From December through March

Hola my lovely friends!

Well, once again, I have to start with an apology for how long it has been since my last blog post but I hope you can understand that my time here flies by and I often need to be reminded that months have passed and that I’m due to update you all!! I guess, while you all anxiously await my posts, you could bear in mind that no news is good news, right? ;) Well in my case, good news doesn’t even come close to describing how amazing my time here is and has been so far.

I’m now back at home in Siguatepeque after an absolutely incredible 2 and a half months of travelling around Central America, of which I have shared very little (unless we’re friends on Facebook!) so I will try and sum up our adventure without boring you. After our trip to Costa Rica we spent a couple weeks in Nicaragua (mostly in a town called San Juan del Sur famous for its surfing!) before returning to Honduras for Christmas and New Year. We spent the festive period on a Caribbean island belonging to Honduras called Utila (the smaller, sister island of Roatán, where we were for Honduran Independence Day). Ione, I and the 4 other volunteers we were travelling with rented a studio apartment for the majority of our 3 week stay. (Our original 10 day plan got extended more and more as we realised how hard it was to leave Utila!!) The apartment we were staying in was meant for 2 people and there was only a curtain separating the bathroom from the rest of the ‘apartment’, so the 6 of us got pretty close… in fact, by the end of 2 and a half months with them, we were more like family! There were loads of little adventures on Utila from getting stranded on a tiny island in a tropical storm on Christmas Eve to treasure hunts for presents on Ione’s birthday, huge ‘pot-luck’ dinners at the dive shop and much more. It was very strange being away from home for Christmas (even stranger spending it in a HOT country and swimming in the ocean instead of the usual ‘wrapped up’ Christmas walk!) but we did make the most of it and all had a very special and memorable day! After Christmas I took my Open Water Scuba Diving course (best Christmas present ever, thanks Mom and Dad!!) along with about 8 of the other volunteers. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I have well and truly fallen in love with scuba diving… Though I’m not sure it’ll be quite the same experience back in Scotland!

Christmas Eve on Water Caye

The jetty of our 'home' over Christmas

Caribbean Santa!

We even decorated a palm tree for our presents!

Out for dinner on NYE/ Ione's birthday (thanks Mom and Dad!)

The dive boat!!

Once we finally managed to pull ourselves away from Utila again (and face the infamous ‘vomit comet’ ferry that goes back to the mainland… the name says it all) we headed through Honduras again and on to Guatemala. We travelled first to a small town located in a very beautiful area called Rio Dulce (the sweet river). This place was just stunning, all transport to and from the hostels was done by boat and though we only spent a couple days there we really had the most amazing time. We visited a hot spring waterfall (one of the only ones in the world!!) where the water falling was really hot but hit the cold water in the pool at the bottom, forming lots of steam. It was basically a natural spa, we went all out and covered ourselves in mud too… such an amazing place!

 After Rio Dulce we headed north to a town called Lanquin. This is where we discovered one of our favourite hostels of all our time travelling, Zephyr Lodge. This town was way up in the Guatemalan mountains and the hostel was set right in the middle of them, resulting in the most beautiful scenery. I remember standing in the showers which looked right out onto the mountains and valley feeling veeeeeery calm and at peace with the world (even if a little too exposed!) Whilst in Lanquin we visited a national park called Semuc Champey, famous for its amazing staircase of turquoise pools and also spent a day white water rafting on the river…. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Our raft boat was, quite frankly, a massive fail (we’re blaming the ‘curse of the GoPro’ for our problems) and we resorted to ‘plan B’ a few too many times for my liking but hey, we avoided ‘plan C’ (thank God, I have no idea where we’d have ended up!) and it also made for a very funny video to remember the day by!

                                                              Connie, Ione and I at Semuc Champey

Unfortunately due to our extended time in Utila (not that I regret it a bit!) we didn’t have much time to stay in these places so it felt a little bit like we flew through Guatemala to start with but at our next destination, Lago de Atitlan, was a lot more relaxed. We stayed in another very awesome hostel called Zoola, which had incredible food and a pool, for about 4 or 5 days. I think you’re just going to have to take my word for it that ALL of Guatemala is just absolutely stunning and the lake was no exception. Our last stop in Guatemala before we headed off on our journey back to Honduras was, what we had all been waiting for, Antigua!! Antigua is just the most beautiful city I have ever been to (definitely one of my very favourite places in the world!). It’s a fairly small, old, colonial city that I think was once Guatemala’s capital. I can’t really even place why it was I fell in love with Antigua so much or what it is that makes it so charming but what I can tell you is that, if you ever get the chance to go, TAKE IT! Antigua will not disappoint. The city is well known for its incredible markets, truly they are amazing! The colours and the wonderful materials blew me away, I probably could have spent my whole years’ worth of money just shopping and buying Guatemalan gifts for everyone… I wish I could have! But I can only hope that for now, photos will suffice.

