P.S....

I have found out how to allow you to all comment me without having to register! It only took me 2 months, but late is better than never! Besides, were on Honduran time here now! So comment away! I can't wait to hear from all of you!!!

The end of the first quarter!

The rain has stopped finally! I have been back at work for the past week, and boy; does it feel good to be back! I feel as though my class is starting to really come together. The students really seem to finally get the rules of my classroom, and their personalities are starting to shine. Hector Luis is the class clown, who always has a smile on his face. Romnel is my "Eager Beaver" who gets so excited to answer questions that he is always on "red" for calling out answers. Then there's Mario David and Jafeth Alexander; who are the most sensitive, sweet children I have ever met; who insist on giving me 5 hugs a day. Then of course I have my trouble makers; Rodrigo and Roberto; whom I continually have to take a deep breath before addressing as I at times lose my patience with them.

In any case, things are back to "normal" here after the week and a half of flooding. We went out last weekend and assessed some of the damage and it was absolutely heartbreaking. Some of you reading this blog will remember Juan Carlos. If Carlos is Padre's "right hand man" , Juan Carlos is Carlos'. You would never know it from meeting him that he grew up in a house made of sticks and mud, but that is exactly the case. I saw the "home" he grew up in last week, and everything inside it was destroyed. I can't believe that this beautiful, intelligent, kind-hearted person lived under such conditions for so long. You would never know it from meeting him, as he is always so eager to put other's first. I was shocked to learn that 12 people lived in this stick structure, including cousins and aunts and uncles. One of his family members; a 6 year old little girl, is not attending school right now. Her shoes got washed away in the flood, and cannot be replaced because they have no money to do so. Imagine not having the money to buy a pair of shoes to send your child to school? Imagine being a child who will miss days and weeks of school because you don't have the right shoes to attend? This really broke my heart, and as a teacher; I imagine that the public schools are frustrated by this and that it's probably pretty typical. Another one of my coworker's (cleaning staff) home endured some major damage last week as well. She told me that she and her 2 children have been sleeping on the dining room table for the past week as her only bed was destroyed and she doens't have the money to replace it. This is the same woman who brings me my coffee every morning with a smile on her face, and has been excitedly trying to invite myself and the others over for dinner since day one. It is the same woman who last week walked around town with us to help us find an extension cord to hook up our t.v when we could not find one. Her selflessness amazes and inspires me, and I wish there were more I could do to help her. On a positive note; myself and John have started taking up collections from the states and it looks as though we will be able build a better house for Juan Carlos' family out of cement with a better roof. We will also be able to accomplish some other projects. It restores my faith in the good of people as I see these donations rolling in. This whole situation has made me realize just how lucky we truly are for all that we have.

I also have to report that we also have had to endure some complications due to the flooding. Here at the "case de las ninas" we have not had any well water delivered for two weeks. During this time period, I realized that bathing with a 5 gallon bottle of purified water IS possible. I learned JUST how wasteful we are with water in the states. Taking a bucket bath with 2 buckets of water CAN clean you thoroughly. I cannot believe how low maintenance I have become in this country!!! Our water STILL isn't running, so we have resorted to having Carlos come twice a week to deliver us a (very) limited supply of water that we have to be very concious of using. I have made the decision to start showering a couple of times a week at Nazareth (the special needs school) in an effort to conserve water; and found myself turning the water on and off in between soaping up and rinsing despite the fact that their supply is endless.

Anyways, enough rambling!!! I must sign off now as I have to do grades. Our first grading period is over. I cannot believe I am a quarter of the way through my time here! Miss and love you all!

Praise you in this storm...

These past few days have been very difficult for me as I have seen the destruction around me and feel a bit more upset everytime the sky opens up. Tonight we had our weekly Spiritual Night and Annie played a song for us that I think we could all relate to very well during this difficult time. (In both a literal sense and a figurative sense). It is by a Christian Rock group named Casting crowns. I suggest everyone download it. The lyrics are beautiful.

