My Whereabouts

Well, figured I would update people on what I do on a daily basis. I just wrote an email breaking down the hours in my day, so I will do that here as well... It's kind of comical.

6:30am or 7am - 8:30am -- I go to the gym to combat the massive carb/oil intake in
my diet at the moment. I am proud to say I have been slightly successful!

8:45am - 9:30am -- Shower and eat. I am now showering outside of the Evil Bathroom because it is evil and doesn't have water after 7am. The other shower is located in the kitchen/family dining area, which has direct view of the dining area where Hondurans (of course mostly men) are eating their breakfast. Nothing like drawing attention to yourself by walking into view with a towel and shower stuff. I also don't like the fact that I have to bring clothes to change into to leave the shower, because I inevitably look weird and people still stare.

After I get dressed, I go back to the kitchen, where I bumble around like a fool, looking for food and then means to cook it with. Albita and Margarita (they work in the kitchen) have been really patient with me in their territory. I generally end up eating an egg, beans and tortillas for breakfast because it's easiest to assemble. If I'm lucky, they might have some version of cooked banana for a minor amount of healthy food intake. Who am I kidding, it's always got some form of oil involved.

9:45am - 3pm -- I go to ODECO. Usually I stay from 12pm - 2pm when everyone goes to
work, because that is my quiet time. This is usually when I do my shameless internet surfing. I usually check my email, log on to Facebook, and then open the internet page of a local news source to look mildly busy. I constantly monitor Facebook (I've like become Big Brother on Facebook) while hitting up Cnn.com, BBC News, National Geographic website (still haven't gotten over the fact they have a website!! AMAZING), and I'm ashamed to admit I even go to PEOPLE.com on the slow news days. I know more about American pop culture now than when I was living in the States.

3pm - 5pm -- Anymore, because I have been teaching English classes with Educatodos, I leave ODECO a little early because a) I'm not really doing anything b)I like to chill with the fam before I leave again. Again, create a meal for myself from scraps in the kitchen and then head up to the other side of town for the classes.

Educatodos is a program started by the Secretary of Education geared towards students who work and aren't able to attend school during the day. I'm teaching 7th grade and 8th grade in English. These kids are anywhere from 13 years old - 21 years old. They have all dropped out and are taking these classes to get their diploma. It's night school basically.

Until I came along they haven't had anyone teaching them English. They just have books with a CD that they follow along and complete the exercises. So, needless to say they haven't really been learning any English.

The kids are pretty ridiculous, and kind of piss me off sometimes. They're always bouncing around, distracted by each other, but they're good kids. I have to work on setting some ground rules, but they seem eager to learn English. Well, English that pertains to their lives, like saying: "I love you" or "Mission Impossible." I did a grammar session last night, that they silently suffered through, but it's going better than the first couple of classes.

I'm actually devoting a lot of time to it. I'm there almost every week night, and last night found out they're having classes Sat. 8 - 11 and Sunday 8 - 10. We'll see if I go to those sessions, because that's a bit much. But, it's nice to be doing something to keep me feeling like I'm actually being productive.

After Educatodos, I usually get a ride home from my supervisor, who I repeatedly have to shoot down, explaining to him that I don't want to be his girlfriend! Last night, he dropped me off, pulled forward to the door to the main part of the house, and gave my host sister some stupid key chain and FERRERO ROCHE!!!! WTF? Ferrero Roche is the only chocolate in this country that comes close to resembling the goodness of chocolate in the States. You'd think, for as much as Hondurans like sweets, that they would be better at chocolate, but it just isn't true. I should be nice to him, because I'm really start to get desperate for some good chocolate. I thought about mentioning that I like chocolate (he offered to get me flowers), but that would be too close to admitting the possibility of a relationship. Hence, I continue without chocolate.

And that folks is just about my daily life. Of course, there are different things thrown in, like poo-water flooding the house or random, awkward experiences.

You're jealous, aren't you?