...but I won't want to hear certain things about it

Things you should not say to me about going to Honduras:

1. "Congratulations!"
I do not consider my job offer at IST (International School Tegucigalpa: this is the only time I'll explain the acronym ever, so pay attention) to be an "achievement." As of an e-mail I received a few weeks ago, IST was still working on filling TWO more high school English positions. It seems that applicants are in short supply, so it says nearly nothing about my teaching chops (not to mention enthusiasm) that they'd offer me the job. Make no mistake: I don't mean to sound arrogant or "above" this job. I know I will be challenged. I know the job will be will be hard. I know nearly all of the teaching experiences I have will closely mirror any similar job in the States I could have. But I do not consider this a congratulable job; merely based on the qualifications I have as a college graduate and the dearth of competition, it was no hard-fought battle to nab this gig. Not to mention being congratulated for somehting you're not looking forward to provides an interesting cognitive dissonance.

2. "That's exciting!"
Besides being the nearly universal response to the news of an acquaintance leaving the country for an extended period of time and thus unappealing due to sheer repetitiveness, this exclamation, in my case, is patently untrue. I am not excited, therefore this quickly approaching departure and subsequent stay in Honduras is not exciting. If it were, I'd let you know. I admit, some people may say it because they are excited for me, which certainly is different, and these people probably have my best interests at heart even more than I do, because they are not blinded by such silly things as the anticipation of homesickness or the prospect of missing an entire season of Calvin SAO concerts and events (Oh my gosh. I just checked the Calvin SAO website: Sept. 18 - The Books perform. They are one of my favorite bands of all time. Any progress I may have made in the past few days in my attitude is lost.) I may be a man of relatively steady temperament - I never get uber enthusiastic or uber depressed - but there are a good number of things that actually excite me, however comparatively petty many of those things may be. I am a huge proponent of following the things that excite you, and Honduras is nearly a 180 degree turn in nearly all of these pursuits. Not exciting in the least.

3. "I know _______ who went to/is in Honduras/other Latin American country and s/he loves it!"
I am not them. In fact, I think I behave quite differently from most people who are likely to do any sort of teach/work abroad program. I don't strive to fly high or far. I doubt so-and-so dreaded (or fantasized about situations which could prevent them from) departing as consistently as I have. Don't get me wrong; I'm open to the possibility that I may end up loving Honduras, eat up every moment I have with my students and fellow teachers and in the town, forget all about anything I ever loved back in Michigan, and spend 9 years teaching at IST. I just don't see how that possibility has any legs whatsoever.

(I ran into problems posting this yesterday, and lost the remainder of the post. I'll recompose much of it, but a decent paragraph (which may turn into a post of its own) which once occupied this space is lost to the digital black hole of broken wireless connections.)

What should you say to me about Honduras without running the risk of me briefly thinking bad thoughts?

1. "Good Luck/Blessings/Etc."
Even a curmudgeon like me cannot reject the simple wish of success and fortune.

2. "I'll be praying for you."
This is pretty much all I can hope for from you all.