It has been a long time...

It has been a long time since I have written! So much to catch you up on. I have broken it down into several stories…so hopefully you can follow along. But before the stories I wanted to share a little something with you

My computer classes continues to be going well and the kids are enjoying the chance to work on the computers but at times it can be very challenging because I have about 15-25 kids in each class and only 8 semi-functional computers so I have to put 3 to 4 kids at each computer and you can only imagine what that is like. I have been thinking how wonderful it would be if these kids could spread out and each have their own computer. So I wanted to put it out there and see if anyone knew of anyone willing to donate a laptop…reason for a laptop because it is easier to transport down here but I am certainly not being picky. This is my project before I leave!! I would love to get some laptops donated to the school and get some Spanish programs on there for the kids. Give them a real chance to gain the computer skills they need to advance themselves. That is all…hope you enjoy the stories…Pura Vida!


Costa Rica
I guess I will start from my time in Costa Rica. Had an absolute blast! What a beautiful country. My friend Megan and I went out to the west coast to Tamarindo and stayed with my brother Mark who was down visiting a friend of his who lives there. We had an amazing time going to the beach and hanging out and we took one day and went to a National Park where we saw hot springs…definitely tops one of the coolest natural sights I have ever seen. You will have to check out my video. Megan and I agreed we felt like we were on the site of an Indiana Jones movie being filmed. It almost didn’t feel real. We saw the little sign in the path that pointed to the hot springs so we made our way over to them and as we got closer you could see the steam billowing through the trees. And our excitement rose and we walked closer and you could hear the water boiling…I mean really boiling and we walked up to the edge and looked over and there were just pools of water boiling and the steam was just floating up through the air and you could feel the heat from the pool of water….so cool!

Mark’s friend introduced me to the most amazing dessert called a Trit. It is this ice cream sandwich that honestly is so delicious…a little chocolate syrup in the ice cream and the cookie is thin and crunchy…yummy. Sang karaoke with local Costa Ricans, saw a frog on a toilette seat, ate some alien fruit and survived, and saw the most beautiful sunset.


Holy Week
When we got back to Honduras the weather was sooooooo hot! Holy Week was in full force. In the town of Comayagua they have the Stations of the Cross every year where the streets are closed off and people come and they layout these huge pictures on the streets made out of sawdust which depict the different stations of the corss. Absolutely beautiful! Very vibrant colors and very intricate designs. The parade starts in the early morning and the Bishop is there along with all of the priests in town. They gather and start the walk and behind them is this huge float that is carried on the shoulders of about 30 men…who knows how much this thing weighs…I am just happy that I was not called to duty for that job. It was such a hot day and the men were clothed in robes and tall white hats (kind of look like the kkk but not) If you have ever seen the travel channel where it shows any kind of Spanish festival it looked something like that. It was great to be apart of and see this huge parade come together. Tons and tons of people out on the street barely any room to maneuver. The Stations lasted for about 5 or 6 hours. At one station there was a little boy playing Jesus and it was so hot and he had been out there for hours and when the parade finally got to his station he threw up right in front of Mary (who was being played by a little girl)…so they had to pull another kid and put him in Mary’s lap. I guess the kid they pulled was quite a bit bigger than the original and Mary was like…no way!!!


