If God really sits and watches us?

I am certain at some point I will have mentioned all of my students, for things they say and for the things that test my patience so I am going to save my kiddos for a later post. However today I should mention that I am feeling a bit better. I say this with a bit of hesitation because I still have not yet received my schedule of classes, but it does appear that I will be teaching both sections of Second Grade A and B. Which means that when one class is in Spanish or an elective course I will be in the other teaching the core subjects. Fingers crossed I find out for the last time and the schedule is official tomorrow. (they say tomorrow we will get them, although we are already 2 days in of school, crazy I know).

If God really does sit up in heaven in a chair and watch us (I don't think he does, but for this visual lets pretend he does) I suppose he is watching me in these moments like a parent would be, hoping I make the right choices because he has taught me so for so long what is the right thing to do. Like a parent they invest time and energy loving their child so they grow up to make good choices, so that they know right from wrong and just pray their child does well. Let me clarify that I do not think god is watching to see if I am a good teacher, I think God is watching to see where my heart is in the midst of it all of this. I think he wants to see if I am trusting him with this, in my moments of frustration do I seek patience and love over frustration and anger? Do I look at the boy that acts as though I do not exist and kneel down next to him to try and get him to pay attention in class? Do I take deep breaths and soak in each face and each tear that falls knowing that these are the children God calls his own, just as I am? Do I realize how special they are in this kingdom? Goodness even writing this is hard for me to say because I know that God has probably looked down on me thinking, she knows better, she knows that everything will be OK, that I am taking care of these kids, that I am taking care of her, he is probably saying, Kristina Kristina Kristina!!! Trust me, it is all going to go as I have planned just love these kids well and love me first, I promise I will take care of the details.

If you know me this experience has already tested my stubborn, type A, independent personality... to the almost maximum and I have only been here over a week or so.... (time flies yet seems to stand still here). This country and much of this region of the world operates at a snails pace, decisions are made but on Honduran time, so you might as well sit down, pour yourself a drink and relax because things are done on their time. It is not that this time is not good, sometimes it is nice. I live in a house with three girls, no TV and we sit in our kitchen each night, planning for classes, laughing at our accents, listening to music, sharing food. We have no agenda, no place to go and are here. God is already doing a great deal in my heart and we are only on week 2.

Sunday all of the teachers and Ms. Veronika (from England, has lived here for 25 years or so, married a Honduran) went to San Pedro Sula to buy things at a Walmart similar store, shelves, things for our houses, floor mats etc. We also went to a store that had a great deal of American foods, so nice to stock up on some things to make chocolate chip cookies down the road. Our trip was fun, exhausting... We drove back to Pena Blanca (1.5 hour drive and I fell asleep in the bus). Sunday did some P90X in my room, sweating like crazy but it felt good to do something. Matt and I went to a Catholic church walking distance from their house on Sunday night. We got directions from his neighbors and they showed us on a map how to get there. His neighbors alerted us that we would pass a church on the way but it was not the Catholic one, so we should keep going. Turns up we didn't listen because we walked up to this church and the congregation of 8 people or so were staring at us. The pastor then preceded to say welcome, (He was so excited we were there) and I asked Catholica?? Catholicm? He said 7th Day (in Spanglish)? I then immediately was like "Ok Adios, Gracias Adios" Awkward to say the least yes. We laughed because we knew something was not right but we were kind of turned around....

We made it to the Catholic Church and it was packed.. Like sitting outside in chairs kind of crowded. (We sat in these chairs) I did not understand anything. (Matt is Catholic, I only caught on to the Lords Prayer because of the rhythm, I was like "OOOO I know this one!!" ) The whole service was all in Spanish of course. Matt and I sat in the lawn chairs outside and read our bibles while the service was performed. Let me paint a small picture of the service... there was a random stray dog in the middle of the aisle the whole service, packed with people all around.... lots of children running wild. Fans on the ceilings blowing. Marriages of about 8 people or so in the middle of the service at least that is what we concluded from our understanding of the priest. I held this young girls baby who was being a bit fussy for a while during the service. Bounced her and kept her entertained for a bit.. But she quickly fussed again and I handed her back to her mom. Her mom then began breast feeding right in church, (No fancy Hooter Hider, as they have in the USA for the suburbia moms, Honduran women mean business when it comes to taking care of a baby.... if baby is hungry than baby eats even if it is in the middle of mass. I realize I should not have been surprised but I was quite distracted because she sat right next to me and we are taking communion and baby is just having dinner... Goodness me.

