April 2011: La Boda Real

 Easter came late this year, which means so did Spring Break.  I felt like April was just one big countdown until Semana Santa.  We get the whole week off before Easter.  And you know what I did?  Absolutely nothing.  I decided to stay in town and truly relax.  Like I mentioned in the last post, we were in the heat of summer.  Much of my free time was spent trying to keep cool.  (Remember we have no A/C here!!!)  I took walks to the river...

 And enjoyed afternoons at the pool...

I think this may be the first Spring Break where I came back to school completely refreshed and reenergized to come back to class.

Sadly I didn't get to watch the Royal Wedding (we don't have T.V. this year).  However, the weekend after Spring Break my friend, Orson, invited me to attend the wedding of a childhood friend and it was GRAND!  Orson is from a small town called Santa Rita, located right outside Copan Ruinas.

The wedding itself took place in Copan Ruinas.  We arrived a few minutes before 6:00 (the start time on the invitation).  We were one of a handful of tables actually on time for the wedding.  The wedding finally began around 8:00!!!  We had lots of time to waste waiting on the wedding to begin...

The setup was beautiful.  It was an outdoor wedding and the weather was perfect and cool.  There must have been around 400 guests invited...

The ceremony in Honduras is very different.  There was a procession of people carrying various props that would be used in the wedding- bread and wine for communion, oils, and finally a treasure box (I'll get to the significance later).  There were no attendants.  In Honduran weddings, the bride and groom choose a couple to be the "padrinos" of the wedding.  They serve as mentors throughout the marriage.  The ceremony lasted about an hour.  It was very sweet and personal.  The groom dropped to his knee to say his vows...

During the first kiss there were fireworks...



It really was a fairytale wedding.  At the end of the ceremony the bride picked up the treasure box.  I was dying to know what was inside.  She held it up and explained that when she was a young girl she made a vow to give God her virginity.  He had guarded it for her and today was the day that she would give it to her husband.  On that note, she passed the box to her husband.  T.M.I.???  Really it made for some good jokes between the groom's friends throughout the night.

The troublemakers and lifelong friends with the groom...

After the ceremony there was a slide show and a short dinner (which was one of the tastiest meals I've eaten in Honduras).  It was very different from the receptions that I am used to.  There was no dancing.  There was no cake.  Everyone just left after they finished eating.  We stayed around and visited with the bride and groom a while....

It was a lovely affair and I was privileged to be invited to share such a special night. 



March 2011: El Comienzo del Verano

Once rainy season is over, it gets HOT!  With the public schools on a February-November schedule, Easter is the big "Summer Break."  Around March the bathing suits and floaties come out and signs of summer start to show.  I planned a few things in first grade to help us stay cool.

We made ice cream in zip lock baggies.  All  you do is put milk, vanilla and sugar in a small baggie.  In a larger bag, put ice and salt.  Place the smaller bag inside the big bag and  shake, shaaaaKE, SHAKE!!!

I scream.  You scream.  We all scream in first grade!

Another annual tradition is Minerva School Summer Days.  We took all of the kids to the pool one Friday and planned a whole day of fun in the sun.

These guys are ready to play water games...

The "Slippery Watermelon" turned into a summer snack...

We LOVED the water slide...

And of course there HAD to be bubbles involved!

Poor Miss Julie was so busy worrying about the kids that she forgot to put on sunblock!

Ouch!  But it was the perfect way to cool off from the summer heat.  It's fun to get out of the school and let the kids be kids.  I feel fortunate to teach in a school where play is still valued.  Check back tomorrow.  I'm taking you along to my first Honduran wedding!

February 2011: El Mes Ocupado

February was a busy and exciting month at school.  All year we've been counting the number of days of school.  I have a lilly pad number line and each day we have a frog that "hops" to the next number.  We also have a countdown on the board to the 100th day of school.  We finally hit that mark in February!   The students walked in to find 100 balloons strung across our room...

Among other activities, we made "Hip, Hip, Hooray for the 100th Day!" hats and strung 100 fruitloops to make a necklace...

A week later it was time to celebrate Dia del Amor y la Amistad, or Valentine's Day.  I was totally spoiled by my kids.  Look how many sweet regalos...

And of course I spoiled them back....

And what Valentine's party would be complete without Funfetti cupcakes?...

We made Valentine mailboxes and exchanged cards.  Each student brought Valentine's from home.  One thing that I love is that they do not sell Valentines in the stores here.  Each one is handmade with love and they are all so creative and cute....

Happy Valentine's Day from first grade!...

February was also Science Fair Month at the school.  Since the lower grades were no longer participating (since the teachers end up doing most of the work at that age), I planned a Messy Science Day for 1st-3rd grade to get them involved.  We got the older students to help run the experiments and supervise groups.  Each group rotated around to 8 different tables.  It was a fun day and hopefully the students learned some science, too! 

We fossilized some bugs...



Exploded Bubble Bombs...

Wrote messages with invisible ink...

Made Snot...

Magnified objects with water...

Learned about color with Ink Blots and Polka Dots...

Got our hands messy and learned how polar bears survive in icy water...

And made colorful, fizzy foam...



It was a hot day so we cooled off with a slice of watermelon...

Big messes were made and great fun was had by all. 

The older students (4th grade and up) got to showcase their experiements in a Science Fair a couple of days later.  I'll leave you with some highlights from the day.

Some of the 4th graders built a neat water-powered rocket.  Watch closely what happens during the demonstration!  Going...

Going...

Gone!...

And more scientists hard at work...

Check back tomorrow.  We're headed to the pool!

January 2011: El Año Nuevo

New Year.  New country.  January 1, 2011 we boarded a plane to the third and final country on our tour- a visit with Dad and Annette in Cartegena, Colombia...

We settled into our "home" for the week and Ale made friends quickly...

 This is one of my favorite cities in the world.  So many pretty colors...

Both of my trips to Cartagena have centered around Christmas.  They do such a great job of decorating the city.  There are lights all over town and in all of  the parks...

We walked around the "Old City" and saw the sights...

We got to visit Fort San Felipe...

And La Popa...

Where Ale and Tori made some new friends...

We had a good relax in a mud volcano...

And toured the Gold Museum...

But we also just enjoyed being in a big city.  We shopped at the mall, ate in good restraunts and saw TWO movies!  It was the perfect way to end our adventure before returning home to our quiet little Gracias.