week 4...almost

Well, it´s been awhile since I´ve been on here. Been a bit busy and tired. Yesterday, i layed down for a nap around 530,6pm and woke up around 9pm and read for an hour or so then went back to sleep til 530am. (Ignoring the fact that i had to meet someone at 730 pm!)...anyways, let´s start with SATURDAY...my wish was granted, i did not spend all night in the park. I WENT to the park a bit late and ran into one of the other teachers (Matt) and went with him and Logan for a drink at a bar, then we walked to VIA VIA for more people and more drinks (Rum and Cokes for me) and then i ended up with a large group of people at a dance-karaoke club til 230am. Let me tell you, after 3, 4 rum and cokes (heavy on the rum) my spanish is pretty darn good! ANyways, all went well and returned safely to my house. SUNDAY i met the latest and greatest LOVES OF MY LIFE...yes, ladies and gentlemen, i have been granted access to a private and VERY beautiful CRYSTAL CLEAR BLUE POOL!!!!! I was in heaven....a great book, good sun, and perfect water. Pretty much took the day to myself to relax and read. I was about to say i don´t remember MONDAY but of course it´s all coming back to me now....for those of you that are easily dissapointed in me, please ski`p below a few sentences....well, monday, there was NO power, and i had NOOOO water (did i mention i didn´t shower sunday?!?!) so i took my dirty self for a walk through the stores (it was SUPER SUPER HOT) and ended up in the pool again, after, while walking, i ran into a guy i met during karaoke (MY host moms nephew) who was in the ¨grocery store¨(i really REALLY use that loosely, its the size of someones living room with limited stuff) a few doors down from my house...WELL his brother owns the store and they were sitting in the front around the door drinking. Well had me sitting at the door talking when next thing i know, a girl from the restaurant two blocks away (their family owns that as well) showed up with an ice cold rum and coke for me (NO i did NOT ask for it!) well, i drank it (it was 1pm) and next thing i know i was drinking for the next 5 hours (with a short break for dinner). Appearantly this guy does NOT like to drink alone and he LOVES to spend money, soooo i ended up drunk as a skunk on a MONDAY afternoon....something completely new for me. I also ended up at some couples house next to the restaurant (more family) with the guys (the couple is in their 80´s) eating soup, normally i would have been to shy to go, but Hell, i was about 4 drinks in (as least)....ANYWAYS, you can resume reading, and NO yelling at me, it´s not a habit, just a one time deal i guess and i´m OK. As for tuesday thru today, same ól same ól, school. Good news is that a bus picks me up right iN FRONt of my door now so no more wandering through the streets at 615am! Also, i made my student cry today! BUT ONLY BECAUSE I´m frustrated, i KNOW he can write, albeit its at more of a first or second grade level, but he doesn´t want to do it so he shuts down and pouts. I can´t continue to let him draw all the time, so i talked with the director, and until the specialist gets here i´m going to start working on a discipline program....no work=NO drawing and a trip to the office OR no recess)....i´m hoping it works because this kid is so sweet and i hated having to be the bad guy this afternoon AT LEAST, this is really cute, when we got back to the classroom after doing his work in the office, he was still moping and i said ¨Jose, are you angry with me¨and he just sniffled and say ¨mmmhummmm (yes)¨ then i said ¨well, can i still have a hug?¨and he sniffles again and says ¨mmmmhuuummmm¨and gave me a long hug and an ï´m sorry miss¨! Ohhhhhh the little things . Well, i´ve only got a few minutes left on here and i need ot get ready to leave for guatemala. I´m leaving for Antigua at Noon tomorrow and returning monday afternoon. Wish me luck, i´m a little nervous. ALSO, next week i hope to help opeof the teachers a little in his english classes (he teaches TEFL classes from 5-6 pm each night and i need the experience!) OK WILL WRITE AGAIN SOON

