I Am a Book Hoarder

In a previous post I shared about my love for the 2nd graders and teaching them to read. Their progress and enthusiasm excited me so much that I purchased a special bookshelf for next year's 2nd grade class and had my father assemble it during his visit. Then, during a trip to Half-Price Books I picked up about six or seven children's books for this new bookshelf. At only 50 cents per book how could I pass up such lightweight items? This type of purchase has been repeated at various yardsales, thrift stores, etc. during the summer. Now, two days before returning to Honduras I realize that I have 45 lbs of books! No exaggeration.

A Little Summer Update

August finds me sending fundraising letters, preparing for this weekend's fundraiser yardsale and of course spending as much time with friends and family as possible during my time in the states! My plane ticket was just purchased a few hours ago and I will be returning to Honduras on August 20th. We start the year with two weeks of orientation for the teachers and classes begin the first week of September. I haven't yet written about one of my neatest Honduran experiences....planning and hosting my family's first visit! Their first week was spent helping out at the ministry in whatever way possible. The majority of their time was spent helping me clean my classrooms and pack materials. Thirty of my kindergarten students graduated during this week and my parents were able to represent all the sponsor/padrinos from the states during the ceremony. We were also excited to attend the Destino del Reino School's first ever sixth grade graduation!


Wendy's and baleadas at the Honduran airport.






Celisa, meet Sophie! At the children's home.




Kindergarten Graduation




Ready to go!

Thanks Dad! A new bookshelf for the 2nd graders....

...and some new books for them to enjoy!

Wanderlust

I haven't gotten too travel around Honduras very much but I've had a few adventures. About a month ago two other American teachers from Destino, Amanda Bruin and Mallori, and I spent a 3 day weekend in La Ceiba. Traveling by bus is very inexpensive so we took a bus from Siguatepeque to La Ceiba. Once we were in La Ceiba we headed to the beach, and then up to Jungle River Lodge. Enjoy the pics!

Although this beach is polluted it's still pretty. Just don't go swimming!

The drive up to the lodge.

Ready to go white-water rafting!

Class III Rapids. The water was low so this was about as crazy as it got.

Hiking in Pico Bonita National Forest with Darwin, our guide. One of the neatest parts of the hike was learning about all the different plants. We ate wild bananas, a leave that is used to treat malaria, and termites! They weren't bad at all and tasted like carrots!

Zipline!

I hope to return to Jungle River PRONTO! They offer other white water rafting tours as well as some other hiking tours.