What have I let myself in for??!!!!

I am sorry I haven't blogged for so long - life has been hectic, yet again. So....I will try to fill you in and keep you up to date with everything. Firstly - the repulsive, dirty, spider ridden kitchen. There was so much cleaning to do that we actually hired a cleaner!! She works from 8am - 4pm on Wednesdays for £2.50 - which is an average wage. I am soo grateful to her as she cleaned all the cupboards and swept out huge amounts of dirt and soil - I was too scared to put my hands in there. The cockroaches have made their way back into the cupboards but the house is just so much cleaner now it's great. I am much happier in it. She speaks no English and so we have lots of sign language! She sweeeps and mops for us, which is vital in the dust. We are very lucky! Not to mention we divide the cost of paying for her!

I went to visit a Children's Home last week. It is a permanent home for these children, who have come from horrific backgrounds. One child was found in a bin in the streets, others left malnourished and infested with mites, bites etc. They were very sweet children. I am looking forward to going to the bigger Orphanage soon, especially as I have some from there in my class.

The weather has been very hot but cloudy, so no great pictures of school or town - I haven't forgotten!! We have had lots of rain too, was torrential last night, I haven't seen it fall that heavy before, in fact Amanda's bedroom celing started leaking!

School started this week which I shall come to shortly, but before that we had 2 weeks of meetings which were translated for us - mostly. They were generally productive althogh there is still so much I don't quite understand! There was one rule they came up with which drove me insane, we were trying to work out a whole school discipline procedure. They decided that if a child did something wrong you would ' Call them to attention', if they misbehaved again they would be given a yellow card which had to be taken home and signed by their parents. If they got 3 yellow cards they would have a red card and get a detention, which was just missing 20 mins of lunch ( a Chesswood QR). IF they had 2 red cards we had to call the parents in. BUT....if they were good you gave them a green card (which had to be signed) and if they got 3 green cards you gave them a blue card. If they got 3 blue cards in a term they got a party!! Have you ever heard of anything so crazy, confusing or just work inducing?? I went to Silvia in the end as it was driving me crazy and she agreed it was mad. AND stopped it!!! Since then we now have a set of vaguely sensible rules for Kinder/Prepa, ELementary and High School. SO there is at least consistency. A mad time.

On Friday night there was a big meeting for all the parents so they could meet us, hear about our teaching methods, how we will grade them (everything has to be graded, given a pecentage etc - I dont strictly get it!). Anyway, I was dreading it a bit as I ave been brought in to change teaching methods, revamp the English programme in the Elementary School. I had Sue there to translate for me - the parents don't speak English. They were all really lovely and Sue was great! My 'Boss' Silvia came in and told the parents the school has a new dream for the English department to make it truly bilingual and that I was the answer to her prayers! No pressure there then Silvia!! I just wish I could speak Spanish so I can talk to the parents. Generally things went well and they didn't ask me too many difficult questions.

This weekend I stayed at Sue's house with her youngest son Theo (6 years old). Sue went to San Pedro Sula for the weekend as she had to pick up her husband Ken from the airport. Josh and Hannah went with her to buy school shoes, but Theo is a nightmare shopping so I stayed at the house with him and the dogs. We got the house decorated to welcome home his Daddy! I did my Mary Poppins impression and we did baking, painting, all sorts. I get called Mary Poppins here on account of being British and teaching Grade 1! It was lovely to get away from the school for a while, although exhausting as he never stops and I was cleaning the house a bit for Sue too.

Then school started yesterday. Oh my goodness....what have I let myself in for??? Can you imagine anything worse than sat in a class of 25 6 and 7 year old children who speak NO English what-so-ever???? I struggle to pronounce their names!! I have an Itzel and an Axel which sound just the same when they say it!! The Grade 2's understand minimal English and Grade 1's understand NOTHING!! I speak to them in English and they reply in Spanish. I am learning Spanish quickly now!! Yesterday was hideous, they didn't have a clue. Today was slightly better, I think I had got over this shock slightly. It is going to be a very tough year!! Though at one point my Grade one's were sitting quietly working when I heard a tapping noise. I looked under my desk and their was Josue sat crossed leg bouncing a ball he had found!! Is a shock to the system! A class of Kane is almost preferable! THey are incredibly cute though - most of them. Amanda and Noel teach High School and so have various lessons off - not a privilege of ELementary - I am stuck with them all day. I have Grade 2 in the mornings and Grade 1 in the afternoon!! Is just really tiring as school starts at 7.30am but the children in my class who come from the Orphanage arrive at 6.45am. Hmmmmm - they are cute though!!

I will let you know how it goes - it can't physically get any harder! Stuk in a classroom all day with 25 children who don't understand you and only speak in Spanish when they talk to you!!! Oh I nearly forgot. The weirdest thing is that at lunch time a lot of the parents come in to feed their children and bring them their lunch. Is bizarre, they all hover about my classroom and then go and sit in a corner outside somewhere feeding their child. After lunch they go home again!!

