Going to the campo and I'm serving hot chocolate

This past weekend I went to the campo, the countryside of Peru, away from the lights and sounds of the city. A group of 7 of us went from the three churches in the vicinity of Cusco, in order to deliver some Christmas cheer, in the form of hot chocolate, bread, toys, clothes, and balloon animals. We left on a sunny Saturday morning in a van laden with feed sacks and several garbage bags full of clothes donated by church members, matresses, tents, our own stuff, food, supplies for hot chocolate....everything except the kitchen sink, basically. Driving in the campo in Peru is quite an adventure. Let me see if I can give you a mental picture. All around are huge, green mountains, like immense folds of green cloth draped randomly on the earth, stretching as far as the eye can see. At this time of the year, they look somewhat like patchwork quilts, lots of tiny fields joined together with red-brown adobe walls. Cut into the sides of these mountains are thin, winding dirt roads with no guard rails, in most places just wide enough for one car (luckily we didn't see any other cars while we were going out). Around the blind curves (of which there seemed to be a lot), we blew the horn, just in case. One side of the road is cut into the mountain. The other side is a large drop-off, plunging down the side of the mountain. Occasionally, a cluster of adobe houses clings to the side of the mountain. Even more occasionally, you'll see a village. We traveled on these roads for several hours, stopping several times to make sure the road was passable. Since it's the rainy season, there are mud puddles and slippery spots where the van wanted to slide around and fishtail. I didn't get too worried most of the time, but there were a few times that I stressed out for a minute. We were headed to a village called Limacpampa, where the church has not been working yet, which was still about an hour down the road when we came to a serious problem. There had been a landslide on the road and it was now blocked. With the help of picks and muscles, we shoved enough rocks off the edge of the road so that we could get the van through. Happy with ourselves, we climbed back into the van and continued our journey...for about another 500 feet till we came to another landslide. Roberto decided that it was not safe for us to continue, because the mountain still looked unstable. And besides, there were at least two more landslides on the road that we could see. So after a quick conference, we decided to go to San Juan de Quihuares and Yarccacunca, two villages where the church is already established. So we turned around and headed back to San Juan de Quihuares. As we pulled into the village, it was raining. Hard. The rain turned all the dirt roads to mud. When it stopped, we decided to walk down the slippery mud path to the church. I followed Roberto's boot prints, walking past the pigs grazing and climbing over the fence that keeps someone's bulls in their pen. Yes, that's really how the people get to church there! We eventually carried everything into the church and surveyed our new surroundings. The church sanctuary is big, built in faith because the people are few. Next to the church is a kitchen, a small adobe room with a stack of adobe bricks in the middle. The stove in the church is really complex....ready for this? Take one adobe brick and place it against the wall/stack of adobes that are in the middle of the room. Take another adobe brick and place it about a foot away from the other one, against the wall as well. Build a fire between the two bricks. Place a pot on top and there's your stove! The bathroom is even more complex. Go into the cornfield beside the church.
We cooked our dinner and went to bed early, knowing we'd need to get up early the next morning. Tip for the wise that I learned that night: when cooking over an open fire, rub mud on the outside of the pot to keep it from getting all black. It really works; try it! I got up at about 5:30 and dressed, to the sound of one of the men from the church chopping firewood in the kitchen (people in the country get up early). We decided that the best time to give out hot chocolate and things would be 8 AM, since kids in the country have to help take care of the family's animals and things during the day. We melted the chocolate bar in some water, then began boiling a huge 50-liter pot of water to make the hot chocolate for about 130 people. It took a really long time to boil that much water. At one point, I had a moment of panic when I realized that I hadn't seen any cups whatsoever in which to serve the hot chocolate. The Peruvians reassured me that, nope, the kids bring their own cups. After the water boiled, we dumped in the chocolate, added powdered milk and sugar, stirred it all together and we had hot chocolate! Just in time too. The kids started coming, a few at a time, heads disheveled, clothes dirty, feet protruding from rubber-tire ojotas. They shyly held out their tin cups (or small pitchers or disposable small soda bottles) for their hot chocolate. "T'antayki kaypi kashan", I told them. Here's your bread. And, happily, they went outside to makeshift benches or the grass to savor their treat. While they were eating, Carrie, Hilda, Roberto and Ruth handed out toys, clothing and balloon animals, while Pamela and I served hot chocolate and bread in the kitchen. There was one little girl who was so cute. She just sat on the bench in the kitchen by the door for the longest time, not saying a word, eating her bread so daintily, dipping it in her hot chocolate and letting the drips run off before popping it into her mouth. She couldn't have been more than 3. Every time we tried to talk to her, in Spanish or Quechua, she just stared at us, not saying a word. We ended up serving about 130 people.
After the last people came through the line and the crowd drifted away, we had church out on the lawn in the sun, sitting on low wooden benches. There were about 25 people in church that morning, listening to Roberto preach about Jesus as Emmanuel. The service was simple and fairly short. At the end, one of the leaders of the church made an announcement about wanting help to construct the church bathroom. I was thinking he was talking about sometime in the next few weeks or months. But as we were cooking lunch after church, some of the hermanos came back with picks and shovels and began to hack at the long grass by the fence surrounding the church property. I asked Roberto what they were making and he replied "the bathroom". By the time we finished eating lunch and packed up to go to Yarccacunca, the foundation was dug and the adobe brick walls were beginning to take shape. We wound again around mountain roads, en route to Yarccacunca. Arriving, we had to carry everything again from the van to the church, about a 5 minute walk, but not as easy as it sounds, since it was all uphill - steep uphill. We were pleased to find, on arriving, that there was a bathroom and a kitchen with two adobe woodburning stoves (actual stoves, not adobe bricks). We hung out for a while, then the youth started coming for their weekly youth meeting. It was awkward at first, with no one talking, no one knowing quite what to say. People are more shy to talk in the country. Then we started the meeting and everyone warmed up to each other. After the youth left, we cooked supper and roasted marshmallows and Peruvian hot dogs over the fire. The next morning, we woke up early and began the process of making hot chocolate again. Again, there was the long wait for the water to boil, again the line of disheveled children shyly holding out their mugs for hot chocolate, then sitting around on the grass happily munching. The child who most tugged at our hearts in Yarccacunca was Nelson. No more than 4 years old, Nelson is the son of an absent father and an alcoholic mother. According to the church leaders and Roberto, he eats, sleeps and goes wherever he wants to, without any kind of supervision. His situation was so sad. We were expecting that there would be considerably fewer people in Yarccacunca, only to find out as we were preparing the chocolate that there were about the same number of people, prompting fear that there would not be enough bread for everyone. We prayed hard and as it turned out, there was just enough bread for everyone and for us as well. Thank you God! We finished up the second chocolatada, packed up all the clothing to leave at the church, ate lunch, and left Yarccacunca to return to Cusco, our load much smaller than when we came. The drive back was quite fun, always keeping our eyes out for children along the road to whom we could give the few extra toys that were left over and the balloon animals that Carrie was twisting in the back seat of the van. Driving back toward Cusco, the sunset was absolutely beautiful - the sky stained pink and orange, surrounded by huge mountains on every side, with some beautiful snow-capped peaks in the distsance. We slowed down to let a llama amble across the road and then to avoid hitting sheep from the flocks that were being driven home by Andean women in their hats, braids, ojotas and brightly-striped q'eperinas (blankets). Finally, we saw the lights of Cusco spread out below us. Then we were driving through Cusco, recognizing the sights. And then we were home. Back to the comforts of the city, to running water in the house, to a warm, soft bed, to a bathroom and a stove that doesn't require firewood. So different from life in the countryside. I had to ask myself "What did we really do?" We fed the tummies of country kids and clothed their bodies. Seems so simple. Yet as I think of that, I have to remember the words of Jesus - "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me." The difference between the city and the country is immense. It was good to get to know a bit of the countryside. I left and came back home, but those in the country...well, that's their life! My prayer is "Lord, don't let me forget and become so surrounded by creature comforts that I lose touch with the reality of what life is really like for so many people." So that was my weekend. Quite full, but quite rewarding. Definitely a good experience. Definitely worth it all.