I am still going to update on the School. Sorry more of my posts on my reflections on the school and no enough about the school itself. I promise more are coming. But since I think my kids are adorable.. Here are some pictures of my Second Grade A class.

22 in total

More updates to come soon.... Many blessings to you.

Kristina

Deep breaths. Central America Time.

First day of school and a whole weekend to recap and I cant seem to even know where to begin. I am quite discouraged at the moment.  Today was the first day of school. I am going to get some venting off my chest first before I begin to dive into all the goodness that occurred.

Francis Chan writes,  “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.”

I have to be honest after a full day of parents wanting to meet me, asking a ton of questions,  I just stood there like a person that has just seen a ghost while still trying to maintain a smile. I explain to these parents that I do not speak Spanish. They sigh and then leave the room. I smile again and then chuckle. I dont know if I laugh because it is funny or more because I have no idea what else I am supposed to do.

All of this to say the kids are so excited. They were running in to give me hug, others were hiding behind their parents legs being shy , and did I mention they are some of the most beautiful children you could ever imagine. Their eyes are full of so much, big brown eyes, dark thick hair anyone could ever dream of. But there I am in the midst of it all, wondering how am I supposed to do this. How am I, to teach and to teach well. I want the kids to be smart, to know english but how do you teach about the oceans and lakes in science class when the kids are not able to answer in English what their favorite subject is. The truth of it is, is that none of that matters. I am afraid. I dont want to fail. You look at their sweet faces and want nothing more than to love them well, and loving them well means dedicated to teaching them well and at the moment I dont know where to begin. So I am discouraged and well thats that. It is what it is.

To switch to a more lighter side....I do have some rather funny things to share with you.  My roommates have asked to be mentioned, and those that have been mentioned wonder why they have not been mentioned yet. Two of my roommates are English. Which means I will probably come home speaking English with a British Accent more so than speaking Spanish but either way I will sound sophisticated and smarter than I am. (Thats how they sound).

They do say however the following funny things;

• Bathing Suit: You know the thing you wear to go in the pool or to a lake..... they call this SWIMMING COSTUME! (About fell on the floor laughing, not sure I will ever get over that one.
• Drinking with friends/ drinking to much: A Piss Up. Yes you read that correctly. They use the expression, "We are going to have a piss up"
• Cookies: Biscuits. Just plain weird.

A small recap of the last few days. Saturday I went to Pulpansak. (Amazing waterfall so close to where we live) The weather was beautiful and this waterfall is close and we were desperate to go swimming. So Matt and I very last minute changed our clothes and headed out to grab a taxi. We got in the taxi and he said "BOOSE, BOOSE (aka Bus)" Matt and I looked at each other and were very confused but the taxi driver told us to get in and he dropped us off at the bus. We stepped off the taxi and this man shuffled us onto the bus. We got on the public bus sat all the way in the back and waiting for it to be full. Full on a Honduras bus does not mean every seat is taken. It means that people are in the front seat with 3 kids, people are standing and then the bus is Full. The men stand outside and yell, "San Pedro, San Pedro, San Pedro" trying to get people to board so we could leave.  Our bus will take you all the way to San Pedro Sula but stops along the way, no particular stops but simply where people are standing on the side of the road. Matt and I sat, in the heat, sweating as we waited and laughed about the uncertainty about if this was the right bus to get on and if we would end up where we wanted to be. But before you know it off we went.  You do not buy a ticket for the bus but you simply pay the man standing at the door of the bus. We were nervous about knowing when we would need to get off but as if the whole bus knew where we were heading, (Bathing suits, totally American didn't give us away ;)) The bus stopped and everyone looked at us as we got off.