 

 

The view from the hostel in Antigua

 

Lago de Atitlan

 

So sorry that was so long - it was just so hard to cut parts out! And there are maaaaany more stories that I’m sure will come up in conversation over time… I wouldn’t want to give them all away in a blog post!!

Anyway, now I have been back at school for about a month and I have to say I am loving it more than ever!! (If you’d asked me last year I wouldn’t have even thought it would be possible to love it more!) I had the slightest worry that coming back to work after all that amazing time travelling and exploring would be hard but thankfully I was completely wrong. You know you love what you’re doing when you don’t even get post-holiday blues, eh?! My schedule this year is much fuller than last year and I’m now doing Grades 3, 4 and 5 maths and science. I’m really glad I managed to keep 2 of the same classes, I definitely feel like it’s made it easier to start again this year already knowing the students and having a good relationship with the classes. And my new class are Grade 5… they are just awesome. They’re the oldest ones in La Providencia and they really are mature for their age. I can joke around with them and have so much fun whilst teaching them (… okay there’s also the chance I’ve just become much more immature but either way it’s great!) and because they work so hard it means we have more time to do fun activities/ experiments. It’s just going so well this year!

 

I’ve started a small Tae Kwon Do class with some of the kids and it’s just going down an absolute storm. They love it and some of them actually have such potential for martial arts. I just wish I was staying long enough for the club to really get underway!

Outwith school, again, I’ve been keeping busy. I’ve started rock climbing again and made really good friends with a group of bilingual Honduran guys who have been taking me with them! Last weekend we hiked up a mountain behind Siguatepeque into the forest and up to an amazing waterfall and spent the day climbing rocks up there… well the guys did… and I tried my best! Haha. It actually felt like I was an explorer in a movie or something as we were hacking our way through the plants and trees with machetes!

Well I think that’s about it for what’s been happening over here in Honduras. I think you’re more or less up to date with what’s been going on but if anyone has any questions about my work here or anything else please get in touch!

All my love, time is flying and I’ll be seeing many of you in less than 5 months now!! (Scary scary scary!)

Un gran abrazo y besos,

Kayla xxxx

PURA VIDA IN COSTA RICA!

So my lovelies, I promised you tales of our travelling adventures but my amazing partner Ione is a great wee writer so instead of my rambling chatter I'm gonna post her blog post for you all to read in the faith that you'll love it as much as I do. Please also visit her blog to see some of her previous posts too, she's fab!! http://ionegeorgakis.blogspot.com/







Costa Rica, the land of magic, where beauty surrounds you, where the

people are the main attraction, where fears are faced, friendships

gained and memories made. I wish that I could take each of you reading

this on a tour of my time here and show you some of the wonders that I

have experienced but I can’t so I will give you an amos bouche to

inspire the traveller within, to prod the sleeping long haired, tie

die wearing hippy to jump up and get out of the house and have your

own adventures.

 From the moment we arrived it was love at first sight, we stepped just

a few 100 meters from our jungle painted, graffitied funky vibe hostel

into the square to find ourselves avalanched into live reggae music,

street dancing and circus acts, erupting our senses and stimulating

our souls. We wandered the streets admiring the sights; not the

ancient buildings or stone work but the parks lined with beautiful

people, the graffiti work that would put banksy to shame (my personal

favourite being ‘TLC Please don’t traffic human organs’) and the total

creation of Pura Vida.

 

 Pura Vida is a Costa Rican saying that has such a frequent occurrence

in conversations, so many relevant situations and only one meaning,

Pure Life. In this and so many other ways we could learn from this

country. In environment, social dynamics and attitudes towards

behaviours and others Costa Rica differs from Honduras and many other

central American countries, it stands alone in its free loving way and

this shows from the businesses, to the people to the police force.

Unquestionably the lack of a military presence in the country has been

a positive influence on the daily living.

Now down to business, facts, figures, places and faces, we did it all,

we met some strange and beautiful souls, stayed in some wonderful

places and made some lifelong memories.

