Tengo meido!!!!

Hello all...things are really starting to "heat up" here. Gone are the days of going for runs at 3:00 in the afternoon and enjoying a nice breeze. I came in from my afternoon run (which I left for at 3:00) and I have decided I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon. Since it hasn't rained too often, my lungs are full of dust. I also don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life. Thank GOD I have a shower that works here at the Colonia. I think I'm going to be using it more and more frequently!

In any case; I just wanted to share a bit of a funny story from my classroom last week. We read a story about Franklin (for those of you over 12 and/or those of you who don't work with children); Franklin is a turtle and a popular children's icon. In any case; in this particular story, Franklin was afraid of the dark and didn't like to hide in his own shell. After the story, I had the children share some of the things that they were afraid of. Most of the answers were pretty predictable: spiders, bugs, the dark, big dogs. However; a half a dozen or so kids kept screaming out "Chookie, chookie!" I had no clue what this was, so I asked Wendy (my third grade teacher friend) what on earth the kids wer etalking about. Well, lo and behold; they were making a reference to CHUCKIE. As in, the scary redhead doll from the horror movies. I don't know why I thought it was so comical, but apparently "Chookie" is huge here even though he is well past his day in the States. :-) Just thought I'd share a little Juticalpan comedy with you all.

Bree and I enjoyed a lovely weekend in Isla De Tigre; which is the southernmost part of Honduras. It's actually an island a 15 minute boat ride off of Coyolito (southernmost point). From the island, you can see the neighboring countries of Gautamala and El Salvador. Pretty darn cool, if you ask me! In any case, we enjoyed 2 days of swimming on black sand beaches (my first time swimming in the ocean in Honduras...can you believe it), and enjoying fresh squeezed lemonade in the hotel hammocks. There's more. Get this: We enjoyed LOBSTER for only 10.00 U.S money!!!! The seafood was incredible! I had this fantastic soup with lobster tail, crab legs, and steamers in this ridiculously delicious cream broth. Mmmmm! O.k, enough about the food! (Sorry, I can't help myself when it comes to talking about good culinary experiences, since they are few and far between here). In any case, the weekend was fun but tiring . It was a 7 hour trip that required us to switch buses 3 times to get where we were going. Add in the factor that we only had a regular 2 day weekend to do all of this, and you have the equation for fatigue.

In any case, the island was beautiful, but a bit saddening. It was breathtaking and there is so much potential there for an amazing tourist destination. We talked to a couple of the locals, and it seems like it is a "hot spot" for the Holy Week for some of the Hondurans and a frequent backpacker stop for people like ourselves; but overall the island's beauty is under utilized because of the poverty and lack of people who can invest in it. I definitely hope to head back again at some point during my stay here.

Speaking of my stay, I wanted to announce that I am seriously considering the possibility of staying here another year. I have really begun to "find my groove" in the past 6 or 8 weeks and I think I could accomplish even MORE next year having a year of experience under my belt. Just a thought, but it is something I am considering!

Hope you are all doing well! I know you were eagerly looking forward to this entry :-) (I got a couple of emails this week from past Team Members). Love and miss you all!