Mmmmmmm Pizzaaaaaaa!

Ken and I just got back from a killer pizza place in La Ceiba. It ended up being at this Italian ladies house that she had converted into a restaurant and boy was it good. They make individual pizzas for each person so the size is perfect and the ingredients are fresh. We went with some of my coworkers and so with great pizza and great conversation it made for a great night. Yummmm! I tried to go for the gold and finish my pizza but I failed and had one piece left. Ken was able to finish his pepperoni pizza though. It is definitely a place that we will go back too :)

Ankle Biters Soccer Coach

So I got to school Thursday morning to find an email from Brian, the PE teacher at my school, saying that he was in a pickle. He was in need of a soccer coach for the 1st and 2nd graders at our school. It turned out that it was just too much for one coach to coach 1st-6th grade because the range of skill was so different. Knowing that I loved soccer and had a background with it, he figured he would check to see if I would be interested. He was definitely hesitant knowing that I was a first year teacher and it was only the 4th week of school but he really needed to find someone fast.

After contemplating for about 5 min. and calling Ken quickly to ask his thoughts on the idea, I accepted the job offer. You are now looking at the newest assistant soccer coach at Mazapan School. I will be coaching the "ankle-biters" starting tomorrow until October 1. This is like a dream come true however I am a bit curious as to what I am going to do with these kids...especially since I've heard all they do is run around and play "house" right now. No worries though, Coach Erika is going to whip them into shape and show them what soccer is all about. Before you know it, these kids are going to love soccer and nothing else :)

I'll report back in and let you know how my first days of coaching have gone. In the meantime, cross your fingers and send some good vibes my way!

Enjoying a Honduran Thunderstorm

It's Monday night and I've finished my work for the day and I am just relaxing listening to the most outrageous rain storm ever! The rain is pouring down so incredibly hard and the thunder and lightning come at just the right moment to make it sound like a soundtrack. The rain is so soothing here and I am beginning to enjoy the nightly rainfalls more and more. I'm sure that when the rainy season starts at the end of September and its beginning to rain all day my feelings might change a bit, especially when I'm riding my bike to and from work, but for now its a great way to end the day.

Ken is feeling a bit under the weather tonight so it is me all alone enjoying the quietness of the house. He started coming down with something at lunch and now has a pretty high fever so he's been asleep most of the night. Hopefully he'll wake up feeling better and will not have to miss school however he was responsible and already called his principal to give him the heads up.

My second week of school was not as smooth as the first but ended on a good note. My students are still testing the waters to see what is and is not appropriate in the classroom. I do have quite a chatty bunch but if thats my only problem, then its not really a problem at all. The most frustrating part was not being able to teach everything that I had planned. Monday and Tuesday I felt like I hardly got to teach at all because I was continuously having to stop and wait for my students to be quiet again. Its so hard sometimes and I wish I could just shout over them but I know that this won't help matters. Towards the end of the week things began going more smoothly and we were able to find the right time to have conversations with friends and when it was time to be quiet and pay attention. I am continuing to give myself "pep talks" about being consistent with my behavior plan, especially with the consequences, and praising the students when they are doing the right thing. I am finding however that this can be very challenging throughout the day when you have so many other things on your mind.

Today went so much better than last Monday. Although there are a few specific students in my class who continue to "clown around" and not do the right thing, I really believe that I have a great group of kids! All 30 of them compliment each other well and I have seen some great thinking and some great team work. Tomorrow is Open House when I will get to meet the majority of the parents who I haven't met yet so that will be interesting/fun I hope. I am still getting used to having to have a translator for when I speak and for every note I write home. This just motivates me even more to learn Spanish...and fast! The students are teaching me words here and there which is fun and I know that its fun for them too. Luckily one of the other teachers had level 1 of Rosetta Stone which I will be cracking into soon.

Well there's nothing that would make this night more perfect than watching a few episodes of Friends before bedtime. Hope everyone is doing well back home! Miss you all tons.

