new teaching style

Today was my last day of language school. Gloria a Dios! So grateful I don't have any homework anymore in this country, done with school for the year. Yes, I'm aware of the harsh reality I'll be facing in college next year, but ya gotta live while you can! Anyways, it was a weird day. All was normal till the last hour of school, when she pulled out...her laptop. That's not the weird part. She pulled it out, went on YouTube, pulled up a Spanish Christian song, and yes ladies and gentlemen, we sang along with the song I didn't know. I literally had no choice after I realized saying no ten times just wasn't getting through to her. It was the most awkward. Moral of the story: when your teacher asks you your likes and dislikes on the first day of school, she WILL use them against you.

on a lighter note

So, i've discovered that the laws in Honduras are not so much preventive. Here are some laws for driving: you must have a license plate (respectable), you must have your seat belt on IF you are in the front two seats, and in your trunk you must have in your possession four traffic cones and a fire extinguisher. Why you ask? well logically, guys, you need the traffic cones if you get in an accident in the middle of the street and you have to redirect traffic and you need the fire extinguisher for, well duh, in case of a fire. So, i guess the thought process here is: why prevent the worst case scenario, if you can prepare for it?

in other news, i realized today that i had forgotten that seat belts are supposed to exist in cars. maybe i should be concerned, but i take it as one more step into the culture.

and that's the problem with used appliances

well see, i am staying by myself for the week due to shannon abandoning me and going to an exotic honduran island. did i mention that already? anyways, it's been going great all weeks of course everything bad needed to happen on the same day. to start, school happened. there is only so many conversations you can have with a tutor you've hung out with one on one for 36 hours over the past week or so. literally every conversation has about two lines and then...it ended. afterward, on my way home, with Donal the taxi driver, got into a little bit of a fender bender. apparently, the taxi behind us, just didn't think we were going fast enough, logically, hitting us and making Donal have to check his bumper made everything go way faster for him.
so, i get home and head to the fridge for lunch but, oh wait, it's broken. the thing is, i don't even know how to fix a fridge in my own language. so yikes. good thing mr. clow, a part of the Mission to the World team, came over to help. Turns out, the freezer was just taking a little rest and after us touching nothing, it decided it was time to start working again.
And you think that's where it ends. Some of my children came again today for food. I had five boys hanging out while the whole fridge thing was going on. The thing is that these particular boys have discovered just how much of a language barrier there is between us and they use it to their advantage. And i don't know how to discipline in Spanish. You tend to lose your authority when you stumble over your words, i've come to discover. SO, i had to kick them out and that was just super hard. I don't like having to enforce rules to kids. especially kids who have barely anything in this world.
long story short, i experienced some culture shock today. And it was difficult. But, my family came to the rescue via Skype and so did Jeffrey, one of the really kind boys. So, it turned out alright in the end. Maybe not so much now though because i have to go write a two page paper (at least) in spanish. oof. Satan sure knows how to hit ya where it hurts.

a mother and friend

So, this week my roommate Shannon abandoned me and went to one of the beautiful islands of Honduras. We are not on speaking terms, mostly being because she has no internet. Anyways, I am taking care of the house on my own. That also means that I am taking care of me and Shannon's children as well. Yes, I cook for them, I clean the house, I wash the dishes. Just your regular house wife type. But, really, I might actually have switched my 18 year old, just graduated high school life for a domestic, loving motherly one. I don't know how it happened. Honduras does some crazy stuff to a person. Sometimes, it makes me laugh to think that next year I am going to be a freshman in college. How do I play those get to know you games? Hi, my name is Caitlin. IN this past year, I lived in a different country for 7 months learning a different language and parenting 8 to 9 young boys. Not a big deal, just call me ques. But really, I'm loving this part of my life. Wouldn't give it up. Now excuse me while i go answer the doorbell for the 15th time today,

without a question

As i said in the previous post, we went to the mall yesterday. Kevin, Ever, and Jeffrey had cleaned Shannon's car earlier that day and so they had each received the equivalent of a 1.50$ for their work. Well, when we got to the mall, there was an ice cream shop. Of course all three boys jumped at the opportunity to use their own money to buy some ice cream and they raced to the front of the line. Jose, the other boy who came to the mall with us, just stood beside me and shannon since he had no money to buy some.
Jeffrey was the first to get his ice cream and he smiled ear to ear as he savored the banana flavor. It only took him a minute to realize that Jose had no money and without a word of advice from Shannon or me, Jeffrey pulled out the remainder of his money and gave it to the very grateful Jose, to buy some ice cream.
I seriously almost burst into tears watching this. I mean literally these boy have nothing of their own and having any type of money at all is a huge treat. The fact that Jeffrey could give away his money without thought, truly reminded me of my own selfishness. It's so difficult for me to offer money to others and I have more than enough to share. I can't explain how a little boy with no money can be so generous outside of the gospel and it's constant display in all of our lives.

you know you are family when...