Week 3

Geez, it seems like it should be more than week 3! Well, not too much new, but will update and share some thoughts. Last night I went in a bus with the other teachers from Mayatan to a place called El Jaral (about 30 minutes from here) for dinner and games for Teachers Day. It was good, nothing really beats free food and drinks! Especially when you are on a budget¨. After that, just sat in-walked around the park until 12 or 1230 am practicing my spanish. Things went good my first week at the school. Part of my day is spent doing remedial work, such as laminating book covers and bagging new books, but it needs to get done and its easier for me to do it than the director. Not to mention, the other day i helped 3 local girls making packets, but for whatever reason (laziness or lack of a system) they only managed to complete one packet (between the 3 of them mind you) as I finished 8! Thus far, in the other times, i am working one on one with a 5th grader that has been diagnosed (and i use this loosely) with Asperger´s Syndrome, which from my research is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder that is cousing with Autism (his original ¨diagnosis¨). I would agree with much of the research and it is a bit sad that he has not had the help that he could have had. First things first, this boy is the son of one of the wealthiest couples in the area (maybe even the country...although a bit of an exageration). They own one of the LARGEST coffee plantations, the most expensive and largest hotel and cafe in the area, as well as some other things. There is money to help this boy, but the mother is rather stingy with her money. Soooo I do my best to help him with what I can, did some reasearch on Asperger´s (which was exciting to actually put my psych. degree to work) and am spending 3 class periods with his each day I am there. He´s a very loveable kid, and is rather interesting to work with. One of the perks however is the ¨THANK YOU MISS, THANKYOU FOR HELPING ME MISS; SEE YOU TOMORROW MISS¨ that i get each day before he showers me with kisses! (isn´t it funny how some small things can really make you´re entire day worth it!?)
==other than that things are routine. Which on a normal day is waking up between 8 and 9 to the sounds of music, animals (mostly roosters and geckos), kids, conversations and some cars. From here i mosey around the corner to my family´s restaurant for breakfast then am free to walk around and read after until lucnch between 12 and 1 back at the restaurant. Occassionaly i eat alone, watching telenovelas or with someone else. after that i´ll usually head home for an afternoon shower, which shall i tell you is not hot. I have not touched warm or hot water in 3 weeks now. Sometimes its a blessing, but more often than not its a rude jolt to my system (although great for water conservation) After this i can again wander, meet with people, read, walk, travel, watch TV...whatever strikes me. After here i return to the restaurnt for dinner around 6 pm and watch ¨Cuerpo del Deseo¨ a wonderful telenovela. Again, i wander, read, music, tv, whatever....until bed around 10 or 11pm. However, now on days that i´m at the school, i am up around 530 am and am at school until 230pm. All else pretty much returns to normal after.

== Well, not sure what else to say, down to about 10 mntues on the computer. I need to work on planning a trip to Guatemala next weekend. So wish me luck with that. I will more than likely end up in Antigua, although Lago Atitlan is also an option. Other than, i was enjoying a really relaxing a great moment in the Park earlier...SSun was shining, had good music going in my headphones, and was reading a funny book (¨Not so funny when it happened¨) then was rudely interrupted by men (who don´t quite have ALL of their marbles) that would not leave me alone. After some polite and innocent conversation, i left (as he asked me for money, as if charging me for the conversation that i did NOT want) and followed me out of the park. Thankfully two teachers walked by and took me with them to their apartment. When i reattempted the situation a bit later in a different spot (minus the sun DAMN HURRICANES!) 3 young girls sat with me to talk, and later another man. Sooooo NOW i´m here, writing you guys. BUT i´m off to lunch now, hopefully i´ll actually get to do something other than sit around the park tonight.

ALISSA

YAY!

!halleluiah! HALLELUIAH! (Ok sure i'm sure i spelled it wrong, but you get the point!) I was working with the director earlier when i saw a pretty decent looking guy, so i wandered out (of course) only to hear relatively familiar gringo accents. WHAT DO YA KNOW three students from ROYAL OAK MICHIGAN! Fresh off the bus here. So i did what any lonely gringa would do and i snatched em up. (ok, i'm not lonely, but eventually i want to do some traveling, and here's my newest bestest bets! PLUS people do dance with!!! i hope) So, i'm picking them up at 7pm tonight in order to show them around town a bit, and in a few days they'll be helping out here at the school. So, yup, I'm a happy camper. Better believe it.

Well, i have more to write but I'll save it for another time since others need the computer.

~*~ me ~*~

VERY brief

God. SOME MEN! I know i have to accept some things because I can't change them, which is why i was sitting on a small school bus ("VAN") this morning gritting my teeth as the driver (A MAN) drove a van full of 5-12 year old boys and girl and making cat calls at a few girls on the street at the same time. He was doing the kissing thing (MUAH) and honking the horn and staring. It happens to me quite a bit when i'm walking but i just keep looking forward and continue walking (all you can do) but this time the kids were there, so guess what the boys and girls learned at 630 this morning??!?!?!

anywyas, need to hunt down the director of the school so i can get to work

bye
(ugh - my tummys rumbling!)