Rio Cangrejal

Wow!

Just got back from a great saturday adventure. Erika and I, and five other teachers that we recruited, went up to the Omega Lodge yesterday afternoon. For only $49 we were able to spend the night, get free lunch, and go white water rafting down the Rio Cangrejal. What a great little vacation this ended up being. I say "vacation" but it only took us 30 minutes to get there on a winding dirt road that follows the river out of town and into the mountains.

Omega Lodge & Tours is a hostel and adventure lodge that is run by some very nice Germans. Our rooms were great, and we didn't need to share with anyone we didn't know, which is always a plus. When we got there we got the grand tour by one of the owners. She showed us the eating area where we would be promptly served our spaghetti for lunch (was very good!), then we saw the large outdoor cage that they have some iguanas and turtles in. Then we saw the bar and natural spring-fed swimming pool. The setting is right in the middle of tropical jungle. Even though we were only 30 minutes from home we felt like we were in a totally different part of the world with virgin rainforest all around and the unbelievable sounds of bird, frogs, insects and the people working in the kitchens.


The river rafting was great. This was my first time going white water rafting- Erika had done it a long time ago. We were told that there would be Class 1's, 2's, 3's, and a couple 4's. We were pumped. After a brief safety and technique lesson, "Paddle forward please. Paddle backwards please. Lean right! Down!", we were on our way. The minute we hit those first 1's and 2's I knew that this was going to be a blast. I was sitting in the front of one of the boats and Erika was in the front of another. You slip one foot under a strap on the bottom of the boat and that is all you are holding onto unless your told to "Get down!", then you hold on and get as low as you can cause you are going to fall out if you don't. We passed by huge boulders that were bigger than our house and carved in smooth formations that you could just tell took millions of years to form. Just beyond the river sprung the jungle, trees were almost jumping out of the forest and over the water. Towards the end it began to rain for a little bit and you could look up and see the waterfall where Erika and I had climbed 2 weeks ago, but now clouds were forming right below it. We also saw all sort of birds (kingfishers! and cranes) and heard the calls of many more. It was great.
The actual rafting was exhilarating. My adrenaline was pumping every time we would go over them from just hanging on with one foot and leaning out of the raft as we dived down and up and through small boulder canyons where the river was moving fast and white. Then we came to the biggest fall, a Class 4 1/2. We got out right before we reached it so that we could hike around it and look at what we were going to go over. It didn't look that menacing at first but at a second glance I realized that there was a large rock that sticks out of the very middle of the fall, halfway through. If our raft were to hit that rock we would tip forward instantly. The boats took turns going over.

Our adrenaline was pumping strong.

Erika's boat:


My boat:


We both made it over. No Problem! It was intense though. The water was rushing up into our faces, I was up to my neck under the water and our boat was full after we made it through.

After a short while down river we came to another, smaller fall. This one however had a corkscrew current so it was easy to flip sideways if you didn't lean enough to one side. Erika's boat went first and made it just fine. However, my boat didn't do so well. It was a little chute between two rock walls and when we got in there the current was pulling us to the left. We leaned hard to the right and as I did so the right side of the boat went under water. I fell into Jesse on my right as I was leaning and since he was already under water with that side of the boat, we both kinda just tumbled out. It was crazy under the water because I knew that Jesse was down there somewhere with me but that I had no control over my body, still subconsciously clutching my paddle. I bobbed up and found that I was a little bit behind the raft, which had righted itself after Jesse and I fell out, and I grabbed for the raft. Soon enough I was pulled back in. It was pretty much a blur of action but it was a great feeling to have gotten thrown out of the raft and made it back without much worry.
We stopped at two spots where there were cliff jump-off points where the water was deep enough. The first jump was a practice jump, at about 15 feet. The second jump, a little down river, was huge- about 3 stories or 30ft. Man, it was high! When we got up there, the ones that decided they would attempt it, we were nervous after looking down. It was just something you have to do.

