Goooaaaaalllllllll!!!!!!!!!

Obviously the sport of soccer, or futbol, is very popular in Central America. Actually, soccer is pretty much popular anywhere outside of the United States. Paul has been taking us to his futbol games. He plays on a team for the church and they rent an hour at small arenas and play other local teams. Paul also plays on a “better” team that has uniforms and everything. I’m not sure how the leagues work, but I just have fun going with the other missionaries and cheering for our church team or our friends. It is also very fun to listen to the things the grown men say to the ref. or the players. We try and guess what they said and decide if it is something we should repeat or not.

There is a big stadium here in Comayagua and the home team, I think their name is Hispania, played against some other team from a different city. This was the real thing I was told. They are not the Honduras team, but they were national teams kind of like the L.A. Galaxy team. The only thing I could relate it to is baseball because I’m not sure how soccer leagues work. Anaheim has the Angels, L.A. has the Dodgers, and Comayagua has the Hispania. Anyways, we were on national Honduran television because we went to the stadium and the camera man came and zoomed in on us for a bit so we flashed the peace sign and shouted. The Comayagua team lost we think. I never found out the final score. I do remember it was tied 2 to 2, but we were not able to finish the game. You know why? It started raining. It was not the usual light rain we get, it was pouring and actually cold. We sat in it for a bit. Joy, a missionary from last year who just returned to teach again this year, came with us and knew from experience to bring a rain coat so I made quick friends with her and was able to sit under her coat. The crazy people on the other side of the stadium seemed to love the rain. They were cheering for the other team. When we first arrived at the stadium all stuffed into one cab, this group was outside chanting something. They looked like a gang. After we got our tickets, we walked all the way around to the other side.

“Why didn’t we just go in where we bought the tickets?” I inquired.

“Because that is where the gangs and bad people sit.” replied Paul.

He was right. We could see and hear them the whole time. They stood the whole time and chanted the whole time. They also clapped and did this funny running thing up and down the stadium. Whenever their team did something cool, they would run out of their seats, climb the fence to the field, and hang their feet over. The security had to go over and wave their little wands at them. They even threw fire crackers into the crowd. The side we sat on was very calm compared. Only one person climbed the fence when our team scored.

I also got to experience my first Aguazul bag. For some reason, drinks are put in bags here. Water in a bag, soda in a bag, juice in a bag, whatever. If it is liquid, they will put it in a baggy, stick a straw in, and knot it shut around the straw to drink. The Aguazul bags are sealed though because it is purified water. I would always manage to avoid drinking from a bag before, but I was very thirsty so I had not no choice to drink water from a bag. It is awkward. I had to rip off a corner of plastic with my teeth then squish the liquid into my mouth. It tasted like plastic. At least I was not thirsty anymore.

Anyways, once the rain got too hard, we had to leave. I almost fell in the mud trying to get into the cab. I had to sit my wet and muddy self on top of Briana then the cab drove over a boulder on the way home so we had to get out in the rain and help the cab driver remove the huge rock from his drive shaft. I was very happy when we made it home.

A very crazy week.

The first week was crazy. It was so hard, especially the first day. On my very first day, I had to send a kid to the principal’s office. My first graders are not used to being in school all day. They are used to coloring all day and only being at school for a few hours instead if from 7:10 a.m. until 2:10 p.m. They were so crazy by the end of the day, they were literally bouncing off the walls so I turned off the lights and had them put their heads down. One boy refused to and started making other children laugh in his defiance. If they find out they can walk all over me from day one, they will never stop so I sent him to Miss Norma to nip that behavior in the bud. That night though was the parents meeting. The parents run the show here. They pay big bucks to ave their children come learn English and they are treated more like clients than a source for the student’s learning. The parents came and started out asking basic questions to the first grade homeroom teacher Ms. Joline. I left to go meet the parents of my seventh graders, and I came back to angry scowls of loathing hate. The children went home and complained to their parents that the new white teacher was too strict and would not let them get their pencils or go to the bathroom. That is true in a sense, but not in the way they made it seem. They would not go to the bathroom. They would run around the school and get me in trouble with the other teachers. I tried to make it one at a time, but someone would take too long in the bathroom doing who knows what so the ones who actually do have to go start dancing and complain so I let them go and they go pee, but then don’t return etc etc so I just stopped letting them go by the end of the day because they would be able to go after school anyways. I stopped letting them go to their lockers to get stuff whenever they needed too because they would just hang out there in the back of the class and cause trouble. I do not speak Spanish and they are supposed to ask me things in English and I am only allowed to speak to them in English so they learn it. So when the children were asking me for their pencil, and I did not know what they wanted, they would get up out if their seat with out permission, then make distractions in the back of class so I said “No more going to your lockers.”
Well the parents were mad at me then one asked if I had any experience teaching.
“I have worked with children at my church with vacation Bible school and I volunteered at La Sierra Academy…” I answered.
“Well have you taught before?”
“I work with children quite a bit and…”
“Have you actually taught a class before?”
“Well you see, vacation Bible school…”
“Have you taught before?”
“No sir. I have not taught before. I am here as a missionary and volunteer.”
“Well I care more about my child’s education than yours.”
“O.K.”
That is when they started arguing in Spanish with Ms. Joline and I had to go get Miss Norma for her to do her diplomatic thing and smooth things over.
Even though I do not speak Spanish very well, I understood quite a bit of what they said. They said they feel their children have a disadvantage because I do not speak Spanish and I do not have experience. They basically do not want me to teach their children. Despite how they may feel, God put me here for a reason and we all have no choice, but for me to teach first grade. I have heard it is the hardest grade to teach from the other teachers and students missionaries and I understand why.
My week did get better as it progressed. The students are no longer turning their desks over and I actually have a voice by the end of the day. I don’t cry in the shower in the morning anymore at least. I’m sure I will again at some point. Maybe right before Christmas break when they get restless, but until then, I hope it is all as smooth as the California roads because that is the best I can hope for. I need prayers and patience. God is the only one who can get me through it and I hope he places many helpers in my path.
Karaleigh’s birthday was during the first week of school. She turned 21! Her party was nice break in the craziest week of my life. We went out to eat at a place called La Fonda’s then we went home and ate cake and opened presents. My birthday is coming up soon and I hope I have a big party with all my new helpful friends.
There is chapel every Friday and we all have take turns planning it. We basically sing songs then have a Bible story. Today was the creation story. The kids loved it though and we had so much fun. I think Friday’s are nice.

