MEEEEESS MEEESSSS

We have completed our first day of school! and our second day of school! but today (our 3rd day of school) was and tomorrow (our 4th day of school) is canceled on the account of a lot of rain. Who ever heard of canceling school on the account of rain? But I'm not arguing! We think they may have canceled school due to mud. Where is the mud you might ask? The picture below is the street we walk on to get to school...now that's muddy! They are putting wells in underground. It has been a tough trip for cars/buses/moto-taxis to get by, causing a lot of kids to be late to school! Its kinda humorous though because its just so Honduras!


I had heard teaching was hard, but I think I refused to believe it. I was SO wrong. I got to school early so I could try to organize some things before kids showed up. Well, kids were waiting at my door when I got there. and parents. and then I couldn't get my classroom door open and I was sweating so much because I had walked up the hill to get to school. and then when I finally got into my classroom, all the students wanted to hand me ALL of their supplies one by one. MEEESS, MEEESSS (Miss, with a Honduran accent), toma, toma (take it, take it). So many supplies, multiplied by so many students. I just threw them into a big pile in the corner of my room. The day started out pretty good. I had another teacher who speaks fluent Spanish (Ms. Viki, a Spanish Literature professor from George Fox University in Oregon) in my room for most of the day and praise the Lord she was there! She was such a huge help...because my students DO NOT understand English right now! AH! It was not what I expected and a challenge to explain rules, procedures, really anything with them not having a clue what I was saying! The first day was a super big challenge. I did not stop sweating. Just trying to get the kids to stay in their seats and raise their hands and get in line and come to class after recess and to not touch each other and not to fight, etc. etc. etc. Three of my students lost recess time on the next day. I felt so mean, but I had to be firm! It was hard to do. It was the most extreme babysitting job I have ever done.

The second day, however, was much better. Not good, but better! The morning started off great. The few students whose seats I had to move obeyed quickly and without a fight. They all were paying attention to what I said and seemed ready for the day. Things quickly went down hill for a few of the students after recess. but luckily Viki could come back and help me a little bit. Its just such a challenge to figure out how to not let those special 3 or 4 little children disrupt the entire class.

The kids are super cute though. and hilarious! They just really cannot understand that they just need to raise their hand silently and I will come to their desk. They all raise their hands and say MEEESSS MEEEESSS. They all want to show me every little bit of work they do cause they are proud of it and want my approval. They want to tell me when they are done with their work (MEESS, I'm feenished, MEEESSS). They want to hold my hands. They just want me to tell them that the blue line they have drawn down their construction paper is "muy bonita." I love that part of teaching so much.

Allan's first day was chaos because the day started unorganized for everyone (we were supposed to have a morning assembly at 7, which we went to, only to be sent back to our classes to come to a later assembly at 8:30). This started his whole day in an organized fashion. He also spent a lot of the day realizing how little English his students knew and understood and even less how much they spoke. Although they were decently well behaved and responded well to his discipline system and rules, they still did not understand anything he was saying and stared blankly at him for most of the day. Like my students, Allan's would raise their hands with urgency saying "Meeeester, Meeester." Allan, thinking something was wrong, would hurry to their desks only to discover that they just wanted to show them they were done with their work. These kids like to show off their stuff.

His second day was a little better as well. He chose a MUCH easier book for "read-aloud" time and his students even recongnized the character in the book! Thats a huge step. Allan even has a student that asks for more work.

Although it has been hard, everyday when we are walking home from school , looking at the incredibly green mountains that surround Copan we realize that it is worth it. This is an experience of a lifetime and we are both thankful to the Lord to be here. Its super challenging, but its in the challenges we grow. Keep lifting up those prayers!




Allan walking his class to the bus stop at the end of the day!


Look at how straigh those lines are!





My lines are not so straight...

I am trying to get the kids to walk with their fingers on their mouths to remind them to be quiet in the halls...unsuccessful so far!