… it was the first day of school all over again.
Welcome back, readers! It’s been about three weeks since our last team update, so there’s quite a lot to share!
On December 17th, the annual mass exodus of gringos officially began. Back to the homeland we went, and it was not without a little culture shock and a big appreciation for everything that, 6 months ago, we all took for granted. Our journey began at the San Pedro airport, where Andrea (the 2nd grade teacher) and I were mistaken for Honduran citizens in the passport line, causing our street cred to rise astronomical levels. The man checking our passports could not believe we were from the United States. He proceeded to tell everyone in the passport line that we spoke perfect Honduran Spanish and that he’d never seen anything like it before (meanwhile I had never seen an airport employee so excited about bilingual travelers). It was a nice way to leave the country, knowing that we were really part of this community and that Hondurans as far away as the San P airport had accepted us as one of their own.
There were four of us traveling on the same flight, so unlike our first trip down here in July, we had some nice company on the trip back 🙂
Quite frankly I wasn’t sure what to expect as my plane landed in Houston that exciting Saturday afternoon. Without notifying the flight attendants, Andrea and I took the liberty of seating ourselves together to experience our descent into the U.S (and mutually support each other as fellow extremely nervous fliers). As we entered our final approach, we sat there in awe of the impressive city planning visible from the air: paved streets, sidewalks, commercial zones, highway systems, and a downtown skyline that looked like a majestic silhouette against the hazy winter sky.
We were greeted by automatic toilets, water fountains, and central air conditioning. It was amazing. Once I got home, I literally screamed when I saw our dishwasher (which was kind of awkward because at the time there was a Christmas party going on at my house and nobody seemed to understand what I was so excited about). I had my breath taken away when I opened our cupboard and saw fully-stocked shelves, and on many occasions I would venture out to Target just to simply walk around and look at things. Oh, and I probably took about 2 hot showers a day, just because I could.
There is so much that we take for granted in the United States: clean running water, hot water, air conditioning (or heaters this time of year if you live up north!), availability of resources or basic necessities, healthcare providers, paved roads, trash cans, cars, electricity that always stays on, and so much more I can’t even think of it at the moment.
While it was great to be back in the States and to spend time with my family, I was also excited to get back to our own BECA family we have down here in Honduras. I couldn’t wait to see my kids again, share dinners with families, and just be a part of this great community here in Cofradía.
I remember when I first left for Honduras back in July. I was so nervous I couldn’t even sleep the night before my flight. I was worried I wouldn’t be a good teacher, or that I wouldn’t make friends, or that my kids would hate me, or that I would be too homesick, or that I was making a mistake by moving to a country I’d never before been to and living in conditions I’d never before experienced. But last week, in a literal blink of an eye later, I found myself packing for the same flight I took 6 months earlier and going through a very different thought process this time around. I kept thinking to myself how silly I was for being so scared and nervous! If only I had known what wonderful things awaited me and what great people I would get to spend this year with.
So, back to school it was. It was the first day of school all over again … back to all those sweaty hugs and beautiful smiles, and to life as we know and love it. 🙂