A Christmas Greeting from my Kids and I

We worked really hard in third and fourth grade the past month or so to learn Luke 2:11-12 in English, in the form of a song. The kids did wonderful in the program! I was so proud of them. So I wanted to put the video on here so you could all see it. Unfortunately, I had difficulty uploading it onto Blogger, so I put it on YouTube. To see the video, please click here and enjoy. Merry Christmas from my students and I!

Doorknobs and gingerbread men: A tale of God's grace

It all started when I decided to do a unit on Christmas around the world. I thought it would be fun to make gingerbread men with both classes. The only problem. We don't have gingerbread man cookie cutters here....that I know of anyway. Problem solved: Moms are wonderful! She told me she'd send me some. So I waited for the package to arrive. For various reasons, it took a while to come. I kept pushing back and pushing back the project. Finally, with 2 weeks left of school, I decided to start the Christmas in the United States week without the cookie cutters, in faith that they would come. And they did - the day before I was going to start making the cookies. In that simple fact alone, I saw God's grace and his care for my kids and for me. It was a good reminder that He cares about the little things I do...even if they don't always seem to me to be that eternally important.
So we started making gingerbread men yesterday. Fourth grade was fine (again I got told that I am more attractive in an apron...weird). But third grade....well, they were third grade. At least Jonatan was his normal self. He decided he wanted to eat something during English class. Which is not allowed, at least in my class. So Sharith decided to take things into her own hands and took his snack away from him. Which got her shoved roughly onto the cement floor by Jonatan. Which made me decide that I needed to take away his privilege of participating in the making of the cookies. Which obviously didn't make him too happy, since he'd been looking forward to making cookies, along with the rest of the class, for several weeks now. So he decided to make life miserable for me and for the rest of the class for the rest of the day. At every possible opportunity, he was trying to snitch pieces of dough from the bowl we were working from. It was very annoying, both for me and for his classmates, who were warning me at every opportunity to watch out for Jonatan. End result: he lost the privilege of participating again today and I called his grandmother, who he lives with, to make her aware of the situation.
This morning I was asking God to give me love in my heart for Jonatan because I wasn't feeling particularly loving towards him today. Only He could have imagined how that prayer would be answered. First of all, Jonatan's dad came today, having heard from the grandmother that there were problems yesterday. So I got to talk to him and explain to him what happened and he heard me and was supportive and concerned about his son - a major blessing. And then for some crazy, unexplained reason, the outside part of the doorknob fell off the third grade door. It's a fairly new doorknob. I don't know what happened. It just fell off! It wasn't a problem, all morning since there was always someone in the room, until all the kids left for recess and the door closed (or did God close it, just to teach me a lesson? Hmmm.....). So there I was...the door closed, I needed to teach fourth grade music class for Ron, who had to go to a meeting today, and I had no idea how I was going to get in the room to work on making gingerbread men with third grade last period. Thankfully, third grade was in gym class, so we didn't have to worry about what was going to happen with them for 45 minutes, while I taught music class. The first thing, however, that came to mind as a possible solution was "Ask Jonatan". This kid loves fixing things. And he's really good at it too. So I called him. He came right away, which in itself amazed me. I told him I had a challenge for him. He took one look at the hole where the doorknob should have been, stuck his fingers in it, and announced that he needed a pliers after gym class. I was wondering if I should trust his judgment. Thankfully, Ron came back right in time to help switch the two classes to where they needed to be (we do gym class at a big covered playing field down the street cause we don't have enough space at the school itself). I explained the situation and said that Jonatan said he'd need a pliers. Ron agreed that would work, if we had one. A scissors was the next best option. So Jonatan stuck the scissors in the hole in the doorknob and wiggled it around for a while. Finally, click, the door popped open and third grade surged inside! Jonatan was an instant celebrity in third grade. It felt good to finally be able to say "Great job Jonatan! I'm so proud of you!" And you could tell he was proud of himself too. He was absolutely beaming.
I still didn't allow him to participate today in the making of the gingerbread men. Consequences are consequences and need to be felt. But I'm planning on him participating tomorrow. He went to work with the psychologist today during English class, at my request. But when he came back and we were still working on the cookies, he was a totally different child from yesterday. He was cooperative, didn't even try to snitch cookie dough, though he had ample opportunity. He was helpful and respectful. He was great!
I'd like to think that maybe God knocked the doorknob off the door to show me His grace. Yesterday I was so frustrated with Jonatan, after a whole year of fighting with him and feeling like he needs things I can't give him, that I was feeling like the next 6 days of school would be torture and I had no desire to teach him next year. But then, God came through today and showed me again that yes, He is there and yes, I can do it with His help. Now, this does not mean I might not ever get frustrated with Jonatan again. The chances of that being the case are slim, considering his track record. But today, in the midst of my own human weakness and lack of grace, God again reminded me of His grace, not only for Jonatan, but for me as well. If I've learned one thing this year as a teacher, it is that God's grace for me is so huge, so endless and so amazing. Seems like every time I need it, I see it pull through for me. Every time I need it, there it is. I stand amazed at it, at God, at His goodness and love for me and for my students.

