Small Mercies

             RAIN!!! After almost three months we were finally blessed with a good, solid shower last night (and I don’t mean with running water…although I did get to have one of those Tuesday morning!) I was able to breathe easy (literally) last night, and even slept with the window open!

This came hot on the heels of another minor miracle. My laptop and lifeline to the outside world had decided to stop working for some reason, and I was NOT pleased with the unfortunate turn of events. I cannot imagine what would have made it just stop like that. It’s not like I stayed up until 10:30pm reading comics on the internet, and then knocked the computer on the hard, concrete floor. And I would never even imagine, not even out of desperation at 11:45 on a school night, of trying to take apart the computer casing to see if something had been knocked loose by any kind of impact. Never! Thankfully, a good night’s sleep seems to have revived my portal to civilization, although exactly how is a true mystery (my theory is magical Honduran elves.)

My students continue to be…well…students, which in retrospect is a vast improvement on previous months! One student in particular has made an incredible turn-about, and is now one of the better students in the school! Let’s hope that some of the others follow her example!

In other news, my dream of taking students on a field trip to the Mayan ruins of Copan will soon be a reality! In just three weeks we will be taking the kids (those with a high enough grade in World History or Geography that is) on a three day field trip to the ruins. It is my hope that this will bring their “History to life” is it were, and maybe make learning just that little bit more interesting.

I am also happy to report that the long-standing problem of Brian appears to be resolving itself, to the benefit of all involved. Brian, our raggedy street-urchin (or so he would have us believe) has been growing steadily all year (both up and out) lending credence to my conviction that he is not, in fact, a homeless, mal-nourished beggar (just an annoying, chubby one.) He has recently achieved a height from which he is now capable of carrying a large bucket. A bucket which can be filled with mangos!

Yes, our little Brian has joined the unwashed masses of the employed (although he was plenty unwashed before), and came by our abode yesterday before the rains hit, to peddle his wears. And for three mangos for 10 lemps, I was more than happy to be pedaled too.

While we are on the topic of fruit, I have an important announcement (no, I’m not gay). I purchased a new ingredient yesterday, one which I have never tried before, so you can all expect to soon be reading “Iron Chef Honduras: Plantains” (and I promise it won’t take me a month to write it this time.)