Parents, Copan, and Teacher Retreat!

Since I have written last, a lot has happened here. Perhaps that is why I have not found the time to blog lately...Anyway, my parents and Sonny and Patsy Peaster came to visit in Febrauary. The visit was great! I think they left loving Honduras-something they didn't expect! There was so much more we could do, but the things we were able to do and see were good experiences for them. They were able to meet our friends here, see our apartment and school, appreciate the meaning of "going down the mountain", driving in Honduras, and the many other beautiful things here. I have posted some pictures of our trip to Copan where we visited Mayan Ruins, Macaw Mountain, and a coffee plantation. Our B&B that we stayed in was probably the best part of the trip. It exceeded our expectations!

After our visitors left, the school had their anual teacher retreat at Bagope. This is a retreat center located near a large lake about 3 hours from where we live. The place itself is not great at all, but the fellowship is always fun. This year, the weather permitted us to visit a waterfall near Bagope. Not only did we take plenty of pictures, but we went on a HUGE adventure!! (Probably one of the most daring things I have ever done, but I didn't know it was that daring until I was doing it!!) A group of us teachers went with a guide BEHIND the waterfall. It sounds easy, right? Well, maybe you can tell from the pictures that the waterfall was quite large and had a good bit of force behind it. We didn't just walk up behind the waterfall. We swam into, then behind the waterfall, basically. There were random placed rocks, which made for an eventful maze to get around. Our group held hands the entire way (led by the guide) because we couldn't see ANYTHING, and at times, I couldn't breathe because of the water hitting my face. At one point Aaron thought I was going to let go of both hands because of the look of panic on my face. I didn't realize how hard it would be!! Needless to say, we made it! The adrenaline rush was crazy! I don't think I will ever do it again, but I have that as a memory that I will never forget!! I felt much closer to the teachers in our group because we were all helping each other so much. It was a fantastic memory, now that it is over!

Our friend, and former youth group member, Jake Garner is here right now on his spring break. It has been a great time!

Routine

(Here are a few pictures from our trip to Virginia for Andrew and Julie's wedding and our trip to Washington D.C. for New Year's Eve)

Yes, we have settled back into our routine here in Honduras. Now it feels like forever ago that we were in the States!

A new semester always brings new challenges in a classroom. Aaron has been so diligent to get his grading done the day it was turned in, instead of waiting until Saturday to do it all. I have continued my routine from last semester of going in to my classroom on Saturday afternoons to set up everything for Monday. I know this may sound strange because that should be the last place I am spending my time on the weekends, but the truth is that I enjoy feeling "caught up" and ready to go Monday morning. I cannot tell you how much more relaxing Mondays are for me this year since I started doing that. I also have time to organize things that I never thought needed organizing!! It is amazing what an hour or two can do for you in the classroom!

Aaron and I are both having a few more behavior problems in our classes this semester. His are from the students not liking his reorganization skills because they enjoyed being lazy! Mine are because my students are not allowed to speak Spanish in the classroom anymore. They have 4 times that they can speak Spanish: Snack, Lunch, Spanish Bible, and P.E. During the other times of the day, it is a constant process of encouragement and reminding them to speak in English. I have an individual incentive set up for each day, as well as a group incentive that they will get a party once they meet the goal. It is taking every bit of energy out of me to help them in this, but I think they will benefit in the end. If they stay in this school, they will eventually learn English one way or the other. However, I don't want them to leave my class feeling uncomfortable about speaking or hearing English. I feel as though I will have let them down. So, I am doing everything I can do to help the process along.

The only other piece of news for now is the my parents are coming to Honduras a week from Monday. They will arrive February 9th and return on February 14th. We are so looking forward to their trip. Please pray for safety in travel for them!

Happy New Year, Everyone

We are back in Honduras, and are trying to get back to normal. When we came back we had our usual unpacking to do and we had to take down all of our Christmas decorations. Now that we have officially cleaned off the window display, Polo is our friend again. I honestly think he was in a bad mood the whole time it was up there. It is nice to have things organized again, even though the process was not fun for neither Aaron nor me.

Right now, we are helping my parents plan their trip down here for February. We are excited about the chance we will have to show them around our home. I believe this will be their first time to travel to a 3rd world country. Many people have thought before that we live in huts with dirt floors and grass roofs. If you could only see the things that we actually have here in Honduras!! (And the silly things that we take for granted that we cannot get here)

There is no real news from us right now, other than our safe arrival back home. I just wanted to let you all know that! Also, I am hoping that I can be better this year about posting (even if it is only a paragraph).

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

We had our Christmas party last night with Aaron's 11th graders. There were about 25 students here in our apartment, with a lot of food! Aaron grilled hotdogs and marinated chicken, while I prepared the corn and baked beans. The funny comment of the night was "What are these?", referring to the baked beans. You would be surprised by the number of them who had never had barbecue baked beans before!!! They have probably had every other kind, but not those! For the most part, I believe that they enjoyed them!
Aaron planned some games for them, including Dirty Santa. Aaron got a desk calendar by the TV show The Office. I got a really pretty scarf, which I was really happy about! The girls could have taken it from me, but they were scared that I would be upset! (Well, I did announce that they would fail Sociology if they took it from me-oops)

We have four and a half days left of school until Christmas break. We have a lot going on this week, so I am sure it will pass quickly! (Not to mention celebrating 2 wonderful years of marriage on Tuesday, December 16!)

Please be praying for us on Saturday as we travel into Atlanta where we will pick up our car from Alex and Maggie.
Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

The Blog

Thank you for being patient with me this year. Sometimes I click on our blog site just to see if "someone magically" posted something for me!! I have no excuse for not writing this semester, but I also haven't had time for many extra things either. Basketball season just ended for Aaron and me, and we are pretty thankful. Aaron started soccer this week, however. I am done with my coaching duties this year!

