climb every mountain!

This week we didn't have school on Tuesday or Wednesday due to the political curfew, so Thursday was like a Monday and Friday was like... a Friday. So you can imagine the amount of work we got done and how crazy my kids were! I had two tests that I was going to give on Tuesday and there was no way I could push them back, but my kids didn't really study during their two days off so.... that was slightly frustrating. But hopefully we have no more interruptions and my kids will get back into the routine of things!
Things at the house are still really great. One of the teachers that lives in town came up and stayed with us this weekend just for fun. We talked, watched some of The Office, played Speed Scrabble, and stayed up really late (11!) Saturday we slept in (8!) and then went for a hike. I think I've mentioned how we live on the edge of Celaque National Park, but haven't actually gone in? Well we did this weekend! Our 55-year old neighbor is a Celaque guide, so when we mentioned that we'd like to go up sometime, he volunteered to go with us. Jacki, Rachel, Kirsty, Mr. Bran, and I all left at about 9:30 in the morning with lunches packed by Sarah, full water bottles and smiles on our faces. Don Luis (our neighbor/guide- Don is the same as Mr.) stopped frequently to show us different plants- leaves used to make soap, stems you could snif if you had a cold, flowers that you put in hot water and drink if you have arthritis, this fluffy plant that they use to make pillows... he knew everything! The frequent stops were great, but when we weren't stopped, Don Luis was booking it up that mountain- I really thought I was going to pass out :) Our ultimate goal was to get to this waterfall that we can see from school so I just kept hiking up, waiting until we got to this waterfall. The scene I kept picturing to keep me going was from Samantha Saves the Day! (yes the American Girl book)- Samantha and her friends go to this secret island and find this beautiful waterfall and they have a picnic lunch and play in the river and have a great time.... Well. It wasn't quite like that. We hiked up the mountain for about three hours and arrived at the place where you can see the waterfall... I'll post a picture but it didn't really seem any closer to me than it had from the bottom of the mountain. Also, there wasn't a spot to eat lunch! All the other girls said it was totally worth the climb but I'm not so sure. I suppose I'm glad I went. :) The walk down definitely made it worth it for me though. It was much easier and the scenery helped remind us of many songs from musicals. At one point us girls were running through the forest singing "Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles" from
Fiddler on the Roof, the next moment we videoed us singing "Climb Every Mountain" from Sound of Music. About halfway down, it started pouring rain, so of course we had to sing "Singing in the Rain". It was so funny. I'm sure Don Luis and Mr. Bran thought we were crazy jogging down the mountain singing operatic songs in English. It was great :) We arrived at our hosue 5-6 hours after leaving, completely drenched and we just lounged around the rest of the day. It was great and I'm not too sore so MAYBE I'll do it again.


Also, if any of you are interested, here's a quick update on Honduran politics...
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/27/honduras.president/index.html

It's not super informative, but it at least tells a little bit. We haven't been affected by it too much in Gracias or Villa Verde as far as seeing demonstrations or upset people, but it's something to be aware of!

PS Happy Birthday Grandma! Hope the Broncos win for you like they did for me!!! :)