día de la madre

Just a quick photo update here. Some pictures from the Mother's Day celebration yesterday afternoon. Today we have the day off...and I can't seem to focus on my work! Hmm. I wonder if I'm the only one that struggles with wanting to work. :)

By the way, I added a photo to the coffee farm post (the second post before this one). It's the view from the mountainside porch.

Enjoy!

my students in tears

As I was reflecting on the day, it occurred to me that three of my students were in tears during the last two days. At first, I thought, they all seemed to be crying for very different reasons. The first one cried because I wrote his name on the board with an X. In my classes this means that you have passed the warning and are on your way to a note home or extra homework. This is a student who seems a little odd a lot of the time and he was quite upset that his name was now on the board. He was so upset that he was out of his seat in the front of the room holding up the class. After some comforting and urging that we would talk about it later during recess, he returned to his seat and we proceeded. He cried as we continued. The second student in tears was a different story. In my classes, I like students to help each other, but I tend to get frustrated when I see one student writing on another's paper, or giving the other a direct answer. At some point during this first grade class while I was helping someone, I looked over and saw one girl writing the answer for someone else, so I responded by quickly grabbing the pencil and lifting it out of reach. The girl's small hand stayed clenched around the pencil as she instinctively resisted until she realized it was I who had taken the pencil. I also added a sharp, "do not write on someone else's paper!" She turned and went straight to her desk, tears welling in her eyes. She was unable to work for the most of the rest of class. When I realized I had snapped and that she had not deserved the harsh grabbing of the pencil and sharp words, and that her tears were undeserved, I felt sad for her. She is one who cried during the first few days of class because she didn't know what was going on. I couldn't figure out why she was crying until one of the other teachers told me. She has since then come a long way and I think she really loves my class. I am certain that she thought she was really helping and was proud of it--but then I quickly dashed that and humiliated her. I tried to apologize in her language and console her as her face was in her arms on her desk. The third student was also in first grade. I had asked him many times to stop talking and other times to return to his seat. He had three Xs by his name. During free hour at the end of the day I wrote up the note that would go home with him. When classes ended, I had to find him through the window on the bus. He was excited to see me and I greeted him with the normal handshake and smile and How are you? that we learned in class. Then I showed him the note and began gently explaining that I wanted him to take it home, show his parents and bring it back with their signature and his. I watched his eyes brim with water and begin to run down his face. Here is a student who is such a joy. He is sponsored to come to the school and he loves to be there. On other occasions, after he had been corrected, he showed great remorse. And here, too, I could see that he was sorry for what he had done. I loved him all the more when I saw the tears and I encouraged him that it was okay and had him repeat after me that he was sorry and that he would be better tomorrow. Then I hugged him and he left for home with some sadness and wet cheeks.

The innocence of these children is a wonder to me. These moments have opened me up even more to the children under my care. I know God requires much of us as teachers, but he is merciful and patient as we make mistakes. The students show that best, I think. The first student came to me during the recess immediately after class and apologized for what he had done to deserve his name being on the board and agreed (whether he really understood it or not, I'm not sure) to handle himself differently next time--then he gave me a big hug and ran off. The second girl at whom I had snapped, came to me on her own at the end of class and asked me about the assignment and was looking me in the eyes again and I had the chance to put my arms around her. And as I mentioned about the third boy--his apology came already before his words. What a series of rich events. I had to share them with you. Praise God for his love for us, for his providing of all of our needs, and for his mercy and patience as we stumble and fall and come before him with tears in our eyes asking for his love and acceptance once again.

of coffee farms and army generals

I just got back from a day and a half in Jinotega, Nicaragua's largest exporter of coffee. I was there about 4 months ago to see an orphinage, but this trip was different. This time instead of hanging out with the have nots--those having not a even a family to speak of--I hung out with the haves. A friend of mine from the apartments where I currently live owns a coffee farm in this area and has been telling me I need to go with him to his farm. So we headed out on Saturday morning. The roads are good for part of the way, but about an hour and half into the trip, they get very very bad. Nobody can understand why the government lets such a highly used and important road get so degraded. I heard that the road carries 600 million pounds of coffee a year...but I can't remember if that's the right number (maybe it's $600 million of coffee). The potholes are never more than 50 feet apart--and that's infrequent. They are sometimes more than 6 inches deep. The majority of accidents on this road occur due to broken steering components. I think there were 15 deaths this last year. About 4 hours into the trip we arrived in Jinotega where I got a tour of the farm and of the great big machine that classifies and sorts coffee beans. Quite the organization. The coffee on this farm was shade grown but not organic. The owner explained that to do organic on a large scale is too difficult. After the tour of the farm, I joined him to a fiesta that the farmer owners were throwing for the army. They have a good relationship with the army because they help each other out a lot. When the army needs a place to train, they use the farmers' land, and when the farmers need extra protection, the army is there to help. So I enjoyed the fiesta with the farmers and the generals of the army. The head honcho was there as well as probably 15 generals. They flew into a nearby base in a chopper and arrived in cars. Had I been able to speak Spanish a little better, I would have tried talking to more people, but as it was, I was left conversing only one of the other two Americans there, or with people who wanted to practice their English. After the party, we went back into Jinotega and spent an hour and a bit chatting with some friends of my friend who also own farms. One of them had been kidnapped and held for ransom six years earlier and was talking about that (unfortunately I couldn't understand much of it). When we left there, he took me to his house in the mountains overlooking Matagalpa, one of Nicaragua's largest cities outside of Managua. The next morning we got up and took the morning easy, reading, relaxing, and talking in the hammocks on the oversized porch overlooking the city before heading back to Managua.

