MuddyPuddles

We’ve closed up shop in Catacamas where we’ve been staying for the past month and we have now come to the capitol city of Honduras, Tegucigalpa.  Tomorrow (Sunday) we are scheduled to fly out at 12:27 pm and to arrive in Houston at about 4:28 pm.  After getting our luggage and going through customs we will probably be hit the road for the 4 hour drive home.  We’re not planning to stop at a motel at this time, but that is subject to change if necessary. 
We’ve both been through this part of the journey several times and we both agree that at this point it doesn’t feel like we’ve been here a month.  It feels no different now than our one week journeys.  I’m sure that will change when we get home and see how much mail and chores have piled up on us.  Bonnie commented on how strange it is going to feel to be around people that speak only English.  I’ve found that it has been hard to speak English without putting a little spanish tilt to it since that is what 99.9% of the people we’ve been speaking with for the past month have been doing.  It’s going to be interesting readapting to Texas and Home.  We’re looking forward to the challenge.  We look forward to seeing our friends and family.  There’s just nothing like those two things and we appreciate them more than ever.  Thank you to those who have had us in our thoughts and prayers for the past few weeks.  I can assure you that you have been in ours, nightly.  God Bless.  See you soon!  Dennis

We are drawing near to the end of our time here in Honduras .  We’ve gradually adapted to life here in some ways.  It’s either getting cooler or we are getting used to the heat.  I actually think it is a combination of the two.  From what I understand their hottest months are in March and April.  Which would mean that we’ve been through what would be like a Texas September, I guess—very warm at the beginning and gradually cooling toward the end.  The last couple of days we’ve had more clouds and rain in the afternoons which have led to cooler evenings.  That’s been nice (until it’s time for a cold shower).  At school I’ve gotten to where I hardly notice whether the windows are opened or closed.  I’ve gotten used to wearing the same clothes several times between washings.  Since we have to hand wash and there are no dryers, it’s a real challenge to hang them out and get them inside between rain showers.  Since the walls inside are cement and there are no nails or hooks we had to be creative in finding a way to hang a rope inside for a clothes line.  One of the windows does not have a screen but it has security bars on the outside.  So, I tied a rope from one of the security bars to the bedroom door (looped over the door so that it rests on top of the hinge)and then back out to the bar on the opposite side of the window.  So if we can at least have enough time for the clothes to stop dripping we can bring them inside if it starts looking rainy.  It’s amazing how quickly a cloud can pop up and drop a bucket of water and then pass right on by.  If the ground didn’t have a little water standing you’d never know that it had rained just an hour before (unless you had clothes on the line.
We have also become more comfortable safety wise.  We feel more relaxed in and among the people in town and in the stores and around.  We just kind of fit in more or less.  Most of the contact with Americans that these people have is with people who come to help in some way.  And, most of the people that come to help are very kind and generous type people.  Therefore, most of the locals feel grateful and somewhat protective of Americans.    I can see that they feel that it is a real treat for them to interact with an American, especially those who rarely get to do that on a one to one basis.  And, if they know any English words they beam with pride if they use them.  So, when they do, I heap praise on them for their good English.  They beam some more. 

So, as we wind down, we are trying to take in the special things we’ve enjoyed.  We are trying to get all the pictures taken we’ll want.  We trying to return the things we’re supposed to return and give all the things we want to give.  And we are reflecting on the month.  It’s been good and we feel blessed to have had the opportunity to experience it.  God Bless.  Dennis

Part of what we did on Sunday and Monday was to visit the homes of some of our Honduran students.  As we visited with the parents (none of whom could speak English) they said that their children were hesitant to use their English.  I had noticed this in many of the student during the school time as well.  They knew more than they were willing to speak because they also understood that there was a lot more that they did not know.  I could relate.  When I first started learning Spanish, I felt the temptation to not speak it because I knew that I was so imperfect with it that I might make a fool of myself by trying.  This fear, if we let it win, is such an obstacle to progress because the only way that you get really proficient is to speak it.  I talked to the fifth grade class about this and encouraged them to speak English even if they did not feel much confidence.  I likened it to a small baby who was learning to walk.  Do we tell the baby that he should stop trying because he keeps falling down?  No, we encourage him to keep trying and eventually he can walk and even run without stumbling. 
Sometimes I speak to them in Spanish.  I would say that my proficiency is about 50%.  I can get my message across 90% of the time and I can understand many of the words that others are speaking, but if you don’t understand 10% of the words you don’t really have a clue about what they are really saying.  You might know what they are talking about, but not what their conclusions are or the reasons for those conclusions.  This is frustrating at times.  I want to be more fluent and it is a life goal of mine to become extremely fluent.  But, I’m not there yet.  On the other side of the coin, I was thinking yesterday that it would be very difficult for us to be here on this adventure if I didn’t have the fluency I have.  We can go out on our own without worrying about me not being to get my message across.  It’s just a little rough around the edges, but communication takes place.  And that is very gratifying.  So I’m very glad that I did not give in to that temptation to remain silent due to my lack of fluency. 
You can apply that to all areas of life.  Fear is such a controlling and limiting aspect of so many peoples lives.  I just don’t want to let my life be constricted down to a dribble by fear.  My hope is that you too will be bold and break through the fear blockade.  God Bless you as you march forward this week.  Dennis   

