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