First Week of School: Complete

Wow. What an experience.  This whole past week has been one huge enormous blur.  As stated in my last post, I had grossly underestimated my preparedness for the roller-coaster week I was about to endure.   Dizzied by the shock of working in a new culture, I have spent the past few days feeling frustrated with students and situations, overwhelmed with the level of work, sick to my stomach, unable to sleep, and upset at myself for not being able to cope.  And yet, in spite of these things, God has put a wonderful thing into my life.  I had never before this week had students who would tell me how much they love the class, perform secret handshakes with me, feed me a Double Stuf Oreo, and reaffirm that which I'm doing in the classroom.

I think Wednesday night was the real turning point in my week.  It seems like so many blessing started trickling my way.  For instance Wednesday night I was blessed to be invited over to a friends' apartment for a delicious dinner and dessert where I was able to commune with friends and catch a breath.  More blessings - yesterday I was observed in my classroom by the Principal and told that my instruction style was spot-on.  To top it off, when I went to take a shower last night, the hot water was working again!  Last night, Suzie and my roommate Dan led a group of us teachers in worship and praise to the God Almighty and in self-reflection I came to the realization of what a blessing the Lord's faithfulness to us is.    Psalm 105 verses 5-8 read:

 ⁵ Remember the wonders he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
⁶ you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
   his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
⁷ He is the LORD our God;
   his judgments are in all the earth.
 ⁸ He remembers his covenant forever,
   the promise he made, for a thousand generations.

 I read this passage to my students this past week for devotions as required by the school, but it holds personal weight in that God will always be there for me, no matter the circumstance.  In the face of discouragement is encouragement.  In the face of hate is love.  I cannot tell you just how wonderful it has been to have a family of believers here to work right along side of and support me when I'm down.

Couldn't make a post without a picture.

This will still be a tough year and I still have much catch-up to do this weekend, but I am encouraged to see God's love and kindness displayed through my fellow coworkers and the various blessings that have occurred since I got here.  Though the roller-coaster may continue for some time, I am confident that God will be faithful and I'll make it off the ride in one piece.

First Day of School

I won't lie.  Today was tough.  I think the combination of the cultural adjustments I've made - including the lack of hot showers, the challenges of learning a new school system, the unfamiliarity with the students, and the deficiency of sleep I've been having has all led me to a bit of a collapse at the end of today.  I'm also a bit overwhelmed changing responsibilities from myself to the education of 60 individuals.  I guess I forgot how difficult this job could be.  Rhythm and rest is key I think in overcoming this obstacle and setting myself on the right path.  I can be thankful for a very supportive administration to guide me through the next year.  I do request prayer in the coming days for strength, wisdom, and perseverance so that I may not only survive out the next 182 teaching days, but might thrive.

The students were excited - excited for a new building, excited to see each other, excited to be doing something new.  In a move I had never seen, the Senior class showed up with confetti, horns, sirens, and an assortment of other noise-makers in a progression as they showed up for their first day of school in celebration.  I think the mindset may not have been on school today.  In spite of this, the students I had for the most part seemed knowledgeable, skilled, and intelligent.  There are a number of students I can see applying themselves to the point of possible earning themselves AP credit by the end of the course.  The question I have on my mind is if I can teach them to that point.  Differentiated instruction takes a lot of planning and AP chemistry is no cake-walk.

Newly Remodeled High School 300 Building

The Classroom

Since apparently I have a lot of spare time given the start of school is still a week and some days away, I decided to show off my classroom to the wonderful masses reading this lovely piece of work.

Large desks, 5 Island lab tables, and plenty of space!

A room with a gorgeous view.

The Massive, Oversized Stockroom.

I think I could get used to this...

The School Day That Wasn't

Tomorrow was supposed to be the start of a brand new school year.  All the planning had been done and preparations had been made.  Unfortunately (or fortunately??) the high school building has not been completed in all its remodeling and renovations.  That said, school simply cannot start.  Apparently no-school days are common at Pinares with all the odd unforeseeable events that take place.  Two years ago political unrest postponed school for a month.  Also two years ago the swine flu epidemic had the doors closed for two weeks.  Of course, as it was explained to me, last year was an 'odd' year where no random events closed the school down except for the occasional 'cold day' -- when the outside temperature drops below 45°F (forget snowdays).  I guess I'll have to wait and see what this year holds, but it could get interesting.  Anyway, the new start day for beginning of school is now set for Tuesday, August 23 Monday, August 29 (New Update as of August 18).

In preparation for the new school date, the high school teachers all got together today and assisted with the restoration of the school.  I spent the majority of today lugging boxes of books, supplies, ovens, instruments, and other things from one room to another as the classrooms were slowly put back together.