adventures in cooking

This past weekend, there was a marriage retreat at the San Jeronimo church on Saturday afternoon. Carrie, Shannon and I were asked to make food for the event. Okay, not asked. Volunteered. We weren't that crazy about the idea, but you just do what you're asked to do.
Friday, our friend Marga helped us get massive amounts of chicken breasts, potatoes, carrots, green beans, other assorted vegetables, strawberries, and cake ingredients. Friday afternoon, I came home from school to find 3 people in the house, washing vegetables in dishpans, colanders, containers, whatever - even the mop bucket (disinfected, of course)! After we finished washing just about everything, the water decided to stop flowing from the spigot. This happens regularly at night at our house, usually mostly in the upstairs bathroom. But when we really need water for something, it always seems to turn off during the day too. This time was no exception. There was no water whatsoever anywhere. Yes, we had some buckets full of water awaiting such an occurrence, but, not knowing how long we would be without our water, we didn't want to use too much from them. We had enough water to cover the potatoes so they didn't get brown. And some greasy, nasty dishwater in the sink that we didn't want to let go down the drain, just in case we'd need it for something. And then we set to work, preparing all the vegetables. I went outside with the 25 pounds of green beans and got right down to business, stemming and snapping them. Reminded me of summer in the States. Meanwhile, others were peeling carrots and potatoes. There were various people helping throughout the evening. With all the hands working fast and furiously, we managed to make and bake 6 cakes, peel 50 pounds of potatoes, and peel and cut 50 pounds of green beans and carrots. Oh, and someone managed to drop some mostly still-wet chocolates on the kitchen floor. By the time we stopped laughing and got to cleaning it up, it had hardened on the floor. Without the aid of water, getting it up was, let's just say, difficult. So we cleaned up what we could and left the rest. Coming back into the kitchen before going to bed and seeing it sprawled out there on the floor, I took one look and began laughing. It looked exactly like a cow! In my sleep-deprived mind, it looked quite like a cow had died on our kitchen floor. So I took a whiteboard marker and outlined it so everyone else could see what I was seeing. I think we all got a kick out of the chocolate on the floor. Our kitchen was....well, a bit messy, as you can see. But what can you do when you have no water to wash all the dishes that are generated when cooking for such a massive amount of people? We decided to call it a night around 11 and slept really well!
Thankfully, the water was back on when we woke up on Saturday morning and we were able to wash some of the dishes that had accumulated the night before. Then we set to work again, cutting up onions, strawberries, potatoes, celery, parsley, and oregano and grating cheese, making stuffing, making whipped cream in the mop bucket (please remember it was clean!), filling chicken breasts, seasoning potatoes, and putting everything in baking pans. We ended up with 14 of them till we were done. Where do you bake 14 baking pans full of food? Luckily, if you're in Peru, you likely have a community oven close. Community ovens are a wonderful thing. Since many people don't have ovens in their homes, community ovens are open to anyone. Many people who have them in their houses are bread makers. But they have extra room in their ovens on a regular basis. So people can bring things and they'll bake them for a small fee. You drop them off, come back after a while and voila! You have cooked food! We lugged the 14 baking pans between 5 of us over to the oven, about a block from our house. They easily fit into the oven. Then we called one of the men from the church, who has a taxi, and asked if he could pick us and the food up when we were ready to go out to the church. That detail taken care of, we decided to go out to the church awhile to begin cooking the vegetables. When we got there, we found out that we wouldn't be eating till about an hour later than what we'd thought. So we hung out at the church for about an hour till we had to go pick up the food. Right as we were getting ready to go, it began to rain. Now, around this time of year, often when it rains, it hails. That's just the way the weather is. Yeah, you guessed it. We were running through hail to the bus stop to pick up public transportation to get home to get the food out of the oven. Well, when we got to the bus stop at the bottom of the huge hill on which our house sits, there was no rain. (Not only is rain in Cusco accompanied by hail, it is also very spotty). But till the combi came to pick us up and take us up the hill, it was definitely raining. So we ran up the last bit of hill to our front door in the rain. After changing into dry clothes, we went to the oven with Hermano Satu in his taxi and collected all our various baking pans of chicken and potatoes. Covering them with blankets in the back of the taxi, we headed to the church. In a steady rain, we carried all of the pans to the church kitchen, where we covered them with blankets on the floor till we were ready to serve the food. Hurriedly, we dumped the vegetables in pots so they could boil and be ready by the time everyone was ready to eat. And then it was a mad, scurrying rush of serving and grabbing bites to eat and serving cake. And then it was time to clean up and wash all the dishes, which took us far into the night. Around 10:15, David came back with the church combi from taking the people from Huacarpay and Lucre back to their homes. We loaded in, all our dirty baking pans in tow to wash at home in the morning. We got home around 10:45, tired, with the feeling of having done our job pretty well and now wanting to get some shut-eye! Carrie (my roommate) declared quite emphatically that it will be a while before she cooks for that many people again. It was quite the adventure and tired us all out. It was fun, in a way, but I'm glad I don't have to do it every day. It was, however, a good roommate bonding experience. :)

