March madness is one of my favorite sports times of the year. I love watching good college basketball games, cheering on the underdogs and the opponents of Ohio State and Duke, and losing money in the brackets. But this year the words March Madness have a totally different meaning. Madness is exactly how I’d describe the month of March so far and to put this in perspective I’ve not seen one basketball game (though UW-Madison is in the Sweet 16!)
I was caught off guard the other day when the school director called me into her office for an urgent meeting. I felt unprepared and nervous, had I done something wrong? Did I accidently offend someone? Forget to follow through on a task? I sat down nervous. She then pulled small box out of her purse and turned to present it to me with a huge smile on her face. She said I know your toe has been lonely since you lost your toe ring so I saw this at the mall and knew it would make you happy. And I was able to get myself a great ring out of the deal as well. My day was made (and my toe is happy to not be naked again!)
March is a popular month for birthdays. A couple of weekends ago, two teachers and I were invited to a double birthday party (Alexandra in 1st grade and Jeimy in 3rd grade). The weather had been chilly and rainy leading up to Sunday morning. Waking on Sunday, we were all happy to see the sun back in the sky. We got to their house at 10 a.m. We packed the back end of the truck with two coolers, a grill, a piñata, a pot of beans and at least 10 people. We traveled about 30 minutes up the mountain on a very bumpy road to a town called Santa Elena. We stopped at a beautiful place that had a pool right next to the river and a shelter for bbqs. We started off with tamales for a snack and then the three teachers and students hit the pool accompanied by a great slide. Five seconds in the water was enough for me as it was freezing. The water comes directly from the mountains and was cold. I spent the rest of the afternoon looking for warmth in the sun. We had carne asada for lunch followed by a great cake and piñata. It was a great, relaxing day with a wonderful family. We returned to Cofradia at 7:00ish at night – just in time to hit our favorite baleada place for dinner. Great weekend.
Third grade has been learning about baseball in P.E. I convinced the 3rd grade teacher to let me help teach her students. For two mornings last week I hit grounders to third graders. Not going to lie I swung and missed a few times but they didn’t mind as many of them are still confused about which hand the glove goes on; though I was surprised by a couple of players abilities. Baseball will never replace soccer here but it was fun to play my favorite sport again even if it was just for a couple of P.E. classes.
Over two weeks ago a national Honduran paper La Prensa came to school to do a report on our school. They took pictures of the school and interviewed me and the director. Days and a week passed and we did not appear in the paper. Last Saturday while in San Pedro Sula the Director calls me and tells me that the article has finally been printed. I race home to see the paper. The article is good. You can find it here http://laprensa.hn/San%20Pedro%20Sula/Ediciones/2011/03/19/Noticias/Ninos-aprenden-ingles-gracias-a-voluntariado but must be able to understand Spanish (the online version is better because my name only appears with photos of two teachers in action – in the print version there are pictures of the Director and me with quotes. One teacher says I look like a dictator in my photo. Needless to say I’ve taken better pictures). Good publicity for the school though. And an interesting way to get back in touch with the past. Tonight I got a facebook message from a cousin of one of my good friends from my Peace Corps days in Olancho. I gave her my phone number and told her to tell her cousin to call. Conchita did call. It’s the first time we’ve spoken in about ten years. She was so excited as was I. She has a 10 year old daughter I’ve never met. Her house now has electricity and a cement floor. I asked her how she knew I was back in Honduras as we’d lost touch. She said her brother who lives in Teguc was reading the Prensa this weekend and recognized my name and called her with the news. They then found me by facebook and the rest is history.
Two weeks ago our six and ninth grades started their social service projects. We have 75 kindergarten, 1st grade and 3rd grade students from neighboring Vida Nueva come for an hour of English tutoring every Monday. It’s chaotic in the beginning but great to see our students as mentors and how much they enjoy working with the little kids. The Vida Nueva students enjoy the weekly field trip to Cofradia as well (it’s about a 10 minute bus ride but to these kids it’s a REALLY long trip). Since the Harmons came and Mr. Carey began to tutor them with Oscar 1.5 months ago its amazing to see how far these young kids have come and exciting to know that BECA will be working with their school next year.
A week and a half ago we had parent teacher conferences for kinder and prepa. Minutes into the meeting we had a representative of a student have an epileptic seizure and hit the ground hard. The group went into a frenzy and finally an ambulance was called and he was taken to a local clinic. At that moment I was scared and clueless. I know what to do in the U.S. if there is an emergency – you call 911. I had my cell phone in hand but did not know who to call. I did not like feeling useless. The man apparently has many severe seizures and is doing fine.
Yesterday morning, I went to another 3rd graders birthday party. This one was at her house and included some of the best cake I’ve ever eaten. She is the same girl whose picture used to be on the main page of my blog. We’ve stayed close since summer camp. Hard to believe that she’s ten now.
Yesterday afternoon, SJBS was saddened again. Gonzalo, the president of the school board’s mom lost her battle with cancer. Since 2011 started we as a school have been in mourning more times than I’d like to count. It was amazing seeing this close family grieve for their loved one. There were ten children and numerous grandchildren. All were present and sad. The whole community where they live came out to mourn as well. The service was nice with a mariachi band, a nice send off. All of this loss and time for reflection has made me think a lot about my family and how blessed I am. Everyone should cherish their loved ones and live each day to the fullest. I can’t wait to see my family again, hug them and tell them I love them. This funeral was such a change from the visitation that took place last night in the town park. The local billiards place’s owner was killed and there were hundreds of people in the park. This morning it looked like a tornado went through there. Death is an everyday part of life in Honduras it seems. I hear of someone dying or being killed on almost a daily basis. It is starting to wear on me.
Starting tomorrow I begin my long journey of visiting all the SJBS families that applied for scholarships for the next academic year. I will visit 61 houses so if this blog does not get updated in the next month or so you know why. We also recently had the deadline for our 9th graders who’d like to continue to study at a bilingual school next year in San Pedro but may need some financial assistance submit their applications. We received two and they have been sent to the states for review by the selection committee.
The drummer from Montuca Sound System (a Honduran popular band) has been giving music classes to several of our older students all year. He has recently arranged for our students to accompany Montuca on a few shows they are doing at some pricier bilingual schools in San Pedro. Our students’ first concert is April 5th…should be a good learning experience for our students and a time for their musical talents to shine.
Overall, there is a sense of “what next” for most of the teachers. I often hear of people talking about applying for jobs, the fear of living with their parents and being unemployed, etc. I hope momentum stays high through the end of the year and I know that things will shake out for everyone but that it may take time. Belize is around the corner (we leave next week) and I don’t think it could have come at a better time. And my friend Tara gets here in 2.5 weeks – CAN’T WAIT!
I hope to post pictures of the birthday parties, etc. in the near future….until then I’ll be doing home visits!
