CHICKEN BUTT!
I just caught my first (and probably last) chicken.We are house sitting for one of the missionary families and two of their chickens got out of the coop while we were at school. One of them was nice and went right back in, the other however was quite stubborn and was not finished gallivanting outside. Abby and I chased it all around the yard trying to corner it everywhere. Those birds are quick! And they can fly too...speedy and air power, an unbeatable combination. But after several attempts and many dashes through my legs, I finally cornered the bird, grabbed it with my two hands, and put it in it's cage.
ABBY: "Sarah, you just caught a chicken!!"
Heck yes I did. You know how I do.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
One Thing I Will Not Miss
There are a number of things I will not miss but I think being cat called in the street is probably number one. Abby, Dani, and I were just walking down our street and as we went past these two guys they were literally clicking their tongues and whistling. I was wearing sweat pants, a sweat shirt, glasses, no makeup...not attracting any attention whatsoever. I hate that here. I really hate it. On our way back, they did the same thing, and this time I noticed there was a girl sitting with them, and she was just letting it happen! It's just so accepted here. Our girl students can't imagine a world without it. Then add the whole white person thing into the mix and being stared/whistled at is pretty much a constant thing. I've gotten used to it, but it really pissed me off tonight. I know you just have to ignore it, and I wish I knew Spanish well enough to bitch them out, but alas I don't. Instead I just turned around and yelled "ADIOSSSSS! BUENAS NOCHES!!!" This made me look even stupider and gringa-like but I was so annoyed, it just came out. Of course as we walked away they yelled after us, "Adiosss! Buenas noches!!" Even the girl. I pretty much got over the idea of being a spectacle after my first day here.
Hi, I’m Illegal: Part II
Remember when I told you about how as of November 24th I was illegally living in the country, but not to worry because it would all be fine? That was a simpler time, when we played kick the can in the street, walked 5 miles to school in the snow, and the milkman and paperboy (even TV!) were just around the corner. Wait, what? Just go with it.
Here’s a little lesson for you, helping you understand this story a little better. In Central America there is something called the CA-4 and it is made up of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. What being in the CA-4 means is that basically if you have a visa for one country, you have a visa for all four countries. So, when I came to Honduras on August 24th I received a 90 day visa, but it was not just a visa for Honduras, those 90 days counted for all of the CA-4. Long story short: I needed to be out of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador in 90 days. This did not happen, thus the reason we needed to renew our passports.
So here’s what happened. Triny says she is going to renew/extend/fix/do something with our passports so we can pass the borders with no trouble. We had already planned out our trip, with Brett and Abby’s sisters having plans to fly out of Guatemala and Nicaragua. We didn’t have a ton of wiggle room, especially because we figured, as it stated in our teacher’s contract, that this would all be taken care of ahead of time. So, Triny makes a few calls to her immigration contacts in San Pedro Sula and finds that the best way to deal with the situation is to just pay a simple fine at the border when you get there. Then, at some point we’d have to pass into Costa Rica (not part of the CA-4) in order to get 90 more days in the country of Honduras. After talking to her contacts, Triny discussed our trip with us and said that the school would pay for us to go to Costa Rica for three days at the end of our trip. Not a bad deal, right? Twist our arm a little harder, then maybe we’ll go. It all sounded great- we just pay fines at the borders and go to Costa Rica for a few days and then we are good as new. Right? HA. I wish.
When we told this plan to Mr. Bob, he had his doubts. He said that we better make absolutely sure that we could pay this fine at the border. We obviously agreed, because with our guests leaving from Guate and Nicaragua, we couldn’t afford to be sent back to where we came from, not to mention, that would completely ruin our whole trip. Mr. Bob made a couple of calls to the immigration office for us and they told him something completely different than what Triny had said. They stated that we needed to go to San Pedro Sula (2.5 hours away) and get all of this taken care of ahead of time. After hearing this, we investigated a little bit more, and despite Triny’s insistence that we could pay at the border, we convinced her to go to San Pedro and extend our passports. Of course this is being left to the last minute and we’re quite annoyed at this point that all of this wasn’t taken care of a month ago, before our passports were even expired. Never-the-less we were grateful that she was taking the time to bring our passports to San Pedro. She asks us the date we are leaving Honduras, we say “Dec. 23rd.” With the incompetence of the immigration office personnel at work, we get an extension until “Dec. 22nd” and for some reason…completely unknown, and I am sure completely stupid, Triny is not able to convince them to make it Dec. 23rd. Blah blah blah some more drama happens. But in the end we get it changed to Dec. 23rd.
Important Note: This extension or whatever it is, is a stamp in our passports with Dec. 23, 2008 written in plain ol pen.