Moments of Merriment and Mirth with a Mexican Christmas

Okay, I'll admit it. There are sometimes that I just want to laugh at my students. Today there were several of them in third grade. First of all, let me back up and say that we are studying Christmas around the world in both third and fourth grades right now. Last week, we spent the week in Sweden learning about St. Lucia's Day and Tomte (the Swedish Santa Claus) and their Christmas trees with edible decorations. We did several exciting projects. This week we're in Mexico learning about Las Posadas and manger scenes and how Mexican children put their shoes out so that the 3 kings can put gifts in them (I think my kids were somewhat grossed out by that little tidbit of information!). Today in fourth grade, we made a yummy Mexican dessert called Merengon. In third grade we're making piñatas out of balloons, newspaper and toilet paper. And of course paste. Lots and lots of paste. It wasn't a problem on my kitchen table...honest!
And then I took paste into third grade yesterday. Lucky for me, it's just flour and water...not a bad combination. Being the adult, orderly by nature, in my first year of teaching, never having done this with 20 kids in my charge before, it never occurred to me to have the kids bring in an old shirt or something they could use to cover themselves. The result of that was that yesterday, I had 20 kids covered in varying degrees by flour-water paste and a bunch washing out their uniform jackets during recess (the difference between American kids and Peruvian kids is that many Peruvian kids are used to washing clothes by hand). Let me just put a disclaimer on this: doing laundry during recess was completely their idea and was not provoked in any way by their English teacher. So I decided I'd get smart and tell the kids to bring in an old shirt today, for everyone's peace of mind. Well, anyone who's ever worked with kids knows how reliable their memories can be when you don't want them to be and how unreliable they can be when you want them to remember something. The end result of my announcement was about 5-7 old shirts appearing today. The rest of the kids somehow magically remembered when they walked in the school door today. Thus, I was barraged with numerous pronouncements of "Profe, I didn't bring my old shirt". I was contenting myself with just telling them "Then you'll have to be really careful not to get paste on you".
They, however, must not have been content with that (or else they didn't want to wash their uniforms by hand again). I must explain that I had given each one of them a plastic grocery bag with their name on it yesterday on which to lay their piñata as it was drying. When they came in from gym class, their piñatas were on their desks and their grocery bags were lying along the walls of the classroom so they could again place their sticky piñatas on them overnight. Jonatan was the first one to get the brilliant idea. He came up to me with his grocery bag on like an apron and said "Profe, can you tie this for me?" I marveled at his creativity. It took all of about 5 seconds for his idea to spread like wildfire through the entire class. Thus, while several were donning old shirts, numerous others were coming up to me saying "Profe, can you tie this?" Grocery bags, however, unfortunately, have an opening smaller than the waist size of your average Peruvian third grader, causing problems. And then Isaac came up with another brilliant idea. He stepped through the bottom of his grocery bag, pulling it up like a bathing suit, and putting the handles over his shoulders like straps. In the end, this (or variations of it) proved to be by far the most popular design. It didn't take long for me to have virtually 20 third graders decked out in the latest grocery bag fashions. In the midst of the madness, Ron entered to collect library books. Through the myriad rustle of plastic bags, I called "I have a class of artistic geniuses!" He looked at them, in various stages of plasticating themselves, and said "This was their idea?" I assured him I had had absolutely nothing to do with it, to which he laughed and replied "I need to get the camera!" Luckily I had mine too.
I had another interesting thing happen in third grade today - funny, yet thought-provoking too. I decided that since I'd gotten paste on myself as well (funny how that happens when you're working with kids but not when you're doing it by yourself at home...), I'd bring an apron today. So I brought this very old and thin Peruvian style apron that we have at home. I felt a little funny with it on, since I'm not accustomed to wearing aprons of any style - Peruvian or American. (Peruvian aprons, just for the record, cover the front and back and tie on the sides. In the front they have several big pockets. Most more traditional women wear them often. And I think pretty much anyone who sells in the market wears one.) The kids were at gym class when I put it on. When they came back, I met some of them in the hallway to tell them to enter the class calmly and orderly so we could get started right away on our project. Isaac ran up to me, gave me a hug and said "Profe, you look beautiful!" Later, Shally said the same thing. The only thing I can figure out is that this was the first time they'd seen me looking more Peruvian and they liked it! As I was working on putting on plastic bag aprons in the classroom Miriam came in. She came right up to me and, pretending I was a vendor in the market, asked "Do you have any tomatoes?" I played along "6 soles a kilo", I told her. "Do you have change for a 10?" she wondered. Then she wondered if I had potatoes. I told her I didn't. It was a strange, amazing and funny phenomenon all at the same time, how my kids reacted to me in the apron. I'll have to do further experiments with the apron in the future. I'm curious now. (Plus, it has nice big pockets which really come in handy as a teacher!)
Sometimes I just want to laugh. And now that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have a class full of artistic geniuses, I wonder how I can incorporate more artistic aspects into the class, especially in learning grammar.
The pictures are, from top to bottom: Isaac in his bag, Alejandra, Diana and Miriam in their bags, Bethany, Alejandra, Miriam, Yuli and Dany in their bags, Dany in his bag, Stefany and Saraí in their bags.

And so we are coming to the end...