Casting Crowns
Praise you in this storm

I was sure by now / That You would have reached down / And wiped our tears away / stepped in and saved the day / but once again, I say "Amen," and its still raining. As the thunder rolls / I barely hear you whisper through the rain / "I'm with you" / And as Your mercy falls / I raise my hands and praise the God that gives / And takes away.I'll Praise you in this storm / And I will lift my hands / For You are who You are / No matter where I am / Every tear I've cried / You hold in your hand / You never left my side / And though my heart is torn / I will Praise You in this storm.I remember when / I stumbled in the wind / You herd my cry / You raised me up again / My strength is almost gone / How can i carry on / If I can't Find you/ As the thunder rolls / I barely hear you whisper through the rain / "I'm with you" / And as Your mercy falls / I raise my hands and praise the God that gives / And takes away I'll Praise you in this storm / And I will lift my hands / For You are who You are / No matter where I am / Every tear I've cried / You hold in your hand / You never left my side / And though my heart is torn / I will Praise You in this stormI lift my eyes into the hills / Where does my help come from? / My help comes from the Lord / The maker of Heaven and EarthI lift my eyes into the hills / Where does my help come from? / My help comes from the Lord / The maker of Heaven and Earth.I'll Praise you in this storm / And I will lift my hands / For You are who You are / No matter where I am / Every tear I've cried / You hold in your hand / You never left my side / And though my heart is torn / I will Praise You in this storm/And though my heart is torn / I will Praise You in this storm

The Rain Continues On...

I wish I had happier things to report at this point in time, but unfortunately; I regret to only blog that things here have taken a turn for the worse on the weather front. During many of the days, the sun has come out for a portion of the day. This only leads to looming dark clouds that begin to make their way into the blue sky during the early afternoon. By mid-afternoon, the sky seems to normally go totally grey and it will start pouring by sunset. The rain continues throughout the majority of the night at varying rates. I lay awake in my bed at night thinking of my neighbors who live only a few miles up the road down near the river. On Thursday, school was closed because the river was starting to overflow. I cannot even begin to imagine what that scene looks like now.

The rain has pretty much not let up now since Saturday. Saturday evening, we were lucky enough to be invited over to the Bishop's house to watch a Boston sporting event (which I do not want to blog about right now, as it is too depressing...Boston sports fans know that the wounds run too deep to talk about too quickly following a loss!). In any case, it was POURING buckets so we decided to leave halfway through the game. This was partially due to the rain, and partially due to the fact that I was starting to feel sick to my stomach again. In any case, the water was so deep that we were surprised cars were even able to drive through it (we later learned that Carlos' car in fact did die that night when he was en route to his folks house). The rain continued the past two nights, and there was no school again today.

Since Maria and I both have been sick, we did not go up to Santa Clara today to assess the damage, but I was told by Carlos that the entire school was under several inches of water and that all of the people on that road up to Santa Clara are in pretty big trouble. It is about 11:00pm here and the rain has been falling pretty steadily for several hours, so I do not want to think about how it looks up there now. I am wondering whether or not we will have school tomorrow. I hope and pray that we do. I need to get back into the classroom and get back to what I came here to do. I feel as though I am stuck in a bit of a rut these days and I know it due in large part to the weather; and also that I haven't been feeling my healthiest. Today; I did feel a lot better. I managed to eat pretty regularly and not get sick. I am hoping that this rain will stop so we can get back to school and doing what we were sent here to do. I feel as though that is when I am happiest here: when I am with the children. It always feel as though no matter how difficult things may seem; that the children bring out the beauty in everything here. I am so blessed to have them to learn from everyday. Their positivity and energy amazes me. There is so much potential in so many of these children, and I hope that I can make some bit of a difference while I am here to inspire them and challenge them to see the world beyond here. Please keep everyone here in your prayers and PRAY for a change in the weather. I got an email from my parents tonight and they said that the weather generally improves come November 1st. Thankfully, we are almost through October. Let's hope things get better soon!