Don't think. Jump.

Erika:

Me:

Jesse:


It was a far fall. You literally had time to think about what you were doing as you fell. Then you were in the water and floating. My knees were weak with fear right before I jumped but I didn't give myself the chance to question it. By the time I had decided I should jump I was already half-way to the water.
The rafting was a great time. We are going to do it again many times, our goal is to do the day long rafting trip that has multiple class 4's and 5's.
We went back to the lodge just in time for Happy Hour and then dinner. They had a great selection of German food. Erika had bratwurst of course, and I had like a pasta and cheese with bacon dish. It was all very good.
During dinner and then after when some of us went for a swim, there was a bunch of frogs hopping about and making really loud sounds. They were very cool.



We had a great weekend up there. We are loving La Ceiba. This is definitely the place to be in Central America. There is so much to do. And to think, we have almost been here for a month already!

Expats

I just wanted to post some pictures of Expatriates Bar so that you guys know where we hang out a lot. Only got one decent pic though.



Also, here is the Ket Chup.



Once we got all of our stuff put away that we just got from the states, and all of our rooms set up, then I will be posting a video tour of our house so keep checking back! Most likely it will be up tuesday night, if not then soon.

-Ken

I received my first apple.

What a first week it has been! I don't think I could have asked for it to go any smoother and I had such a great time getting to know my kids. Each one has such a different personality and I love being able to ask them questions and working with them so they can let that shine through.

Thursday I had the technology supervisor in my room for almost the entire day because the computers at school are so slow and he was working on defragging it as well as setting up my new email. I continued doing what I had been doing all week and didn't really think much about it. We had our morning meeting, he kids completed a reading comprehension test at their seats while I administered a reading fluency assessment, they went to library, music, etc. It was a normal day for us all but when the kids were dismissed for lunch I went to my desk to get a few things and the technology supervisor said, "CONGRATULATIONS!" I smiled and asked what for. He went onto explain how he really enjoyed how I was running my class, giving directions, talking with my students, and I how I was handling behavior issues. I was shocked to hear it and of course said thank you with the biggest smile on my face! I had only been teaching for 4 days at this point and somehow had already seen such a positive in my room. It was such a great feeling and it gave me a confident boost to continue doing what I'm doing.

On Friday, as I stood at the door and shook each of my students hands and said, "Good Morning," one of my students gave me an apple. Ha! I received my first apple as a teacher and it was the perfect day for it because I had forgotten my lunch and was going to need a snack that day. What a first week it has been. :)

Ken's first week went well also. He understand a few things doing his Spanish orientation and got his lesson plans done before I did so I can already tell he's going to be a great teacher! His US History class was given to someone else so his course load is a bit better now and there is not as much he needs to worry about. He has written his introduction letter, made his syllabus, and already planned for 2 projects and a quiz in the first few weeks. Being in Mr. Haltenhof's class is not going to be easy but the students will thank him later for it...I just know it!

The other piece of good news is that WE RECEIVED OUR THINGS!!!! Honduran customs finally cleared our shipment and our furniture and boxes were delivered Thursday afternoon. We have started unpacking things and moving furniture around and hopefully by tomorrow evening our house will look more like a house again. We are so excited to start putting things away and hanging OUR things on the wall to really make it OUR place. We definitely do have a lot :) but it feels good to have my things and I know Ken feels the same. Maybe we didn't need all 8 wine glasses though!

The First Day of School

Wow, I can't believe that I have started teaching 4th grade today! I met all 30 of my students this morning and naturally fell into teacher mode. It was such a great feeling to not be worried, nervous, or scared...I only felt excited and extremely happy to be there and I am so looking forward to getting to know each of my students on a more personal level. As soon as all 30 students were in the classroom however I noticed how big of a difference it already was from last year at Woodlawn. 18 students was a godsend....now 30 students....I think things are just going to get ridiculous! I am more than ready for it though.

