¡Fiesta!

these are all from a birthday party we had a couple weeks ago for two kids from Amber´s church in Mogote. We had the ¨little kids¨ over, with mac n cheese with hotdogs, and cupcakes for dessert! Aren´t they so adorable?! We got a kick out of watching them give Pooh a street style beat down! And they got prize bags afterwards. This is something Amber and I hope to keep doing in the future. I think we had just as much fun planning it and watching the kids as they did. Oh, in the foto of the kids in a group from the side, they are at our local park and they are looking across the street at a house with a live pet monkey named Poncho that hangs out on the balcony. We had fun taunting him by screaming his name. But he´s on a leash so he just ran around the balcony like crazy wishing he could join our club! He´s so cute too. Amber and I want to adopt one but they are really expensive. Any sponsors out there want to help us out?

Earthquake!

This is old news now, but this is the first time i've had time to blog about it. Last Sunday, the 19th, I woke up at 1:30am feeling the ground shake and hearing a rumble. I couldn't believe it was an earthquake. I thought i was dreaming that i was in SoCal again! I just laid there awhile, scared for a minute that there would be big aftershocks and waiting to see if Amber would come in screaming for me to save her! But when nothing else happened, I fell back asleep and forgot about it till the next day when people talked about it at school. Then I knew that I wasn't dreaming. In a weird way, it was kind of cool becuase it did make me feel at home! oh happy day! I didn't even know they had earthquakes in Honduras. I guess I shouldn't so readily admit that since I am a geography teacher. I'm supposed to know where all those plate thingy's are. It originated in Nicaragua and was felt in El Salvador too. No serious problems occured that I know of. Just something to blog about.

Roatan

Prenote: The pictures aren't in any order so if i talk about them i'm sure you'll figure out which one's are which. Sorry for the disorganization. I just put them all on at once. Roatan is the main one of the islands off the north coast of Honduras. My mom came in only for 8 hours on a cruise ship, so Beto, Amber, and I got a two day trip to see her. It would've been a 3-day trip without flying! Ok, that's enough prenoting.

a note about the pictures...Beto and Amber sitting at a table is the hotel restaurant and the scenery pictures of plants and stairs are of our hotel-beach cabins. They were so nice with a little kitchenette and big bano, and a hammock hanging outside on the porch. heavenly! It was so quiet and peaceful there. we could only hear the sounds of numerous different animals.

The night before we left for Roatan, there was a lot of cooking going on! Amber had a lot of fun making cinnamon rolls. She liked to watch them bake. Mmm…we all couldn’t wait till they were done. Beto made “Guatemalan tacos” from scratch. I got to help but you didn’t need to see any pictures of that.

We flew into Roatan Tuesday at 8am(Beto’s first flight, which is why he’s reading the emergency card) and from the plane we saw a cruise ship at dock, so we got excited and thought my mom’s ship was really early, so we took a taxi to the dock and waited for her for awhile. We saw a lot of tour busses pass us on the way to the dock and I kept looking for my mom. We weren’t allowed to enter the dock area, it was only for boat passengers. Finally someone we asked told us that another ship was coming in at 12:30pm, which is what my mom told me, and she also told me the name of her ship which was different from the one at dock at 8:30. Duh! I was just so excited I wasn’t thinking right.
So we left to go find a hotel, and then went swimming for a couple hours. At about 11am we saw a ship in the distance and we thought it was the other earlier ship leaving. Later we found out it was my mom’s ship coming in early. We didn’t get to the dock until 1 and mom and her friend Gladys had been walking around looking for us since 11:30! We just can’t win!
It was a great reunion with my mom and her friend Gladys. We rented a van to drive us around wherever we wanted to go and wait for us when we wanted to get food, get out to take pictures, and hang out on the beach. We had a great time together but it certainly wasn’t long enough. I was very sad to see my mom go but I have plans to come home for about 2 weeks in May, which isn’t too far off.
The next day, Wednesday, Beto, Amber, and I stayed in Roatan because the only plane leaves at 6pm, which we didn’t make on Tuesday night. So we had all of Wednesday to relax and have fun. We went snorkeling, which was the first time for Beto and me. It was amazing to see so much life below the ocean, so many beautiful fish, plants, and even barracudas and snakes! Yikes! We went pretty far from shore and were in the water for about 2 hours. We totally lost track of time and Amber and I came home very sunburned on our backs. Ouch! But we lived. It was a great time and I didn’t want to leave. Roatan, Even though it’s expensive, it’s quiet, relaxing and there’s so much to do there. The next day I stayed home to rest up from my vacation! No, really, I had a really gross throat infection and went to the dr., but I’m better now. I just am so thankful the mom got to come meet Beto and Amber. What a blessing!

