Computer fixedness!

Oh Happy Day! My computer is fixed! It seems that the pin that connects the motherboard to the recharger cable had broken off (that sounds clever!). Savage came to my rescue and put another pin in, one that is made from a steel antennae, so it won't break again!...I must admit though, it feels like it weighs 10 extra pounds - or maybe I'm getting weaker...

Family

We had a family get-together this weekend for my Grandfather's 80th birthday. My Grandparents (on my Mom's side) came down to visit, expecting a nice, quiet weekend with their daughter's family. On Friday, that's what they got, we had a BarBQ, sat out on the deck, spoke of matters near and far...on Saturday my Uncles showed up from opposite directions. My Grandparents were so overwhelmed they had to take a few moments to collect themselves. It was a wonderful day. Mark and his family came over as well and we enjoyed each other's company. It was a blessing to me!

Logan, my nephew, has grown so much! He is a rare 15 month old, who doesn't cry much - in fact, he's the happiest child I've ever seen! He is curious about the world but can sit at a table for extended periods of time! He likes lemons...what child likes lemons - he's got tastebuds of steel! He understands most of what we're saying and hears exceptionally well (hearing cars on the highway that aren't near the house!). And...of course, he's the cutest nephew I've ever seen! I'm glad I'm able to get to know him!

Emma (my niece) has been a true sport as well. Mark has wanted us to show her how we used to play as kids...outside, in the dirt...well...more to the point, in the creek! So on Sunday we brought her back to our old playground and taught her how to catch whatever moved! Our little creek is overgrown and in need of some tender loving! We diverted the waterflow from a waterfall pool so that the rest of the creek could get a bit more water, it's amazing how things change. But! Our skills returned in full force and we came back to the house carrying a bucket full of crayfish, a tadpole, frog, leech (it was huge!) and even a salamander! A good first effort! And a lot of good memories for Mark and I...

All told, it was a marvelous weekend!

Photo of the Day: Our little family reunion!








In Him,
-Amy-

The Trip Home

My trip home was odd, as usual. From Friday to Monday we were saying goodbye to teachers right, left and center. It was hard to see them go, especially since most of them we wouldn't be seeing again...I don't think it's hit me yet, in fact, I don't think it will hit me until I go back to Pinares next year...

The trip home was exciting to say the least. Heidi, Melodee and I had the same flight to Houston. We left Teguc late and rushed through the airport to find our gates in Houston. Heidi and I found out our flight was cancelled (Melodee had the same problem, we didn't find out until we got home). We went into a service line and started talking to a couple behind us, who had the same flight as us. The service lady thought Heidi and I were funny, she gave us 'blanket coverage' which included room and meals at the Ramada North hotel and even an overnight kit! The couple behind us wasn't so lucky...we went to bat for them so they received the same treatment! We watched the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs at the hotel, too bad we lost, but honestly...who wants to carry around a big metal cup that sweaty men carry around and slobber over! :S I guess its better if our guys slobber over it! bleh...

Houston was flooded while we stayed there. Certain parts were being evacuated...and there were cars and trucks stuck in flood waters up to the car doors. Amazingly, we didn't have any problems with that. We did have problems with an airport shuttle. Too many people crammed into a late shuttle to get to a flight that was boarding in an hour! It was intense! We had to fight to be let off first! Go Canadians go! I met a lady from Zimbabwe in Houston who had been traveling for three days with her two young children! It sounded like a hard flight for her, especially since she had to wait 3 hours for her husband to come pick her up!

I have to say that when I did get home there was a sign waiting for me with balloons...my brother's family put it together, I thought that was so sweet, and a nice thing to come home to! :D

I lost one of my bags with all the changes to our flights. It came today - shipped by bus to Callander! When my dad and I went to pick it up an old lady got off the bus...we were surprised since the gas station we were at was closed, and no one was around! She told us she was expecting her sister to be there - so we stayed with her. A couple minutes later a car came in, it was another older lady (not the sister!)...who proceeded to ask directions and then started to tell us her life story! :) I think she had been on the road too long and needed some human contact, so we talked to her until the other lady's sister arrived...it's an eventful time at a gas station! I love Canada for people being able to stop and talk without feeling threatened!

In Him,
-Amy-

Some Things to Talk About!

The past weekend was tremendous! There was such a lot going on...I'll just give some highlights...

Wednesday: We celebrated Trina's birthday at Applebees. A wonderful steak meal and good company, who could ask for anything more! Here's a picture of the birthday girl with Heidi and I. Tomorrow Chad comes to Honduras to see her, I'm thinking she's excited! :D

Thursday: We had a final get-together with our Bible Study group, which was a Birthday celebration for Heidi! We had Marcela's amazing Tortilla Soup, pistachios and some amazing home-made gelato! In one of those real gelato makers (none of that fake stuff!) The picture is of Marcela getting in the way of Heidi - she did this consistently all night! It was hilarious! She's holding the gelato mix before we put it in the machine. It was amazing to watch the gelato maker in action! Mark did a good job!

