Annnd they're off!
Almost got him!
Almost got him!
Sneaky sneaky...time for turkey dinner!
The 11th graders...they love each other so much, it's just adorable.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Thanksgiving Vids
Here are the Thanksgiving videos that I finally snatched from Carlos Eduardo (aka el polvo aka the turkey) from the 11th grade skit. Brief rundown: Every two or three class acts, the cartoon chase music would turn on, and out would come the 11th graders in all their glory. They are SUCH a funny class...namely a few of the boys that are just over the top. Jossue, Francisco, Franklin, Luis...SON LOCOS! They can make class a little difficult to teach, but when it comes to this stuff- there isn't anyone better for the job. Enjoy!
The 11th graders...they love each other so much, it's just adorable.
The 11th graders...they love each other so much, it's just adorable.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Turkey, Apple Bottom Jeans, and 4 Day Weekends
An unexpected 4 day weekend, 2 Thanksgiving dinners, one of the funnest nights out in Honduras to date, and a successful Thanksgiving school wide presentation. A good Thanksgiving holiday indeed.
Starting from the bottom up. As I wrote before, Abby, Mr. Bob, and I were in charge of creating a presentation for the whole school about Thanksgiving. Our creativity was at work and out came a great show, one like Honduras has never SEEN! Probably not that cool, but we were applauded for our efforts, and between you and me, I'm sure it had everything to do with my sweet emcee-ing skills. Not. But we can pretend. The celebration was very Honduran for several reasons. It was supposed to start at 11:00am, it started at 12:00pm. There was supposed to be food for all the students and teachers, they ran out when it was the teachers turn, and looked so surprised that there weren't enough mashed potatoes. Abby and I were quite upset with the lack of mashed potatoes and then made a bit of a spectacle of ourselves when we went over to all of the 1st and 2nd graders left over plates and began to scavenge for food. I'll give the credit to Abby though, she definitely had less shame than I did. But we both had less shame than Mr. Bob and Cid who were looking at the plates with drooling mouths but weren't doing anything about it. We're Americans, we need our mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving damnit!
For the celebration each class did some sort of presentation. I was in charge of working with the 9-11th graders on their acts, all of which turned out very well I thought. The 1st-3rd graders were adorable of course. They wrote what they were thankful for on a construction paper leaf and came up to the stage and placed the one the construction paper branches of our construction paper tree. The 4th-6th grades wrote poems and performed them for the school. The class who got the biggest cheer won a certificate of great poemness. Cid's 4th graders got robbed simply because they did not know the mechanics of cheering loud for your group. 6th grade came out the winner. The stealers of the show however were no doubt, 11th grade. I helped them come up with this genius idea that will go down in history at HEM school. To make a long story short, they had one of their classmates dress up like a turkey and every so often, in between the different class' acts, he would come out to this cartoon chasing music and be chased all around the auditorium by the rest of the class. It. Was. Classic. I am trying to upload a video right now, but it's not working. It will though, and then you will watch, and subsequently, love. What gave me the idea was actually some happenings that occurred at my beloved UofM. Not sure if this ever happened to any of you, but one day while in my Social Psych lecture, sophomore year, my classroom was invaded by the monkey and banana. Common figures seen in the stands at football games, these two guys, one dressed as a banana, one as a gorilla, would just randomly come into classrooms, public buildings, with the gorilla chasing the banana, with no explanation at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF-n0LAu_SY&feature=PlayList&p=2F01212A2B1D81F0&playnext=1&index=78Genius
Also the famous pacman being chased by the chomper in the fishbowl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyAUbtHD8SQ&feature=related
Oh college.
That night, had our first Thanksgiving dinner at Triny and Phil's house. Our turkey was fresh from the farm, as in Phil knew it´s name. Gotta love it. Not only did we have our first Honduran Turkey Day, but we also received the pleasant surprise of finding out that we had no school the next day. Or Monday. HOLLA! I was expecting no days off, and then we got two! Best Thanksgiving present ever. It was SO needed. I've had a Thanksgiving break ever since I was a wee thing, and not having one was going to be quite rough, so thankfully, the Thanksgiving gods were on my side. Woo!
