Monday 29 August 2011

Best Beach in the World!


Today (saturday the 27th of August), Ally and I were invited to go along to Vegas Electric’s annual picnic on a beach, called Camp Bay. Vegas Electric is the company owned by a guy called Vegas who is our country Representative for Project Trust, all around legend among men! Anyway, so we were picked up from just down the road at about half 8 in the morning and we had to sit in the back of a pick up truck, which in itself was cool, only problem, the dust and bumps in the road! Hurt quite a bit, not gonna lie! We soon arrived at this beach called Camp Bay on the very northern point on the island, when we got out of the car, our mouths just dropped, the scenery was AMAZING!! Palm trees everywhere, crystal clear water that went out for ever, gorgeous white sand and blazing sunshine! Most of the stuff had already been set up when we got there, stuff like boxes of ice, hammocks and a BBQ (oh yeah, the Hondurans do picnics in style!) so we helped clear the ground a bit and shuffled things round a little, and then the relaxing began! Out came the towels and snorkels and into the water we went along with many of the other people there!
It was perfect, so warm, so clear and just deep enough that you could swim and stand very comfortably. We stayed in the water for a good hour and a half until we went back on to the beach to chill out for a while, the rest of the guys there played a game of football on the sand and Ally joined in a little but said it was too hard in the heat. Soon after this the food was ready and we ate a gorgeous meal of grilled pork and chicken, re-fried beans, potato salad and tomato salsa, LUSH!! We then the rest of the afternoon in the water, and snorkeling around the rocks, we saw some huge fish! Like the length of my arm big!! Massive, was so cool, we also saw some sea urchins, some really colourful ones as well, and also, a huge great big shoal swam right next to me really fast that I could hear the rush as they went past!
This was a great day, and then when we got home and chilled for a bit, we noticed wuite a few big Ants on our walls, and so I went to go and spray them (with poison) from outside and saw the whole floor, yes literally the whole floor, and most of the wall as well was covered in big black ants! We then put our ‘armour’ on, consisting of proper shoes and long trousers, as I had already been bitten on the toe, and went to confront the oncoming army  .... 
Us = sprayable insect poison, a broom and buckets of water!
Ants = Giant pincers that hurt to buggery when they bite you! 
The battle lasted a good half hour, of us spraying and washing them away and them just keep on coming back in force! However you will be pleased to know that we came out on top and lived to tell the tale of this epic confrontation!  All was well in the morning (after a night camped under our mosquito nets!) and we haven’t seen an ants since! haha
Till next time,
Ciao! 

A Very Strange Day!


Well this morning was a bit of an odd day, if I do say! (haha rhyming!) I woke up at 7 o’clock as I had my year 6 class at 8 in the morning, so after I had showered, dressed and eaten breakfast, I walked down to the school to see it all closed up and literally not a soul in sight! All of the doors were locked, the school gate was closed and there were no pupils ready to take Teacher Tom’s amazing english class! :O  So I walked back up to the house to go and tell Ally that we obviously didn’t have to teach this morning. Therefore we were sitting at home with not a lot to do, so decided to take the 4 minute walk to the beach and go snorkeling for an hour or so!
The snorkeling out here is incredible, there is this great little mangrove tree about 200 metres out and it is just swarming with life! Literally thousands of the very small fish that form giant shoals that swim as one big mass of fish! It is great fun just to sit there and watch them dart about, or even swim right through them. There are also this one fish that hangs about and old breeze block which I always go and see him and he (at least I think he is a he) comes quite close to investigate this intruder! 
For the last couple of times that Ally and I have been swimming we have always said that we would swim out to this little hut which we can see further out in the water, however whenever we have tried there has been a bank of reeds that touch the surface of the water, therefore we can’t get over them! However, today, we found a way around and swam out quite far but decided that we would go much further out to the hut when we had more energy and more time. This task was set aside for another day!
We then had lunch with Mary Lou and returned to come and teach some more, now that the afternoon students had come to school (as we found out in the morning that the staff had a meeting .... which we weren’t invited to .... Awkward!) One of Ally’s classes started at 4.10 so he went and taught them, and then we both had a class at 4.50. However, again, as I went down to go and teach, my classroom was locked again and none of my students were in sight! But I bumped into Ally and a few of his students coming out of their class, I then asked one of his students (in fluent spanish ... A Thankyou!!) where my class was and he said that as some of them have to practice for their independence day march the others just say they have practice, but actually bugger off home! I was a little worried that they were taking advantage of the new teachers, but no other teachers were in sight, so we assumed that they had done the same thing! We were also assured that tomorrows classes would be back to normality, good times!
Oh well, I suppose you always have to expect the unexpected!
Till next time, 
Ciao!

