santa week

It's been a crazy week. Aside from the normal ebb and flow school, I have been taking care of a few other things. First, I'm getting ready to leave early on Saturday morning for about 5 days in Honduras. Next week is Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Latin America. It is a multinational time of no work, some worship, lots of parties, and basically a time to break the routine. Most people actually work until Wednesday at noon, but for us at the school, our vacation starts this Friday at noon and ends a week and a few days later after an additional Monday at the other end of Semana Santa. Some of my American teacher friends are going to the US. Some are going to Guatemala. Some are going to Costa Rica. I am going to Honduras for a CRC-Central America retreat. I went last year, but this year it is different. The language of the seminars alternates each year between Spanish or English. Last year was English, so this year will be all Spanish--a good test and practice for me. But, because of this few others (from NCA) have decided to go. I am the only NCA representative this year.

Second, I have been trying to figure out my housing, both short term and long term, because I have to be out of the house by the end of this week. It was a bit crazy as I was trying to make arrangements, but I finally decided to move across the street to a one-room "apartment". It's an "apartment" because it really isn't. It's one bedroom, with a shared bathroom. Nothing more. Nothing less. A hallway from the front door to my room has four locked doors. Mine is the third one. I will be sharing a bathroom with a good friend, Lennin. He's a Nicaraguan I've mentioned before. Very friendly, considerate, and all that good stuff. I'm looking forward to getting to know him better. The room will cost me $70/month, including water, electricity, and a maid to clean the room and bathroom (it's extremely dusty here, so these things have to be done every other day at least). I'm going to be paying another maid to wash my clothes. The rate is set at approximately $1 for every 12 pieces of clothing. She will wash them by hand. I might have to pay an extra $10 per month if I want to purchase a small refrigerator, because it will be running all the time. I'd use that for breakfast foods and a few drinks. I've worked out a deal to eat dinner with the family I have been living with, as they will be living conveniently close to the school. There are some details that have to be worked out, yet, but I'm sure things will come out alright.

What can I say about my classes? Some of them are encouraging, and others just aren't. I can't figure out high school. Monday was absolutely terrible, and Tuesday was an about-face. Wednesday was mediocre, and today I didn't have that class. I don't know what to expect from them. I had to lay down the law in third grade today. They've been talking like crazy in my class. I don't know how it got so bad, but today I stopped class and gave them lines to write, with more lines to write as extra homework. They seemed to be receptive. We'll see how long I can use this approach. Or maybe I should say, how long I have to use this approach.

I've gotten a few comments on my Spanish lately, which has been encouraging. I feel much more capable lately of conversation. Still, the need remains to actually study the language. I haven't taken any lessons since returning.

Prayer items:
- Please pray for a restful week off. I need to be re-energized.
- Please pray for patience and wisdom with troublesome classes/students (as always!)
- Thanks for the strength that I've been given. I think I've stayed very positive this year where there has been great opportunity to be negative--and I am very thankful that I have not been overcome by a negative attitude.

pictures, yay!

Click on the picture below to take you to my photo album. Then try clicking on the "slideshow" button when you get there.

A Catch Up

oh man

Oh, man. I just realized people are still responding to “The first two weeks.” I’m very sorry for the long break I took from writing. Well, we’ve nearly completed the first marking period (6 weeks). Next week will be the last week of the period and students will face a different exam each day. I’m pleased to say that this year has much more productive than the last. I’m testing the majority of my students (grades 2, 4, and 5) on the first two units of the book. Last year I was just finishing the first unit and wondering how I could make a test for just one unit! In addition, I’m finding myself a little more comfortable with teaching and enjoying it more. I have heard from several people that I seem different this year–more open and free. Perhaps I mentioned that in the last blog, too. It’s true, I think. On the other hand, I don’t want to get too comfortable yet because the results from the first marking period are still undetermined. I hope I don’t find that a whole lot of students are lost! I trust my ability to judge, but only so much. That’s one area I have a ways to grow.

My most difficult class continues to be the high school class, although this week I think I met a turning point. I decided to make the class less about the book and more about understanding the basics the book might take for granted. I had Sidney (fellow English teacher) help me put together a lesson plan that would be more at the level of the students. The book we have, while an excellent book, might be slightly too advanced for the students and overwhelming for them at first look. I think if I can make the class a little more basic I can draw the students back into learning.

I got my car back a couple weeks ago, and it’s great to have my own wheels. The paint job looks great, and it also has tinted windows which make it much cooler in a double sense (I will include a funny story with pictures at a later time–remind me). There is still one problem, though. The frame is still bent such that the left side of the car is 2.5 inches lower than the right side. This I could live with, but they were unable to corrected the alignment completely. I’m looking for a way to straighten the frame, but I’m a little leery to do that here. I don’t want other problems. We’ll see.

My family is going to be moving in the next 30 days. The land lord has apparently told the familiy that he needs the house for someone in his family. This presents some unexpected complications in my life
as I need to be thinking about things like how long I want to live with the family and if I would be willing to increase my payments if we can’t find an inexpensive house to rent.

Alright. Time to head back to work. Have a great week!