All last week, I worked feverishly in my classroom trying to make it a warm and inviting atmosphere. With the help of my full time teacher's assistant Carla (having 30 students really does pay off in this sense!) we were able to organize everything in the classroom and throw away a bunch of things. Every cabinet was filled to the max with things, half of which were so old that they were basically useless. Here is what the classroom looked like before hand:





With the help of Carla and Ken (he was such a good helper this week running all of my errands when I ran out of materials and needed more!) the room came together spectacularly. Everything was in its place, the whiteboard had the schedule up and there were some posters hanging around the room :) Each desk had the students name, a star signifying their classroom job, the "morning procedure" and "what to do when I have finished my work" cheat sheet, and a pocket for my behavior plan (They will be receiving penalty cards like in soccer and each color represents a different penalty. The cards will just sit in the pocket on their desk as a reminder to them). I was very proud to call this my first classroom ever. Now the hard part....lesson planning!

After hiking Pico Bonito on Saturday, I ended up falling down part of the trail that was incredibly slippery and to save myself I put out my hand, spraining my already sprained finger on my right hand....uhhhh ohhhhh! This was not the greatest thing to happen since afterwards I was no longer able to right or hold anything! Ken came to my rescue again by helping me carry things and giving my ibprofen to help with the pain. Sunday, although extremely stiff, I found a way to type out my week one scope and my lesson plans in 4 hours. I also had made a first day of school powerpoint that I think was pretty sweet. I guess when you are determined enough no pain will really stop you and honestly, using my finger so much, I think actually helped it to heal better because by this morning I was able to write, type, and carry things like I was never injured!! I went into school yesterday afternoon to put the finishing touches around my classroom and set home to relax for the evening before my first day.









The first day of school today couldn't have gone any smoother! Other than the lock on my door being changed and me not having the key, did I mention I was at school at 6:00 am as well since school starts at 6:55!, and was waiting around until 6:30 to get into my room, I was able to get settled and organized right before I let the kids in. I could hear all of them piling up outside of my room beginning at 6:30 which was more thrilling than anything. I could hear screams of excitement as kids greeted their friends whom they hadn't seen all summer. This energized me even more and as soon as I opened the door I, Ms. Johnson, 4th grade teacher at Mazapan School! Each student was greeted with a handshake and a, "Good Morning, I'm Ms. Johnson. What's your name?" Followed by the students saying their name so quietly because of course they were nervous to meet their new teacher. Throughout the day, students began opening up and I was able to see who the talkers were and who needed to be sitting closer to the front :) We went through all the procedures of the classroom, my homework policy, and so many other things and I was so excited when the kids actually stuck with it all and took it all in. They asked wonderful questions and practiced the routines so well. The bell in my classroom is a great signal to get the kids attention :) As soon as they hear they sit up as straight as a pencil with their eyes on me; then again it was only the first day so we'll have to see how that goes in a few months. As the kids left today, I couldn't stop smiling. I knew that I had done everything that I wanted to and expressed to my students what was expected from them for the remainder of the year. It feels so natural to be at this school and teaching 4th grade (thanks to the help of Mrs. Lindsey and all her wisdom) and I just know its going to be an exciting year.

