An International Haircut

So Ken gets his haircut in Honduras every 4-6 weeks (I think) and he's been going to the same local barber shop a few blocks away...they know exactly who he is now...and I'm jealous! He pays $3 and always has a nice looking head of hair. The one time I went to get a haircut last year was a complete mess and I haven't been back to a salon since. I usually wait until I go home at Christmas or over the summer to my hair stylist back in Oswego whom I've gone to for years and of course trust!

Well, I decided that needed to change, especially since I really needed a haircut and it's only August! There was no way I could wait until December so I started asking around and got the number to Frank's Coiffure - International Hair Salon. A few of the teachers from Mazapan had been there and they had good experiences so I figured what the heck! I come to find that not only does he speak so so English but he also speaks French, and he's been in my yoga class the past 2 weeks! Small world huh!?

This afternoon, I got my hair washed, cut, and styled by Frank while speaking French (and a little Spanish here and there since it was hard not to think of Spanish words after 1 year!) for about 30 minutes. It was great! My hair looks like it does when I get it cut in the states and it took half the time (and cost way less!). I guess I'll be going back there in the future and it's good to know I still remember how to understand and speak French. Not to shabby...

FINALLY! Pictures of our classrooms

I know we've made you wait long enough so here they are....FINALLY! Ken and I both remembered our cameras this week and we took some pictures of our classrooms. ENJOY!

Ken's 11th Grade Homeroom - Santa Teresa

Notice the permanent marker that another teacher used on his whiteboard. It's slowly but surely coming off...maybe...

My classroom - 4th Grade at Mazapan - Hollywood Theme!

A new state of mind

For the past 2 Mondays, I have gone to a yoga class that is at the gym on my school's campus right after school. I have only taken a few yoga classes in my life and I wasn't to sure whether or not I'd like it but I figured I'd give it a try since I was getting sick of my old routine of running in circles and weight lifting a few days a week.

I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed it on a MONDAY afternoon! It's a great release from the hectic, busy day the beginning of the week always seems to bring, and a great way to start my work out routines for the week. The teacher is really good at what she does (an american who has been living in Honduras for awhile now) and there are only 5-6 other people in the class with me (I think all of us teachers know how important it is to have small class sizes...for many reasons!)

I already saw a huge improvement in the way I can hold poses and just my general flexibility and breathing. I always struggled with the breathing part in yoga and pilates which is why I never really wanted to do it. It's so nice though now that I have it down and I actually feel relaxed since I'm not really concentrating on it anymore. Although I'm a bit sore the day after, it's a good sore that has me going back for more. For any of you who have never tried yoga I would totally suggest it for a workout 1-2 times a week!! There are 3 more classes left in the 6 week session and I'm hoping to find a way to get Ken to come to one ;) We'll see how that works out!

Busy weekend

Over the weekend, Ken and I went up to the river twice! Yesterday, we headed with a bunch of teachers to the Jungle River Lodge where we spent a day of jumping off rocks and swimming in the Rio Cangrejal. It was a beautiful day and it was exhilarating to be able to jump off such high rocks and just let go! After we spent some time in the water we headed up to the lodge to have some drinks and enjoy the scenery. Ken fed a toucan some orange slices and we watched a HUGE storm come out of nowhere! It down-poured for awhile and it was beautiful to watch it while overlooking the river.

Later that night, we had dinner over at my boss's house (Martha and Phil) where we BBQ'd and just enjoyed the conversation. I got to try lobster for the first time as well as bbq'd carrots (surprisingly SUPER good!) After some glasses of wine and a few beers we headed in for the night before meeting up with them again this morning to head back into the mountains. We ended up at Villa Pico Bonito (http://villaspicobonito.blogspot.com/) where we had an awesome lunch. This place was absolutely gorgeous with some of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. It also had an infinity pool overlooking the Rio Cangrejal and multiple walking paths that led down to the river. We ate porkchops with baked potato and continued sharing stories about our summer this afternoon. What a relaxing way to spend our Sunday. Take a look at this view!

We both came back to our house with our belly's full and craving a nap...and that's just what we did. Now we are winding down our weekend and mentally preparing for our next week of school. We hope you all have had a great weekend too!

And so it begins...

Summer is finally over which means Ken and I started our second school year here in Honduras this past Monday. It was a whirlwind of a week trying to get back on a regular sleeping schedule that allows us to get up at 5 AM while keeping up that high energy for our students and of course lesson planning. After being off for 2 months it was challenge to feel like you were on top of things like the year before but by the end of the week we were both feeling more confident.

This year, Ken has taken on the task of being the 11th grade (Senior) boys Homeroom teacher. He has 17 boys that he will be in charge of each morning before school starts and he'll have to use that creativity throughout the year to plan different events for their Christmas show, senior service hours, and of course graduation. He is also teaching World History, Philosophy, and Humanities. He definitely has a busy year ahead of him. There are a bunch of new teachers at his school this year too so he's been getting know each of them and it sounds like they will all add a lot of things to his school. The big goal for Ken, and the rest of the faculty this year, is to have students stop speaking Spanish during their English classes. This was hard in the past for many teachers to enforce since many of them used Spanish when teaching so it is a plus that the new hired teachers all have strong English and are ready to work together towards this goal.