We walked and walked down this road and looked for the waterfall, unbeknownst to us we passed the entrance. For 40 minutes or so we walked in the scorching heat and totally lost. This nice couple stopped and I was ready to jump in the bed of their truck because I thought they would take us straight there. But instead they were kind enough to tell us we were way way way far from it, we walked to far. So they guided us back to the right place. We finally made it and the waterfall lived up to every expectation. The waterfall drops nearly 40 meters. We took a behind the waterfall tour, which means jumping in the pools, going behind the waterfall which meant we were holding hands as a group and swam underneath it all. I did not have my camera so I included the below pictures. Doesn't do it justice at all. Last part of the tour was a 35 foot or so jump into the pool. Insane but so awesome. (this would probably not be allowed in the US. It was a bit scary at times).

Does not show the magnitude of it al. 

Beautiful

Matt and I then started walking back to town, hoping that the bus that makes mystery stops would drive by and we could jump on because we had a futbol game to make in the town of Carnival.. and we were already 2 hours late. But the bus never drove by. So we kept walking and a lady stopped, speaking good English and offered a ride. We did not hesitate and got in her car. Perhaps next time we will think again but she was very nice. Her son was in the back and was watching a movie so I watched too. Funny. She had lived in New Jersey for 8 years so her English was quite good. She was heading to  visit family in our town, from San Pedro. We were so appreciative for the ride to the futbol game.

I just realized that it is already almost 7:00 and I have not gotten things ready for class tomorrow. Lots of activities in store to hopefully learn names and get an idea of where these kids are at in terms of their English skills. As well.. I will share of my Sunday trip with the group to San Pedro/ my first Church visit/ P90X in my room while it is 90 plus humidity and of course the first day of school!

Your prayers are so appreciated...

Week One In.

I am sitting right now watching the Notre Dame game on an Ipad, through facetime. The live streaming was not working so Matt had his brother put his ipad up in front of their TV at home and we are watching through Facetime. Technology is pretty incredible.

As for me I am hanging in there. We finally got our schedules for school that will start on Monday. I say finally with a bit of frustration because, we were supposed to receive them on Monday. There was a lot of back and forth between the owner of the school and the principal because instead of placing us with one classroom for the entire day they have us moving around quite a bit. This was done largely in part because there are not enough of us to go around. The school  has made it clear they want to demonstrate to the community and the parents that they bring in teachers from other countries so they have spread us across the school... I am not sure if this is the most effective way to teach the kids but either way school starts Monday and we are excited to meet our kids. I am nervous a bit how I am going to get through the textbooks to plan and  create lessons because I do not even know what you know or do not know when you are in second grade. I also have no idea how much English they can speak. Guess I will find out Monday!

In the meantime we went to the D&D Brewery last night for a good meal and a microbrew. This is the only Microbrew in the country started by an American backpacker 6 or so years ago. It is a hotel, place to get a massage, a good meal close to the lake and is the lonely planets top place for travelers in Honduras. We have found that this will be our escape and splurge spot. They also organize adventures from this point, tubing down the river, hiking in the mountains, cave diving.. etc. When I say Hotel I should mention this means huts in the rainforest that have a reliable roof and bathroom :)

Our classrooms are looking good :) Well we like to think so given the resources we had. Some construction paper, some poster board we bought in town and some sticky glue. Our apartment was a mess the last few evenings as we had paper, markers and all of our signs all over the floor. Every afternoon it begins raining at 3:30 or so and does not stop through the night. Our roof is tin so it is hard to even here yourself think.

In other news I found Coke Light in the gas station across the street! So excited. Made my day. For some reason coke light is a bit harder to find than you think.

As well I met one of my students.. She is the most beautiful girl with big brown eyes and thick dark hair. She will be in my class. I cannot wait to meet the kids.

As well I should mention I get to teach PE on Friday afternoons to the 3rd grade. I am thinking I may need to bring in sports from around the world.... Selfishly I just want to play American football :) and kickball.