We have begun our last week in Honduras , so I call this the week of lasts.  This weekend was our last full weekend and it was excellent.  On Saturday, Dr Garcia took us to several small villages around Catacamas and we were able to visit with the families of several of the children in our school.  We ate fish and purchased mangos from a mango orchard.  We learned to recognize “wetback houses”.  These are houses made possible by having a family member living in the states and sending home money each month.  Dr Garcia told me that the income of the average working Honduran living here is about 2,500 to 3,000 lemperas per month.  That’s about $125 to $150 per month.  So, if someone from the states sends them $200 per month, that’s a significant increase over the local people.  Therefore, they can build a nicer house made of concrete block and brick (and stucco and paint) and it sets it apart from those made of adobe and wood).  So, everyone knows that it is a “wetback house”.  He said that is not a derogatory term here. 
On Sunday, we went on a three mile trek up a mountain just outside of Catacamas.  We hiked into one of the National Parks.  It was a beautiful hike into the rain forest.  Even though it was a national forest, there were still houses on the side of the road occasionally and even a pulperia at the end of the road, where we bought coca colas and had a great little visit with the proprietor of the store.  It was all in Spanish so we had to have some interpretation of what he was saying.  He is one of those great storytellers that is good about passing down “oral traditions”.  He said that he enjoys smoking more than eating.  Later in the conversation he said that he felt like television was ruining young people today—that it was breaking down traditional values (like smoking instead of eating?).  He talked of seeing UFO’s flying down the valley in front of his house.  It was very interesting. 
One thing that we saw all along the hike was coffee plants planted in and among the forest.  What is interesting about that is the fact that coffee plants need the shade of the trees to survive.  Therefore, coffee plants are very important to the saving of the rain forests.  We were told that these trees would have probably been cut down or burned off so that other crops could be planted if it weren’t for the fact that the coffee plants needed shade.  So, thank goodness for coffee, because the scenery is extremely beautiful.  This trek might have been my favorite thing we’ve done so far. 
Today, Monday, we start our last school week.  We are glad it is our last.  As much as we’ve enjoyed it, we look forward to getting back to those awesome daily American experiences that we’ve sometimes taken for granted.  It is truly a blessing to be an American.  And I thank God that he blessed me that way.  God Bless you as you count your many blessings this week.  Dennis 

While here in Honduras I’ve come to understand, more clearly, some of the complexities of the problems in this country.  I’ve spoken with three different men, on multiple occasions, who are very intelligent and whose lives are significantly invested in helping the people of Honduras to make changes for the better.  I get the sense from all three of them that they feel very much like it is an uphill battle, but that it is a battle that they feel compelled to wage.  They are not blindly pushing forward but are constantly looking for better ways to bring about change.

One of them described a scenario which tends to replicate itself.  Imagine that you are a seven year old boy whose father decides to go work in the United States so that he can earn money and send it home to his wife and family.  Soon the family starts receiving about $200 per month, which is significantly more than an average worker could make here in Honduras .  Eight years later, he is now fifteen and he hasn’t seen his father in eight years, but because of his father’s work, his family does better than those around whose father is working here.  He has no incentive to work because the money comes even if he lies around doing nothing.  As he gets a little older, his natural desire is to go to the US like his father.  When you add to that the lure of the adventure of going to the US it’s almost a foregone conclusion that he is going to try it.
You can add to that problem.  Most of the men who go to the US were at home with their mothers until they married.  Then they had their wives to help take care of them.  When they get to the states, loneliness and temptation is a huge problem.  So they start a family in the US as well.   

