First week and (almost) second...DONE!

WOW. I have officially finished my first week and almost my second of being a teacher. All I can say about that first week was....challenging and rewarding. First day of school came and I met my 21 sixth graders, who are absolutely amazing. I will be honest, there were times I wanted to scream in frustration, but once I learned how to control 21 11-14 years olds...it began to get easier, a bit. The thing you have to know about education in Honduras is that just because you are in a grade, doesn't mean you are a certain age. Kids here might have entered school later, so for example I have a 14 year old in my sixth grade class, where as I also have a 14 year old in my 9th grade World Geography class. It is definitely different.

Coming off of student teaching where I had all the technology I could imagine; projectors, TVs, elmo's, laptops/ipads for every student, etc, it has been such an adjustment coming here. The internet is shaky and not reliable. The school is one CD player, one TV, and one projector. Resources are limited and I found some of my curriculum books only a day or two before school even started. The other day I had to copy a six page packet for my 9th grade world geography class...I have 21 students in that class...if you do the math, that is over 100 pages..that I had to staple together all by myself because the copy machine doesn't do that for you, like it does in the states. I will never take technology for granted ever again after this year that is for sure.

Being a teacher is tiring and hard work, and sometimes all I want to do is go home and see my best friends again. Then some days I get card on my desk saying that I am the "best teacher ever" and that my students are praying for me. THAT is what makes all the late night planning worth it. I tell my students everyday that I believe in them and I know they can succeed as long as they try and never give up. One of my new students told me that that was the first time someone told them that they believed in them. When I asked my 9th graders where was the one place they wanted to go most in the world..they answered "America" because "that is where I can go to get more education and be able to provide for my family".  It's that kind of drive that these students have, and if they weren't at this school, they might not ever achieve their dreams.

More later...I have to get back to planning :) 

Tomorrow the Adventure Really Begins

So tomorrow is the first day of school. For the past 17 years I have been a student...tomorrow is the first day on the other side; as a teacher. Ever since I was in second grade I had a dream of becoming a teacher. As I grew up, the reasons behind that choice changed. When I was younger I just wanted to write on the whiteboard with markers, sit in a desk, and decorate the classroom. The older I got, I realized the true reason why I want to be a teacher: I want to teach children to love learning, I want to inspire my students to never give up in school; that they have their whole lives in front of them. Going into college, I knew I wanted to major in Elementary Education; I had no doubt. It wasn't until my June Term in Liverpool, England, that I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do, no other job I wanted to have after graduation. Then came student teaching. I could not have been more thankful and blessed to have had such an amazing experience; an amazing, helpful, mentor teacher and absolutely awesome 17 second grade students.

So tomorrow is the first day of school...as a teacher. My whole life I have been waiting for this day to come; the day I get to call a classroom of students my own, and tomorrow is that day. I have decorated my classroom, prepped all my materials, figured out lesson plans, and waited in anticipation for my 21 6th Graders to walk through that door.

So tomorrow is the first day of school...in Honduras. Yes, I knew I wanted to be a teacher but I had absolutely no idea where I wanted go and do that. I went back and forth between my home in Philadelphia and around western Michigan, where I went to college. Somehow I ended up here, in La Union, Honduras. Most people don't understand why I decided to teach in a different country, especially in Honduras, but they don't understand that to me, it doesn't matter where I am, all I really want to do is teach. I don't care how beautiful the school and my classroom are, how much I get paid, how many kids are in my classroom...all I want to do is teach. I understand your first year of teaching is going to be challenging no matter where you are.

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart" My heart is now in Honduras. The first day of my dream job starts tomorrow. Tomorrow the adventure begins.

Reflecting on College

School is starting on Monday, which means there is less than a week before I begin. My classroom is coming together and the lesson plans are slowly coming into place. This realization has caused me to reflect on my past four years of College more than I thought. Starting out on this journey has made me appreciate the past four years than ever before. I wanted to post something I wrote in my Senior Lifeview Paper.

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“An education at college will not consist of memorizing a giant pile of facts during the four years it takes to graduate; it will be in the ability to learn those facts and how to take what you learn into your world. No college, no student body, and no faculty of trained professionals, can teach you in four years everything you need to know for your future, and yet, on graduation day, you will still feel as if you are ready to take on the world.” That is a quote I had in my reflective essay my freshmen year of college, just a few months after move in day. It couldn’t have been a truer statement. You start to realize how much things have changed, and you realize the hardest part of college is balancing the two completely different worlds you now live in, trying desperately to hold on to everything all the while trying to figure out what you have to leave behind. In the matter two and a half weeks, we will leave our world of living next door to our best friends, walking across campus to eat, 8:00am classes, and the perpetual procrastination to a world that will seem foreign to us despite the fact that we lived in it for twenty-one years.

