El Salvador...No pasa nada

Friday June 8th after a tearful goodbye to my students and chaotic last minute packing and cleaning session, Kate and I began our month long traveling adventure. Our good friend Magdiel was nice enough to buy us our last Honduran baleadas and drive us to Santa Rosa so that we could catch the bus to Octopeque and start making our way to the beaches in El Salvador. After making quite an appearance at the bus station with our huge backpacks and "carry on bags" we waited 45 minutes for the bus to come. By now you would think we would be pros and rush to get on the bus...but we decided last minute bathroom trips were crucial for good traveling, this unfortunately landed us standing room only. You can only imagine our dismay at such a bad way to start our trip. Luckily after about 30-45 minutes..not sure on time as we are both watchless, we finally have two people get off the bus thus giving us their seats. We made it to Octopeque where we decided to hire a taxi to take us to La Palma. We had a taxi driver with quite hussle as he ran through 2 way traffic, skidding in front of cars so that he could reach his taxi and pick us up before another taxi could come and swoop us away. He was quite a chatty man, and we enjoyed his Spanglish and hearing about Vegas and the muchas parties  and the que crazy in Vegas. We made it safely to La Palma and found a hostel where we had stayed before, went for some pupusas and beers and found ourselves passed out in bed by 8.

We woke up Saturday morning ready to rock and roll our way to the beach but first we had to conquer the challenge of walking to the bus stop with all of our luggage, no easy task and my  mom can attest to this. Once situated on the bus we made our way to San Salvador. When we arrive we pull into a gas station and the driver told us that he was unable to go the bus station and we would have to walk across the road. Let me tell you that the road was about 6 lanes across and please don't forget that we are both carrying huge backpackers backpacks, I also have a frontal backpack and Kate has her "cocina". We look at each other with that "oh shit we are never going to make it look" when all of a sudden another bus driver appears and tells us that he will take us to the correct bus terminal to go to the beach. We weigh our options and decide why not. While on the bus we keep pestering the driver as to where to get off and when he finally tells us it's our stop we look around at nothing but "residential" area.....no bus stop anywhere in site....yes panick sets in slightly. Good thing we had adrenaline because we ended up having to walk 4 blocks, thanks to the man already on the bus and his awesome sign language (holds up 2 fingers, makes his fingers do the walking motion, and points in the direction for us to go). We finally get on the direct bus where we learn we have to pay an entire passenger fare for our bags. Again we are dropped off in the middle of nowhere kind of feeling when 2 very sweet old woman directed us where to go...another 6 or 7 blocks and we found our hostel Papaya Lodge aka hot box central. We quickly pulled ourselves together and set out to exlpore. We found an amazing cafe with yummy food and tasty chai lattes, yep El Tunco was going to be great. We then layed out on the beach and enjoyed our time on black sand beaches. That night we decided to see what the town had to offer for night life...we ate some dinner  (pupusas) and drank some of El Salvador's national beer Pilsener ( you can't forget to pronounce it like pill-sa-ner otherwise they won't have a clue what you are talking about) We meet some interesting people that night including one man who claimed to have a helicopter, a boat, and was the ball boy for the Wizards and knew Micheal Jordan but had somehow erased the picture of the two. We also met some Brazilians whose favorite phrase was "No pasa nada" used probably about every 5th sentence.

Sunday found us eating amazing pancakes and ready for some more beach time. We watched the surfers and enjoyed a nice laid back day.











Monday was rough because we had to eat some more amazing pancakes and spend some more time on the beach....man life is tough. After a hard day of sunbathing we pulled our sweaty selves together for some 2 for 1 margaritas at a bar across the way. We walk into the bar increasing the population to 4 when all of a sudden we hear someone say "Kate!" I am sure I had the most dumbfound look on my face. What are the odds of Kate running into one of her old Colorado buddies in a small beach town in El Salvador. They invited us to a bbq and we had a great time.

Tuesday came all too soon and after yet another amazing breakfast we had to pack up our bags again..this time bailing some stuff realizing our bags were just too heavy.  We trekked back to the road and hopped a bus to San Salvador. We got ourselves situated in our hotel directly above the bus station and took a taxi to the mall. Yes, I said mall and it was the closest thing to America I have experience since being in Central America. The mall was 3 stories and had all sorts of stores. It was fun but a little overwhelming to experience. We ended up eating a Little Ceasar's pizza and had left overs for the next days journey to Managua. 4 am comes awfully early!

