Crime

Though Honduras is a violent country, Siguatepeque has always been peaceful as far as cities go, and I don't think the crime rate is higher than that in any given U.S. city. But lately, with the unrest in Honduras, I've been hearing more and more stories of crime. This time it happened to a friend - my 5th-grade assistant, Ana. A few hours ago, some men went into her apartment, looking for a drug dealer. When they realized it was the wrong house, they took her money and cell phone and tied her feet. They put a gun to her head and asked if she wanted to die. She said no, and they left her. She's very shook up but thankfully unharmed. Please pray for her and the rest of us in Honduras, for peace and safety. In anticipation of the responses to this post, I'll say that I don't think the situation is bad enough for me to leave the country. I wasn't called to be safe and comfortable - I got past that desire a long time ago. I'm safer in the place to which God has called me than in the safest city in the world.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. -Psalm 34:7

Laughs

Our school needs prayer big time. So many staff members are out, and the rest of the staff is working double-time to compensate. Profe Edith's husband's surgery went well, but he will have to be in the hospital in Tegucigalpa for a while longer, and she has asked for another 15 days' leave. Profe Sonia, my counterpart, who is the elementary school teacher with the most experience working in this school and had become our go-to person in Profe Edith's leave, has been out since Monday. She will be out for a month, completing her practicum. The woman hired as Profe Sonia's substitute has been out for several days because her mother-in-law died. Yicel, our secretary, has taken over Profe Edith's duties and has been substituting in the 5th and 6th grade for Profe Sonia's substitute, but she was out for a day or two this week as well. My assistant, Ana, is rarely in my classroom because she is filling in for Profe Edith in other areas. Lindsay, the 1st and 2nd grade English teacher has been out sick this week with a virus. Stephanie, one of the high school teachers, was out for a couple of days with a virus, and Shelby, our special ed person who fills in everywhere, is just now getting over a sickness. Steve, another high school teacher, was also out for a couple of days. I came down with a cold (strep throat?) last week from the bacteria-carrying dust that pollutes all of Honduras because of unpaved roads. Last Friday was a tough day for teaching because I was losing my voice. On Saturday, I could barely speak, but thankfully by Monday I had my voice almost completely back. I didn't have to miss a day of teaching, but I'm still getting over the cold symptoms. Please pray for health and wholeness and a fully-staffed school.

Let me tell you how much I enjoy my 5th graders. They have such personality and so much love. There are times when they behave so well and are so engaged in a lesson, and there are times when they sorely disappoint me, but they always bring a smile to my face. For example, this week when I told them to take out their Science books, practically the whole class groaned. Blue Planet, the book we use, is pretty dry, and I'm doing my best to spice it up. I told them that they needed to choose to have a good attitude, and several students said, "Yes! Blue Planet! Woohoo!" So that's the new thing - now they'll groan when I ask them to take out a book they don't like, but it'll immediately be followed by an overcompensation of exaggerated excitement.

For both of my classes, when they've had a good day behavior-wise, I put a sticker on a paper I have posted on the whiteboard that is labeled "Game Time". When they have five stickers, I give them a class period to just play games as a reward. When the 5th graders are getting rowdy, several students will say, "Shhhh! Sticker day!" to remind them that they must behave if they want a sticker. At the end of the day, they ask me if it was a sticker day. If it was, I go to the board and start taking a sticker to place on the "Game Time" paper. Several 5th graders shush the class, and there is dead silence until I've placed the sticker, at which point the class erupts in "woohoos" and applause. They are hilarious.

The 5th graders' classwork and homework make me laugh, too. Here are some examples of things they've written:
Write a sentence with the word isn't: That man isn't a chicken, he is a human.
What connection can you make between the book and your life?: That is beautiful book and is very fun like my life.
Use the word "awesome" in a sentence: The classes of Miss Emily are awesome.
Was your hypothesis right? Yes, I win.

The other week, when parents came to pick up their students' grades, the mother of one of my brilliant 5th graders thanked me because her son is delighted with my class, and she and her husband are delighted with the way I run class and the way I discipline. That felt good :-)

My 6th graders are okay when the two troublemakers are removed, but those two really ruin it for the rest of the class. Please pray for them and me.