Going into my freshmen year I was beyond excited; I wanted to get out of my area and see something different, I knew I wanted to go farther away. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but I seriously just needed my space. My freshmen year I would describe myself as young and easily intimidated. Looking back I realize I was always really afraid of what would happen if I put myself out there; with classes, guys, friends, involving myself of campus, etc. I needed to grow up. I needed to learn to become more independent than I already was, but also learn to depend more on other people and learn that it is okay to do that. I needed to grow up and learn how the world works. In my essay from freshmen year, I talked a lot about growing up in the next four years, and I have most definitely done that.  I learned to put myself out there more or else I would always wonder “what if”. There is something so powerful in those two little words. Those two little words that are so small but when you put them together it can be so powerful and take over your mind.  

So now, it’s my senior year, about 18 more days until graduation day. I made it through the past four years with many ups and downs, many new friendships, many emotional rollercoaster’s, many leadership positions. I came into college wanting to start over and take risks and I did. I learned more about myself in the past four years than I ever thought I would. I’m looking back and realizing I still believe going to a liberal arts college was the right and best thing to do. It gave me a different sense of how I viewed the world. I look religion classes that encouraged my faith, I look Latin as my language and now it has become my minor, I was able to take piano classes for the first time in my whole life, and I was open to different viewpoints about politics and religion. I became exposed to things that I would not have gotten if I went to a school where the only classes I took were for my major.

          I learned I’m not the person I thought I would become. This can either be positive or negative…but lets face it, we all change. We come into college thinking and planning our life out. Before you know it you're reflecting on your life and realizing how much you have changed.  I came into my freshmen year knowing I wanted to be a teacher and I’m leaving with an even stronger passion about teaching than before. You react to situations differently then before, you are trying out new things, meeting new people. You're developing into your adult self. Times are scary and what’s scarier is everyone and everything’s changing around you, without even know it...and somehow, in some way, we will find our place between these two completely different worlds.

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More about my reflections later...I'm exhausted from setting up my room and lesson planning all day! I believe all the American teachers are doing a "French Toast with FRIENDS" night. One of the best breakfast foods (the way my Dad makes it) with my favorite TV show...pretty good night after a long day :)

12 things that I've learned so far

Instead of writing about what I have been doing the past couple of days, I thought it would be interesting to write about what I've seen here in Honduras compared to how things are in the States.

1) There are these huge locust/grasshopper type bugs that are gross. They jump and fly on you and are everywhere.

2) Typical Honduran food usually includes refried beans, a slice of avocado, a slice of cheese (which I obviously don't get), and one or two other ingredients I can't remember. There are other common foods too, such as baleadas and rollitos, which are pretty similar to enchiladas. 

3) They have amazing juice drinks! Some flavors that are my favorite are Passion Fruit and blackberry. 

4) You can't drink the water here, which has been interesting to adjust to. You have to cook and brush your teeth with purified water, as well as drink. I've recently decided to be more adventurous and brush my teeth with the tap water. I can already hear one of my best friends Sam cringing at this..so...sorry Sam, but I don't swallow the water and I haven't gotten sick yet so it's all good :)

5) EVERYTHING HERE IS 10X CHEAPER!! The currency here is the Lempira, so to help you all out...100 Lempira is equivalent to about 5 US dollars. With that in mind...I went to the market yesterday in La Union to buy veggies and fruits and I only spent a little less than $10 for tomatoes, green beans, onions, carrots and broccoli. If I bought all this back in the states it would have cost me $20-30. 
     - A glass bottle of Coke is 15 Lempira (about 70 cents)
     - There is a Cafe here in La Union that sells homemade ice cream for 30 Lempira (about $1.50)

I think you get the gist...everything is very inexpensive.

6) There is not a bank or post office in La Union. If I wanted to send mail (or receive it) I would have to send it a month in advance and go all the way to Gracias to send it (about a 2 hour bus ride). Now if you wanted to send me something...haha good luck. That process would take about 3 weeks to a month. You would have to send it to Gracias, which then the post office (if they even remember) would put it on a bus to bring it to La Union. Now for the bank. There is a ATM in La Union, so I can withdraw cash but I would have to take the trip to Gracias to deposit any money into my Honduran bank account. 

7) Everyone here is small. Yes, I do fit in quite nicely. I have been in a store with a couple of older women who have been smaller than me haha. 

8) We went to church this morning down the street that is supported by Abundant Life (the school I'm working at). The songs and sermon were in Spanish, so I only caught onto a couple of words, but my friend Sam translated some parts for me. It was amazing to see the Honduran people in La Union worship in such a simple but powerful way. There was this little boy who sat a couple rows in front of us who I saw during a worship song raise his hands, which was probably the most powerful part of the morning for me. 

9) La Union is a very small town, so like small towns in the States, word travels fast. When we arrived in La Union on Friday, the whole town knew we were here within a couple of hours. Everybody now knows who were are haha. 

10) When it rains it POURS. The days are usually scorching hot (there isn't a lot of shade here so the people of La Union walk around with umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun. Although this would be considered really weird if someone did that in the states, it is very common to see that here). It will usually POUR for about 15-30 min in the late afternoon/early evening, which then will cause the temperature to drastically cool off!

