Hotdogs and Hand Turkeys

First, a bit on the weather. Apparently there's a cold front or something passing through Honduras, meaning that as far as the forecast predicts on my phone, I can see only rain. It's been raining for the last few days and is predicted to continue for at least the next week. Along with the rain has come cold, meaning that the weather is in the 60s. Accustomed to the crazy Honduran heat, we've all been wandering around in fleeces and avoiding showering because we have no hot water.

The rain started on Wednesday night. The thing about rain here is that it usually means no running water. Supposedly the rain floods the sewers, potentially contaminating the reservoirs. To avoid distributing contaminated water, the government turns off the water. Except for sometimes the water goes off when it hasn't rained in days, so I'm really not quite sure about it all.

On Tuesday afternoon we had scrubbed and cleaned our pila (the uncovered back-up water supply tank behind every home,) meaning that on Wednesday we hadn't yet had a chance to fill it back up. Wednesday night when it started to rain, we realized we needed to fill our pila and planned to turn on the tap before we went to bed. But, as expected, we forgot. Wednesday morning we awoke, realized that there was no water in the pila, looked at the forecast for the week, saw the mountain of dirty dishes we hadn't done in a few days, and realized we hadn't really prepared for this. We had no water and no clean dishes. Oh well, life in Honduras. Fortunately for us, the rain hasn't been constant, so the water has come back on periodically. We managed a deep-clean of the kitchen on Thursday and the pila is now completely full.

Thursday. Thanksgiving. Celebrating Thanksgiving is a tradition at CBS. The school likes the values of family and being thankful, and as the holiday is becoming more celebrated in Honduras, it makes sense to recognize Thanksgiving at school. The American teachers were asked to give a short presentation about the holiday. Amanda had her notes from last year's presentation, so she gave the same 4-minute presentation while a few of us showed poor-quality printed photos of turkey dinners to the kids. Somehow they thought the turkey looked awesome.

After the presentation, I had to cover a seventh grade class for a teacher who was absent. I walked into their classroom to find donuts, sandwiches, Pepsi, and cookies everywhere. As I entered, they shoved food into my hands. I was completely fine with partying with them, as no lesson plans had been left by their math teacher. The only thing I had planned was to make hand turkeys with them, the same activity I would later repeat with Prepa. I knew watching seventh graders make hand turkeys (the most juvenile Thanksgiving craft on Pinterest) would be great. If we're being honest, approximately 40% of the activities I do at school are for my own entertainment, so I showed them the example I'd made, handed them crayons, and then hung all their finished turkeys up for display on the wall. I'm pretty sure their English teacher also got a kick out of it.

Prepa hand turkeys bested 7th grade hand turkeys.

Partway through our hand turkey and feeding frenzy, one of the boys spotted a mouse. He started screaming, all the kids started screaming, I'm pretty sure I started screaming. When the boys started following the mouse over the divider that separates seventh grade from eighth grade, I told everyone to go outside. We collected ourselves and reentered the room to resume eating.

After seventh grade it was time for the Prepa party. The Prepa Spanish teacher, Miss Betty, had made a list of food that delegated specifically what each kid should contribute, according to family's financial situation. I had seen the list of food items beforehand and decided not to comment on the projected menu. When I arrived kids were eating fried tortillas with beans and cheese, orange juice, and sandwiches. Later, I found out that the girl who brought the sandwiches had misunderstood her task and had simply brought a loaf of bread. Isis, the aide, got ham and cheese from the cafeteria and did some last-minute sandwich-making for the kids.

We're still really working on the idea of sharing.

Our party consisted then of singing our new dinosaur songs (letter D,) watching J is for Jellyfish videos, playing outside, returning inside for fruit salad, and making our hand turkeys. The kids fought over the leaf decorations I had for their turkeys and struggled with using glue sticks, as usual. We talked about what we were thankful for and acted out turkey sounds and motions. The kids were thankful for everything from lettuce to tablets to mothers. Then it was time for cake and more juice, after which only one of the kids threw up on the floor. We passed out bags of candy, and the day was done. I was completely exhausted and so full from the food that everyone kept handing me.

After school I went to tutoring. When I arrived at Hernan's house, I was told that we wouldn't be doing lessons, instead we would all hang out together. There were lots of people at his house, most of whom I'm assuming are family. We ate corn on the cob and a warm corn drink, and then they sent me home with eleven corn tamales. I kind of sensed a theme to their Thanksgiving cuisine.

At home, one of the Honduran teachers from school had stopped by with his entire family. Earlier in the day he had promised that he and his family would be bringing by hotdogs to our house for dinner, mentioning that they would "his special recipe." Uncertain how one could possibly make hotdogs with a "special recipe," I have to admit we were a bit skeptical. Mr. Rafael and family arrived with tons of food that they assembled and served us for dinner. It turns out that the special recipe was some french fries inside a bun, topped with hotdog-esque sausage pieces, then covered in coleslaw, pulled pork, and I think some sauce. It was good and so very kind of them.

All said, the day was not what I would have expected from a Honduran Thanksgiving. It was also unlike any Thanksgiving I'd ever had before, even the Thanksgivings I used to spend with my family at water parks in Wisconsin. I really am truly thankful for all of this, whatever it even is.

Because I suppose it's the season of giving, there's one more thing. We've finally launched our school fundraiser, with the aim of raising money to construct a full functional library for our students. This means getting custom-made shelves that protect books from our leaking roof, as well as buying new books that aren't from the 1970s. If you'd like to check out our fundraising GoFundMe page, here is the link: http://www.gofundme.com/cofradiaschool. At the bottom of the page there is a short documentary - the short version of the full-length documentary that Liz's brother is currently working on - about the school, including some footage of me talking and teaching. It gives a nice sense of the school and what volunteers are trying to do here, so feel free to even just check out the video. No need to donate, though I can guarantee that any and all donations anyone wants to share will be used to directly benefit our students. This blog post that I wrote a month and a half ago talks about why I believe in what I'm doing here and support the school I'm working with, because I still really, really do. Please let me know if you have any questions at all about the school, our fundraiser, or other ways to support these kids. Thanks y'all.