Fiesta Típica

Today our school held its annual Fiesta Tipica, which is basically a celebration of Honduran traditions. All of the students and teachers wore traditional Lenca (Indian) or Garifuna (Afro-Carribean) clothing, and we sold tons of traditional Honduran food. Each grade was in charge of a champa, or hut, and they were in charge of building their hut and providing the food. Each grade had a different type of food that they had to bring, and 9th grade (my class) had to bring deserts. The parents built a fantastic hut, complete with a mud oven, and served sweetened rice with milk, a hard cookie type of thing called a rosquilla served in honey, ayote (kind of like a type of squash) served in honey, chocolate covered bananas, a type of sugary, peanut brittle looking desert called conserva and sweet bread.

The students performed traditional dances, sang, and recited poetry. They did an absolutely fantastic job, and it was really fun to see some of their hidden talents. There were also indios bonitos for each grade, which are a boy and girl elected by each class to represent their grade. The girls have to create a traditional dress made of natural materials, such as beans, grass, etc, and the boys act as their escorts. It was pretty cool to see the amazing dresses that the students wore. All of the teachers dressed up in traditional dresses as well, which was really fun.

We use it as a fundraiser, and this year our school was trying to raise money to build a classroom for next year’s 10th graders, as well as a room to serve as a library/computer lab. We raised about $1,300 this year, which is a good start for the new rooms. The champa for 9th grade made about $140, which was pretty darn good. There were lots of people there, which was nice, considering its probably the most exciting thing that has happened in town since I moved here.

This coming week we only have 2 days of school, then I am heading off to Roatan, one of the islands off of Honduras, for a 5 day vacation. I’m definitely ready for a short vacation and spending some time on the beach. I feel like I haven’t done much traveling in Honduras yet, so I’m ready to see some more of the country.

Fiesta Típica

Today our school held its annual Fiesta Tipica, which is basically a celebration of Honduran traditions. All of the students and teachers wore traditional Lenca (Indian) or Garifuna (Afro-Carribean) clothing, and we sold tons of traditional Honduran food. Each grade was in charge of a champa, or hut, and they were in charge of building their hut and providing the food. Each grade had a different type of food that they had to bring, and 9th grade (my class) had to bring deserts. The parents built a fantastic hut, complete with a mud oven, and served sweetened rice with milk, a hard cookie type of thing called a rosquilla served in honey, ayote (kind of like a type of squash) served in honey, chocolate covered bananas, a type of sugary, peanut brittle looking desert called conserva and sweet bread.

The students performed traditional dances, sang, and recited poetry. They did an absolutely fantastic job, and it was really fun to see some of their hidden talents. There were also indios bonitos for each grade, which are a boy and girl elected by each class to represent their grade. The girls have to create a traditional dress made of natural materials, such as beans, grass, etc, and the boys act as their escorts. It was pretty cool to see the amazing dresses that the students wore. All of the teachers dressed up in traditional dresses as well, which was really fun.

We use it as a fundraiser, and this year our school was trying to raise money to build a classroom for next year’s 10th graders, as well as a room to serve as a library/computer lab. We raised about $1,300 this year, which is a good start for the new rooms. The champa for 9th grade made about $140, which was pretty darn good. There were lots of people there, which was nice, considering its probably the most exciting thing that has happened in town since I moved here.

This coming week we only have 2 days of school, then I am heading off to Roatan, one of the islands off of Honduras, for a 5 day vacation. I’m definitely ready for a short vacation and spending some time on the beach. I feel like I haven’t done much traveling in Honduras yet, so I’m ready to see some more of the country.

I'm a local!

This weekend was pretty lazy. Our entertainment on Friday night was attempting to pop microwave on the stove, because we don’t have a microwave. It actually worked really well, which was a nice surprise. Then today my entertainment was straightening the hair of one of the women who works for us. Hopefully that gives you some idea of how little there is to do here. I’m not complaining though, because we definitely find our own little joys in life.