Friday was our first day off since September and let me tell you, this was one of the best days I have had in Honduras. I really really needed this weekend. I have been kind of down and just really stressed out and these couple of free days really re-energized me and helped me be happy again about being here. Friday was a gorgeous day and I went to the park and wrote postcards for almost 2 hours. It was just lovely. I was able to take my time and just sit back and enjoy the happenings around me. Instead of being concerned about what papers I needed to grade and what I needed to plan for class, I got the chance to observe my surroundings and soak up my experience. I am living in Honduras for goodness sake! It is amazing how quick a new place becomes "home." You forget that where you are is completely foreign to what you are used to and know of as home. The rest of the day I just spent leisurely in a coffee shop catching up on this and that. That night was Dani´s birthday and one of the funnest nights I have had in Honduras. First we began low key at our favorite little chill hole in the wall, Cherros. Chris, Abby, Dani, and I all had a beer or two and then went on to our next hot spot, Cuates with live music and friends. We met a few of Chris´work friends, not to mention ran into one of my underage students. Oh Franklin, what a rebel. He was embarrased. Wah Wah. Being done with the live music, we traveled a couple blocks over to a venue of much more quality music, you guessed it, Manzanitas Karaoke. Hollaaa. Abby y yo attempted to sing our favorite Ranchero song, Estos Celos which we hear EVERYWHERE.
I would say every other time I am in a car this freakin song comes on the radio. It´s very catchy so its okay. That attempt went horribly wrong, but what would karaoke be without horrible happening occasionaly? We redemed ourselves with I Will Survive. Good times. See pictures. The night ended with us at Zots dancing the night away. It was so fun.
We were with about 12 people all from different countries- Germany, ChileEngland, U.S., Colombia, Bolivia, Guatemala, and more. It was so cool because we all were just speaking Spanish because it was the common language among all of us. We were all just in this giant circle gettin our groove on. The music was kickin, and when Apple Bottom Jeans came on, Abby and I GOT DOWN. Or should I say Low? We all know it isn´t the greatest song on earth, but it reminded me of summer dance parties in Ann Arbor, and just home in general. Who knew boots with the fur and reeboks with the strap could make a girl so happy. But really, the night was just perfect. Good people and good times. I honestly was having so much fun just dancing dancing dancing, I physically could not get the smile off my face. Like I said, this weekend really helped me remember how cool it was that I am living down here and experiencing something so different and important.
Saturday was our second Thanksgiving dinner where we went over to Mr. Bob´s house and had an absolutely delicious meal. Not to mention, I rode a horse, swung on a rope swing, held a baby goat, and saw 3 day old kittens. A productive day indeed.
They live on such a beautiful piece of land, must be nice. Oh, and we also played spoons! I insisted on bringing in the Kenney family tradish. When there´s family, there´s gotta be spoons. Interesting factoid: Mr. Bob´s girls have been homeschooled all of their lives, and their oldest daughter, Ashley is totally going all Mean Girls next year. She is going to the states to finish up high school as a senior. She has never been to regular school before and has grown up in this crazy random place...helloooo Lindsay Lohan anyone? Unfortunately it´ll be less funny and probably a lot harder. But, what doesn´t kill you will make you stronger. Hm.
The final two days of break were just spent relaxing, maxing all cool, shootin some bball outside of the school. When a couple of guys- they were up to no good! started makin trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fit and my mom got scared! She said your moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air. Boom boom ba dum dum dum Boom boom ba dum dum dummm.
One important thing did happen on Monday however, Election Day. But that didn´t really affect us. Our important thing was we made appointments to get massages. Holllaaaa. The excitment was overwhelming. The glorious massage will be discussed in a later post. Until then, I´m saying adios!