The end is in sight. Not that I am desperately awaiting its arrival, but I can't help but realize that the school year is winding down. I have now handed in my last month planning and we are in the middle of our last unit both in third and fourth grades. It's a longer unit, since it covers the last 6 weeks of the school year instead of the normal 4-week units. And I decided to take advantage of everything that the kids are supposed to learn and make them into 2 units about Christmas around the world. Fourth grade's focus is food and third grade's focus is...well, varied. It includes meeting people, having sensory experiences, etc... We're doing a lot of craft-type projects, which the kids love. And when the kids love what they're doing, they behave better. Which makes me happier too. The rule of thumb that applies to moms also applies to teachers, I think. "When the teacher ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". So far at least, I think we'll end the year on a good note in both classes.
I'm teaching all my students a song that I learned as a child from a tape of Scripture verses in song that we had. It comes from Luke 2:11, 12: "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find the baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger." The kids seem to be enjoying it. We've talked about what the words mean, but I really want to get to what the heart of the verse means as well. Jesus the Savior was born for us. He was born humbly. He was born as the promised one sent from God for us. I was very excited the other week when I introduced the verse to my fourth graders. I was telling them that this was the last verse and the last unit for the year. Ronaldo burst out "Awwwww.....this is the last verse?" He's always the first one to wonder when we're going to change the verse (which we do every month), so I've always thought that he didn't really enjoy them. But the disappointment in his voice and the fact that, when I asked him, he told me he wanted more verses, told me otherwise. It was good encouragement to keep going.
And then last week the first graders did a chapel for the whole school based on the armor of God. Over the summer, we worked for several months learning that passage in fourth grade. Since it was so long, we put motions to it and everything. So I decided to do a little review with them after chapel. We went through the entire verse and most of the kids seemed to remember it well. I was very impressed.
This past week we studied Sweden. Fourth grade made St. Lucia buns and third grade made a St. Lucia crown of candles out of paper plates and construction paper. I'll have to put pictures on here. There are definite maturity differences between the two classes (beyond just the fact that one is third grade and the other is fourth). Fourth grade has a much longer attention span, so they caught a lot more of what I was telling them. Next up is Mexico. Should be interesting.
It's been a good last few weeks. Yes, they've had their challenges, but things have been going much better lately than they were during the summer. I'm learning a lot. Teaching is definitely a very complex and delicate process. And it all seems to happen at 80 miles an hour.
5 weeks left. 5 busy weeks. 5 short weeks. 5 weeks of teaching and learning. It's hard to believe. The year has gone so fast. I can definitely feel God's help in so many ways. And yes, I can most DEFINITELY feel the prayers of so many people. Thank you! Here's to the final weeks of the school year.

Moments with my kids

I've had several moments with my kids the past week, ranging from funny to exciting, that I wanted to share.
First of all, I've realized again the value of the spelling bee practice I had when I was in middle school. I asked my fourth graders to bring in pictures of animals, since we're studying them this month. Sara brought in a picture of a bird she called a zarapito. I had no idea whatsoever what it was called in English. So I looked it up on the Internet, only to find that it is called a curlew in English. That wouldn't be funny, except that when I was in about 6th grade, I got out of a spelling bee because I spelled that word incorrectly. So when I saw it, it made me laugh. Sometimes I like to tell my fourth graders random stories. And they seem to enjoy it too. So I decided to tell them the story about the curlew. Well, when I told them, they surprised me and told me they wanted to have a spelling bee in class! So...we had a spelling bee in fourth grade last week and they seemed to love it. Who would've ever thought...maybe it will become an English class staple.
Then there was Jonatan on Friday. I'd brought in prizes for my third graders and told them that I was going to double check what all I had when I got home. If I was missing anything, I'd stop handing out tickets for good behavior until it was found (we've had difficulty with stealing at the school this year at times). At recess, I saw Shally and Jonatan talking. And then, Shally came up to me and gave me a sheet of stickers which I recognized from the prizes I'd bought the night before. "Jonatan wanted me to give you this", she explained. I called Jonatan over and told him that, though I wasn't happy with what he'd done, I was very proud of him for admitting it. We're trying to work on honesty and values in the kids at the school. It was some what of a miracle, very welcome, that Jonatan actually admitted what he'd done and made it right. It was encouraging.
And then today, I had to laugh in fourth grade. We have routines that we do every day and the kids know by this point, almost at the end of the year, what I say every day while we do these routines. Today, some of them decided that they knew them so well that they wanted to say them with me as we did them. So I had a chorus of little parrots saying what I was saying. It made me laugh, but it was also great practice for them.
So those are some of the "teacher moments" from the last week. Hope you can laugh with me as I enjoy the silly and wonderful things that my kids tend to come up with.

He carries the lambs in His arms

A verse that I've been thinking about a lot lately is Isaiah 40:11 - "He tends his flock like a shepherd. He carries the lambs in His arms and gently leads those that have young". I've got a lot of little lambs in my care that so desperately need to know the Father-love of the Good Shepherd. One of the phrases that many of my students have learned this year is "Do you need a hug?" While I'm not God and I don't always show them His love perfectly, I do have a wonderful, God-given pair of arms that has given hundreds of hugs this year.
Many of my students come from difficult home and family situations. Those that act up in class usually have deep emotional needs that fuel the behavior. For instance, there is Jonatan, who, until the last week or so that he has been living with his grandparents, was alone from about 6 AM till he came to school, then went home to an empty house, cooked lunch for himself, and spent the afternoon alone till his dad came home from work in the evening. His parents are separated and he's had experiences he should never have had to have in his short life. Dany and Lucero are brother and sister. They also go home to an empty house, because their mom works really hard selling in the market to make ends meet so they can attend PROMESA.
And then there are the ones who are living only with one parent. Like Yuli, Ibet, Alicia and Shally. And some other ones I'm sure I don't know about.
And then there are the ones whose parents are having marriage problems. The kids don't talk about that one very much, but sometimes I know of one or another. The one breaking my heart right now is Magna. Magna is one of my fourth graders - a precious, sweet, serious girl. She struggles in English, but lately, I've noticed her improving, at least in her participation in class and her ability to understand what I'm saying and translate it. The last week or so, she's been coming to school noticeably very sad. Wednesday we had a school outing to celebrate PROMESA's fourth anniversary. I noticed she looked upset, so I asked her "Magna, are you okay?" She told me she was sad. I asked her what was wrong. "Profe (that is what the kids call their teachers here, in general)", she said, "Have you ever lived with your parents fighting all the time?" My heart broke for her as I hugged her.
And yet, in my mind, I keep coming back to this verse. He carries the lambs in His arms. God is the one taking care of these little ones and He is the one who puts His arms around them when they are scared or sad or lonely or angry. I looked the verse up in Quechua this morning. Not that I understand that much Quechua, but sometimes I find it interesting to read verses in another language or version. It brings new light to the verses. More or less, between my little understanding and a handy-dandy Quechua-Spanish dictionary, I pieced together that this verse says that God carries the little ones in his arms, on his chest. As I thought about those phrases, it struck me as such a beautiful picture of intimacy and deep love. He carries them on his chest, right on his heart. Yes, Jesus carries my little ones on His heart. Even though I can't always be there when their parents are fighting or when they're lonely or sad or angry, Jesus is there carrying them on His heart. What a beautiful picture.
I also like the last phrase of the verse - "He gently leads those that have young". Okay, so I might not be a parent, but I feel like I have young, since I regularly have 33 in my care. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. And then there's Jesus, right there, reminding me that He is gently caring for those who have young. Like me. Like those who are parents. Like all who are responsible for the upbringing of little ones. There He is, shepherding, caring, comforting, being tender with those responsible for their young.
So lately, I've really loved this verse. It's such a beautiful picture of intimacy and God's help and concern for those who are vulnerable. No matter who on this earth lets them down, I want my students to know and learn that God is always there holding them to His chest and wrapping them in His arms.