Come December 23rd we leave Honduras, traveling from Copan Ruinas to Ranchero, Guatemala. It doesn’t take long for things to go awry. We get to the Guatemalan, Honduran border, go up to the booth with everyone else from our shuttle and instead of getting the quick stamp, a pat on the back, and a “welcome to Guatemala,” we get lectured and threatened by the border officers. They asked us when we were planning to be out of the CA-4 and we said, Jan. 3rd. Well apparently, we didn’t have to be out of Honduras by December 23rd, we had to be out of the CA-4 by December 23rd. Technically, in the fine print, we have five extra days to leave. But that still only gave us until December 28th to get our butts outta there. I’m sorry Miss Border officer but there is no way this was going to happen. We wouldn’t even be leaving Guatemala by then, let alone Nicaragua where Abby’s sisters were flying out on Jan. 2nd. Pretty much we created a bit of a scene with the border guards and finally just said, “okay we’ll be out by then,” apologized for holding up our shuttle, and then left the border annoyed and pissed off…more at Triny than anyone. She has been doing this for 15 years. Come on lady. When we are back in the car, Abby is talking to Triny on the phone who is basically giving us no help at all. When Abby asked the plain question, “so what should we do?” Miss Triny just said “I don’t know, all of the borders are different.” Hm. Okay, well first of all, maybe you should recognize the fact that this is your job and this is not freaking forgetting to copy one of my tests! This is our passports, traveling, and our legality in the country we are talking about. Second of all, and not Triny’s fault, but why the HELL are the borders all different. They create the CA-4 and then nothing is consistent. Consistency- it’s a beautiful thing. You go to a McDonalds in Napa, CA it’s the same as in Ann Arbor, MI. You order a Big Mac, you know what you’re getting, you step up to the cashier and they ask you the same prescribed lines. Consistency. And this is just burgers! YOU WOULD THINK people might try and be consistent when it comes to the lives of actual people. You would think this, but you would be wrong.
She hangs up with Triny and we’re in the shuttle about 20 minutes when Abby, sitting in the front seat, turns around to me and says,
“I just changed the 23 to a 28. So you should probably do the same.”
I think most of you know me as some one who tends to play by the rules. But you know what? Sometimes you just do what you gotta do. No one was making this easy for us and it was time to take things into our own hands. Not to mention, a 3 to an 8? It’s like the easiest possible number change! That 23 was just asking for it. So, black pen in hand, my December 23rd because a December 28th. Five days past that is January 2nd, the day we need to leave and we are golden. Or so we thought.
Here’s a little lesson for you, helping you understand this story a little better. In Central America there is something called the CA-4 and it is made up of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. What being in the CA-4 means is that basically if you have a visa for one country, you have a visa for all four countries. So, when I came to Honduras on August 24th I received a 90 day visa, but it was not just a visa for Honduras, those 90 days counted for all of the CA-4. Long story short: I needed to be out of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador in 90 days. This did not happen, thus the reason we needed to renew our passports.
So here’s what happened. Triny says she is going to renew/extend/fix/do something with our passports so we can pass the borders with no trouble. We had already planned out our trip, with Brett and Abby’s sisters having plans to fly out of Guatemala and Nicaragua. We didn’t have a ton of wiggle room, especially because we figured, as it stated in our teacher’s contract, that this would all be taken care of ahead of time. So, Triny makes a few calls to her immigration contacts in San Pedro Sula and finds that the best way to deal with the situation is to just pay a simple fine at the border when you get there. Then, at some point we’d have to pass into Costa Rica (not part of the CA-4) in order to get 90 more days in the country of Honduras. After talking to her contacts, Triny discussed our trip with us and said that the school would pay for us to go to Costa Rica for three days at the end of our trip. Not a bad deal, right? Twist our arm a little harder, then maybe we’ll go. It all sounded great- we just pay fines at the borders and go to Costa Rica for a few days and then we are good as new. Right? HA. I wish.
When we told this plan to Mr. Bob, he had his doubts. He said that we better make absolutely sure that we could pay this fine at the border. We obviously agreed, because with our guests leaving from Guate and Nicaragua, we couldn’t afford to be sent back to where we came from, not to mention, that would completely ruin our whole trip. Mr. Bob made a couple of calls to the immigration office for us and they told him something completely different than what Triny had said. They stated that we needed to go to San Pedro Sula (2.5 hours away) and get all of this taken care of ahead of time. After hearing this, we investigated a little bit more, and despite Triny’s insistence that we could pay at the border, we convinced her to go to San Pedro and extend our passports. Of course this is being left to the last minute and we’re quite annoyed at this point that all of this wasn’t taken care of a month ago, before our passports were even expired. Never-the-less we were grateful that she was taking the time to bring our passports to San Pedro. She asks us the date we are leaving Honduras, we say “Dec. 23rd.” With the incompetence of the immigration office personnel at work, we get an extension until “Dec. 22nd” and for some reason…completely unknown, and I am sure completely stupid, Triny is not able to convince them to make it Dec. 23rd. Blah blah blah some more drama happens. But in the end we get it changed to Dec. 23rd.
