… it was the first day of school all over again.

Welcome back, readers! It’s been about three weeks since our last team update, so there’s quite a lot to share!

On December 17th, the annual mass exodus of gringos officially began. Back to the homeland we went, and it was not without a little culture shock and a big appreciation for everything that, 6 months ago, we all took for granted. Our journey began at the San Pedro airport, where Andrea (the 2nd grade teacher) and I were mistaken for Honduran citizens in the passport line, causing our street cred to rise astronomical levels. The man checking our passports could not believe we were from the United States. He proceeded to tell everyone in the passport line that we spoke perfect Honduran Spanish and that he’d never seen anything like it before (meanwhile I had  never seen an airport employee so excited about bilingual travelers). It was a nice way to leave the country, knowing that we were really part of this community and that Hondurans as far away as the San P airport had accepted us as one of their own.

There were four of us travelling on the same flight, so unlike our first trip down here in July, we had some nice company on the trip back

Ready for the United States!

Quite frankly I wasn’t sure what to expect as my plane landed in Houston that exciting Saturday afternoon. Without notifying the flight attendants, Andrea and I took the liberty of seating ourselves together to experience our descent into the U.S (and mutually support each other as fellow extremely nervous fliers). As we entered our final approach, we sat there in awe of the impressive city planning visible from the air: paved streets, sidewalks, commercial zones, highway systems, and a downtown skyline that looked like a majestic silhouette against the hazy winter sky.

We were greeted by automatic toilets, water fountains, and central air conditioning. It was amazing. Once I got home, I literally screamed when I saw our dishwasher (which was kind of awkward because at the time there was a Christmas party going on at my house and nobody seemed to understand what I was so excited about). I had my breath taken away when I opened our cupboard and saw fully-stocked shelves, and on many occasions I would venture out to Target just to simply walk around and look at things. Oh, and I probably took about 2 hot showers a day, just because I could.

There is so much that we take for granted in the United States: clean running water, hot water, air conditioning (or heaters this time of year if you live up north!), availability of resources or basic necessities, healthcare providers, paved roads, trash cans, cars, electricity that always stays on, and so much more I can’t even think of it at the moment.

While it was great to be back in the States and to spend time with my family, I was also excited to get back to our own BECA family we have down here in Honduras. I couldn’t wait to see my kids again, share dinners with families, and just be a part of this great community here in Cofradía.

I remember when I first left for Honduras back in July. I was so nervous I couldn’t even sleep the night before my flight. I was worried I wouldn’t be a good teacher, or that I wouldn’t make friends, or that my kids would hate me, or that I would be too homesick, or that I was making a mistake by moving to a country I’d never before been to and living in conditions I’d never before experienced. But last week, in a literal blink of an eye later, I found myself packing for the same flight I took 6 months earlier and going through a very different thought process this time around. I kept thinking to myself how silly I was for being so scared and nervous! If only I had known what wonderful things awaited me and what great people I would get to spend this year with.

So, back to school it was. It was the first day of school all over again … back to all those sweaty hugs and beautiful smiles, and to life as we know and love it.

Photos by: Sarah Digby and Jessica Barrett (2nd grade teacher, SMBS)

On Saturday, December 10th, just a little over a week ago, we celebrated a highly-anticipated and exciting annual tradition here in the Hondu: Cena Navideña. At both the Santa Monica Bilingual School and the San Jeronimo Bilingual School, children, parents, and teachers alike flocked to the school grounds on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, dressed in their Christmas best to celebrate the holiday season. At SJBS, there was great food (i.e. meat products!!!!!!), song and dance numbers performed by every grade, and even a clown who made balloon animals. And at SMBS, the school celebrated its first ever Cena Navideña! All the SMBS teachers worked so hard to organize everything, and the end result was absolutely amazing. Here are some photos from the SMBS’s first annual Cena!

SMBS Prepa Teacher, Miss Kim, with her students!

