La Feria

Things have gotten very interesting here this week. This week the local fair began, and let me tell you...actually, I don't even know how to describe it using politically correct terms. Let me just say there have been a lot more strangers, significantly more drunk men staggering around town and a whole load of fireworks.

Where to start? The "fair" was actually set up last week, and by fair I mean sketchy looking rides (a ferris wheel) and lean-to shacks. Its set right on the outskirts of town. I guess you could say it welcomes the out-of-towners! With the arrival of the feria, the whole atmosphere of town has changed. The park is very crowded. Many of the people are quite intoxicated and a little bit intrusive. Now walking down the street I have to look for more than the crazy drivers, I have to be cautious of the staggering drunks!

There have been many activities accompanying the fair. In addition to nightly dancing in the park and street, Tuesday night was the coronation of the junior princess of the fair. It's very interesting the pomp and circumstance that accompany the events. The junior princesses and their escorts (ranging in age from 4-6) were wearing formal attire including little tuxedos for the boys! It was very cute. Wednesday night was the crowning of the "Queen", I did not attend as I have been desperately trying to catch up on my sleep! Which leads me to the "best" part of the fair...the fireworks and cannons.

Yes, that's right, fireworks and cannons. Each night starting around 3:30, they start setting off cannons at the fort. Then a little truck drives around with loudspeakers blaring "buenos dias!" blah, blah, blah in Spanish. Apparently no one has ever told them that no one is listening at 4 in the morning!! It's interesting because I think of this happening at home. Someone would be on the phone to the police instantly, telling them about the noise and the police would be right over to take care of it. Let me tell you right now, that doesn't happen here! Yes, it seems the only solution to these late night "bomb blasts" is a pillow over the head and a good set of earplugs! I guess the Hondurans don't value their sleep like we do, or maybe they do and that is why they don't have school Thursday or Friday...crazy!

The 'feria' is over around the 23rd I guess. I will definitely be looking forward to Copan getting back to it's peaceful and quiet nature!

To blog or not to blog?

Apparently since November it's been the latter. I don't know, I guess blogging just fell off my list of priorities! Things continue to stay interesting here in Copan.

The weather is changing down here, it is starting to get very dusty and quite warm. The sunshine is a welcome thing, but I'm afraid it has started to affect the children of Mayatan! I have started to notice that as the sweat factor increases so does the number of behavior problems! I teach second grade, and I have to say I have a very difficult class. I have twenty-one students, 11 girls and 10 boys. Not one of these students is lacking energy! Some know how to channel it into positive behavior and learning, while many choose to use it to make me crazy!!!!

Mayatan is actually a very interesting school. It is a private school that offers scholarships to local students. Therefore, my class is fairly diverse socio-economically. About half of my class is in some way sponsored, from having partial tuition to a complete scholarship, which provides tuition, books, uniforms as well as lunch at school. Mayatan School has a wonderful mission; To provide local students with a quality, bilingual education. Living in a poor country being bilingual can open doors to opportunities that many children do not have, but desperately need.

Teaching second grade has been a challenge like no other I have ever faced before. I have taught English Language Learners in the past as well as had difficult kids in my class, but never have I taught a class full of language learners with a majority having some kind of behavioral implication. I don't know if many of the behaviors are a result of not knowing the language that is being taught, or just the kids themselves, believe me I have done some serious thinking about this!

Is it me???? Is it them???? Is it a cultural thing??? Is it the combination of kids??? I think I have come to the conclusion that it is all of the above and at this point in the year, its all about survival!

We are down to three months to go, and these will probably prove to be the most difficult because the temperature should continue to grow. If you have any wonderful, fabulous, life changing suggestions for me, please, send them my way.

Living day to day

One thing that's very interesting in Copan is that advance planning doesn't really exist, at least not socially! That wouldn't quite work at school! I don't know why it is, but life happens in the moment. I kind of like it. This fits my personality type, I think.

I was thinking about this as I was walking home from school today. I was walking with a friend and we were talking about what we were doing tonight. I came up with my typical response, "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it". I decided maybe I should figure out what I am going to do for dinner. Dinner and cooking are quite the event. Partly because all I have is one pan, one pot, one dish, one plate...catching on to the pattern??? Oh, I do have a two burner stove. Actually, living here is kind of like camping. My fridge is so small I can't fit much in it, and the door doesn't close tight so I can't really have long term plans for any food that I purchase anyway!