So, I took a shower last night and I did the usual debate in my head: to shave my legs or not to shave my legs? Sorry to all you boys out there who think we girls live for that type of thing. We most certainly do not. I made the decision that I'm not trying to find a man friend here and there's no one I want to impress so, what the hay, noshave-tober it is.
Well, Shan, Kate (future roomie), and I went to the mall today with the boys. The mall here is called "el mall", clever. The roomies went into a store while I stayed out with the four boys who were eating ice cream. All was going well till Jeffrey looked at me and said, "why don't you cut your leg hairs?" yes, he used the verb you use for GRASS. Then, they all proceeded to rub my legs and giggle and make disgusted faces at me. I mean sheesh, their moms don't shave their legs ever and I just took a day off. Lesson learned, never will I ever choose laziness again in this country. I don't want little Ever treating my leg hairs as a punchline ever again.

the gringas unite!

Let me set the scene. i'm told by shannon that she is going to a church service tonight with her friend heather and i am more than welcome to join. naturally i asked what it was like. she responded, "i mean like a service, we sing, we have a talk, it's like youth group, but for older people." So, i think to myself, sheesh, i'm gonna need to wear a skirt and look nice. see ya gym shorts.
So, we are on our way, or trying to be, but we were stuck in the traffic jam of the century and wind up being 15 minutes late. We begin to walk towards the group and i think to myself, hm, a lot of people wearing blue tonight. We all joke that it's embarrassing that we are showing up late and we are gringas so we stand out an extra amount. little did we know, that was the least embarrassing thing.
Turns out, it was sports team themed night. we were going to be playing volleyball. all. night. the most dressed up person besides us was a girl wearing a soccer uniform with a bow in her hair. NOT IDEAL. So, we didn't have a team, or the right clothes, or the right language. we were destined for success. we somehow threw together an impromptu team, got our behinds handed to us, and left the court with our white faces held high.
The irony of the matter is that all of us were wishing as we left the house that we could be in our gym shorts. but who would want to be THOSE gringas who went against the honduran flow. hah, touché Honduras, touché.

the unimportance of time

So, i inherited my father's need for schedule at a young age. i like to know when dinner is before i eat my breakfast, i rarely vary my daily routine, and when i decide what time i need to be somewhere, i need to be there at that exact time. if that's wrong, i don't wanna be right. and, apparently that's wrong in thi country of mine. I called my taxi friend Donal yesterday to pick me up from school at 12. I called him at 10 just to be sure he could do it. it got to 12:10 and i decided that I might as well call him. This is how our convo went.
"Ello?"
"Donal? it's caitlin, remember me"
"oh...yes..."
"Donal, did you maybe forget about me?"
"Oh no....i'll be ther...soon"
15 minutes later, he shows up. with my roommate Bethany in the car. so, that threw me off. then i had to drive to Armenia Bonito to drop her off with Donal. it's approximately 25 minutes away. after that, we picked up 3 more stragglers to take them to their desired locations. An hour and a half later, I was home. Just another day in Honduras. call me a doormat because I have a feeling i might tell people to please walk all over me as long as I'm here. whateva.