1st Grade Teacher, Renee Johnston (who goes by Miss Alicia) during her class's performance

2nd Grade Teacher, Miss Jessica, directing her class's performance

For us at SJBS, it all began at 9 a.m. in the SJBS auditorio. There we were, ready to hang up all sorts of decorations and fashion all sorts of paper chains especially for the event. Everything was going great until we realized that the power had gone out … and that it would stay out until 4 p.m. (as part of a rare, scheduled power outage). But never fear! By this point we have become well-adapted to surprise power outages. The only fear was that us girls would not be able straighten our hair for the occasion, given that the event began at 4. Thankfully, however, there was a Christmas miracle and the hair-straightening crisis was averted: the power came back on about an hour earlier than expected.

As a first-time Cena Navideña-er, I did not know what to expect. All I knew was that the kids at SJBS had been talking about it since literally September. It was clear that this event was a highlight of the school year. The night was a complete success, with musical numbers ranging from “Don’t Stop Believin’” to “Santa Claus is Coming to SJBS”. As teachers, we also got to partake in the fun: we performed our own version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” that starred our beloved Miss Danelia and 12 traditionally Honduran recuerdos.

Check out some photos of the day’s events!

Miss Colleen, the SJBS Kinder teacher, with some adorable reindeer!

The ladies of SJBS

6th grade SJBS teacher Miss Bianca and her mother, who was down in the Hondu for a visit!

SJBS teachers singing "The 12 Days of Christmas" ... with a special SJBS twist.

2nd grade teacher Miss Andrea with one of her students!

One of my students all dressed up for the fancy occasion!

Middle School English Teacher, Miss Faith, with an adorable little reindeer!

And that concludes this year’s Cenas Navideñas. Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!

Photos by: Jessica Barrett (2nd Grade Teacher, SMBS)

Hello faithful readers! My apologies for a belated Thanksgiving post. Apparently this time of year is a crazy one no matter where in the world you are. Nevertheless, your update has arrived!

As you all know, a few weeks ago we all celebrated Thanksgiving, which is a time when we come together, cook, eat, and remember all that for which we are thankful. Although we were without our actual families this year, we all came together as one big BECA family and had a celebration to remember. Thanksgiving here was a very beautiful day filled with delicious foods and savory desserts. All 18 of us (minus Mr. Ken, who was back in the States for a med school interview) came together and cooked a dish, making for a potluck dinner that served some 30+ people: all the North American and Honduran teachers, as well as some friends and employees of the school.

Yum!

Green bean casserole and veggie platters!

A plate full of food!

SMBS was in full attendance!

As second grade SMBS teacher Miss Jessica put it, “It was a colossal potluck effort to share the best American holiday with our Honduran compañeros!”

We had the actual dinner in the large auditorio of SJBS. We gathered together all the tables and chairs we could, lit some candles, hung up our Thanksgiving paper chains and hand turkeys, and celebrated in style. We had everything from oreo pie to green bean casserole, but the real treat was the ACTUAL TURKEY that was acquired in San Pedro especially for the occasion.

Unfortunately for me, I had awoken at 4 a.m Thanksgiving morning with some sort of awful and mysterious stomach problem and could not eat a thing. But considering I spent most of Thanksgiving unable to get out of bed (or go an hour without throwing up), I was just grateful I could be there to share in the experience.

Like all Thanksgivings, the day full of much reflection and giving of thanks. For starters, I was thankful for another wonderful year of life; I was thankful for knowing both of my parents; I was thankful for a family that hasn’t hasn’t been forcibly separated by economic hardship; I was thankful for my friends; I was thankful for growing up in a safe and comfortable house; I was thankful for opportunity; I was thankful for my education; I was thankful for a country that protects me and gives me so many basic human liberties; but more than anything, I was thankful for the 18 amazing people I get to work with every day, for everything these past 5 months have taught me, and for my 25 beautiful little kids who have already shown me so much about life and this world we live in.

And I am thankful that I still have another 6 more months to go.