A Rainy Snow Day and a Loooooong Bike Ride

Every once in a while, we have what we missionaries affectionately like to call "snow days". They are days when those who work in public transportation decide to go on strike for some reason or another (usually protesting the cost of living increases or other such things). They don't really do anything, honestly. But they keep happening anyway. Well, no one can get to school on those days, so we have off. Yesterday was a paro day, one we knew about in advance. So we decided to ride out to Lucre from San Jeronimo and back on bikes (approximately a 25 mile bike ride). Well...
We began our adventure at the bike rental place in San Jeronimo. There were 11 of us. And then the deaf-mute brother of one of the students at the school invited himself along. So there were 12. We rode out of San Jeronimo around 9, headed towards Saylla. We passed Saylla without any notable incidents and headed towards Tipon. My friend Illary and I got behind. At this point, she was on a bike too big for her, so she was going slower. So we were behind. And then I heard a noise like she was going to sneeze. And then I heard a noise like the bike crashed. So I stopped and sure enough, Illary was on the ground. She wasn't hurt, just a bit scared. So we managed to get her back on the bike, though it took some doing. And we headed into Tipon. Coming into Tipon, we saw people gathered on the street protesting who knows what. Illary was like "Oh no! What are we going to do? I'm going to have to get off my bike and how am I going to get back on?" Well, I dismounted and walked my bike through to the other side. Illary was going to use a low cement wall along the side of the road as support to climb back on her bike, but there were people sitting on it. A policeman noticed her predicament and offered to help. So she came out on the other side too and he helped her get back on her bike. To the sound of the cheers of people in Tipon, we rode off together to Oropesa. On the road between Tipon and Oropesa, as we laughed about the situation and Illary recovered her dignity, it began to rain. As we rode into Oropesa, we saw the rest of our group stopped along the side of the road at a bakery (Oropesa calls itself Peru's bread capital...and they do have really good bread). So we stopped. Rain showers in Peru usually don't last very long, so we figured we'd buy bread and wait out the rain. Which is what we did. Predictably, after about 10-15 minutes, the rain stopped and we began again. Shortly after leaving Oropesa, right after I had just told Ron (another missionary) "I really like this bike!", I began hearing a funny noise. Turns out there was glass on the road and a nice big sliver decided it was in the mood to puncture a tire. The deaf-mute brother (Joel) removed my tire, put it on his handlebars and began to ride out to Huacarpay, where we knew there was a tire place. Along came a taxi, so Illary (who was tired because now she was riding a bike that was way too small for her), flagged it down, hopped in, we put the bike in the back, and off she went to Huacarpay. The last mile or so, I rode the little bike to Huacarpay. By the time we got there, the tire was fixed and my bike was back in commission. We went from there to Lucre, where 3 of the youth from the Huacarpay Mennonite church joined us. We had a delicious meal of fresh fried trout at the house of Pastor Eloy, the pastor of the Lucre Mennonite church, who also has a fish farm.
While we were in Lucre, relaxing and enjoying our trout, it decided to rain. We decided to wait it out as long as we could. Just as we decided that we really needed to go to get back in time and started getting onto our bikes, the rain stopped. We made it back to Huacarpay without incidents and decided to split up on the way home so everyone could go at their own pace.
Coming in to Oropesa, Mari, Illary and I, who were all traveling together, met up with Shannon and Carrie. Apparently, the same patch of glass which had been the undoing of my tire earlier in the day, also decided that Shannon's tire looked pretty inviting. Luckily, there was a tire place in Oropesa as well, so she was getting her tire fixed. The 5 of us continued on to Tipon, without incident, then back to Saylla, where Shannon and Carrie went on ahead. By this time, Illary, on her wrong-size bike (too small), was exhausted. Mari was determined to get back to San Jeronimo, by hook or by crook, and I was determined to not leave Illary behind. So we became traveling buddies. By this time, it was getting dark. Between Saylla and San Jeronimo, it officially got dark and began to rain. But we were still determined. Walking for a lot of the time, waiting for Illary, and praying for protection, we arrived on the outskirts of San Jeronimo. We traded bikes one final time, Illary taking mine, which was much more her size, and me taking the little one. And so, at 7:00, we rolled into San Jeronimo and made it back to the bike rental place, exhausted and sore, but very much proud of ourselves and our accomplishment.
It was a great day, a day of learning how much determination can really do, a day of being the one determined not to leave someone behind, a day of enjoying adventures and rain and exercise and just doing something different. I'm not sure I'm necessarily ready to do another 25-mile bike ride again for a little while and I'm still tired, but it was definitely a great way to spend a "snow day". And a great sense of accomplishment.

