Hello from Honduras

First of all, let us apologize to anyone who we have not talked to since we left. We have been very busy and our internet has not been exactly stable until lately. We have Skype, which works only with internet!! We are starting this blog so that we can at least let people know what is going on and how to pray for us. We hope that you will enjoy reading!!
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We are now starting our fifth week in Honduras, and I must say that it has been an adventure. We arrived in Tegucigalpa on July 31st at about noon. (Honduras does not change times ever, so we are on Mountain time now, but once you have your time change, we will be on Central time.) Aaron and I came with our four suitcases loaded to the max and our cat, Polo, as my carry-on. Polo was a trooper, I must say! I think he is hoping that he never has to leave the ground again. Little does he know....

Aaron's parents and a couple from Knoxville came along with us. We were able to get a lot of things accomplished while they were here, including painting our apartment. The walls were mostly a dingy white, and I was anxious to make it look like our home. It has been so fun to decorate with Honduran accent pieces. We live on a mountain in a town called El Hatillo. It is much cooler and more peaceful up here. We have about a thirty minute drive down the mountain to get to the actual city. That is where we do all of our shopping on the weekends.

The Halberts and Fleenors stayed for about five days. A few days after they left, I became sick with a bacterial infection in my stomach and stayed in the hospital overnight. What a welcome to Honduras, huh? There is no telling what made me sick. I have not had any unpurified water yet, so it must have been something that I ate. Noone else got sick, so I guess I have a weak stomach!

About the time I got out of the hospital, all of the other teachers came in. We started orientation and soon after that the kids came! We have now had two full weeks of school. I am teaching kindergarten and Aaron is teaching World Geography and World History to freshmen and sophomores. We will both be helping coach a few sports as well. The first one: track. I will be coaching long jump and Aaron will be coaching shotput and high jump.

Aaron is having such a fantastic time teaching and getting to know his students. Teacher-student relationships are very different here. Relationships, in general, are extremely important here. For those of you who know Aaron, you know that he is VERY outgoing and social. I can say this because I am his wife: the kids absolutely LOVE him! I have been hearing so many people say that Aaron is one of the favorite teachers!

As for me, I receive LOTS of hugs and kisses from my kids. They are so adorable. I even had a couple of girls tell me that they loved me this week. (This was extra special since they do not know very much English) The first couple of days at school were kind of hard because my kids just stared at me. I would tell them to stand up and they would just sit there!! I laughed a lot at how silly I felt those first days of school. Now, my kids are more comfortable with me. They understand A LOT more than they speak. I have a wonderful aid who is a native Honduran. She has been my life saver in the classroom, and not just because she translates for me!! I teach in English, and the kids are learning a lot. Like I said, they understand more than they speak, so my teaching does not need to be translated.

Other than going to school, Aaron and I have really enjoyed the malls here. One of them has a movie theater. We can both go to a movie and get a coke and popcorn for under $10! The movies are about 3 weeks behind the US, but it is fine! We (mainly me) also really like the Espresso Americanos. This is a coffee shop that is a lot like Starbucks and is everywhere! I can get a small "granita de cafe" (a frozen coffee drink) for under a dollar! :) I figure that the calories are balanced by all the walking we do here!

Tomorrow we will be going to our church here in El Hatillo. It is a small Spanish speaking church. We meet in the pastor's home and there are usually about 80 people that come. The pastor's wife translates for all of us teachers who do not speak Spanish. We have really liked it!

So far, I am enjoying Honduras. Aaron has come home, so it has been really easy for him to adjust. I have had a little culture shock, but it is very normal. We are both content with where the Lord has placed us. We have wonderful friends and we work at a great school. He has blessed us tremendously!! Thank you for all of your prayers!