Suamy and little sister |
My time in Honduras
4/30/2012
Day Ninety One
My birthday this past week was great!! First off I woke up with the mananitas blasting outside my door, had the internas sing them to me, then sisters, and finally my girls from class. Haha I had never heard the mananitas song so many times in one same day! To celebrate both me and Nicole's birthday the sisters took us out to eat at this little cafe, where they had legit cheesecake! See me and Nicole have been craving this for quite some time now and last time we tried having it were sadly disappointed, the version we had was more like flan. So we were ecstatic at finally having the real thing! Afterwards they took us to this other cafe called Ten Napel Cafe, and can I just state that I am seriously bummed that I'm barely discovering this place so late into my time here, it is literally a little haven spot here in Santa Rosa, they have an awesome patio/garden, BAGELS, PANINI'S and CROISSANTS, and all type of fruit smoothies!! After that me and Nicole got time to go out to our favorite local spot here called MASS and had the most delicious salad! I know, I know all this food probably seems like no big deal, but when all you eat is beans and plantains for practically every meal, everyday, ordinary food like cheesecake and salad become AMAZING!
On Friday I got to go with Suamy one of the internas to her home however it was cut short to one day because I had to teach class on Saturday. Nonetheless she showed me all her (aldea) mini town where all her family lives in. Oh and we prayed the rosary for this couple that passed away about a year ago. So what the town accustoms is to everyday gather and pray the rosary at 7:00 in their former home for an entire year for their souls to rest, which I thought was amazing! Saturday in the afternoon I finally got to visit the sisters of Calcutta orphanage home, where they had about 50 little ones ranging anywhere from newborn to about 5 years old. They were all adorable, wanted to bring one back home with me!! Anyway that was my eventful weekend, it was great couldn't have wished anything more for my 24th birthday.
4/25/2012
Day Eighty Six
Funeral |
Yesi and her boyfriend (right), mom, sister and her boyfriend (left) |
Wedding |
4/10/2012
Day Sixty Eight
Hey everybody it's been a while, but man has this past week been eventful! I missed Easter back at home with my loved one's so much, nonetheless I am so grateful for having holy week off and gotten the opportunity to visit the places I did. Ok so last Friday most of the girls were uber excited to get to go home, few stayed the weekend but by Sunday all had left. So one of them Guendy Lorena invited both me and Nicole back to her home in Santa Barbara for the weekend, it was so interesting to me to see how different "real" life (outside of the institute) is compared to life back in the US. It was an eye opener to me to see that the girls living at the school really do live in necessity, yet they open their home to two guests. And we were truly treated as guests, her mom would always offer us drinks and food making sure we were comfortable. We watched spanish soaps the entire two days we were there, which I don't mind I can personally sit and watch spanish soaps with the best of them, I don't know if I can say the same for Nicole though lol. But anyway yeah lifestyles are much slower paced, everyone kind of just hangs out. The neighbors all would come to the house, sit, and watch the soaps with us, it was like the thing to do. I'm really glad me and Nicole got to share our first visit to one of the girls home together.
Ok so once we came back to Santa Rosa we packed and got everything ready for the next morning to leave at 5:30am to catch our bus to San Pedro where we would have to catch a second bus to Puerto Cortes, where we would then catch the ferry to Belize. We had it all planned and figured out, or so we thought. Turns out the so called prestigious bus we had just bought tickets to like three days prior cancelled without any type of notification or anything! The ferry left at 11am only traveled out of Honduras on Mondays so if we missed it we were pretty much deserted. Against all odds, because there is no slower system as to getting anywhere from point A to B than the Honduran bus system that stops every 10 minutes to pick up people, we took a regular bus to San Pedro. From there the Puerto Cortes bus took forever and a half to get to the port and dropped off us like 5 blocks away from the dock, so with our luggage and all we ran to the dock racing against time to catch the ferry, because God knows we were determined to make that ferry! And thank the Lord we did!! :)
After all that when we came back home we still made another trip to El Salvador the following day! It was really nice though all the sisters went which is a first, one usually stays behind. But this time all seven came and we enjoyed a nice day at the park, ate way too much food, and laid out on hammocks! Oh and saw a "mini" zoo, and I'm not using the term mini lightly here. There were literally like 4 animals, it was totally pleasant though and I'm really thankful for the sisters inviting me and Nicole to go.
Guendy Lorena's |
After a two hour bumpy ferry ride and unnecessary immigration wait alas we had arrived in Placencia. But oh boy was it all worth it. It is such a beautiful undiscovered gem I feel, there were hardly any tourists around, yet so many friendly locals waiting to greet us and make our visit the best possible. There was so much to do and see, 4 days just didn't seem like enough time. A couple of hours after our arrival, Nicole's mom and sister arrived, and oh my goodness they were the sweetest people! I seriously felt a part of family around them, it was awesome meeting them! We went to the monkey river saw an abundance of nature's beauty, went snorkeling on beautiful island beaches where we saw ginormous turtles and sting rays, ate flavorful delicious foods, and met a bunch of down to earth, good people in Placencia. I honestly HAVE TO go back there sometime in my lifetime, it was just a great place to be, not only because it's naturally beautiful but the people, the culture, and the relaxation one feels there truly makes it a blissful experience.