Ken had his first day of orientation today as well. It started off a little different than mine however. The bus ended up not picking him up as expected so he had to take a taxi at 7:15 (he was supposed to be there around 7) and was a few minutes late. When he arrived, he realized he hadn't missed much since everyone was just standing around waiting. He quickly found the 2 english speakers in the school and introduced himself, one of which was the wife of the new librarian at Mazapan. They ended up sticking together for the rest of the day since they were the only 2 who didn't know any Spanish...and 3/4 of the orientation was in Spanish. Even though he was a bit lost most of the day, he received his school supplies in a nice, black garbage bag and got 2 of the 5 syllabus's for his 5 classes that he will be teaching (Word History, Philosophy, Psychology, Humanities, and Sociology). Ken still isn't quite sure how to write a lesson plan or what format it needs to be in, but he's hoping tomorrow, or sometime this week, he'll be able to figure that out. At least he already knows his first day lesson. Its titled: "How to pronounce my last name: HALTENHOF." He's also looking forward to decorating his cart since he'll be going from classroom to classroom. At his school, the high school teachers don't have a classroom; all of the kids stay in one classroom and the teachers rotate. At this point, he's hoping to put a lot of streamers on the sides of the cart and have a few disco balls hanging as well.

We both are looking forward to the year that lies ahead. We know we are going to be learning so much from our jobs, especially from our students, and we look forward to sharing more of that insight with you all!

Jungle Trek

Erika and I did some major jungle trekking today. Pico Bonito National Park is about 30 minutes from our house and we kept getting told that we need to go up there and do some hiking. So we decided to do just that. Douglas, a friend that we made last night and the husband of one of Erika's coworkers, offered to drive us up to the trail head. He picked us up around 9 this morning and off we went. We turned off the highway and went onto a gravel and dirt road that followed the banks of the Rio Cangrejal. This road was very bumpy, but that didn't stop me from realizing that we were going further and further into the mountains and jungle. We had left most signs of civilization behind us, just a single power line along the side of the road reminded us that we really weren't that far from society.
When we got to the Pico Bonito Visitors Center - a two room hovel with a desk and an empty glass display case - Douglas dropped us off and said "Good luck! Have fun!" before we even had the chance wonder how we were going to get back to La Ceiba. "So long Douglas!" And with that and the realization that we might have to hike all the way back to the city I just sang the lyrics to the song that had been playing in Douglas' car on the way up here, "Don't worry, be happy."
It costs $7 to get onto the trail and with that you get a guy to show you a map- they don't let you keep the map, you have to remember it- and a friendly point in the right direction. Which is really all you need. First up, the bridge over the Cangrejal.





As soon as we got to the other side of the bridge we saw a giant, bright blue butterfly go by us- a good sign. There were two different ways you could take to get to the end of the trail, which we were told was a stunning waterfall. You could take the easy way or the hard way. Of course, the easy way was closed for some reason.
The jungle is amazing. Best fitting description, "Everything is on steroids." Plants are huge, trees touch the clouds, insects fly by and create a small gust of wind with their giant wings. There are sounds of life everywhere. Everything is green. The bright colors of flowers and some bugs surprise you around every corner. You have to watch your every foot step because you don't want to crush something. Such as these ants...





We saw a lot of these ants actually. They would cover the trail at certain parts. It's amazing to see them all traveling in relatively straight lines across branches, leaves and whatever else that lies on the floor while carrying pieces of leaves, dead bugs and flowers that must weigh twice their body weight. The organization is awe inspiring when you take into consideration that there is no leader telling them what to do and that they only communicate by smell and touch. Somehow, these tiny individuals come together to move the jungle floor. Needless to say, Erika kept yelling at me to stop looking at the ants and to keep moving.
It was not that hot in the jungle because the canopy blocked the sun, but the humidity was unbelievable and we both sweated through our clothes in no time. We saw many things that I had never seen before in my life.











Then we got to the end of the trail, and through the trees we could see the waterfall. There was a group of people down there already but they left soon after we got there. The water was freezing but it felt great to cool off our bodies. The waterfall had to have been over 200 ft. high and the water falling from the top did so with such force that it almost hurt when it finally landed on you. The rocks were extremely slippery and there were small pools of water with frogs and tadpoles in them. We could see La Ceiba through the trees as we sat and soaked up the fact that we were sitting in such a beautiful place.







Here is a video as well....