Both of my new students are doing well, though Daniela in 6th grade has a lot of catching up to do to reach the level of her classmates.

The Honduran presidential elections are coming up November 29th. We've been warned that there may be more unrest and more curfews around that time. Please pray for peace and for the right people to come into leadership in this country. Thank you.

Changes

I've really been enjoying my students lately. We still have good days and bad days, but the 5th graders are always so eager to learn, and the 6th graders have started coming to school some days eager to learn. I was teaching my 5th graders about surface tension - how water molecules stick together. I demonstrated it by getting two cups of water, and pouring the water from one cup into the other, little by little, until the water bulged above the brim of the cup. They thought it was the coolest thing ever and were exuberant at the chance to do the experiment in partners. They were so engaged that when the bell rang for recess, no one ran from class. Some of them stayed several minutes, experimenting and excitedly showing me their brimming cups. It was a teacher's dream lesson :o)

I had the chance last weekend to go to one of the 5th-grade girl's birthday parties. I played Twister Moves and Hide-And-Seek with her and her friends from 5th grade. They loved having their teacher there - they're still at that age. Not the 6th graders.

I was sick this week from food poisoning, and several 5th graders were obviously concerned for me and kept asking me how I was feeling. Monday through Wednesday, I felt horrible. Thursday was the first day I felt well. Thank God, because that day I had to teach every class from 7:30-2:15 without any breaks (Monday, Tuesday and Friday I have prep time while the students are at Gym, Music, or Computer class). I also had a meeting with a 5th grader's parents at lunchtime. They were upset at how his English grades had slipped since last year and were placing the blame on me for not letting them know every time he failed to pass in his homework, and they questioned my grading methods. Thankfully, with the help of other staff members, they came to the realization that expectations are higher this year because he is in upper elementary school and because the English department is being revamped.

I had a new student, Daniela, join the 6th grade on Monday. Her English skills are very basic, and she's been accepted to the school on a conditional basis with the help of a tutor every day after school. But she has a good attitude, and every day she thanks me for giving her class and tells me that she only understood a little but will learn in time. She's become good friends with the outcast of the class, which has helped the dynamics a bit. Tomorrow, I have a new student joining the 5th grade. Her name is Yvonne. She is from a children's home on scholarship and was in this school before but got pulled out for a year or so because of an attitude problem. Please pray for these two girls and my ability to integrate them into the classroom.

More changes are coming in the staff, as well. Profe Sonia, my Honduran counterpart, has been taking education courses for four years, and now she has to do her practicum, for which she will be on leave from her job during a month. A week from tomorrow, the day that Profe Edith comes back, will be Profe Sonia's first day of leave. Thank God they won't both be gone at the same time, but it's going to be hard not to have Profe Sonia's support for a month and for my students to have their regular Spanish teacher replaced with a substitute for that amount of time. Please pray for the right substitute to be found and for a smooth transition.

There are three students in 5th grade who seem to have ADHD, besides the one in 6th grade. They are a huge disruption to the class, and the school isn't fully equipped to deal with learning disabilities. We do have a teacher who devotes some of her time to special education, and she has started pulling these 5th graders out during Reading class to work with them. Pray for these students and us, their teachers. We're meeting individually with their parents this week because they have each had three detentions - the next step is an in-school suspension.

Just to let you know a little about what life is like in Siguatepeque... The weather has turned cool and rainy. I haven't heard any news of the political situation lately, and life is carrying on as normal. Things in general are just not as dependable in an underdeveloped country... Since we have well water at the school, we at the teacher's house always have water when we turn on the faucet. But our coworkers who live down the street often take showers over here because they have running water only once every few days. Their water situation is worse than mine was in my first house in Honduras. Also, it's not rare to lose electricity at least once a week. Sometimes it's out for an hour, sometimes for a day. Yesterday and today have been worse than usual. The electricity has been turning off and on all day long for a few minutes or a few hours at a time. I don't know what's wrong, but I hope the problem gets fixed pronto! It's hard to get work done without electricity.

