One of my coworkers in charge of managing (not teaching) the English class as a side job. He has a locked bookcase full of hundreds of beautiful books in English. All of the classics are there. There are books about famous North American people, such as ex-presidents, sports stars, Rosa Parks and Oprah Winfrey. There is a whole shelf full of a variety of dictionaries. I never knew such a variety of dictionaries existed!
Mixed among the English books there were some books in Spanish too. I pulled everything out, cleaned the shelves, organized everything by author and put them back. Turned out the books were disorganized for a reason. Only the English books fit if they are set up properly.
The good news is, my coworker knows where their is another cabinet. It's not a pretty bookshelf, but it will work just fine. (We may get to take over the pretty bookshelf soon because the US Embassy is no longer sponsoring English classes in 2017 so nobody will be reading those books, unless we find a volunteer English teacher.)
My coworker planned to help me. The English books are his responsibility. But I ended up working alone because in Honduran culture it is very important that a woman not be alone with a man. Normally there are lots of people just hanging out at the club, but yesterday there was no third person who could "accompany" us, so he stayed up in the front reception area. I worked alone in the back room. It made the work twice as long, but I left with my reputation intact.
The cabinet for Spanish books will be moved in over the weekend. On Monday I can place all of the Spanish books inside.
Next week will be a little crazy. The Honduran government always announces holidays at the last minute. In October there are three holidays. The government announced a week ago that they are lumping the three holidays together so everyone has next Wednesday - Friday off. My boss told us that we have to get our work done just the same, only in two days. My Wednesday club is on Monday next week. The Thursday Literacy class is on Tuesday. And then I'm free for the rest of the week.
My coworkers invited me to go on an adventure with them. It is about an hour (by car) through the mountains. They live in the community below and they escape to this place whenever they get the chance. They say right now it is magical, as it is all green from the rains, but not too muddy and it's also time for harvest so lots of fresh fruits and vegetables are for sale really cheap up there. Sounds like my kind of place. I'm excited to go and happy I was invited.
Today I went to Laura's bilingual school for the first time. The difference between public schools and private schools in Honduras is immense. I spent yesterday morning in a public school. It's like two different worlds. I praise God that Laura can go to a private school. She is already starting to read in preschool. The public school I visited Friday is not promoting a single 6th grader because the new director discovered that none of them can read or do math. In sixth grade.
After weeks of practice, today Laura danced a traditional Honduran dance called "The Little Dream". All of the kids wore traditional clothes. Afterward each class set up a tent to represent different parts of Honduras and they presented traditional foods from that area.
It made me think about the fact that the US doesn't really have a traditional outfit that represents us. We don't even have traditional music, except maybe folk music. But nothing that all of the kids learn about in school. Only Native Americans have a traditional dance. As far as traditional food, I guess that would be Thanksgiving dinner? Or hamburgers and apple pie?
As a small sidenote, the Honduran version of the Star Spangled Banner is seriously 10 minutes long. I am not joking or exaggerating. I remember thinking this when I went to see my first professional soccer game. Today I wondered how in the world the kids learned all of those words! It is crazy long.
Here are some photos from Laura's Feria Catracha:
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| Girls singing the Honduran "flag song" |
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| Boys hold their hand like they are saluting at their heart for the song |
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| Professional Dancers - each songs tell a story |
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| They dance with their skirts |
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| Laura dancing with a professional! |
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| Some of the boys had painted on beards and mustaches |
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| Laura posing away |
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| The girls of Laura's class |
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| Heading off to play on the playground |
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| Enjoying time with her Daddy |
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| The view from Laura's class |