Soccer Tournament turned to most embarrassing moment of my Life
So probably the funniest/most embarrassing thing that has happened to me to date…
The teacher who heads up the school her name is Domi and she told me and my friend Megan that there was a soccer tournament coming up in a few weeks where 6th graders from all these different schools in Comayagua will participate in. So for weeks Megan worked with the kids on the rules and regulations of the game and she had her father donate soccer jerseys that the kids could wear so they would all be matching. So the game was scheduled a few Saturdays ago and I decided that I would go and support the team and assist Megan if she needed my help. So Megan and I got up early on Saturday at like 7am went up to the school to meet the kids. They were all there in their jerseys ready to go. We sat around for a while waiting for our transportation to pick us up…and we sat and we sat. And then finally the bus came so we all piled into the bus and then we sat some more….Finally the bus started moving and Megan and I were like…cool on the road ready to go! Then we only got a few feet down the road when a pickup truck full of boys pulled up beside us. It was boys from the brother school down the road. So the boys got out of the truck and piled into bus. The funny thing was that they were wearing their school uniform and their dress shoes…Megan and I looked at each other and were like…hmm interesting. So we finally got to the place where the game was going to be at around 9:30 (2 ½ hours later and it is only about 8 miles down the road). The kids were all excited and they filed into a line so they could register their names at the front door. Megan and I were the last ones and as we saw the kids entering the gymnasium in the distance we could see them taking their jerseys off. Again Megan and I were like…hmmm. So when we finally got through the door and walked into the gym there were a ton of kids sitting in the bleachers wearing school uniforms. Uhhhohhh. So the teacher of our school told us that apparently there was no soccer game. Okay so what do we do now. Well the gentleman that was on the microphone asked our school to stand up and introduce ourselves…ohhhnooo! The teacher for our school was like you have to come down and introduce yourself…you must. So I tried to file further down the line so I could listen to what other people were saying so I could follow their lead but of course the man with the mic starts right in the middle and then passes it to me. Hahah. So I went ahead and said Me llamo es Joana y yo ensana la clase de computadora y fisica. (My name is Joan and I teach computer class and PE). Phewwww…no big deal was a little nerve wracking but I made it through. But then…when everyone had introduced themselves the gentleman got back on the mic and started saying something…I don’t know what something about computers…wait what…why is he looking at my and pointing the mic at me? AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I have no idea what he just said…what does he want me to say. The teacher looked at me and was like go ahead so I grabbed the mic and said the only thing that came to mind…Yo no hablo engles…yes I said I don’t speak English. What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so nervous and then I thought he was asking me where I was from so I replied Sono di Atlanta…yes that Italian for I am from Atlanta. I mean I have never been so embarrassed in my life…mortified…I had like a million eyes on me and my mind just short circuited and my voice was sooo loud in the gym echoing echoing!!!!
So anyway after the most embarrassing moment of my life we sat down and the man had us learn all of these really weird hand games where we would clap and sing funny songs. I am not really sure where they got the soccer game from but there was no soccer game. Apparently it was some kind of school conference to get 6th graders from all over Comayagua together to meet each other and get the schools familiar with each other…who knows…welcome to Honduras!


Inspirational
I was up at the Mom’s project the other day hanging out with the children and I had brought up a few books to read to them. When I sat down Carlos, who is about 8 or 9 years old, sat down next to me opened the book and stared reading out loud in Spanish and then asked me to read the English translation to him. The book was about the food pyramid and how much of each food group you should eat. It had pictures of families at BBQs eating burgers and chips salad and fruit and all different kind of drinks and I could see Carlos looking at it in amazement saying que rico…how delicious. And then we flipped to a page that had a man and his son shopping for cheese in the dairy section of a grocery store…and there was like an entire aisle of millions of different kinds of cheeses…and you could see Carlos’ eyes almost pop out of his head…And I was thinking to myself…this kid has never known anything like this in his life…just the excess of food and all different kinds…I mean they are used to rice and beans and tortillas and I think at most they have two different kinds of cheese here. Part of this experience made me sad thinking of just the excess of food we have in the US when they have very little…but at the same time I was so happy that he wanted to sit down and read with me…he was interested in reading and learning which is a huge step for his family because his mom can not read or write and Carlos will have a chance to break the cycle of poverty for his family. It was a very moving and enlightening experience in many different ways.


Blue Grass meets Central America
You will never believe it. I went to a Blue Grass concert last night! Yes I said Blue Grass! I guess the State Department has been funding a program that sends musicians throughout the world to introduce American music to other nations. So the Jumping John’s string Band played in Comayagua. It was so amazing. They had planned to have the concert outside on a stage in the main square…but the rain started to fall so they moved everything inside a museum that was located across the street.
They set up shop inside the museum in their open air courtyard. The band was in the corner and then chairs were set up along the sidewalk and we just had the roof covering us from the rain. It was such an intimate setting with the beautiful Spanish styled architecture and the rain falling in the background. I thought to myself…never in my life have I had such an experience…sitting in Honduras among 80 or so Hondurans stomping their feet and hootin and hollerin, listening to blue grass music in a historical Spanish building…out of this world. The music was awesome and it was nice to get out and enjoy the town at night. That was my second time being in town after sunset…so a pretty big deal!