Frustrated!!! I'm not even sure what else to say... these kids are crazy....most teachers
have no control....and to top it all off some of the teachers don't even show up...or they
leave early. The kids don't stay in their seats, let alone the classroom...when the teachers
leave the room, its an automatice free for all. Somethings def. don't change no matter
what culture you are in...there are good teachers and not so good teachers, good classroom
management and not so good classroom managment...there are kids that want to learn, and kids
that don't, there are bullies, class clowns, and well I think you get the point. This
experience is SO very HARD for me...after the 3 classes we had this morning, I am more than
ready to head back to MY school :) This is so hard because I am the only volunteer that
works with kids in a school capacity back in the states...so my expectations are some what
skewed compared to the other volunteers...its hard, but I have to take a back seat most of
the time due to the language barriers I have and due to the expectations I have. I believe
my blood pressure today was the highest its been sense I arrived here.... its very frustrating.
I'm not sure how else to put it...It's challenging, and I love that, but there comes a point
when I can only do so much and that makes me upset... I can't wait to learn the language so
that then I can feel as though I am making more of a difference in these young students lives.
Today as I was eating breakfast I was refelcting on my time here and the time I have left.
It is very much like me to start getting anxious about leaving and not having enough time
to do all I want to do before I leave. I'm trying very hard to take one day at a time.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Beer, Baleadas, Beach, oh and FUTBOL
This week in Tela we went to get baleadas
from a local stand. These consist of handmade tortillas, they literally make them as you
order! with beans, I'm thinking refried of some kind...you have your choice of pollo (chicken)
eggs, avacados, or simple (beans and cheese), the cheese is like some sort of feta type cheese.
Its very different, but still good! They are very filling! On this particular ocassion we
were going to watch the futboll game at a freinds house. We brought over two 6 packs,
one of Salva Vida, the other Imperial, mmmmm, and our baleadas, I got beans and avacados.
So good! We watched Honduras loose to Mexico, with some local Hondurans...they were NOT happy!
Teddy is a very nice older man who Sam, Carly, and Aubrey met on the beach one day...I think
that's how the story goes...he was looking out for them. Then he introduced them to some
local Honduran young men...who are very attractive :) Andy was also watching the game with
us...we still had a good time, even if Honduras lost! After the game Teddy wated to make me
some of his famous tea, he has a plant in his yard. I was skeptical of course and I was
sweating like CRAZY!!!! The last thing I wanted was HOT TEA!!! But he swore it would be good
and that I had NEVER had anything like it. It boiled for like 10 minutes...I was thinking...
oh great now not only will my body be on fire, but so will my mouth...uggghhh. As the tea
was brewing, Sam was talking to Teddy about manufacturing his tea and bringing it to the states.
She said she would be his buisness manager... So I patiently waited while the tea had some
time to cool, he told me I had to add a small amount of sugar to get the full effect. So
I did....and wow, it was AMAZING!!! Yes I was dieing because it was so hot, but I drank every
last drop...it would have been amazing cold as well! It was citusy in taste, I'm not sure
how to describe it, but I was so freash, so so freash! He told me next time I came around
he would sent me home with the leaves so I could make my own at the house and chill it...
sounds good to me! After I was done with my tea, we went on a late night stroll on the beach.
It was so beautiful at night with the sun shinning down....how amazing and beautiful our
world is :) Our night had to end after that because we had class EARLY in the morning...7am :)
from a local stand. These consist of handmade tortillas, they literally make them as you
order! with beans, I'm thinking refried of some kind...you have your choice of pollo (chicken)
eggs, avacados, or simple (beans and cheese), the cheese is like some sort of feta type cheese.
Its very different, but still good! They are very filling! On this particular ocassion we
were going to watch the futboll game at a freinds house. We brought over two 6 packs,
one of Salva Vida, the other Imperial, mmmmm, and our baleadas, I got beans and avacados.
So good! We watched Honduras loose to Mexico, with some local Hondurans...they were NOT happy!
Teddy is a very nice older man who Sam, Carly, and Aubrey met on the beach one day...I think
that's how the story goes...he was looking out for them. Then he introduced them to some
local Honduran young men...who are very attractive :) Andy was also watching the game with
us...we still had a good time, even if Honduras lost! After the game Teddy wated to make me
some of his famous tea, he has a plant in his yard. I was skeptical of course and I was
sweating like CRAZY!!!! The last thing I wanted was HOT TEA!!! But he swore it would be good
and that I had NEVER had anything like it. It boiled for like 10 minutes...I was thinking...
oh great now not only will my body be on fire, but so will my mouth...uggghhh. As the tea
was brewing, Sam was talking to Teddy about manufacturing his tea and bringing it to the states.
She said she would be his buisness manager... So I patiently waited while the tea had some
time to cool, he told me I had to add a small amount of sugar to get the full effect. So
I did....and wow, it was AMAZING!!! Yes I was dieing because it was so hot, but I drank every
last drop...it would have been amazing cold as well! It was citusy in taste, I'm not sure
how to describe it, but I was so freash, so so freash! He told me next time I came around
he would sent me home with the leaves so I could make my own at the house and chill it...
sounds good to me! After I was done with my tea, we went on a late night stroll on the beach.