Travels have been going well and can't wait to see what Nicaragua brings!

A year I will never forget

The days are rapidly dwindling and before I know it I will be packing and jetting off on some amazing adventures. I am so excited to begin traveling but I would be lying if I said my heart wasn't breaking by leaving.

My students and this experience have had such a profound effect on me. I know that leaving here, I will leave a changed person. One who appreciates so much more, who communicates better, who loves without boundaries, who laughs more, and who will never forget how lucky she really is.

As I began to tear down my classroom, my students have realized that the end is near. They are constantly begging me not to go, and to stay one more year. We go round and round with the conversation about why I can't stay, though it breaks my heart every time. Today, the students put together a surprise party at recess for the teachers. They gave us juice, candy, cookies, and chips. They had planned everything on their own, including who would bring what. It was at this moment the realization hit of how much these students truly mean to me. They are thoughtful and loving and though we have had our moments, and they do remember the days that Miss Kristin was "grumpy" they still love me nonetheless. It was also this moment where I realized just how lucky I am. I have received so much love and support from all my friends and family and students that have come in and out of my life. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for all the love I have been given in my 26 short years of life, it is more than some people receive in a lifetime. My heart feels so much joy but hurts at the same time knowing that within a few short days I will have to say goodbye to these amazing students, and they will never get to understand how much they have given me.

Some of the most recent favored moments with my students:

After experiencing quite a bit of difficulty with one math lesson, we return from recess to attack the lesson from a different angle. This of course changed our schedule for the day. So I told my students we would have to "shuffle" around our schedule. My students of course ask "Mees, what is shuffle?" I tell them it means to move things around. One students stands up and begins dancing and singing "Every day I am just shuffling" - video is available upon request.

While practicing verbs in the present and past, I told my students a story in the present which they had to change to the past. I left the story open ended so that the students could finish the story which went a little something like this. I went to a dark scary castle, I heard a noise and I saw........ Well my lil girls are such the little romantics and of course I saw a prince who "ironically" was named Wrenn and we got married and lived happily ever after....silly kids. They have also decided that if we have kids their names should be Oskar, Nancy, and Fabiola.

I have one student who is particularly upset about me leaving and is constantly hugging on me and telling me she will miss me. Today I gave the students parts of the border that I have taken down, and almost of all the students said they will use it to remember me (very sweet, I know) then, this student asked if I would forget her and I told her I could never forget her and that she and the other students will stay in my heart forever. She ran and told all the other students that they will be in my heart forever and I had students running up to me to tell me that I would be in their hearts too. These kiddos are so precious.

If I have learned one lesson from my students it's that you don't need fancy technology, resources, you don't even need a printer or copy machine for students to learn all you have to do is love and believe in them. 

Dear Minerva Class of 2021, I will always remember and love you!

Wrapping up

Since we have returned from Semana Santa our weeks have been busy with activities mid-terms and wrapping up learning for the year.

Thursday April 12th was open house day for my kiddos parents to come in and watch the class and see how far the kids have come. We did a readers theater and presented our science habitat projects. There was a lot of English being spoken and I am not sure what the parents understood or thought but I couldn't have been more proud of the kiddos. They have all come so far in learning English, it always amazes me when children can be so bilingual.

Then April 20th brought Family Day. Families were invited to come and participate in games with students. It was so much fun to watch parents and children interact in all the different games. I was in charge of wheelbarrow races and had some great entertainment. Unfortunately it was a wicked hot day but the students still had a great time. Other games included a cake walk, family soccer, sponge races, two-legged races.

To continue the festivities, we had Summer Days on May 4th where the children were invited to Villa de Ada which is a large swimming area with 4 pools, a play set, and some shady areas to play fun games. The Face painting began as soon as the students arrived, unfortunately none of us are the best of artists but we pulled our own, and if I ever desperately need a job I just might have a career as I wowed some with my helicopter on one child's cheek. Then students were first involved in a game of drip, drip, drop much like duck duck goose but with water. And, a game of musical towels, yup just like musical chairs but using towels (we have some very clever teachers here). Then the students were antsy to get swimming so after a quick break we set the children loose in the pools and hoped for the best. Miraculously not a single drowned or was hurt. I had a great time playing with my kids as they dragged me into the pool to play with them.






