View of the outside of part of the school.

The kids will decorate the jerseys on the windows.

Our Goals!

Have a Ball on your Birthday

A look inside the 2nd grade classroom

Transportation Theme Room 3rd Grade

Read the signs!

With lots of excitement and trying not to be too concerned about Monday.. I send you a picture of where I am writing from right now.... Internet at my house is down so we are visiting a friends.

He is Always Good. Life is Tough Sometimes.

Long post warning... I am currently sitting in my room as a dog barks below from my neighbors one room small hut. It doesn't make any sense to me.... I get the joy of writing and sharing my journey with all of you and others who are kind enough to care and read, while my neighbors sleep on a dirt floor. I didn't choose to be born into the home I was born into. We dont get to choose where we are born or who we are born too.  Certainly circumstances in life may get worse but sometimes it just seems not fair that I was born with a roof always over my head, two parents that love me well... that is not the case here. Life is just that I suppose, not fair, out of our control, and so good and beautiful at the same time. I write this as I learned of some very unfortunate news of a dear friend today. I want to ask for your prayers of my dear friend Amy Patwa.  If praying is not your thing I ask that you keep her, her husband and her sweet 2 year old in your mind. 

I had the joy of knowing Amy when I was a Freshman in school and we worked at a Younglife camp in Florida for a summer. Amy is strong, Amy is not giving up, but cancer is eating her body, but not killing her spirit. Amy wrote these words below in her caring bridge journal as a reflection on her most recent news with her now lung cancer battle (she was found to have a tumor in her lung only 2 months after finishing 8 months of chemo and radiation for breast cancer, her lung is now surrounding by a large tumor). She writes:

"Through tears our doctor told us she is scared for me.  That now is the time to shoot videos for my daughter and write her birthday letters.  This made the 4 hour wait worth it.  She was severely honest with us, and incredibly kind as she cried with and for us. 

We are weary, overwhelmed, sad, scared.  I have to say that the peace I had 4-6 months ago has waned.  And what I've felt lately is fear.  I feel like I knew this was coming.  As if the Lord was preparing me.  This is very surreal for the both of us.  How do you take the news that "this is killing you" and "we are going to fight it with all we've got" and marry those two competing thoughts?   I'm not giving up.  I'll try anything once.  Ultimately I want to live in peace.  I want sweet time with my beloved and sweet little lady.  I want treasured time with family and friends.  I want to live each day clinging to Jesus.  And I will still pray for a miracle. "

Visit her caring bridge, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amypatwa

I write this with tears streaming my face because it is all a bit overwhelming at the moment, the reality of it all, that the world is so broken, so much is needed and so many are hurting and there is so much to do, and I am so not capable of making even a dent in the mix. I certainly do not know the solution to the worlds problems, nor would I be one to make judgement as to what should be done, or what you are or what you are not doing. Perhaps my prayer is that we can cling tightly to those around us, love others well because this life is short, hard and weary but if we act as though others don't matter things are surely only going to get worse. My favorite book I read recently is called Kisses from Katie and she writes the quote below and writes this much better than I could:

"Sometimes working in a Third World country makes me feel like I am emptying the ocean with an eyedropper. And just when I have about half a cup full of water it rains: More orphaned children from the north migrate to where I live, more orphaned and dead babies are found, more people are infected with HIV. It is enough to discourage even the most enthusiastic and passionate person. And yet the discouragement lasts only a moment and God tells me to keep going. That He loves me. That He loves these people. That He will never leave or forsake any of us, not one. That my work is important-to Him." Kisses from Katie (book)

Every child and every face you just want to sweep up in your arms and clean them up, give them a bath and give them lotion to make them feel better. Rooms with dirt floors, homes without a roof, no shoes on children...but the quote above puts it best, there is so much need, and so many people, so many starving.

