September 6

September 6, 2009
I had a very fun night last night! I went to Chicago Unos (yes there are American chains all over this city) to watch Honduras beat Trinidad and Tobago 4-1. It was certainly a sight to see. The whole restaurant was glued to the hundreds of tvs in the building. Every the ball crossed the half towards our goal everyone started to scream, waiters would stop what they were doing, and everyone stared. Then most of the time Honduras scored a goal and everyone screamed GOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. And hugged and kissed and cheered and made noise with noise makers. It was very fun. Then we got into our friend Dirian’s car, another co-worker of ours, and drove around the city a bit. You think tailgating in the United States is fun you should vacation in Honduras for a soccer game! We cruised down the street with our funny hats on and for probably three miles on this main drag people were just hanging out. Everyone was so happy. I have never seen so many people come together spontaneously to have a “party” of sorts. There were babies, teenagers, grandmas, grandpas, and of course everything in between. What a fun thing to see in Honduras. Thankfully, I did not see any violence. Where I was it didn’t seem like it would ever get violent but I am sure that sometimes these things get carried away and can get dangerous.
During the day Saturday we had open house for the parents of the school. My job was pretty easy so it seems fairly insignificant but it still feels good to have it over. They introduced all the teachers to the parents as a big crowd and then they had to go to the specific classroom of their kid to meet with the teacher. During that time I just floated from first to third to give my little speech about how I discipline and what I was excited about working on with the kids. The biggest thing I pushed was that I want my kids to be able to not only read English but to understand what they are reading. They have had phonics which means they can read anything really, but their comprehension is not good. I also said I am going to try and encourage my students to use their imaginations and problem solving ideas on their own. (I didn’t say this to the parents obviously, but these kids have been trained to just process information like little machines.)
Before the open house my friend Erika stopped by to say hi and tell us she was going to the mall. We all got dressed quickly to join her and had a blast shopping. She is such a sweet heart. I’m so thankful for her. Today we are going to a dance competition with her that her brother is dancing in. I’m excited to see dancing, I hope its good ;-)
I am going to get in the shower so I’m ready to leave. I also have to do my house chores this morning. I miss you all and wish you could’ve been here to see the awesomeness that is Honduran soccer 