Flat Stanley, Day Two

After more cleaning Sunday morning, we started grocery shopping. First stop: Jumbo.

After dropping off one load of groceries, we went back to the park. We had to get a good picture by the cathedral. Side note, I never carry a purse (I had to for the camera).

What are the chances? Some strange drama celebration happened to be going on. No idea what it represented, but the guy on the cot was pretending to be dead (Kadian thought he actually was for a scary minute).

We decided to stop by a restaurant in the park square for an afternoon snack.

Flat Stanley and I shared guava juice.

And I introduced him to a traditional Honduran food, catrachas. Basically, it's a fried tortilla with refried beans and Honduran cheese (it is NOT like parmesan lol).

Enjoying the beautiful flowers in the park.

Sometimes it feels unreal to be seeing things like this in the middle of "winter".

We took a taxi to the next grocery store. It's 20 lemps per person, about $1 US. We usually walk, but since I had my camera we did not.

Flat Stanley getting out of the taxi.

 We ended up going to three different grocery store. There is no such thing as "Wal-Mart" here, so sometimes it takes a bit of searching.

Flat Stanley's First Day 2-12-11

Flat Stanley is a book for children about a boy who gets flattened by a bulletin board that falls on him. Because he is flat, Stanley gets to be mailed to California to visit family and has all sorts of adventures. Steven's niece, Elizabeth, read this book with her second grade class. Everyone in her second grade class mailed out their very own "Flat Stanley"s to have adventures. After three days, the recipient mails Flat Stanley back to the sender and along all of his adventures. Needless to say, being a preschool teacher, I thought this was a splendid good time. Stanley started off his first day with a scrumptious healthy breakfast :). That's fresh papaya (tastes nothing like the stuff you find in the States), fresh pineapple, local bananas, and oatmeal.

All ready for church! Good thing he came wearing dress clothes.

Before we set out, Stanley had to get a picture with Elizabeth's picture on my wall.

We got to church a little early, because we were in charge of Sabbath school for the week.

Our church is a new (just over a year old), and opened as a means of outreach to the youth at the school.

Cia & Nelly

Flat Stanley and I

Miss Melissa and I. She is the Language Arts teacher for Prepa--and Miss Myla's sister!

A quick picture in the central park on our way home from church.

Stanley surprised that we cook using a propane tank.

I was pretty excited about Stanley

Stanley learns where all our drinking water comes from.

Yes...It may mean I'm getting old. But my idea of a "good" Saturday night means that I cleaned every inch of the kitchen and got to bed on time (I usually aim for 9pm). Oh, and the picture. I was surprised over something. Or lost something. Don't remember.

Our back door likes to get stuck.

Woo hoo! Cleaning spirit.

Warm bubbly water

Kadian wielding the new duster. The spider webs must be attacked weekly!

Silence

After reading this, I decided, 'Wow, a whole day of silence. I bet I could learn a lot from that!'
Thus, tomorrow I am not going to talk, write, use facebook, or email.
I am expecting this to be very difficult. However, the more people I tell, the more likely I am to follow through. So here goes!
Wish me luck :)

I Am a Preschool Teacher

I adorn my hair with a giant yellow butterfly every Wednesday--it was a gift
The gifts come freely and without hesitation; Valentine's Day left me overwhelmed
Today a Strawberry Shortcake sticker on my sunflower yellow polo shirt
Distracts from the unidentified spots of various food
Food from various precious little faces that wrapped their arms around me
Holding me tight, and though you can't see, my shirt received kisses too
Look down at my pants, smeared with glue from today's project
Below the the knees, scuff marks galore from the dirt on their shoes
Their shoes that brush up as I walk past their desks
My hands are decorated with pen marks, partially due to the fact that I write so much
But more to do with afternoon tutoring pre-k girls at the Hogar
Beside my bed rests a plastic cup with bright yellow flowers picked by a child

I would not not take a detective to guess,
I am a preschool teacher.

Oh Tofu.

I have no idea why ants would go for tofu, of all things.

I think they managed to pull some of it out, that's what the little white dots are.

Since it was in the kitchen, we didn't want to use anything too dangerous. So I cleaned them out with vinegar and then some bleach.

Kadian trying to get rid of all the ants.

So, we salvaged most of the tofu, but I'm not sure what it'll look like when we open it. Oh Tofu :(

My Very Own

Look at that beaut...What a spectacular chair.

 So in case you can't tell, I'm still really excited about my very own green plastic lawn chair. Ever since Monday, I've been  a proud owner of this wonderful piece of furniture. I bought it at Jumbo, just in case you're in Comayagua and realize this is what your life is missing too. :)

You may scoff at my delight.
If I could see you, I'd stick my tongue out.
Because my chair is awesome.

Filling in for Mom and Dad

A particular little boy in my Prepa B class seemed impossible to motivate. It wasn't unusual for him to spend most the class period crawling around on the floor, bothering his friends, or finding someway to mutilate his homework. Please don't mistake this for my lack of trying. First of all, I have 27 little kids on my hands which in and of itself can be very overwhelming. Although I usually have an assistant, she is often taking kids to the bathroom or dealing with one of the few especially difficult boys. Add to this the fact that:

1. These kids don't understand half of what I say.
2. They aren't used to being in school all day.
3. When you are 5 or 7 years old, sitting in a desk and listening to a strange language isn't high on your priority list. 
 4.Despite the fun we do manage have in class, nothing changes the fact that learning a second language is tough.
5. Oh, and don't forget about personality clashes, class clowns, bullies, and constant little arguments that are certain to abound in large groups of immature youngsters. 

Back to my student. I had tried encouraging him, I had tried scaring him (saying I would send a report to his mom, making him write sentences--which he never did, refer to homework mutilation). Most kids have some angle that you can reach them at. I was at such a loss with this one. However, today I decided to try to understand. I bent down and looked in his face just moments after confiscating his scissors. I tried talking to him in Spanish, hoping that he might respond. I asked him what was wrong. His face crumpled a little. Before long, I could see how much this tiny little kid was hurting, and I asked him if he wanted to come work with me at the teacher's desk. He nodded, took his paper and came to my desk. I picked him up on my lap, and asked him what was wrong again. He looked like he wanted to talk, but no sound came out. Only a few tears that he tried so hard to hold onto belied what he was going through. I asked him if he missed his mom (a typical reason for preschoolers to be upset). He nodded. I asked if he missed his dad, another nod. I asked him if he wanted to talk about it. He did. But no sound came out.

I told him to bring his colors. He only had three. He spent the rest of the class actually doing his work, sitting on my lap. I searched through the lost colored pencils, sharpening some to add to his pitiful little collection. I don't know what this kid is going through, but from the look of his eyes his pain is deep. These are preschoolers. I am reminded again that I'm not just playing teacher here. As much as I can try to teach them English and Bible stories, these kids are desperate for attention and love more than anything. I am filling in for Mom and Dad.