Friday May 11th arrived and we had Sports Day where children were able to burn energy and their faces (another wickedly hot day) playing all different sports games. We played kickball, volleyball, soccer, we had some fun relay races, some games of tug-o-war, and an obstacle course. I can only imagine that the students went home dead tired, because that's how I felt at the end of the day

Friday May 18th was Math Day where students engaged in fun math activities. The activity for my students was math relay races. The kids had a great time practicing their addition and subtraction facts while getting a bit of exercise as well. They had to run to a hula hoop, complete the equation, do that many jumping jacks then run back and high five the next person in line. The students had a great time, even the slightly uncoordinated lil preppa guys who by the way looked adorable trying to do jumping jacks.


Lastly, May 25th was Science Exploration Day. Students had to sign up for an activity, which included things like magnet exploration, bubbles, paper airplanes, fossils, sink or float, and lava lamps. My activity was lava in a cup which unfortunately didn't go quite as I had imagined but I learned about a lot of other great ideas to use with kiddos.

It is so hard to believe that I only have 3 more full days with my kiddos then 4 days of exams. I will miss all of the students so very very much! It has been such a wonderful experience and these children will always have a place in my heart.

Lessons learned

As our time here is rapidly approaching it's end and we will all be heading our seperate ways it's important to reflect on what this experience has truly meant. For those of you who knew me quite well before embarking on this adventure, it may seem as I have done a complete 180. I took everything I had for granted and never truly understood the meaning of being grateful. I took friends and family for granted never realizing how much their actions said. I want to take the time to say a huge thank you to all the people who have loved and supported me, even in my often selfish ways. I have been humbled in so many ways, and I am writing this also as a reminder to myself to remember the lessons learned in Honduras.

Saturday April 21,  Kate and I went to orphanage where about 15-20 children from the ages of prolly 2-10 run around with one adult supervising. I couldn't help but think back to my days at Head Start where there was 3 staff member for 20 children. These children were so excited to see us and were immediately drawn to playing with us. They wanted to swing, and play in the kitchen, play ball, and sit in our laps and just be near us. These children were craving human interaction and I am so happy that we could spend time with them, these children will never know that they changed our lives more than we could ever change theirs. It's impossible to walk away from an orphanage without being thankful for everything that your parents have ever done for. The simple interactions, reading a story or snuggling in a recliner. Things that these children will probably never experience. I never truly understood how good it feels to give back to other people, what was so generously given to me my whole life, without questions, without boundaries, completely unconditional love. If I could take these children home with me I would, and I will be definitely looking for ways to help these children in the future. I challenge you that on any day you are feeling bad or having a rough day, to somehow give to someone who is less fortunate and see if you don't feel happier and more grateful.

Antigua

Wednesday (4/25) We arrived in Antigua excited to check out the town. We arrived at our hotel which was a cute hostel but rather small. The 5 of us shared a room with 2 bunk beds and one solo. Felt camp style for sure. We walked around the town to check it out. It is such a beautiful town with a lot to see. There are vendors all over the streets selling things from scarves and jewelry to agua pura. 

Overall the trip in Antigua was a lot of fun. We were able to see some amazing alfombras that were made painstakingly with colored sawdust and grass. Families are in charge of making these alfombras and will place ladders and boards across in order to perfectly place the sawdust. They use tons of bright colors and sometimes figurines. The interesting part is that they have place the alfombras in the middle of the streets before processions. Then, the processions come and walk over the alfombras essentially destroying them. They then clean the streets to start the process over the next day. There are 40 days of alfombras and processions in Antigua for the 40 days of Lent. Antigua has the biggest Semana Santa celebration in all of Central America.

The processions..…huge and elaborate floats carried on the shoulders of men or women.  For Thursday, they wore purple robes. On Friday, they wore black for the death of Jesus and the mourning of Mary. Then, on Sunday they wore white. All you can see is a sea of people in the appropriate colored robe with hazes of smokes, and the loud gong of drums.  There would be hundreds of people walking with the procession and many carrying incense to fill the streets (and lungs) with the smoke. It was amazing to watch because the crowd was virtually silent watching these processions and you could truly feel the impact that these processions had on the people. On Saturday it was the women who carried the floats and only women were walking in the procession, all the other days it was men only.  Easter will forever have a completely different meaning. These streets where not filled with easter egg hunts and easter bunnies covered in chocolate but with a completely religious meaning of Easter.