Things are going good

Hmmm, i knew i shoulda gone to the other computer place...it was a lot faster! Not that its a HUGE difference for most things, but AOL can be slower than a snail here sometimes! Well, went back to the river last night, stopping at some peoples houses to avoid the rain along the way. I LOVE listening to the river and watching the kids play. After returning I intended to dore more reading but right after crawling into bed a 6 year jumped in with me soon after! From there i ended up outside with her, her mom and grandmother and read her a story (La Bella Durmiente-Sleeping Beauty). When out for a little bit after and upon returning had to walk carefully around the old guy passed out infront of my door! So...i was thinking about it last night, and Ive gone 2 days without speaking any english, exciting right?! Well, i mean ive said a few words here and there, like when I get frustrated because I don{t know the word in spanish and hoping that the other person can help, and i did exchange greetings with Diego (half of the Belgiun couple that owns a real popular bar-restaruant here in town). But that's improvement right? Hmmmmm...gettin a bit pissed that I can{t read my AOL mail, especially since I{m paying (ok, granted, it{s roughly 1$ an hour BUT remember, i'm trying to make my money stretch REALLLLLLLLLYYYYYYY far!) Ugh. I REALLY need to take a shower, but when i woke up this morning, the city was without power again, and of course cuando no hay electricidad, no hay agua! (i' sure you got that, but if you didn{t it was if there' no electricity, there' no water!). Oh, in case anyone is interested in the weather....things are good here. A bit hot on some days, and it rains nearly every day (sometimes in afternoons, sometimes at night) but I really can't complain. Yesterday was super hot during the day so the one time i ventured out around noon i turned around and went back home, but it was much cooler a few hours later with some light sprinkling and a heavier rain in the evening, but by 930pm it was pure bliss! The sky was an amazing midnight blue and the moon was SOOOO bright, and the weather was crisp and a little cool, if i hadn't been so tired (no nap yesterday) I would have stayed out much later enjoying it.
Well, not sure what else to say right now, and I really REALLY apologize for being so scattered in these entries. But if you have any questions, post them here or email me!
ALISSA

Week TWO

Well, things are going very well here. September is a good month to be in copan because there are many holidays, and yesterday was Independence day. Spent all morning wathcing bands and kids marching. After the mornings activites i met up with Saúl (José Saúl) for a walk in the mountains. Which wsa amazing. I asked him why the mountains and he said it was because i already knew the city, so i needed to do something different. It was fun. He´s been here all his life and is a member at a big close'knit church here so the whole way up he´s saying hi to people. Abput half way up we stopped at a small Tienda (store) to talk to the owners, pick up his sunglasses he lent their daughter while she marched and bougth me a drink then sat there for an hour and watched a movie then continued on our journey. We ended up at a river, thats full of GIGANTIC rocks which we climbed out to and layed on to listen to the river. Before some of you start to get weird on me, just know that my host mom and teachers approve of this young man, they say he is BUEN EDUCADO Y MUY INTELIGENTE (well mannered-well'raised-respectable and intelligent) Therefore a good friend to have.
Hmmm, other that that, watched President Bushs speech last night and some Jon Stewert. They get good TV down here! Been walking through town and reading and classes are going well. Have a dance class this afternoon and then probably not much else than hanging out with Saul. I wouldn´t mind going to a bar but this kid doesn´t drink, and some of the other people i know are sick but i might find some other people later. I need to start planning a trip though, because i have to renew my visa in 2 weeks and i´ll probably end up in Guatemala assuming i find people to go with because i really don´t want to go alone. Worse comes to worse i could just PAY to renew my visa, but a trip sounds SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more exciting! RIght!? Well, not sure what else i should say. With so little time, my mind is just racing. Oh, i did buy shoes. Theyre cute. Were about 9-10 dollars, but at least i have more variety and less stink (i bleached the others! but with all the rain they won´t stay stink free for long) OHHHHHHHHH, i killed my first cockroach! Improvement right??? The one before that i screamed for Victor (my host sisters boyfriend) to kill it while i held my bedroom door shut. Also, the other day i was in the bathroom (again) when i looked over and saw something jump. Scared the sh!! outta me and realized it was a toad. HUGE one. well i tried to chase him outta my room because even though i´m not scared, i am NOT touching him! Well, he went under the bed and wouldn´t come out, so i told my mom and sister that i had a new pet. Well the dad came in and moved the bed and whddya know TWO frogs hiding out under there. I woulda left em since they eat my enemies, but i was afraid they might try to sleep in the bed with me!
Ok, i better get going.
With Love
ALISSA