satan in the form of a mood

that is what i think of when i think of the present subjunctive tense in spanish. wait, i'm sorry, it is not a tense, it's a mood. yup, i'm just as confused as you are and i studied it for four hours straight today in language school. reviewing the stupid subjunctive today was the closest i have come to crying this whole time i have been in honduras. honestly though, i hate it. i now think i understand it way better than before school today, but if i could trade those four hours for any other activity, even eating slugs, i think i would jump at the opportunity. (if i said that sentence in spanish, it would be subjunctive).
so, my morning wasn't excellent. i guess i had some culture shock for breakfast with a little nature valley bar on the side. after school, i tried to catch a taxi. and was rejected by two. why you ask? because i live less than a minute outside of the city limits. apparently it's absurd to ask a driver to go that far out of their way for you. well, whatever because i have my new best friend, Donal, in the form of an english speaking taxi driver who loves Jesus. i tipped him today and said, "because you saved me today when i needed you, Donal". he seemed to enjoy that.
i was supposed to go shopping with the roomies this afternoon, but i said, "no, i need a break from this culture today, i'm just going to chill by myself at home." 20 minutes later, door bell rings and the boys are waiting outside. now, some of you guys might be thinking "just give them an apple and send them on their way." well folks, i tried that. but, you try looking into 6 pairs of the cutest little eyes and say "hey, i know this is the highlight of your day and i know you sometimes don't get hugs or love from any one else, much less food, but i'm tired, so you can turn around and walk the 20 minutes it took for you to get here." so, i let them inside and played with them by myself for 3ish hours. it was fun, but so so exhausting and i just wanted to sleep. but, i just couldn't. eventually i gave them dinner and told them they had to leave. i figure after three games of uno, multiple soccer match-ups. two puzzles, and a dr. seuss matching game later, they should know that i love them. and they all gave me hugs and kisses goodbye. so, though i am still in a sort of mood and i still feel numb due to culture shock, i can't say i regret my ability to say no. come one come all is going to have to be my new catch phrase for the next 7 months.

call me ques

It's difficult for me to pick out which part of my day is the most worthy to blog about. I used to have the problem of what to find to blog about, before Honduras. Now, I'm on overload. Well, first of all, I've been taking language school starting yesterday and we already have a love hate relationship where it loves to humiliate me and I hate it. But, it's helping me learn so, I suffer for the cause.
But the part of the day that was my absolute favorite was this afternoon. The boys stopped by to hang out primarily and also to eat at our house. Assume when I say "the boys" I mean Jeffrey, Kevin, Christopher, and Ever (pronounced eber). They are our regulars. Anyways, they came by today and I fell in love times ten. I played puzzles and a matching game with Jeffrey and Kevin and they are just the absolute cutest. Their smiles are so innocent and I can't help but be so so happy seeing them. Sheesh, I miss them already. Jeffrey and I became best friends today and he is helping me with my Spanish. Those boys literally have the kindest hearts. Kevin loves to give hugs and kisses and I love to receive them. Eber gave me a hug today and said "número uno" and I like to think its because I'm #1 and not because that was the number on the back of my tshirt.
They call me ques. Imagine queso and say it rather fast and then cut of the o. That's how they pronounce cait. I can't tell if it's a joke or not, to be determined. In other news, every time I think of something to write or say, I initially think it in Spanish. I feel like that's a good sign. Goodnight and goodbye, my friends.

things I must unlearn

When yo live in a 3rd world country, there are things you gotta unteach yourself. Here is what I've compiled so far:
1. Vegetables and fruits arw always clean.
2. Toilet paper can be flushed.
3. You will always have running water.
4. The refrigerator door will hold itself open (maybe that is just a specific problem to my fridge)
5. Dishes will find a way to be washed without manual labor.
6. All phones have passed the black and white screen phase.

More to come as I find more to unlearn. In other news, during a break in language school today, two tutors were talking and I zoned out cuz I was sick of spanish. Tuned back in to the girl quoting Ghandi with the boy following up with a discussion on Denzel Washington. Never been so curious as to what i missed out on while zoning out.

my new boyfriend

So, I live in a house with Shannon and Bethany. At this house, there are many street children who ring the bell outside of our gate to ask for food. So, Bethany and Shannon have made the rule that they will feed every child who asks once a day and love on the children as much as possible. and i love it. These kids are just the best. I woke up this morning to find three little boys eating in our garage. They proceeded to hang out in the garage for a couple of hours and washed Shannon's car for free. the absolutely refused to take any money even though they need it. The two oldest are 11 and one of them wants to be my boyfriend as his disloyal friend told me. can't say im not flattered though i probably lost my charm when he asked me to give him my watch and i told him the time. lost in translation i guess. Point of the story is that 7 kids came in and out of our house all day and we just get to watch movies, feed them, play games, and love on them. Seriously, the Lord is literally bringing our work to our doorstep. the verse "let the little children come" is my life. I just want to adopt them all. Sorry parents but by the time I come home I will have a husband (my new boyfriend, duh) and 7 more children for you to raise. sorry bout it. I don't ever want to leave my house because i don't ever want to leave these kids.