After 2 days and 20 hours of busses we arrived in San Jose, and went

to our hostel heaven, San Jose backpackers had it all, a pool, trippy

art, a roof top bar iced with fairy lights and lonely planets voted

best burger. What more can a girl ask for? A great selection of other

guests? Check! We met some wonderful people, two brits who were

enjoying all that the world had to offer after finishing university,

Sam and Marcos were a burst of entertaining joy as well as the fact

that we were pretty damb pumped to be meeting some people from the

homeland, as the majority of other people we have encountered on our

travels have been from the United States. Which brings me to my next

category, the Yanks, we met many and they just kept on getting better,

Derik the initial American, very entertaining, enjoying traveling

through central America free styling it on his own and picking up

friends on the way, Eric the big lumberjack (nothing of the sort he

just rocked a lot of checked shirts) and drank A LOT OF PILSEN, then

we have Alex and Jon, bat shit mental but totally loveable both who

had a really rather impressive selection of short shorts and crab

fighting techniques. After a night of San Jose partying with Eric Alex

and Jon accidently ending up in a casino primarily used as a base camp

for the local hookers we decided that we all knew each other well

enough so jumped in a renta car and drove across the country. We hit

the road early in the morning to start the adventure, music blaring

through the speakers, hangovers in full swing and ready to start a new

chapter of the Costa Rican journey. We drove for hours learning more

and more about our new companions and visa versa, we stopped off at a

Soda (little street café) for some pocket beers and food, only to look

out the window and be greeted by a family of 30 cappuccino monkeys

swinging from the trees, jumping through the jungle and causing

mischief. WOW. After the dancing, pool and driving we ended up on the

ferry in James bond style. Literally driving on as the ferry pulled

away!

After a little trip on the boat and another hour or so in the car some

of which Jon spent on the roof we got to our paradise, in the form of

Don Jons hostel, we rented an apartment for the 5 of us and the fun

began there. The hostel was in a place called Santa Teresa, otherwise

known as literal heaven, a slice of pure love and freedom compressed

into a sandy beach, a dusty road and some beautiful people. Holy Moly

it’s the closest to nirvana I have ever experienced.

 What started as a three day visa run turned quickly into a 9 day

fantasy world of in-comprehendible crazy joy.

The dates and days and hours and minutes and activity blurred into one

large pot of warm fuzzy memories but I will pick out some of the

highlights of the trip.

1.       Tica Train – driving through San Jose on a small, crazily

painted train car playing questionable music, waving as we drove by

and only realizing half way through the ride that due to peoples looks

at us it probably wasn’t a normal attraction. We had fun anyhoo

 2.       Breakfast beer – Beer, tomato juice, lime, chilli and garlic

hot sauce, and a sprinkle of salt. Pure joy DON’T DISS IT TILL YOU TRY

IT

3.       Jon playing Frisbee on a public beach wearing nothing but

Michaela’s itsy bitsy blue bikini bottoms

4.       A Mexican who’s artist name was Picasso (think it’s already

been used) who was constantly paranoid about being caught by the

paparazzi?? And who reminded us persistently that the photos we took

of him are worth thousands. £££

5.       Our hunter gatherer men going Speer fishing on Thanksgiving

morning catching us ladies some fish and having a local man cook up

the most incredible culinary feast with most of the other guests from

the hostel.

6.       Driving on a ‘short cut’ also known as the most dangerous

road anyone has ever driven on to get to some incredible waterfalls in

Montverde, saving some travellers from a ditch, helping a pretty

little chica across a river and picking up a sweaty German couple

making a total of 8 in the car.

7.       Getting to the waterfall, scaling a muddy, slippy, hippy, and

trippy path for 30 minutes before arriving at a stunning set of

different level waterfalls, watching one by one everyone jump in from

different levels, the 10ft, 40ft and 130ft depending on their

bravery/craziness.

8.       Being the only person not in the water, standing on the ledge

of a 10ft waterfall shaking in my swimsuit while 15 people only 5 of

whom I knew clapped and cheered and chanted for me to jump in,

shaking, sweating and borderline crying I finally made the leap more

for the fear of someone pushing me in. Not a proud moment for Ione but

I’m sure everyone else found it entertaining.

 

 

 9.       Frauline – Now Frauline deserves a whole bullet point, a

local Rastafarian tico who’s name means little girl in German, with

dreadlocks down to his shoulders and tattoos of all kinds. He ran,

lived and played in the ‘La casa surf and chill’ probably aged about

50 still rocking it with the ladies (many and often) showed us all a

very good time. Young spirit, healthy body, wise head and crazy

personality.

10.   Beach bonfire, after another fun night of adventures we headed

down to the beach to light up the bonfire the MEN had made a few days

before, all being under the influence of alcohol and white westerners

it didn’t go as smoothly as in the movies that’s until our night on a

white quad bike came to save the day, a vague acquaintance we had seen

once or twice on the island, drove up, looked at our failing attempt

to light the epic fire we had set up, he simply removed his shirt, set

it alight and put it in the middle of the fire, then drove off,

retuned with two logs the size of trees placed them on the now roaring

bonfire and drove away. What a nice fellow.

