El Salvador

So our travelling started with us heading with Lisa and Olivia to El Salvador. After a load of buses and amazing views, we finally arrived in San Salvador, the capital. We spent a night in an interesting hotel to say the least and woke up the next day to explore the city.  There were loads of amazing markets packed with everything from eggs and tomatoes to watches and anything else you can think of! We also visited a couple of cathedrals and the national palace which were pretty nice, and full of interesting stories. We met Ellie and Bryony at out hostel for the night, so the 6 of us were finally together. We headed out in the evening, as you do, and I left my phone in the room so I wasn't robbed while I was out - good idea right? Well...no. Our room was robbed and my phone went with a load of money, so not a great night to be honest. Anyway we got to up the next day and got a bus to Playa El Tunco, our next destination in El Salvador. 

Playa El Tunco is probably one of the most touristy places I've been this year, a surfers paradise filled with bars, tourists and English folk! I even met a guy from London whose girlfriend was form Corfe Mullen, about 5 minutes from my house ! It really is a small world. We spent a few days there just chilling out on the beach and in our hostel, which was amazing and had a nice swimming pool. We went swimming in the sea one day and the waves were true surfers waves so we got bashed around, but it really was amazing fun, even if a bit sketchy a times!

We tried surfing one day, an interesting experience to say the least! We had an hour lesson with our own instructor an I stood up a few times, which was pretty cool. But...when we tried it again later in the day without our instructors we were pretty terrible and gave up after about 20 minutes of trying, failing, crashing in to each other and just getting bashed around by enormous waves! We decided to go for a swim after which was nice though the strong current was not the best place to swim...

We ate loads of great food over the few days at the beach. Most conversations in our group seem to revolve around food - what we're going to eat for dinner, what snacks we're going to have and what we're going to eat after dinner. It's constant, but pretty fun how everything comes back to food and what we want to eat!

We left Playa El Tunco and made our way to Ruta de las Flores, which apparently we shouldn't have visited because it's boring but we found it amazing. We were only there for one day but we went on an amazing hike through the mountains and waterfalls. We climbed down a few waterfalls, walked through rivers and swam in pools which was great, even if the water was freezing cold! We went out that evening for Lisa's birthday, and it was one of the most amazing meals I've ever eaten! And it was very cheap too. We went back to the hostel and had a massive cake which was amazing.

Then we set off to Guatemala to Antigua, but that'll come later.

Adios,

Sam xx

Belize - Visa Run

A nice rainy morning on Roatan kicked off our Visa run to Belize. After our boat to Ceiba was nearly cancelled due to a storm, we made it to Sam and Luke’s place to stay the night. We headed to San Pedro on the Sunday and met with some other volunteers and also some of our Honduran friends – we teach their mum English. We spent the day in San Pedro – we went to the movies, ate a McDonalds and went to see the prison in the world’s murder capital – a good day.

Monday morning was an early start. By this point, it was Robbie and I, Sam and Luke, Ellie and Bryony and Lisa and Olivia, so 8 of us. We got the bus from the station to Puerto Barrios in Guatemala. We were going to get the bus to Puerto Cortes and get the boat from there but the boat broke down so we had to go the long way. After a freezing cold bus journey and border crossing, we arrived in Puerto Barrios, got on a little boat and headed to Belize. The boat journey was good fun and not too rocky, and we arrived in Punta Gorda in Belize to get on a bus, followed by another boat to get to Placencia, our final destination. So after about 13 hours of travelling across 3 countries we had finally arrived!

Placencia is a beautiful little peninsula with amazing beaches and lots of nice restaurants and places to stay. So we found ourselves a hostel, went for a quick swim and just chilled out for the rest of the first day. There were loads of Rasta people there with loads of dreadlocks and they are just nice people who come and talk to you whenever they feel like it. So we met a local Rasta guy in the evening who claimed he could’ve been a singer if he wanted to be and he sang a song about ‘The Pressure.’ This became our song for the week – ‘They don’t know about the pressure…in the society!’ We met the same guy on the last night and sang the song back to him; I wonder what he was thinking at that point?!

Placencia really is so beautiful!

We spent most of the day’s just chilling out on the beach or on the balcony of our hostel. It was so nice just to be with everyone again and catch up on the past couple of months. We swam pretty much every day and tried to snorkel but the sea was a bit cloudy so we couldn’t see very much at all – the Roatan sea is clearer than Placencia!

One day we rented kayaks between the 10 of us – us 8 met up with Fionn and Antonia who were there but in a different hostel. So for some reason, in the 3 kayaks that we rented, we decided to put the 4 guys on 1 kayak and 3 girls on each of the other 2. Well as soon as we set off our kayak capsized and filled up with water, making it almost impossible to paddle it, against the tide, to the cay (a little island) we were heading for. We did eventually get there and ate very soggy sandwiches that we’d made up. Then we tried to drain the kayaks because they weren’t floating at all. We did this and then met a few guys in a proper boat who tied our kayaks on to their boat and towed us around for a bit. It was a great day – though we did lose a few snorkels thanks to us capsizing and just our genuine forgetfulness.

Most of us after kayaking to the island

We had a couple of meals out which were really nice – chicken from a little stall was amazing – though we cooked most of our meals. It worked out so much cheaper – about 80p per person – compared to about $10 to eat out, that’s one way of saving money!

