Hikes, holidays, and hard work.

Last weekend was a 2.5-day weekend, so we all ganged up on our friend Sonia, the Costa Rican veterinarian and colorful Intercambio leader, to get her to take us to hike El Boqueron. We took the 8am bus to Catacamas, and Sonia yelled at the driver to let us off about 20 min. from the city. A dirt road that came out of nowhere onto the highway marked the starting point of a 4 hour hike to the summit of Boqueron. Sonia, being a smart woman, brought along another Boqueron-seasoned Honduran friend, Boni, and enlisted a local landholder, Don José as our tour guide. She charged off up the mountain as we trailed behind, inviting another group of 4 gringos who rushed up in their rental car and flagged us down, excited to see other gringos who knew where the trailhead was. They are 2 married couples, teaching at a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa. 3 hours and a near heat-stroke later, we reached our destination, about an hour from the summit. Don José has a house up in the forested section of the mountainside, where he keeps farming tools and various odds and ends. He was a most interesting man, hardly decipherable but talking all the way up the mountain, showing us wild coffee plants, picking up fallen avocadoes and telling me to stuff them in my mochila, all the while whacking away at the tall grass with his machete. We went through about 3 different ecological habitats on the way up, from flat farmland to grasses taller than my head, and finally into cooler mountain rainforest. Anne and Andrew even got some awesome photos of a tree frog and a colorful caterpillar. We also saw the most beautiful butterfly ever, a deep blue, that followed me up the last half hour. I saw lacewing butterflies (like the ones in my Costa Rica photos), a huge ant nest built into the side of a tree, and a strangler fig, just like in Costa Rica. The national forest Boqueron is supposedly the largest expanse of virgin cloudforest in the country, and boasts some enormous variety of birds. I don't think it was the right time of day to see birds, or the right time of day to be hiking (8-11am the sun was high and beating down on our side of the mountain). But it was a fun getaway and adventure all the same, even though Sonia is ruthless and told half of us that we are weaklings and shouldn't try to hike any more mountains. We rested at Don José's house while the Hondurans braved the ticks and another 1 hour hike up to pick oranges. Then it was back down the mountain to wait at the road for the next bus from Catacamas.

Sunday we celebrated Angela's 30th birthday with spicy spaghetti (we are still figuring out the red hot chile pepper purchase from the farmer's market the other weekend). Andrew outdid himself with a triple-layer chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and strawberries cake. And Michelle and Bridget brought a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne. The honor of being the oldest American volunteer in OAF (well, except for Padre of course), is cause for celebration. Thanks for taking the heat off me, Angela!

This week was full of hectic short schedules and workshops from professors at University of San Francisco. They brought 2 laptops and projectors, for which we are ever thankful and will love to use to boost our science lessons. The kids enjoyed the short days in which we wasted a lot of time thinking it was time for recess, or getting excited about the different Fisíca schedules.

This afternoon, we were all fried, the normal Friday afternoon feeling. Maki did a simulation lesson with us to show how difficult it is for our kids to sit and listen to us talk in English all day. She taught an entire lesson in Spanish about the Honduran flag. Of course, a few of us had to goof off, which resulted in a note being passed around the room. When Maki noticed and stopped the class to address the note-making, it read: La Profe es bonita. This is so typical of our kids! Kinder through 6th, we will finish ranting at a kid for running, or not paying attention, or not doing their homework. "And go move your pin to yellow!" And the kids looks up with puppy dog eyes: "Meez, you are beeeuut-y-fool." Yes, yes, thank you my dear. You are still in trouble! :-P

Which reminds me of the other reason I love teaching these kids. My afternoon class is taking the 3rd grade math assessment, so I can see what they have forgotten (a lot), and what they still remember (a little). I am teaching Salute! to the early finishers at the back of the room. I turn around and notice 5 girls drawing on the white board at the front. "Girls! Are you finished?" "NO Meez!" They answer happily, and continue drawing. "Why are you writing? Go back to your seat! FINISH!" I yell in exasperation. They run back to their seats, revealing huge notes in capital letters:
"MISS SUSONG IS GOOD TEACHER!"
Yes, yes, and I'm so glad you are writing in English... but I will STILL be frustrated with you when you are not following directions!

I was still teaching away at 12:15 this afternoon, determined to get in a read-aloud related to a science experiment we are doing with bean plants. The kids are really involved in the whole growing beans concept. They were amazed to see that roots really do sprout out of those little red beans that they eat daily, and to see how quickly they grow. I had the perfect story to read- The Garden, a Frog and Toad story. The kids already know Frog and Toad from previous read-alouds I've done so far. In fact, these are the only stories I can get them to sit and listen to consistently, because they are so short and predictable, and because I do these crazy miming and acting skits while reading, where I change back and forth constantly from Frog to Toad. So I'm reading The Garden, a ridiculous anecdote in which Toad plants some seeds and becomes very frustrated when they do not grow immediately. He tries a barrage of useless tactics, like reading stories to the seeds, singing songs, playing his violin... all of which is futile. Finally he falls asleep and when he wakes up, the seeds are growing. He is happy, but it was hard work. Ok, so it was probably more to do with my leaning my head to the floor and screaming, "NOW SEEDS, START GROWING!" that got their attention, but for the last 2 pages, my students all turned around in their chairs, pulled close to me, as if to create an audience, and listened with captive faces while I sang pathetic opera and recited Roses are Red, so they would understand what a poem is. They even answered questions for me at the end:

Does singing help plants to grow?
NO MEEEZ!
Does reading and playing music help plants to grow?
NOOOOO!
What helps plants to grow?
SUN! WATER!
LOVE! (shouts Rafael)
Like hugs and kisses? If I hug the bean, will it grow? (I take a bean out of our experiment and hug it).
NOOO MEEZ!
Should I kiss the bean? Will that make it grow?
KISS THE BEAN, MEEZ! KISS THE BEAN! YES, it will grow!

Ok, now we're just being silly. (I give the bean a big smooch, cheered on by whoops and claps from the kids.) Now go pack up!


I love teaching fourth grade. But it is hard work.