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

Training

Less than a week ago I got back from the Isle of Coll where the training week for my year in Honduras was held.

And what a week it was!

I met my partner, Robbie, in Glasgow train station waiting for the train to Oban, and thankfully we got on really well straight away! I got to know a few more Honduras volunteers on the train to Oban (where we stayed overnight before heading to Coll), so I now know my new Honduras family for the year ahead. After an 'interesting' incident in Oban, we got the ferry early on the Monday morning and set off to Coll.

As soon as we arrived, the course began and intense does not describe how full on it was! We had talks on health, safety and how to teach, and then we had to give two lessons. Mine went rather well I think so I'm feeling pretty good about teaching next year!

We also had a project specific talk with our desk officer Gill, where Robbie and I learnt lots about our Project in Punta Gorda. It sounds like a tough project but it will certainly be extremely rewarding, and we are only a few hundred yards from the beach so we could be in a worse location I guess!

Despite the intensity of the course, we did have free time most evenings, and we went down to the nearby beach most evenings. Even though this beach is on Coll, it could've been anywhere in the world.

We stayed at the beach pretty late most nights so we got to know each other really well. Some people went swimming but being from down South the sea was far too cold for me!!

On the last night, we had the traditional Project Trust ceilidh. It was miles better than the selection ceilidh because everyone knew each other much better and we were going to be spending a year with each other!

Our Honduras group minus Robbie

So overall it was so much fun and it was great to get to know the other Hondurans and the Project Trust staff.

Let's have a great year!

Sam

Project Placement!

Hello!

This month, I received an exciting email with details of my project in Honduras with Project Trust!

Ever since I went on selection and heard about the available projects, the one that I had always preferred was the one on Roatán, one of the Bay Islands. So, last week, when I got the email I was thrilled to hear I had been chosen to spend the next year of my life in the small village of Punta Gorda, on Roatán! Look it up on the internet, it looks amazing!!

While Punta Gorda is only a short bus journey away from the tourist areas of Roatán like West Bay, from what I've found out on the internet, it is very different. The town looks quite poor and run down, compared to the tourist parts of the island. My 'house' is just a few hundred yards from the sea though, so it could be worse I suppose!

So, predictably, I'm really excited now about going away, and I go back up to Coll for a training week on 30th June until 4th July. I booked all my train tickets and accommodation last week so it seems really close!

I was also very lucky to receive a cheque for £600 today from a trust fund. I am very grateful for this as it is only the second grant I have received - I had hoped to get a few more but I'm extremely thankful to the two organisations who've been kind enough to give me a lot of money to help with my year in Honduras!

Today was also my last day of school, which was interesting to say the least! I've had a great six years at Poole Grammar and I suppose if it wasn't for this school and a Project Trust member of staff who came there a few years ago, I wouldn't be going to Honduras in just a few months!

Next Saturday, my parents, brothers and I are doing the last 500 miles of our cycle/run to Tegucigalpa, Honduras at Castlepoint shopping centre. If you're free, come and laugh at us if you want - we'll be there all day!

Thanks to everyone who's supported me this far, only 72 days until I leave!

Sam