I really have to go now, am sat on porch writing this and it is raining and so all the mozzies, and other creatures, are all around me eating me!!

Keep in touch, am not sure this made sense as I am very tired!!! I have tried uploading the photos of the orphanage, but the internet connection is too slow today and I keep timing out. I'll have to try another day!!

Tarantulas, mosquitoes and hurricanes!

Let me start this off by apologising for taking so long to update this blog. Things have been slightly crazy this week and so I had set aside the weekend for emails and blogs - and then the power went and so that put an end to my plans!

OK...so I moved into my house at the school, it's a lovely house but oh so so so dirty! We've cleaned as much as we have time for right now and yet the cupboards are inches thick in grease and grime. We had an ant infestation over our worktops, but we seem to have killed them off for now. On the first full day in our house I was less than impressed to discover another visitor on our kitchen worktop...you've guessed it..a tarantula. I hate them so much! This wasn't a fully grown one and so wasn't at it's biggest but it was still big and still a tarantula! I think I coped very well, I simply called Amanda (my Canadian housemate) and she very bravely got a plastic jar and scooped it in with a spoon. I, meanwhile, was standing on the far side of the room ready to run out of the door!! This lovely addition to our household then proceeded to stay in the jar on our worktop for a few days until Sue came to visit - so she could be the one to release it and stand on it! I wasn't going to risk it I can tell you! Although I consider myself to have been very brave it then left me a nervous wreck for the rest of the day. SO much so that I decided to put my mozzie net up! No-one else uses them here, but I can't cope with the idea of a tarantula crawling across me at night! I have yet to see a scorpion. Apparently they are everywhere - the little reddish/brown ones. They fall from the ceilings sometimes, but I haven't seen this. The weather is going mad as Sigua used to be a very cool place and so didn't have an issue with spiders and it was never humid and so the scorpions never lived here either. I seem to be the lucky one to arrive at the same time as all the wildlife, just as the weather changes. Between the mosquitoes and ants (who knew there were so many varieties of ants?!) we are being eaten alive! There is something that bites or stings and a couple of hours later the bite feels like it is burning hot and oh so itchy. I have woken many times in the night feeling like my foot is on fire! Strangely enough it is only my left foot that is being attacked - weird!!

It does get very, very hot here - but I love it. It does, however, mean a lot of washing, I have got very brave about going into the laundry room to find the washing machine - it is a spider heaven! Talking of weather we haven't had any dealings with Hurricane Dean which I am pleased about. However, on Friday evening we did have a very strange storm (could it be related?!) The wind suddenly whipped up at about 4.30pm and there was a small sand storm and some of the corrugated iron roofing blew off the school roof, and then the torrential rain - and the power cut! We all stood on our porch and watched it happen, it was very spectacular. It only lasted an hour or so (the weather I mean, the power stayed off!) Power also went off on Sunday - apparently this is a regular occurrence on Sundays as it saves money!?

Now...my housemates. I am very very lucky with the people I am living with. The other teachers are Noel and Amanda, both from Canada. They are both younger than me and both only here for a year - less than a year as they leave around June when school finishes for the year. The house is divided into 2 halves with the middle door locked. So it is effectively like 2 big flats, one for the blokes and one for the girlies. So Amanda and I are sharing together and Noel and Mark are next door (Mark is arriving in 3 weeks, also from Canada). Amanda and I get on so well, it's amazing that we have only just met. She has her guitar and loves singing, we're very similar in lots of ways. She is to be the high school P.E. teacher (that is where our similarity ends - she goes running at 6am and I stay in bed!!) Noel is one of the High School English teachers. It is amusing to see that they are picking up my British accent and yet I am not effected by theirs - as it should be! It is amazing how different our vocabulary is...there is so much I say that they don't understand and needless to say I am teased mercilessly for it! Hopefully that will wear off soon!

So I'm not only learning Spanish I am also learning Canadian now! I understand far more Spanish than I can say, although when I went into the market I found I could say quite a bit. I am too shy to speak it around Sue or any English speaker who speaks Spanish, yet when we were in the market I was able to help out Noel and Amanda with the language.

We have had a week of meetings at the school which have all been translated for us. A team from Canada was down to try and help out with organising the school. This week they have gone back and we are getting on with it all. The children start next Monday. I have had a meeting with Silvia who is effectively my boss and it seems they are all counting on me to change all sorts of things. No pressure! I am to implement a new style of teaching - a style that doesn't include sitting in silence in rows. She has started writing the curriculum for Grade 1 English, but I have to write it for Grade 2. Hmmmm. Well we shall see how it goes! I have started decorating my classroom and making it colourful. It is a bit of a shock to the Honduran teachers! The High School, the Elementary school and the Kindergarten all have Principals and then Silvia is Director of all of them. Very confusing! But Silvia is my boss! Proffe Edit is my Principal and is lovely. She doesn't speak much English but understands it all. She reminds me completely of Sue McCue (you'd be impressed Sue!), she looks like a Honduran version and has very similar mannerisms. Well she has taken a liking to me, which is good considering how much I have to change and the fact she won't like the changes! I get on very well with her.

