Hey,
Over a week has passed since I am here in Honduras and many things have happened. The day after I arrived I went to the school to say “Hello” to the children and to watch Sophia, the teacher who was here for the last two month to teach my class. It was very nice to see the children again and they were very happy to see me too. Also the children of the upper grades were very happy: One of them came to me and told me: “Miss, I missed you a lot when you weren’t here.” So it was a blessing for me to be back and to see how happy the children are.
This day was followed by a very special day here in Honduras: The Independence Day. The school children were marching in a parade through town. We had different marching groups with different uniforms, as well as a music group, which was singing with the guitars and the bible group witch was on an ox waggon. The children had very nice uniforms and the older children did many very cool marches.
For me it was very nice, because I didn’t have anything to do, so I could just watch the whole parade. The local school was marching right in front of us, so I was able to also look at that as well. It was very nice to see how they celebrate the Independence Day in Honduras.
In town I met many people that I knew from before. One of the ladies from church couldn’t believe here eyes, when she saw me. She first stared with big eyes at me and then came to me and hugged me. Then she invited me straight away to come to eat at her house. Also many other people invited me to their house. It was very nice to see how happy everyone was to see me.
Preparing for teaching
The next day, which was Friday, the children didn’t have school. There were still parades in town and celebrations. So also for the teachers this was a free day, which gave Sophia and me time to prepare together. It was a very big blessing for me, that Sophia was still there when I arrived, so I could get an overview of how the children were doing, how far they are in the books and how I have to continue for the next weeks.
At my first weekend I was invited for Sabbath lunch at the place of the one lady and for Sunday supper to make Baleadas at a different house. It was very much fun to make Baleadas once again. I made them the first time when we were in Honduras in March, and actually it was shortly before we left. Just to explain this for everyone who doesn’t know how this works. To make Baleadas you need to make Tortillas, which is the difficult part. You have dough balls, which you throw back and forth in your hands to make them bigger, so they become thin Tortillas. When I did it for the first time I think I used like 10 minutes for one Tortilla, and it just didn’t want to get bigger. This time it already went a bit faster, which was very nice and also lots of fun. The lady invited me again to her house to learn how to make the dough for the Tortillas. So I am looking forward to learn that as well.
In the short time I have been here, I have for sure already eaten like 6 times Baleadas. Probably everyone who has eaten Baleadas before knows why I mention this. It is probably one of the best foods you can get here. <3
After the weekend the school started on Monday. You can’t believe how nervous I was before my first day. The reason was, that I still remembered how terrible my first day of teaching was, when I was here for the first time. So I was praying a lot and asking God to help me with this.
Still nervous I went to teach my first class and it went surprisingly well. Day after day the classes went very well. There were days when I was exhausted, but still the classes went very well. It was nice for me to see how much the children improved during the time that I wasn’t here. They know more English, they understand what I am saying, and they behave better than before.
Our surprise: Chinese food and Passion Fruit Juice
And the probably coolest thing was, that on Sunday it was Teachers Day, and the parents surprised us on Monday by preparing Chinese Food and Passion Fruit Juice for us, to show their appreciation!
I am very thankful to God that he blessed my first week of teaching so much and that he gave me strength for each day. Thank you for praying for me.
Yours Hanna!