Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I just realized that it has been nearly three weeks since we have posted anything. Lots of things have been happenening so I will bring you up to speed!

First and most importantly (and all I have time to write about now), Honduras is having major flooding. They issued a red alert on several days ago due to all the rain and the overflowing river. On top of that, city officials in Comayagua have had to open the dam at least twice and release some water in order to keep it from breaking. There has has been mention of opening it another time as the heavy rains continue to pour down. Unfortunately, since Comayagua is basically built on many hills, there are parts of the town that are very low and back up to the river. As a result, several neighborhoods have completely flooded out, filling their houses with muddy water. The opening of the dam has also greatly contributed to water washing through homes, businesses, cars and over roads and bridges. In fact on Sunday the bridge through Comayagua on the main highway that goes from the two major cities in Honduras (Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula) was completely flooded out. Traffic was just sitting and piling up until they were able to reroute some of the vehicles. It was pretty crazy!  Unfortunately, the same situation occurred again today.

We were informed on Tuesday (after the department of education cancelled school in all of Honduras) that two of my 5th grade student’s houses were in bad shape.  They both live in the same neighborhood at the bottom of a big hill in front of the river and sadly, both of their houses were took a big hit.  One of the student’s has a two story, so they were able to move most of the things upstairs to safety.  However, the other girl’s home only had one floor – and unfortunately, they pretty much lost everything.  Water completely filled their house (the water mark on the wall reached 8 feet high) saturating all of their belongings (furniture, beds, electronics, clothes, photos, school supplies, books, and so on.)  A crew of friends and family were there helping when we arrived and we stayed to help as well.  Unfortunately, most of their stuff was unsalvageable, and I am not sure of what the condition of the house will be, even after it all dries up.  Especially since it has rained a lot since Tuesday, and even more yet is expected. In fact, school was cancelled again (we went yesterday and had first period today, then they sent everyone home) so several of us walked down by the river to check its status.  The same neighborhood we were helping clean, once again had water just standing in the houses.  And that was just one!  We saw cars completely filled with water too, and the river was flooding out even more liquid.  What a shame!  Power has been off an on throughout town, and internet has been spotty.  We haven’t had it at our house in a week, and even Pizza Hut’s wireless (our go to when we are without it) wasn’t functioning when we went yesterday!  We were able to use it a little at the school today, until halfway through our session when the electricity went out, so no more internet!  They have already cancelled school for tomorrow too, as more storms are expected, and again, they may have to open to dam again to release some more water.  Fortunately, we haven’t been affected at our apartment, as we live right off the boulevard on higher ground.  It is so tough right now because essentially we just have to sit and wait until the rains come again until we can start helping clean up.  It is pretty tough – we feel so bad for everyone that are experiencing problems!  Its not just here in Honduras, I believe other countries in Central America are having a tough time too.  We heard that the last time they had flooding issues this bad was ten years ago when Hurricane Mitch devastated the country.

Classes are already canceled for tomorrow and several schools have plans to help out local residents.  Our school is collecting supplies and plans to deliver them to those in need on tomorrow and Saturday.  Please keep all of those affected in your prayers.  Since insurance pretty much doesn't exist here, for those that lost things will have to pay out of pocket to recover them.  Even for affluent families, this tragedy is a major financial setback.  Thanks for your support and prayers and I hope to report that things are getting better very soon! 

It's a Jungle Out There!

When I walk into the classroom each day I never know what to expect.  Somedays (usually Mondays mornings) the kids are sitting in their desks half asleep when I enter.  Other times they are running a muck - and the room is in complete shambles.  Then there are days like today, when I just don't know how to react!

As I approached my classroom this morning, I noticed a sort of

funky 'non-human' odor seeping out.  My suspicion served me correct when I opened the door to find a room full of furry creatures!  Dogs, birds, hampsters, turtles, and my personal least favorite - a pregnant rat - all filled the classroom.  So apparently it it 'bring your pet to school day' for the 5th grade classes!  All I kept thinking about as I attempted to teach was the liability of this whole situation.  All these pets in the room, all day - I could just envision a dog eating a paracete, or the rat biting a student! Fortunately for all of us, none of that happened under my watch, and I was actually quite impressed with how well behaved the dogs were.  The birds were a little chatty, but I managed to administer class anyway.  

I later found out that the kids were required to bring their 'mascotas' (pets) for none other than Spanish class.  Spanish class?!  I could understand Science - maybe - but Spanish class?  You lost me there.  Plus, 5A didn't have Spanish class until 11:30am and 5B until the last class of the day at 1:30pm.  It was crazy to have the pets at school all day long!  Well, what was I going to do?  We proceeded with class - even took tests - all with the student's animals.

It just keeps getting better...because as a reward for always speaking

 in English at school (It is a struggle to try keep the kids

 from speaking Spanish) the 5th graders were granted the priveledge to watch movie during class - on none other than today! This meant bringing the kids and their pets into the teacher's room to eat popcorn and watch The Chronicles of Narnia 2!  So we actally did watch the movie and had snacks as planned without too much trouble.  One dog was a little territorial, so we had to separate him from the rest of the bunch, but for the most part the other ones did okay.  I thought for sure they would go but when the snacks came out, but they did surprisingly well.  Speaking of grub, I told th ekids they could bring their own snacks.  They never cease to amaze me with their food selection.  One child brought 5 bags of popcorn (for himself!), another a 3 liter of soda (I did see her share it with one or 2 others) and another downed an entire bag of Munchies (doritos, pretzels, sunchips, cheetos combo) on his own!  I tried to set an example by eating an apple, but eventually caved and went for the popcorn  So it all turned out okay afterall.  The kids had a lot of fun, and the animals added an interesting twist to the eventful day!  I was nervous again at recess and lunch when a few of the dogs were getting a little fiesty, but I never heard of any injuries.  Thank the good Lord!  Now we get a long weekend to relax from all of the craziness!  Again, thank the good Lord!  Have a wonderful weekend...we sure plan to!