Jungle River Lodge

The weather is getting hotter here and vacation time is coming. The whole mood of La Ceiba is changing. People are more relaxed and there's a lot more going on. To escape the heat this weekend, Micah and I walked/hitch-hiked to the Jungle River Lodge along the the Rio Congreal to read, swim and jump off rocks. The owner offered me a job bartending on Friday nights, so the weekends I'm in Ceiba I think I'll be working up there. I wont get paid, but I'll get to sleep and eat there for free.

It's Friday afternoon, school has just let out and I'm on my way to the Lodge.

The Rio Congreal.

The Jungle River Lodge at night. The bar to the right is where I'll be helping out on Friday nights.

Thiefs can't make me sad

Someone stole my CD player from school. It was on my shelf in the teachers' room yesterday afternoon and this morning it was gone. I don't care a ton about the CD player itself, but it sucks because now I wont be able to play inspiring music for my students during reading time or T.I. and 'Lil Wayne when they're working.

However, this afternoon was awesome. Micah and I have started offering English tutoring to 9th, 10th and 11th graders on Thursdays for an hour after school. Today was the first one and although only four students showed up it was a great success.

We wanted to provide a place where students could get English help on a one-on-one basis. Today we spent the whole hour just talking. At the end one student said, "I can't believe I've been talking in English for a whole hour." She also asked us why we only offered tutoring once a week. :)

Yay!

Teaching is so much more fun when students actually want to learn! Maybe I do like teaching, a little.

"rise up this morning/smile with the risin' sun/three little birds pitch by my doorstep ..."

I am loving Honduras today.

I did fun activities in all my classes today, I dropped off my laundry this afternoon and now I'm eating a bowl of mango salsa with chips and listening to a Bob Marley/Ben Harper mix -- nothing exactly earth-shattering.

But I also have a lot to look forward to. This Saturday is the opening night of a posh new club/lounge in La Ceiba. There's only one way to get in: personal invitation. And I might just have one. Then, in about two weeks I'll be getting on a bus to go to El Salvador to surf and celebrate Holy Week. I'm so lucky to be living so close to so many different countries.

Here are some recent photos:

A crazy-weird bug I saw outside my door a few days ago. There are all kinds of weird, beautiful bugs hanging out around my apartment building.

While I waited for the ferry to go to Utila I took some pictures around the boat dock. The captain of this boat said I could hitch a ride to the islands for a little as 200 lempiras. I promise that if I do this I wont go alone. :)

In Utila I visited the Jade Seahorse, a bar-restaurant-place-to-stay. It was breathtaking. Imagine the Swiss Family Robinson tree house being built by Antoni Gaudi and you'll begin to get the picture. The Jade Seahorse was recently voted the number 4 bar in the world by Lonely Planet. This is a picture of owner and creator, Neal, in his workshop. He was memorable and sarcastic.


The Jade Seahorse: This picture doesn't begin to do this place justice but I had to put something up to give you at least a little idea of how awesome it is.

While walking around in Utila I found this tattoo artist, Mandy. He operates out of a shop that also sells wooden doors. He does tattoos for as little as 800 lempiras, but don't worry mom and dad, I didn't get one.

Utila

Today I snorkeled in the reefs surrounded the island Utila. I drifted past exotic corals and came nose-to-nose with brightly colored fish. The sun was shining, the water was brilliantly blue and tropical music filled the air. 

As I mentioned in my last post, a dear friend from college (jonathan) surprised us by showing up in La Ceiba this week. Jonathan, Jonathan's friend Adam, Micah and myself went to Utila to have a good time. The boys are diving ... I'm just snorkeling 'cause I didn't have enough time to get diver certified or enough money to do a discovery dive. 

Honduras has three major Islands: Utila, Roatan and Guanaja. It's amazing how different each one is. Utila is all about diving and parties. It's less developed, more back-backer friendly and cheaper. But it's not as beautiful as Roatan. 

Anyway, got to go. Stomach is growling  ... the air is filling with smells of delicious dinners. I'm back to Ceiba tomorrow. 

march: season of socializing

It's only the 18th day of March and already I've seen three friends from JBU this month.

First, Meghan Kunes came.
Then Abby Cook came ... and is still here.
And yesterday, Jonathan Hagen showed up in front of my apartment unannounced.

Surprises are great. Great friends are even better. I'm lucky to have good friends, and even luckier to have friends who will visit me. I doubt I'd be half as adventurous as I am without supportive friends and family. It's a lot easier being far away when you know that your relationships will remain strong.

roatan on $50

ROATAN WITH MEGHAN
Here are pics from my trip to Roatan with Meghan! We tried to do the whole trip on $50 ... and if you don't count the cost of the ferry to the Island we came quite close.

Roatan is one of three Honduran Islands. It takes just about an hour and a half by boat to get there, but there's also an airport. Although part of Honduras, most people (at least in touristy areas and in taxis) speak English.

Above, I'm standing at the beach just yards from our hostel in West End.

From top to bottom: 1. Hitchhiking. 2. The Booze Cruise didn't fit into our schedule, but we figured that was a good thing since unlimited alcohol and a swaying boat all night didn't sound like a good combo. 3. Reading magazines in the shade. 4. Sunset. 5. A few new friends watching the sun set.

cursing

What does it mean when you curse after every slightest vexation?

*slightest vexations: A simple prick while cutting mangoes, accidentally closing a web page too early, a stranger who doesn't smile back, etc.

third quarter finals

"Too often we give our students answers to remember rather than problems to solve." ~Roger Lewin

Third quarter finals start next week. We're doing reviews this week. Today I gave a review to my sociology class and told them that I wouldn't be collecting it. I told them that completely the review would help them win a review game tomorrow and pass the exam but that I wouldn't be watching over their shoulder to make sure they did it. What happened? About 6 students worked on the review and the rest wasted another 45 minutes of their life.

Lazy.

They said, "Miss, you have to remember what it's like to be in our shoes." I stopped. Thought about that for awhile and realized that I was never like them. I was never that lazy in class. I always cared about my grades and about learning. I was never disrespectful to my teachers.


Good news: After finals I just have one week of school before Spring Break! For Spring Break I'm taking a surf trip to El Salvador!

computer trouble- pictures coming

Meghan left yesterday. It was wonderful seeing her and experiencing aspects of my life in Honduras with a close girl friend made me more homesick for the U.S.

Unfortunately my computer is giving me some trouble (i'm trying to do virus scans and update my antivirus stuff) but I promise to upload pictures soon!

In other news I got in HUGE trouble at work for missing days when Meghan was here. They made me have a meeting with all the bosses (four in total). However, by the end of the meeting they were all laughing and saying how they wished they could take my class! It was the first time I've ever had a positive, edifying conversation with them.

They've asked me to turn in a summary on Monday of all the activities and lessons I've taught so far as well as the ones I hope to get to before the year is over. It's crazy to think that I only have 40 or so more days left of actual school here.