Love and miss you all! Remember PRAY FOR SUNSHINE!!!!

Let It Be

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see, there will be an answer. let it be. Let it be, let it be, ..... And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me, shine until tomorrow, let it be. I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, .....

Rain, rain, go away...

It has not been an easy week or so here for me. I woke up Sunday morning with severe stomach pains, naseau, and vomiting which lasted the next couple of days. Unfortunately, I was not able to get to the doctor until Tuesday due to the holiday. Carlos took me anyways (despite the fact that I already knew it was something I ate) and it was confirmed. So I spent the first three days of my week in bed praying for the pain to go away. Thankfully, I started to feel a bit better yesterday and was excited to go back to school today. It is now 5:30a.m and I woke up to some bad news.

It has been raining pretty much nonstop here for the past 36 hours or so. We have been in the rainy season since I arrived here; and there has been a good amount of rain every night. Usually, the sky will open up and it will pour for an hour or so and dry out the next morning. I have seen the river relatively high, but the rain always seems to stop before it gets to be a real problem. I guess that isn't the case right now. Although I was home sick yesterday, my roommate arrived home at noon saying that Annie had closed school down early because of the rain. I had heard of snow days, but never rain days until I got to Honduras! In any case, when it rains a lot here; the river overflows. Lots of people live on dirt rolls uphill and their homes become flooded and damaged. Apparently that is what is happening here right now. I checked the weather online, and it looks like we are in the middle of a tropical depression and it could keep raining for the duration of the next two days. I cannot imagine some of the damage that people are receiving to their homes. It is amazing how different things are here. At home; we would view 2-3 days of nonstop rain as an inconvenience. People would be "under the weather" and cranky, just wanting the sun to come out. Here; it is much more than an inconvenience. It puts people's entire lives on hold. Employees at Santa Clara were anxious to get home yesterday, in hopes that they wouldn't find their entire houses under water. I cannot even imagine what it looks like on the big dirt road leading up to the school. This is one of the poorest areas of town and some of the most impoverished conditions I've ever seen. People live in houses made out of mud, dirt, sticks, and metal. Some of the houses I have walked past you can see right through. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be to live in places like this when this type of weather happens. I am sure that area is completely demolished right now. I hate standing by and seeing this type of stuff happen and not be able to do anything about it.

I am also really down in the dumps today because I was eageer to get back to work today. I guess I will be having another lazy day of reading, blogging, and listening to music. (As a side note, we are getting a T.V this weekend, which will be a luxury!). To everyone back home, please keep everyone here in your prayers right now. I am going to see some of this damage to people's homes firsthand that we were all trying to not have to imagine when we were here in April. I love and miss everyone. Hopefully my next post will have something more positive to announce other than food poisoning and flooding!

Time

Well, it has been quite awhile since I last blogged. I have to say that there have been a multitude of reasons why. First and foremost, I am really starting to get swamped with things to do here. There's always people to meet for dinner, papers to be corrected, Spiritual meetings to be had with the other volunteers, errands to be ran (by the way, grocery shopping is a 3 hour long event when you have to walk to three different grocery stores on the opposite ends of town to get what you need), and most importantly SLEEP to be had. Life here in Juticalpa is both mentally and physically draining due to the heat and the fact that tasks which are simple at home are difficult here (washing underwear is also an hour long event. Who would have known?) In any case, I am starting to feel more "acclimated" here, I guess you could say. However; I have had a lot of bouts of homesickness lately which may be why I have been apprehensive to really write.