Family Reunion!


This weekend has been great! yesterday, Ally and I went down to French Harbor to go to the big supermarket there to pick up some things we couldn’t get in Punta Gorda, like bin bags, tea bags, and most importantly some booze! haha (amazing find though! A bottle of Honduras’ own rum, for 60 lemps, that is £2 for a decent sized bottle of rum!! :D) After this venture we then decided to head to Coxen Hole again to go the the cafe again and use their free wi-fi. We sat there for about three hours, having some amazing lunch (me, chicken breast with garlic, Ally grilled chicken breast. Each for £3, amazing!), checking emails and facebook, and even chatting to a few friends and such online activites .....  NO!! not those you dirty minded people!! I was in public! Anyway we did this so that we could tell everyone how much we enjoy it here and make them all jealous! Shortly after, when they returned from seeing The Inbetweeners at the cinema, I had the pleasure of having a Skype conversation with my family!!
This was amazing, everyone was there, including Josh (my older brother) and his girlfriend Chloe (whom we all call Digs .... long story ... not just because she favours a shovel!) who have recently been in southern france and have now moved down to Essex (digs’ hometown) anyway, I got to talk to them for a good half hour, telling them all about what I have been getting up to and telling them I am ok. Which I really am, I love it out here, it is just perfect, there are only a very small amount of home comforts which I am missing, but the pros far outway the cons! I really do hope that all of my family are ok, and that they are not worrying to much about me, I cannot tell them how much I miss them, just that I think of them every single day without fail. I will be having another lunch/skype date with them next week as the whole of my family is coming up for a bit of a reunion (i was gonna surprise them but I think £800 for a flight may be a bit much!) can’t wait to see the rest of my family now and tell them of my adventures overseas!
Love you all so much, well I’m sure you know that anyway.
Till next time,
Ciao!

Saturday 20 August 2011

Ally’s Predictons came true!


Well, on thursday night we managed to get some internet for about an hour or so, so we both checked our emails and facebook accounts and each wrote a little something to friends and family e.t.c, Ally even put a status on facebook saying ‘what’s that paulo? something about a hurricane?’ .....
This in fact came true last night/this morning, well not quite a hurricane but a pretty big storm! Thunder and lightning like I have never heard before, torrential downpours all day long, and violent winds all mashed together at about 3 in the morning and woke me up. It was my first experience of a proper tropical rainstorm and truth be told, I was a little worried. Here we are in a small little house on the top of a hill, (so it wasn’t the rain that scared me) being battered by some winds and thunder and lightning cracking all around us! It was still quite fun though, watching for the flash and counting until the thunder came (anyone still do that? or just me??) hahaha and listening to the sound of the rain and the wind! Anyway, I suppose you cant get a better start to the rainy season than a torrential storm, it was actually that bad that our country rep, Vegas, called us this morning to see if we were ok, and that we hadn’t been blown away! :O (jokingly of course!)
Well only a short post this one, please make sure to check previous ones as well, cos when I don’t have internet, I am still writing, so they may have backed up a bit! 
Till next time,
Ciao!

Such a great day!


