Time is flying by. The season is changing. I've experienced a bit of the wet and cold weather that I've been warned about in the Tegucigalpa winter. I'm loving my class more and more each day. I have gone to the feeding center with Macayla a few times and have started helping her get the jewelry-making ministry going again (see the link for Semillas de Dios for more info.)
I have been meaning to write about one particularly memorable birthday party I attended last month. It was one of my first eye-openers to the class of students I'm teaching.
The birthday girl is the granddaughter of an important family. Grandpa is in charge of all of Honduras' police. The party was particularly posh--with basically any kind of party fixture you could have (bounce house, popcorn and cotton candy, clown, piñata, hot sub makers, cakes, waiters and tents, etc, etc, etc.) But what really made an impression was my ride home! I was told they would bring me back home, and I expected to get a ride with the family when it was all over. But, as the party was winding down, grandma told me to let her know when I was ready to leave and she would tell the driver. So, when I let her know I was ready she flagged over the driver, who led me to their big SUV along with the body guard. Both of them were armed!
On our way home, whenever we would hit a lot of traffic, he would just sound a siren to clear the way! I found out that this student rides with her driver and body guard to school every day, and there is always another car of security following them. When I met with her family during parent-teacher conferences, the body guard was standing outside the door where he could see us. Crazy! AND...there is even more that I don't feel comfortable publishing on a blog. But, if you can, pray for her and her family as elections draw near and instability is possible.
So... that is just a glimpse into the life of one of my students. I'm surprised more and more each day when I learn about the families that have kids at this school. I knew more or less what it would be like when I cam, but it is still quite impressive sometimes.

Just one more reason why I believe in God...

The perfect star inside my papaya.

"Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!" Isaiah 65:18

Soccer. Is. Awesome. Here.

Tonight Honduras qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1982!

What the streets looked like after the game.

Tonight's soccer game was incredible. Honduras played El Salvador tonight, and at the same time the U.S. was playing against Costa Rica. I still don't fully understand the point system for qualifying for the World Cup, but basically the U.S. had already qualified. Costa Rica needed to loose their game, and Honduras needed to win their game in order to earn the points needed to send them to the World Cup. Incredibly, that is what happened!!!
Honduras was winning 1-0 against El Salvador, so we flipped back to watch the U.S. game, because that is what was really going to determine if Honduras qualified. It was amazing! Costa Rica was winning 2-1 and in the LAST 20 SECONDS of the overtime, the U.S. scored a goal that made them tie!!! It was AmAzInG!!!! The whole city flooded Boulevard Morazan and went crazy!! We were with some friends who kept us nice and safe, and we even got filmed by some news crew when someone handed us a big American flag that we waved around!
To make it even better, when we got back in the car to head back to school (because it is a school night after all), I got a call from my principal informing us that the president (that is, the interim president) declared tomorrow to be a national holiday!!! NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!! :)
I love this country.

Teaching and Soccer

Last week was only our second full-length, five-day week since we began school in August. With some weeks having half-days, and others being canceled altogether, we are just now experiencing some normalcy. This week it was kind of hard to be a good teacher and get lots of material taught--I felt out of practice. But it was pretty easy to be a good teacher and love on my students. I had one of those weeks where I just ended each day looking forward to seeing them again in the morning.

In other news, poor Honduras lost the big soccer game last night against the U.S.A. It was quite a game; super exciting and it kept you on your toes, but in the end the U.S. won 3-2. Four of us teachers met up with a couple friends in a Chili's restaurant to watch the game. I had no idea that Chilis would be such an important place to watch soccer. When the 4 of us arrived, we approached the two ladies standing outside with lists and discovered that you needed a reservation to get in. Maybe because we're gringas and maybe because we were gringas wearing Honduras shirts, they found room for us and let us in! I'm glad they did because it turned into quite an event. One of the presidential candidates for this November's election was there with his wife, greeting everyone. Some other candidate for something else (I forget) was there as well. If Honduras had won it would have been the best.
It's kind of sad... in the U.S. there are so few people who even know about games like this or who care one iota about the World Cup. Here, however, the whole country was wearing their team's jersey and watching the game. Winning would mean more to the Hondurans.

I just don't know...

I just don't know who to believe. After arriving in Teguc, I quickly realized that the news coverage of the Honduras coup was biased and incorrect in many aspects. If you watch the news or read an article in the U.S. regarding the political situation in Honduras, you will no doubt hear of the international superpowers' desire to reinstate Manual (Mel) Zelaya as president. However, in my first week here, in the various school orientation sessions when I had the chance to listen to the opinions of Hondurans, I soon learned that this is not the desire of most. Everyone I spoke to was pleased that Mel was removed from power. They rejoiced that they were no longer in danger of becoming a communist nation and they prayed that the U.S. and the U.N. would recognize this blessing.
Wow, I thought. Why doesn't anyone else know they feel this way?
However, the more I think about it, read about it, and speak to various people about it, the more I wonder if these views I heard initially are the views of only one particular class of people. Apparently Mel is well-liked among the poor, something I wouldn't have known by speaking to the more well-off school employees and families. So, I hesitate to choose sides. I really don't know enough (and I doubt that anyone really knows everything). All I want is for the fighting to end and for kids to be able to get to school safely once more.

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Some typical sights around the city... The first is against Mel, the second is against those who ousted him:

(image thanks to surchur.com)

(image thanks to http://isiria.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/honduras-coup-photos/)