 

 11.   Meeting the stunt men who play Caesar and Koba in the new planet

of the apes and having a private demonstration of how they walk like

monkeys how it works, watching them do 15 standing backflips in a row

and doing yoga, WHAT??

 

 There are 1001 other things that I could list but these seem like the

most significant crazy points from this section of the trip and I

think a great deal of the madness you just had to be there for.

Pura Vida

Catching up on the last few months!!

Hola hola!

Well, where do I start? I am now almost 4 months in to my year in Honduras… a third of the way already!! It’s very surreal because in many senses it feels like this is home now. I’ve established such strong bonds to both the people in the community and the project that I can barely even imagine leaving, so I try not to think too much about how quickly time is passing! We’ve just started our 2 months of Christmas vacations (their equivalent of our summer) and so, by the time we get back to teaching, we’ll be half way through the year!

The school year has just finished, so the past few weeks have been pretty crazy! The students all sat exams which determined if they could continue going to La Providencia in the coming year. It’s strange to think that even at their age these exams are more or less defining their future, their level of education and what they will go on to do with their lives. Although I find that very difficult to comprehend, over the past few months I’ve come to accept that that’s just the way it has to be and has encouraged me further to make sure my students do well. Anyway, despite all of my worrying, all of my second and third graders passed Maths and Science with good marks! Even those who had been struggling really impressed me, which I think was due to the fact I’d been spending a couple hours a week after school with those who were finding the work hard. I was also informed before we broke up for the holidays that in the coming year (which starts in February) I will be continuing to teach Maths and Science but to grades 3, 4 and 5… I’m so excited!!! This also means the majority of my students will be the same as last year which I think will be really good as I feel I’ve developed a great relationship with them. Grade 2 are a bit manic and very lively so it’s sometimes hard to get them to focus, especially when it comes to ‘boring’ parts of maths but after spending so much time with them over the past few months I’ve really been successful in discovering what gets their attention and how I can keep them motivated, which is super rewarding for me! Grade 3 on the other hand are a smaller class and only has 3 boys which makes definitely makes my job easier!! They’ve been a great class to get to know as well and because they’re so well behaved (usually!) we’ve been able to do a lot of fun little activities cause they finish their work with plenty time…. We’ve also invented some really fun games as a class, they’re brill!

Outwith school we’ve kept really busy too and I spend a lot of time talking to our hosts, Luci and Jose which I feel has sent my Spanish abilities soaring! Also I’ve spent a lot of time down in the ‘bodega’ (crafts workshop) at Providencia with the guys who work there. As well as teaching them to dance and them teaching me to make things like desks for the classrooms it’s been a great way of practicing my Spanish as none of them speak English…. Although I’m not yet able to catch all the jokes they fire at me I am now able to hold pretty lengthy conversations and I really enjoy learning as I go… though I’m not sure how well I would do when tested on grammar! I also enjoy speaking to the Honduran teachers at school, people on the bus and, well, more or less anyone who will listen to me!!!I’ve actually made way too many random bus friends and Luci and Jose have told me I have to go by the name Maria so creepy men can’t track me down….. (Because obviously ‘blonde gringa’ wouldn’t lead them straight to me haha). Over the past few months I started playing football for a Honduran ladies team in our village which was super fun but extremely hard work in the midday sun, the locals loved the colour I turn when I’m exercising here! We also went rock climbing a couple times and I have been invited to go with some guys weekly next year. I think quite a few of the guys are bilingual and often do little camping/ hiking trips so they’ll definitely be good fun to be friends with. I'm going to come home fitter than when I left I think!

After some seriously sad goodbyes to Katie, our roommate and best friend for our time in Honduras this year, she headed back to the States after 10 months living here in Aguas del Padre teaching English and PE at the school. Katie is an absolutely incredible, kind-hearted and loving person and I’ll miss her friendship and support here SO much. I’m just so glad we got to spend the time we had here with her, she has truly had an impact on the way I look at life and will forever hold a very special part in my heart!

Now that we’ve finished school we have a 2 month holiday which we will spend travelling Central America, getting to explore and develop our knowledge about the incredible cultures and countries here. We’re currently in Costa Rica (possibly my new favourite country, ever) and in a week or so will head up to Nicaragua. Then we’re going back to Honduras for Christmas and New Year to meet up with the other volunteers. After Christmas we’re heading up to Guatemala and Belize or El Salvador. It’s super exciting and so amazing getting the chance to visit these truly incredible, breath-taking, magnificent countries. I’ll fill you in on our new adventures soon.