Haystacks are breaking new grounds.

So it turns out that haystacks are just American. Melissa, who is from England and Jamaica, has never heard of haystacks before and none of the people here in Comayagua have heard of them either. We had to change that. We searched high and low for Fritos and found none, so we settled for some tortilla chips which I actually prefer with my haystacks, but most people go for the Fritos. We invited our friends Alessandro, Paul, and Walter to our house for haystacks and we had to show them plus the Brit Melissa how to make them. I went first. I put down the chips, then rice, then beans, then lettuce, then tomato, then onions, then olives, then jalapeno, then best of all, the avocado. Whalla! Thus a haystack is made. If you have never had one before, it is a must! Sooo delicious. They loved it. In fact, they would not stop eating it, except for Walter who came across a jalapeno and asked for milk. We took our time in giving him soy milk because we liked watching a grown man suffer over one tiny jalapeno piece whilst a bunch of girls stacked them on. We called him a wimp. “Que es wimp?” He asked. We told Paul, who is fluent in English to explain to him, but Paul did not know that very common English slang so we just called him a baby. I think that was insulting enough. Paul returned the favor and brought us some corn tamales that were very delicious and some strange corn thing that I did not eat and here is why. It is a giant cob of corn with butter and parmesan cheese on it. Karaleigh and Briana took part in eating it. It was very messy, but tasty they said. It smelled like barf to me. I am glad we could share some culture with each other even it does smell like barf.

A beautiful hike

Today we went on a hike with the youth and pathfinders. We woke up bright and early and rode in the back of some church member’s truck to La Tres Iglesia and started out our hike. Some of the youth wanted something to eat so they went and got sweet bread. I tried to find fruit, but none was being sold at the little shop we went to. I can’t imagine going on a 14 kilometer hike with sweet bread and soda on your stomach. It was more like an uphill walk than a hike and it was not really the wilderness like I was expecting. There were houses lining the dirt road we traveled upon. It was definitely more rural than the city, but not the extreme hiking I was looking forward to. The youth are not in shape at all and they kept wanting to take rests. One particular place we rested was definitely worth it. It had these beautiful stone steps that led down to a stream. The crazy boys jumped in a pool of water and splashed about and tried to get some girls in. I think one girl got in. When we finally got to the “top,” we ended up at some lady’s house. She has a HUGE piece of property. She has donkeys, ponds/lakes full of fish, big cages with birds, many dogs, fields of corn, orchards of bananas, a forest of pines, and empty swimming pools. This woman also has a beautiful deck with a hammock I enjoyed very much. After we had worship and wandered around the jungle/forest (and almost got lost) for a few hours, I was able talk to her. I forgot her name, but she used to live in Loma Linda and knew exactly where I live. She also asked me when I became SDA. “A few years ago. Why?” I asked. “Because you have holes from where your ears have been pierced and you have a tattoo. You must have gotten those before you knew God.”

I did not mention that I got my tattoos after I became SDA and I put my earrings in at night so they don’t close up, but she told me that her son used to have a tattoo and she cried when she discovered it so he had surgery to have it removed. “You will have to explain that to God when you meet” she said. I have already met God because he lives in me. Plus my tattoos are reminders to love Him and be like Him so boo on her theories. Well I guess she is entitled to her opinion, but still. I do not like people telling me about how God must feel about me based on anything physical.
We played the balloon game when we came back from romping in the jungle. This game is very fun. I played it at Margie’s and Cathy’s birthday party. People blow up balloons and tie them to their ankle. They have to keep their balloon inflated while trying to pop other’s balloons. I was the third to last person to get their balloon popped. I almost won, but the girl snuck up behind me. Well she won fair and square, but I’m still sore about it. Speaking of sore, my hiking shoes are practically new so they gave me very bad blisters. In fact, they are not blisters at all. There is just not any skin left. I screamed in the showers so much when the water hit my pink and red layers of exposed skin. Ouch!
This hike did point out some needs in my church community that I think I want to focus on. The main one is the promiscuity of the youth. There is a huge love triangle going on. Nay. A love hexagon. There are people with babiend so whs from so ao hooked with so and so’s little sister after the little sister hooked up with so and so’s brother etc etc. There are promiscuous people at home, but there are also a lot more “Adventists” at home so percentage wise I think we are doing well. Here, 99% of the youth are promiscuous and that is the future of the church here in Honduras. The other missionaries and I are thinking about having a “girls” night at our house and just talking about what God wants out of us as Christian women and how to respect ourselves. Hopefully we can have a positive affect on them and be an inspiration the youth back home.
It was an over all great day. Especially hitch hiking down the mountain. That was very fun. I love Honduras 