Hope y’all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of friends, family, and lots of laughter.

Forget running the NYC Half-Marathon, forget moving to Honduras, and forget graduating magna cum laude from NYU – because yesterday at 7:15 a.m., as that first bell rang at the start of the school day, the smallest of gestures suddenly triumphed everything I’d previously upheld as the defining moments of 2011. Nothing else mattered except for the generosity and gratitude of a very special 10-year-old boy.

Over the past 4 months, however, this same very special 10-year-old boy has tested my patience, pushed me to my limits, and caused me to experience frustration like I have never known before. The thing about this kid is that he is smart. VERY smart. He is deep, philosophical, and introspective in a way that only the most intelligent of people in society are. He is curious, brilliant, and interested, but unfortunately, most of the time he is discouraged in class and fighting with his classmates. To make matters worse, when he gets frustrated, he shuts down and will not do anything for the rest of the day.

From the start, I have wanted so badly to work with him and get him to a place where he could feel safe, confident, and capable in the classroom. Creating a space like this has meant not holding him to the same expectations as the others in the class; it has meant slowly counting to 3 instead of having him move his clip; it has meant picking my battles; it has meant developing a relationship with him outside of school; it has meant developing an extreme threshold for patience; it has meant asking, “What’s wrong? Why are we having a bad day?” instead of giving him the punishment he’s seeking; it has meant refusing to give him negative attention and instead only recognizing the positive; and it has meant working endlessly to try and break down the many walls he has built around him.

The worst has been watching him do his weekly multiplication quizzes. Once other kids started mastering their facts, he got frustrated and shut down. Week after week he sat there during timed quizzes not even trying to answer the problems. He slipped down to my lowest kid in Math, when he should have been my highest. Fully aware of how insecure he was about Math, I debated how to approach the topic of after-school tutoring, knowing he wouldn’t want to do it. So, I thought about what he would want to do. I knew he loved baseball, so I thought about how we could make math into a baseball game. I casually asked him one day if he would like to play baseball and do some math games. He immediately accepted the idea.

Tuesday was our first day of “after-school tutoring”. We started with our 4′s times tables. Making up the game as I went along, I had him throw the baseball back and forth as we counted and practiced our facts. The afternoon was full of math baseball and math hop-scotch, and as our time was ending, it was clear that in less than 45 minutes he had mastered all his 4′s tables. I had never seen him so happy. He learned that day that if he put in the work, he could do it.

We were drawing with chalk while waiting for his dad to come, when all of a sudden he let down one of his guards and told me why he felt so insecure about math. It was a beautiful moment watching him put aside his fears and misconceptions, willing to start anew with what he calls “the math monster”. He asked if we could play “these games” every day after school. Tuesdays and Thursdays are now our math baseball and hop-scotch days. When his dad arrived, he asked if I could tell his dad how good of a job he did. Seeing him take pride in his work – something he had never done in the classroom – was wonderful.

Which brings us to yesterday. The first bell rang, and my little baseball master told me he wanted to tell me something in private outside. He nervously stood with his hands in his pockets, got a big grin on his face, and quietly said, “I just wanted to thank you for staying after with me yesterday. And —” Slowly, he started pulling something out of his pocket. It was a small stuffed animal he wanted to give to me as a way of saying “thank you”. I was overwhelmed with so many feelings I can’t even explain them all. This boy who had caused me so much grief and frustration had just warmed my heart with so much joy. I felt love for a boy who had come so far, gratitude for the smallest of gifts, and relief that I must have done something right. He told me to hide the toy in my jacket and to put it immediately into my backpack once I got into class so nobody would see. I told him I would keep it our little secret.