Once again, I am teaching 4th grade at Mazapan School and have a completely different year ahead of me. I have gone from teaching 30 students to 19 students this year (HOLY MOLY!!!) and I have also gone from having a full time aide to having no one (WOWZERS!!!) Although my classroom has a lot more space in it with such fewer desks it was a transition for me to be the only adult in the classroom, especially when trying to collect all of their school supplies. It was overwhelming some days, that's for sure, but my students were very understanding and did a great job of working with me to get this task done. It also was a very different start to the school year this time around since all of my incoming 4th graders already knew me! Last year, I didn't know anyone at the school since we had just moved to La Ceiba. However throughout the school year last year I worked closely with the 3rd grade teacher to plan lessons, field trips, and other events, so her students knew me quite well. Instead of doing lots of ice breakers on the first day, we were able to have deeper conversations about each of our summers and dive right into the rules and procedures of 4th Grade. By the end of the week, it seemed as though they all understood what was expected of them and they were ready for the learning to begin :)

It is still crazy for me and Ken to believe that we are already underway with our second year of teaching. It still feels like just yesterday when we arrived here and we were both soooo nervous of what was to come. Now we feel so comfortable where we are at and its nice to know what is in store for us this year. Not only are we ready for a great year of teaching but we are also ready for all of our visitors to start coming :)

We're Back!!!

After a long summer, most of which was spent in the States visiting family and friends, Ken and I are back at home in La Ceiba! We've been back for just over a week now and it feels great to be here getting ready for work to start and spending time with our friends before things get to hectic.

Dan was visiting us for the past week and we showed him a good time in Ceiba. We hiked to the waterfall in Pico Bonito, jumped off 20-30 foot rocks into the Rio Cangrejal and hiked into Rio Mario where we slid down a waterfall. Dan got to know our local bar Expats pretty well too since Ken and Dan visited it almost every night (I of course ventured a few nights as well). Ken took him out to Utila for a night too where Dan ended up staying to get his PADI scuba certification. Ken and I hadn't been scuba diving since last June when we vacationed in Guanaja so Ken said it felt great to be back in the water.

We also were fortunate enough to meet the new teachers of Mazapan for this upcoming school year and they all seem like great people to hang out with. They are similar in age to me and Ken (between 25-28) and willing to go out and explore. Hopefully we will have some adventures together with them.

Ken and I both start work tomorrow with a teacher inservice week before the students arrive on August 8. Ken will be getting ready to entertain his first home room class ever of 12th grade boys and I will be preparing for my first ever Open House on Thursday with my upcoming parents. Both of which are making us just a little bit nervous. I'm sure all will be great though.

As summer winds down, we realize that we have been so lucky to see and do everything that we have. We truly enjoyed all of our time with our family and friends and we look forward to the next time we see everyone (whether that be back in the states or here in Honduras...wink wink!) and remember to keep in touch!! I also promise to try and update this blog more often...cross your fingers!

Guanaja Island - Columbus landed here!

Over the weekend, Ken and I took our end of the year vacation, before going to the U.S. that is, to the island of Guanaja. Guanaja is apart of the Bay Islands and it is the farthest of the 3 away from La Ceiba. This means it's also the most difficult to get to. The other two islands can easily be reached by daily ferries that depart twice a day, however, to get to Guanaja, you basically have to take a plane. Because it's farther away and more difficult to get to, there are less tourists and "gringos" which is a HUGE plus in our book.

Guanaja was supposedly founded in the summer of 1530 by Christopher Columbus who originally named it Pine Island due to all of the pine trees that covered this tall island. It was then ruled for 2 centuries by pirates before becoming more inhabited by Caracols or islanders. The island is the least developed of the 3 as well seeing as how there are no cars at all and water taxi is the only way to get from place to place. Most people in Guanaja live on the main key called Baracca that is super small! You probably couldn't even fit anymore houses on it. It's insane how many people actually live there. We ended up staying on this exciting key for our vacation though because it's the only place that would allow us to walk around freely, enjoy the culture, food, and of course the craziness of it all. Many of the other hotels are on their own islands (meaning they are super expensive) and the main land is basically untouched. It was hit hard by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and basically everything was destroyed including all of the vegetation so everything there is new and still growing. Guanaja is surprisingly now covered with all of the pine trees once that Columbus said existed there today and it is absolutely beautiful.

Ken and I went on this adventure with our friends Jake, Jenna, and Brian. We headed out a day early though on Friday to start vacation early and fell in love with it immediately. We took an 8-seater plane there, Ken being our co-pilot (he did a great job!), and landed early in the morning giving us the whole day to explore. We walked the whole key in about 20 minutes before grabbing a lunch of baleadas and then heading to the beach. WARNING: Guanaja has the worst sand fleas EVER! We stayed in the water almost the entire time we were at the beach beacause of this and of course my sun burn began....don't worry folks....Ken was tan already.

The next day when we met up with the rest of the gang, we headed to the North side of the island where we went hiking to a Wat(h)erfall (this was how the sign was spelled) which we never ended up finding. It was cool though to hike on the island and along the river. It was a different feel than anywhere else. We stopped for lunch at a hotel along the beach that had a fantastic view of the Caribbean Sea and did some snorkeling before signing up to go scuba diving the next day.

Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy and wavy the next day but we still went out and did two dives. It was great to finally get back underwater since Ken and I hadn't been diving since October. We got to go through this cool chute that had the water starting out gray and it turned into a magnificent blue. On the second dive we saw some beautiful coral and two humongous fish! They came from the depths of ocean and were just swimming with us for awhile. The sand was white and the water was warm, who can complain!

For dinner we headed to a hotel called Graham's Place that had an outdoor aquarium of different rays, barracuda, turtles, lobster, starfish, and many other things, along with a killer fish burger. The ride back to the key was exhilarating too since it was pitch black and our water taxi had forgotten his light! The whole time we were hoping the other boats saw us!

There's nothing better than getting away from La Ceiba and the hustle and bustle and this vacation did just that. It was a great way to end the school year and celebrate all the successes we've had as well as have one last "hoorah" with our close friends Jake and Brian who won't be returning next school year. Ken and I look forward to seeing everyone soon when we get back into town next week and we can't wait to tell you more about our adventures! See you soon!