Then there is the adventure known as the market. The town market takes place down by the central park. It is always a little crazy. First of all, it smells BAD! The smell comes from the meat venders. Yes, there is meat just sitting out on a counter, no refrigeration, no rack, just on the wooden counter being sliced for the taking. It's gross, I haven't been able to bring myself to buy meat yet. I'll let the restaurants deal with that, I don't want to know all the details! Also the market is very crowded. It's not that there is a lot of people, but venders are crammed in and there is hardly any room to walk. I also don't get the flow of traffic, or the lack of flow. People just stop in the middle of an walkway...saying excuse me doesn't work, so the only other alternative is barreling through, and I always manage to have my backpack on.

Weekends are pretty relaxed. I usually devote one day to cleaning and one to planning for school. I also have to take my laundry to the lavanderia and go to the market. Saturday is the big day at the market. Then I have to squish in there my time on the internet. It's interesting, even though there is not a lot of planning there are a lot of routines established.

The the great things about Copan!

I feel like I am quite often complaining, and I know from talking with my parents, many of you may think that I am not enjoying myself. At times, this may be true, but for the most part, I love Copan.

Copan is a very quaint town. The people here are lovely. I feel like most people work hard and enjoy their lives. As an obvious outsider in the town I feel welcomed by all; granted, most are aware that I am a teacher at Mayatan School, which does come with some prestige and recognition. None the less, I rarely feel like I'm on the outside. I love that people are very helpful. Most people know very little, if any English, however, they are all very patient with me as I try to muttle through Spanish.

Copan is in a beautiful part of Honduras. Surrounded by rain forest there is a surplus of areas to hike. I have yet to visit the ruins, but I can't wait. Right up by the school is a great bird park, full of Macaws, Tucans, and other tropical birds it's cool. There are coffee plants growing all over. It is so different from home. I am always amazed by the beauty.

So you see, I do love that I am here and what I am doing, even if daily events often frustrate me and get me down.

A day in the life...

I hope this isn't permanent, but I seem to coming into a period of writer's block. EEEKS! Maybe it's just because I am so busy with school. Who knows.

With that being said, I am going to stray from the creative and just walk you all down an average day in Copan...at least in the life of Kathy Lowrie!

On school days my alarm goes off at 5:10. There isn't really room to hit snooze too many times, so with maybe one snooze under my belt it's up an at em! Most days I do shower in the morning, unless of course there is no water. This has only happened a couple of times, thank goodness!

I typically try to be out my front door by 6 at which time I am met down in the driveway by Esmeralda (my former landlord). She promptly offers me coffee and bread (typical Honduran breakfast...for kids and adults alike!)

I then leave for school and hustle off up the hill. It is actually a very nice walk. I always meet three gentlemen as I start heading up the main street. Usually at least one of them is carrying their machete, off to their day of work. They always smile and say hello. School is about a 20 to 25 minute walk. There are several different hills along the way and depending on the weather during the night before, they can often prove to be a muddy challenge. The other day I barely skated down one without a graceful slip into complete muddiness! The best part of the walk however, is the last hill before school. I say this with much sarcasm! It is impossible to make it to the top without breaking into a complete sweat! Oh, and then there is always at least one bus that passes me on the way, so I am greeted by multiple students running around the school grounds.

Classes start at 7 and we are off and running. I won't go into school details today, maybe that will give me something to write about later! Classes end for kids at 1:45. We are required to stay until 2:30 at which time we walk home. The temperature seems to be dropping a bit so the walk home hasn't been too hot lately. There for awhile, I could barely make it home without collapsing! Between the heat and the humidity, it was pretty unbearable; which then lead to a prompt and cold shower (if there was water, which it seems was less likely during the afternoon).

Afternoons consist of multiple things. There is always the trip down to use the internet, then quite often I go to the market to find something for dinner. Many of us will often meet in the park to find a place to go for dinner. Lately we have been getting together at least once a week to eat, watch a debate, or something...
Mostly afternoons are just running around.

I love life in Copan. It is hilly and quite often there is no power or water, but it has it's advantages too. Life is simple. We live day to day, and for the most part, we enjoy it. I already have some good lessons to bring home with me! I don't know how long they will last in the fast paced life of home, but we will see!

Living la vida sola...

I have finally moved into my own apartment! It's great. It is a cute little studio that I can call home.

The crazy weather continues here. Yesterday afternoon we had a severe rain storm. The kind of rainstorm that sends rivers of water careening down the hills of Copan. Yesterday was the first time in a longtime that I have actually been prepared with an umbrella! About an hour after the rain quit the power went out. Fortunately, I had purchased candles earlier. Power outages seem to be part of life here. It's kind of funny because the power goes and and suddenly the town appears out on the street. I don't know if people don't have TV or if it is just their way of socializing. It's great! Every evening as I walk home I see the same people sitting on the same corner watching people walk by or talking to one of their neighbors. I don't always feel comfortable talking with people because of my limited Spanish, but I always say "buenas" and smile and it is always reciprocated.

