Finally I get to the Caribbean!

Independence day in Honduras is a big deal! They have parades, set off fireworks in the middle of the day, sing the national anthem countless time and have speeches about the important figures in the struggle for Honduran independence. Our school was taking part in the local parade and me and Mali were in charge of the dancers. This involved teaching the girls how to move to the music, dancing and walking forward while moving a hula hoop in a certain manner. It was challenging but we prevailed after much practicing and encouraging.. The parade started early so to avoid the intense midday sun. We walked through the town with the other schools from the area, and the streets we're lined with parents and family. After the parade the children listened to speeches about important figures in the history. Mali and I struggled to understand what was going on but we concluded that it was about the values that Honduran people should have and how they should behave.

After the parade we jumped on a bus as we were off to la ceiba, a town on the coast to meet up with other volunteers. To get to la ceiba we had to got through San pedro sula. Which is a pretty dangerous place. Especially for westerners. We have been warned about buses being hijacked and the people being robbed. In preparation we donned our scruffiest clothes, got our fake wallets in place, hid our phones far into our bags, with money hidden in various places on our body and tried to look as relaxed and Honduran as possible. After all the preparation, we didn't even go into San pedro, the bus station was on the outskirts. We were very relieved. As soon as we got to the station we jumped on the bus for la ceiba. This bus was luxury compared to any other we had been on. It had foot rests and reclining seats. Heaven. It was a 4 hour journey to la ceiba so we settled down to watch the country pass us by.
I love travelling by the buses here, there's something very relaxing and fun about it. The music blaring, the windows all open and the views out the window. I love it!!

La ceiba was great! Meeting up with the other volunteers, getting to the beach. THE SEA AT LAST! It's only been 6 weeks since I've seen the sea. A long, long time for someone who has lived their whole life there. After initially being very disappointed with the beach in la ceiba. It was dirty, full of stray dogs. We consulted the guide book and found apparently the best beach in the area. Another bus journey (yes!) and we were there. It didn't disappoint! The beach was wonderful, the sea clear and very warm. The Caribbean at last! We had a great day. And we got to eat fish. Only the second time in 7 weeks!!

On monday we celebrated teachers day. This meant that all teachers in the area had the day off and were invited to a celebration night. Which involved celebrating the best teacher in the area, dinner and dancing. We went along and had a good time, although for an hour at the start we were the awkward people sitting alone with no friends. After a while the other teachers from the school arrived. An hour an a half after it was supposed to start. People in Honduras are always more than fashionably late.. The next day at school I was told by pupils I looked very happy on tv last night. And proceeded to say that the camera was always on me because I was white. Hmm. What?! I was on tv. This was news to me. Turns out it was a local channel broadcasting the event. And me and Mali were an added interest to the viewers at home.

Today we started teaching at the public school next door. As part of our year here, we have to set up what's called a secondary project. So we decided to start teaching English in the school next door which has no English teachers and the pupils know no English. This was a pretty daunting task. As I, having very little Spanish and them having no English, we have a slight language barrier. But I planned a lesson that introduced basic greetings by solely speaking in english. This is called tesol teaching (teaching English to speakers of other languages) an works very well! As I walked into the 6th grade class, slightly nervous at the fact I was teaching a class of 36 non English speakers, all my nerves vanished. The class was sitting attentively ready to learn. We worked through, introductions, names, asking how are you, and reached where do you live. By the end of the class the children were able to have conversations (admittedly very basic) with each other solely in English. It gave me a great feeling of satisfaction to have been able to teach them and for them to remember so much in such a short period of time. Bring on the next lesson!!