copan and a birthday

well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. some quick updates:
1. my cast is off! woo hoo! 5/10 days of physical therapy, and i'm taking a little break. i have some home exercises to do, and can start working out, so i'm hopeful that the healing will continue quickly and thoroughly. i really loved meeting with ana at physical therapy. i could practice my spanish, take some power naps while the machines were doing their job on my elbow, and i even benefited from some of her marriage advice (in spanish) she was great! also, i loved the walks home with jason. we RARELY walk here, but it was only about a mile home, and down a busy street, past a school. we felt pretty safe, so we walked. it was a dream come true. being outside free and able to just take in our surroundings. this hasn't happened too much in the city.
2. we have been having some fridge drama. the first one we were given leaked water everywhere, mostly inside but also outside at times. our food wasn't cold. and our energy bill was through the roof. so, we did what anyone else would do in our situation. we requested it to be fixed. hmm... not sure we'll do that again any time soon :) our latest fridge is bordered with a thick layer of rust and lacks a strong enough door seal to stay closed. at least it's cold enough ;) oh well...living in honduras is building my patience daily, and increasing my tolerance for the inconvenient. i hope.
3. jason planned a wonderful 29th birthday for me! he woke me up with breakfast in bed and my favorite u2 song. it's was a beautiful day, of course. after school, we rushed home in a cab so we could steal away some time together before our busy night with new friends. he surprised with me with treasures from guamalito (honduran market), including (all local): a shirt, headband, bracelet, wallet and necklace. good work jas, good work! then i was able to treat myself to a mani/pedi thanks to my super thoughtful sister, larm! "sand in my suit" and "you don't know jacque" all the way in honduras. awesome. then dinner at a local mexican restaurant with some teacher friends. all in all, a great day. definitely not the same... didn't really feel like a birthday without home. but enough to help me realize another year has come and gone. so grateful for this year and all that it means...
4. we're getting pretty excited for the honduran independence day holiday coming up this week! we're off to Roatan on wednesday with some other teachers. hope to post some pretty incredible pics from paradise! a much needed escape from so much work and stress that always accompanies the start of a new year.
5. i'm really missing home these days. i wish i could be there with my friends who are about to dive into motherhood. feels wrong to miss this. i wish i was experiencing the many joys at home right now: owning your first home, 3rd grade, 1st grade, 1+ years of beautiful life, experiencing new homes, as well as homecoming returns, fall, school, work, the daily grind and so many new challenges. i miss you all and my heart aches without you here.
6. to end on a positive note... jas and i spent a couple weekends ago in Copan Ruinas, Honduras; the site of the ancient Honduran Mayan ruins. we didn't actually see the ruins, but we did enjoy the pace of the rural (and safe) town. the cobble streets reminded me of galavanting around Europe. the calm in the air reminded me of home. i can't wait to go back. hope you enjoy our most favorite moments...https://picasaweb.google.com/107299224727339466941/Copan

all things honduras...

just a quick run down of things we've found essential or always present while living in this new place:




treasures discovered at guamalito market. beauty.


purified water. necessary.


in use. constantly.




jason's creative (and often successful) attempts for a functioning internet connection. daily. frustrating. essential.


before these miraculous inventions, ants! ants! ants! everywhere!


our attempt at tata's "fishermen's" breakfast. yum.




fun for us! our neighbor lent jason his ps2 :) and i have been influenced by the honduran love of the "french tip". when in rome :) i guess!

teachable moments...

we have finished just over one full week of school, me a teacher and jason the much appreciated and esteemed middle school counselor. more from him to come... but just to keep your interest peaked, he LOVES it and even more, they LOVE him! my job responsibilities have become more and more defined as time has gone on :) i am: 8th grade language arts, 8th grade pre-algebra (resource/pull out) and 8th grade resource teacher/liason. here are some pictures of our first week and my classroom that I am sharing with Mike (from CA).


me and mike in our brand new room


our desk


8th grade language arts & social studies


reading


writing


can you see the poster/mural i painted above the white board??


feeling pretty good at the end of our first week... even though it's 6am and we're waiting for the bus to pick us up ;)

i am feeling very hopeful for this year of teaching for a few reasons. first, with another year under my belt, i am feeling more confident and comfortable in my abilities and because of my diverse experiences. i consider this my sixth year teaching, fourth in the school system with two years as the quest program's teacher/education coordinator. i have been blessed with such varying experiences in teaching overall, from teaching kids (and adults) how to swim since i was fourteen, to sunday school, youth group, internships, hubble, quest, hubble (again), franklin and now honduras. god put it in my heart years ago (right sisters?) :) to consider teaching as an avenue from which He could use me to bless others and live out my faith. He has confirmed this "calling" on my life through feedback i've received from other teachers, friends, family members, my students and even at times through dreams. one of the most vivid dreams i can remember was during college at unl. i saw myself teaching "rough" kids in some inner city neighborhood. the kids seemed to be hopeless, at the very end of the line. that dream has stayed with me, since then, and has remained a driving force behind the decisions i've made regarding the "whos", the "wheres" and the "hows" of my teaching. i am realizing more and more that God has gifted me in such a way as to really meet with kids and connect. they respond to my firm methods, and consistently high expectations. they begin to demand more from themselves when they realize that i won't stop encouraging them to reach higher, dream bigger and plan greater than they ever thought possible. i have even had the divine privilege to pray for and with some of my students, sharing how much God loves them and desires a place in their lives. when i realize though the brevity of my time with them, i'm confronted with thoughts of shame and lost opportunities. i could have been bolder, more passionate, more committed to prayer...

and that's where i'm at today. why am i teaching in honduras? why some of the wealthiest and most promising youth of this struggling nation? why language arts and math? the answer to each of these questions, and all my silent ones, should be to be the light of Christ to each and every student, teacher and staff member I encounter. sadly, this can be hard for me. i get so wrapped up in my teaching methods, the students' performances and others' perceptions of me as a teacher, that i quickly lose sight of my more meaningful purpose here. to love god with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. and to love my neighbor as myself. oh God, let that be on my mind daily. let that be enough to give me purpose here. use me in any way you see fit.

honduras: august 2011

click here for our online album!

nuestras aventuras

so far...