Roatan

oh dear, what...TEETH! you have!

The view from the park up near our house is 99% of the time so beautiful. This picture doesnt even begin to capture it.

Beto and I having fun at our favorite mexican restaurant. We got a lot of laughs from the workers since we were some of the only people in there this day. Oh, what a hot couple! rrrrrrr.......

Congrats, Scotty and Kelly!

My dear, old friend Scotty VanAtta got married February 18 to Kelly. Of course, neither of them are old, but Scotty and I have known each other since he was in 2nd grade and I was in 4th.
Congratulations you two! I am so happy for you and am so sad I couldn’t be at your wedding. Many blessings to you both in your new marriage! I love you guys!
Here Scotty´s making a ¨root beer float¨by drinking a vanilla shake and root beer at the same time. Delicious and nutritious, well, sort of.

working it out

On the left, Catlheen (and yes her name is spelled right), the one in the blue sweatshirt, gave a speech on how to make a salad with her "special dressing." She let everyone take turns cutting and pouring in the dressing. I was so proud of her and the class is a bunch of monkeys!
On the right the boys are playing a multiplication game. The girls played too but the boys seemed to enjoy it more, well, maybe just Brandon. You can guess who that is.
The pictures at the top are of afire we had yesterday, Thursday, in the hood. it started near the school. I was typing a test in the computer lab when i heard what i thought was hard rain, which was strange because we've not had that here in awhile and it was hot. When i opened the window i saw giant flames on the hill just across from the school and miss alina shouting at the school vans to get out. i got outta there fast, walked home, when there i heard the same thing, loud! we went outside and it was close but not too too close. the firemen were up the street and smoke and ash were everywhere, which is what catherine is "playing" in. seems horrible to be playing in ash. it all turned out to be a "controlled" fire to prepare for the hottest, driest month:El Marzo. yippee!

Wednesday

What a slow day. I thought it would never end. I only like Wednsdays because I get 8th and 9th grade out of th way right away in the morning, when usualy they are tired and still asleep, but they did pretty good today. I was so tired by the end of th day. It´s starting to warm up. March is the hottest month of the year, i hear, so it´s getting close.
today 4th grade celebrated Raquel´s bday. it was so fun and cute.Xavier´s mom made the most delicious cake Ive had in a realy long time, especially here. So good and home made. The kids tried to keep it a surprise but when they ask questions like, Do you think we have somthing going on?, to Raquel, it kind of points out that they are trying to hide something. duh. but they are kids. and were so excited. they brought coke, chips and presents. I forgot my camera again so i wanted to write about it before i forgot anything. I let them have coke and dance in the classsroom during lunch. Xavier also brought his radio and cd´s. if only getting them to bring their homework was so easy. Raquel was so sweet. She said she loved this class and was so happy to be in it, as she was twirlign around during lunch. I am glad my kids have such a sense of community and get along so well together. I think that´s why i love working with them and it outweighs the annoying times, like when i have to teach language or phonics. I admit I´m jsut as bored as them
Today after school I walked here to the internet cafe where there seems to be a mosquito convention. I walked faster than the cars, but only because they weren´t moving, because for some reason the city decided to build a huge hole in the ground smack dab in the middle of a four way intersection without lights or stop signs, and huge school busses have to pass through with other cars and the whole space can fit a medium sized truck, that´s it.
Well, tongith Amber and I are having our first adult guests over for dinner. Not that kids don´t count but they don´t feel so formal. I´m really excited to have our friends, Steve and Jeanne White. Steve is the president of Baxter. They are super sweet parent figures to us and a true blessing.