Yesterday we spent the remainder of our day trying to go to the bank to find out we needed our passports, buying shelves for my room to then forget that the man gave me my 10 limpiras back and I then accused him of charging me more, where then it was as though he grabbed the store manager....and I saw that the money I put in my purse. SO EMBARRASSING. I then repeatedly said “Lo Siento, Lo Siento” I am sorry, I am sorry. 

Today was spent at the school, looking at our books and trying to figure out where we are to begin planning lessons with only two more days until school starts. Not all of our textbooks have teacher editions.. so we are still working through how we are to teach. The rest of our evening was spent beginning to make classroom decorations. I have opted for a sports theme room in one and a traveling/traffic theme in the other. You may be asking why two classrooms? We are one teacher short which means I am teaching both classes of 2nd grade, 50 or so children. Math, Science, Reading, Phonics, Grammar, Writing. I have no idea how I will do this or be ready by Monday but ready or not they are coming on Monday! Other teachers will step in to help while I am with the other classroom and then Classroom A is in Spanish or PE for example. I will write my schedule later so you can get a better idea.

As well we got a huge water tank installed on our porch. All i took was 4 men, climbing a tree, using rope to wrap around the post in our apartment through the door to leverage the massive thing up to our porch. Quite a sight to see to say the least.

I am exhausted today.. more funny stories and information about the school and pictures to follow.

Muchas Bendiciones para tiMany blessings to you
Kristina

La escuela. Some Pictures Finally.

Llegamos a la escuela hoy y consiguió nuestro tour. La escuela es preescolar hasta octavo grado. Aprendí que yo enseñando a todos los temas, no sólo en inglés. Rogad por mí, por favor.

I am working very hard on my Spanish so may be practicing while using a online translator. The above says. We arrived at the school and received a tour. The school is preschool through 8th grade. I learned that I am going to be teaching all subjects, not just English. Pray for me, please! More details on this below.

After living here only three short days, I have quickly learned that there will me many things that are, "You know you live in Central America when?"

For example:

• It is raining and all of sudden it is as well raining in your house. (true story)

• You go to the bank. and 8 men with machine guns are on all corners of the block as you approach. You then must show your ID, get your bagged searched to go inside. Where then they lock the door behind you and a man stands inside with a gun as well.

• ATM; Inside where the ATM is located in one of the few places in the country where it is air conditioned.

• A dead cat, is flattened like a pancake on the side of the road, everything all laid out.. and you know if only happened moments ago before you walked by (RIP kitty in Pena Blanca today)

• Oranges grow above your porch and that is breakfast.

• Trash is well everywhere and there is no concept of picking it up.

• You sweat in the morning, in the day and at night but grow goosebumps in the shower because its as though someone imported water from the Arctic Ocean and brought it here.

• Beer is very expensive but spirits (My fabulous British roommates call liquor spirits, love that) is very cheap.

There will be many many more of this I am certain but for now that is all I can think of. In other news I now know that I am teaching 2nd Grade. This will be my home room class. I get to start decorating and hopefully will get the textbooks with the curriculum tomorrow to start laying out my plans. I will teach Phonics, Reading, Spelling, Math, Science, and not sure if I forgot something... The kids as well go to PE, Bible, Music, Art, Agriculture, and Spanish as elective courses. While my 2nd grade is in Electives I am also teaching 8th Grade English! YIKES!

Myself along with the others were very shocked to know that we are teaching ALL subjects. Not sure where we either misread or misinterpreted but we thought we were only teaching English courses but we have quickly learned this is not true.

Our school has 2- 1st grade classes, 2 2nd grade classes, 2 3rd grade classes, 2 4th grade glasses, 2 5th grade classes, 1 6th, 1 7th and 1 8th. The only other teacher besides the 4 girls here now and the four boys is a lady that is from England but married a Honduran 30 years ago and teaches at the school. Crazy I know. She was wonderful and providied very helpful information about the school, the area, traveling in the country, going to the beach. Lots of things to look forward too.

All in all though I am so excited to meet the kids, their beautiful faces, love on them well and hopefully give them a great school year. I must say though it is all a little bit overwhelming.. So much to share and so very little time... I must get some sleep.