Important Note: This extension or whatever it is, is a stamp in our passports with Dec. 23, 2008 written in plain ol pen.
Come December 23rd we leave Honduras, traveling from Copan Ruinas to Ranchero, Guatemala. It doesn’t take long for things to go awry. We get to the Guatemalan, Honduran border, go up to the booth with everyone else from our shuttle and instead of getting the quick stamp, a pat on the back, and a “welcome to Guatemala,” we get lectured and threatened by the border officers. They asked us when we were planning to be out of the CA-4 and we said, Jan. 3rd. Well apparently, we didn’t have to be out of Honduras by December 23rd, we had to be out of the CA-4 by December 23rd. Technically, in the fine print, we have five extra days to leave. But that still only gave us until December 28th to get our butts outta there. I’m sorry Miss Border officer but there is no way this was going to happen. We wouldn’t even be leaving Guatemala by then, let alone Nicaragua where Abby’s sisters were flying out on Jan. 2nd. Pretty much we created a bit of a scene with the border guards and finally just said, “okay we’ll be out by then,” apologized for holding up our shuttle, and then left the border annoyed and pissed off…more at Triny than anyone. She has been doing this for 15 years. Come on lady. When we are back in the car, Abby is talking to Triny on the phone who is basically giving us no help at all. When Abby asked the plain question, “so what should we do?” Miss Triny just said “I don’t know, all of the borders are different.” Hm. Okay, well first of all, maybe you should recognize the fact that this is your job and this is not freaking forgetting to copy one of my tests! This is our passports, traveling, and our legality in the country we are talking about. Second of all, and not Triny’s fault, but why the HELL are the borders all different. They create the CA-4 and then nothing is consistent. Consistency- it’s a beautiful thing. You go to a McDonalds in Napa, CA it’s the same as in Ann Arbor, MI. You order a Big Mac, you know what you’re getting, you step up to the cashier and they ask you the same prescribed lines. Consistency. And this is just burgers! YOU WOULD THINK people might try and be consistent when it comes to the lives of actual people. You would think this, but you would be wrong.
She hangs up with Triny and we’re in the shuttle about 20 minutes when Abby, sitting in the front seat, turns around to me and says,
“I just changed the 23 to a 28. So you should probably do the same.”
I think most of you know me as some one who tends to play by the rules. But you know what? Sometimes you just do what you gotta do. No one was making this easy for us and it was time to take things into our own hands. Not to mention, a 3 to an 8? It’s like the easiest possible number change! That 23 was just asking for it. So, black pen in hand, my December 23rd because a December 28th. Five days past that is January 2nd, the day we need to leave and we are golden. Or so we thought.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Trip Teaser
As many of you know, for Christmas break I embarked upon a two and a half week journey around Central America. In brief, here's what happened:
- Visa was extended to the wrong date- good story. good times.
- Abby's sister's plane delayed twice because of Chicago snow
- My friend Brett came in to San Pedro Sula, I got there late, so did his plane
- Mom sent me my stocking, had an early Christmas present opening session before we left
- Copan Ruinas
- saw and held parrots, toucans, macaws, and other sweet birds at the bird park
- Stayed at Cid's uncle's hostel- Blue Iguana. Some of the rules included "No wild sex after 3:00am," "No drugs after 2:00am," "Only 3 people in a shower at one time." None of these occurred while I was there.