We did some karaoke one night which was great fun – singing with the locals as well was such a great laugh. I managed to convince one guy I was a 14 year old German MMA fighter which was fun! It did rain absolutely loads most evenings though so we got soaked to the skin a few times. We also saw a little tornado in the distance which was pretty cool. The weather was a bit annoying though it didn’t stop us having a great week, tanning a bit, and predictably for me getting a very red nose! Going for a day on kayaks in the Caribbean with no sun cream is not a great idea…

It was a shame to leave on Friday – our boat was again cancelled so we met a random bloke who said he could take us to Honduras for the same price as the actual boat so why not? After getting our passports stamped and seeing an 11 year old driving a car, we set off in a tiny boat made for no more than about 12 people, into the open sea where at points we couldn’t see land in any direction. The journey was rough to say the least, though we did see sea turtles which was pretty cool. We were absolutely soaked to the skin by the time we got back to Honduras, and a rain storm for about an hour on the boat really didn’t help. Back through immigration means I now have a nicely decorated passport! We all set off on our own ways back home – Sam, Luke, Robbie and I went in a bus to San Pedro and then somehow met Lisa and Olivia, Fionn and Antonia and Hannah and Caitlin who had all travelled there in different ways in San Pedro Bus station! After a nice Burger King we went back to San Juan Pueblo with Sam and Luke to spend the night. We got back ‘home’ to Punta Gorda yesterday lunchtime after a great week, definitely the best week I’ve had since I got here!

Never too far from home!

There are loads of photos on my Facebook from the week so take a look there to see more

Top 3 Belize moments

The Pressure – They don’t know about the pressure, in the society (most people reading this won’t have a clue what I’m talking about, just trust me it was so funny when a Rasta guy sang this to us!)

The kayaks – The day on the kayaks was so much fun and being towed around by locals was amazing

Spending time with the other volunteers – I’m so excited for the big travelling now. Spending time with everyone really is amazing and the 2 months of travelling will be the best time of my life!

Hasta luego, until next time,

Sam xx

Rain, rain and more rain...and a few stories

Hola!

Last Wednesday was officially the wettest day I have ever seen in my life! Robbie and I were taking our walk to kindergarten and we got to within about 50 metres of the nursery with no rain. Okay. Then the heavens opened and we made a run for it. By the time we arrived we were soaked to the skin through our t-shirts and in shock at how quickly the weather can turn! The rain didn't stop all day! It was torrential, genuinely heavier than any shower I've had since I got here. I probably should've grabbed my shampoo and washed in it! There was a BBQ at school during this amazing weather which didn't go as well as they'd hoped for obvious reasons, but they enjoyed it and I got some nice food! A problem when it rains is walking home from Mary Lou's house. The road is dark and there are very few streetlights, and this road has massive puddles and streams running down it. So, in pitch black, in flip flops, Robbie and I tried to navigate the road, with limited success. Neither of us fell over but both got pretty dirty, oh well!

A TV company from Tegucigalpa came last Thursday to give Punta Gorda a bit of air time on national TV. The crew came to school, and after the 9th grade gradutation photos which got a bit of a laugh, we all headed off to the 'stage' area of the school to watch the kids dance and some people talk about Punta Gorda. Maybe I made it on to the TV? I hope so!

9th grade graduation photo - the best I could get...

We've started to go fishing with a couple of our students from school. I say fishing, though I mean attempting to fish and catching nothing after 5 minutes then giving up. We've tried this a few times and still haven't caught anything, we're pretty good fishermen as you can guess. We also went swimming a few days ago with these kids, who can't actually swim, which was a laugh to say the least!

Amazing sunset while we were fishing last week

Last Sunday we headed to one of our teachers house for her mother's birthday party! Loads of great food and it was nice to just chill out with some people who speak English and who are (sort of) our age. We headed to a small carnival type thing in their village, and while we didn't have any money, it was good fun watching people throwing up on the rides, and seeing some of our students there too!

Back at school the kids have been learning the Honduran National Anthem in English for as long as I can remember so we decided to have a 'test' on Monday. By a test I mean getting 3 or 4 kids to come up in front of Profa Joyce and I to sing it, more or less the X Factor. Well, as some of them speak no English at all, it was quite funny and I did burst out laughing a couple of times right in their faces...ooops! They took it well enough, though.

I've also been introduced to the sport of handball by the school kids. We headed up to fisica, which is basically PE, and played with some of our 8th grade students. It's so complicated but really good fun, and as usual the kids are soooo good at any sport they lend their hand to so they were much better than us, even though I did score!

On Thursday, we headed to a town called Los Fuertes for the final of the Roatán football competition, between our school and a school from Fuertes. We got their in the roasting heat and despite their best efforts our team lost 4-1. The other team were really good though, yet their attitude was quite the opposite. One of our guys got sent off for bad-mouthing the ref, and as he was making his way off the pitch something was said then all the players broke in to a fight. Robbie and I were sat in the 'stand' so just watched as the rest of the crowd rushed on to the pitch to join in and the teachers tried to break it up. It was interesting to watch I have to say, seeing tiny women teachers trying to break up massive 16 year old footballers! While our team was being piled on to the bus to get them out of there, some incredibly intelligent members of the other team decided to through water and fresco (coke) on our school staff. Safe to say they were not amused by that.