Friday: I was invited to Alejandra's house! She's a 10th grader...all I've got to say is - only in Honduras would your students like you so much they'd add you to their list of friends to hang out with after school! A large group of us got together (including 4 teachers) and watched a movie. I even got to sign her wall afterwards (apparently it's like a guestbook).

Saturday: Only the bestest day EVER! Wow...so much went on that day...for the whole scope of things check out Heidi's blog - she beat me at blogging, give her a hand! :D I enjoyed the floor hockey the best, it took me back to the good old days when I played every week! The soggy frisbee game was a close second...it was soo...wet! I thought I had played the game pretty nicely, only coming out with my legs covered in mud, but then Swanson felt I was too clean and picked me up - carrying me a quarter of the field only to set me down in the biggest mud puddle he could find! Good times! The picture of us is after the mud-dunking! It was really great being able to meet with people outside of Pinares, the embassy and international school had great representatives! I have to say that the life-size dutch blitz game was also a nice highlight...Charles (works at the feeding centre), Missy and myself dominated the game! We had the best teamwork I've seen this year! :D The picture below is right before Clinton and Tara (International) said goodbye. Ah, and the tarantula? Well, it is now in Priest's office, enjoying it's home in two of our cooking bowls! It was a great end of this great day!

This Week: We have no students! No more classes! But the work continues...in fact more so than teaching...we need to complete book inventories, grades, recuperation exams, studyguides, tutor, organize, etc...however, we still had time to give Kyle his birthday present - a guitar! We made him follow clues to find it...the last location being my classroom. Which is where it is now! We kept it there because of rain. Matute came into my classroom today and serenaded me with it, it was beautiful! I am so impressed with how he can play! He must have liked the guitar because he came back a couple of times! I'm hoping that happens the whole week! :D

Coming home in less than a week! We're excited!!

Photo of the day: Another view of our little 'buddy' (who I got pretty close to for this shot!)

In Him,
-Amy-

Gatsby Done Honduran Style!

Saturday night we had the opportunity to get together with the grade 10 class of Pinares. Kara Raulerson, their English teacher, had just taught The Great Gatsby in class, and all of the students were enthralled with it! So Rauly (Kara) decided to organize a real '20s' party, complete with costumes, food and music! A few class sponsors and teachers of the grade 10 class were invited as well, which is how I found out about this event! In order to get in we had to show up looking like we were from the 20s - something that made for a good story when our car full of 20s looking teachers stopped at a pulperia for water! I wonder what the Hondurans were thinking! The party was also a nice culminating event for Rauly to say goodbye to her main class. It was a nice event!

On Sunday we had the Senior's Baccalaureate at Union Church. It was very well done, Brian Swanson was chosen by the Seniors to speak. He did a very good job, it was very inspiring! One more week of putting our everything into our students!

Here are a few pictures of the good times we had at the 20s party...

Heidi, Betsy and I











Heidi and Chris










Rauly (Kara), Ana and Miss Hendricks (Jen)













A few of the girls dressed 20s style









David and Mario











Good times had by all!
In Him,
-Amy-

Left or Right?

Today was a very special day...not only did I find out my cord is fine and that my computer is the one that is sick (meaning I will probably have to wait until I get back to Canada to fix it)...but I got a sticker. Since Heidi, Kyle, Melodee and I went in on a car together we decided to get 'family pride' stickers to put on the back of it...these are stickers that show who is in the vehicle. After figuring out which order to put these fun stickers in, we then had to figure out what side of the vehicle's back window to place them. Easy task? Hardly! Kyle is under the firm impression that they should be on the right side, while the rest of us are secure in our memories that it is on the left hand side. After discussing this at length, Kyle caved in to our wishes saying that the wiper doesn't reach the left side so it would make sense to place them there. But who is right? One of life's mysteries...

Photo of the day: Our fun stickers (note: placed on the left)!















In Him,
-Amy-

Concerts!

So we just finished an excellent two days of concerts! Thursday night we had the guitar classes and band. They did an excellent job! I was very impressed with the 8th grade...they had gone to a music festival this year and received a 'superior' for their performance...I could definitely see why! The band had it's moments as well. I'll always remember Diego getting into his role of playing the 'marching' drum - bobbing his head to the beat like he was a part of the world's best jazz group! :) Mr. Matute has brought them far! This is Mr. Matute playing bass with me...he's very talented, switching from bass to flute to guitar for whatever is needed!

Tonight we had the Choir Concert. Katie Kulp led us through this one. She did an excellent job of organizing everything...it ran so smoothly! What a great leader she is! I played quite a few songs, it was nice to get into piano again, it's been too long! Heidi was my page turner and Kyle was the 'mic' guy...that took his job very seriously, even getting an ear piece that made him look like a bodyguard (protecting Melodee from any crazy musicians!). One of the highlights was the teacher's performance, Betsy certainly knows how to hit those high notes!! Also, the students did a wonderful job on the bells...I took a video of them playing 'A Thousand Miles'...it's simply gorgeous! This was Katie's last concert at Pinares...it will be a very sad parting at the end of this year - we're not just losing an amazing, talented music teacher, I'm also losing a 'twin'! It's true, the students get us confused in the hallways - I think its cute!

Photo of the day: Katie and I, the 'twins'!

















In Him,
-Amy-