Now, you have many of the best Honduran workers who have moved to the US, which leaves many of the less motivated and less desirable men here in Honduras .  It’s easier to rob little old ladies and children on the way to the store than it is to go out and work at a job, so they often choose that over getting a job.  With time and money on their hands they often turn to alcohol and drugs.  It is a pretty discouraging picture. 

One of the men asked me one day if I felt Americans were optimistic or pessimistic.  I told him that I generally considered Americans to be optimistic.  He concurred and he said he felt like most Hondurans were pessimistic.  He described a scenario which he felt like represented the different attitudes from Americans and Hondurans.  He said each country is like a can with 10 crabs in it.  The American crabs will work together to get someone to the top and then that crab on the top will reach down to help the next one up and they will eventually get all the crabs out of the can.  He said that Honduran crabs will see that someone is almost to the top of the can and they will reach up and pull him back down.  It’s like they can never get out because they self destruct.  Naturally, he’s very frustrated, at times, about the mindset of the Honduran people. 

Everyone agrees that the hope for the future is in changing the attitudes of the children.  They agree it is in the educational process.  Therefore, there is much emphasis in trying to educate the children—which is a part of the reason Bonnie and I were invited to come help out in the school.  Not only do they hope we can help with the English pronunciation, but I sense a desire that we can also help instill in the children a sense of making a difference in the future of their country.  I think they want to see the type of attitudes that Americans have and hopefully some of that attitude will rub off on them.  It all seems like we can do so little—any of us.  It is a mountain to move and all we have are teaspoons, but at least we have teaspoons.
Having been raised in America , I was always reminded in ways I didn’t even realize, that I could make things happen—that I had some control over my destiny.  The opportunities for success in the US are basically unlimited.  I think about the lives of all my brothers and sisters and how we have all been successful in our chosen fields even though each of those fields is totally different.  We live in nice homes and have had good educations.  Our children are all going out into still other fields and are successfully providing for their families.  It is just becoming clearer and clearer to me how blessed we are to have been born in America .  It truly is an amazing place.  It truly is an amazing culture of opportunity.  Though there are many misconceptions about America in third world countries, no one has a smidgeon of doubt about the fact that it is the land of opportunity.  Every single one of them either has family in the US or knows someone who has gone to the US .  And, to some degree they are in awe of America and of Americans.
Obviously, I don’t know what the future holds for Honduras (or America ), but I know that because of the blessings I have received, I want to do my part to help those in Honduras (and America ) who need it.  I thank God for blessing me and my family so bountifully.  And I pray that he will give me wisdom in using these blessings to his glory and for the good of my fellow man.  On this Fourth of July I realized that we have independence in so many ways that are not readily available in most parts of the world.  And we generally take it for granted.  Today, I do not.  I more clearly understand how great a blessing it is.  God Bless you as you count your blessings with thanksgiving and as you  use them to make this world a better place.  Dennis      

We were told that you never can tell when the electricity is going to go out here in Catacamas, Honduras , and that has been especially true for the last few days.  Right now I am typing on my laptop in this pitch black room because the electricity went out about 30 minutes ago.  I’m thankful that I have a battery on my laptop.  That doesn’t help out much on the fan blades that are sitting idle on this sweltering humid night however and the natural breeze seems to have come unplugged as well.  Last night I took a shower by flashlight because the electricity was off from about 8:00 to 11:00.  At least the electric water heater which we don’t have was not affected.  (And thank goodness that the electricity doesn’t affect water coming into our house.)  This afternoon at the internet café, the electricity went off as we were checking our email so we left for a few hours and came back later.  A couple of days ago, Bonnie had typed a long email and was one second from pressing “send” when the power went out.  So what they say is true.  You just can’t count on it too much or you’ll be disappointed.  I’m getting to where I think that if our clock isn’t blinking that there must be something wrong with it because it blinks more than not.  Aren’t we blessed in the US ?  We live like kings.  I’m appreciating it more and more as my experience here goes on.  God Bless you as you acknowledge those blessings we take for granted.  Dennis   