- Hot showers
- Partied at Red Frog- beer ponged it old school style
- Ran into Abby's friend, Ari from UC Santa Cruz- her and her friend, Pat are bicycling from Baja California to Panama
- Met cool PC Volunteer- Courtney...improved my impression of the PC
- Saw the ruins with the crew for the second time- nothing's changed, but still sweet
- Ran into almost all of my students who live in Copan-- good kids
- Took Gringo shuttle to Ranchero, Guatemala (5 hours)
- Got yelled at and threatened by Guatemalan border officers
- Tampered with government documents
- Took local shuttle to Coban, Guatemala- road in a 16 seater van with at least 30 other locals
- Finally made it to Coban, ate at a lovely Italian restaurant with a super sweet Guatamalen lady to take care of us
- advertised "hot water," in reality, cold water
- Shuttle to Semuc Champey-- another squishy ride (2.5 hours)
- Abby sat next to a pig
- my hand sanitizer got plenty of use
- Came THIS THIS THIS close to leaving my passport in the hotel
- Arrive in Semuc Champey- freakin middle of nowhere. BEAUTIFUL
- Stay here for 3 days in a wooden cabin
- cold showers
- good number of misquitos bites
- Giant taranchula in our room
- Explored caves with only a Mayan mountain man and a candle, coolest thing I've ever done
- Bought homemade chocolate bars from mal nourished Mayan children
- WAS IN PARADISE. Semuc Champey- incredible
- hiked a tough, unexpected 30 minute trail in flip flops to el mirador
- was SO worth it
- Swam in the emerald hot spring pools with the fishys
- Played go fishy
- Played euchre
- Played Sweedish Idiot
- Played spoons
- hung out and joked around with the local workers
- understood Spanish!
- Relaxed in hammocks
- Met some cool Canadians, an awkward Canadian, a Dutch man, Norwegians, and crazy hippie American without a passport: Jerrod, call me "Bear"
- Road in the back of a pick up truck through the mountains of Guatemala
- Shuttled to Antigua, Guatemala
- Picked up 15 new passengers on the way, black market style- another squishy, smelly ride
- Enjoyed an evening in Colonial Antigua- beautiful
- witnessed cute Mayan vendor ladies "running" from la policia
- Bargained with shuttle companies
- Chilled at the Black Cat hostel/Umbabumba Hostel (or something like that)
- Made friends with Luis the head hostel guy
- coldish showers
- Bus to El Salvador and then Nicaragua
- Discovered that El Salvadorians are nice, El Salvadorian border officers are assholes
- Tica Bus has air conditioning
- hotel in San Salvador hooked us up. Watched Legally Blonde 2 on our TV
- HOT SHOWER, SUPERB WATER PRESSURE BEST SHOWER IN CENTRAL AMERICA
- Managua bus station es loco
- Granada is brightly colored
- Bearded Monkey is an awesome hostel
- coldish showers, but it felt good
- All hostels in Central America are named [insert adjective] [insert animal]
- Granada has a lot of old churches
- By this time, aquired about 40 misquito bites
- scratched a lot
- walked all around HOT Granada looking for Tica Bus
- It was way too far too walk
- But we walked anyway
- Mistake
- Went crazy souvenier shopping in the Masaja artisan craft market outside of Granada
- In one day, ate bbq ribs, Louisianan Jambalaya, fresh salad, fried shrimp cocktail
- Partied with the classic combination of Granadan Gliteroti and the Cargo Short Clad Backpackers for New Years at "El Club" and danced the night away
- Was offered an iPhone as a gift from my Granadan dance partner who definitely lied about his age to seem older
- I did not accept the iPhone.
- I should have.
- Left Granada a day early due to passport difficulties
- Tica Bussed it to Liberia, Costa Rica
- Danced with Abby on the border of Nicaragua & Costa Rica in celebration of getting past
- Stayed the night in Liberia with a cockroach...and a TV!
- Cold shower
- New Years Day- nothing was open, had a choice of chinese food, chinese food, and chinese food for dinner
- Ate really disgusting chinese food, REALLY disgusting
- Found an ice cream shop that was open, remedied the situation
- Local bussed it to Playa Tanmarindo...damn my Nicaraguan giant souveniers
- Had major issues finding our hostel
- Found our hostel
- coldish shower but felt good
- Slept all afternoon
- ATE A CEASAR SALAD!!!!
- Gabbed with fellow backpackers - Wales, Australia, England, Ireland, Canadian (French & English), Argentinian, U.S.
- Relax, relax, relax
- Beach, beach, beach
- Swim, swim, swim
- Slept, slept, slept
- Scratched misquito bites every 10 minutes
- Local bussed it back to Liberia- so long, and so hot
- I love Burger King
- Stranded on the side of the road for 2 hours
- Tica bus to Managua
- stayed at the least condusive hotel for sleeping
- Tica bus to Tegucigalpa
- watched an absurd amount of Spanish music videos
- Local bus to Santa Rosa
- 2 days = 24 hours of Central American bus
- FINALLY HOME. Stayed in bed for about 2 days straight.
Feliz Navidad!
As childish as it may sound, I do believe Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. I love the music, the decorations, and just the general feeling in the air. It just reminds me of being at home with my family, wood crackling in the fire place, Bing Crosby singing his classic carols, and for the past four years it has been my first homecoming after four months at school, and usually, very needed. (Not that I don’t like school- woo! Go blue!)