One of the main reasons I think he wanted to take me to the farm was because he is looking for someone, or some people to start a school on his farm. He has about 35 regular year-round employees, and during the coffee picking season, he has around 1700 employees. There are about 15 kids there all year, and closer to 100 during picking season. He wants to someone to come and teach them and share with them the gospel. If you know of anyone that has some experience and a desire to be involved in something like this...he is 100% serious and wants to start the school as soon as possible. I see this as a very good opportunity to start something that could be very influential on many levels. While I was there I saw a huge need for an authentic Christian witness--which is something else that really stimulated my thinking while I was there.

test house car

So exams were completed this week. Results are still coming in. It looks like grades might be slightly better than last time on the whole, which is good. Hopefully we'll be able to continue making progress during the next six week segment. We'll be half way through our year at that point. During this week, I'll be compiling their grades from this last period and report cards will probably go out on Friday if it's the same as the last marking period. At that point, I will likely hear all of the concerns of the parents for their children who aren't doing as well as they'd like. In one way I'm afraid of that time, and in another way, I see it as an opportunity to come together again with the parents to see how we can work together better.

Even though we're only 1/3 of the way through our year, NCA#1 is wrapping up its year and that means that I am going to have to figure out my housing situation for when they return. Currently I am living in the apartment that the school put me in. It's my desire to get out of this very nice complex and move in with some Nicaraguans. I think I'd like to live with either a family or some other guys close to my age. There are a couple of opportunities that have come up, and a few that have dropped away. I'm having a hard time decided what I want and what would be best for me.

I'm also trying to think through purchasing a car here, contemplating the idea of keeping my life "simpler" by riding public transportation. On many levels I think it would be good for me to live that way, and in many respects I think it would be good for me to have my own wheels. The price of used cars here is quite inflated. One car that i'm considering is a 1988 Toyota 4x4 SUV. It has three doors: driver, passenger, and rear door. There is a bench seat across the front, and two benches facing each other in the back (total seating capacity of 7). It has 350,000 Kms, and a 4 speed manual transmission. The seller wants to get $5000 out of it. I doubt he could get that much, but I'd be tempted to pay 4000 or 4500. Never would I consider spending this much on this vehicle in the States, but it seems like it might be a good price here.

My prayer requests at this time come straight from above:

- That this week goes well in terms of classes and grading and conferencing with parents.
- That God might lead me in my search for a place to live.
- That I might be given wisdom in the decision about having a car or not and the decision of which car should the decision be to purchase (and for a really good deal!).

the americanadianicaragüense & and the set-up

So, I was thinking today that when I'm ready to leave Nicaragua, I probably could consider myself to be Americanadianicaragüense. Ha. That's funny.

The set-up. So, guess who asked me to write about cool people here in Nicaragua? I finally found out. For the life of me I couldn't think of anyone who would ask that question and not identify themself. Well, it was the same person who asked me to say hello to them in the email I wrote about the friends I have here--Rachel! Yes, she tricked me into writing about my friends and then saying hello to her specifically. Ha, that's funny, too.

So we're into exam week again. My exams are on Thursday and Friday; Thursday is with the 3rd and 4th graders, Friday is with the 1st and 2nd graders. It's good that I have an extra day with them because I need it. My first graders are quite behind where I hoped they would be. Second grade isn't too far behind, if at all. Fourth grade is in the same boat as second, but third grade is only a little ahead of first.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures that I've been promising for a while.

Some action shots (taken by a friend while I and my students were in action! No, not to be confused with inaction... first my 3rd grade class, then two pictures of first grade.





During our spring break (semana santa) and the CRC retreat near La Ceiba, Honduras:





Later during Semana Santa on the island of Roatán with (from left to right, or coolest to least coolest :) ahem...) me, Jessica and Liam, Michelle, Dusty, and Rachel.



Last weekend I went to a beach on Lake Nicaragua. It was the same co-teacher from Nejapa who invited me to the hot-springs who invited me this time to join his church. The beach was packed with people. The following Monday was an official holiday, so many people had packed up and gone to the beach. No joke, I was the only white person I saw all day. I did, however, see many animals on the beach, including pigs, dogs, and this here bull... :)



And last...my new hair-do. We'll see if it sticks. I like how easy it is.



If you would like to see any of these pictures in a larger resolution, just let me know. Talk to you later!