With lots of love and joy.... blessings to you from Honduras.Newest 2nd grade teacher and 8th ;)

Entrance to our house. You are probably thinking this is very nice and let me tell you it is.. All of the windows used to be stores and this was the hallway to the inside mall. They converted this to our apartment.

My bedroom. This is a work in progress. No shelves or wardrobe (Another word my British roommates use often) but hopefully soon!

Our outside wash basin on our porch.

Our kitchen, only one fridge works :)

The view from our porch outside.

Lake Yojoa, the largest lake in the country. We live 2 minutes from this. Incredible.

Overlooking the bridge in the middle of town.

This channel of water goes to the lake. Most locals bathe and wash their clothes in this because they otherwise do not have running water.

Day 2 ish... So Incredible.

Day 1 

Warning... Internet is a bit questionable at this point. But my roommate and I are stealing from the shop downstairs ;) So if your reading this.. consider yourself lucky ;)

After saying goodbye to my dad in Houston i had my last cup of Starbucks, Einsteins and waited to board for San Pedro Sula. I was fortunate to have a whole row to myself so I slept the whole plane ride, only to be woken up with horrible dreams. (dreams about coming down here... not very convenient considering my plane was in route). We flew over the Island of Rotan and the coral reefs. It was beautiful. The crystal blue water.. In that moment I looked over the window, as I sat on a plane with a group of people none of who spoke English...... and I realized how great and big the god of the world is. How he looks at even the smallest speck on the worlds map and designs and creates it so it has his image impressed upon it. In those moments as well I remembered why I was coming, why I chose to move here and that each day I hope I look at each face and each person as though god did the very moment he created them.  He says you are beautifully and wonderfully made.. he whispers in their ear and tells them you are mine.

I quickly overcame my fear as I passed through customs smoothly,  grabbed my luggage and walked out of customs. I looked and looked and could not find anyone wtih a name for the school so I decided to walk around a bit. The airport has 3 terminals only and was very small… not scary as some mentioned. I have found that Wendys, Dunkin Donuts are staples in Honduras. Good to know :) I soon found our group, Faye from Manchester, Matt from Ohio, Thomas from Houston, Nick from North Carolina and his friend from Munich… Along with them was Shelly who drives the van each day to take us to school... He drove like a champ in what was similar to a horrible nascar race...

We piled in a 15 passenger van with all of our things and ventured on what was a bit of a typical central american car ride… no concept of traffic, man in the road in a wheel chair, broken down cars, children running on the side of the road. THe country to say the very very least is very poor. Average Honduran makes 300 usd a month. We stopped by a similar superstore to that of Walmart in the states (that was for you Meagan) to stock up on things for our house, my list included, flip flops (yes I forgot them), a yoga mat, coffee pot, towels, a pillow, a football and well… that was it. We were told our apartment is being finished at the moment so it was tough to anticipate what to buy.

We stopped quickly at wendys for lunch and an hour half later we are at the lake in Pena Blanca. The school is nestled back by the lake and is simply beautiful. Town is shaped like a T and our apartment is above a Chinese Restaurant and consists of what used to be retail shops they converted to our bedrooms.. HUGE Rooms. Parents from the school who's kids are on scholarship were cleaning and building the apartment as we walked in. Around 8 people or so, all working hard for our arrival. We have beautiful tile floors that will be dirty I am sure all the time… dust seems to collect. Faye and I died laughing at how we will live in such a large place. ( at this moment about 12 different men are trying to decide how they will install Internet in such a large place)

We have a patio/ deck. No railings yet so it is a bit scary but it overlooks a yard of green lush tress, bushes, trash and our neighbors are cooking breakfast outside right now. Stray dogs are everywhere, the rooster crows and unusual smells fill the air, often times the smell of smoke. There is no tax and or organized government so therefore their is no trash pick up so you must arrange for it yourself or burn it in your yard.