It was a great hike! After spending some time at the waterfall, eating PB & J sandwiches and drinking lots of water, we headed back down the trail. In all the hiking took about 2 1/2 hrs round trip but we went up quiet a bit of the mountain to get to that waterfall. When we got back to the bridge we were soaked with sweat, muddy and tired but very happy. We walked down to a nearby backpackers lodge called Jungle River Lodge and called for a taxi. While we waited we drank a cold Salva Vida and looked out over the Cangrejal and into the massive wall of jungle that laid on the other side. It was a good day indeed.

Oh, and here is a big parrot!

Good News!

I got a job!

I will be teaching High School Social Studies at St. Teresa Bilingual School. I'm pretty excited. This is exactly the type of position I was hoping for. I start Monday!

-Ken

The life...

Today is Erika's first day of meetings at Mazapan so I was left on my own. After calling a local school, getting groceries, buying some things for the house, getting water, and some general wandering, I went to Expatriates Bar.

It was while I was sitting there, smoking a Cuban cigar, drinking a Salva Vida beer, that I glanced at the clock and realized it was 1 o'clock. That is when I knew that we had made the right choice to move here. The exact moment. And I chuckled to myself, paid my bill and left.

No regrets found here.

Turtle eggs and Fish eyes

Last night Erika and I treated a couple of our friends to dinner. Arthur and Dalila had been helping us for a couple days with our new house and just getting familiar with La Ceiba. Arthur knows a lot about the history of the area and seems to have a story about every building and everyone he sees. He is a good guy to know for sure.
We didn't know where to go for dinner so Arthur suggested a seafood restaurant that is supposed to be the oldest in town. The food was great. I had fish fillet with butter and Erika had a seafood soup with bits of fish, conch, crab and shrimp in it. Arthur had a fried fish and Dalila had some shrimp. All the food was delicious.
This was the first time Erika had crab, which was funny to watch. She was trying to crack open a leg with her teeth when it jumped out, pinched her shoulder and scurried to the floor. No, it was not alive, but you would think all of Erika's food is alive by the way it always finds its way to the floor.
Then Arthur showed me the correct way to finish a fish. Evidently, there is plenty of meat and good parts in the head of the fish. He pressured me in to eating an eyeball which, apart from the gooey parts that were pulled out from the eye socket, was not bad tasting and had a "tough meat" kinda texture. Then I sucked on some the fish skull until there was no more meat on it. Yum.
After the restaurant we went to a place that has the cheapest beer in town. 15 Lempiras for a beer; which comes out to be around 70 cents. This place was essentially a guys garage, you could see into his living room from where we were sitting. It was eerie walking in there though.
It was pouring rain outside. The streets were flooding and there was dampness in the air. Loud Latin music was blasting from some speakers hidden on top of giant, lighted coolers. It was not the kind of Latin music you danced to. Rather, it was the kind that made a cowboy shed a single tear as he thought of a long lost love. As we walked in a man was stretched across a bench to the right of the door. His head was off the bench and his eyes were half open but his mind was in some state of inebriation that I have not seen since freshman year of college. He did not move. A lady with one good eye and one eye that was permanently clouded and pointed towards the ceiling stared at us as we walked in. The owner sat in a hammock, equally keeping tabs on the coolers that stored the beer and on the book he was reading. A little boy went around wiping tables and a transvestite danced in the background. The bathrooms were in the back of the room and the walls surrounding them were short enough that you could keep an eye on the table your beer was on.
You served yourself. No service, no service fee, just a cold cooler and music you had to pay for.
Arthur told us about how they sold turtle eggs here. Specifically, Sea turtle eggs. The endangered kind. Evidently, they are a type of aphrodisiac. Erika and I both ate one; you just suck up the yoke with some spices on it. You could only taste the spices but you could feel the egg going down your throat whole. I think the claims of it being like Viagra are overblown.
We talked about many things; it was a good night. And as we drove home we went through sections of town with a foot or more of water in the streets, but that doesn't stop the party in the Zona Viva.