Bonnie laughed at me last night.  She laughed hard at me.  In fact, she did it several times.  I even laughed at myself a few times (hard) and at her.  It all had to do with phonics.  We don’t think the people who are learning English in Honduras use phonics very much at all—even though some of the classes we teach and some of the books we are using are called “phonics”.  They do use phonics on some of the “oo” sounds and “ow” sounds, etc., but it doesn’t seem like they break down words by sounds (like “dog” –duh  aw  guh, “dog”.  They just learn the words by sight and memorize them.  This would be okay if our language contained about 200 words, but since it contains about a gazillion, it would be a little easier (we think) if they knew the sound that “d” makes (all by itself), as well as the rest of the alphabet.  We have not, in fact, seen the alphabet hanging on any walls.  One teacher wrote the letters “ig” up on the board and she went through several letters to see what letters might join with “ig” to make a word.  But she never made the sound of “ig” or “b” or “p” or “d” so she could put them together to make “big” or “pig” or “dig”.  She either pronounced nothing or she pronounced the completed word.  It’s kind of amazing in a way, but we think it’s the truth.
Maybe it has never occurred to them to break the letters apart like that because it may be that they learn the Spanish language the same way in their schools.  Perhaps they just memorize they way every word looks and never break it down into individual sounds.  We don’t know for sure, but that is what we have come to suspect. 
Friday, the children are going to be sent home early so that Bonnie and I can conduct a workshop with the teachers.  The primary goal will be to make sure the teachers have the proper pronunciation with their words so that they can teach it to the students.  We are debating just what to include in that workshop.   Do we get into the whole phonics thing or do we just concentrate on getting them to have the correct pronunciation on the words we’ve heard mispronounced the most.  We’ll have to decide after we get a little more information.  We have a meeting set up with the principal Thursday evening.  We should know more by then.
The reason Bonnie was laughing at me is because earlier this afternoon I was telling her how I learned phonics in school.  Every day we would go down a little green, hand held, chart and we would, in unison, say “A says a a a, B says buh buh buh, C says cuh cuh cuh”.  She was so kind as to point out that those are not the correct phonetic sounds.  She basically insulted my phonics teachers (may they rest in peace).  Because she is now a Certified Academic Language Specialist, she is pretty technical about things like that.  I don’t really enjoy hearing about all of the special phonetic and spelling rules in all their extended and exception-filled glorious detail any more than she likes hearing about all of my technical memory methods or investment time value of money and various ways to buy and sell discounted notes and to figure the rate of return and other technical stuff that I find fascinating.  In fact, each of us starts getting a little stressed out—a little “pent up”— when the other starts expanding on those topics for more than about five seconds.  We don’t mind the other one explaining those topics in great detail as long as we can be out of earshot while they are doing it. 
But tonight, in the interest of possibly meeting a need here in Honduras, I actually asked her to teach me the correct phonetic sounds of the alphabet (as she understood it (knowing that my way was really the right way, however)) and she was graciously willing to do so (ha!).  So we started down the alphabet.  We did okay until we got all the way down to “C”.  As I twisted my larynx around to make the proper sound, she burst out laughing (even though I had said it perfectly).  We ground through it a few more times until by coincidence some weird sound came out of my mouth because of some spasm I had and she said “that’s it”.  Rather than risk failure, I didn’t repeat it again and we moved on.  I did okay after that until I got to “K”.  It has the same exact sound as “C” so she burst out laughing again.  I coughed a few times and cut my cough off quickly enough so that she once again accepted it where we could move on.  We did fine until I got to “R”.  Boy did I have trouble with “R”.  It sounded good to me, but it just made her laugh.  She insulted me a few times about my facial gestures as I was twisting my mouth and body around to say “rrrrrr”.  She would keep saying “no, its rrrrrr” to which I would respond “rrrrrr” to which she would say, “no, its rrrrrr”.  She laughed hard at each of my “rrrrr’s” and I laughed after some of hers and said “that’s what I’m saying”.  After awhile she either accepted it or at least acted like she did so we could move on.  I got along pretty well on the rest of the alphabet, thank goodness.  Now that we both have that down PERFECTLY we can work together to teach the Honduran teachers (or maybe not).  It should be interesting if we do it.  You can be confident that I will be able to keep a straight face and not laugh as they do their little Honduran “rrrrrr’s”.
It’s taken us a week and a half to completely pick up on some of the differences in the mindsets and approaches of our two cultures.  And every day we find something else to add to the list.  It just reinforces once again how foolish we, Americans, are sometimes to try to simplistically fit everything into our little preconceived molds.  We have a tendency to think that if it makes sense to us in our environment, then that is the proper way it should be done every where in the world.  But it just isn’t so.  And what works in one culture or environment may not work in another.  What is valued and treasured in one culture is ignored or rejected in another.  We’ve just got to be more accepting of people who are different than us (locally or foreign).  What meets your needs may be totally foreign to what meets the needs of someone else.  But what is important is that those needs are met.  Then, those people can be reached for Christ.  The way we do things in “Church” may be totally fine, but they may need to be modified for other cultures or environments.  As long as God’s purposes and principles are met, that’s fine.  May God bless you this week as you strive to accept those who see things differently than you.  We all might be able to learn something from them if our hearts are right.  Make it so.  Dennis        

