Excitement and nerves-

Wow. In four days, I will be in Honduras. I don't know what to do with myself. There is so much preparation that is necessary to leave one's life, family and friends for a year. I want to call everyone; I feel like I need to get all of my last hugs and hear everyone's voice one more time. I've been back in Georgia for four weeks and I have no idea where the time has gone.

I'll start with what I know. I will be teaching my own fourth grade class at Escolar Centro Santa Clara just outside the city of Juticalpa. I will have twenty five students in my class and one is blind. All are English language learners, most likely with varying levels of English proficiency. I will teach all subjects (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Math, Science and Religion) in English, but my Spanish will certainly help. I'm really excited to use the language again. I will be living in a house in the city with two of the other volunteer teachers. Jessica is from Pennsylvania and will be teaching second grade and Veronica is from Washington state and will be teaching kindergarten. Three other volunteers, Kristi and Rob from Washington state and Brendan from Arkansas, will live in another house in town. Another volunteer, Annie, lives down the street.

The Santa Clara Primary School was formerly housed in the Catholic University of Honduras in Juticalpa, but has recently moved into its own building just outside the city. The school does not yet have electricity, but it does have dry erase boards. This should be interesting. The school day runs from 7am until 2pm . In the morning, ALL of the teachers ride the bus from downtown Juticalpa to the school with ALL of the students. The students wear colorful uniforms and last year the teachers did, too. Fortunately this year, the teachers will be choosing their own attire.

I have read all of the literature possible about the foundation and life in Honduras, Juticalpa and Central America. I have been listening, speaking and writing in Spanish like crazy. I've dragged out all of my high school and college workbooks and have been diligently practicing verbos (present subjunctive, future perfect, conditional, etc) and vocabulario. I've turned on Spanish radio everywhere, especially to listen to Julieta Venegas. (Check out "Me voy.") I have also had the opportunity to visit several elementary schools in my area and observe ESL and fourth grade classrooms. It will be an adjustment to teach smaller students for the whole day, but I really think I'm going to like it.

Honduras is a developing country and I did read that it is frequently considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Therefore, disease is prevalent and health care is not great. I have been vaccinated for more diseases than I can recall in the past month . Let's see, those would be: Hepatitis A and B, Rabies, Typhoid, Tuberculosis, Measles, Mumps and Rubella. Plus, I've had the tetanus shot and have begun taking malaria prevention pills. The tetanus shot made my arm REALLY sore, the malaria pills keep me jittered for the first few hours and all of these vaccines in my body have caused me to have some off-kilter days. But- I'm preparing. I'm expecting to have some gastrointestinal issues as my body adjusts to the new diet, but I really-really don't want to get Malaria or Dengue or a parasite of sorts. My suitcase will be weighed down with DEET products, mosquito netting and antibiotics for all of these little instances. Plus, my mom has had me blessed by our parish priest. That makes me feel good, too.

The tap water in Honduras is not potable and all fruits and vegetables must be well-cleaned AND THEN peeled or thoroughly cooked before eating. Every month, I will receive a living stipend, with which I will buy food and all other necessary items. I guess I'm going to have to learn how to cook huevos, frijjoles, platanos and comida tipica. Perhaps I'll have some lessons?

I have packaged and sent two large boxes of books and school supplies to Juticalpa. I have been told that there really is no mail system in the country and that letters and packages from the states can take as long as three months to receive. Olancho Aid uses a quick shipping company out of Miami in addition to the postal service in order to send quick packages. Even with the service, Rapido Cargo, it still takes two weeks to receive something.

One of the OA volunteers, Annie, has recently been named the director of the school. The other day, she sent out a curious list of things to expect upon arriving: kids with no shoes, poverty next to riches, people drinking Coca-Cola like it's water (and I suppose it IS a better option than the tap), horses and cattle in the street, and people riding in the back of pick-up trucks to name a few. Of course, Annie is one of the many people with whom I've corresponded whose heart is completely attached to the people and culture of this beautiful, little country.

I'm thrilled to be able to have this experience, so I am certainly much more excited than nervous, but all of the feelings are there. I send my love and hugs to all of you. There is much more to come!