We then stopped by the boys house to see there pink cottage and yard filled with all sorts of fruits. We piled in a truck and drove to the nearby hotel that is owned but the same family that owns the school. They fed us for free and we then felt as though we were on some incredible resort. They took us out on Lake Yojoa and we watched as others danced and sang the best of the 80s and 90s. Pure joy and the lake was beautiful.

I learned that I will be teaching all subjects!!!!! YIKES!! and all in English. I do not know yet the grade but either way it will be fun. I can't wait for PE. Suppose I am still a kid after all too.... When in doubt recess will be extended for the day.

This morning Monday, I mopped the floor and waited on one of the guys to go on a run and he never showed up. So instead I came back in, (We don't have phones and I didn't want to wander off alone to find him) and did some yoga inside… Faye washed her clothes on our porch this morning while I picked oranges from our tree and ate them. She already told me there won't be any left because I will have eaten them all. (They are so good)

We are going to wander town today.. buy cell phones and a variety of things for our house that we need. The list is growing….

Towels, floor mats, paper towels, mirrors, place to put my clothes or build a clothes line...

With incredible joy and excitement from what is one beautiful country.. Many blessings to you all..

Pictures will soon follow :)

Travel Day 1

I am sitting at the airport, with my sister and her husband waiting on our plane to California. We are delayed... seems I have not had the best of luck traveling these days but in an hour we are on our way. You may ask Why California? Well, My cousin David is getting married in Long Beach so my final days in the states will be sunny Southern Cal with my family.

I turned in my keys to my apartment yesterday, drove my car up to winter park to store it (had a tough time finding the house, it was super dark and Meg and I got lost, funny story, but so not funny at the time), with the help of a recently acquired dear friend I was able to disconnect the battery, i have successfully  slept on the floor for four days and spent the last week with friends, all wishing me well in my new adventure. Thank you all for spending time, making time to say your goodbyes, I so appreciate all the kind words and encouragement. As for my goods, they are all in storage and all that remains are....two bags and a backpack. Nothing like cramming a year worth of life in a two bags.

I am not sure if excited is the right word to describe how I feel, in all honesty its the unknown and the change that I look forward too. I tend to forget that I will be teaching (Sounds silly I know, but when you are packing your life up to move for a year, your focus tends to be on the present and that is to make sure everything gets done in time before you have to leave; car insurance, notify bank that you will be country hopping, cancel your energy bill, pay final water bills, make sure your bills are paid, move out of an apartment, put your things in storage, say goodbye to friends, laundry... etc. the list continues......

Many of you have asked lots of questions and to be honest I do not know much at this point, rumor has it that I may teach 2nd grade! Which would be fantastic! However I am certain whatever classroom of children I am given they will be the perfect fit for me and teach me much more than I will ever teach them. I will post more on details, what my housing is like, what my life is like... so much to look forward too! I am told I will live with two other teachers but at this point I still have yet to know who they are.... so more on that as well.

As for a bit of timeline, I am in Long Beach until Saturday night, where my dad and I will take a Red Eye to Houston. (Business has him changing is plans which selfishly I am glad because we will fly together and he will see me off in Houston).. I leave the States at 8:49 Central Time from Houston..I arrive in San Pedro Sula on Sunday morning at 10:42 am. My bags are packed. Super excited that my big duffle, came in at 45 lbs. (50 is the limit) and my pack was 26 lbs only. (WHOO WHOO) Small victory that made my morning!

I will share more I am sure.. for now I will hang with my family..

My room for the last 4 days...

My battery.. Thanks to one of the greatest people I met, I was able to disconnect the battery and my dearest Meg Day drove me to Winter Park.

Will miss you car.. So long 8 months.

DIA Thursday Morning.. pre 8 hour delay....

Me and my life packed for 8 months.

Just me.. nervous, excited, afraid... all of the above.

Warmest Regards sent from the Rockies for the last time.
Will surely miss Colorado, it has been so good to me.
Kristina

*** Should provide a disclaimer, that grammar, misspellings, mistakes are going to be frequent. I figure i am teaching kids how to properly speak english so I figure its ok if I have a place where I can just let my thoughts fall...