There is one little girl in our Honduran school that has taken a special interest in Bonnie and me.  Though many students come up to talk to us briefly, she, more than any other, seems to want to talk with us at greater lengths.  She even eats lunch with us every day.  Her name is Andrelesi and she is in the forth grade.  She speaks pretty good English and carries herself with confidence.  Bonnie and I were talking about her this evening and, because of today being Exam day, Bonnie was able to notice that this little girl struggled on the exam more than some of the other kids.  So, she is probably not as naturally “book smart” as some of the other children.  In spite of that, however, I would bet that she will do pretty well for herself, because she is willing to use what she knows.  She is so willing to speak her English.  There are several of the kids who probably did very well on the exam—significantly better than her—but they are reluctant to speak out.  I think they are self conscious about their ability, or lack thereof, to speak proper English.  They are afraid they may pronounce something incorrectly.  Or they are afraid that they will not have the words in the right order.  Therefore, rather than risk failure, they keep silent.  They bury their gift.  They don’t want to look foolish.  But by making sure they don’t look foolish, they become foolish. 
How much have you held back for fear of looking foolish.  It makes me think of a child who has a talent and who will perform wonderfully if he or she thinks no one is watching, but won’t do anything at all when asked to perform in front of someone.  When that happens everyone loses.  When she performs everyone wins.  And, yet, she seldom performs.  Each of us has a gift or a talent.  It is from God.  We may not be the best in the world at that gift, but it is the gift that God has given us.  He did not give it to us so that we would bury it.  He gave it to us to use to his glory.  When we do, everyone wins.  When we don’t, everyone loses. 
It’s not about how much talent you have.  It’s about what percent of your talent you are using.  And what I’m finding is that we all have more talents than we realize.  But sometimes we can’t see some of them until we’ve used the ones we can see.  Don’t worry if you can’t see all the way to then end.  Go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you can see farther (This saying was not original with me, (rats!)).  My hope for you is that you will do like the song says, “I hope you’ll dance like no one is watching” as you use your gifts for God’s glory this week.  May he Bless you as you step forward to do so.  Dennis

   

We’ve now been in Honduras for seven days and we just completed our first week of school.  I’ve learned the names of about 60 or 70 of the students and am trying to learn more all the time.  It’s just hard to call them back into the mix, when they get distracted, if you don’t know their names.  So, I put a high priority on learning them.  Bonnie has struggled a little more than I to learn the names since she’s dealing with the lower grades where they are able to speak less English and therefore communication is more of a problem. 

I feel like we’ve made some progress in helping them with their pronunciation, but there is still much work to do.  And, so much of this week was about learning the routines, adapting to their system, seeing the needs and reflecting on how to approach next week in the most effective manner.  It was a good week, but I believe next week will be better.

This school is made up of kindergarten through grade 5.  It started off six years ago as a kindergarten and has added a grade each year since.  They hope to eventually have 12 grades.  The building is all new and has been built in stages as the need arises and as funds become available.  When we visited in January, the cafeteria, which is now complete, was under construction.  The grounds are beautiful with St Augustine type grass and many fruit trees and small bushes and flowers.  The goal is to create a beautiful oasis for the kids to experience.
The exterior walls of the classroom are made of concrete blocks for the first three feet from the floor.  Above that is louvered glass windows most of the way to the ceiling.  You can open these louvers to allow cross ventilation.  Amazingly, much if not most of the time that I have entered a classroom, most of the windows are closed.  Because I like a cross breeze on hot days, I go open them.  I’ve asked several teachers, “do you mind if I open the windows?”  They have always said, “No, I don’t mind—a breeze would be good” or something to that effect.  Meanwhile, the students, especially when they come back from recess or lunch (5 minutes eating and 25 minutes running and playing) are sweating profusely while sitting in their chairs (without complaint for the most part).  The floors are tile and the walls in between classrooms are concrete blocks or plywood.  The ceiling is the metal framework and the metal roof.  So, as you can imagine, with all these hard surfaces and thin windows and about 150 children, the noise level makes for an interesting educational environment.  It took me a few days to kind of get used to it.  They seem to have the ability to filter out most of the noise. 
Most of the children come to the school by riding one of the two school buses that are provided or by carpooling with one of the parents who owns a car.  The school has a security fence all around and the security guard keeps the gates locked except when he is letting people in or out.  The kids seem to thoroughly enjoy being there.  They are so warm and friendly and spend a lot of time running and smiling and playing.  There is a long rope that is used for jumping.  A teacher and one student (usually) swing the rope while a line forms to the side.  A child gets to jump the rope until she/he messes up and then they have to go to the back of the line.  To keep this from taking too long, as soon as the child starts jumping, the speed with which the rope is swung keeps getting faster and faster.  Therefore, rarely does anyone jump more than about 10 or 15 seconds.  Other kids are playing soccer and others basketball.  Some are just running and laughing.  It is a delight to just sit and watch them play and have fun in this clean safe environment.
I asked Bonnie if this was the way the children are in Texas and she said “yes.”  So, I guess children are just children—mostly delightful with a few challenging ones thrown in for good measure.  As I watch these children I can’t help but wonder what their future will be in this culture that has restricted options.  My hope is that they can overcome the obstacles and do well for themselves and for this country.  It is such a beautiful country with such beautiful people, but the economic and political environment makes the odds of succeeding in a meaningful way much less likely than for the children of Texas .  Hopefully, because of schools like this and a few farsighted people who have a vision for a better future in Honduras , this can change.  God Bless.  Dennis    

