“We’re going to Thank You!”

~Field Trip to Gracias~

https://youtu.be/bmh87DPdTOU

Tuesday morning. We arrive into class to be faced with a bunch of over excited kids, squirming in their seats. Once we’ve checked that everyone has their snacks and personal items we head out to the big yellow bus outside, waiting to take us on an adventure! As there are so many of us and technically, for this trip, we are the “big ones” second grade takes the back. I sit with Marian and Anahi and am pretty surprised when they pull out a tablet, but we play nonetheless. Christian tunes are blared, the wind gushes through the open windows and my kids faces are pressed up against the glass, eager for a look out.

Happiness truly is zooming through the Honduran greenery jamming with a bunch of kids.

Sitting with them, watching them gaze out the window at their beautiful country, was a priceless experience. To hear my sponsorship kids gasp and exclaim “Miss, look, it’s beautiful!” made my heart swell and I almost started weeping there and then.

Eventually though, we were in Gracias and trying to get the kids off the bus in an orderly manner. Being the teacher in a trip is slightly less fun because you have to constantly check all of your kids are with you and not doing anything stupid but I still had so much fun. We began our climb up the hill to the fort, which resulted in me crazy dancing to encourage the kids to keep walking, as they were saying they couldn’t do it. However, 2nd Grade are strong and we made it to the top in time to have a snack – yay! Once again, the kindness of my kids was obvious as I was given lollipops, cookies and even an apple + banana from Francia earlier in the day☺️ as the kids were snacking Giselle + I had the opportunity to have some absolutely beautiful pictures taken of us on her camera, thanks to Mrs Looney.

After snack it was time to play games! We started by having each class hold hands in a big circle then we were trying to pass a hula hoop through each person, without breaking hands, as quick as possible. This proved rather difficult for us, as we came last, but was hilarious nevertheless and still we didn’t give up but kept going to make sure we finished! In our defence, the other classes don’t have over 30 students, haha

Then we moved to the shade for a break from the seriously intense sun for what is my new favourite game. The kids sit in a big circle with the concept being similar to duck, duck, goose. One child is handed a soaking wet sponge + walks around the circle going drip, drip and shaking it over people. When they reach their goose they shout “drench!” Give the sponge a huge squeeze and release a flow of water over their head, then the rest follows like duck where they sprint around the circle and back to their spot. Both the kids + us found this game hilarious and it meant I could take some beautiful pictures. We quickly ran out of our bucket of water as my kids loved squeezing it over each other so I had to run down to the bathrooms to refill it.

The kids loved me running around in my honduras flag, even though I was boiling, and so many pictures were taken over the course of the morning it would be a shame not to include some:

Then it was once time again to clamber onto the bus to head to the stunning Gracias campus for lunch. After a bathroom run we managed to herd 90 tiny humans to the cafeteria and serve them their burgers and juice – which us teachers amazingly got free!

We felt super full after lunch and though it was fun watching the kids playing (though not so fun dealing with scrapped knees/food dramas) Giselle and I decided to take a wander around the classrooms. We bumped into lots of the Gracias teachers sorting out their rooms so had the opportunity to have some really lovely last chats as we didn’t realise we’d be seeing them again!

Finally, the day was reaching its end and we had to get onto the bus so again I was sat with the wonderful second graders, this time Iris + Seyli. As I let Allan borrow my phone (which resulted in hilarious photos) as I sat with the girls admiring the views and chatting, especially about the fact I have to leave, which nearly made me cry.

When the rain started we madly rushed around, trying to close windows. Allan’s kept opening which saw him using his coat to protect the other kids and when the assistant came to help it flew all the way down, so I threw myself over the boys (what a hero) and got walloped in the face with water and wind – worth it for the laughs though!

Then there’s that moment when your kid falls asleep on you, you kiss their head + pull your arm around them a little tighter + realise how lucky you are – especially when, once they wake, you realise they’ve been dribbling on you – yay! But in all seriousness, I adore these kiddos and cannot imagine living without them. Thank you for everything 2nd Grade + thanks to the school for an incredible day where we had the chance to appreciate our kids!

From a little blue house in Yamaranguila,

Charlotte