For example, today Bryony and I went up to the school to use the internet. Now, to preface this story, there are about 4 different buses that run through town every day, coming and going from the two towns closest to us, which are about 3 hours away. There are no regular city buses that run through our town, because it’s way to small for mass transportation. So, as Bryony and I were walking back from the school, one of the bus drivers recognized us and asked if we wanted a lift home. We’re locals! They recognized us! It was pretty exciting. Like I said, we take joy in the little things.

Turkey dinner

If you know me at all, you know that Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday and that I hate not being home for it. This Thanksgiving, however, was quite fantastic. The gringos and Brits all banded together to cook a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner for all of the teachers at our school. The Honduran teachers were all a bit skeptical at first, and were really preoccupied about whether we would have enough food or not. It took some planning to get everything, as food choice in La Unión is lacking, to say the least. Our food came from 3 different cities, but it was well worth the effort.

We ended up making a 16 pound turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, stuffing, vegetables, bread and pumpkin pie. The dinner actually turned out fantastic, and the Honduran teachers actually asked for seconds and leftovers to take home. Despite their skepticism everything was quite delicious. We even had enough food left over to invite the gringos down the road up for some turkey. It was nice to have an evening of American food. Nothing screams gringo culture like copious amounts of delicious turkey!

Teaching

Yes, I know I struggle with updating this, but I've been surprisingly busy. I'm still working on grad school applications, looking into other countries to live in, and just generally trying to figure out what my next step is going to be. On top of that, I have also started teaching Sunday School to 4-6 year olds, which is an absolute blast. It's fun to hang out with the little ones every once and awhile, because I only teach 12-19 year olds during the week. On Saturdays I am starting to teach classes for Compassion International, which is an group that sponsors children and helps them get financial support and an education. While I was living in Texas I sponsored a girl from Guatemala, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had an office here in La Unión. So, on Saturdays from 8-12 I am helping out with the 12-14 year olds. Basically, my life involves a whole lot of teaching here, and I couldn't be happier.

You can count on me...

I'm coming home for Christmas! My parents love me far too much and bought me a plane ticket home. I will be in Michigan from December 19th to January 2nd. See you then!

Halloween

So, here in rural Honduras, Halloween is quite a taboo subject. I figured it wouldn’t be celebrated at school since it is a Christian organization, but I didn’t realize how strongly people actually felt about it. The Thursday before Halloween, at our weekly staff meeting, one of the teachers went on about how Halloween is satanic and that it is for those who worship the devil and are witches, and how the culture here did not accept such things. It was quite awkward, so I mentioned that we don’t actually believe in the those things in the United States and it’s just a fun holiday to most people, but she didn’t really acknowledge what I said and continued bashing the holiday. I guess I kind of understand where she was coming from, but last I check I didn’t believe in witches or devil worship. Our school even put out a newsletter with 7 reasons why you shouldn’t celebrate Halloween. It was quite intense and awkward, so what did we do? The gringos had a little Halloween shindig.

Bret made a fantastic vegan cake, and said the other gringos were coming over for a small Halloween celebration. We all scrambled to pull together costumes. Holly was Bret, Bret was a birthday cake, Bryony was a pirate and I was a Honduran coffee farmer. Yes, I realize these costumes were lame, but it was thrown together in just a few minutes. The 2 kids we live with got a pretty big kick out of. The boys definitely didn’t have costumes on, but it was still good fun. Andrew, Amelia’s boyfriend who is currently visiting from Michigan, even brought some real chocolate (not the awful Honduras stuff) and had us trick or treat on his door.

So, if you ever wondered what Halloween was like in Honduras, there you have it. If you enjoy celebrating Halloween, I would recommend staying in the states.

And on a completely unrelated note, if you or someone you know is interested in teaching for 6 months in Gracias, Honduras (which is actually a beautiful, legitimate city), let me know. We need someone to teach ESL to students who have not been enrolled in a bilingual school before so they can start at Vida Abundante the following fall and not be behind. They would start in January. It’s a pretty sweet gig. Think about it.