School is still my greatest challenge. Teaching second grade isn't the issue, it's the language barrier. I feel like I am performing non-stop. At this point I am pretty much eating, sleeping, pretty much living school. One of the huge challenges is that we don't have a copy machine at school so if I have some brilliant idea mid-day I am out of luck, and for any of you who know me, some of my greatest thinking happens mid-day!

At this point my only plans for the near future are to survive school and settle into my apartment.

Oops...

Okay, so I have been slacking off! Sorry to all you avid readers.

It's amazing, I always feel very busy, yet I sit down to write and nothing comes to mind. No, that's not right either. It comes to mind, just all at once and kind of jumbled. Bear with me as I wander through the chaos of my thoughts.

School has been getting progressively better. I feel like the kids are finally starting to grasp the concept of listening (it's been a tough one). It's nice to look at their lovely faces and see something other than a blank stare. I tell you, for a while there I was doing some serious self reflecting to see what was wrong with me! As it turns out it may have only been partially my fault! For the last two weeks we spent about 40 minutes practicing marching every morning, getting ready for the local Independence parade. I can now say with much relief, the parade has passed...let the learning begin. We have been on a long (5 day weekend)! Independence was Sunday, so they gave us the following two days off and today is teacher's day, so they gave us today off! This week is going to be rough, Thursday and Friday. I think I can handle it!

This weekend 1o of us went to the town of Tela, a small town off of the eastern coast of Honduras. We arrived Sunday evening after a long day of travel, about 6 hours by bus. When we arrived the town seemed kind of abandoned. I don't know if it was because of the holiday or what...

We (six of us girls, the two married couples stayed in Tela) spent the first night at a small town outside of Tela in a small Garifuna village. It was pretty cool. Our hotel was literally on the beach, the roof was thatched grass and felt pretty authentic. We walked down the sand road to get something to eat. At first I was afraid. It was dark and the houses around us were small cinderblock homes, none of which seemed to be occupied. We found the restaurant our hotel owner had recommended, i can't remember what it was called, but it was a cultural experience in itself. It was solely inhabited by local Garifunas ( a group of African's that finally settled on the coast of Honduras after being relocated several times by different governments ). Anyway we arrived at the restaurant, which was kind of like an old fashioned drive-in without the cars or the parking spots. The kitchen was in the center of the hut with a large porch surrounding it. There were picnic tables with benches dotting the porches. I think there were a couple people working, but it was hard to tell who the actual employees were because everyone was in and out. When we arrived we were quite the spectacles, we were the only tourists, as well as the only white people around and we stuck out! At first it felt as if people were leering at us, but I think it was just my heightened sense of awareness. As we settled in and ordered it felt a little more relaxed. People started dancing at random times and in random places (there is a local dance called the Punta that the Garifuna's are famous for). The head cook fired up the...man, I don't know what to call it... not a barbecue, or a fire pit...anyway the outdoor contraption that cooked using wood for fuel and made us fried chicken and fried plantains that were pretty delicious. It was great sitting there eating and taking in the local culture. The locals seemed to be talking in two different languages. One was a form of Cajun English that was really hard to understand and the other was Spanish. I really enjoyed the experience.

The next morning all of us girls went down to the beach and swam. The ocean was like bathwater. It was incredible. I don't think that I have ever swam in such a comfortable temperature of water. A young group of local boys was also swimming and as time went on they seemed to come closer and closer to us. When they finally started to interact with us, they gave us a whole pile of sand dollars that they had been collecting. They were very cool. I had never seen a live sand dollar before. We all swam and laughed together for about an hour and a half and managed to get completely burned. It was well worth it and was the best part of the trip.

We then went into town to find a hotel for our second night. Tela is not a pretty town. The streets are dirty and there is just a non-welcoming feeling. I felt very much on display, and not in a good way; in the way that I felt like a walking dollar sign. It was very violating. Then later in the evening when my friends were walking to get a taxi, they were approached by a young man who pulled a gun and took their purses with their valuables. It was horrible. They all had credit/debit cards, one was carrying her passport, they all had their phones, keys, etc. Yes, Tela was not impressive. It all feels very overwhelming right now. I feel like we have rehashed it, been over it so many times. If only..., what if..., none of which takes it away or makes anything better.
I have now returned to Copan, grateful for this small town of friendly people. I am now however, quite homesick for Portland. I know that this is a passing phase, but right now, in this moment, I would love to come home.