and now for Armenia Bonito

Well, this was the place that lifted my spirits the most on this crazy hectic day. But wait, I forgot to mention everything about yesterday and me entering the country, so if you wanna know about the funniest adventure yet, read my roommates blog (shannoninhonduras.blogspot.com) it's worth your time. Anyways, so we visited Armenia and it was a much more impoverished place than the city of La Ceiba, but i adored it. There are kids all over the street that I was introduced to by Shannon and Bethany (my two roommates) and those little ninos are to die for. They are all so little and cute. One little girl gave me a run for my money. I could literally understand everything she was saying to shannon while she was speaking to her. Then shannon told her to ask me a question to prove I could speak Spanish. So she looked at me and asked a question using a slang term, so of course i didn't understand. COOL. she just turned to shannon and said "she doesn't know spanish". so, gotta work on that i guess. I definitely have my weak moments throughout the day and there are times when i literally almost bought a plane ticket home, but overall, I know I am going to grow to love this place.

blog post #3 of the day finished. hasta luego!

the city of La Ceiba

I am living in La Ceiba, but I will be working in Armenia Bonito which is about 40 minutes away from my casa (just showing off my fluency). We toured both places today, but in this post I will talk about La Ceiba. We went to the local mall that is actually set up as an american mall...essentially (don't go picturing Hollister and Aunt Katie's Pretzel stand). There I bought a phone (I use that term loosely) and some movies. 3 for 5 dollars. get ready movie collection, you're about to grow in number. Then, we just walked around so i could get an idea for what everything looked like. we did a little grocery shopping as well. It's so crazy because all of my sense are in overdrive. Everything I hear is in the front of my mind and I can't ignore any conversations around me or noises. Everything is so unfamiliar that my brain is just trying to make sense of it all. it's utterly exhausting and embarrassing because i look like a gringo who loves to eavesdrop. sheesh. We got some lunch as well. just a little coke light, plantains, baliada (tortilla filled with beans, eggs, and chess) and some other yums that i don't know the name of. After that, we just drove around to the beach (so so close by, maybe 10 minutes from my house) and such. It was a fun day and it just shows me how much fun I'll have once I have the confidence and ability to get to know La Ceiba. Also, the phone I have is probably the first version of a phone that Nokia ever created. BUT the service provider is Tigo, so for all of you kiddos who've been to Guate, you know how cool I am.

blog post #2 of the day finished.

until the day i die

So, I'm in Hondy. I got here yesterday afternoon around noon. so, not afternoon i guess. It's been really good and weird and scary and exhausting. I am so overwhelmed by so many things and I just have an abundance of things I want to express. So, I've decided to blog multiple times because let's be honest, no one reads a long blog post. So, I'm tricking ya into reading every. single. word. I will start out by listing things I will love about this place until the day I die:

1. There are always mountains to the right of me and beach to the left. (unless i turn around then it's vice versa)
2. La Ceiba is a place that loves Coca Cola products, so much so that you can buy Coca Cola light (the rest of the world's version of diet coke) AND diet coke. I have had both today and i couldn't be more in love.
3. A police man thought I was Honduran four hours after I entered the country. i didn't fool just any Honduran, I fooled an official one.
4 The clouds are the puffiest things in the whole world and we all know I'm a sucker for clouds.
5. I have already had two smoothies and plan to not stop that habit for the next 7 months.

end of blog post #1 for the day.

my grand adventure

How to begin. Hm, well I guess to start, I should give you a few facts about myself. My name is Caitlin, I am from a wonderful family of five older sisters and one younger brother, and my mother is British (I think that's the coolest thing about myself, maybe that's pathetic. Eh.). I am in love with the Lord Jesus and I am know I am only redeemed through Him. My goal in life is to fall more in love with Him. As my church's missions statement says: love God. Love each other. Love our world. I daily try to live that.
Well, I thought that mission would be easy in my hometown: Cary, North Carolina, but that is not what the Lord has ordained for my life. I am taking a gap year in between high school and college. I leave for La Ceiba, Honduras this Friday, as in two days from now. Panic. I will be living there for 7 months. There, I will be working in a boy's orphanage Monday-Friday. It is a Christian home run by an american man and his Honduran wife. I'll be living with a family friend, Shannon, who happens to live in the same city (completely unexpected, God's cool). I am so excited to see what the Lord is going to do and also scared out of my mind. Sheesh. I think people have the idea that missionaries have super strength and zero fear. Well, not this missionary. But, I know the Lord is good and strong, so I have no need to rely on myself.

Things I am concerned about: that five years of Spanish will have no impact in my ability to speak, that Honduras will only sell Pepsi products, that I might be five feet taller than the average Honduran, and that I'll miss my family too much. These things keep me up at night, folks.
Also, you should know for future reference that I refer to Honduras as hondy or Hondyland. So, get ready for that.