3 of my favourites - Alben and the twins, Jerissa and Jerrito

That evening, we headed to one of our students houses for her birthday. They gave us lovely food (rice, pasta salad, meat) and 2 massive slices of cake - amazing! Profa Doris, one of the younger teachers whose also probably our favourite other member of staff here, was there too. There was a motorbike sat there outside the house so another girl decided to sit on it, with the stand down so it wouldn't fall over. So, Robbie, Doris and I were chatting away and the next thing we knew was that this girl was lying on the floor with a motorbike on top of her. We literally didn't stop laughing for a good 20 minutes! She saw the funny side, too, thankfully!

Last night, we headed to a karaoke here in Punta Gorda, and they had English music! Bon Jovi, no less. So we sang Livin' On A Prayer and Bed Of Roses with a load of Hondurans there who didn't have a clue what we were singing about! It was good fun but our voices need a bit of improvement!

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to Skype call my Grandma and Grandad! It was great to see you both, if you're reading this, and it was good to catch up and know that you're both well.

And, as a final note, something that made me really happy at school last week. 2 girls from 9th grade only come to class about half of the time and when they do come they never work, so them turning up is an achievement in itself. So when they came to class and actually asked me to help them with their English work I was rather shocked yet pleasantly surprised! Moments like that really do brighten up the day here!

And also when a 3rd grader told me she was sad we didn't have English class today that really did make me smile!

Right, time to draw this to a close, off to church bright and early tomorrow!

Sam xx

Catching up and random bits and bobs

Hola!

Last Monday we had the dance/March competition in a little town close to Punta Gorda. I got woken up at 6.30 by a kid banging on the door asking me to tie his tie...Wow what a way to be woken up!

Anyway, we headed to Lucy Point for the competition. We were in an arena type thing and with no wind it was genuinely the hottest I've been since I arrived (I've said that so many times but this seriously was!). The kids were so hot just hanging around waiting for their turn to perform, and so many people had umbrellas or umbrella hats, which just shows how hot it really was. When the locals think it's hot, it's hot! Our school didn't win unfortunately but I though they were amazing, as per usual - not that I'm biased or anything but I thought they should have won!

Abigail - she wanted to wear my sunglasses for the competition!

In the afternoon we headed to Coxen Hole - the biggest town on Roatán. There, I collected my parcel that my family had sent. Loads of sweets - amazing! Thanks so much guys, a nice taste of home is great once in a while! That town is like the real Honduras - let me explain. We don't really think Punta Gorda is really like Honduras. Now, I absolutely love it here, don't get me wrong, but it's different to mainland Honduras, obviously, because the community descends from a slave population. It is nice, however, to visit places that feel like 'Honduras' from time to time, and buy a baleada from a pulperia and look through really cheap clothes shops!

Back to school on Wednesday after a day off on Tuesday because they were all too 'tired' (i.e. they couldn't be bothered with school) to go in. Schools still going well, of course. I still love it and being with everyone, I've even learnt a few more names! I helped out with a 'computación' (ICT) class last week for some reason, was good fun though the kids thought I'd be able to answer questions, in Spanish, about the digestive system... Well I did alright if I do say so myself! I've been told by one girl I need to watch my accent because I'm starting to sound a bit like the local kids! She said if I go back to England speaking like that they won't know what I'm saying! I often imitate their accent just for fun but I think I've started to pick up a local twang to my voice!

For some reason last week, one little chap brought a bike to school. It was one of the smallest bikes I've ever ridden but also made me realise how much I miss that. Having a student on the back of a tiny BMX with no brakes sure was a laugh, especially when I nearly crashed into another kid! That really is one of the main things I miss, riding my bike. Going out on a weekend with Jack and Dad in the sun and just going for a nice ride is something I really would love to do right now! My fitness level is really down here, we do next to no exercise! I would love to go for a ride out on the road! Actually, one thing that I cannot wait to do is get on the Turbo Trainer, put my music on full volume and absolutely go as fast as I can for about 1/2 an hour! Sounds weird I know but I really do miss doing that, and exercise in general.

On Friday, the school had a football match down at the pitch here in Punta Gorda. Despite it being another roasting hot day, they won 3-1 against the next town, meaning this Friday they'll go to the Roatán final - hopefully we'll be going too! We did have a nice rain shower which was nice as well! One guy scored a goal even Lionel Messi would've been proud of - these guys really are great at football!

After being here for just over two months, I think it's about time I paid some credit to Mary Lou, my Honduran mother! Her food, first and foremost, is genuinely amazing! From rice and beans, to pasta, fritas and chicken, to my absolute favourite Honduran food baleadas right through to the Garifuna local dish Machuca, I cannot fault her cooking! Oh and her bread as well, just wow! She is also seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met - she always looks out for us, checks on us to see how we are and is just so welcoming to us. She's also absolutely hilarious without meaning to be - she has me in stitches quite often! The other day she was telling us about how she was going to kill a rat with a stick and I just couldn't stop laughing!

