Week 2

One word that summarizes this week is: preparation. Classes for my grade (ciclo 1= equivalent to 7^th grade) begins on Wednesday, but for the first few days we’ll just be doing some housekeeping stuff such as introductions, expectations, rules, syllabus and all that good stuff, all which takes a lot of time to prepare for. For the next few days I will be preparing my lesson plans. The one downside in all this is that the textbooks (for lack of a better term) suck. But even worst is that we have to stick with the textbooks because the students will be given a test every month on specific material from the books. I’ve never really thought of how important textbooks are until now. Now I regret all the things I scribbled in my grade school textbooks.

-This week it was made official: I’m going to be teaching soccer!!! For those who really know me, know that soccer is my life. I’m really excited to coach because from what I hear, the girls actually like to play soccer, which makes a major difference.

Politics

One of the very first things that came to mind when I accepted the program was that I wouldn’t be in the U.S for the elections. For us (political science majors), watching the elections is like watching the super bowl for football fanatics. I was a bit sad about this but that’s when I decided that I would make it a mission to learn as much as I could about the politics in Honduras. So I began to ask a few random people, but they just gave me a general response, like “its all a big mess”. A few days ago I asked one of the other tutors, Andrea, and she gave a great summary of the current politics. She knew so much about it because of her uncle who was closely involved with President Manuel Zelaya in 2009 during the golpe de estado (Coup d'état). This Saturday I had the luxury to meet him and hear his point of view on the current situation. I am soo happy to have found a Honduran that is as passionate about politics as I am. This one-hour conversation opened up my eyes and explained soo many things about the Honduran culture.

On Wednesday we went to the Basilica de La Virgen de Suyapa in Tegucigalpa. Here are some pictures:

Week one

I haven’t posted anything since I’ve gotten here because I’ve been busy trying to get adjusted to my Catracho/Honduran lifestyle. Life here has been great so far. The weather is amazing, some sun-some nice breeze. As a group we have been great, I feel like I've lived with Matt and Christina for years. We've cooked some great Italian, American, and Mexican dinners, best combo ever. We’ve been spending a lot of time at the CMP (The Marie Poussepin Center) trying to prepare for the start of the semester. Last Monday we had something similar to a parent-teacher meeting which was exciting. 

-On Saturday we went to the finca (farm) and worked on building a greenhouse, which wasn't easy but definitely alot of fun and a great learning experience. That afternoon we worked on making a little garden in our yard, which was NOT easy. I now have alot of respect for all the farmers out there. 

Christina's face says it all lol

 -Sunday was GTL (gym-tan-laundry) Day. Since we don't have washing machines here we have to wash our cloths by hand on the pila outside. So I was working out by washing my cloths while standing in the sun. The REAL GTL!!

Also the GIANTS WON!!!! yeahh buddyyyy!!!!!!

- Today I finally got my schedule and classes that I will be teaching. I have a class of 11 seventh graders and I will be teaching science, math, technology, and spanish. I got really scared when I opened up the math textbook and realized how much simple math I don't remember. I have alot alot!! of preparing to do before classes officially start next week. I'm pretty overwhelmed with all this but its no big deal because I graduated from Stonehill, at least that's what I keep telling myself lol This is light work for the kid.

 Overall, it was a great week these were just some of the highlights. I will try my best to keep posting as much as I can, just bare with me because blogging is new for me and I apologize for any grammatical and spelling errors and random Bronx slang or just words or phrases that I have made up- I've had enough of worrying about that in college.

boom

Orientation Day 3:

Today was just another solid day of orientation, but nothing stands out more than seeing Liza and Jacky (Liza Talusan is the Director of Intercultural Affairs at Stonehill College and Jacqueline Guzman is the Assistant Director). Liza has been a major influence and role model since my freshmen year of college. Seeing her today made me realize how far I've come in life. A few years ago I would have never imagined that I would have gone to college and graduated, a year ago I would have never imagined that I would be doing a year of service in Honduras. Jacky provided great support and encouragement during the process of deciding whether or not to go with the program, especially because she had gone through some of the same issues I was going through. Seeing them today just gave me that final push of encouragement that I needed.

Orientation Day 1

Today I arrived on campus with my parents for the first day of orientation. I’m glad that they were able to take part because for the first time they were able to meet the great people whom I will be spending the year with.  They were also able to hear the great experiences from the returning volunteers, which definitely made a huge impact, especially after all the “danger” concerns. Most importantly, the parent orientation gave me what I had been looking for all these months, which was my mothers’ 100% approval. I think she finally realized why I wanted to do this after meeting and talking with all the loving-great people that are involved in the program. I finally felt at peace and more than ever ready to go.

Why...

I’m usually the type of person that is against anything that has to do with blogging, but I’ve decided to go against that for the purpose of this yearlong journey. For those who are clueless: (Long story short) I will be doing a year of service in Guaimaca, Honduras alongside Matthew Rigby and Christina Martone. To learn more about the mission visit the Facebook page:

 Guaimaca Mission Honduras