Please pray for my ability to relax and rest and receive God's grace in every aspect of my life, to empower me to do what He has called me to do. Thank you so much.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. -Ephesians 3:7

Hard times

Tova is dead. The family that was taking care of him did a great job, and he was very happy, but because he was so crazy and stubborn, he would still sometimes escape. They tied him up at night to prevent it, but they couldn't keep him tied up all day. They got back from church two Sundays ago, and he was gone. They found him on the side of a road and could tell he had been hit by a car. The family was devastated and felt guilty, though I told them I don't blame them and am thankful for everything they did for him. That dog was such an inconvenience, but he was a great dog, and I loved him and invested so much time, energy and money into him. I went through the stages of grief pretty quickly: shock, tears, acceptance. But it's hard to move on, because people keep finding out about it one by one. Yesterday, my neighbors asked me how he was doing and said their girls had been talking about his upcoming birthday. They're the ones who found him for me, brought me to pick him up, and lent me the money to buy him. I had to break the news to them. Today, Iris (my cleaning lady) asked how he was doing and said her son has been asking if they can visit him. She's the one who took care of him over the summer. When I told her, she began to cry and share good memories of him. He was a well-loved dog, which makes his death that much more painful.

This week was exam week, and I have to turn in the grades for quarter one in two weeks. A lot of students are failing because they don't turn in homework. If a student fails, I'm obligated by Honduran law to give him/her an hour-long reinforcement class after school and then a recuperation exam as a second chance at passing. So I have a lot of work ahead of me, and I've already done so much work to try to stay on top of these students. But what I've done isn't enough - certain parents keep asking me to do more, like write a note in the agenda of every student who didn't turn in their homework that day. Even though I already have a homework chart where they can see what they're missing, and I constantly remind them. Even though I sent individualized letters home to the parents of students who were in danger of failing to tell them what they had to do to pass. Even though they're old enough to be responsible for their own work. I'm pretty much exhausted, but I'm feeling a lot better about next quarter because I am much better planned, I actually know what I'm doing this time around, and I have better systems in place to deal with all these potential problems.

Please pray for Juan in 6th grade, who might get expelled because of his extremely disrespectful attitude and lack of self-motivation. We're working with him and his mom to try to turn things around. Pray for Samuel, who can't seem to calm down and cooperate and always disrupts the class. In 5th grade, pray for Cesar, who obviously has special needs and is finally going to get some one-on-one help next week. He's smart but can't sit still for two seconds, and he's dishonest. Pray for Salvatore and Javier, who also have trouble staying on task. Pray for all the other students who are either led astray or discouraged by their classmates' behavior. Pray for me. I'm starting to get a handle on classroom management, and things are getting better, but I have a ways to go.

Pray for Profe Edith, my principal. She is a wonderful woman and a huge support to me. Her husband has cancer and was going to have surgery, but they keep putting it off because he is too weak. They've rescheduled it once again for Monday, and Edith is going to be out for two weeks, which is going to make things harder for me and many other people. Pray for restoration, health and peace.

I've been informed that the family of Micheletti (our interim president) has been the target of terrible acts of violence by those wanting to put the ousted president, Zelaya, back in power. Micheletti recently announced that he is no longer going to stand in the way but is going to allow Congress to vote on whether or not to reinstate Zelaya. His term is almost over, anyway - elections are in November - , and I don't think Congress wants Zelaya back. I don't think anyone intelligent does. Please pray for wisdom and peace and for God to raise up godly leaders.
See my online album for new photos. Thank you for your prayers.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. -James 5:16

Visas, soccer, and the roller coaster of life

Last weekend, the English teachers all had to leave the country to renew our visas, so we went to Belize. We really preferred not to go...we spent half the time traveling, got behind in our work, and had to spend money on border fees, lodging, food, and ferry (the school paid for our ground transportation). But the part we spent in Belize was pretty amazing. Photos are here.