Over the course of the few days we were there we were able to indulge in some delicious meals, some legit coffee, and most importantly ice cream as a lunchtime staple. Who needs lunch when travelling on a budget, and ice cream is a perfect substitute for a real meal? Clearly not us gringas.

 Kate and I happened to stumble upon a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus as they took him off the cross. We also went to an old monastery converted into hotel where they were having mass, we quietly snuck in the back to catch a minute of their culture.

The markets were loaded with goods and vendors ready to barter. Perhaps my favorite lines from the market were “Pase adelante” (meaning come inside) “specialladyprice”  (yes they pronounce it like one word). There was a lot of “special price for you” “what you like” “what you pay” . There was also a labyrinth of an indoor market. Jenna and I were actually lost for a few minutes trying to determine how to leave. With that said, there were some great goods to be purchased and we didn’t practice much self control when bartering was an option. It’s amazing how you feel like you are getting an awesome deal when you talk them down from a much greater price, in reality the mark-up is probably insane and you still don’t get a great deal in the end, but man it feels good. Ha ha!

There were a few nights out on the town where we were able to go out and partake in some drinking and dancing. It was definitely an interesting scene but had some good laughs from it all. My favorite being Lori and I standing on the stairs looking for fellow gringas, and men kept approaching us to dance. I turned to Lori and with the most American accent I could muster I said “ No hablo…..No hablo….” Looking at Lori questioningly for the word espanol.  We had hoped this tactic would work, but unfortunately they knew a few words of English. They continued to ask us to dance, this time in English. We got pretty desperate and resorted to making up our language which I think was something between Japanese and Hawaiin….well these guys were pretty persistent and were using the universal language of body language. They begin moving their arms in a dancing fashion.  We continued to act stupefied by these motions and they finally gave up. As they walked away Lori and I burst into laughter. The best part being perhaps that after they left, still within ear shot the bouncer guy asked us to get off the stairs, all in Spanish, and all perfectly understood.

It was a lot of fun travelling and I can’t believe time is flying by! A little over six weeks of teaching left then let the travelling continue!!!

Lake Atitlan

Sorry faithful blog followers life has been a bit loco these days. I have been avidly searching and applying for jobs in hopes that I might be able to make some “real” money when I get back to the States. But between job applications and attempting to teach University students English (when they actually show up) I have been busy travelling! Yup that’s right! Semana Santa granted us 10 childfree days to do as we please in Central America. Ah what to do with such free time you may ask, naturally the response is to go to the biggest Semana Santa Festival in all of Central America. So the 5 of us gringas made plans to spend some time relaxing at beautiful lago Atitlan. We rushed home from school on Friday (3/30/12) to pile into a truck, 7 of us to be exact, and we jetted off to spend the night in Copan. After a brief stop in La Entrada as we pondered whether to attempt the chicken bus or pay extra for the driver to take us all the way to Copan. After a few minutes of waiting and watching as the herd for the bus grew bigger and bigger it was decided the driver would be best. Again we piled into the truck this time I took the risk of riding Honduran style in the back. It was a beautiful drive and we watched as the sun set over the beautiful mountains and the wind whipped at our hair.  We had a great meal and called it an early night seeing as our bus was to leave at 6:00 am in the next morning.

Sleepy eyed but ready for our adventure we again piled into a shuttle van, yes I realize I use the word piled quite often but you must understand we literally pile on top of each other in most circumstances.  No surprise at all but there were not enough seats for the number of people travelling.  Unfortunately I was the one to bear the brunt of this one, he was definitely in my personal bubble and I prepared myself for the next 6-7 hours of travelling. The trip was mostly uneventful minus the ridiculous traffic jam that occurred and our driver’s hour long detour. Then came Guatemala City….. imagine any  large city with smog and a bit of stop and go traffic, factor in a terrible headache, hot sweatiness, and brute force of break s followed by rapid acceleration, I couldn’t keep my watermelon licuado down, fortunately I have become a bit of a bag lady and had a spare bag on hand.  We made it to Antigua where we needed to catch another bus to the lake. My saving grace Kate had Dramamine on hand meaning most of the last bus ride was a groggy haze for me, that is until the impromptu band begin jamming in the back of the bus. I mean who doesn’t bring a guitar along on a bus ride. I couldn’t help but smile sleepily as the band rocked the bus in both English and Spanish. Finally, we arrived at the lake and my stomach was settled enough to eat Greek food, yup, Greek food. I ate possibly the most delicious Falafel ever, maybe it was because it was something different than chicken and veggies that made it so yummy, or maybe it was truly great cooking, we may never really know.

