Roller-coaster of Emotions!

Ok so today has been quite the rollercoaster of emotions. I don’t really even know where to begin so I guess I’ll just start when I first arrived. My plane was late because I guess one of the engines wasn’t working and they didn’t realize it til we were literally on the runway starting to take off. The plane came to a stop instead of going up in the air and then the fire trucks came just in case I guess. LOL – so that was a little intense but everything was fine and we eventually switched planes and took off to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Once I got there things happened so quickly, I went straight through immigration, baggage claim and customs and soon I found myself standing in the middle of the airport, two huge red suitcases, a heavy backpack and surrounded by people I didn’t know.

First thought: Uhh…. What am I doing here?

Luckily, the owner of the school came and three other new teachers – they had been waiting upstairs since my plane was delayed. So, we went straight out of the airport and got in the van to ride to Juticalpa, which ended up being about a 3 hour ride through the beautiful country of Honduras. It is really scenic… everything is green, mountains, big sky, lots of cows, horses, chickens running around (on the highway, of course). Everyone said that I am going to be living in “cowboy country” and I did see an astonishing number of guys on horses with cowboy hats. LOL.

The downside of this very scenic drive is that it was also bumpy and curvy and I was exhausted from not having more than 2 hours sleep the night before. I just wanted to get to my new house to sleep and relax because I also had a huge headache.

However, we ended up getting shown around the school, which is nice and I will post pics of at some point and we met a lot of people at the school. Then we finally got to go to our house – and it is SO NICE!!! I can’t get over how cute this house is. I’ll post pics as soon as I can, but it’s like a nice, new complex that has it’s own pool and night watchmen. This area is supposed to always have water (not to drink) and it is supposed to be more safe. It’s also nice because me and the two other girls who are teachers are the only Americans living in the complex. I have my own room, bathroom (!) , a little balcony and an air conditioner in my room! (yes Efe I do have air :P ) Although, I was told that the air conditioner is the person who lived here before and he might come back to get them later. So we’ll see. Also the room is big.

Anyways, right now, at 3:30 a.m. I am in a good mood and looking positively on everything. However, I kinda had a tough time tonight for some reason. I felt for the first time, so instantly this feeling of homesickness. I just wanted to get right back on a plane and go back to what I know, Lisle, Naperville, Galesburg, Chicago, Kansas, Florida… any of those would have been perfect. I had never really felt like that before. I guess it’s just that adjustment period because logically I know this will be a great adventure and I am excited to actually teach (the part I am looking forward to the most). Still, it’s just hard to not think that I could just be with my friends and family. Tomorrow I am going to try and get internet and phone, which I think will make me significantly happier. I like to be connected. Also, I heard it’s only 10 cents a minute to call the U.S. from my cell phone, which is really exciting. That’s the same as Skype which means I will be able to call everyone a lot more than I was thinking!

Ok, well I ended up just going to sleep at like 9:00 because I was so sad and so tired. I think that helped me a lot because now I am feeling better. Still nervous, but better. I guess I just have never done this before. Costa Rica was so different because of the whole group aspect, and I wasn’t living on my own there.