i can taste it!

So close I can tast it! Two more half-days of review, then the exams, then the we’re-done celebration. I hope my students can finish strong. It’s getting pretty hard for them to maintain composure and attention in class. I’ve been blessed with a slightly higher toleration and understanding of their situation, but I am still having trouble with the balance between learning/reviewing and winding down.

The power has been going off more lately. Maybe even more important that power is the water. We’ve been without water at the school almost all the time. The lights have been going off at about 7am, and coming on about 5 minutes before we leave at 12:15. Great timing. And actually, I’ll have to publish this post later because as I’m writing right now, the power has gone off at the coffee shop. The last two nights at home I have had to go to bed without a shower due to the no water problem. Last night I was fortunate enough to find some water in the bucket in the bathroom (it was there for bathing). Daniel Ortega promises cheaper power, and more of it, so if he comes through, there will be many fewer of these problems.

I come here to the coffee shop (”Espresso Gourmet Coffee”) usually at least a couple times a week, and usually with Sidney, the other English teacher with me at Nejapa. Last week he ordered something that wasn’t on the menu; an iced irish cream coffee. After he special ordered it and found it to be the best thing they had and found me to agree, he asked the management if they could put it on the menu with his name. They agreed and asked him to name it. We’ll have to see if it actually shows up. I can’t imagine they’ll be getting new menus anytime soon. It will be called the McField Irish Cream Frozen.

This past weekend I went to Playa Flor with my friends from NCA. About 13 of us altogether went there to see the tortoises come onto the beach and lay their eggs. We weren’t disappointed and I think I saw at least 3 or 4. I watched one the whole time from coming out of the water til going back in. It’s at night and apparently too much light or activity could disorient them and send them back to the ocean, so we had to be careful taking pictures and using flashlights. Quite an amazing ordeal, though. We counted about 110 eggs as they popped out. I think the whole process took more than an hour. What an amazing part of God’s natural creation. Such variety and beauty.

Prayer Items

* - Strength to finish strong and stay focused. Same for the students…maybe more for them.
* - I would like to be able to relax and still be productive during the time before I come home…which I think won’t be all that difficult if nothing goes wrong!
* - Praise for the completion of one year. I have learned much, and have an even better idea of how much I still have to learn and grow–it’s staggering. Pray for encouragement and a sense of calling so that I grow in passion for teaching and more specifically teaching English.