Today is Labor Day in Honduras

Brian and I have been having a lot of fun with the fifth graders doing the creative activities project. On Tuesday, we did a sort of ‘relay race’ with them. Each group started off with a puzzle that they had to put together, then they had to solve a series of math problems, last they received cut up letters and had to figure out the phrase: Vuelo de los Huevos (which means Flight of the Eggs). This activity was pretty difficult for them, but they also had a lot of fun. The best part was when we explained what Flight of the Eggs means for them. Next week they have to build a protective case for an egg which they are going to drop from the gazebo in the park. They love love love this idea! The kids got so excited which in turn made Brian and I get really excited!

We really enjoy this project and every week we come home feeling really good about it. We feel that the teacher and the students are learning a lot from this project. Brian and I are definitely learning a lot as well! We are making notes of what is working and what doesn’t work as well as changes we want to make for the future. We hope to continue this project in at least two more schools, but hopefully more. I am also learning a lot about classroom management and the challenges that come with an out of control class (or a very large class). We have also been trying to keep the out of pocket cost of this project low so that the teacher (and other teachers) can maybe do the project with their students on their own. So far we feel we have been successful with keeping the cost low.

Other non-work related news: the new set of volunteers are swearing in tomorrow. This new group is of different projects than ours – Health, Business, and Water and Sanitation (as the old group of these projects left on April 19). Southern Intibucá (the province in which we live) is receiving 3 new volunteers (all male which is good for Brian because currently there are only girls and good for the other girls!). We are excited to meet them and will be heading up to La Esperanza next week for a welcome party.

It looks like Brian and I have both come down with a case of scabies – pretty gross, yes. Not quite sure how we got them, but oh well! We were also attacked by a giant army of ants…small ants, but they BITE (or sting)! We had a fierce battle but I am pretty confident that I won this one, although it was not without some injuries. When they realized I was trying to kill them they decided to attack and got me real good all over my feet. Lesson learned is wear shoes when fighting biting ants. Also, it seems poor Maya is a breeding ground for tics, but we seem to have cured this problem with lots of shampoo and tic medication. Apparently tics like cows and there are lots of cows around here – so when we walk Maya she gets them.