Adios, un abrazo, Kayla x

 

 

Nat in Honduras with my Grade 2 kids!

 Christmas show at the school!

Cutest kid ever?!

 Lago Yojoa

 Reunion with some of the other vols at Lago Yojoa

 Rock climbing adventures!!

 Family photo!! Our hosts, Jose and Luci with Katie, Ione and I.

 

 Katie's last day at school with some of the guys playing football.

 

 

 

 

 

September - Parades, Celebrations and Roatan fun!

To start with here I’m going to have to apologize, I’ve got so much to tell you and write about that there’s no doubt this blog post will get really muddled up in order and logic but I hope I can keep it making at least a little sense. Also apologies in advance for the rambling length I’m sure this will reach! I’m currently sitting in a bus station in La Ceiba where we have 2 hours to wait before our journey back to Sigua starts. What better way to kill 2 hours than rant about how amazing and incredible the last couple weeks have been?! There have been loads of celebrations and parades, in fact all of September seems to be pretty manic with Honduran pride for Independence Day.

To start the month off we were introduced to the Honduran obsession with football by a very important match, Mexico v Honduras. The hype was building up days before the game and the blue and white strips were becoming more than a common sight. On the Friday night of the game we were at a bonfire (that was moved inside due to huge thunderstorms) with some of the other English teachers from Siguatepeque. I have definitely become much more interested in football since Katie and I started playing for a team so, for the first time in a long time, I sat down and watched a full game and actually enjoyed it! Honduras won 2-1 which made history…. I’m sure you can imagine the atmosphere!! As we drove back to Katharine’s that night the celebrations were in full swing, even the shopping mall seemed to have turned into a big party!

So I mentioned there something I realised I haven’t actually spoken about in my blog yet (though you may have seen it on Facebook)… You didn’t misread, yes, I have joined a Honduran football team!! Katie and I were somewhat roped into it by one of the Grade 3 girls who’s mum plays for the team, but I love it! There’s a pretty mixed level of ability and commitment but that just makes it so much more fun and amusing. We train 3 times a week and usually have a game on a Saturday, although in training the woman carrying their kids on their back or babies on their hips isn’t too uncommon, so, as you can imagine, it’s not particularly intense. The uniforms are killer though, bright, almost luminous pink and very small for us (Katie in particular, she’s about a head taller than the rest of the team!!)… Really not that flattering, especially with the shade of red my face goes after 90 minutes in the Honduran sun!

Last week we had ‘Dia del Niños’ which is Children’s Day. As we’re starting to realise they love an excuse for a holiday here so instead of school that day we took a day trip to a big park area for a bit of a party. All the grades had a big cake and a piñata (first experience of the piñatas… I love them!) and we just got to play games with the kids all day. It was so nice to be able to step back from the role of a teacher for a little bit and just have fun with them. They all have such amazing personalities and it was a really nice reminder of how rewarding it is to have a good relationship with them.

 

Every morning this month we’ve spent half an hour (at least) each morning raising the flag, singing the national anthem and learning about one of the patriotic symbols. I told you they go a bit crazy over Honduran Independence! It was fun and interesting, and still is to an extent, but it means I have to miss Grade 3 science every day this month which will massively affect them and the time we have to finish the course, which is pretty frustrating for me. Last week we also spent about another half hour each day practicing marching for the Independence Day parades that both pre-school and primary take part in. There were children carrying flags, banners, a ‘Miss Independent’, girls dressed in typical national dress and little cowboys and cowgirls as well as some others. It really was impressive and there was a lot of excitement for it by everyone involved, teachers and parents just as much as the students! On the Friday was the pre-school parade (Prepa and Kinder) which was just completely adorable. There were about 20 different schools that lined up in the centre of Siguatepeque ready to march accompanied by High School marching bands (on a whole new level of impressive!). As I said these parades are a really big deal in Honduras and all the Honduran teachers were really dressed up for it in their heels and full make up. Meanwhile the foreign teachers (Katharine, Katie, Ione and I) were simply rocking the polo shirts we wear to school and sandals. Funnily enough we foreigners were the ones who made it onto TV. We missed it but all the kids were very excited to tell us about it the next day!

The primary school parade on Saturday morning was more of the same but on a much bigger scale! I think I enjoyed this one more because I know the primary students a lot better and really loved seeing them all dressed up and smart! The girl who was ‘Miss Independent’ was up at 2am to get ready… 2am!!!! Granted she looked amazing but it just goes to show how important the ‘looking good’ part of their culture really is.