At 7:15 yesterday morning, I learned that the happiest of moments can come from the smallest of gifts. This boy is one of our becado students, which means he attends our school on scholarship. He lives in a small concrete house far from the center of town. Financially he comes from very little. I knew this small toy had not been bought a store specially for me, but had most likely come from his own room, from his own belongings, and handed over to me as a gift. He had sacrificed something of his own in a meaningful gesture I will always remember, no matter how the rest of the year plays out. He went on to have the best day he’d had in the classroom this year (and today was a repeat of all these wonderful things!). Other students even came up to me and told me they were very impressed with how hard he’d been working, and I had these students give him the compliments directly. And yesterday on his multiplication quiz, he got 75 out of 77 correct … the highest percentage he has ever scored.

What I will take away from this week, however, will be neither a math grade nor a behavior change, but the gratitude and selflessness of a little boy with a big heart – and an even bigger potential.

The other volunteers and I just returned from the capital city of Tegucigalpa (Teguc for short) for 3 days of professional development and training. The weekend was full of such learning and growth, and we are excited to bring all that we’ve learned back to our own classrooms. We were given the awesome opportunity to observe elementary school classes and attend incredibly informative workshops at a US-accredited bilingual school about 45 minutes outside of the capital city — a school that represents everything that our school is trying to become.

The elementary school is situated on one of Central America's best agricultural universities and boasted stunning campus views

Beautiful church on the grounds

I found myself unexpectedly filled with envy as I walked around their beautiful, serene, clean campus filled with well-behaved, well-groomed, well-fed children in their organized, resource-enriched, dirt-free classrooms… equipped with actual windows, tile floors and ceiling fans. In my classroom, 3 times a day a 6-inch pile of dirt is swept off the concrete floor, half of my room gets drenched in water anytime it rains, and I can hardly hear myself think let alone teach half of the time because our classes have open windows that face other classrooms. I found myself asking over and over again in my head “What makes such a big difference between our schools?”

A view of the third grade classroom building

The obvious answer is, quite frankly, money. While this school also boasts a certain amount of scholarship students, socio-economically their average student cannot even compare to our average student. Their school is located on the campus of one of the most renowned agricultural universities in all of Central America, providing them resources that we can only dream. They had tennis courts, an actual cafeteria (our students mostly eat sitting on their floor of our hallway), a lake, a pool, music teachers and special education specialists. Many of our teachers were saying it was nicer than any schools they had ever seen, even in the United States. The third grade teacher was complaining that her class had too many students (19!) and all of the elementary schools have a full-time assistant in their classrooms! I can only imagine what I could do with another adult body in the room.

A vast majority of their children also come from supportive and educated parents who are extremely involved in their education and who possess the means to encourage and challenge their children academically. Not to say that those families don’t exist in Cofradia, because they certainly do, but our students face many challenges. Every single one of my students has a family member living in the States, about a third of them have one parent living there, and a decent handful of them have both parents living there and are being raised by some family member or another. In place of having college professors as parents, many of my children’s parents are illiterate—no help on schoolwork there. Also, their children go home to a safe environment where they actually sleep at night and are fed in the morning, at lunch, and at night. A lot of my kids don’t eat breakfast and many of them don’t each lunch. I suppose I would have a hard time focusing in school too.
At the end of the day, I just have to remind myself why I am teaching in Cofradia instead of an upper-class US-accredited school like theirs. I am volunteering here to reach a population that otherwise would not have access to quality education. How many people can say when they go to work in the morning that they are truly making a difference in other people’s lives? I am teaching these children a language that by merely being able to speak it significantly increases their employability and life options. I did not want to teach the upper class of Honduras for a reason. I recently have been struggling with feeling like I am not reaching as low as a socio-economic group at my school that I would like to. I think I forgot what real wealth looked like. It was a great reality check for me.