I went to church this weekend, clearly didn't understand much, but Spanish words are easy to follow so I sang with gusto!

I have so much school stuff to do now - like planning what on earth I am going to do! The Grade one's are supposed to know some English, but they don't know any at all - hence why the old teacher was sacked and I was brought in!! The Grade two's don't know much more though! Help!!

I am finding it is getting easier to settle in now, though at times it is still hard - especially when I can't talk to the staff here. The sky is always so beautiful and the sunsets stunning colours. All around our town are mountains and so it is simply beautiful. Every night there is lightening flashing around the mountains, we sometimes sit and watch it as it is just so bright!

I promise my next blog will have lots of photos!! I have been very bad at taking them so I will make it my mission tomorrow. Keep leaving comments!

It all starts tomorrow!

This is just a very quick post. I've had a really lovely week here. I've done lots of gardening and relaxing and have been with Sue into town to buy my plastic boxes - always important! The other teachers arrive tonight and so I will go down to my house to meet them soon. I"m spending toight at Sue's house again and will move in tomorrow. I'll let you know what they are like when I see them. It's been raining all day today, which has been very welcome. It's still warm rain but cools things down a bit.

Tomorrow the 'Orientation' starts - in school learning how the school operates, getting to grips with things etc. We have 2 weeks of that and it gives me a chance to get my classroom straight.

Thank you for leaving comments on my blog, I love hearing from people! Keep commenting, I am trying to reply to people and if I haven't replied to you yet I'll try! If Peter, John or Caroline read this then you need to email me!!

Back in Siguatepeque!

No more language school! Hurray! I was mean to be with a host family in Copan, spending time with them when I wasn't in school - so I could practice my Spanish. However, they put me in a hotel instead of a family. Sadly, this wasn't as grand as it sounds - it was a courtyard with rooms around the edge!! I was then supposed to go through a gate into the owner's family quarters. But they were never around, gave me my meals to eat on my own etc. So it was incredibly lonely and horrible and I still had noone to talk to in Spanish!
Well, I had spoken to Sue my cousin about it all and on Monday night she rang to say I should go home to Sigua! There is a Candian team here up at the Scipture Union camp and they were running a holiday club at my school with kids I am going to be teaching and so that would be far more beneficial for me to be at! I heartily agreed! We both also agreed it's pointless doing a language school when I'm not settled and so I am going to go back and do it again when I am more settled in to living in Honduras!! I caught the 5.15 am bus back here - not that I was desperate to leave or anything! The awful bit was that I had a Tuk-Tuk (3 wheeled taxi) collecting me at 4.50am from the hotel to take me to the bus station. I went to meet it with all my stuff but the big gates were locked and I couldn't get out! So I went t see if any of the family were up and the gates leading to their quarters were locked too so I was rattling the gates and shouting very loudly to wake the man up! THen had to explain in Spanish that I wanted to go home and he needed to unlock the gates to let me out!! It worked though.

I am SO pleased to be home. Today I went around nurseries with Sue and then did some gardening with her. The plants and flowers are stunning here. Sue and Ken adn their family are having their house built. They should move in by the end of the month and there is always lots to do there! They have included a guest room which Sue says is going to be my room for when I want to stay in their house with them!! Hurray again!

Standards of living in Sigua are quite high - more so than in other towns. You can buy most things in some of the shops. I have found a good shop that sells plastic boxes which I will need for my classroom! Now, in Chesswood I had my African Land Snails - I hope they're doing alright still, someone let me know! - but here everyone as turtles as pets! They are tiny and very tough! Put up with anything. Sue has suggested I get some for my class - so I probably will!

I'll start putting photos on here soon, but i haven't taken many yet. I am losing weight quickly now I'm here - Hurray yet again!! In fact none of my trousers fit me, but belts are good!

Not much else to say really. I"m just really pleased not to be in Copan anymore!!!

Will write again soon. Please leave comments and email me!!

I'm here!

Well I am in Honduras! After a nightmare journey - my BA flight was late and so had to run across Miami airport crying on the immigration men on the way - which handily got me to the front of the queue so I made my connecting flight!! However 1 of my bags didn't but at least it arrived the next day and got sent by taxi to my house!

My cousin Sue is simply lovely as is her house and her family. The school is er...different. I'm going to find it a major challenge being there! But the town is lovely and it should be ok. Certainly hot!

The national tree is the Pine tree and they are everywhere. Is really strange as you look out of the window, as you see pine trees mixed up with palm trees and banana trees! Very odd sight!

I'm now in Copan at my language school and that isn't so nice. In fact I am hating every second of it here! I am on my own and very isolated. I can't talk to anyone and have lost my confidence. I am exceptionally tired and am jet lagged which doesn't help. I have til Saturday to put up with it. Then I can go home to my town which i like. Please excuse the typing but I am in an internet cafe! I had my first Spanish lesson, I had to take a test and could only write my name!! Oh dear!

If I can last til Saturday it will be a miracle!!