Mi mamá Hondureña, Mary Lou

She also has plenty of stories to tell. Tonight she told us about Hurricane Mitch with struck Honduras in 1998. Volunteers were here then, as well. She told us how her house survived, how people ran to the hills, and how she cooked for loads of locals who came to her house. I imagine she would've looked after the whole village if she could've done! 

I've also been on a motorbike for the first time here. One guy who we give English classes to gave us a lift on his bike back to Punta Gorda the other day. Bearing in mind it was pitch black, it was quite nervy at the start but I loved it! I didn't fall off either, thankfully!

On Saturday, we got invited by Lee Mann (a teacher at school) to go to his house for lunch. Nice house, Lee, and the soup was amazing! It had conk, fish, crab claw and lobster, it was one of the nicest meals I've ever had, I loved it! We then went with him and his son to his friends swimming pool where we got more free food and drinks, which was great. The guy said we can go there any weekend we want, thanks for the offer mate!

A new bar opened this weekend in Punta Gorda - and it's a sports bar! They have pool tables and a table football table. Robbie and I went down their on Sunday afternoon for a few games of pool, we need to improve a lot if we ever want to play the locals though, they're amazing!

I also found out today that I have two 'cousins' here at school. Two girls have the surname 'Cooper' and as Mum's maiden name is Cooper as well, we're now cousins from the other side of the world! 

Right, I'll leave you just there. This post is a lot longer than I intended it to be, but why not let everyone know what I've been up to?!

Un abrazo a todos,

Sam

Back to school

Buenos (as they say here, instead of Buenos Días),

After our week off school last week, I was actually rather happy to be back. That's not to say in any way that I didn't enjoy our week off, I loved it, but I really enjoy being at school, teaching and just being here with the students.

Kindergarten is still going well, it's not my favourite class but I definitely enjoy it! The kids there are so sweet and every morning they sing a song to welcome us which is very nice! One day last week, for the first time, the class counted up to 15 in English, a very proud moment for me! The kids there seem to be making some progress, and for me that's enough to be happy with what I'm doing.

Classes have once again been disrupted this week. Tomorrow we have another event similar to the Independence Day March, but lots of school are going and it's a competition, so the kids have been practicing a lot for that. I do enjoy watching them practice, the band is so good!

A couple more kids have asked about French lessons. One girl from 9th grade asked me 'to give French class so I can molest the other kids.' They use the word 'molest' instead of 'annoy' all the time because the Spanish for 'annoy' is 'molestar'. This always makes me laugh and the kids don't understand why!

I went up to 'fisica' a couple of times this week, that's the equivalent of PE. The guys who play football are seriously amazing and I didn't play this week, I had flip flops on so couldn't...

Adult English classes are still going well, all of our students are definitely improving! My favourite class is the one in Jonesville, the people who live in a huge house. On Wednesday they made us a bagel, which was actually unbelievable - ham, salami, salad and more!

On Thursday, we headed to church for a meeting. Bearing in mind that it was all in Spanish, when the lady asked me to explain something to everyone I was a bit shocked, so I stood up and a load of students were there too so I couldn't stop laughing! Bit awkward but I got it alright I think. 

We watched '12 years a Slave' with the kids this week. It's a great film, but what I found quite sad was the fact that probably only one or two kids actually understood the significance of it, especially because the Garifuna population descends from slaves. They're a bit too excitable to watch a film like that though, they just like the fight scenes!

Yesterday, we headed off with all the teachers to a buffet style restaurant for lunch. Great food and for some reason Robbie and I didn't have to pay! Then we got a lift to a resort called Fantasy Island (where we go with the dancers sometimes) to give an English class to some people who work there (they asked for the lesson in Spanish..). After making the most of their free wifi and skyping Mum and Dad, Robbie and I met some French people who were travelling the world! A great opportunity to practice my ever-faltering level of French. It was a good day of foreign languages - giving an English lesson in Spanish then talking French! Then the dancers came, we watched the show and headed home with them. I always really enjoy their show, and the girls love having their pictures taken! We went out in the evening for a few drinks and met a few more people.

Today, we've just been relaxing. Of course, as is becoming normal, we headed to church this morning which was great! The songs today were really good and I'm now recognising even more people!

Just one more thing, some things here really do make me laugh and the people don't mean to be funny. Right, people often use 'one' instead of 'an' or 'a'. For example, the other day someone said to me 'Teacher, can you do me one favour?' This really does make me laugh every time it happens.

As I've already said, using the word 'molest' instead of 'annoy' always cracks me up as well.

And even the fact that people miss out words, like 'There were plenty people there'. I really don't know why but I'm always laughing here, it must be a good thing though!

By the way, tomorrow it's 8 weeks to the day that I left the UK!

And there are lots more photos up on Facebook of the Independence Day March, so take a look!

Up nice and early tomorrow to go to watch the march/competition thing, lucky me! And by early I mean about 6.00...

Hasta luego,

Sam xx

Memories of England and Contrasts since I got here

7 weeks ago to the very day I was sat on the edge of a cricket pitch near Birmingham watching Luke play for Dorset, for the last match of his tour. I remember it like it was yesterday. 8 runs, 2 stumpings, 1 catch and 1 run out for Luke, and a comprehensive victory for Dorset was one of my last memories from England. And also Luke stamping on my foot, in cricket spikes, when saying goodbye for a year!