And so, I have left the beautiful, gated walls of the school in Teguc, where we enjoyed flavored coffee at an actual coffee shop and where we were able to take hot showers (!!!!). I am back in my bed here, killing the ants that are already crawling up my arms, listening to the roosters crow constantly outside my window, breathing in the smell of one of the constantly-burning trash fires, and thinking about all the new things we learned this weekend that we can bring back to a school that is ours. Man, its good to be back home

Last week was a very exciting week for us in Honduras! Not only was Mr. Mike in town (three cheers for Mike! Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!), but we had our first parent visitor! And that parent visitor happened to be no one other than my mom! I cannot tell you how wonderful it felt to have my mom down here with me, seeing my classroom, meeting my kids, and conocer-ing a Honduras. (You’ll have to excuse me … at this point we’re all speaking in some sort of twisted Spanish / English dialect that only survives amongst our team of 18 members).

At 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26th, my mom walked through the porton at the San Jeronimo Bilingual School to cheers and hugs coming from all my little 4th graders. It was such relief to see her arrive safe and in one piece considering her taxi’s car kept dying on her way to the school (welcome to the Hondu!).

Her visit was great – not just for me, but for my students as well. They had been anticipating her visit for weeks, and all of that waiting had finally paid off! As some of you may or may not know, my mom is a photographer, so I asked if she could guest-lecture a class and teach my kids a little somethin-somethin about photography. It was a real treat for my students, who love photographs. She taught them all about good photos, how light can create shadows, and how composition functions within images. She also brought down her camera and got some quality shots at school.

That would be me, educating the minds of tomorrow!

Sharing a good laugh during our activity outside making scientific observations

Doing parachute during P.E.

Working hard in the classroom

I'm apparently very interesting at the end of the day

My mom teaching kids about photos with some photos of her own

First grade morning meeting with Miss Karena!

Exchanging smiles with my Star Student of the Week up on the stage during Acto Civico

Miss Colleen (Kinder teacher) and Miss Steph (Prepa teacher) reading to their kids with a book my mom brought from the San Antonio Museum of Art (it's number counting in English and Spanish!)

The adorable faces of Kinder/Prepa world

Hitching a piggy-back ride with Mr. Josh!

Playtime!

Miss Andrea with her second graders during P.E.

Miss Colleen checking for a fever

5th graders playing chess and checkers during lunch

Our beautiful library!

Miss Maddy helping one of her 3rd graders in the classroom

Miss Andrea and her second graders

One of the biggest moments of my mom’s visit was Friday afternoon’s art class. All the way from the United States, my mom brought down 25 small white shirts for my kids to TYE DYE! It was a huge success! They had so much fun. Here they are choosing their colors and learning how to tye dye a shirt:

And here is the after product!

The most exciting and unique experience of my mom’s trip occurred when one of my sweet little boys invited my mom and me over to dinner one night. His mom helped us prepare an authentic Honduran meal made and gave us a crash course in making tortillas! We made and ate dinner by their outdoor chiminea, enjoying our baleadas (the signature meal of Honduras) and the good conversation for hours. My mom doesn’t speak much Spanish, but thankfully I was there to facilitate conversation and correct her on a few things (like when she accidentally said she was married to a 15-year-old … to her credit, however, cincuenta and quince are kind of similar). It was a great evening, and my mom got to see what life is really like in Honduras: the people may not have much, but they have each other – and happiness.

After school was over on Friday, my mom and I headed to La Ceiba for the weekend. There, we stayed in this BEAUTIFUL hotel called La Quinta Real … where we enjoyed hot water (!!!!), air conditioning (!!!!), and meat products (!!!!). I must have taken like 6 showers … I cannot tell you how good RUNNING hot water feels after weeks of taking tepid bucket showers that we have to boil on our stove. I also turned down the A/C to 60 degrees, simply because I could. The quality of food at the place was astounding. I ate sandwiches, meat, shrimp … all the things that are rarities here in the Cof. After 5 months of rice and beans (and I mean that in the most literal way possible). It’s amazing what a change in food can do to your body!

We had planned to go to Cayos Cochinos (these archipelago islands off the coast of Honduras) but the remnants of Hurricane Rina decided to join us on our weekend getaway. Fortunately, however, I qualified for a sweet discount from the hotel since I’m a BECA volunteer. Even though the outdoor was drizzly, we spent the weekend in this incredible suite for a very, VERY, cheap price, enjoying the indoor time just as much as we would have the sunshine. Never fear though – we DID get an afternoon of sunshine in, too.