Clearly, this Christmas would be a little different. I decided a while back that instead of going home for my holiday break, I would travel around Central America with Abby. I figured, I am only down here for a little bit, might as well take advantage. Plus, I think if I went home, it’d be really really hard to come back. When I think about it, I miss home a lot, so I try and just avoid the subject.
But before I get into my Christmas break travels, I’d like to share with you the Christmas joy I experienced at school. Every year, HEM School has a Christmas Pageant of sorts where, similar to Thanksgiving, every grade performs some kind of dance/song/artistic expression to an auditorium full of fellow students and parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and any other relative word out there. Naturally, I helped the 10th graders with their performance. Every year the students tend to do similar things, a dance, a play, a song, blah blah blah. Being the spunky and out going kids the 10th graders are, they were completely down for doing something different. I truly lucked out getting these kids as my guide class. They are so fun to work with and remind me a bit of myself at that age…que precioso. Not to toot my own horn, but I came up with a great idea, just as I did with the 11th graders Thanksgiving skit. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I am THAT good (and humble).
As we were brainstorming one day, the idea of a fashion show just came to me. Once I mentioned this, it was a done deal. They were so excited and thrilled that it would be something different and quite prepared to be the best act of the night. The two weeks coming up to the pageant we determined that our fashion show would be of all the different Christmas characters- Frosty, Rudolph, Candy Cane, Christmas Tree, Nutcracker, Angel, and of course Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Two of the girls, Mariel and Nicole would be the announcers, commenting on “the latest in Reindeer wear” and “the essential accessories of this year’s trendy Christmas Tree look.” All of the looks were “designed” by Jimena Cardona, one of the 10th graders, who would come out as the designer at the end. My Project Runway knowledge was imperative for me in directing this thing. Daniel, my little gay-who-would-never-say-he’s-gay-and-is-completely-spoken-out-about-his-anti-gay-views-10th grader was sure to help all of us design our costumes, download Christmas techno music, bring make up the night of the pageant, and of course, watch fashion TV to get some ideas. He was seriously the most enthusiastic one about this whole thing.
“MISSS! I watched da fashion tv yesterday to get ideas!”
“Miss not all of the costumes have to match exactly cause den it’s more fashionable dat way”
“MISS I can look for music online and bring in a CD”
“MISSSS why don’t we sing Mariah Carey at da end”
The best line came when he, some of the other students, and I went shopping for my costume. We picked out the paper to use and as we were standing in line to pay he says,
“Maybe we’ll get to be da next Victoria’s Secret fashion designers.”
Yes, Daniel. Maybe, just maybe, we will.
The weekend before the show, I invited all of the kiddies over to our house for a little costume-making Christmas party. I decorated the house, made brownies, and apple cider. It was quite domestic of me. The kids were SO cute. I love 10th grade, they just make me happy. The party officially began at 2:00pm but of course only socially awkward, Hugh came at 2 o’clock. The rest of the crew came around 3:00 or later. I was expecting them to stay no later than 5:00ish but a core group of them stayed until about 7:30pm! We totally lost track of time and Abby and I just had a ball hanging out, talking with, and getting to know them a little better. Lots of gossip was told and many heart to hearts were had. Technically, according to the school rules, we’re not supposed to spend time with our students outside of school. But just as we do with the other rules and restrictions, we didn’t follow this one either. I’m so glad too, because that was one of the best times I have had with the kids.
On the day of the pageant, the teachers were required to stay after school in order to set up chairs and decorate the auditorium. It was here that Abby, Cid, and I taught the HEM School teachers the great way of Henry Ford, capitalism, and America: the assembly line. It was a frustrating process, but by the end, I think they were getting it. The stupid part was the fact that there was any need for this freakin assembly line. Let me back up a moment. The first task item we had was to bring all of the kid’s desks from their classrooms into the auditorium. Hmm…remember how all the kids were doing nothing during the last period of school and just practicing their performances? Maybe, JUST MAYBE, we should have had them take 5 minutes and bring in their desks. Come on people. That would have saved us an hour! Ridiculous. I was so annoyed…as Abby can attest. It was one of those moments where all of your frustration has built up and Sarah-Organizational Studies Major- Miller could just not handle it any longer. But, I got past it and helped organize the assembly line for bringing in the desks. It was quite an ordeal to get people to stay in their assigned spots and just hand chairs to the person next to them. But, they finally got it. Sort of. Meh, I’ll take what I can get.
