Sticky, Hot, Amazing.

It didn´t sink in until Eddie´s motorcycle swung past a higwayside town called Brisas Del Valle. In the Fall of 2007, some of my students had lived in Brisas and taken the ¨chicken bus¨ down the highway to school. All of a sudden the dust in my eyes and the sweat covering my body started to feel a little bit more comfortable. The next turn off was the same old Cofradia I had left behind at Christmastime, almost a year and a half ago.

Things have changed: the town has developed (now complete with a partially paved road!), there is an entirely new community of volunteer teachers, 80 students have left the struggling Cofradia Bilingual School (including 12 from my class of 30 grade 3´s last year), and there is a new restaurant serving great Baleadas (which I had to eat on my first night here). But it is definitely still the hot, dusty town with a gritty and truly Honduran feel. I´m glad to be back.

I have had one day at CBS so far. Upon entering the school, I was accosted by 5 or 6 of the grade 4 (my old grade 3´s) girls and dragged into the grade 4 classroom. After some great high fives and hugs from some of the most awesome children on the planet, I was being ordered to teach alongside the current grade 4 teachers (Mr. Phil and Ms. Camy), which I knew was not in the cards. Getting to see those kids, throw a frisbee with Victor again, get a high five from Juhn, and being latched onto by Aryani, was a real highlight of my time so far. I have also been able to reconnect with some of the amazing Honduran staff members at the school, like Mr. Gavino and Ms. Gladys, as well as having a lunch yesterday with Ninoska, Betty, and the wonderful family of the school´s secretary, Hilda. Every time I have ever planned a lesson in the school´s little office, or gone in to grab some water or spare markers, Hilda has managed to put a smile on my face. She is a wonderful lady.

At the moment I am helping with Ms. Dida´s grade 2 class (Melanie´s old class from last year that I used to help with), and I´m teaching Geography to the Collegio (grade 7-9) class. Teaching is great fun as always! I´m also looking forward to connecting with the kids whose families I was close with (Like Jeff, Jordi, and Victor), and hopefully getting to see some of the kids who have left the school. Ben (the man who started CBS) and I are also working on writing a proposal for a child sponsorship program for all of the impoverished children that are on ¨scholarships¨and need their school fees paid for them. I will let you know more as we begin this process to help the school continue to serve these children in a sustainable way. Because of a some dedicated volunteers (including Carla, who plans to stay next year and be the school director) the school is going to continue to function; however, it will need to be supported in order to keep the children at the bottom of the social ladder from falling between the cracks.

This has been a fairly long blog entry, but the first days here after a long absence have obviously put a lot on my heart to tell you about. Thanks for reading. Hope all is well back home, or wherever you are. More stories to come!
Peace