Thanksgiving etc.

Ho, ho, how did it happen, another year nearly done???

Here in Gracias, where I have been working, teaching 5th and 6th grade English and Art for almost four months now the idea of what a big city is like, is slowly slipping from my memory, I am not sure this is entirely a good thing, it's a very insular small town, full of small town gossip and busy-bodiness, I'm a bit over it to be honest, I am starting to count the months till I can leave, next year it has to be a bigger town, hopefully close to the sea, although I am actually contemplating a return to Thailand, Although not wanting to give up on the entire continent just yet; life is so much easier in Asia (perhaps it's just rose coloured glasses, but this is true third world, gangsta territory here and that's just if you believe the stats not the rumors.

I do miss the sea, the theatre, libraries, in fact there is not even a cinema in the town I live in, there is one in the next city over (an hour and a half away) it plays one movie at 7pm each day and when I was there a few weeks ago, they were showing the hopelessly out of date "Night at the museum 2" So I suspect my cinema attending days have slunk into the past and (hopefully) the future.

my computer now will not turn on, it´s dead, I knew it was coming, but it still hurts to have it finally die. I had backed everything up except my latest photo´s so I am only some what annoyed with myself, but it won´t kill me at least, I am doing all of this on the p.c.´s at school and posting from internet cafes, such is the lot of a poor teacher in the third world who cannot afford a new computer at the moment. (and priority wise I want a new camera before a new computer). On the bright side I had that morning (before my computer died) just backed up all my music files so I am thankful for that, without music, I would be really unhappy, and I have a loooooot of music!!!


I live in a big sunny yellow house which is nice, there are cows, clves, Hens and chicks, goats and kids that roam outside our gate, keeping the grass down. I have flatmates, a Canadian chappie called Liam, Rae, she and her Husband Matt are from North Carolina and rounding out the household is a Texan girl who has, what I have come to assume is a typically Texan (ie big) personality. We all get on well enough for the most part.


Gracias is a small tin pot town, cobbled streets and free range farm animals, which is lovely and quaint for about a month, I would post pictures If they were not on my broken computer!!! The best thing about my house is the fields of red, green, blue, yellow and orange fireflies that surround my house in the evening. The school I work at is small, one of my classes only has 10 kids, (7 at the start of the year). It means you get to know your kids really well, but it also means they are terribly spoiled.

We just had thanksgiving vacation, which was nice, an excuse to get away and see some of the country. I went (with some of my house mates) to Utila, when we arrived in the Port Town it was absolutely persisting down luckily we had already contacted the dive shop we were planning on staying at and diving with, they had a boat over picking up supplies so we didn't have to catch the ferry. So feeling pretty lucky we climbed on board the boat and headed out to sea, we cleared the headlands beers in hand and then, the sea was incredible, walls of water, I put the beer can down, and hung on, I have been on rollercoaster rides that were less violent. The spray over the deck was constant, you could barely see anything amidst the driving rain, the boat trip was nuts, later that day we found out the ferry did not even go that day, (or the next two) the weather was vile but amazing. The diving was great, seahorses and fish galore, of course they don't care how much it rains, but we were all relieved when the sun finally came out and we managed to dry off a little.

I am currently directing (I use the term loosely) the Christmas play at school (which I also wrote and choreographed) of course it's for 10 - 15 year olds so not exactly a hard thing to do fun, but crazy and time consuming. It goes on this Friday and then we have another round of holidays I haven't yet decided if I am going to La Moskitia, (the most isolated of the areas of Honduras, the biggest rain forrest in the Northern hemisphere and only accessible by boat) or to Guatemala, the more I look at the guide books the more choices I have the harder it all becomes.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
Love, and hugs.
Nikki Jayne.