After a week of practicing our runway walk and our Mariah Carey sing along (All I Want For Christmas) the night of the show finally arrived. Naturally we were the last class to go in order to give a show stopper ending to the night. All of the classes did a good job…well…you know. The little ones were too adorable for words and the older kids ranged on a scale of too cool (8th grade) to completely hilarious (11th grade). I wish I had gotten a video of 11th grade because their act was so them and so classic. See pictures below. The entire show itself was a bit disorganized (surprised?) with emcee commentary that was muy aburrida…Robert MC would have done a number on Miss Triny. Not to mention it took approximately 7-10 minutes for each act to get up on stage and perform. We spent as much time watching as we did waiting around. None of this was unexpected though, so I just sat back and pretended to tell kids to be quiet, when really I didn’t care if they talked because I was just as bored as they were. But the 10th graders were just fabulous! They did not disappoint, and it was like a real fashion show! We had a white, lit up runway, perfectly techno-ed Christmas music, and the announcers and costumes were totally on point. I was ecstatic and I think the kids were too.
And so the fashion show begins!
What better way to begin the night than Rudolph and her red nose shining the way. Here we have Janessa wearing a rich brown ensemble, different shades of chocolate and caramel, resulting in one gorgeous reindeer look.
There's no one happier around Christmas than Santa's Elves. Stephanie shows us that even in the North Pole, they are fashion-first.
Presenting the newest and trendiest in doll and figurine wear, we have Daniel and Marilyn looking dazzling on the runway.
Designer, Jimena Cardona, out did herself with this outfit. Very avant garde, this couture, candy cane piece will be extremely influential in this season's Candy garmets.
Here we have Angela looking stunning as a red and green poinsettia, one of the most elegant symbols of Christmas.
Ah...un regalo con modela Miss Sarah. Jimena Cardona does fabulous things with bold and brilliant colors.
Karen in all white and gold as a Christmas angel.
(Be sure to note the announcers in the background, there.)
Hide the kiddies...here comes Hugh as the Grinch, showing us another, edgier side of Jimena Cardona's Christmas fashion.
And of course, no Christmas would be complete with out Old St. Nick and his little lady. Our special guests tonight...Mr. and Mrs. Claus!
So good, right?! To finish off the night, the entire school did their traditional rendition of “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” in both Spanish and English. Each kid had a candle and in true HEM School form, no one had matches. Every single candle was lit off of Miss Diana’s candle who had previously been the Christmas Spirit in our fashion show. Totes typs, but whatever…nothing new. As all of the parents rushed up to the foot of the stage to take pictures and record video of their children singing Silent Night, Abby and I just sat back and took in the great splendor of the evening, and thanked God that it was almost over and only a few more days until our break. And so our night ended, singing the songs of Christmas and feeling the familial love all around. Made me want to watch Love Actually. It was weird not to be at home, but it was nice to feel the Christmas spirit and know that it is indeed universal.
I feel it in my fingas…I feel it in my toes…If you really love Christmas…come on and let it snooow…*
*Use British Accent
(10 points- name this movie.)
Clearly, this Christmas would be a little different. I decided a while back that instead of going home for my holiday break, I would travel around Central America with Abby. I figured, I am only down here for a little bit, might as well take advantage. Plus, I think if I went home, it’d be really really hard to come back. When I think about it, I miss home a lot, so I try and just avoid the subject.
But before I get into my Christmas break travels, I’d like to share with you the Christmas joy I experienced at school. Every year, HEM School has a Christmas Pageant of sorts where, similar to Thanksgiving, every grade performs some kind of dance/song/artistic expression to an auditorium full of fellow students and parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and any other relative word out there. Naturally, I helped the 10th graders with their performance. Every year the students tend to do similar things, a dance, a play, a song, blah blah blah. Being the spunky and out going kids the 10th graders are, they were completely down for doing something different. I truly lucked out getting these kids as my guide class. They are so fun to work with and remind me a bit of myself at that age…que precioso. Not to toot my own horn, but I came up with a great idea, just as I did with the 11th graders Thanksgiving skit. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I am THAT good (and humble).
As we were brainstorming one day, the idea of a fashion show just came to me. Once I mentioned this, it was a done deal. They were so excited and thrilled that it would be something different and quite prepared to be the best act of the night. The two weeks coming up to the pageant we determined that our fashion show would be of all the different Christmas characters- Frosty, Rudolph, Candy Cane, Christmas Tree, Nutcracker, Angel, and of course Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Two of the girls, Mariel and Nicole would be the announcers, commenting on “the latest in Reindeer wear” and “the essential accessories of this year’s trendy Christmas Tree look.” All of the looks were “designed” by Jimena Cardona, one of the 10th graders, who would come out as the designer at the end. My Project Runway knowledge was imperative for me in directing this thing. Daniel, my little gay-who-would-never-say-he’s-gay-and-is-completely-spoken-out-about-his-anti-gay-views-10th grader was sure to help all of us design our costumes, download Christmas techno music, bring make up the night of the pageant, and of course, watch fashion TV to get some ideas. He was seriously the most enthusiastic one about this whole thing.