One of our main goals here in Honduras is to teach the students (and the teachers) the correct pronunciation for English words.   One of the problems they are having is that the Honduran accent that the teachers have is what the children are learning.  So, we work on it every day and every period.  I thought we were doing a pretty good job until I happened to walk by the classroom where Bonnie was teaching and I heard her say “Poot jore peenseel een jore noatbewk end luke et me.” (which is “pig Spanish” for “put your pencil in your notebook and look at me”.) Then I realized we had a little backwash going on here.  It’s not really that bad but when Bonnie told me today that she had caught herself saying “poot” instead of “put”, I died laughing because I had caught myself doing something very similar as well.  It’s like all these people have ganged up on us to try and make our English sound like theirs.

Today I watched one little 5^th grader, Avalardo, give a research report.  It was about erosion.  He was in the front of the room facing the class and I was sitting in a chair about four feet to his right.  I could almost reach out and touch him.  He had a poster taped to the board and he read from it as he told about his information and pointed at things with his yardstick.  He would say “eruption” when he meant “erosion” and he mispronounced so many words that I was having a hard time keeping a straight face.  He was pronouncing words like “flewd” (flood) and several other words that I can’t recall and he had such a serious look on his face and he was so sincere in his delivery.  It was all I could do to not laugh.  I did have my hand over my mouth at this point.  Then he said “teacher, I have a demonstration” to which the Honduran teacher in the room said “okay, do your demonstration.”  So Avalardo went over to the corner and got our two rectangular rocks that weighed about four or five pounds each.  He laid them on the floor where he had been standing.  Then he tore open a little baggie of sand and dumped it on one rock.  On the other rock he placed a folded towel.  This was to represent vegetation.  Then he needed to go get some water but the teacher told him to use some water of another student (bottled water).  I began squeezing my face to keep from laughing as I was starting to get more tickled at the sight of him putting these rocks and dirt on the tile floor and anticipating all that was about to take place.  So he grabbed the bottle and bent down and started pouring the water.  He meant to pour it on the rock with the sand on it, but it came out a little fast and over shot the rock and went directly to the floor behind the rock.  That’s where I lost it.  I was able to laugh quietly enough that he couldn’t hear me (the noise level from the other classes is deafening) but I was bouncing uncontrollably and starting to sweat (more than usual) and turning red in my efforts to not hurt his feelings.  He finally got the water onto the sand and eroded it off of the rock and then he poured water onto the towel to show how the vegetation prevented erosion.  As I glimpsed up, several of the students were looking at me and were laughing almost as hard as I was, but not at the demonstration.  They were laughing at this “gringo loco” and wondering what he had in his water bottle that made him so crazy.  Avalardo finally finished his demonstration and then had to go get a mop to clean up this rocky mud pit he had created.  It was quite a demonstration.  I then went over his poster board and corrected the pronunciation and the whole class repeated after me.  What a great experience.  If you don´t find it humorous, this is one of those things where you had to be there.  At least I enjoyed it.           

 We are thankful for the opportunity to be here.  I´m really enjoying these beautiful people.  God Bless, Dennis