1. beach time in omoa & tela about an hour away from sps






2. team building day with the middle school staff






3. exploring el lago yojoa and camping







4. pulhapanzak falls.... we swam under, jumped off and climbed through caves. crazy!







5. our first creepy crawly friends





6. injury day one. no more soccer with jas ;)

segunda semana

exactly two weeks ago we were frantically racing through the atlanta airport, hoping against all odds to catch our connecting flight to sps. we landed at terminal b4 and had to run through the atlanta airport, which we later found out is the largest in the country, all the way to e2. jason was the brute force in the occasion, carrying 3 out of the 4 of our carry on bags. i was the sweet talker, begging the airline attendant to hold the plane for us. this arrangement has proven quite successful in the past :) and with a lot of prayer, we were able to board our plane a full 20 minutes late (for us!!) god (and atlanta) was good to us!

two weeks later now we are feeling like we've been here for a few months. to be brief, i want to catch you up on some of the highlights so far...
- getting comfortable taxi-ing around the city (necesito un taxi en la colonia universidad a la 20 calle A)
- organizing our office and classroom
- trips to multiple grocery stores, our favorite so far is “los andes” because they have glutino products!
-“comida tipica”
- day trip to Tela, a beach on the coast of the Caribbean
- another day trip to Omoa beach
- ultimate Frisbee
- soccer
- running
- joining the “Nautilus” gym… it has a racquetball court, lap pool, treadmills, weights, pilates, spinning and zumba!
- my first French tip pedicure, it’s VERY popular here!
- Panchito, the EIS middle school mascot, an iguana
- getting to know more teachers here, especially the new hires
- getting to know our neighbors, they’re WONDERFUL!
- playing Kinect with the neighbors
- “Diyunsa”, Honduras’ version of a Target, with 20% off everything as a teacher….sweet.
- church at Christian Fellowship with another teacher. They meet at the Hotel Copantil, gorgeous with a very nice pool…maybe after church next time ☺
- several taxi rides
- Mercado Guamalito helped us to decorate our apartment
- a lot of Spanish, so much so that I am feeling tired pretty often and even overwhelmed with how much I am speaking and have to speak for others
- the nightly debate about whether or not to sleep with the air conditioning on. To keep it on means we might be receiving our very first and quite astronomical bill, but to keep it off is probably pretty close to torture
- “chicky’s mex” restaurant down the street from has good steak tacos, not even close to Aurora, but probably the closest I’ll get until June
- I made a huge wall bulletin board with all my fridge collage pictures from home, it’s by the door so we see it in and out every day and think of all of you that we love so much
- a very dicey internet connection which leaves us feeling disconnected since we haven’t been able to really talk to anyone since we’ve been here. Sorry for that. We’re working on it, but things in Honduras take quite a while.


okay… my short list became long pretty quick!


pray for us please tomorrow (Saturday). We’re traveling with our neighbors about an hour south of SPS to the largest natural lake in the country, accompanied by incredible waterfalls. We’re planning to stay the night at a microbrewery/hostel run by an Oregonian. Sounds like Two Brothers + exotic jungle-esque hostel with “the most incredible chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever taste”. Needless to say, Jason is stoked!

We love you all and MISS you like crazy!

bienvenidos a honduras!

we've have heard this kind and inviting welcome many times since saturday afternoon. we finally arrived in san pedro sula, honduras saturday, july 30 at 12 pm local time (1 pm in chicago...until day light savings time at least) :) the airport was extremely busy, and since we had some confusion with our flight out of o'hare, we weren't sure if any one knew we actually had boarded a plane and arrived on time. fortunately, we saw a smiling honduran face, holding a sign for another new hire at EIS (Escuela International Sampedrana). needless to say, i ran right up to her and practically knocked her over in excitement. :) we had found our new friends! thank God that she was waiting with a sign for someone else, otherwise we would have been navigating the busy terminals of SPS International Airport, alone. yikes! well, after we collected ALL of our bags (ahem... 6 and counting) :), we found another friendly group of EIS teachers and administrators waiting to greet us outside the apartment. we felt immediately welcomed and accepted. they didn't even mind the pools of sweat that were pouring down my face within a minute of stepping outside the airport. oh boy!

from the airport, we drove around to each of the foreign hires' apartments buildings where we received some spending money (lempiras, soon to be referred to as "lems"), keys to our apartment, and a local cell phone. not sure yet about international rates, but you can reach us immediately at:
jason: 504.958.33287
sarah: 504.958.53715

everyone's accommodations were wonderful, but most of all OURS!! :) we are living in what could be considered a middle class family's house. a few highlights are the 3 bathrooms, 4 air conditioners, multiple living spaces, backyard and garage. we have already been informed that we are expected to host "salsa" night. sign us up! here are some preliminary pictures, prior to any decorating or receiving our furniture:





okay, well we just finished some training at school and are waiting for our bus home.... more to come! miss you all!!