Shopping for supplies

I didn't take any pictures today, but I took this shot of the mountains south of La Ceiba yesterday from the taxi. The largest peak (not seen in this photo) is called Pico Bonito. 

I have a lot of work to do tonight, so this entry will be short. 

I got a new teacher this morning in my Spanish class, and she teaches kids in the afternoon. She is very knowledgeable and has a much different style from the other two teachers I have had. She caught me saying ummmm a lot today and started counting the number of times I said it. It was stressful! Instead, she allowed me to use the Spanish equivalent, esteeee. I took a ton of notes and have a quiz tomorrow. :(

After a nice big lunch, I headed off to work with the kids. I taught them how to say a few sentences in English today including the most important for class - "how do you say... in English?"  They had lots of words they wanted to know, and some of them are doing really well with their pronunciation. Others are difficult to understand and really struggle with certain letters. I just stay positive with all of them, give them good feedback, and encourage everyone to participate. I gave each student a new pencil today, and they each said "Thank You" when I handed it to them. Such great manners!

I played soccer again for a bit - different ball, but still in rough shape. I also got a chance to chat with the 6th grade teacher who has been to New York - Binghamton, Albany, Syracuse, and Niagara Falls. He recalled seeing Rochester on the way to Buffalo. He told me a little bit about one of the boys in his class who only comes in the afternoons. The boy's family has no money and no food. The boy sells fruit on the street for one lempira (less than 5 cents) each in the mornings, gets his one meal of the day which is usually a bit of rice and beans, and heads to school for the afternoon. He missed recess today so that he could do some work to try and stay caught up. So sad...

My lessons went pretty well, although I want to plan some things that don't rely solely on note taking and listening. I am thinking of doing the parts of the body tomorrow, so I might teach them "heads, shoulders, knees, and toes" as well as "the hokey pokey."  It will get them up and moving, and they can listen to me sing! I brought some CDs down, but only one room has computers, so I might look around for a cheap CD player to bring in. 

Before dinner, I headed down to the local supply store - which, if you know me well, you know I love shopping at Staples. They had almost anything a teacher could need for the classroom. I picked up some Spanish-English dictionaries as well as new Spanish dictionaries (one for each classroom). I also got some bright yellow poster board to put common phrases on, dry erase markers, tape, and a few other basic supplies. Most importantly, I found a new soccer ball for the kids! It was a bit pricey (18 dollars for a small one) but well worth it. I can't wait to see how they react when they see the new ball. 

Dinner was a typical, rice, beans, avocado, cheese, and fried plantains ( a delicious dish). Argentina talked to Stephanie and me for about an hour in Spanish, and I was able to comprehend about 50% of what she was saying. I got the basic gist, though. I told her about the poor little boy at the school, and she wants me to find out who the student is so she can try to get her church to help out the family. 

Well, it's off to write a few postcards and plan for tomorrow. Buenas noches!

Spanish phrase of the day: "estoy lluvia" which means "it is raining." The double l sounds somewhere between a y and a j depending on who is saying it. And yes, we had a torrential downpour today right after I got home from the store.