Unexpectedness

I never quite know exactly what to expect when the kids come in the mornings and I start interacting with them. Who's in a good mood? Who needs a hug? Who's crying and why? What will the day be like in third grade? What are my kids going to say in class? It all changes from day to day. This week I had lots of those unexpected moments.
Tuesday and Wednesday were great days with third grade. After a frustrating last few months, it was a blessing to be able to go home at the end of the day and say "Wow, I had a great day with third grade today!". One of the most encouraging parts of that was that they behaved excellently while I read them a skit about Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel that I am hoping to do with them, since we're studying entertainment this month. Unexpected. Wonderful. An answer to prayer. And I am reminded again that God is good and hears my cries to Him.
Thursday was my brother's birthday. I casually happened to mention it to my fourth graders. And they got all excited and wanted to write him a letter. So we spent half of our English class time composing a letter to Ben and taking a picture of us to put with it. Looking at the pictures tonight that Marysol patiently took for me, I realized how hard it is to get 13 kids to all look at the camera at the same time with all their faces showing. (Yes, I can hear all of you parents laughing right now). Oh, and don't tell anyone how many kids we fit on a sliding board at once. I counted 8. There aren't rules about things like that here.
Thursday was also Meylin's birthday - one of my third graders. So I went to third grade during recess. We sang to her and ate a cake that her mom had brought in. It was a fun but unexpected treat which we all enjoyed.
Another funny unexpected moment this week was Elias (the only boy sitting at the top of the slide in this picture) deciding to call kangaroos "I don't understands". I off-handedly, just for fun, explained to fourth grade the other day that kangaroo, in the language of the Australian aborigines, means "I don't understand". Apparently, at least according to what I've heard, the first English to come to Australia asked what this crazy jumping animal was called. The Aborigines, of course, understood as much English as the Englishmen understood of their language and replied "kangaroo" - I don't understand. The result of this classic Babel moment is that the name stuck and thus we have the kangaroo. It made me laugh the other day when Elias pointed to a picture of a kangaroo and said "Look, Miss Bethany! It's an 'I don't understand'!"
Today I had another unexpected moment when Jonatan decided to chew on his colored pencil lead and paint his mouth different colors...again. Today it was orange and then black. I thought we'd gotten over that. Apparently, I was overly optimistic on that one. That was a not-so-pleasant unexpected moment. Yes, there are definitely that kind too!
These unexpected moments are what make teaching interesting, fun and special and keep me on my toes. They are the spice of life in an elementary school. Mostly, I enjoy them. Well, the good ones anyway. Many times, these unexpected moments are what allow me to see the humanness in my students and see them again, not as little minds to fill with as much knowledge as possible in the few hours I have, but as great little people. These little bits of time in my day knock my brain off its task-oriented track and remind me again how much I love these kids. And many times in these moments I see God's grace and hand at work.
So thank You God for the unexpected and for sending it into my day to help me see again with Your eyes.

Little miracles

It's the little miracles that happen every once in a while that convince me that we're not working in vain and that some day these kids really can grow up to be strong men and women of God. Like yesterday.
I walked in to third grade during recess and the kids were eager to announce to me that Alejandra was crying (Honestly, in third grade, I have 21 pairs of eyes....mine and 20 other pairs always jumping to tell me when they see something). I asked why and somehow they all knew that Lucero had said something about Alejandra's dad and that's why she was crying (news travels fast in third grade as well). So I went to talk to the two girls. Alejandra was indeed crying...maybe sobbing is a better word. Through tears she managed to tell me that Lucero had said something mean about her dad and she was very hurt. Lucero then told me that Alejandra had said mean things about her, although she couldn't remember what at first. So we talked about saying nice things to each other and how we need to be kind in our words and actions, etc. I wrote a note home to Lucero's parents and Alejandra seemed to be feeling better, so I left them to their own devices.
I had brought a birthday cake in to celebrate two birthdays that hadn't gotten recognized yet. I told Lucero that because of what happened between her and Alejandra, she couldn't have a piece of cake. So we sang and then I began to cut the cake. We distributed pieces to the students one by one. When Alejandra came to take her piece, she said "I'll take Lucero's piece too". I reminded her that I had told Lucero she couldn't have a piece because of what had happened. "Oh no," she told me "We said we're sorry and forgave each other. It's okay now". (No, I didn't ask them to do that). I could tell she really meant it. "Okay," I said. "So do you want Lucero to have a piece of cake?" She paused to think it over for a second. "Yes", she replied, and went back to her seat with the two pieces of cake in her hands, one for her and one for Lucero.
Silently, inside, I was amazed and rejoicing. We're trying to teach our students to respect each other and be like Jesus, but so often it seems like a losing battle because the way of the cross is so counter-human and counter-cultural. Every once in a while I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and God gives me hope. It's in those little miracles that I see that God really is working and that all of this is not in vain. Go God!

Ideas...

It seems odd to me that at least twice now, I have gotten good ideas that worked for my third grade class while in the middle of corporate prayer and worship. I could understand it if it was just me and God and I'm asking for the ideas. But while I'm supposed to be concentrated on praying with a group or worshipping? Well, I'm still trying to figure that one out.
But they come anyway, unbidden, filling my mind with plans and thoughts and wondering if they really will work.
And then this morning I had another idea. A big one. Really big. What if I write scripts for my third graders and we make our own TV programming, based on Bible stories? That's what our next unit is about. It sounds like fun...at least to me. A lot of work, but definitely fun.
These ideas are exciting. I enjoy them. They make me energized and excited. But they're also kind of scary. What if they don't work? What if I'm overestimating my students? What if they're too big?
And yet, you never really know until you try. You can live life doubting, scared and never willing to step out and act on things. Or you can grab life by the horns and take everything out of it that you possibly can, trusting in God to take over where you come to an end.
And so I take the leap of faith and trust that there are arms bigger, a creativity larger, a God wiser and more loving than I can possibly know. A God who is big enough to give me big dreams and ideas and big enough to help me make them happen. A God who is stronger and wiser than I am. A God who is more amazing than I can imagine.
Cause at the end of the day, no matter what happens or doesn't happen in English class, that's what really matters. So Jesus, I trust in You. I trust in Your goodness. I trust in Your strength.

crazy times...