A stumping for Luke!

I have lots of good memories (and not so good ones...Reddich) from those three days; the Indian takeaway, the cashew nuts (Andrew...) and the amazing pie I had in the pub on my last night in England, as well as drinking cider! And a lovely card from my family which I have in my room and see everyday! 

I remember not sleeping at all that night, freaking out about leaving everyone and everything behind for a whole year, Jack getting annoyed at me for being on my iPad all night and then getting up bright and early at 4 am to head to Heathrow. This is all still so clear in my memory it's so weird. We got to Heathrow and sat for ages wondering where everyone else was, then I met Robbie and some other Hondurans, Mum spilt her cup of tea on me and off I went, no tears, no nothing.

The other night, I spent some time looking through photos on my laptop of the past few years in England - holidays, days at the beach, trips to the zoo and more. It was so nice to see these things and bring back great memories, and funnily enough it didn't make me miss home!

That's where that part of this blog ends, now I'm going to talk about what has become so normal to me here, that used to be so weird. 

On arrival here, all I could think about was the heat! How was I ever going to survive in this heat? Now, although it is still very hot, I now feel comfortable in this climate, and feeling cold is definitely going to be strange back in England.

The food. At the start, while I loved the food (and still do) all I wanted was a nice burger or a pizza! Now, when we have dinner, all I want is a nice baleada or some machuca, or even rice and beans! Again, this food has become so normal to me that eating Western food now seems a bit odd! Another note on the food, when we tell Mary Lou (our cook) how amazing her food is, she just says 'Yes Teacher,' implying that she knows how good her food is! Everyone here is straight to the point in what they say!

The relaxed attitude. Before I came here, I would say I was slightly OCD about things like timings and when to do things. Like in the UK if a bus was late I would get rather annoyed. But here, my attitude has changed a lot. Now, if a bus is late, it's just like 'oh well, we're in the Caribbean so it doesn't really matter,' and I like that!

The way people are so direct when they speak. If someone has something to say, they will say it straight to your face. If they think your hair is ugly, they will tell you. If they don't like someone, they will tell them! In some ways, this is a good thing because people are more open and say what they think, and I'd like to think that I'd pick up slightly on this, though not too much!

Dancing! Everyone here loves to dance, but the dancing when I arrived here in Punta Gorda seemed far too mature for the kids who where doing it! Let's just say, the dancing here is more suited to slightly older people who have had a bit too much to drink. Now though, this seems so normal and dancing when I go to university next year will be very different, maybe Bath Uni will be introduced to Punta dancing!

Doesn't do the dancing any justice but...

And what do I miss, you may ask?

Well, to be quite truthful, very little. Of course from time to time I miss my family and friends (yes Mum, but only sometimes...), and sitting on a sofa to watch TV. Oh yeah, and I also miss school quite a lot! It sounds weird I know, but the routine of sitting with my mates in the common room, having such a laugh in pretty much every lesson, and of course my teachers, who I'm keeping in contact with! But to be quite frank, I really don't miss anything that much (sorry Mum and Dad!)

I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing, but I'd say it's good because I haven't felt homesick or wanted to go home at all so far! Punta Gorda is my home now; I think it will be tougher leaving here than it was leaving England! Because I've become so embroiled in life here in Honduras, I feel like I don't have time to miss home, even if I did miss it! Talking to Mum and Dad, Jack and Luke, and friends on Facebook (Robbie (in French) - thanks for helping me keep this going; and Dhiren, for making me laugh every so often!) really has helped me a lot. It makes me feel that everyone is just around the corner, when really they're on the other side of the world! Phoning my family and hearing there voices has really helped as well, being able to hear the people I was closest to makes me realise that they're always there when I want a chat, so thanks guys!

And what don't I miss? What am I happy to be away from?

Well actually there are a couple of things...

RAIN! We have hardly seen rain here! It's so nice not to be worried about having to take a coat wherever we go (just wear flip flops and beach clothes instead!)

People judging you. At home, I felt from time to time that I was being judged by people. Here, though, while people say what they think, they aren't judgmental towards me. For example, I walked down the street with 2 plaits in my hair, and everyone just smiled and we joked about it. In England, if a guy did that, he would be pointed at, stared at etc. That's another reason why I love it here so much, everyone is so kind and so relaxed!

And on a final note, one of the best things that I've noticed here is that each kid at school has such a strong personality! You know, in England at school there was that group of kids who were a bit strange and didn't really have a personality at all, they just sort of sat back and floated along? Well here, no one is like that at all. Everyone has such a strong character, and going back to England to find people without that is sure going to be strange for me. I love this side to the kids, they're all so different yet so amazing at the same time, it really is different from England, but for me, most certainly in a good way.

I know I shouldn't have favourites but....
She's one of my favourites from the morning kids, there'd be too many to list from the afternoon lot!

Good luck to everyone going off to Uni this weekend and over the next couple of weeks, this time next year it'll be me!

I think it's time for me to stop rambling on, maybe I'll go and take a swim in the Caribbean sea (don't get too jealous now...)

Un abrazo a todos,

Sam xx

Independence Day and Palmetto Bay

Hola!