Starting from the bottom up. As I wrote before, Abby, Mr. Bob, and I were in charge of creating a presentation for the whole school about Thanksgiving. Our creativity was at work and out came a great show, one like Honduras has never SEEN! Probably not that cool, but we were applauded for our efforts, and between you and me, I'm sure it had everything to do with my sweet emcee-ing skills. Not. But we can pretend. The celebration was very Honduran for several reasons. It was supposed to start at 11:00am, it started at 12:00pm. There was supposed to be food for all the students and teachers, they ran out when it was the teachers turn, and looked so surprised that there weren't enough mashed potatoes. Abby and I were quite upset with the lack of mashed potatoes and then made a bit of a spectacle of ourselves when we went over to all of the 1st and 2nd graders left over plates and began to scavenge for food. I'll give the credit to Abby though, she definitely had less shame than I did. But we both had less shame than Mr. Bob and Cid who were looking at the plates with drooling mouths but weren't doing anything about it. We're Americans, we need our mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving damnit!
For the celebration each class did some sort of presentation. I was in charge of working with the 9-11th graders on their acts, all of which turned out very well I thought. The 1st-3rd graders were adorable of course. They wrote what they were thankful for on a construction paper leaf and came up to the stage and placed the one the construction paper branches of our construction paper tree. The 4th-6th grades wrote poems and performed them for the school. The class who got the biggest cheer won a certificate of great poemness. Cid's 4th graders got robbed simply because they did not know the mechanics of cheering loud for your group. 6th grade came out the winner. The stealers of the show however were no doubt, 11th grade. I helped them come up with this genius idea that will go down in history at HEM school. To make a long story short, they had one of their classmates dress up like a turkey and every so often, in between the different class' acts, he would come out to this cartoon chasing music and be chased all around the auditorium by the rest of the class. It. Was. Classic. I am trying to upload a video right now, but it's not working. It will though, and then you will watch, and subsequently, love. What gave me the idea was actually some happenings that occurred at my beloved UofM. Not sure if this ever happened to any of you, but one day while in my Social Psych lecture, sophomore year, my classroom was invaded by the monkey and banana. Common figures seen in the stands at football games, these two guys, one dressed as a banana, one as a gorilla, would just randomly come into classrooms, public buildings, with the gorilla chasing the banana, with no explanation at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Also the famous pacman being chased by the chomper in the fishbowl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Oh college.
That night, had our first Thanksgiving dinner at Triny and Phil's house. Our turkey was fresh from the farm, as in Phil knew it´s name. Gotta love it. Not only did we have our first Honduran Turkey Day, but we also received the pleasant surprise of finding out that we had no school the next day. Or Monday. HOLLA! I was expecting no days off, and then we got two! Best Thanksgiving present ever. It was SO needed. I've had a Thanksgiving break ever since I was a wee thing, and not having one was going to be quite rough, so thankfully, the Thanksgiving gods were on my side. Woo!
Abby with Phil and Triny's son, Pablo. Blond curls full of energy.
Friday was our first day off since September and let me tell you, this was one of the best days I have had in Honduras. I really really needed this weekend. I have been kind of down and just really stressed out and these couple of free days really re-energized me and helped me be happy again about being here. Friday was a gorgeous day and I went to the park and wrote postcards for almost 2 hours. It was just lovely. I was able to take my time and just sit back and enjoy the happenings around me. Instead of being concerned about what papers I needed to grade and what I needed to plan for class, I got the chance to observe my surroundings and soak up my experience. I am living in Honduras for goodness sake! It is amazing how quick a new place becomes "home." You forget that where you are is completely foreign to what you are used to and know of as home. The rest of the day I just spent leisurely in a coffee shop catching up on this and that. That night was Dani´s birthday and one of the funnest nights I have had in Honduras. First we began low key at our favorite little chill hole in the wall, Cherros. Chris, Abby, Dani, and I all had a beer or two and then went on to our next hot spot, Cuates with live music and friends. We met a few of Chris´work friends, not to mention ran into one of my underage students. Oh Franklin, what a rebel. He was embarrased. Wah Wah. Being done with the live music, we traveled a couple blocks over to a venue of much more quality music, you guessed it, Manzanitas Karaoke. Hollaaa. Abby y yo attempted to sing our favorite Ranchero song, Estos Celos which we hear EVERYWHERE.