Hello beautiful sea!

The one thing about Honduras that I will always remember, even after leaving here, are its sunsets – which, when posited amongst the beautiful Carribbean waters, are nothing short of stunning:

On a more somber note, the day did arrive in which my mom had to leave Honduras. Early last Monday morning, my mom gave 25 last hugs goodbye to my kids who had grown so close to her in just a few days. It was then that I realized that saying goodbye does not get any easier as I get any older. Although these past 5 months have seen some of the greatest moments of my life, it all comes at the cost of being away from my family for yet another year. At 22 years of age, I stood there struggling to keep my “grown-up face” on as I watched everyone give my mom a final despedida. As my mom zipped up her suitcase and prepared to carry it out the door, one of my little girls turned to me, tears welling in her eyes, telling me that my mom’s goodbye reminded her “of when her own mom left for the United States 4 years ago” … at that point I had to excuse myself from the classroom, for the injustice of this little girl’s life had just superseded any sort of sadness I myself might have been experiencing.

Who was I to be sad about my mom leaving to go back to the United States, when so many of my kids have had to say goodbye to one (or both) of their parents at some point in their young lives? Victims of an unjust world, my students have seen their own parents away as they left for the United States, not knowing when, or if, they would see them again.

My break period came right after my mom left, so I had a moment to catch my breath before continuing on with the day. Standing alone in the office, I slowly wiped away my tears, thought of the beautiful little faces in my classroom, and said to myself, “At least I will get to see my mom again.”

Words by: Marisa Garcia (Lower School Resource Teacher, SJBS)

Photo by: Sarah Digby (4th Grade Teacher, SJBS)

Living in Cofradia, I have seen many things that one would not normally see in Boston or most places in the U.S. In just one day, I am constantly surprised by some of the things I see and experience here. In order to provide you an accurate picture I’ve decided to recreate on of my days for all of you to read about. So here it is:

Mornings (depending on the day of the week): 

We wake up to the sounds of roosters, macaws, Bodega Mabel and Novedades Kenneth shouting out their best deals through a megaphone trying to drone each other out, rambunctious church music (especially this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8vx83n3e2k), and occasional parades or band competitions. It’s a miracle if you can sleep til 10am, and I’ve only done it once so far.

(Novedades Kenneth actually closed down yesterday, so our weekends have become that much more tranquil!)

The Walk to School

We tend to walk to school at a time when most of the population of Cofradía has either already left for work or is not yet out and about. As we walk down our stairs its not unusual to find piles of trash, some as tall as me, filling the street corners waiting for “trash pick up”. As far as I can tell, Honduras does not have an organized trash system, but there are men in pickup trucks and vans who pick up the trash with their own hands and fill up their vehicles. If the trash isn’t being picked up, it is being burned on the side of the road. You’re much more likely to see a burning pile of trash than someone picking it up.
Once we hit the river, amongst the dirty brown water you can sometimes spot a crane or two. The stark white contrast is very striking and it makes for a nice image early in the morning. Floating in the river is more trash. The amount of trash around here is something I still have not gotten used to. No matter how beautiful the scenery, it just takes away from the effect.
Then we cut through Dr. Zelayas’s property. He’s one of the few landowners in Cofradia and he owns the land our school is built on. He also owns a chicken “factory”. I call it this because the life cycle of these chickens is so short and every few weeks a new batch of chicks arrive only to be replaced. We have also seen our fair share of interesting Honduran creatures around the Zalias property: bright red snakes (it was dead), huge ant hills that come up to my knee, bright green and yellow lizards with blue tails, iguanas, and something I can only guess was a field mouse.

