And more...

God continues to work as I continue to attempt to adapt to a new language, a new culture, a new school system, way of learning, food, roommate and who knows what else. But I have to say that I have been blessed so much, with so many answers to prayer.

The Roomy:

It seems that my roommate Katherine, and I have much in common, not of which the least is SINGING. We have already spent much time in song together – especially worship songs (in English) which really calms my soul and brings the familiarity of home. We seem to see eye-to-eye on a lot of things as well, and she is a great resource for information, especially if I will be teaching kindergarten. She also hails from England, meaning that she has an awesome accent, but which leaves me a mite confused on occasion when she uses words I have never heard before. I confess, I am kinda hoping the accent rubs off on me, though I find myself confused trying to learn Spanish and “posh” English.

Siguatepeque Bilingual School (pronounced sig-wah-teh-peak)

It would probably be a good idea to tell a bit about the school that I am working at. It was formerly a Mission Aviation Fellowship airplane base when there was no road access to Siguatepeque. The cafeteria and high school classes and offices were actually the old hangers. The elementary school and kinder and prepa school (equivalent to JK and SK respectively) were built on over a number of years. The former runway has been turned into a bunch of soccer fields (which suits me!) and they are usually filled with avid soccer players. (Which hopefully, will be another post: Honduran soccer.) Anyways, the school is divided into 3 groups each with their own principle: Kinder and Prepa, Elementary (Gr.1-6) and Secondary (7-11). On average, there is between 15 and 20 students per class. In Siguatepeque there are actually 6 bilingual schools which is a high number for a city with 16, 000 inhabitants. This is because Sig. lies in the middle of the largest industrial city, San Pedro Sula, and the capital Tegucialpa – all of which are connected by a good highway. So there are a lot of diplomats in the city who want their children to learn English. I have since learned that Siguatepeque is also pretty central to most of the country as it takes approximately the same time to go anyplace in the country. Plus it has a temperate climate – it does not have the humidity of San Pedro (which by the way is like walking in a blanket when we were there and that was a cool day!)

It also seems that there is a lot to learn about how the Honduran government runs their education system. I am told that the way kids learn is through memorization and written copying. This has not been good for bilingual schools for the kids are not able to have simple conversations about their age because they have just copied without understanding. So many students are not actually bilingual when they graduate. There is also the problem of the government giving students like 3 chances to pass a class. For example, if a student is doing poorly in a class, turns in no assignments, and does not participate, he can simply write a test at the end of each term (parcials in Spanish and there are four per school year) and if they pass that test, they pass the term. They can take the test twice, but if they fail a third time they finally actually fail. The teachers make the tests, but here is the catch: if a student fails the teacher must give extra classes to the student so that they can pass. They do not take the class with the other students in the year below because usually that student would have another class at the same time. What the snert! Why would the teachers make the test hard if they have to give extra classes? Therefore, there are students who are continually advancing without having the required knowledge or understanding. Finally, as if that was not enough there is a strong emphasis on high marks; parents push hard for their children to get good grades and if they do not get them it is generally the teacher’s fault!

Well, I think that is all I have to write for now. Sorry for the information overload but I hope that I will be more regular in blogging (this is the first time I have ever done anything like this and I am a lot nervous.) I want to pass along my address and I would love to hear from you (I am sorry if I do not respond to emails, the internet and power is so unstable here). Without further ado here is my address:

Amanda Van Halteren
Escuela Bilingüe Siguatepeque
Apartado. Postal No.52
Siguatepeque, Com.
Honduras
phone: (country code 773-0013)

I will be honest, I would love to receive some CDs with music – especially Christian because I miss it – but most important please keep me in your prayers and I hope to share the testimony of those prayers with you. Love to those back home!