 

 

 

 

After the primary school parade on Saturday morning Ione and I set off for our next travelling adventure… we were finally off to Roatán! We paid a bit more for a nice bus this time, direct to La Ceiba which was about 5 hours. La Ceiba is the third biggest Honduran city right up on the North Coast, known as one of the party towns and where you can catch a ferry over to the Bay Islands. We arrived too late to catch the afternoon ferry so headed to a little hostel called ‘El Estadio’, so named because it is right next to Ceiba’s large football stadium. It was about 7pm and we were told there was a pretty big football game taking place so we ditched our stuff and, of course, headed over to check it out. (Yes, football is becoming a very common theme!!) They let us ‘gringas’ in for free and we grabbed a little space on a bench, noticing pretty quickly not only were we the only white people, but also seemed to be 2 of the only girls! Embracing this we ordered a couple beers and set about choosing a team to cheer for. It wasn’t a bad game but the atmosphere was definitely what made it for me, somewhat less scary than I’ve found football games in the UK to be… Haha. After the football we went back to the hostel, ordered a pizza and spent the rest of the night chatting on the balcony in hammocks with the Jamaican owner. Very chilled and left Ione and I very excited for Roatán!

The ferry left at 9am and Ione fell asleep straight away… I however was left panicking when the staff came round and handed everyone who was awake a sick bag and tissues. I was dreading the worst and rightly so, the ferry was only an hour and a half but I spent the majority outside focusing on the horizon. It had been years since I had been travel sick and I can now confirm, I definitely didn’t miss it. However, on my green faced adventures I did make some pretty cool friends and had some really funny conversations with randomers to take my mind off the queasiness.

Arriving in Roatán was incredibly exciting, especially when we saw the other volunteers coming to meet us in the back of a pick-up. (Much more convenient transport than buses or taxis!) The humidity was pretty intense but it was so worth it knowing we were soon to be swimming in the Caribbean. We stopped by at Vegas (our country rep’s) house which was right beside the port for a quick catch up before a trip to the supermarket for a few supplies. We got to the little wooden house we’d be staying in for the next few days and immediately loved it, 3 bedrooms and a kitchen plus a really cool atmosphere in Roatán’s tourist town, West End. We wasted no time in getting to the beach and jumped on a 5 minute water taxi to get there. As we came around the corner I was stunned at just how beautiful it was, this was the real Caribbean we’d been waiting for. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the ocean catching up and hearing everyone’s stories from the past couple months. Max (Geordie), Moos (Dutch), Kate (from London) and Hope (from Essex) hadn’t been able to make it to Copan so we had lots to fill each other in on. The majority of the time was spent in hysterical laughter… It was nice to be away with such an awesome and hilarious group of people!

That night was the night of celebrations for Independence Day, what all the parades etc. had been leading up to. We had a really good homemade fajitas dinner (complicated slightly by the lack of oven, 1 sharp knife and 4 plates for 6 people) and Ione made drinks for everyone -we made full use of our bartender! We then headed out into West End where a huge street party was taking place… It was super exciting and the atmosphere was just incredible. The street was filled with people dancing and there was a reggae band just to top it all off. It was too hot to dance and we were dripping with sweat but that didn’t stop us nor did it stop the Honduran men crowding around us. I reckon that’s a night I won’t forget in a very long time and all in all has me very excited for our Christmas celebrations on the island of Utila… Much more of this fun stuff to come!

After another couple days on Roatán and a night in a luxury hotel in Ceiba we are headed back to Aguas del Padre for a 2 day school week before the weekend. I guess it’s not a bad life!!

PS. It’s not all as fun as this blog may seem, work is hard and teaching is challenging… We were in need of a break!!

 

 

 

1 month down, 11 to go! (AND FIRST TRAVEL ADVENTURES)

So it has now almost been a month since we arrived in Honduras…. I can’t believe how fast the first few weeks have gone! Saying that, however, it also feels like we’ve been here forever.  I feel that we’ve really managed to settle into the community, both at school and within the village. People are starting to recognise us and even kids we don’t teach often shout greetings to us if we’re walking past! I already feel very comfortable here and though we’re faced everyday with new challenges, cultural differences and communication barriers I know now that I have enough of a grounding and understanding of the country to get on with it and solve any problems that may (do!) arise. This is probably the most reassuring thing of all and gives me a lot of hope for the coming 11 months!

We’ve gotten pretty good at getting around the place now and quite often after school Ione, Katie and I will nip into Sigua for the afternoon. It’s a small city/ big town about the same size as Inverness but that’s more or less where the similarities end! We’re lucky enough to have a huge Del Corral supermarket which sells pretty much anything we could want/ need. The bus to town is 10 lempira which works out at about 30p, most things here are incredibly cheap! As there are 2 other Project Trust vols in Sigua (Ellen and Erin) it also means it’s really easy for us to meet up with them… always a nice chance to give our minds a rest from Spanish and have a good chat! Last week Ione and I got caught in the most horrific tropical downpour waiting for a bus back to Aguas Del Padre after school, it was genuinely like someone was tipping buckets over us… It would have been an amazing photo opportunity, if only I had a waterproof camera!