Island we snorkeled off |
Nicole's amazing family |
The sisters!! |
Now it's back to school time, and lesson planning. I love teaching though it's a lot of fun surprisingly. I only have a little over three weeks to go, I can't believe how fast time has passed! I will try and make the most of my time left here god willing :) thank you all for your prayers and best wishes!
3/24/2012
Day Fifty One
3/20/2012
Day Forty Seven
I think I'm really starting to grow a liking to this whole teaching experience. I officially started my english class this past Monday and although I had heard some scary things about the year I was teaching "segundo bachillerato" girls, which is the pretty much the equivalent to junior year girls in high school, they are really good. They pay attention, participate in class, and know a lot more english than I thought. Plus, I really like the fact that we are in total control of how we want to run the class, it really gives me a chance to be creative in my lesson planning. Lesson planning me and Nicole like to try and do at the plaza/park in front of the cathedral, where locals go have coffee at and just sit and people watch, so we kind of go and do the same. Oh on another completely different note, so the rooster that would wake me up every day is no longer with us...that's right they killed and ate him!! Safe to say that was not one of the foods I was eager to eat. However I did make a new discovery, there's this fruit called sapote and although it doesn't really look too appetizing it is one of the most delicious fruits I've ever tried! If you by chance see it at the grocery store please do try.
Yesterday and today a bunch of psychologist came from out of town they will be staying here with us a couple of days, so me and Nicole had to pack all of our things and move to a college dorm size room minus the bathroom and closet space. So we're basically living out of our suitcases, I like it though it feels cozier than the other huge room we had, plus showers are nice and hot in the new bathroom :) I had a long chat with Sor Che during lunch today. She has literally traveled all over the world, and has lived many years in Italy and Argentina, hence the nickname Che. I love talking to her and Sor Virma, they both grew up in the 60's/70's so although they are older than the other sister's they are much more liberal. They are very feminist and passionate about one standing up for ones rights, true revolutionists in spirit. Very inspiring women who I try to gain a little wisdom from everyday.
3/10/2012
Day Thirty Seven
Today was a very productive day for me and Nicole. We had an all out cleaning session all morning, started lesson planning for our english classes coming up and bought essential toiletries. We didn't get to go to the ruins today though, our tour guide had to work, but watched "Eat, Pray, Love" instead and enjoyed the sweetness of doing nothing in the evening. The ruins will have to wait for this coming weekend.
This week seemed to go by slower than past, not sure what the difference was. Maybe the fact that we didn't have running water for four days could've had something to do with it...it was interesting though. I washed my hair in the sink for the first time, thanks Nicole for helping me out on that one! It really beats doing it by yourself, standing while pouring water down with a bucket can get awfully cold. Anyway something interesting I noticed about the "internas" this past week, is that they have many ambitions but one most of them have in common is to travel or live in the states. One of them told me she wanted to volunteer in the U.S. she wants to have a good career and all but told me that she really had a desire to give back, because a life without philanthropy just seemed empty and meaningless. I learn from these girls each and every single day, they are so full of dreams and life, it is truly inspiring to me. As I am learning about myself and my relationship with God I feel at peace with myself and my surroundings. I want my family and parents to know that I love and miss them very much and to not worry about me so much, to just trust and pray for me please. Tomorrow is our adult class' first exam, hopefully we have taught them well. Well that is all for now, peace and love to all goodnight.
This week seemed to go by slower than past, not sure what the difference was. Maybe the fact that we didn't have running water for four days could've had something to do with it...it was interesting though. I washed my hair in the sink for the first time, thanks Nicole for helping me out on that one! It really beats doing it by yourself, standing while pouring water down with a bucket can get awfully cold. Anyway something interesting I noticed about the "internas" this past week, is that they have many ambitions but one most of them have in common is to travel or live in the states. One of them told me she wanted to volunteer in the U.S. she wants to have a good career and all but told me that she really had a desire to give back, because a life without philanthropy just seemed empty and meaningless. I learn from these girls each and every single day, they are so full of dreams and life, it is truly inspiring to me. As I am learning about myself and my relationship with God I feel at peace with myself and my surroundings. I want my family and parents to know that I love and miss them very much and to not worry about me so much, to just trust and pray for me please. Tomorrow is our adult class' first exam, hopefully we have taught them well. Well that is all for now, peace and love to all goodnight.
3/04/2012
Day Thirty One
Maria Auxiliadora School in San Salvador |
Don Bosco Church |
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