Fun Facts we´ve Learned

We have been so busy since we last posted! Orientation at school has begun and we both agree – teaching is a lot of work! Last week was a lot of trainings and meetings. This was very hard for us because most of it was translated into English for us, but some of it they forgot to translate so we would be sitting there staring with blank looks on our faces while all the Nationals were laughing or arguing or whatever about something. The whole language barrier has been very frustrating for me especially – Tristan is doing much better with it. But it is very hard to know what is expected when paperwork is done in Spanish with no English translation. The school is working at getting some of this translated for us.

My 4th grade classroom is almost done and will be ready for students on Thursday. Open house is this Friday evening for Tristan and Monday evening for me. I am feeling overwhelmed and wish I had taken some classes on teaching; however the other 4th grade teacher is excellent and knows what she is doing and is helping me out A LOT! Tristan is very frustrated because all of his math books are MIA. The shipping container that they are in was apparently delivered to Honduras but no one knows where it is…. So he’s starting to make up his own tests and reviews for at least the first week of class, until the books come.

We have a new vehicle to drive around - it´s a spaceship! We have a ´91 Toyota van that is shaped like a space ship and is a stick! It´s a very funny rickety thing and we laugh a lot about it. Because Tristan is such a good driver, the guys and us are sharing the Spaceship and the girls get the Blazer. It´s interesting driving a stick vehicle in such a hilly city (like Duluth or Seattle).

Tonight we are going out to Pizza Hut and the movies! A movie here is 50 lempiras ($2.50 US) and tonight is 2 for one night!!! I think that for the most part, us Noth American teachers get along pretty well together. As we are together more and more, we´re figuring each other out.

We have almost been here 2 weeks! Crazy how the time flies!

Here are a few things that we have learned this last two weeks:

1. Whoever honks their horn at an intersection the longest, wins the right of way.
2. Hondurans drop the ‘s’ on the endings of most words: example: gracias becomes “Gracia”
3. Hondurans point with their lips, not with their hands.
4. Stop signs are just a suggestion
5. Car alarms go off randomly while driving – this is normal – turn it off and keep going
6. Gheko’s like to hide near our fruit bowl
7. Green Banana’s must be cooked and they will stain your clothes (we tried bringing this new fruit to work to eat for lunch until a National laughed at us and asked us where we were going to cook it)
8. Everyone loves Pizza Hut and KFC and Dunkin’ Donuts. Most fast food delivers
9. 10 adults in a 5 seater Chevy Blazer – NO PROBLEM!
10. ¨Reliable Car¨ ??? what´s that??