It is hard to not get overwhelmed when I think about the small snippets of my life that add up to the paragraphs of my life that I want to share with you. I’d rather the snippets not multiply into the number of paragraphs that become so costoso (tedious) to read (or find the time to read!)

Yesterday morning when the first children started entering my classroom I wanted to freeze frame them into my memory—freshly showered and hair slicked back or to the side—some with a little bit of gel to hold that look for the rest of the day (yes, those few hair gel-ed know how cool they are). Their uniforms are still pressed, scrubbed back to white, not bearing the marks that so quickly come with play, from the dust that inhabits every centimeter of our classroom, the markers that they play with during class (that I confiscate! It really is amazing how much stuff I confiscate each day! At recess and at lunch I end up with toys—cool stuff like motorcycle airplane transformers and water guns—sticking out of my pockets and pencils protruding from every angle out of my ponytail. What a sight I must be (though I’m slightly thankful for no full length mirrors in my life). Anyway, it is a look surely pioneered by their mothers, an image to lock into your memory, because certainly before 10am, those perfectly white uniform shirts don’t even know what hit them.

There was a day (it must be a few weeks ago now) that I finally became ok with being here. I never questioned my decision to teach here, and as you have read in earlier blogs, I am enjoying my housemates and my students, but there was still a sadness I felt about the change in my life (being a big one) and the ache to be sharing such an experience with the people I love in a more than please-read-my-blog way, but perhaps a them-here-with-me way ;) This day, it was the day after my town-wide search for bananas. I was itching for a banana licuado in the worst way. I tried every little pulp (pulpería=little general store that usually sells what you need in small quantities) I passed on my way home from school with no luck. What?! No bananas in Honduras? What was happening? It was a twilight zone experience. So I went home puzzled. The next day I was walking to where I was going to use the phone and a man stopped me on the street. I was a little startled because I didn’t recognize him, but then I realized he was just stopping me to tell me that there were bananas in the pharmacy (what pharmacy?) because he had seen my quest for bananas the previous day!

Anna and I started walking to school the back way, the much more scenic route. I’d like to say that it was because of the better scenery, but in reality it probably had something to do with the fact that vehicles (cars, trucks, and buses alike) all seemed to have it out for us as we walked down the more traveled road. It almost seemed to be a game to see how close they could fly past us on the street forcing dust and exhaust upon us. Mom, I’m sure you’re very glad at this moment that we are no longer walking that way. I thought of you in this decision ;) It also takes away the crushed anticipation when we do not get picked up by any students’ parents as they take their child to school :)

And as for funnies…

This first one shows how much my students have progressed because I don’t think they would have picked up on this before. I was reminding them sternly (once again!) to raise their hand when they have something to say. This is so uber important in our setting where there is so much noise from all sides! But instead of saying, “Please raise your hands!” I said, “Please raise your names!” I didn’t even realize my mistake until one of my students pointed it out to me! I started chuckling and shared with my class the mistake that I had made. For the past two days whenever Julia raises her hand she yells out “Julia!” When I questioned what she was doing she said smartly that she was “raising her name.” Ha.

One funny one that got us all laughing in the house was at the expense of one of Bridget’s ninth grade students. Neto was writing about his grandfather that had died from a “heart unemployment.” Bridget caught this while she was grading and asked us all what we thought he meant by that. Finally it came to us. Do you get it? He was trying to say that his grandfather died when his heart stopped working! Stopped working! Unemployment! Ah!

Ok, lastly I want to tell you that Marilyn’s mother is here. We were all excited. New face. News from the North (p.s. please tell me if there are ever any giant tropical storms heading my way…) It has been better than Christmas! She brought us a Delta Airlines carry on sized bag full of chocolates! A box of oreos! Magazines! TV series on DVDs! She brought me facewash! Hilary has a stopwatch! It has raised moral that is fo shizle. Alright. More soon. Exams next week. But hopefully before then.

sarah