The day that the whole of Honduras had been waiting for finally arrived on Monday - Independence Day! Everyone at school, all the pupils and staff, had been preparing for this day more or less since we arrived here in Punta Gorda, so it was something not to be missed.

We woke up nice and early and headed down to one end of town for the start of the traditional Independence Day March, which started nice and early at about 7.30 am. Now, we'd never seen the kids in their proper uniforms (they practice in school clothes), so I was pretty amazed at how smart those kids looked! There were people aged from 5 to 17 in the March, all doing different things with different groups. There were dancers, cheerleaders, a marching band, people with signs, people dressed as 'princesses' and right at the front there were a special group of students who'd been chosen to carry the flags of Central America. These were pretty much the best students at school, and one of my favourites, Edson, got to carry the Honduras flag - he looked pretty chuffed with himself!

The flag carriers at the march

So the March went on, taking three hours to complete what normally is a ten minute walk, and Robbie and I walked with the kids, taking photos and videos and handing out water. We chatted to kids as we went, I felt like I was actually in the March at points! The weather was, however, so hot! When the kids here in Roatán say that it's hot, it really is hot! They struggled a bit, but the dancers kept dancing and the band kept playing all morning. We arrived at 'Barrio Ingles' (the other end of town) and the kids ran for shade and Robbie and I set off to come back home, after more pictures. We chatted to Profa Olga (who's sort of in charge at the moment) and she told us we have the week off school! Lucky us! So we headed back here to the house to cool off, and decide what to do for a week without the kids!

Dancers in the march

Don't they look cute?

Back at the house, we knew that Alice and Kate - two other Project Trust volunteers from the mainland - were on Roatán. They'd found an amazing all inclusive deal at a resort, but we thought we wouldn't be able to see them. Well, with the week of school, we jumped in a bus and a taxi down to Palmetto Bay and met them, and a load of their American friends, for the afternoon. There are lots of 'teachers' who come from abroad at their project, so it was great to meet a group of similar-minded people, and become good friends with them, after just one day!

In the afternoon, we swam in the sea and had a massive catch-up about life here so far, as well as getting to know our new American amigos. Then we went for dinner, they had an all inclusive offer, but Robbie and I had to pay. We had an amazing meal of chicken, veg and mashed potato, and we worked out we only paid just over $20 for the whole night - including some nice drinks too! We stayed in the restaurant for a bit before heading back to their house on the resort for the night! It was an amazing place, I don't know how they got it so cheap! We had a bit more to drink before heading to bed, it was a great night!

Tuesday morning, we got up and headed for breakfast before going down to the beach to swim and have some fun. Robbie and I had to leave quite early to get back here for lunch at 12, so we made the most of our time at the beach with our mates, before heading off. It was so nice to see Kate and Alice, it was the first time they'd met up with other volunteers, and just be able to talk to good friends again about life. We headed off in a taxi back here to Punta Gorda - Kate, Alice and some of the Americans really wanted to visit but they didn't have time. Yet, they say they're going to come back to Roatán at some point, so when they do I think we'll be going with them wherever they go, and we'll definitely bring the here to Punta Gorda!

So, a great couple of days, and tomorrow we're off to the beach with a load of teachers from our municipality to celebrate 'dia del maestro' or teachers day

Adios,

Sam

Feliz Día del Niño!

Buenos Días!

So, today was 'El Día del Niño' here in Honduras, and as I know by now these people don't need any excuse to have a party or miss school!

This morning, with the younger kids, Robbie and I played party games - like musical chairs, egg and spoons races (with the spoon in my mouth?) and sack races. The kids all watched as all the teachers played these games. It was great fun and just made me realise how much I miss my childhood! In fact, spending time with the kids here in general has made me want to be a kid again. Some advice to any little ones reading this - make the most of your childhood, when you're older you WILL want to be a kid again!

Happy Children's Day!

Then, we headed with third grade to eat and drink! Third grade are definitely my favourite morning class, they're so lovely and always want me to play with them! So we had rice and chicken, as well as an amazing potato and egg salad. Of course, we drank loads of 'fresco' (basically fizzy drinks!) and ate some amazing cake - wow I have missed cake since I got here!

Happy Children's Day!

The kids here are always so cheery!

We then headed down to Mary Lou's for lunch, already absolutely stuffed from the food this morning. Fair to say I didn't eat much, even though the fish was amazing!

Then this afternoon we headed down to the sea here in Punta Gorda with the older kids from school. We just chilled for a bit to start with, then got some more free food - amazing barbecued chicken and baleadas and of course more fresco! Then I decided to take a dip in the sea with some of the kids, which they seemed to enjoy - splashing and soaking me! 

Later on in the day, we went back in to the sea, and whilst we were there there was a massive rain storm. About 50 kids and teachers, in the sea off a Caribbean island, in a massive rainstorm - what more could you ask for? It was so much fun, and something that I can safely say would never happen in England! Some of the older boys kept running out of the sea to grab people to throw in (including some teachers!), it was a great laugh! Also I had kids on my shoulders 'fighting' other kids on other people's shoulder and then just falling off and in to the sea. 

So overall it was a great day, but I do wonder why England doesn't celebrate days like they do here in Honduras, they definitely should do!

We're off to Tela this weekend to meet up with some other volunteers, very excited to see them again!