“MISSS! I watched da fashion tv yesterday to get ideas!”
“Miss not all of the costumes have to match exactly cause den it’s more fashionable dat way”
“MISS I can look for music online and bring in a CD”
“MISSSS why don’t we sing Mariah Carey at da end”
The best line came when he, some of the other students, and I went shopping for my costume. We picked out the paper to use and as we were standing in line to pay he says,
“Maybe we’ll get to be da next Victoria’s Secret fashion designers.”
Yes, Daniel. Maybe, just maybe, we will.
The weekend before the show, I invited all of the kiddies over to our house for a little costume-making Christmas party. I decorated the house, made brownies, and apple cider. It was quite domestic of me. The kids were SO cute. I love 10th grade, they just make me happy. The party officially began at 2:00pm but of course only socially awkward, Hugh came at 2 o’clock. The rest of the crew came around 3:00 or later. I was expecting them to stay no later than 5:00ish but a core group of them stayed until about 7:30pm! We totally lost track of time and Abby and I just had a ball hanging out, talking with, and getting to know them a little better. Lots of gossip was told and many heart to hearts were had. Technically, according to the school rules, we’re not supposed to spend time with our students outside of school. But just as we do with the other rules and restrictions, we didn’t follow this one either. I’m so glad too, because that was one of the best times I have had with the kids.
My domesticity comes out...
The 10th graders and me...the girls, as a rule, find it way too cool to actually smile.
Mario tries on Miriam's costume as Daniel perfects the design.
Miriam, Victoria, Janessa, David, and Mario- the stragglers at the end, gabbing the night away.
On the day of the pageant, the teachers were required to stay after school in order to set up chairs and decorate the auditorium. It was here that Abby, Cid, and I taught the HEM School teachers the great way of Henry Ford, capitalism, and America: the assembly line. It was a frustrating process, but by the end, I think they were getting it. The stupid part was the fact that there was any need for this freakin assembly line. Let me back up a moment. The first task item we had was to bring all of the kid’s desks from their classrooms into the auditorium. Hmm…remember how all the kids were doing nothing during the last period of school and just practicing their performances? Maybe, JUST MAYBE, we should have had them take 5 minutes and bring in their desks. Come on people. That would have saved us an hour! Ridiculous. I was so annoyed…as Abby can attest. It was one of those moments where all of your frustration has built up and Sarah-Organizational Studies Major- Miller could just not handle it any longer. But, I got past it and helped organize the assembly line for bringing in the desks. It was quite an ordeal to get people to stay in their assigned spots and just hand chairs to the person next to them. But, they finally got it. Sort of. Meh, I’ll take what I can get.
After a week of practicing our runway walk and our Mariah Carey sing along (All I Want For Christmas) the night of the show finally arrived. Naturally we were the last class to go in order to give a show stopper ending to the night. All of the classes did a good job…well…you know. The little ones were too adorable for words and the older kids ranged on a scale of too cool (8th grade) to completely hilarious (11th grade). I wish I had gotten a video of 11th grade because their act was so them and so classic. See pictures below. The entire show itself was a bit disorganized (surprised?) with emcee commentary that was muy aburrida…Robert MC would have done a number on Miss Triny. Not to mention it took approximately 7-10 minutes for each act to get up on stage and perform. We spent as much time watching as we did waiting around. None of this was unexpected though, so I just sat back and pretended to tell kids to be quiet, when really I didn’t care if they talked because I was just as bored as they were. But the 10th graders were just fabulous! They did not disappoint, and it was like a real fashion show! We had a white, lit up runway, perfectly techno-ed Christmas music, and the announcers and costumes were totally on point. I was ecstatic and I think the kids were too.
Getting ready back stage. Daniel (nutcracker), Stephanie (elf), Janessa (Rudolph), Marilyn (doll). Daniel was sure to point out the fact, that we were so special because we had our own classroom, all to ourselves to get ready. Clearly the stars of the show.
Me as un regalo with two of my favorites: Miriam (Christmas Tree) and Karen (Angel). Daniel said to put my bow askew as to be more fashionable. I didn't argue.
Karen licking Mario as the Candy Cane. I swear that's not dirty. Mario's costume was phenomenal!! I wish I had a better picture!
