En Las Cárceles

All of my classes begin with conversation and sharing time. I do this because if you can read and write in a second language, that's great. However... and I base this on my own personal experience, it's much more difficult to speak a language well than read it or write it. During my 1st year here, if I could have written down everything I needed to tell those around me, communication would have been a breeze. I'm certain that my students feel the same at times.

Anyway, I begin my days with 2nd grade English class and they always have plenty to say. Conversation topics are usually light-hearted. Something like "Teacher, I am happy because today is gym class." or "I am sad because the weather is cold." is the norm but occasionally we discuss more serious topics. So on Wednesday when one little girl raised her hand and told the whole class that she was sad her because grandfather had died I really wasn't that surprised. The kids are pretty open about what's going on in their lives. What did surprise me was when another little girl chimed in with "My uncle died." and then used a flurry of Spanglish to describe how it had happened in a huge fire that morning in Comayagua(a city about 45 minutes from Siguatepeque). That was how I found out about the prison fire that killed at least 382 inmates Wednesday morning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17055231

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2012/0215/Honduras-prison-fire-kills-more-than-300-highlights-regional-problem-video

Basically what happened is that a fire started in the overcrowded prison sometime on Tuesday night and quickly spread. By the time the guards had found the keys to unlock the cells it was impossible to get everyone out. Everyone seems to know someone who was at the prison and there are several Destino students who had family members there. In addition, this morning a huge fire burned down part of a market in the capital. To sum it up, this has not been a great week for Honduras. House visits are coming up within the next couple of weeks so this will be the perfect opportunity to see exactly how many families have been affected and how we can support and encourage them.

David(2nd Grader) and I

Gaby (2nd grader)

Throwback Pic! Some of my 2nd graders goofing off when they were in kindergarten!

A picture from last year when they were in 1st grade.

This year's Christmas performance. 2nd grade

Exam Week

Javier and Fabiola (Kindergarteners) brushing their teeth.

David-the student of the week in Primero!

Kenssi and Karla eating fried plantains and beans at lunch.


We've been in school for 2.5 months so far and so far so good! Today was the first day of exams. The students have an exam in each subject about 4 times a year and they all take place during the exam weeks. Bruin and I have divided up the Kinder(Preschool) and Prepa(Kindergarten) classes for testing and I'm going to teach Primero this week while Bruin tests them. The primero students are so fun to work with. At times, it can be difficult to communicate with the younger students because they haven't been able to learn much English yet and my Spanish skills are limited. However, the Primero students know enough English vocabulary to usually express what they want, even if its not grammatically correct. Bruin has set up a penpal exchange with a preschool in Falmouth so we're going to practice writing English phrases and make cards for their American pen pals. I think it's going to be a great week!

Scarleth-preschool One of the top English students in preschool! My friends Robert and Betsy Powell are sponsering her!

Kinder girls at lunch. From the left-Scarleth, Eyeleyn Mileydey, Michelle, Kenia(eating her arm), Astrid, and Carmen.

Primero learning the days of the week! Marvin, Eunice, Glenda, German, David, Karina Nazareth and Karina.

There's a Wendy's in Siguatepeque! My roommates, Zoe and Amanda Bruin.


Milton-Kindergarten He is sweet, smart and sometimes mischievous!

Kids say the funniest things.

When you are learning a new language you will say ridiculous things. This is a fact. The combination of a desire to share my thoughts and a limited understanding of Spanish has caused me to say things to my coworkers that probably sound more like jibberish than English or Spanish. For example, last week I got off the bus in town so I could go to the grocery store. Another teacher was headed to the same place and politely asked me what I was doing and where my roommates were going. I meant to tell her that I needed some food so I was going shopping and my roommates were headed to our house. Just a basic, normal response to a basic normal question. I just don't know how she kept a straight face when I told her that my roommates were headed to her house.




Downtown Siguatepeque- This picture was taken during a festival for all the preschools and kindergartens in the city. My roommates Zoe and Amanda Bruin are in the middle of this pic. The guy with the wheelbarrel on the left was selling oranges with salt! Que rico(Delicious)!

It's probably a good thing that I make these mistakes because it helps me understand how easy it is to mix up simple words and when my students say things like "My name is bathroom," or respond with "fine thank you," when I ask them how old they are it's easy to laugh.

Dominique. The class clown of first grade and an air guitar enthusiast.

Our first graders know quite a bit a English vocabulary so we decided it's time to actually teach them to put these words together into sentences. For their first phrase we started with What is your name? They mastered that within a couple days so we added "How old are you?," and "May I go to the bathroom?" Then things started to get interesting. Class would be progressing normally, the kids would seem to be learning when suddenly, someone would inform us that they have (insert name) years or that their name was 6 years old. As we've continued to work on the phrases these incidents have decreased but sometimes, they still pop up.

The First Graders Introduce Themselves

Jonathan, First Grade(Primero)




Rosa First Grade



Oscar, Josue and Karina First Grade