A Day in the Life – Monday 24th July

6am – My alarm goes off and I promptly silence it and roll over.

6.30am – I wake up in a panic that I’ve massively overslept! (It’s ok, I’ve still got plenty of time!)

6.35am – We didn’t get a wash done at the weekend because of a water cut which means we have to try and fit one in before school today.

6.40am – Time for a shower! (actually pretty warm for once!) 

6.50am –  I get dressed, today in cut-off jeans and my Project Trust polo shirt.

7.05am – Breakfast today is cabbage and tomatoes, beans, avocado, plantain, mantequilla and a tortilla.

7.35am – I brush my teeth, put makeup on, and then realise the water has gone off so our washing has stopped. We’ll have to wait until later to start it up again, the water usually comes back in the afternoon.

7.57am –  Before I leave to walk the minute and a half to Kinder (by myself beacuse Amy’s not feeling well today), I fill up my water bottle. Got to keep hydrated!

8am – Kinder starts. I teach the 5 year olds. It takes me 10 minutes to get them all into a circle to start singing If You’re Happy and You Know It. They won’t settle to it because they are overflowing with energy this morning so I try and get rid of some of it by playing the Bean Game. (It doesn’t work.) I give it one more attempt to do something productive, practising numbers, before giving in and singing Wind the Bobbin Up to finish. A lot of days are something like this – it can be quite hard to keep this many small children on track!

8.30am – I leave slightly early in despair. We finish anywhere between 8.30 and 8.40.

8.40am – I start walking to the primary school.

8.45am – Exactly on time, I arrive at school and start 1st grade’s lesson. We’re working on phonics with them at the minute so we recap long and short vowel sounds. Then we learn the rule that one vowel in a word means it’s a short sound. We have a workbook that we work through with this class so we fill in the appropriate page.

9.30am – Recreo a.k.a. breaktime. I sit around talking to some kids, most of whom just keep telling me not to go! Stop, you’re breaking my heart!

9.45am – Time for 4th grade where we are learning about body parts. I draw a monster on the board that has extra arms, legs, two heads, basically a very weird looking guy and they have to write down a list of all of Mr Monster’s body parts. When they finish they get to draw their own monster. Towards the end of the class I pass around a notebook that I want them all to sign before we leave.

10.35am – I’m a little late to my 6th grade class because signing the book took longer than expected. 6th grade are also doing body parts so I do the same lesson as with 4th grade but more streamlined. I limit the amount of things they have to write about Mr Monster so they don’t get overwhelmed. I also pass the book around from the start so it isn’t a mad rush at the end.

11.15am – That’s me finished with my classes for the morning. At this time the kids get their merienda (snack, but it’s more like an actual meal).

11.20am – I go back to my 4th grade class as promised so they can decorate their names a bit more  in my book.

11.28am – I leave to go home for lunch.

11.29am – I remember I have forgotten to get homework from Amy’s 4th grade so she can still mark it so I turn around.

11.40am – Second time lucky right? Homework in hand I trek up the looming hill to the house.

11.45am – Dying from the heat and the extra weight of a pile of jotters, I arrive home.

12.10pm – Lunch is rice, pasta, cheese, salad and a tortilla.

12.45pm – I have a bit of time before my class in the high school so I watch some Netflix.

1.28pm – Another minute and a half walk takes me to the colegio.

1.30pm – My only class this afternoon is 7th grade. I taught some of the students in this class when they were in 6th grade. They are practising a dance for a competition next Monday when I arrive but only take a few minutes to finish up. This class like listening to a lot of English music so one of their favourtie things to do is to translate songs. Because this is our last class, we’re doing one they’ve been asking for for a while – Closer by The Chainsmokers. At the end I have them all sign my book too.

2.25pm – I walk back the way I came to the house.

2.35pm – Even though it’s only six days until I see her again I FaceTime Amy at home and we chat for a while.

4.00pm – I read for a bit and play with our baby sister, Antonella. She’s just learned to roll over but isn’t feeling like putting on a show for me just now.

5.00pm – Amy’s feeling better so we both go to the river with our other host sisters, Daniela and Jamie. The water is freezing but some splashing gets me accustomed pretty quickly!

6.10pm – Tacos flautas for dinner!  I requested this as they are one of my favourite Honduran meals and I wanted to have them at least once more before we leave.

6.30pm – Because we’ve only got a few days left I start taking down letters and drawings from kids from the walls.

7.10pm – Amy and I went to a BBQ at the weekend and had some leftover biscuits and marshmallows so Jamie and I make use of them by making smores (or as I call them in Spanish, the marshmallow sandwiches)!

7.30pm – More taking things down and actual packing! Ordered piles of clothes! Clothes in the backpack! It’s now half full but there’s still a whole lot left!

8.45pm – I sit (or rather lie) down on my bed to write my journal. I am proud to say I have written in it for every day I have been out here!

10.00pm – I relax a little bit, watch some Netflix, read a little more.

11.00pm – Bedtime!