Soccer is huge in Honduras. EVERYONE follows the games...except for me. When Honduras has won, I know it because people everywhere are cheering, and I can usually hear it from wherever I am. A little while ago, Honduras lost a game against the U.S., but they still weren't out of the running for the World Cup. The other day, Honduras was playing against El Salvador at the same time the U.S. was playing against Costa Rica. In order for Honduras to make it to the World Cup, they had to win their game, and the U.S. had to win against or tie Costa Rica. Honduras won, but the U.S. was down by two for most of their game, and the Honduran commentators were giving updates on both games at once. Then towards the end, the U.S. scored, and finally, in the last 30 seconds, they tied. As soon as they knew the outcomes of both games, some friends went downtown to join the hundreds of Hondurans who were celebrating in the Plaza. There were Hondurans waving U.S. flags and thanking the gringos for allowing Honduras to be in the World Cup. I highly recommend seeing the video one of my friends took here.

In other news, my 5th graders are a wonderful bunch of kids, but I'm still having all sorts of ups and downs with them. And I still don't feel at all respected by my 6th graders. So please pray for wisdom, favor, creativity and help. I'm still bogged down in work, but this weekend gave me a breather, and there's no school on Wednesday. Exam week is a week from Monday, and then the first quarter will be over...that means I have exams to write, subject matter to review, and grades to calculate. With all the stress and all the ups and downs, though, I still wake up most mornings with joy and a feeling of excitement. It's refreshing because most of my life hasn't been that way.

There are a few new photos in my online album.
The ex-president is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. -Psalm 90:14-17

Standstill

Things are back to normal in Siguatepeque, but the situation with the ex-president is still not resolved, so keep praying. Here's an excerpt from an article published earlier this week:

"Honduras’s interim leaders suspended key civil liberties on Sunday for 45 days in response to calls for insurrection by ousted president Manuel Zelaya.

The measures were put in place just hours after Mr Zelaya urged his supporters to stage a protest in Tegucigalpa on Monday, to mark the three month anniversary of the coup that ousted him.

The government announced the decree on national television on Monday saying it was to protect the public and guarantee peace in the country.

It means that police and soldiers have the authority to break up any unauthorized public meetings, arrest people without warrants and restrict the news media."

My 5th graders exhaust me because it is so hard to keep their full attention. Many of them have told me they love me, they love my class, and I'm their "favorite Miss" (meaning favorite English teacher). Their parents have told me that their children are very happy with me and they can tell I'm a quality teacher. The 5th graders show they're enthusiastic to learn, yet I don't have their respect. I'm supposed to be observed sometime soon and get some much-needed advice, so please pray that it will happen soon and that I can turn things around.

Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible. -Matthew 19:26

P.S. - There are a few new pictures in my online album.

Political chaos

Ex-President Manuel Zelaya, who was removed from office after having broken many laws, left the country in great debt, and tried to make himself dictator, returned to Honduras on Monday and has been staying in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital. A national curfew was imposed at 4:00 pm Monday and keeps being extended so that no one can go out at any time of day and schools had to be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. To use a comparison made by some coworkers, it's like a snow day, minus the snow, plus an ex-president. Hundreds of people have been arrested in the major cities for defying the curfew, and others have been imprisoned for what has been called violence, vandalism, and terrorist activities. The jails have run out of room, and they have started to use stadiums. I heard on the news that even children and the elderly have been arrested. Zelaya has many supporters who have carried out violent demonstrations in the capital in his favor. He says he wants peace, but he had to know that his presence would only bring chaos. He, along with Hillary Clinton and many other authorities, are asking for a peaceful dialogue...to what end? The Organization of American States is demanding his reinstatement as president. Micheletti, the interim president until November elections, insists that Zelaya is either to leave the country or be brought to trial for his crimes.

We are fine in Siguatepeque. There are no demonstrations here - the only evidence of the situation is the curfew. I haven't left the house since Monday, but a Honduran friend walked seven blocks to get to the teachers' house and told us that many people are out, and there are even some stores open. He claims that whether the country is faced with disaster from a hurricane, an earthquake, or war, Siguatepeque is always peaceful. The day things turn scary in Siguatepeque is the day we know we have a serious problem on our hands.

I am thankful to have had this time to rest and catch up with my work, but I also realize the implications of this situation and know some people in Tegucigalpa who are very scared. Please pray for God's peace in this situation and in the hearts of the people. Pray for Him to raise up godly men and women to facilitate a smooth transition into the next presidency and unity among Hondurans.

The nations exhaust themselves for nothing. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea... The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. -Habakkuk 2:13-14,20