Hey guys, well I promised you the second half of the teaching post, after I had begun my teaching experience, and well here it is!
It was great, I taught a year six class this morning, as was quite nervous about it! But all was well,  however, I seriously over estimated their english skills, so one of the activities I had set out for them, even after trying to explain it in spanish just fell on deaf ears, therefore I had to wing it for the next half an hour, in 40 minute lesson, and decided to (try) to explain the past tense. Wow, I seriously admire some language teachers, teaching tenses is a very hard thing to do! Anyway, I think they enjoyed it and they were very well behaved, which is always a bonus, but then that could have been because there was a teacher sitting at the back! I then had the rest of the day off until 4.50 when I had to teach a year 8 class. In this time we had off, Ally and I wrote out a couple of topic sheets for this ‘parcial’ (term) with loads of vocab and what we would teach them regarding this topic! This was so much help, as it gave us a clear direction of where we would be going with each thing, we also decided it would be best to teach the same topics at the same time, just change the difficulty for each year group, so that we could bounce off of each other and help each other out as well. This lead to my year 8 class being one of the best things ever! They were all well behaved, even without a teacher, and they even told me to teach them entirely in english, they were also a little older so I could have a bit of banter with them and enjoy teaching them. They seemed to grasp the topic of house and home very well and went on to describe ‘La casa de sus sueƱos’ (their house of dreams).
After that, as we were walking back, Ally and I heard drums and music coming from the courtyard and were told that they are practicing for their independence day march on the 15th of september, which we both have to take part in, all the drums and xylophones and other such instruments created a great sound and sight (check my facebook page for video!) and was thoroughly enjoyable to watch! 
So then came the time for dinner with Mary Lou, and she had cooked us BALEADAS! Which were incredible. Ever since Vegas had told us about them, Ally and I have been hunting them out, and having no such success! However, we were so excited and oh my days! Literally so tasty! Basically they are a homemade chapatti/tortilla pancake, spread with mushed up red beans (they themselves are epic, a very staple ingredient in any dish, as we have had them every day since arriving!)  and then topped with cheese and scrambled egg. Honestly, to die for!! :D
Well, once again, today has been great and I only have one lesson tomorrow as well, even better, but then I do have to wash some clothes, which is my afternoon task, as Ally is teaching!
Thanks for reading guys, till next time,
Ciao!

The looming fears of teaching, and what remains are left!


Well today this blog post is going to be a bit different, it is going to be in two parts really. Right now it is Monday evening (15/8) and we have been here for nearly 5 days now, tomorrow is when I will officially start teaching as today we were observing a few classes and got our timetables sorted. I have the pleasure of teaching 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade (classes B, not A) which I am so excited about, because it should be so much fun, being able to have loads of fun teaching children who actually want to be there! However, I also have to teach the 6th grade class A, and both A and B of the 8th grade. The 6th grade is only monday to wednesday at 8 in the morning, and 8th grade is the whole week in the afternoon, when I really never start again till 4 o clock, therefore I have from about 11 to 4 off every day, I am doing some work on this paradise island I promise, not just all beach and sun, beach and sun, beach and sun! :D  Ally is teaching 6th B, 7th A and B, and 9th A and B, but he was forced into a little lesson today by his pupils because it was their time for english and there was no teacher, so we were walking through school and they asked us if we would teach them, them being Ally’s class, I sat at the back as he recited some of his pre-prepared spanish instructions whilst a third of the class listened, half of it talked to others, and the last 1/6 ran in and out of the room for no reason at all, other than to chat with their friends in a different class. However, this was good as it gave us a great perspective of how they treated the new teachers, and it has made us more determined to rule .... i mean teach with more authority, hasn’t it Ally??
‘I hate the buggers, nahh they’re alright, I would of done the same to a new foreign teacher back in Scotland so I can’t really blame ‘em. cheeky little scamps. however tomorrow i’m gonna bring the rain.... or try to, they might have umbrellas.’
Haha, thanks Ally, however in England we would have just said we had a teacher and run into town for the afternoon, but y’know, each to our own! (mum ... never happened! ....... much) So the next half of this blog will be written tomorrow night, after my first day of teaching, wish me luck guys! 
Well, I am sorry, today has been brilliant, so I believe it deserves a whole blog post of its own ...... read on folks!
Till next time (which is right now)
Ciao!

Flight troubles and other such adventures


Well sitting here in Miami airport writing this after a rather troublesome first leg of our journey! Well I say rather troublesome, but that probably strikes fear into some people heads (mum, dad and I am sure some other people!) but I can assure you that I and the rest of the Hondies are perfectly fine and ok.
This morning was so emotional, I cannot believe I am not going to see my closest family, well all of my family for that matter, for a year, but I will speak to them so all will be well and I pray that they are doing ok and being fed well enough when I am not there! :D
The 9 hour flight was great, went really well. Had our own screen to watch some really cool movies and TV shows on, including GLEE!! Now to those of you that know me, you will realize how much this made me smile, and to those of you that don’t, I am the BIGGEST GLEEK you will meet ....
.... however my seat was the only one where the screen wasn’t working, fan-bloody-tastic! luckily though, a few of the fellow Hondies let me switch with them every so often when they wanted a break, so I did get to have a sing-along and got the end the flight with the final fight scenes of Kung Fu Panda 2.
Soon we landed and as we were walking off the plane, and had got onto the sky train, our fellow Hondie, Cat, realizes she had left her passport on the plane!!! So all hell broke loose as she had to sort that out, and we were being forced to walk along the gangway to passport control. After getting through the finger print readings and trying to understand some strong american accents, there lay baggage claim (as we had to pick up our luggage  and then dump it off again so it could get to the plane), but of course, one of us was still up at passport control, so we had to pick up her bag and were then herded through yet another door! This is where we decided to wait a chill out for a bit and let Cat catch up. Me and Ali then decided to speak to a member of staff to find out if there is anything we could do, so she asked us out flight number and told us that she had to quickly check her cancelled list ... WHAT!! yeah, you ‘eard, her cancelled flight list, finally our luck had turned  and we were all good to go. So that brings us to here, sitting by our gate in Miami Airport, having a couple of hours to chill and relax, and perhaps to a bit of writing.
Just thought I would update you and let you know I am safe and well!
Till next time,
Ciao!! 

