School bus, school bus, school bus, I am not a fan and I never have been. Now, I may not be a fan because I was fortunate enough to have a ride to school everyday. I did not have to deal with the daily trepidation of a school bus, who I would sit next to or how germ-y it is. I only rode the school bus when the occasional field trip was too close for a coach bus. This entry as I am writing it may actually have a few different topics in it, but I will continue to write and we will see together how this goes. Most of you reading this know me, so as I write it is like you can hear me telling you the story, part of my charm what can I say. Ok, I will come back, just had to take a moment to compliment myself. I am back now and ready to actually divulge the reason for me talking about a big yellow bus. I get on a school bus everyday at 630 and we go on about a 45 minute drive picking students up along the way to school. I find myself constantly saying, sometimes shouting "siéntate, siéntate.. siéntense!" I guess the students are itching to get off the bus like me, but they will learn they have to stay seated for their safety. It's really hard teaching kids an issue like that in Honduras, because they have absolutely no fears here. When I say no fears I mean, people ride on trunk beds, infants are on motorcycles a parent and 2 kids on the back wearing no helmets, babies are carried on bikes which are ridden in the street. I could go on and on about things I see here everyday, and that all I can do when I see it is the sign of the cross. So when we teachers are letting them know they need to be seated they look at us like what is the big deal ma'am, and I get it, but I will continue to try. Riding the bus every morning makes me feel drained before I am even at school, but once I see my actual kiddos and start my real day, my energy thankfully comes back.
With this energy that comes back, I got the wind knocked out of me on Monday when we had a surprise lice check. I am not easily grossed out, being a former nursing major and all. I actually like human gross things, but let me tell you all I was not happy about this. So, my director tells the kids line up for a lice check. I ask where are our gloves - she chuckles "no gloves", hmm now I start to internally freak out. Eww, so gross. I never seen lice, it has never come up as conversation at the dinner table. Lice has never even been a topic of discussion in general, now I am not completely clueless I knew what it was, but anyways I was freaked out. The eggs look like dandruff flakes that are stuck to the hair follicle, I misdiagnosed many as being free of lice. Luckily, a mom that volunteers at the school was going behind me, and was like "No, tiene", Me: "De verdad?!", Julissa "Sî, lo tiene" - thank God for her! I was itching the entire day. Lice is very common here, so I made it a classroom rule, we do not touch anyones hair. Four of my girls had it and of course they wanted to hug me at the end of the day and it's still taking some time for me to warm up to that again haha. Trust me, I understand I will not get it just standing near them, but I'm still very cautious. Again, the school bus, now I have anxiety being on their even more, the seats are a cesspool of lice in my mind now, but I think that is a fair statement. Regardless, I am scared and apprehensive, but I still love my lice infected babies the same. Anyone who wants to donate lice shampoo, tea tree oil etc for my sanity and their health. Let me know! Ok that was my plug. Next topic...
Honduras being the most dangerous country in the world right now has definitely made me very apprehensive to going out at night. I just don't feel like it is worth it, so I often just do dinner and chill at home, which is absolutely fine with me. I did go see 'Guillermo Anderson' live in concert with the teachers, directors and their husbands, and some of the children from the home. It was so much fun. I am glad I actually went and got a chance to go out. I have a clip for you all to watch of the music and one of the drummer dancing punta/garifuna. I love the culture here, very latino, but the African is in there too! It is nice to get dressed up sometimes and wear makeup and not worry about it sweating off, but I am sure that will last me until my birthday or so. Being a teacher entertains me enough, my kids are so funny. My kids are so funny that I actually bust out laughing at least once a day, I cannot even hold it in. I would say I am working on it, but that's a lie. All in all, I am lucky and I am blessed, hope this feels like some of the gaps of three weeks have been filled.
Happy Reading,
Fabiola
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| From the concert: Program Director Keri, Lauren, Kate, Caroline, Suyapa, Haydi, ME, Ella |
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| Country Director Suyapa, Spanish teacher Haydi and I |
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| My 4th grader Abel and I |
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| Yalena, Keri, Santi and Lauren |
Punta/Garifuna dancer!