Last weekend the 5 of us went to a swimming pool in Sigua for the day, our first real chance to enjoy rather than avoid the heat of the Honduran sun! The pool was actually really nice and had 2 water slides, though we were the only people there. We’d only been there about 10 minutes when we decided – due to the amount we were sweating already! – we’d jump in and have a swim before even attempting sunbathing. 4 of us managed no problem but Ione (of course it would be Ione!) managed to hit her foot on the bottom and spent the next hour trying to get out… consisting of crawling across the pool to the kids section and trying to get up the stairs there. I think we all were a bit concerned at the time but looking back on it now it really was hilarious. Ohhhhh Noni! Luckily Katharine, our host, was able to come pick us up and took us for our first Honduran hospital experience. Bruised, drugged and in a wheelchair Ione was told to keep an air boot on for 3 weeks and 1050 lempira bill… Not bad considering she’s a little (lot) accident prone.

 

Last week was exam week at La Providencia… Gonna be totally honest with you, I was more worried about their exams than I ever was for mine!! Because the standards of the school are so high the students have to get 70% to pass and one chance to re-sit but if at the end of the year their exams don’t average to over 70% they have to move school… It seems so crazy that exams at Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 can change their education so dramatically. This was the first time I really accepted just how much was reliant on me and my ability to teach. See why I was so stressed?! Luckily the majority of them went really well – there are some really excellent students here and their work ethic is incredible. Every morning we get on the school bus with the kids to get to school. It’s so much fun, they’re adorable and always so excited to see us… Makes 7am that little bit easier!!

 

Ohh also, we have now got our school uniforms!!! It’s super exciting, I know I’m getting a little sad! We have a different coloured polo top for every day of the week with the school logo and OUR NAMES! I have resorted to Miss Kayla as we realised within the first day that Michaela was just a bit too hard in a Spanish accent, I love it though!

 

For one of the other volunteer’s birthday a few of us arranged to meet up in Copan Ruinas, a beautiful little town on the west of Honduras, right near the border of Guatemala. Finally it was time to travel a bit!!! Although I love it here it was really exciting to be able to get away and see the others, if only for a weekend. On Friday after school Ione and I waited at the main road for a bus passing and set off on our first real adventure! We squeezed on (in typical Honduran style) to a tiny bus which took about 3 hours to get to San Pedro Sula. There was a lot of flooding – aka rivers where streets should have been – due to the amount of rain they’d had that day so there was a lot of traffic slowing our trip. We stayed at Dos Mollinos for the night and got a bus to Copan early on Saturday morning. Again the bus was tiny and crammed however it did give me the change to realise that having a huge rucksack on your lap turns into quite a good pillow! I also had a chance to practice my Spanish with some random guy on the bus… My favourite kind of conversation, haha.

In Copan we were staying at a really cool little hostel and met up with the other 6 vols pretty quickly. We spent the afternoon at a bird park (AMAZING) with loads of parrots, macaws, owls etc. We even got some up close action with the birds… First time having a parrot balanced on my head anyway! ALSO we got to drive around in tuk tuks, best fun ever, was just like being back in India! Copan is such a stunning little town with cobbled roads and cute little cafes, restaurants and pubs everywhere. We went out for dinner (and our first Honduran drinks!) on Saturday night for Rachel’s birthday with 2 guys from Uni in London who were also staying at our hostel, a Canadian guy and 2 friends of Rachel’s who were working in Guatemala… It made for a very fun night and a big change from what most of us had gotten used to over the past few weeks! On Saturday morning despite the hugely 'late night' (anything after 10pm is the middle of the night) my body woke me up at 7, nice and early. We decided to make the most of it and leaving Ione in bed we set off to the Copan Ruins (for which the town is famous) before our bus. It was absolutely incredible, Honduras is not exactly concerned with health and safety so unlike many other ruins we were actually able to climb to the top of the Mayan temples and really explore a bit. Perhaps not something for one scared of heights as the stairs to climb up were steep, uneven and really high… Thankfully Ione had decided not to come, I’m not sure how she’d have coped with the air boot/ foot brace thing! (I'll try and get some photos of the ruins up soon.)

