Riley, June 21

Today was the second day of our school visits. The school I visit during the week is up a really really, long, rocky, and bumpy road. To get there we have to ride in a truck, and since there is not enough room in the cab for every one some have to ride in the bed of the truck. It is actually really fun when you get over the fear of falling out. I visit a school called San Pablo. It is a one room building without electricity that houses about 23 kids ranging from grades 2 to 6. There is only one teacher for all of the grades. The teacher starts the day by taking roll. Of the two days I have been to the school no students have been late or absent which really suprised me. The teacher begins teaching second grade and slowly makes his way up. Some grades are taught at the same time. While he is teaching one grade the other grades are given problems in their workbooks to do. Some kids do not have workbooks because the education board does not send enough books to San Pablo for every kid to have one. The kids then go to recess after about an hour of classes. At recess we play soccer on the cracked pavement by the small school. Other kids play with marbles or trompos ,which are tops, that they wind up with a string and then throw. Trompo looks really easy, but I quickly found out that it was nearly impossible for me and the other gringos to do. The kids laughter proved my point. The kids are really willing to help us learn and greatly enjoy playing with us. Tomorrow we are going to teach a lesson in English to help give the students a head start on the English they will be taught next year. We are also going to visit the houses and families of all of the students. I am really interested to see the conditions inwhich these kids live. When we visit the houses we are going to ask the parents what they believe their kids need to be motivated to stay in school. We have already asked the teacher and we have asked a few students. We got out of school early today so that every one could watch the world cup game between Honduras and Spain. It was really funny to see a mass of chairs surronding the small TV in our dorm. The bilingual students all had their Honduras shirts on. After the game the rest of the day was really relaxed. many of us, including myself, took naps and walked around town. It started to rain hard with out warning around 2 and has not stopped. I am really looking forward to the visits tomorrow and being able to play with the kids.