At one point during the move, we found a cat giving birth to kittens in the art room supplies - possibly in celebration of the day.  Work will continue tomorrow as the final touches are put on the building, but I must say the school building looks absolutely gorgeous.

Week Report

It's been a week now since leaving for Pinares, and I must say, I am thoroughly satisfied with the school.  I know I mentioned my water woes before, but beside those issues, the house has been working out.  The school also provides free transportation into the city for grocery and supply shopping and other needs.  And my chemistry lab classroom is an absolute dream.  More will be posted about the classroom at a later time, but it has all the space and equipment I could ever need :)  Lately it does seem that much of my time is spent in meetings, but most of the meetings have been very helpful and enlightening in progressing my development as a professional.  Lastly, both the staff and the administration and other teachers I have met are just so very friendly and enthusiastic about the job.  It seems like a Godly and wonderful environment in which to work.  I am very excited to start the year and face the challenges it has to bring.

In Honduras -- First Days

Today is day 3 since arriving in Tegucigalpa, Honduras at Academia Los Pinares.  I apologize as it has been a while since I've been able to post anything, but this is largely due to the lack of time and internet.  I'll see if I can summarize...

After flying all day Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I landed in Tegucigalpa Thursday afternoon.  I flew first class the whole way which really turned into a huge blessing.  Not only was I able to better sleep on the plane, but I was served food and drinks and given personal customer service when I was having issues getting my paperwork authorized to leave the country.  If I were to do it again however, I would probably fly Continental only because the flights are MUCH shorter and they have an actual airline coming out of Portland.  Flying American operated by Alaskan, was fine -- I really enjoyed my final Alaskan Amber before leaving the country -- but the hassle of communicated between airlines made things more difficult than they needed to be.

Flying over Miami

Customs was an interesting adventure.  Another benefit of flying first class was that I was first in line at immigration/customs.  I had no problem with my passport, but when they searched my bags, there were quite a few questions raised about my packaged equipment and because my Spanish is horrendous, I couldn't really answer the poor official.  After a while she gave up and waved me along.  :)  Soon thereafter, I hopped on a shuttle to the school.

View of the City on the Way up to the School

My rooming assignment is actually in a large house shared with two other new teachers.  It comes complete with one massive living room with fireplace, two bathrooms with shower, a kitchen complete with oven, fridge/freezer, and stove, and three bedrooms with closets and full upper loft.  Washer and drier are located outside.  Furniture included bed, desk, and dresser for each of the bed rooms as well as a dining room table, sofa, love-seat, and recliner in the living room.

The Living Room

The Bedroom - Notice the Loft Above

We do have some issues with our water at times.  Our first night, we managed to flood our entire living room.  At 10pm that first night when we went to bed, the water wasn't working.  After messing with it, my housemate gave up.  Sometime during the night, the water came back on.  However, my housemate had inadvertantly left the bathroom faucet in the 'on' position,  The drain couldn't keep up with the rate at which the water flowed and it created a nice little waterfall over the stairs and into the living room.  When I awoke to the sound of running water at 12:30am, I found an inch of water in our living-room-turned-swimming pool.  For an hour we had the opportunity to sweep it all out the door with the brooms. One thing I found out about the house is that it seems to be designed to hold water.  You'll notice in the pictures that there are tiles going up the walls.  I imagine that the house is designed to minimize water damage for big rain storms and housemate initiated floods.

Today we went to the mall in town to purchase supplies for surviving the week.  The mall was interesting as many American chains were present -- chains such as Radio Shack, Walmart, Burger King, Wendy's, Popeye's, TGI Fridays, and Pizza Hut.  I must admit, most of my shopping was completed at Walmart.  Again, I got to try practicing my Español when the various sales reps tried to help me find a product, but I think it ended up creating more awkward moments than I needed.

Wendy's at the 'Mall'mart

I will continue to try to stay connected to the outside world via the internet.  As mentioned previously on my Facebook, I now can receive txts and phone calls to my cell number.  I may or may not always be available to talk as I do not have internet in my house yet, but I will try to have most everything established by next week.

Pinares' Gym

Final Countdown (Cue Music)

There are less that 24 hours left before the trip begins - This is it!  Tonight I am completing my pack checklist and weighing everything to make sure they are to airline regulation specifications.  I tried to limit myself to 2 check-in bags, but after repacking over and over again, I finally had to yield defeat to the luggage.  I am bringing a 3rd.  It was the teaching supplies and technology that really did me in, or at least that's the story I'm sticking with.  Among some of the items: Projector, projector screen, document camera, laptop, wii smartboard, computer accesories, wireless network equipment, sound equipment.  Yep, I really need to get a life someday. Stories and photos to come soon.