We got on our bus back at 11, and got to SPS by about 2.30, we were home to Aguas Del Padre by about 5.30 absolutely drained and running on empty. It was a massive amount of travelling for the night we were there but 100% worth it… I think we’ll be back in Copan any time we get a chance now! Meeting up with some of the other volunteers has just made me so excited to travel more and really gives us something to look forward to when teaching gets hard!

Our next adventure is probably going to be a trip to the gorgeous Honduran island of Roatan in September for the Honduras Independence Day to visit Max and Moos who are living there, we have a few days off after the parades with the schools. Roatan looks and sounds absolutely amazing so I’m sure that’ll be a very fun celebration! ALSO Max, Moos, Ione and I (and any other vols who can make it) is bound to be a good old time!

Until next time, mucho amor, Michaela (aka Miss Kayla) x

The start of an adventure...

¡Hola!

And so it begins… For many of you this will be the first you’ve heard about my Honduras adventure for a long time, it’s almost exactly a year to the day since I decided to take part in Project Trust and leave Scotland to work overseas for a year. I’ve now been in Honduras for a week and have well and truly fallen in love with the place!

Thankfully all 16 of us Honduras volunteers made it here without much trouble! We spent one night at a B&B in San Pedro Sula, the countries second biggest city, before heading off in all directions to our projects. My partner, Ione, and I were lucky enough to have only a 2 hour drive to our village, Aguas Del Padre, which is about a 15 minute drive from a large town called Siguatepeque. It is absolutely beautiful here!!!! It’s surprisingly green and lush, thanks to the thunderstorms that strike about every 2 weeks at this time of year, and we’re surrounded by pine tree forests. We have a stunning view from the school because it’s on a hill, though it’s a bit different to that at home!

Aguas Del Padre is a small, typical Honduran village built on one main, rocky dirt track. There are probably a couple hundred people here but the houses are quite spread out. It has a small church that on a Sunday morning wakes the village with the happy singing and enthusiastic clapping, it’s got a great vibe and I love it despite still massively struggling to follow what they’re saying! There are also a couple pulperias (small shops) which sell a lot of basic and random things.

Okay so now the house I’ll be spending the year calling home… Well we sure got lucky!! Our hosts are Don José and Doña Luci, they are kind and very caring! Their house is just beautiful, a 4 bedroom bungalow with a huge garden. They have 2 aggressive dogs which do make us feel very protected, I’m not sure I’ll be testing the ‘their bite is worse than there bark’ on these ones though! Luci likes to keep the house very clean and she cooks our meals (and teaching me!!) while José spends a lot of time tending to the many fruits and plants they grow in the garden. They also grow coffee so I’ve started to drink it every so often to keep them happy! We spend a lot of time talking to them in what can only be classed as ‘Spanglish’ and it’s always very entertaining. As Ione has almost no Spanish I’ve been acting as translator and have been pretty amazed at how much I can understand… Really thankful for those Spanish lessons back home! We also have a Californian volunteer, Katie, living with us though she’s been away the past few days. She’s been here since January and also teaches at the school. She’s great fun and it’s really nice to have another person who’s been through everything we’ll go through in our first few months guiding us!

The school, La Providencia, is only part of a much larger project and plan. At the moment on the property there are 2 orphan homes, a crafts workshop and a medical centre as well as the school. They want to continue to expand until they have 8 orphan homes (each with ‘parents’ for the children), a home for local widows (who will act as grandmothers to the orphans), an administration building and a retreat centre for mission groups. The eventual aim is for La Providencia to be self-sufficient. At the medical centre they have surgical operating theatres and 6 times a year medical teams come in to perform different operations for the community such as prosthetic limbs, eye surgeries and clubfoot surgeries. Amazingly not only do we have the opportunity to teach but also to get involved with any of the other projects! (Even to watch operations… there aren’t many rules about that over here!)

At the moment I am teaching maths and science to Grades 2 and 3 and PE to Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4. It’s been a pretty hectic week to say the least but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having the time of my life. The classes are all fairly small (20 in Grade 1 being the biggest and craziest lot in the school!) and the kids are really good fun! As it’s a bilingual school we have to teach our lessons in English but the kids (and other teachers) do love trying to teach us Spanish at recreo (break). At the moment Ione and I are looking into starting up a music and drama club as well as an extra help class as there are currently no extracurricular activities running. We’d love to do a school play of some sort at Christmas so hopefully we’ll get something sorted out soon! There is definitely a very challenging but exciting year ahead of us! I’ve attached a few photos to give you a vague idea of what I’m experiencing though nothing will do it justice. I’ll write again soon, much love and thank you for all the support.

Un abrazo, Michaela x

 

The view from our school building. The medical centre and the workshop on the right.

 RECREO!

First day of school!