It’s a Catch 22, I Say.

    Bad relationships. We have all had them. And if you say you haven’t, you are a liar.

You know the type. Half the time things are going great. Your loved one and you share tender moments, a nice laugh, have a good week or two. And then ^#%265*@*@#! A fight. An argument. Moments that are close to hatred. That make you ask “who the hell is this person, and why am I with them?”. You contemplate leaving.  Envision yourself walking away from the chaos and pulling yourself  away from the black hole that will eventually suck the life out of you if you don’t escape soon. BUT then…..Things get better again! You “make up”, and laugh about things. You are so encapsulated by each other’s love that damn, what WAS it that you were even fighting about again???

By this point guy or doll, you are stuck in One. Big. Vicious. Cycle.

Well, this type of relationship is the closest metaphor for what it is like teaching my Kindergarten class in Honduras.

We start off the day on a good note, they are full of energy, and soak up the lessons like a sponge. We share laughs, sing a song or two, do some coloring, and life is good. But then lunch rolls around, and consequently with this the heat. And we have no A.C. or fan.  At this point, they turn into little monsters. They will not listen to me even if I speak in Spanish. All they want is water, or to be outside in the breeze. And damn-you can’t blame them. It gets more than uncomfortably hot in our room. Today, when they went to the bathroom, I noticed they all came back soaking wet. The poor things were splashing their whole bodies with water from the sinks to cool off.

So how is this “little monster” behavior you ask? Well, at this point they start to yell, and scream, and jump all around and not listen to ANYTHING I am saying.  There are no words that can explain the headache, frustration, and most importantly, the feeling of defeat.

Today, I even had to get the Principal to come in and give them a stern speech in Spanish. They call the Principal “Doctora”, and the little ones literally think she is a medicine Doctor. In her speech, she told them that if they didn’t behave they would get shots. I am not opposed to this scare tactic at all. Go for it I say!

When the end of the day rolls around, I think to myself “Why am I doing this? This is awful!!”. But then….

It is time to go home, they all give me hugs and smiles as they walk out the door with their cute little backpacks and lunch bags, and I remember why.

But I’m sure I will not be feeling this way after lunch tomorrow….