Last night we spent a little time as a family sharing some of our Yeahs! and our Yucks! of being in Honduras. While at our cross-cultural training course in Colorado, we learned about the paradox of going to the missions field-- part of you really wants to go, but part of you really wants to stay. For the children, they taught them that the experience is a "pair of ducks"-- a Yeah! duck and a Yuck! duck. This was one of the many reasons why we are so grateful for having spent those three weeks in preparation-- we now have a vocabulary for talking to our children about their experience in cross-cultural adjustment. Abigail said that one of her Yeahs! was the many new kinds of fruits which she is enjoying. Lillian said she was happy for the ice cream we had for dessert. Another Abigail Yeah! was all of us sleeping in one enormous bed for the initial adjustment-- Jay said this was a Yuck! for him:) Abigail also told us that the heat was yuck! And I agree. But today was my first day without a heat headache-- and I'm told that we will eventually adjust to the oppressive heat. And then we took turns thanking God for both the Yeahs! and the Yucks!
Today was much more of a Yeah! day. We got up early enough to go downstairs for the staff/patient devotions at 7am as a family. Jay's been going without us. Then we had a little time to watch some Spanish TV-- we get Spanish PBS Kids, Disney, and Nickelodeon here at the CURE apartment. And the girls worked on some paint-by-numbers sent in a big bag of crafts from Heidi Garber. Abigail has also been enjoying playing Moshi Monsters on the computer. Then, while Jay worked on issues still related to moving back at the hospital while taking Charlotte, the girls and I went on another school hunt this morning with Aracely (the spiritual director) and Grace (clubfoot program director). It's been really fun to get to spend time with these wonderful women who speak English and committed to the mission of CURE.
Our first stop was the Village Montessori school, located in the northwest area of San Pedro Sula. Aracely (who has children of the same age) had heard about the school and arranaged for a visit for us. The school serves children through the third grade currently-- but has plans to expand to a full elementary school.
Inside the gate.
A shaded area for play.
It was thrilling for Abigail and Lillian who attended a wonderful montessori in Hershey-- Abigail for two years and Lillian for three (and would be going for one more year if we had stayed). They even call the upstairs area for the younger children Children's House, just like ours in Hershey. They immediately saw materials that were familiar. Lillian pulled out these map templates with which the children make their own maps.
This photo came out sideways-- but shows some of the exact same biology material as we used in Hershey. The school was not quite set up since classes do not begin for another two weeks, but we saw enough to get excited.
Sensorial materials that teach gradation of size and volume as well as fine motor skills.
The building does not allow for one large area for everything-- so each room has several stations-- like reading and math or culture and geography. Maybe a good thing for Lillian who sometimes needs encouragment to try new areas of study and play.
More math materials. All their teachers have montessori certificates through the Honduran montessori organization-- and they continue to update their training regularly.
Each class has 15 students maximum. Most students are from Honduras with a few from Guatemala and other nations. Classes are conducted in English except for Spanish class during which time they will give our girls special tutoring until they can catch up.
Both Abigail and Lillian jumped right in to doing some of the activities that are familiar to them. And they both expressed that they really wanted to go to school here. It's difficult to assess the academic level of the school, but we had been advised to be liberal with academics for the first year while the girls learn the culture and language and adjust to their new life. So we have an appointment on Tuesday morning from 8-11am for an evaluation.
(They also already have two children with DS enrolled there.)
And then we went to visit the Agape Christian school-- a school to whom I had written in inquiry, but had received a response saying that they could not accept Lillian. But, encouraged by the fact that she was accepted by the most academically rigorous school in town, we pushed on with a visit. Once inside gates, there is a large soccer field beyond which the school lies.
This is the primary school.
The computer lab
A high school classroom. The school has about 700 students who go up to high school. They offer an American diploma curriculum. Quite a few missionaries send their children there. And both Aracely and Dr. Vasquez (the other CURE orthopedic surgeon) send their children to this school.
The library in progress.
The view from the primary school.
Afterward, we drove around the area looking for houses for rent-- even getting to go inside one. It was very encouraging. We have some calls out to look at other homes. Several times we had to cross this road with a river running over it which I thought was interesting. Of note, I drove everywhere on this trip today without problem. There are very few street signs and even fewer indications of traffic laws (including no speed limit signs and numerous bicyclists-motorcyclists-horse carts around which I need to weave).
One of the gated neighborhoods is the Villa Mackay where Aracely is building a new home. In the center is a large park with some playground equipment where the neighbors walk and play in the cool of the evening. We would be able to ride our bikes here and play in relative safety.
And we made it safely back for lunch at the hospital! The hospital provides a big noon-ish meal for all the employees as one of their benefits. And we get to join them. Gina has even purchased Tinkerbell plates for our girls. And in the evening, we cook our own supper in the apartment. On Tuesday we made mushroom-clam pasta and fruit salad. On Wednesday we made rice, chimichurri chicken, and stir-fried ronde du nice (round French) zucchini. Tonight Ned is going to make us breakfast for dinner.
Today's lunch was a marinated piece of beef, marinated salad of cabbage-onions-beets, tortillas, refried beans, a piece of white cheese, and breadfruit. Yes, Olivia, after a lifetime of reading about breadfruit in Robinson Carusoe and other such survival-on-island books, I finally got to eat it! A bit like a piece of foam board that's been fried-- but much tastier with beans spread over it.
Gina really is an excellent cook, and we look forward to our lunches every day. Today she made some chicken noodle and vegetable soup for the girls with a bowl of rice on the side.
So please continue to pray for our decision. We long to finish this part of the adjustment so we can unpack and start to make a home. Living in San Pedro Sula will mean a longer drive with traffic for both of us to get to CURE-- but may result in an easier adjustment for our girls. Tomorrow Jay will do his first surgery-- a short one on a child's thumb. And then we will go look at some other homes with Grace. On Saturday we would like to take the girls to do something fun here-- so they can start to make some happy memories of Honduras. They would like to go to the waterpark Zizima.
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