One major event that has happened over the past couple of weeks since I last posted is the initiation of a Special Olympics team at Nazareth School. For those of you who don't know much about Olancho Aid, Nazareth is a special needs school in Olancho. In fact; it's the ONLY one in Olancho (which is the size of Massachusetts!). In any case; myself, John, Keri, and Eric have started coaching the team of 24 special needs adult and children every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. I have to say that it has been a blast and I absolutely enjoy this interaction with these special people every week. I have one little girl on my team named Michelle who told me last week that I was her "best friend' and insisted on shooting about 2 dozen photos with me. Everyday when she sees me, she jumps up and down excitedly. I look forward to seeing her every week now as she makes me feel really welcome and wanted. Special needs individuals are so loving and warm, and they always seem so excited to see myself and the other volunteers; although all we may do with them is kick around a soccer ball. One thing I am going to publically admit is that I am terrible at soccer. So bad in fact that most of the special needs children could whip my behind in a pick-up game. It doesn't seem to matter; however, as they all want you on their team regardless of your ability. One thing that has really touched me about these children is how they all cheer one another one. The more "able-bodied" and more "functional" children cheer on those with less ability; jumping up and down on the sidelines. I often think of children of normal intelligence and how they get frustrated with and angry with one another when a teammate may be losing a game for them. Not these special people. They are filled with such love and care so deeply for one another that we could all certaintly learn a thing of two from them!

As far as other recent activities are concerned, I spent an amazingly relaxing weekend away these past few days. On Friday; myself, Bree, and Keri boarded a bus to Tegucigulpa. From Tegus, we boarded another bus to a village about 45 minutes outside of the city called Valle De Angeles. It was absolutely amazing there, and I will definitely be making a trip back before I go home for Christmas to purchase some secret Christmas presents. :-). In any case, the village is nestled away in a small quaint village with tons of handcrafted gift stores, little "mom and pop" type of pupuseria's, and cute little restaurants. We had a great time poking around, and mostly enjoyed the weather. It was about 20 degrees cooler there, as we were way up in the mountains. For the first time in my 27 years of life, I think I was actually HAPPY to have goosebumps , and even happier to throw on a sweatershirt and long pants. This was the first time in 7 weeks that I haven't sweat for a full 24 hour period and it was amazing. As if all of this wasn't already fantastic enough, the hotel we stayed in was beautiful. Get this: I got to go swimming in a pool and take a SCALDING hot shower. I think I stayed under that running water for about 30 minutes. It was the cleanest I have felt in a month and a half. I must admit that it was majorly disappointing to come home yesterday and stand under my freezing cold shower to bathe. Even worse was turning the water off constantly to shampoo, rinse, and shave. Here at our house; our supply of water is so limited that we use only what we absolutely need to cleanse ourselves. There are no long relaxing showers here! No matter; I will have one again in a couple of weeks during the next of our travels!

We came back yesterday to some kind of unfortunate news. Apparently, it poured for the vast majority of the weekend while we were away, and that led to a lot of flooding here in Olancho. It has been a very rainy past couple of weeks and the river was overflowing. Our house and everything in it was totally fine, but the boy's house had some issues. They were away for the weekend as well, and John lost his camera and some important books, and Eric lost his ipod as their entire house was underwater. I thought that we were in the clear, but when I went to Santa Clara this morning, I discovered that almost everything that I had shipped down for my classroom from the states was ruined. I had a couple of hundred books in my (very small) personal library, and it looks as though most of those are ruined. Also, a bunch of games and flashcards people had donated to me seem ruined as well. I didn't get a chance to go through much of it today, but the prospect of a lot of it being salvagable is pretty grim. They weren't near a window or anything. It just so happens that that is where it decided to flood. In any case, no one here seems to bat an eyelash. Life just moves on. Therefore, I must too. It will definitely be more of a challenge now to occupy my kids when they finish work early though. Oy vey!

In any case, I am off to begin grading progress reports. I had my first parent/teacher conference today and it went surprisingly smooth considering my Spanish capabilities. I guess I am improving a bit in that area. I find that I can understand a lot of what is said to me, but as far as responding; I am still pretty clueless.

I love and miss all of you! I will try to be more frequent in my updates in the future!