave me the eyebrows. Goo. This security guard is not unlike taxi driver the other day who saw a gringa walking down the street and suddenly pulled up so close to me, a tire may have brushed my shoes. Taxi?! Taxi?! No, sir, I will not be requiring your services. 

This discomfort is augmented somewhat by the fact that I have to keep all my precious possessions - my credit cards, my phone, my keys, my cash, my insurance card, my grocery list - in my bra. So when I need them, I have to go digging around under my shirt. It’s a nice visual, I’m sure, and especially awkward when I pull out that sweaty credit card and hand it directly to the cashier or the teller. Sorry 'bout that.

Also awkward is getting my MoneyGram slip from the bank and the designated recipient is “Crandy Kehr," instead of "Randy." 

Did I mention awkward? Check out this picture on the back on my cereal box, meant to encourage self breast exams. WARNING: ADULT CONTENT BELOW.

 

Auto-examine your boob! Now, I support caring for one’s breasts but this particular breast definitely looks enhanced. Look at her tiny hand!  FYI: In Honduras, it's generally ok to whip out your boob as long as you're breast-feeding. I've seen many a nipple in public here and that’s the truth of it.

On that note, hope you're enjoying the weekend. Today, we lost power from about 9am to 3pm and now that it's back on, I think I will commence with making potato soup in the crock-pot and grading. 

All my best and a thousand hugs from Honduras!

Organized Playtime for Thinking Adults

About a dozen or so students have approached me to ask me if they could switch out of their current elective and into my drama class. It's great to hear that students have an interest in my class. However, I wasn't sure how to reply. On one hand, I hate to turn students away, especially because the selection process for the electives was really unclear. On the other hand, my students have spent the past 8 weeks learning and growing and acting and playing and learning how to express themselves. I didn't think it was fair to bring other students into our group now that we've become so close. We are our own circle of trust.

So, I decided to ask my drama students about it. Their class, their experience, their choice, I thought. First, I asked them if they would be willing to allow new students into the class. Then, I proposed that we hold auditions to fill however many new spots we are willing to allow.

At first, they weren't sure about these new people. They agreed that it would difficult to catch up after all this time. One student said, "We learn and progress each week and a new person could never catch up." Another student said we shouldn't allow anyone new because "they might think that we don't do any work and that it's just an easy A." And yet another student said that we are like a "family" now and it would be weird to invite new people into the family. "More people might mean more boys for our scenes," argued someone else. In the end we decided to allow a maximum of three new people.

As far as the auditions go, my students had a few opinions about that as well. They were really concerned about why students wanted to switch electives. They said that each auditionee should fill out a form before auditioning. These new people must take drama class seriously. Also decided by my students was the fact that we need to be on the lookout for groups of friends that want to join. No slackers! During the audition itself, it was decided that the students auditioning need to complete a few distinct types of exercises that we've done in class, not just one kind, because we need to see what skills they have.

Basically, my students inadvertently expressed to me how important drama class is to them. It's meaningful. It's important. It's not just an easy A. This is a personal triumph for me. I've often wondered if I treat theater too lightly: allowing for too much fidgeting, too much chatting, and too much laughter. Turns out, theater is meaningful and life-changing no matter how one teaches it. For example, I enjoyed hearing my students defend the serious nature of theater class, despite how everything we do in class is play with our voices and move our bodies in new ways. This is the power of theater.

Honestly, I got a little teary eyed while the students weren't looking. English class is definitely all-business this year (until we get to Romeo and Juliet that is), but drama has been refreshing. It's all the things I love about literature and characters, but with zero grammar! In fact, a number of my students have told me how different of a teacher I am in English class than in drama class. Apparently, I'm really "shy" and "reserved" in English class, but in drama I let loose! I'm glad I do.

Really, isn't that the point of theater? Organized playtime for thinking adults.


*                    *                    *                 *


Now for some GOOD NEWS!

Misty, the fifth-grader who was kidnapped last Friday, was returned home yesterday, safe and sound. She is doing well according to Mark, her teacher. Her kidnappers kept her for nearly a week, but Misty seems comfortable sharing about her experience, so it seems that like no physical harm was done to her. Also, there is a possibility that Misty was with other kidnapped kids. It's very strange to feel glad that she wasn't alone, but horrified at the idea of a group of kids hanging out at the kidnappers' lair.

Flashback! I never posted pictures from my trip to White Cloud, MI to visit my brother, Mike, and his wife, Tracy. They're stained glass artists:

These pictures were taken at their studio, where all the magic happens. I miss them and all my loved ones in the Mitten.

Take care!

All my best and a thousand hugs from Honduras,

Julie

Riots and Ruckus

Today, Honduras played Canada in a soccer world cup qualifier in Tegucigalpa. For those of you who are not aware, Hondurans love soccer. That is an understatement. Hondurans live for soccer. I believe they vaporize soccer paraphernalia and inhale the fumes.

Every time there's a big game (Is there ever really "just a game?") there is some serious halabaloo all over the city. Last year, during the Montagua v. Olimpia game, I was riding in a taxi that accidentally drove into the middle of a riot in el Centro (downtown Tegus). The riot was, of course, just some cheer sessions on account of the Olimpia/Montagua game. I had agreed to meet a friend downtown completely unaware of the face-off between Honduras' two premier soccer teams.

When taxi man and I arrived downtown (he might have been the only Honduran man unversed in soccer lore), we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by people. They weren't congregating towards our taxi on purpose, really; the crowd simply evolved into a general mob of yelling, flag waving, chanting, fist pumping, pistol shots, and ruckus. The taxi driver started freaking out and yelling at me to lock the doors and close the windows as people started pounding on the car. His fears weren't unfounded. My students have told me that these sorts of rowdy gatherings have resulted in deaths. With that in mind, I slunk down into my seat, afraid that my gringa red hair would induce more ruckus directed at our taxi. For a few jarring moments, we held our breath hoping that the horde wouldn't fixate on us. Finally, the taxi driver was able to pull into a side street and out of the downtown area.

This dramatic retelling explains why many students were pulled out of school today (to see the big game, of course), why there was an amateur student ruckus happening at the after school (to support our country, of course), and why so many pistol shots and firecrackers were heard throughout the city (to commemorate the game, of course). Honduras killed it 8-1. I bet the Canadians wished they weren't "oot 'n a boot" today. Ha!

On a random note, here's a picture that never made it into my blog last year. I miss the view at my apartment. And I miss Lil' geck! See if you can spot him.

All my best and a thousand hugs from Honduras,

Julie