Adios!


Sam

Nearly a month already...WHAT!

Hola otra vez!

I really cannot believe that I'm writing this blog saying that I've been here in Punta Gorda for almost a month! Time here has really flown by and we're almost 1/12th of the way through the year already!

So, school's been going really well recently. Teaching the younger kids really is great fun, this morning when I went down to school about four of them ran at me screaming Hola Teacher and wanted me to pick them all up (at the same time...) They really are adorable kids, and most of them are really enthusiastic about learning, and getting to know us, which is great!

The older kids are still great fun, we always have a good laugh with them. Now that were getting to know them, some of them are almost like friends so the lessons are great fun! That said, in every class from 7th-9th grade, there are a few 'clowns' (as Lee calls them) who just try to disrupt the lesson and annoy everyone. We had a chat to Lee about this and he said we should just kick them out. If they don't want to learn, they can just leave so everyone else can, he said, which is good enough for me!

In each class there is a varying range of abilities, so some kids find the work really easy and some find it harder. This makes the lessons interesting though, because it allows me to spend time with the ones who find it hard. This is good because it means I have to speak in Spanish (which isn't always correct!), though through a mixture of my broken Spanish and their broken English we often get there!

Twice last week, Robbie and I went with some local dancers to some resorts on Roatán. They go to hotels to show traditional Garifuna dancing, and we were invited along with them. It's great to watch, though not so great when at the end the girls come around and get us up to dance (two of the girls are at school with us so always pick on us to dance!) Let's just say that by the end of the year my Punta dancing may be better than it is now!

Adult English classes are going rather well! We now do three families per week, one in Punta Gorda, one in Jonesville and one in Oakridge. All three families are lovely, and since we do it for free they often give us free food and coke, which is amazing!!! The family in Jonesville literally live in a $1 million dollar home, and they've said that we can use their pool whenever we want to and go and cook pizza with them - I think I might take you up on that at some point Luis! It's a great way to meet new people and see different parts of the island we wouldn't otherwise see.

Me, Robbie and our little mates

Mary Lou's cooking is still pretty nice. There's not as much rice and beans as I thought there'd be! She often cooks us chicken and her bread is the best thing since sliced bread - even though it's not sliced! She says one day she's going to teach us to cook like her, that'd be great. We've been to church with her every Sunday since we got here, it was her granddaughter's Christening the other day, which was lovely to watch. I've started to understand a bit more what's going on in church, and even learnt the words to some of the songs!

We started work at the Kindergarten on Wednesday, which is where the little ones go before they start school. What can I say, the kids are lovely though we were just put in a room with about 20 of them and told 'teach them English.' Thanks to Robbie's imagination and my ability to count, we held out for 40 minutes teaching them numbers, the alphabet and 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.' This will definitely involve more planning than any of our other lessons, a bit odd considering they're the youngest!

I really enjoy spending time with the school kids at 'recreo' (break) or after school before they head home. They're so interesting and a great laugh, and they also like to get to know us a bit more. Some of the 7th-9th graders really are like good friends now, it's so weird how I've come to a different country and made friends with so many people so quickly. However, I must remember to never let little girls play with my hair again...

Me and my amigas after messing with my hair! It was platted earlier..

Tomorrow, there's a dance competition in French Harbour (a bigger town nearby, about 1/2 hour bus ride), so we think we'll go to that with some of the kids. It's nice that we're getting asked to go to these things. On the 10th September, they celebrate 'Día de los Ninos' in Honduras, so we think we're going with one class to a place called Camp Bay. Apparently it's an amazing beach and they have a BBQ and play football there, something to look forward to for us!

Doris asked us to go with her to a 'Cay' (a little island with nothing on it, just an amazing beach) with her class, but we don't think we'll be able to go, yet it's great we're being invited to so many things by so many people. You see, in two weeks, we're going to go to Tela to celebrate Hannah's birthday (she's a Project Trust volunteer), and meet up for the first time with some of our amigos from England. I'm so excited for this, it's only been a month but I can't wait to see those guys again.

Some local's want to take us somewhere next weekend with them, I think to a beach or something like that, and just spend the day with them. It's a good chance to get to know them a bit more, and I think we may become pretty good mates with these guys.

What a sunset!

Right, I must let you go. It getting late here and I've got a class at 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Hasta luego, y un abrazo a todos,

Sam xx

Arrival and the first couple of weeks

Hola!

It's now almost 2 weeks since I arrived in Honduras, so there's definitely a lot to talk about.

We arrived at Heathrow on Monday morning and I said goodbye to the family, and then off we went; through security to start the adventure of a lifetime. It was at this point where everything started to become very real; and slightly nervy!

We took a 9 hour flight to Miami (with nice views of Canada and Washington out the window) and just chilled out most of the way. It was pretty boring though and I was glad when we landed in the USA. I wasn't happy, however, with the airport. Miami has a reputation for being pretty crazy and it sure was! We had to go through check after check and then security again, all the while with a slight worry of our bags being lost! We eventually boarded our flight to San Pedro Sula and set off once again.

We arrived in Honduras at about 7pm local time (2am UK time!!) and were all predictably pretty tired! We got our bags and then searched for the guy who was going to take us to our hostel for the night.

