In the HN

These past two weeks have been quite a whirlwind for me. First, we went back to work on July 29 and I've been here at school almost every day since then. We've had tons of meetings (mostly in Spanish, often I blank out because I get tired of trying to translate into English, but the other day I listened as much as I could and I probably understand 75% of what they were saying without needing to translate inside my head), I've decorated my classroom to the brim with stars, I've planned my lessons for next week, finished my syllabus for the first bimester, and done many other teacher-y types of things.

The best news from the past two weeks is that Javi has received his appointment date for his visa! *cue high-voice singing*

I was at work one day and decided to check my email on the off chance that we would get news of the appointment. I checked it, and I only had junk. At the same time, two more emails came through and one was the appointment email! I felt so happy in that moment and I called Javi right away to tell him. In two months, exactly, we will be sitting at the embassy waiting for his appointment and getting his visa!

The news of the visa is very bittersweet. It has been a very long road to this point, considering we started putting together everything about a year ago and sent off the petition in January. Since then it has been mostly constant waiting. I'm eager to be back in the US because there are many things that I miss from there, and I know that raising our kid in the US will be a better environment for them, but I often wonder about what things I will miss about living here.

So, in no particular order, the Honduran things that I will most likely miss:
1. the weather - it's nearly always hot, and I really love hot weather (most of the time) that I will miss it especially when winter begins back in the US;
2. the bread - Hondurans make really yummy bread and you can buy a lot for cheap;
3. my co-workers - I have two really great co-workers at my job and after spending so much time with them, it will be hard to not work with them anymore;
4. spending the afternoon at the mall - here people go to the mall just because, probably because the mall has everything you need to spend the afternoon: shops, food, and movies;
5. Javi's family - they took me in when I was first here and treat me like their own daughter, so it will be especially hard to say goodbye to them;
6. fruit sellers/street vendors/meat vendors - people here sell fruit, meat, other various items in the street and I don't know why but I really enjoy that;
7. being close to the beach - it's only one hour away and it's on the SEA, not the lake;
8. the juices - I don't know why but Hondurans make really good natural juices... mmmm.

Now, things I will not miss:
1. ants - they are everywhere!;
2. dogs barking at everything at any time - that's self-explanatory;
3. hand washing my clothes;
4. waiting for my clothes to dry in the sun, and if there is no sun, having to bring them inside and blow them with a fan;
5. a lot of dirt/dust - makes my house dirty;
6. the weather - it's really hot haha!!

I love living overseas, and I especially living overseas with Javi, and maybe one day we will be able to do that again.

Kate