11) Time. Everyone starts their day around 4:30-5 am ( I can hear people going about outside my window around this time in the morning) and they end their day around 9 pm. The sun goes down around 7 pm, which I am still not used too. 

12) The most common ways of transportation are by foot, motor taxis (3 wheeled buggies), and by motorcycle. These motorcycles are a step above a moped and step below a Harley. THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN TO RIDE ON!

That is all I can think of right now. Tomorrow we head up to the school and start decorating our classrooms and planning out our classes! As of tomorrow I will have been here in Honduras a whole week. It's seems so crazy, I feel like I've been here a month!

Day Two

I have been in this beautiful country for two full days already, and every moment has been a new adventure. The other American teachers are all super nice and we all get along very well, so that has been so great! We went to the hot springs last night, which were about a 10 minute drive outside of Gracias. There were three pools, a "cold" pool, warm pool, and a hot pool. The water felt so good and relaxing! After we got back to the hotel we noticed all the power was off, so no one could shower or really brush their teeth (yeah kinda gross). This apparently happens a lot here so it's all part of the adventure. I remember last summer in June when I went on a trip to Liverpool through Hope and the morning of our first day in the schools the water did not work either, so no one could shower. One of my good friends Sarah turned on the faucet that morning and never turned it off....sooo when the water finally came back, she flooded her room...and the room below her...and the room below that (HAHA)...anyway this situation we had last night reminded me of that hilarious story...so Sarah I hope you're reading this :)

Today was the first official day of orientation. We headed to the school in Gracias ( I am working in La Union). Let me tell you, the view from that school was absolutely beautiful. It's located in the mountains, so you can probably imagine how beautiful it is! For orientation, we learned so much about the school and the core values that hold..it has made me more excited about the first day of school (a week and a half!).

After orientation we went shopping around the town of Gracias...so here is the embarrassing story of today.A bunch of us ended up in a shoe store. I saw these really cute pair of boots on the top shelf (already a bad idea). So I reached up and grabbed them to look at them more, which caused the boot next to it to fall...which caused all the shoes below it to fall...which then lead to a domino effect of shoes falling to the ground as I am saying "Lo Siento..Lo Siento..Lo Siento" (I'm sorry) to the store keeper as the people I was with, laughed hysterically as I am surrounded in a pile of shoes. I'm sure all the people who know me from back home are saying typical Taylor right there..yup, that's about it.

I still can't believe I'm here doing this, but all during the orientation this morning I couldn't help but think this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now. One of my best friends from college would always put a #blessed at the end of almost every tweet and instagram post, so as a shout out to Gem...all I have left to say is #blessed...by this country, the people, and the friends I have made already.

Have to go now...we're getting Pizza for dinner!

I made it!

Woke up at 3:15 am today to catch my 5:45am flight to Atlanta. I fell asleep before the plane even took off (typical). In the Atlanta airport, went right to my gate and met the a couple of other teachers going down to Honduras as well. We finally took off to San Pedro Sulla for our 3 hour flight...it was pretty uneventful up until the very end when I experienced the worst turbulence ever. Seriously it was like a very very very old rickety roller coaster...but basically  it got me paranoid and had me gripping my seat very tightly. It finally calmed down and when we landed everybody clapped! It was pretty funny. We went through customs, which literally took about 10 minutes and probably the easiest customs I've ever gone through. Then we all ate lunch...at Wendy's. Yes, my first meal in Honduras was at Wendy's. AND THEN we embarked on the 5 hour bus ride with 18 other teachers in a small, tight bus. Yes, it was very hot and stuffy. Halfway through the trip it started to downpour and all the luggage on the top of the bus got wet so we had to stop and put the rest of everyone's luggage inside the already crowded van. Honduras so far, smells like burnt rubber, animals, and rain. Everyone fell asleep all at the same time, so we got about an hour of sleep before the bumpy roads woke us all up again.

All in all, we finally made it to our hotel in Gracias for the orientation. Sorry if this post is all jumbled and random...I'm a bit exhausted. Can't wait to start my first full day in this country tomorrow!

The Day Before I Leave

I love to write; always have and always will. That is why I want to keep this blog about my experiences teaching in a different country. People have asked me after I accepted the job offer to come to teach in Honduras, why? My answer is simple. I have never been the person who really analyzes every decision I make. If you ask my family and friends they will tell you I just go with whatever my heart tells me, and my heart was telling me to go teach in a different country for a year. I applied, interviewed, and got offered the job within 3 days. Maybe some people don't understand, but I tend to think with my heart rather than my head. I wanted to travel and teach...and I was given the opportunity to do both at the same time, so I took it. Although it is scary to be in a different country right after graduating college, being a first year teacher, but it's going to be an experience I won't be able to forget.

So as I head out early tomorrow morning, I ask for your prayers and encouragement as I begin this journey.

-Taylor