Sandy Bay Alternative School

Dan: Sandy Bay Alternative School- Here are some pictures of Marino, Lucia, and “Mr. Dan’s” school. Two months ago it was a mostly un-occupied hotel. The move from the old school location to here started about two weeks before school started. Things were very temporary when we started. Slowly we (mostly the teachers and kids), are turning it into a school.

The type of school or educational “philosophy” ranges somewhere between an extension of a home school (which is it’s origins 8-9 years ago), to a international school where the high school kids are trying to get into U.S. or European colleges. I would say the “philosophy” depends on which classroom you walk into at what time of day- after lunch recess when the kids come it hot and sweaty there is not learning philosophy! 3 out of the 5 core teachers are new and come from different regions of the world. I am trying to find a balance between a “formal/Santa Fe Prep” education and a homeschool/ hands-on/lot’s of games/winging it education. At this point I have no idea how I am doing.

Lucia has a wonderful British teacher, Miss. Laura. She teaches all their classes including P.E. and Yoga. Lucia has two other teachers for Spanish and Estudios. Estudios is about Honduran culture.

Marino has two fantastic teachers. Miss. Joan is from Alberta, Canada and she teaches Math and Science. Mr. Dan teaches Social Studies and Language Arts and is from his very own home. Sometimes that is a good thing and he loves Mr. Dan’s class (usually when we play a geography game), other times it is “boring”, like when we do spelling or vocabulary.

Ask any of us questions about our school and we promise to respond! 

       

Rain

Dan: I have been teaching in Roatan, Honduras for 2 weeks now. That still sounds pretty crazy to say!

It has rained on and off for the past couple of days, giving us a taste of what the raining season could be like. Today it rained during school. The campus (which is an old hotel), is very open air. Only the classrooms are inside, so the hallways, dinning area and downstairs “lobby” got pretty wet.

Like most tropical regions I have been in, it is not a gentle rain, it pours! It starts off slow and light but within a minute it quickly turns to a deluge. You can hear the rain moving across the trees towards you. It’s as if buckets of water are being poured down from the angels above. So far there is has been very little wind along with the storms so the rain comes straight down. Last night there was thunder and lighting that electrified the sky.  As quickly as the rain starts, it stops. Afterwards there are a few moments of silence (you can’t hear anything but rain when it is coming down), then the orchestra of birds and insects begins and fills the air.

First Day of School at the Sandy Bay Alternative School (at the beach)

First day of school yesterday for Lucia, today for Marino. He was sick yesterday and missed the first day. I have never seen anyone so sad about missing school before! It is a sweet school with small classes,  home cooked lunch, and today an all school tag game at recess. A little bus picks them up and will bring them home again. The student body is very diverse - Honduran kids, gringo kids and everything in between! Marino and Lucia are a few of the kids that speak no Spanish at all and will get extra help with this for their Spanish and "Estudios" (Spanish culture) class. Here are some pictures to see a little of our life.
I will be starting my work in the coming weeks too. More on that as it develops!

A day on the island

Dan: We had a picture perfect tropical island day today! We all got up a little later than usual (6:30am or so), and after a leisurely breakfast we made our way to “our” dock. There is a point on the walk where you are looking through a green canopy out to the gorgeous Caribbean Sea which is breath taking.  I had not been to the water for couple of days because of working last week, so it made the view even more dramatic. The lush green of the trees leads into the multiple colors of blues and greens of the ocean. Today was especially calm on the water. The wonder and amazement that we are living in such a beautiful place really struck me with the view.

Marino was already on the dock with his friend Onzi. The two of them have really bonded over fishing, crabbing, and general rough housing (which usually involves one of them getting thrown off the dock).

Soon all four of us in our family were in the water with snorkel gear on. First stop, the family of sea turtles. Kim and Lucia followed one of the smaller turtles for quiet a long time. The turtles glide from the surface, after they gulp down some air, to the sea bottom where they feed on “turtle grass”. They travel through the water with the same grace that a hawk rides the air currents.

After visiting the resident Mora Eel, Marino and I headed out to the coral reef. Marino had not been snorkeling for many days so I was over-joyed to have him with me. About 200 yards out is the first smaller reef, which Marino had been to before, then after another 100 yards is the larger full reef, which Marino had not been to. Today he made it (after a few rides on Papa’s shoulders). This reef is spectacular! I don’t think I can begin to describe it with words. It is a continuous reef for as far as you can see.  Sea life includes parrot fish of all shapes, sizes and colors, snapper, beautifully colored angel fish, blue tang that swim in schools of 15- 20, as well as many grunts, grubs and the occasional barracuda. Today we had a rare sighting of a small sea turtle in the reef, a very large tuna, and a sting ray buried in the sand.

When Marino and I returned to the dock, Onzi and Lucia were playing on the rope swing that hovers over the water, which he quickly joined in on. Kim and I basked in warm Carribean breeze that is almost always present on the dock. We chatted with 2 of the Canadian girls that we have gotten to know. They are here working for six months as teachers at a private library that helps youth.

Lunch was followed by siestas (Lucia and I slept, Marino and Kim read). Kim and Marino went on our weekly grocery shopping run to Coexen Hole, then in the late afternoon Onzi was back over with his sister Kyla, who is Lucia’s age.  The four of them divided into traditional boy/ girl roles and played (pretty rough and tough) games of “spying” and throwing almonds at each other. Kim and I moseyed back to the dock for our traditional evening cerveza. Dinner was a yummy fresh fish burrito meal, followed by games, book reading, and kids falling asleep peacefully (at least tonight).

Life is Good at the Beach!

Lucia: I went snorkeling with my dad and we saw a turtle that I almost touched, and it came up for air right next to us! We start school in a week. I met my teacher and she is from London. She will be our yoga teacher, and our P.E teacher too.

These are 2 huge mangos we bought from the fruit and vegetable truck that comes in front of our house a few times a week honking his horn!

Life is Good at the Beach

My beautiful wife!