Thursday 11 August 2011

Flight troubles and other such adventures


Well sitting here in Miami airport writing this after a rather troublesome first leg of our journey! Well I say rather troublesome, but that probably strikes fear into some people heads (mum, dad and I am sure some other people!) but I can assure you that I and the rest of the Hondies are perfectly fine and ok.
This morning was so emotional, I cannot believe I am not going to see my closest family, well all of my family for that matter, for a year, but I will speak to them so all will be well and I pray that they are doing ok and being fed well enough when I am not there! :D
The 9 hour flight was great, went really well. Had our own screen to watch some really cool movies and TV shows on, including GLEE!! Now to those of you that know me, you will realize how much this made me smile, and to those of you that don’t, I am the BIGGEST GLEEK you will meet ....
.... however my seat was the only one where the screen wasn’t working, fan-bloody-tastic! luckily though, a few of the fellow Hondies let me switch with them every so often when they wanted a break, so I did get to have a sing-along and got the end the flight with the final fight scenes of Kung Fu Panda 2.
Soon we landed and as we were walking off the plane, and had got onto the sky train, our fellow Hondie, Cat, realizes she had left her passport on the plane!!! So all hell broke loose as she had to sort that out, and we were being forced to walk along the gangway to passport control. After getting through the finger print readings and trying to understand some strong american accents, there lay baggage claim (as we had to pick up our luggage  and then dump it off again so it could get to the plane), but of course, one of us was still up at passport control, so we had to pick up her bag and were then herded through yet another door! This is where we decided to wait a chill out for a bit and let Cat catch up. Me and Ali then decided to speak to a member of staff to find out if there is anything we could do, so she asked us out flight number and told us that she had to quickly check her cancelled list ... WHAT!! yeah, you ‘eard, her cancelled flight list, finally our luck had turned  and we were all good to go. So that brings us to here, sitting by our gate in Miami Airport, having a couple of hours to chill and relax, and perhaps to a bit of writing.
Just thought I would update you and let you know I am safe and well!
Till next time,
Ciao!! 

Saturday 6 August 2011

3 Days Left!

Ok, so it is getting ever so close to departure date now and my level of excitement is growing, but recently a few things have come up and made me realise how much I am going to miss people and things.

My cousin and his wife, have just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, called Amber, and this huge occasion on our family really hit home at the amount I am going to miss my family, and all our huge get togethers. When my family (aunts, uncles, cousins e.t.c) get together, it is honestly so much fun! Lots of food, laughter and most of all, drink, but it is not just that, it is the small conversations you have with people about any old thing, like your last cake making expedition, or their last trip playing golf, this things that may seem so trivial to a lot of you, mean so much to me and it is something I am going to miss hugely, especially as over there, I won't be able to speak naturally for a couple of months, having to think about my every word in spanish is going to be a drain on energy and emotions. But hopefully, after those first few months, things will start to settle and hopefully look up!

Also, I had to say goodbye to two of my best friends, I haven't known them long, but they mean the world to me! They make me smile every day and are always there for me, always there to offer advice and pick me up again! They are everything to me and without these two, I don't think I would be who I am today!

Sorry for the bit of a meaningful post this time, but I felt it was needed as I am feeling a little ill and wanted to say I miss people as won't be seeing them again!

Good luck to everyone in everything they do, and will speak to you soon!

Here are just a few pics that show my love,

So much love!!

Missed like crazy

So beautiful and charming! (the dog, not sister! LOL JOKES!)



Love these 3!
Till next time,

Ciao!