Many things have happened since I last posted. We visited a city named Ceiba in October with our friends Ben and Joy, and it was such a beautiful trip. We went snorkeling there at some islands called Cayos Cachinos. That was amazingly gorgeous!!

For Thanksgiving, Mark Fleenor flew down for a short visit. We went all over the city and got a lot of Christmas shopping done. We put up our Christmas tree, along with all the decorations inside and out! Our apartment looks very festive. Polo particularly hates the window display I made this year because it covers the entire window sill that he loves to lounge on. Oh well!

We only have two more weeks of school left before we fly back for Christmas holidays. We are looking forward to time with family and friends, and as always, we are looking forward to the yummy food while we are there!

The pictures are from our trip to Ceiba. We were at Cayos Cachinos in a few and a great restaurant called Mango Tango in the others.

Hello Again

Ok, so I know I am REALLY late for an update this time. All I can say is I am sorry. As you probably assumed, our summer went by so very fast with only a few days of not doing anything. It was a great summer, don't get me wrong, but we are so glad to be back at our home in Honduras. Neither one of us liked living out of suitcases for 2 months. The time with family and friends was fantastic, and our trip to RYM with the students from Honduras could not have gone smoother. We are already thinking of how we could do it next year...seeing that all 13 students want to go again, along with probably another 15-20 of the next class.

Now that we are back in Honduras, and school is now in its 4th week, I will tell you some of the changes we encountered upon returning. First of all, there are many new teachers here, but we are providentially still waiting on 2-3 more teachers. We have a new couple living next door to us who are around our age. Their names are Ben and Joy. We all get along really well, and I am so thankful Aaron has a good male friend!

Another change was that Aaron had to pick up another class: Sociology. For those of you who know Aaron well, this is PERFECT for him! Aaron teaching the study of people could not be better! He is actually getting to teach his beloved 11th grade class again, which he is excited about doing. This is a good change for Aaron, however, this means A LOT more work for him and fewer planning periods. He is doing great so far and I am so proud of how he has stepped up to the challenge!!

Another change this year was that my aid, Karla, did not return to Pinares this year. In God's perfect timing and will, she was offered a better job at a different school that she could not turn down. I have been so extremely sad about this change, not because my new aid is not wonderful, but because my best friend here in Honduras is not in my classroom anymore. Please be in prayer for her and her children.

Now I can update what has been going on this weekend!! My birthday was on Thursday, and I felt so special at school! First of all, one of my student's mom is a baker, and she sent me a rather large and delicious cake that morning. We enjoyed that as a class at snack time that morning...just to start loading them up with sugar! ;) Aaron brought me flowers and a coke that morning while I was teaching. At lunch time, 2 mothers came and surprised me with cupcakes and sandwiches...just to seal the deal with the amount of sugar my students were getting that day! It was a fun day at school, and my kids were really cute!!
That night, Aaron took me to my favorite Pizza place with our closest friends and Karla! The food was so delicious!!!! Aaron also picked up my favorite dessert here: Flan!! When I got home, Aaron gave me a card to explain my gift from him...Friday night we were to spend the night at Honduras Maya Hotel in the city, go out to dinner, have the yummy breakfast buffet the next morning, get massages, and spend some time at the pool!!!!! It was ALL so amazing. On Saturday, Aaron surprised me with getting my nails done with Karla and going out to dinner with her as well--just the 2 of us so we can have some time together. This was so fun, and I loved having the time with her!
Karla drove me home, seeing that Aaron had gone on up the mountain to watch football. When I got home, Aaron came and got our suitcase out of the car and I was so excited to see him. The three of us were going to have Flan together, or so I had planned. Little did I know that almost 20 11th graders were hiding in our living room with the lights off waiting to surprise me with a party!!! They literally scared me to the point of screaming!! Aaron had planned it all, and I had NO clue that anything else was going to happen! He got me really good! He had been planning this for almost 2 weeks with the kids, and he called Karla to take me some places so that he could set everything up! He was not planning on watching football at all! He left the hotel and went to pick up a pinata and a cake. The party was so much fun and they all loved seeing my face!

I must say, I have never celebrated my birthday for 3 days in a row, but Aaron really went above and beyond! He was so very thoughtful about every little detail! The only thing I wish could have been different was having our families here. We both miss that aspect of living there. It wasn't until last year that neither of us were able to see our family on our birthdays. It's part of living overseas, but I know it is harder on our moms than it is on us!

Summer has begun!

We have jumped straight into summer since we flew in from Honduras! The first week we were here we simply relaxed and tried to recover from our over night flight-which was fine, by the way. We took a day trip that week to Greenville, South Carolina to visit part of the Halbert extended family and to pick up a truck we borrowed to move Maggie's things to Nashville. I was excited to meet Aaron's aunt, uncle, and cousin on that side for the first time. We had a great visit with them all!

The next week, we headed to Chicago a few days early to spend time with Shannon Baugh and her family. We also went downtown on Wednesday with some friends from Honduras. Alex and Maggie's wedding was on Saturday morning, and it was a beautiful ceremony. We also took a little detour on the way home to visit the campus of Notre Dame. There are some pictures from our trip in Chicago above. The last one is a picture of all but one of the kindergarten teachers and aids that I work with. This picture was taken at graduation.

This week, we are preparing for RYM. The students from Honduras are coming in Sunday night and we leave for Florida on Monday. We are so looking forward to them coming and we are praying that they will have a safe and fun trip while here.