One of the pre-school classes "dancing" on stage. ADORABLE.
The 11th graders made themselves into midgets...can you see? As well as horses and donkeys (one guy as the head, one as the butt) and performed a traditional Christmas Spanish song. It was so creative and so funny.
And so the fashion show begins!
What better way to begin the night than Rudolph and her red nose shining the way. Here we have Janessa wearing a rich brown ensemble, different shades of chocolate and caramel, resulting in one gorgeous reindeer look.
There's no one happier around Christmas than Santa's Elves. Stephanie shows us that even in the North Pole, they are fashion-first.
Presenting the newest and trendiest in doll and figurine wear, we have Daniel and Marilyn looking dazzling on the runway.
Designer, Jimena Cardona, out did herself with this outfit. Very avant garde, this couture, candy cane piece will be extremely influential in this season's Candy garmets.
Here we have Angela looking stunning as a red and green poinsettia, one of the most elegant symbols of Christmas.
Ah...un regalo con modela Miss Sarah. Jimena Cardona does fabulous things with bold and brilliant colors.
Karen in all white and gold as a Christmas angel.(Be sure to note the announcers in the background, there.)
Hide the kiddies...here comes Hugh as the Grinch, showing us another, edgier side of Jimena Cardona's Christmas fashion. 
Ladies and genlemen, presenting, Frosty goes techno. David posing in a uber hip Frosty gettup.
And of course, no Christmas would be complete with out Old St. Nick and his little lady. Our special guests tonight...Mr. and Mrs. Claus!
So good, right?! To finish off the night, the entire school did their traditional rendition of “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” in both Spanish and English. Each kid had a candle and in true HEM School form, no one had matches. Every single candle was lit off of Miss Diana’s candle who had previously been the Christmas Spirit in our fashion show. Totes typs, but whatever…nothing new. As all of the parents rushed up to the foot of the stage to take pictures and record video of their children singing Silent Night, Abby and I just sat back and took in the great splendor of the evening, and thanked God that it was almost over and only a few more days until our break. And so our night ended, singing the songs of Christmas and feeling the familial love all around. Made me want to watch Love Actually. It was weird not to be at home, but it was nice to feel the Christmas spirit and know that it is indeed universal.
I feel it in my fingas…I feel it in my toes…If you really love Christmas…come on and let it snooow…*
*Use British Accent
(10 points- name this movie.)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Can I Just Tell You...
Okay, I am quite aware that I haven't updated in some time and I know you don't believe me, but I swear I am working on this matter as we speak. But something so Honduran just happened to me, I had to come straight to my blog and share.
I was walking down the street, only about two houses away from mine. As you have probably seen from my pictures, the streets are pretty narrow, as are the sidewalks. Basically, it's impossible for two people to walk side by side. Anyway, I was walking along, minding my business, as a huge semi truck type thing was driving by. Remember: narrow streets. I watched as the truck swayed this way and that trying to manage the cobblestone streets. The truck was almost touching me it was so close to the side walk. All of a sudden, time lapsed. I looked up, saw the top of the truck brush the small roof overhang of the building I was under. It scraped the roof. And it was like Looney Tunes, where the coyote sees 1000 tons falling down on him but doesn't move? Well, a shingle from the roof came undone, fell right towards me, hit me on the shoulder, bounced and landed on my foot/ankle. I believe my only words were "JESUS!" as I looked around me to see if anyone else had just witnessed this. Wait, what just happened!? I sort of stood there for a full minute, mouth open, dumbfounded. Ouch. I pretty much limped the 10 feet home. It really hurt! Shingles are heavy yo.
I'm still confused.
I was walking down the street, only about two houses away from mine. As you have probably seen from my pictures, the streets are pretty narrow, as are the sidewalks. Basically, it's impossible for two people to walk side by side. Anyway, I was walking along, minding my business, as a huge semi truck type thing was driving by. Remember: narrow streets. I watched as the truck swayed this way and that trying to manage the cobblestone streets. The truck was almost touching me it was so close to the side walk. All of a sudden, time lapsed. I looked up, saw the top of the truck brush the small roof overhang of the building I was under. It scraped the roof. And it was like Looney Tunes, where the coyote sees 1000 tons falling down on him but doesn't move? Well, a shingle from the roof came undone, fell right towards me, hit me on the shoulder, bounced and landed on my foot/ankle. I believe my only words were "JESUS!" as I looked around me to see if anyone else had just witnessed this. Wait, what just happened!? I sort of stood there for a full minute, mouth open, dumbfounded. Ouch. I pretty much limped the 10 feet home. It really hurt! Shingles are heavy yo.
I'm still confused.
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