It was so beautiful at night with the sun shinning down....how amazing and beautiful our
world is :) Our night had to end after that because we had class EARLY in the morning...7am :)
1st week of classes
Week one of classes was kind of tough to say the least... we started the week off on Monday
meeting up with a woman who spoke great English named Carol, she wanted us to tour several
public schools in case we decided we could add more to our plate, or if we get more volunteers
we could add more sites...it was very overwhelming because the schools she took us to were in
El Centro, meaning the center part of the town, which is a 20 lemp taxi ride...like 1 dollar
in the states, but still traveling that everyday would add up...most of these schools were very
poor, but I've only see one that seemed to be a little nicer than all of the others and that
is at a bilingual school. After parting ways with Carol, we went to look for things to organize
our supply closet with...there are NO WALMARTS here so you have to be really creative...its
fun I think...so I found a store that sold lots of kitchen supplies, blenders, toasters,
tupperware, silverware...stuff like that, they also had plastic shelves and drawers, this was
perfect, just what we were looking for! So we got some supplies and got back to the house and
got busy...it litterally took us about 3 or so hours to sort out everything I brought and
all the stuff we had already...we have so much good stuff!!! Then time with the kids at the
SOS and dinner...off to bed early for our 7am start...we went for introductions to the school
around the corner from us...the name of the school is....... and it means school of retired
teachers...however I'm not sure they are all old and retired...lol. We went to meet with the
director to set up a schedule and then go and speak with the kids, it was so amazing when
we walked into the room the kids started cheering and holaring...they saw Gringos and though
sweet, we get to learn English...it was truely amazing, it almost made me cry...When we got
to the 7, 8, and 9th graders I'm not sure how thrilled they were...I'm thinking that they
will be the hardest to work with due to age and embarassment, you would be surprised at how
shy they can be when it comes to speaking the language. these kids have english class, but
there teachers speaks 0 english so she uses the pronounciations to try and speak...thats very
hard...take it from me...thats what I've been trying to do in Spanish...doesn't always work
out that well! This program is very interesting as I am one of the first volunteers to get
things up and running with this program...which is very rewarding and I'm hoping I can come
back and visit at some point to see how it has progressed. Its never easy starting something
new. I will say I am sad that the SOS orphanage didnt work out as originally intended! Those
kids are so sweet...I'm not sure if I have said this yet but will stay it again the kids at
the orphanage really do have a great life. Yes their parents gave them up, but it was so they
could have a better life. These kids get allowances, they have money to spend on clothes,
and whatever they want. They have people sponsor them, they get meals everyday and are put in
good schools! its the kids that live with their families that are the less fourtunate...it
all depends on how you see it...on one hand the sos kids don't really have a family, but
when you walk in and they invite you into their lives...you would think that every perosn at
the sos village is one big family! these kids are so loving to one another, I can't get
over it!!! I wish my kids back in the states could be satisfied with what they have instead
of wanting more, more, more, and more... So we have around 7 classes in the am and pm,. after
intros in the am, we came back for the afternoon. We met with the director and boy was she AWESOME!
She really wanted us there, helped us figure out a schedule that would work for her and
all the other students, after we got that squared away she took us into each classroom
and gave the kids a what for on respect and how excited she was that we would be helping
their school! It was great!
meeting up with a woman who spoke great English named Carol, she wanted us to tour several
public schools in case we decided we could add more to our plate, or if we get more volunteers
we could add more sites...it was very overwhelming because the schools she took us to were in
El Centro, meaning the center part of the town, which is a 20 lemp taxi ride...like 1 dollar
in the states, but still traveling that everyday would add up...most of these schools were very
poor, but I've only see one that seemed to be a little nicer than all of the others and that
is at a bilingual school. After parting ways with Carol, we went to look for things to organize
our supply closet with...there are NO WALMARTS here so you have to be really creative...its
fun I think...so I found a store that sold lots of kitchen supplies, blenders, toasters,
tupperware, silverware...stuff like that, they also had plastic shelves and drawers, this was
perfect, just what we were looking for! So we got some supplies and got back to the house and
got busy...it litterally took us about 3 or so hours to sort out everything I brought and
all the stuff we had already...we have so much good stuff!!! Then time with the kids at the
SOS and dinner...off to bed early for our 7am start...we went for introductions to the school
around the corner from us...the name of the school is....... and it means school of retired
teachers...however I'm not sure they are all old and retired...lol. We went to meet with the
director to set up a schedule and then go and speak with the kids, it was so amazing when
we walked into the room the kids started cheering and holaring...they saw Gringos and though
sweet, we get to learn English...it was truely amazing, it almost made me cry...When we got
to the 7, 8, and 9th graders I'm not sure how thrilled they were...I'm thinking that they
will be the hardest to work with due to age and embarassment, you would be surprised at how
shy they can be when it comes to speaking the language. these kids have english class, but
there teachers speaks 0 english so she uses the pronounciations to try and speak...thats very
hard...take it from me...thats what I've been trying to do in Spanish...doesn't always work
out that well! This program is very interesting as I am one of the first volunteers to get
things up and running with this program...which is very rewarding and I'm hoping I can come
back and visit at some point to see how it has progressed. Its never easy starting something
new. I will say I am sad that the SOS orphanage didnt work out as originally intended! Those
kids are so sweet...I'm not sure if I have said this yet but will stay it again the kids at
the orphanage really do have a great life. Yes their parents gave them up, but it was so they
could have a better life. These kids get allowances, they have money to spend on clothes,
and whatever they want. They have people sponsor them, they get meals everyday and are put in
good schools! its the kids that live with their families that are the less fourtunate...it
all depends on how you see it...on one hand the sos kids don't really have a family, but
when you walk in and they invite you into their lives...you would think that every perosn at
the sos village is one big family! these kids are so loving to one another, I can't get
over it!!! I wish my kids back in the states could be satisfied with what they have instead
of wanting more, more, more, and more... So we have around 7 classes in the am and pm,. after
intros in the am, we came back for the afternoon. We met with the director and boy was she AWESOME!
She really wanted us there, helped us figure out a schedule that would work for her and
all the other students, after we got that squared away she took us into each classroom
and gave the kids a what for on respect and how excited she was that we would be helping
their school! It was great!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)