The Honduran Family in San Pedro Sula

So we got in the back of Luis' car and headed off to the hostel in the murder capital of the world - scary stuff! Luis and his wife were lovely people and we ordered a take-away pizza between us, probably the last pizza I'll eat for a year. Me and Robbie set off at 4.30am the next morning to get the bus to La Ceiba. Goodbyes the night before were hard because everyone is really close but we'll try to meet up often and keep in touch with each other.

Luis took me and Robbie to the bus station where a 3 1/2 hour journey cost us little over £3 per person! The journey was alright with some pretty nice views, though we were both pretty shattered when we got to La Ceiba. A taxi ride later and we were at the boat station where we jumped on the 'Vomit Comet' (aptly named) and thankfully we both fell asleep otherwise we would've been rather sick I imagine.

We we're met at the port and taken for a quick chat with Vegas (our country rep) before being driven to Punta Gorda. After what seemed like a lifetime of travelling we had finally arrived at our new home. We met some school staff before heading to Mary Lou's for lunch - she's our cook for the year! We also went for a quick swim because the sea is so close!

Home for the next year!

Our house is basic to say the least, a small building just a 30 second walk from school. There's a bedroom each, a small bathroom and a living room with a table, bookcase and a fridge. We have had no running water for over a week now and it's quite annoying, and although they seem to think it'll get sorted, me and Robbie doubt it.

On the Wednesday, we went to the beach for a bit before heading back to school to meet Profa Ligia, who is our host for the year. She'll look after us at the school and if we have any issues we can go to her (the problem is she's off ill for a while..). We then observed some lessons on Thursday and Friday, we decided to split the younger ones (1st - 6th grade) 50/50 and then after one lesson each of the older pupils (7th - 9th grade) we decided to do them all together because behaviour control is pretty tough with these guys! Lee (the 7th - 9th grade teacher) told us just to be really relaxed with them and joke around a bit - apparently if we're strict they will go mad and not work one bit!

The weekend came and went pretty quickly, we explored a bit on Saturday and then went to church with Mary Lou on Sunday - it was great fun actually and the music was great (they had the tune of 'When a Child is Born' for one of their songs!). The problem was it was all in Garifuna, the local language, so me and Robbie didn't get a word of it!

We then went back home to plan some lessons, though we've worked out we don't actually have to plan that much - with the little ones Profa Joyce is often there with us, and with the older ones we only have to do 3 plans per week between us and then just apply them slightly differently to each class.

We started teaching on Monday and so far it's going really well! Despite what we were told about the older classes being really tough, with the right approach the lessons can be great fun. Some of the kids want to do well and some just don't really want to be there. We always try to make the lessons fun and have a laugh with the kids, and they seem to like the idea of including a little game at the end, like hangman.

In one lesson this week I asked one girl if she wanted to take the lesson for me (as a joke) and of course, she took the whole lesson and taught the class a load of words and was a great teacher! It was a good laugh and she seemed to really enjoy it so that was a good lesson.

Every Tuesday and Thursday me and Robbie are teaching Profa Doris and a couple of other teachers English - which is a great opportunity to get more involved and get to know the teachers a bit better. Doris did forget her homework though..tut tut. On Tuesday as well we left our keys locked inside our house so we had to go on a tour of Punta Gorda in a moto-taxi to find a spare key. An experience I do not wish to repeat anytime soon!

Wednesday night/Thursday morning Honduran time was when A level results came out. Me and Robbie both stayed up and were constantly refreshing UCAS Track to see if we'd been accepted. I found out that I was in to Bath University!!! I didn't yet know my grades, so I waited for mum to phone - she'd been in to school to collect them for me.

Even though Robbie (Driscoll - in England) beat her to it and told me my results, I was over the moon to have got A*A*A, and an A in the Extended Project. I was slightly gutted to not get an A* in French, but then again I beat Robbie (Driscoll) so that's all that matters really isn't it?! Robbie got in to Bristol so we were pretty chuffed that night. It seems most people back home did well, so well done to all going to uni this year or next!

We've been approached by 2 people already from the town to give them English lessons, which is great as it shows the community want to get to know us a bit, and it gives us something else to do in the evenings. I think we'll probably start with this next week.

Robbie's been pretty sick over the last few days so I've been teaching on my own. He's on the up right now so he should be better by Monday. We had a massive thunderstorm yesterday and our electricity sometimes cuts out when it rains (and sometimes it randomly cuts out anyway). 

Yesterday at school there was an event called the Gimnasiada, which is where some of the kids from each grade took part in a dancing competition. Let's just say the kids were a bit too young for this type of dancing. It was a good afternoon/evening and me and Robbie got to know some of the kids pretty well, especially because they speak really good English!!

I think my Spanish will really improve while I'm here. When we're out and about we try to speak to people in Spanish, though every single person responds with 'Hola Teacher'. I think some people actually think our names are 'Teacher'! We also need to pick up on the slang that the kids use, because they speak 'Island English' to each other, which you cannot understand if you speak normal English.

There are more photos on Facebook but it takes ages to upload them to here, so sorry about the lack of pictures but just go on my page to see more.

Anyway, I think if you're still reading this you may be a bit bored so I'll let you go and do something more exciting..

Un abrazo,

Sam xx