Week 1

Well, some of my most exciting news is that Sean *another student* has taught me how to make a question mark!! WHOO HOOO! ???????? :) Well, the kids event was great! They loved me and i loved them. Of course, they loved me EVEN MORE when i was passing out marshmellows and juice (you better believe that I was tapping into the marshmellow bowl...but i WARNED them that it was gonna happen! So i don't htink i'll go to marshmellow hell for taking candy from kids) Also ran into the director of the bilingual school and made plans to come work at the school, should start next tuesday...anyways, went dancing at the club with some friends that night and got some merengue in. and hopped into the pool to cool off. Sunday i read a book while sitting out in cenral park (an extremely beautiful and well kept place with gardens around it) after returning home my host sister Carmen took me for ice cream, then a walk around the hotel she works at, then to meet the peace corp girl that lives with her brother camillo, but she wasn't home, after i watched TV with her and her Boyfriend Victor. Moonday i started morning classes, and wasn't quite awake! Later in the park while reading again a handsome stranger asked me if i would like to ride some horses up to the mountain (quieres montar un caballo?) ummmm, no gracias! BUT we did end up talking for the next few hours, don't have enough time to cover it all but we went for along walk to the Ruins today (which is currently occupied by the indigenous people, protesting throughout the country, you could probably google it..._) and then to the river...his name is Saúl and my informal spanish teacher and conversation partner. I'm aboout to head off to wash up before dinner and then meeting saúl for more conversation in the park. For all of you that are now worrying, don't. I got your emails on ruphies and sterilization!
with love
me
* ps, i need to go shoe shopping soon for sandals, mine stink! and aren't very cute with my skirts! My host sister said we could go to San Pedro Sula in order to shop because its cheaper, but i', thinking the 20=40 dollars in busfare could buy a few pairs of shoes in itself! Not to mention the safety!

mass email UNO

Well first and formost, let me get two things out of the way. 1* I have absolutely NO idea how to make a question mark on these computers soooooooooo please accept .... as a question mark! 2* some of you i told to switch to my Yahoo account, but i'm going to ask you to DISREGARD that statement until the next time i get pissed with the speed *or lack thereof* of AOL
* so, i'm finising up my first week here in copan and i really really love it here. its such a great little town. My first day however i had some doubts as my first real memory comes from sitting on the toilet screaming for my mom as a huge cockroach climbed down the shower curtain next to my face, however i am still alive and starting to loosen up, i even slept on the house sheets last night, and not my own. well, not completely by choice, but because mine disappeared after the room was cleaned BUT i survived so i should be ok! Went out with my girlfriend courtney last night and two guys from my school. we all walked down to the entertainment district *pool, pool table, bar, karaoke, danceclub, social hangout* and played some pool, watched some karaoke and yes, jumped in the pool at 11 o clock at night *of course, only because we had guys with us, if not it wouldnt have been an option for two lone gringas* I don't have too much time to write I will be volunteering all afternoon at a KIDS DAY EVENT, which should be interested because there's going to be over 100 non english speaking kids that are very adamant about playing games and gettin free candy and toys. If i can survive this, i'll be good to go for the rest of the trip! It's also a great opportunity because its run by a bunch of the europeans that have settled down here and run a few businesses and a wonderful way to meet them and make friends. I've also talked to the owner of the place www.casadetodo.com about helping with the HUGE conference that will be here in november which would be an amazing palce to network as it will be worldwide non-profit people, volunteers, doctors, anthropologists and the like.

i better get going, got lots to do
miss you all
alissa

I'm here

Well, everyone, I am here! Just finished my first week in Copan, Honduras and i love it here! I am living with a wonderful family that really takes care of me and in a great location. My mom left safely yesterday and is hopefully on a plane back to germany. I only have about 10 minutes left on the computer so I cna't write too much, but hopeully most of you are getting my mass emails. I did good in my first week of classes, been having some very deep conversations about culture and people. I don't feel like my spanish is picking up, but i rarely do until one day i say something or understand something and am like *WOW, i've come so far!* People seem to understand me, and i am learning new words and practicing my grammar so thats good. I hope to make some trips soon, i want to get back to the community i was in in february and up to guatemala in about 2.5 weeks when its time to renew my visa. Well, i better get some other things done, i have to get to lunch and then down to Casa de todo (www.casadetodo.com( because i'm volunteering at their kids day event.
with love
alissa

oy! Take off

Well, once again this shall be short. I am off to bed in 3 minutes! I believe that I am packed and ready to go. Only two things i KNOW i don't have and thats a small calculator and a water bottle. Both are things that can be bought later. Well, i'm not nervous yet or excited really, but that will start as I awake in a few hours. I will update here as soon as possible. My brain is mush right now which is why I'm not writing all the profound and personal insights that I had cooked up in my head earlier.

With love
alissa