¡Que Rico!

I've made it to the end of my first school term teaching in Honduras. It's been 4 months since I've moved here, and I have to say, I'm still enjoying it as much as when I started. I could even say it's even better than before. Me and my partner Mali have settled into the community, we have friends!! And, well, things are good. My only complaint is the lack of decent chocolate and cheddar cheese. If anyone would like to send me a wee present of the above items it would make my year! Although I'm not sure the cheese would survive the journey.... Also, a shout-out to my Gran who sent smarties in the last package that made 6 volunteers very, very happy.

I've been slacking a little on my blog recently, and as of the next two moths things might be similar as, as of Thursday I'm off travelling Central America for my winter vacation! I'm not sure how well connected to the Internet I'll be but I promise to keep you all updated on my progress and adventure.

I would like to use this blog as a way of saying a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me up until this point, everyone who helped me organising events for fundraising, people who donated money, ideas and things to sell, anyone who helped me in any way I'd like to say thanks! It's an amazing experience for me to have and I wouldn't be here without the support and continued support from you guys.

Last week was thanksgiving, and while it's barely celebrated in the UK and Honduras it's rather MASSIVE in the USA. We have a friend in the community, with children our school, that is from the states and he invited us to his house for thanksgiving dinner. The whole week leading up to this meal I was dreaming about roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potato, vegetables and gravy. Mmm gravy. When Thursday came it did not disappoint. After a long day at school we were ravenous and thankfully the turkey was HUGE. It's one of the best meals I've had in Honduras. Not because it was western style food (don't get me wrong I love Honduran food, there will be plenty of that cooked when I get home), but because the food was genuinely extremely good! '¡Que rico!' As the Hondurans say. And it was nice to have something different. So thanksgiving was success. We left the house so full, we probably could've rolled home.

Our neighbours have moved out. When we found out this news we were extremely sad, our neighbours are a family of 5, a couple and their three children ages 1,3 and 5. The past month they've been living next door has been one of the best. The kids come over to the house to play in the mornings, we end up inventing games like rolling duct tape down the hill outside our house for the kids (and us) to chase. Great hilarity watching two 18 year olds chasing a roll of duct tape down a hill, well for the surrounding neighbours that is... We also teach the father English on a wednesday night and informally teach the children as we play with them. They also took out washing in when it rained!! So now you can see why we were genuinely sad when the neighbours moved. But thankfully they weren't moving far. Just three (very long) blocks away. We arranged to go over to visit in a few days and were told something about a swimming pool. We thought we were going to go swimming but I think something was lost in translation as we soon found out. We headed out, swimmers on, towels in bag and walked the three long blocks to a part of Trinidad we had never been before, we turned off the main road, and continued along a dirt track, crossing a large river and ten continuing along a dirt track. There we came to a clearing, with two houses, two large swimming pools, another small pool, an outdoor stage, a volleyball and football pitch. All very overgrown, derelict and in need of a clean. It was soon clear that the family were living there, cleaning the place up until the owners (I'm assuming its the owners) come to live here, just before Semana Santa. I was in awe of this place, tucked away in a small corner of Trinidad, it must have once been a beautiful leisure complex where people came to swim, relax, eat, listen to music and play football. It was a shame to see it had been abandoned but with some work it could be a potential business again. We offered to help start the clearing process and were soon set to work cleaning one of the big swimming pools, with the enthusiastic help of the kids. Scrubbing, brushing, washing and running away from fire ants, in a beautiful surrounding in the sun was really awesome. We then started the process of filling the pool, connecting the old pipes together which formed, surprisingly, a functioning water source. And slowly, slowly the pool started to fill. What more was there to do than go for a swim. Well more a paddle as the water only reached the ankles. But playing with the kids in this pool we'd just cleaned was a blast. And to top it off we got a great lunch followed by lemonade and free fruit picked from the surrounding trees! After making arrangements to return after we get back from travelling we said our goodbyes and set off home, tired, covered in bites, mud and scratches but ultimately very satisfied after an enjoyable, fun day!

Yesterday was our last day working at the 'Jardin de Niños' (the kinder school we work at twice a week) for this year. We arrived expecting a normal lesson, but we're greeted with the smell of cooking, and singing children. Profe Anna explained that today we would be having a party to say goodbye and this would involve art class, eating pastilitos (small pastries, filled with a rice, chicken mix and deep fried) accompanied with coca cola. What more could we want? Art and food. Our favourite things! After completing the apple we were drawing and decorating with the niños, we were presented with a key ring each from Honduras, a message was written on it saying 'Para alguien especial que le Recuerda Siempre.' which translates to 'For someone special that we will remember always' a lovely gesture and a nice momento from Honduras. After eating the pastilitos, which were amazing, ¡Que rico!We were sent off from the Jardin with the niños saying 'adios gringas!'. Until next time niños.