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.