Sunday we set off to explore the adorable town of San Marcos La Laguna. We may have gone a bit shopping crazy but we had a good time. Then there was the brilliant idea of kayaking across the lake. This was definitely one of those instances where judge of distance was lacking as was the wind and pending  stormish weather accounted for. The trip across was a bit of a challenge but Kate and I entertained ourselves with notions of trying out for Amazing Race.  Once across, an hour later, we were told that we would have to pay to park our kayaks. None of us fancied the idea of paying children ranging from probably 7-12 to watch our kayaks as we meandered around town. We decided to row back across the lake, this time against the wind and waves. Another hour later we found ourselves arguing with the man in charge of the kayaks. You see, we had paid for 3 hours but only used up 2 hours of kayaking time. Things began to get a bit heated and we had to search out the man who initially rented us the kayaks. After much debating, we reached a happy medium and settled on him paying us back half an hours worth. With dead arms and soggy clothes we headed back to our hostel for some nourishment. 

Monday was spent lounging around reading and of course more shopping.  A much needed uneventful day.

Continuing along the lines of brilliant ideas, Tuesday morning we had scheduled a sun rise volcano hike. What they failed to tell you is that it takes 4 hours to hike up the volcano, the tour guides estimated a mere 2 and a half hour hike. Even leaving at 3 am we missed the sun rise, and my stomach issues continued to cause me quite some pain. I was having a major case of indigestion despite the 6 tums and 2 pepto previously taken. In between stops for breathing and water intake, I was shoving my finger down my throat in attempts that I would feel better if I could get it out. Thanks to our adorable little tour guide man who wouldn’t take no for an answer, I reached the top with the rest of the girls. The view was amazing and I was so happy to say I made it. Then began the 3 hour trek back down. When we got back we ate some breakfast, showered, and took a siesta.

Wednesday was time to head off to Antigua to check out what else Guatemala had to offer.

Better late than never

I am so incredibly far behind on blogs…..Let me take a trip back to a little over a month ago when my man and his cousin came for a visit to Honduras.

Friday (3/9)  I set off to the airport to pick up Wrenn and TJ from the airport. Luckily I had a friend drive me to the airport to avoid bus travels. I got to the airport and only had to wait about 45 minutes for their plane to arrive. Just enough time for the nerves to build up a bit. I hadn’t seen Wrenn since my visit to Dallas at the beginning of January. I anxiously stood by the door waiting for it to open and them to pop out. Unfortunately,  the doors are part clear and part frosted glass, so I could see them taking a rather long time talking to immigration. I stood helplessly on the other side of the doors peeking through the parts that I could see through. After a few minutes they finally came through the door. We grabbed a quick bite and then caught a Hedman Alas bus to Copan. The bus trip was quite interesting with all the twists and turns and not without some suffering did we make it to Copan. After a long day for all of us we turned on MTV in English and went to bed. Saturday we went to check out the ruins, and I served as a guide for us. Later that afternoon we went to hang out with Kate and her Mom, Georgeanne, along with Magdiel and Carlos. We spent a great deal hanging out and chatting. Then we went out for a lovely dinner and called it a night. Sunday we crammed into Magdiel’s truck, 6 of us in one truck….4 guys and 2 girls, you can only imagine how squished we were.  After a quick stop in Santa Rosa for some groceries we were Gracias bound. I think Wrenn and TJ were quite surprised by all of Honduras and felt even more grateful for everything they have in the United States.

Monday set me off to work, with Wrenn and TJ promising to come a little bit later. My kids were beyond excited and went bonkers when they saw them. The kiddos absolutely adored them and were climbing on Wrenn like he was a human jungle gym. They played a lot of great games like futbol, duck duck goose, and volleyball. TJ came bearing gifts and gave each of my kiddos a box of colored pencils.  My students didn’t want them to ever leave (I felt the same). We spent our afternoons hanging out and checking out the town. Thursday morning the boys headed out and I had to face my kiddos alone. The students were sad, as was I, but we had all had a great time. It was so good to Wrenn again, and I am looking forward to spending more time with him J