The beans are great, trust me

Allison "Ho" Ho, here. On behalf of my lovely hostess, I'd like to say a few words about my experience thus far. Guatemala is BEAUTIFUL. My flight landed at night, so all I could see from my aisle seat were city lights and lots of them. Since the sun has risen again, I have been introduced to a school built right into nature, with covered walkways, open doors and cool breezes all day. Frequently, Hannah and I step out of the shade with eyes closed and chins up to bask for a few moments in the sun. The weather is like "endless spring" and simply pleasant, though I did hijack a pair of Hannah's sweat pants last night as the mornings and evenings can get rather chilly, forcing me into my characteristic "hubzzzzzz" (instead of "brr").

Toasting Ho's arrival

Hannah is grading presentations (over the 22 departamentos/states of Guate) right now, so I will take this opportunity to share my impressions of the country, the culture and most importantly, the kids.

Since we've been following a pretty strict school schedule every day since I've been here, most of my observations come from the school bus ride to and from Inter. My brother described it best to me before I came. He said that if I thought there was a major disparity between haves and have nots in the US and A, then I would be quite surprised by the spread here. The bus drops off children in modern, brick, gated, guarded, landscaped, BMWed communities and then on our walk from the bus stop to the newly built apartment complex that some of the teachers live in, we pass a tortilleria staffed by traditionally dressed young ladies. Their business offers delicious tortillas (handmade, of course), sold five for one Quetzal or about 12.5 cents, from a doorway on the street followed by a literal hole in the wall which I am ashamed to say is approximately the size of my Lenexa, KS walk-in closet.

Desayuno tipico para cena

This brings up a much less disheartening topic, the food. With said corn tortillas, Aubrey made us desayunos tipico (typical breakfast) which consisted of black beans, a thick, white cheese, fried onions and tomatoes, scrambled eggs, fried plantains, toasted tortillas and copious salsa verde and chilero. Let me just say that I don't like beans. I also don't like the idea of herbivorism. Nevertheless, tipico was the most satisfying, warming, plate-lickingly delicious meal. I have never liked beans. Did I mention that? Frequently, I have been heard stating to my father during authentic Chinese meals that "Beans are not dessert. Why don't Chinese people understand that? Beans are awful." I also tried refried black beans that looked like black play-doh and they were remarkable as well. Smooth and lightly salty and completely different from all chunky, horribly textured varieties I had tried before. I may just have become a bean-eater, to join my mother, the bean-counter and... I'll leave the bean joke right there.

Allison and the Shuko man :)

Otherwise, I have once again forgotten all French I ever learned in high school to become 20-word-sufficient en Espanol again. The same thing happened to me when I went to Mexico in high school. Apparently my brain can handle exactly 1.5 languages and no more. Addition of another causes the purge of the previous. Hopefully English will stick around. I might need that one. I have remembered the cheek to cheek kiss and hug along with my ubiquitous "Mucho Gusto!" I was once told that in any situation in Latin America those two words could certainly help. I cannot wait to find out the surprise that "Audi" and "Mees Anna" have coming to me tonight and tomorrow. I have collected the following evidence: We're going to Antigua, we're going to Perdidon, we're going to eat even better tipico, though I cannot imagine it and they said (this is verbatim) "You will poop your pants" when I find out what it is. Naturally, I can't wait, though that last little part makes me the teensiest bit hesitant. I'm hoping for an adventure. That's all and I'm sure Hannah will let you in on the secret.

Now, to the fun part. Los ninos! Which means the boys AND the kids. Childrens Day in Guate was being translated as Boys Day and we think girls absolutely deserve celebration as well. Anyhoo, I showed up for school yesterday and stood in the doorway as the students of Grade 3A arrived. Some cautiously eyed me as they walked in, but the majority offered persistant hugs accompanied by stroking and "Hello Mees Ow-Lee-Son!"s. During attendance, they each offered a reason they were happy and the consensus was that Mees OwLeeSon had arrived. Way to inflate my ego, kids! At lunch and recess, Silly Bandz were exchanged until I realized that my favorite, a green elephant was in mortal peril of being snatched up by one of the bilaterally stocked boys or girls, so I tabled my trading. I actually ended up with a pretty good collection of a truck, Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants, a sparkly castle and the elephant. Before Hannah moved, I tried to be the cool friend, sending her with a couple of packs I had purchased on clearance at a Walgreens in Topeka, but upon arriving here I found that none of these kids need any more of the controversial adornments. I hear that there are a couple of little girls in the family that hosts my surprise later tonight, so maybe we will take the Bandz to them. Generally, I feel like I am much too great a distraction for these guys, but Hannah is a strong enough classroom manager to keep their excitement to a steady simmer.

Third grade was my favorite in elementary, so I have fond memories of the late Terri Stutz' classroom in Southeast Elementary, Kansas City, MO. I am reminded of all of those pleasant thoughts not only by the multicolored celebrations of vocabulary, geography, language arts and science that dance all over her walls, but also by the celebration of these seven and eight year old individuals and their successes. My favorite panel is a civics board that points out the star of the week, Grace whose face was absolutely aglow during the responsibility activity. The class, I am told, anxiously awaited the reveal of which student would be character of the week and then had the week to ruminate on Grace's character with regard to a certain attribute that rotates between this week's responsibility to caring, trustworthiness, citizenship, respect and fairness. I don't know who's idea the bulletin board was, but it thrills me. The kids went around the room and offered ways that Grace was responsible, for example, she takes care of her dog. I swear, the girl was so happy she could have peed (okay, that's enough reference to incontinence) and the unadulterated joy that the kids felt for their peer was refreshing. None of the other kids were hesitant to compliment, nor were they jealous in light of her praise.

You know those departamento presentations Hannah's grading? They're back from lunch and the presenters are back at it. I've always been one for a good bribe, so at lunch I told a few students to spread the word that if they could keep the excitement to a minimum and offer enough respect to their fellow classmates during the final presentations there was a surprise coming at the end of the day. Thank goodness it's October and American Halloween candy was on sale at Target. Let me preempt the next thought by saying that I brought a variety pack and I know that there is a major contingent of people I know that hate coconut. Get over it. The surprise had me singing the Almond Joy song at lunch: Sometimes, you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. Almond Joy has a nut. Mounds don't. Similarly, these kids were going nuts earlier and being loud and not paying attention to the poster talks. Now, either due to my bribe or the fact that recess wears them out, or maybe both, the soft sounds of natural resource listing and my halting tappety-tap on the keyboard is the only sound in the room. I won't take any credit. Miss Hannah is truly respected, but never feared by these ninos. We used to talk about that during diving, that true respect was earned, not demanded. She reminds them of the reverence they should have for their classmates, but it is never a threat. It is a repetition of the unwritten contract that the class has struck up with her. They look up to her, listen to her and I think a lot of them love her, but I know that they all trust her.

Speaking of trust, I trust that tonight and tomorrow will exceed expectations. The day is drawing closer to an end and I should offer better attention in order to help keep them from bubbling over. It's Pablito's turn. He's discussing Peten. He lost his Silly Bandz yesterday for playing with them in class. He cried at the end of the day, but today it seems like he bounced back just fine. Thanks for reading this e-novella, if you made it this far. I'm sure your regular author will be back soon.

Signing out,
Allison Ho
Colegio Interamericano
Guatemala City
Guatemala
Central America