School

At school the sights are much more pleasant: children in matching uniforms playing, running, learning, signing, reading, writing. The various insects and animals around school can sometimes cause for interesting days. One day, I found a first grader crying hysterically and all he could tell me was “las hormigas me pican!”. He was covered head to toe with fire ants and the only thing I could think to do was strip him down, shake out his clothes and shoes, and splash him with water. Another day, we found a scorpion in our classroom, which the haciadora killed with a broom handle while telling us that its poison is said to be powerful enough to kill a small child. Then I saved the fourth graders from the supposed poisonous lizard whose blue tail can sting and kill you. I trapped it in a piece of paper and brought it outside; brave, I know. Other than that, it’s pretty much the typical school with normal sights and sounds that come with school aged children, and we all know how crazy those can be. Regardless, it’s a one-of-a-kind, unique feel that will always stay close to my heart.

Walking Home

On the walk home from school we often see people working in Zalias’ property. Sometimes chickens are being rounded up, other times they are harvesting corn, and once the juice factory was up and running.

Once back at the apartment, the sounds and sights of Cofradia become less interesting considering I am once again surrounded by gringos. But I love the company. Cofradía is a lively town always filled with such an eclectic mix of sounds and images … I can only imagine what the next 7 months of this journey will bring.

(Renee Johnston is the 1st grade teacher at Santa Monica. This post can originally be found here on her personal blog.)

———————————————————————————————————-

Forward:

I’m going to be honest. I started this blog exclusively so I could talk about the breakfast cereal I eat in Honduras. It is extremely likely that I will never write another word here ever again. Apologies in advance.

***

I don’t know if anyone will appreciate this, but its a source of ongoing fascination for me, and I really need to share.

This:

is your typical box of “FANS” brand cornflakes. It is the cheapest kind of cereal you can buy in Honduras, and taste-wise, it’s only a small step down from Kellogg’s. But this is completely beside the point.

The first thing I’d like to call to your attention re: FANS (pronounced “fawns”) is the 1983-era box design, which I have come to love– to really really love. But, what I appreciate most about FANS, even more than its pale yellow exterior and industrious sportspersons, is the thoughtful inclusion of two recipes on the side of every box.

Recipe 1: “Tangy Party Meatballs”

Recipe 2: “Sour Cream Salmon Loaf“

While the fixins for either dish are definitely worth additional scrutiny, I’d argue the work involved in concocting a Sour Cream Salmon Loaf really lives up to its name, its unspeakably unappetizing name :

SOUR CREAM SALMON LOAF

1 Can (15.5 oz.) Salmon

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Sour Cream

½ Cup melted Margarine

1 Egg, beaten

2 ½ Cups Fans Corn Flakes

Measure the Fans Corn Flakes and then crush them into crumbs. Drain off half of the liquid of the salmon. Combine all ingredients. Place in a loaf pan. Bake 40 minutes at 350* F.

****

And all you budding chefs out there, not to worry; you have some options:

“If firmer texture loaf is desired, use less margarine and add 1 more egg. “

*****

Other Interesting Facts About FANS:

1. Even though you can’t actually buy them anywhere in the United States, all of the writing on a FANS box is in English. This has confused me for a while now, and so today, I did a little detective work.

2. As it turns out, FANS is “manufactured” in Miami Florida by a company called Luban Int’l, which, since 1979, “has been offering fine quality, North American products to the Caribbean Islands as well as in Central and South America.” So, evidently, there is in existence a North American company that takes raw materials that were very likely grown in Latin America, and turns them into low-quality, generic food products to be shipped back to Latin America. Nothing about that is particularly surprising. But more importantly, this means that somebody in Miami, between 1979 and now, thought it was a really good idea to let people in Honduras et al. know that you can use your FANS brand cornflakes to make Tangy Party Meatballs, whenever the need arises.

***

I realize that, for some of you, this may be the only news you’ve heard from me since I left for Honduras over a month and a half ago. Sorry. I can only hope that, at the very least, this update lets you rest assured, no matter how challenging my life and work here has been, I am eating VERY well.

