Bumps in the road...

Well, week one in Honduras is over, and I have to admit that I have had a couple of difficult days, but I am pressing along. Yesterday, my computer caught a virus. I had Carlos and James take a look at it, and it looks as though I am going to need a disk...which of course I left in the states...to restore it. Therefore, communication is going to be very scarce for the next couple of weeks until Father Donahue goes to Boston and my parents can get him the disk so it can be repaired. I am a bit upset about this as I will feel like I am totally öut of the loop¨as far as everything is concerned back home. However, I am going to try to look at it as part of this experience. I should be spending my time here getting to know the people here and mingling with my ¨mission teammates¨rather than sitting on the internet emailing people from back home. I have to try to view it positively, as a means of causing me to become more independent. It is just hard, because I have already begun to rely so heavily on my computer for entertainment in the evenings . I guess I will be reading a lot over the course of the next couple of weeks. There is a great stack of books at my apartment that I am ready to dive into!
In any case, I really enjoyed a lot of teacher training week. On Wednesday, we all boarded a bus into Tegus....as a sidebar, excuse my punctuation on this post. I am using Annie´s computer and it is set to spanish mode and it won´t let me place parenthesis, question marks, and other punctuation in my sentences. So don´t think I have lost my skills with the English language already. haha. I just simply don´t know how to find those keys! In any case, we went into Tegus on Wednesday and we had a blast! We went to a children´s museum, and I have to say that it was a lot cooler than the museum in Boston. I think the best exhibit was this gigantic nose that visitors go inside of. Inside the nose, you press a button and all of the sudden, a huge sound is made and it is supposed to replicate someone blowing their nose. What fun! In any case, we had a blast there. We then went to two teacher stores which are exactly like the stores we have in the states. Despite the fact that I had TONS of bulletin board and supplies, I decided that I wanted to keep with a ¨Clifford the Big Red Dog¨theme, and purchased a calendar, alphabet border, and teacher´s helpter bulletin board. I know that Honduran children know about Clifford, as that is Janca´s dog´s name.
Anyways, things here are MUCH different than in the states as far as teacher training is concerned. We were supposed to have several hours more of group orientation this week. Well, those just never happened. We have a parent orientation tomorrow morning...and we know pretty much nothing about it, only that we have to be there at 8a.m. The guys have both never taught a day in their life, and have pretty much been handed materials and had to figure things out themselves. It is both a nice feeling to know that I have freedom in my classroom, but it is also a bit frustrating as I am used to such order in my classroom and more direction. I guess this is just all part of the Honduran way!
In any case, I don´t want this blog to come off as totally negative, because I am definitely having a great experience here. I have just had a few ¨low days¨and I suppose those are going to come. Hopefully the ¨high days¨will outweigh them. To end this entry, I want to share a few comical stories and observations with you all. First and foremost, did you know that Hondurans are obsessed with Bryan Adams!!! Everywhere you go...be it the gas station, on a public bus, someone´s house...Bryan Adams seems to be playing. It is not like he has even put out an album or anything! They are also big fans of the Beatles here. I heard ¨Hey Jude¨in Spanish at least 10 times this week in the room next door. Another comical part of this whole adventure is surely my Spanish knowledge. Or rather, my lack thereof. I have tried speaking several times and each attempt has been met with laughter by the Honduran teachers. For example, the other night one of the teachers asked how my brother was. Another teacher asked who Christopher was. Well, I responded with ¨Christopher is mi hombre¨. Now, I know that ¨hombre¨means man, not brother. But when you are trying so hard to recall words, the wrong one always seems to come out. So yes. I called my brother ¨my man¨. At least everyone is very lighthearted about it and they all seem williing to help. I DO hope my Spanish improves to a point where I can at least communicate with some people. It is VERY difficult to be the social butterfly that I am not and not be able to converse with all of these new people in my life. Hopefully, the frustration level will lead me to just try even harder to learn the language.
In any case, I am out to enjoy a Friday night out in Juticalpa. One of the other volunteers, Sarah, is leaving tomorrow morning. So we are going to dinner at a restaurant called Oregano´s. According to Annie, it is the only restaurant in all of Juticalpa that has dishes similar to what we have at home...in Italian restaurants, anyways. I have to say that I am looking forward to it. And I refuse to get meat tonight. I think I have eaten more red meat in the past 8 days than I have in the past YEAR. And the meat is always super tough and chewy. It hurts my jaw to chew it! Anyways, I love and miss you all and will try to blog at least weekly. Monday is the first day of school, and I am super excited about it! I got my final list today and it looks like I have 39 children rather than 46. But this is Honduras, so essentially anything can happen! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers on Monday. I am going to need them!