My favorite English speakers in Honduras. Chris and Abby, rockin out to Karaoke, only as they can.
I would say every other time I am in a car this freakin song comes on the radio. It´s very catchy so its okay. That attempt went horribly wrong, but what would karaoke be without horrible happening occasionaly? We redemed ourselves with I Will Survive. Good times. See pictures. The night ended with us at Zots dancing the night away. It was so fun.
Chris doing the limbo at Zots. Fabulous.
We were with about 12 people all from different countries- Germany, ChileEngland, U.S., Colombia, Bolivia, Guatemala, and more. It was so cool because we all were just speaking Spanish because it was the common language among all of us. We were all just in this giant circle gettin our groove on. The music was kickin, and when Apple Bottom Jeans came on, Abby and I GOT DOWN. Or should I say Low? We all know it isn´t the greatest song on earth, but it reminded me of summer dance parties in Ann Arbor, and just home in general. Who knew boots with the fur and reeboks with the strap could make a girl so happy. But really, the night was just perfect. Good people and good times. I honestly was having so much fun just dancing dancing dancing, I physically could not get the smile off my face. Like I said, this weekend really helped me remember how cool it was that I am living down here and experiencing something so different and important.
See what I mean about the smile? This was me all night.
Saturday was our second Thanksgiving dinner where we went over to Mr. Bob´s house and had an absolutely delicious meal. Not to mention, I rode a horse, swung on a rope swing, held a baby goat, and saw 3 day old kittens. A productive day indeed.
Riding a horse for the first time in my life...I think?
Abby holding a baby goat...baaaaaah
Outside at Bob's house. Not sure if this picture does it justice, but it is so peaceful and gorgeous here.
They live on such a beautiful piece of land, must be nice. Oh, and we also played spoons! I insisted on bringing in the Kenney family tradish. When there´s family, there´s gotta be spoons. Interesting factoid: Mr. Bob´s girls have been homeschooled all of their lives, and their oldest daughter, Ashley is totally going all Mean Girls next year. She is going to the states to finish up high school as a senior. She has never been to regular school before and has grown up in this crazy random place...helloooo Lindsay Lohan anyone? Unfortunately it´ll be less funny and probably a lot harder. But, what doesn´t kill you will make you stronger. Hm.
The final two days of break were just spent relaxing, maxing all cool, shootin some bball outside of the school. When a couple of guys- they were up to no good! started makin trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fit and my mom got scared! She said your moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air. Boom boom ba dum dum dum Boom boom ba dum dum dummm.
One important thing did happen on Monday however, Election Day. But that didn´t really affect us. Our important thing was we made appointments to get massages. Holllaaaa. The excitment was overwhelming. The glorious massage will be discussed in a later post. Until then, I´m saying adios!
I'm Sorry.
Dear Friends, Family, Fans (the three F's if you will),
I am so sorry I have been a slacker and a half on writing my blog. There is a lot to tell and that is precisely the reason that I haven't updated because I have been so busy! Now school is over for Christmas break and I have three weeks of wonderfulness...aka (that's for you, Brent) no school. Unfortunately for all of you, I am leaving tomorrow on a two and a half week trek around Central America. Countries include Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It's okay to be jealous, I understand.
I want to write a couple of posts before I leave to catch up a bit on the last few weeks, so we'll see what I can get done. Please forgive me for the lack of updates. It will all be covered at some point or another. Just remember, patience is a virtue.
I am so sorry I have been a slacker and a half on writing my blog. There is a lot to tell and that is precisely the reason that I haven't updated because I have been so busy! Now school is over for Christmas break and I have three weeks of wonderfulness...aka (that's for you, Brent) no school. Unfortunately for all of you, I am leaving tomorrow on a two and a half week trek around Central America. Countries include Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It's okay to be jealous, I understand.
I want to write a couple of posts before I leave to catch up a bit on the last few weeks, so we'll see what I can get done. Please forgive me for the lack of updates. It will all be covered at some point or another. Just remember, patience is a virtue.
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