Besos.

Photos Courtesy of: Sarah Digby and Kim Murray

Whether you’re a student or a teacher, the first day of school is always one of those days you want to capture and put somewhere safe to remember forever … and today was no different for the BECA teachers at the Santa Monica and San Jeronimo Bilingual Schools here in Honduras. I’m very happy (and relieved!) to report that every single one of us has officially survived our first day of the 2011-2012 school year. After 5 weeks of training and 1 very busy teacher work week, this day was nothing short of greatly anticipated by all of us – and considering that today is one of those moments for the record books, I thought it would be fun to get photos of all the teachers in their newly decked-out classrooms on the first day of school. So, without further ado, here we all are … in our beautiful classrooms ready to enlighten our eager bunch of students!

SAN JERONIMO BILINGUAL SCHOOL

Kinder/Prepa with Miss Colleen and Miss Stephanie

Miss Stephanie (left) is one of our returning teachers and is following her students into Prepa. Miss Colleen (right) teaches Kinder - the youngest class at SJBS!

Lots of space for these kids to come learn English for the first time!

Morning Meeting rug ready for those Kinder/Prepa kids!

First Grade – Miss Karena

Miss Karena all ready in her Morning Meeting corner!

So colorful!

Second Grade – Miss Andrea

Miss Andrea is our other returning teacher. She's following her kids from the first to the second grade. Here she is with one of her students after an exciting first day back!

Miss Andrea's Morning Meeting corner

Third Grade – Miss Maddy

Miss Maddy at the front of her classroom!

Third grade jobs and calendar!

Fourth Grade – Miss Sarah (aka yours truly)

This year everyone has to put their names on their doors, so some of us decided to do so by creating door decor out of flags, alma mater signs, graffiti, caricature sketches, etc.

Class library ready for some new readers!

All ready for the 4th graders! (I made and painted those hanging table numbers from styrafoam I found out by the trash. One man's trash is, literally, another man's treasure)

Fifth Grade – Mr. Greg

Mr. Greg hard at work at his desk!

Sixth Grade – Miss Bianca

Miss Bianca and her amazing graffiti door (don't be too impressed - she hired someone to do it for her)

Ready for those 6th graders!

Miss Bianca's graffitied desk sign

Word Wall in the back!

Middle School English (7th, 8th, and 9th) – Miss Faith

Brushing up on that literary canon

Where the magic happens (i.e. where students will learn all about great literature and even greater writing skills)

Caricature sign drawn by Mr. Sean (also missing is a beautifully drawn Appalachian State "A" - Miss Faith's alma mater)

Middle School Math (7th, 8th, 9th) – Mr. Sean

Mr. Sean displaying some Canadian and Honduran pride

Ready to teach those quadratic equations

Middle School Science (7th, 8th, 9th) – Mr. Ken

Mr. Ken reflecting at his desk after an eventful first day

The Learning Center – Resource Teachers Miss Marisa and Miss Sarah Z

Miss Marisa (Lower School Resource Teacher) pointing to her name on the door!

Miss Sarah Z (Upper School Resource Teacher and SJBS's first ever counselor) happy that the first day has begun!

Beautiful "our family" map made by the resource teachers showing from where we all come!

Resource room beautifully reorganized and ready for the year!

SANTA MONICA BILINGUAL SCHOOL 

Prepa – Miss Kim

Miss Kim ready for morning meeting with her first year students!

Beautiful!

1st Grade – Miss Alicia

Miss Alicia gearing up for the first day!

Work week set up!

1st Grade – Miss Jess

Miss Jess in her meeting spot!

Beautiful new classrooms over in Vida Nueva

Resource Teacher – Mr. Adam

Working up a sweat during work week! (It is Honduras, after all)

Resource Center desk

And there you have it … from Cofradía to Vida Nueva, the BECA teachers are officially settled into their classrooms with the first day of school already under their belts. Ready or not, here we come!