Sorry it's been so long...
The last few weeks have been crazy and I have had neither time, energy nor motivation to write on here. Okay, so the last you knew was that there was a possibility that one of the teachers would leave PROMESA. Sadly, that happened, for reasons beyond anyone's control. It was hard to see her go. We're hoping she'll be able to come back next year and teach again. 2 days before Luz left, Leo walked in off the street, said he'd heard that we were looking for a teacher and wondered when he could schedule an interview. It just so happened that Ron had free time right then (some sort of minor miracle), so they did the interview on the spot. To make a long story short, we now have a new third grade teacher and Ron has some male companionship on the teaching team.
The downside to Luz leaving (besides the fact that she isn't here anymore) is that it was very hard for the kids. Because of all the uncertainty that accompanied her leaving, the students didn't actually even know until the morning of her last day. I think that made it even harder for them. They expressed a lot of feelings of rejection, fear, anger, sadness, and insecurity over the days following her leaving. Some of those feelings came out in increased measures of bad behavior. The first week was the worst and they've been gradually getting better since then.
I think it's been a combination of many things that have made the last few weeks difficult. The middle of the year has come and gone. Things that have been bugging me over the last few months (talking in class, not doing homework, playing with things in their desks during class, etc) have built up to a frustration level. One of my students has some emotional and behavioral needs that are beyond what I can help in the middle of class with 20 students. I'm spending a lot of time working and planning. I'm tired.
And yet, in the middle of all this, I have found God's grace to be so great. I have been amazed and in awe of it so many times. I have been finding new depths of grace as I need more of it. And it has been beautiful.
This past week has been easier. I had a very relaxing weekend. I got a lot of exercise, which felt good. I got a guitar, so I've been playing and worshipping with that this week. And then, on top of that, on Monday and Wednesday, there was a transportation strike and we didn't have school either day. Those two days, I had some time to spend with friends and get some things done. And I had a break from nixy kids. So I am feeling better and I feel like I have more hope.
September is here. And with it comes the rainy season and the coming of spring. I felt today like maybe with the coming of a new season outside will come a new season in the classroom as well.
So I will keep pressing on and living in the middle of God's grace, learning more about Him.

Why Snakes are Wise

I discovered a treasure the other day. The Museo Inca (Inca Museum) off the Plaza de Armas is well worth the small entrance fee. There is a wealth of information contained therein. My friend Alicia is studying tourism and was working at the Museo Inca for a while. Saturday was her last day there, so she took my friend Marisol, Carrie and I around the museum. It was a great learning experience. There were many things that I learned (several that really stuck out to me), and one I wanted to share.
The Inca trinity of animals that they worshipped were the condor, the puma and the snake. The condor was representative of the heavens and of freedom. The puma was representative of the earth and of strength. And the snake was representative of the underworld and of wisdom. I naively assumed I knew why the snake represented wisdom (after all...now the snake was more cunning than all the other creatures God had created, right?). But when Alicia asked why we thought, that wasn't it. She proceeded to explain why the snake represents wisdom.
Gliding her hand from side to side, curving back and forth, she represented the movement of the snake. The snake, she explained, represents wisdom because it moves back and forth, weaving in and out. In the same way, as we go throughout life, moving back and forth, going in and out among many various people and interactions, we gain wisdom. Just like the snake goes back and forth, so do we and as we do, we gain wisdom.
I'd never thought about it that way before, but when she said it, it made perfect sense. Often I realize that life is a process here. In order to do anything, it seems there is a process to do and prerequisites that need to happen first. And I weave in and out, back and forth. And many times, in the process, there are interactions with other people. Weaving in and out, back and forth, gaining wisdom. Might not be anything profound or life-changing, but there are always interactions, always experiences. There is always this moving in and out, back and forth, collecting, gleaning, learning, experiencing. And so wisdom is gained and things are learned. In and out, back and forth, ever gliding on, like the snake.
And that is why, at least in the worldview of the Incas, snakes personify wisdom.

PROMESA wish list

Let me give you a wish list for PROMESA (in other words some items for prayer), as we go back for the second half of the school year:
1) A third grade teacher - Luz, our third grade teacher, just informed Ron over the break that she will be back for one week after break and then she is leaving us to take another job. It's a very complicated situation and I'm not sure anyone really understands it completely (besides Luz). But anyway, we need a third grade teacher (or wisdom to know if throwing another teacher into the mix isn't the best idea for whatever reason).
2) A director - Luz is also the director of the school, so now we need to find someone else to fill that role. A Peruvian is pretty much necessary because of understanding the educational system and all the paperwork, etc.
3) Creativity and flexibility for the rest of us - until we get another teacher (if we decide that's the best option for everyone), the rest of us need to cover the third grade classes. Ron and I may have to cover third grade for a while, which will require massive amounts of creativity and also extra energy.
4) Land for the school - we are rapidly outgrowing our facilities in the San Jeronimo church building. And we are expanding every year. We are starting to feel that the church is ready for us to move out and find our own space. This would also help us to feel more established and stable as a school. It is hard for teachers to feel they have job security since we are so small and don't have our own place, etc.
At this point, I think that's my wish list for PROMESA. It's going to be an interesting rest of our school year. PROMESA, PROMESA, God shed His grace on thee.

Felices Fiestas Patrias

Happy Peruvian Independence Day! Today, July 28, is the official date, though celebrations have been going on for several days now and will continue for at least one more after today. Most people are off work today and all the schools suspend classes for today and tomorrow. Throughout the last few weeks in schools all around Cusco, students have been practicing traditional dances to celebrate the special occasion. PROMESA is no exception to this. The classroom teachers (those who teach in Spanish) and Carrie have all been working very diligently to teach their students dances from the three geographic regions of Peru: coast, mountains and jungle. Shannon, Marisol (the computer teacher) and I were put in charge of decorations since we didn't have classes to teach dances to. Every spare minute (and some not so spare ones) was spent learning the steps of the dances. Traditional clothing can be rented here in a number of little stores. Since this is a high-demand time of year, the price was 8 soles a person (roughly $2.50 - $3 American). Normally, it's about 7. At El Molino (think the number of stores in a typical American mall, one right next to the other, each one about 3 meters long by 4 meters tall by 3 meters deep - roughly - jam packed floor to ceiling with stuff) you can buy pirated DVDs of traditional music and dances for a little over 1 sol (roughly $.50 American). So that's what the teachers did, since having someone come teach the kids would have been very expensive and out of PROMESA's budget. Everyone did really well. There were PowerPoint slide shows about the various regions of Peru, highlighting some of the flora, fauna, typical foods, and typical dances. And then there were the dances. These kids can really dance! Oh of course, it wasn't perfect. There were wiggly kids. And there were kids who just plain didn't want to cooperate. And there were kids who forgot what they were supposed to say. But I was proud of them! They did a great job.
For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the program. Ron (the missionary who works with the school) taught the elementary students all how to sing "We Want to See Jesus Lifted High" in English and Spanish. I filmed it on my camera, but it's too big to put on here, so here's a link to YouTube where you can see that, if you're interested.
Also, just in case you were ever curious, here is a link to learn about and hear the Peruvian national anthem
This comes with a warning, however. It usually gets stuck in my head and then I go around the house...or the school...or walking down the street...singing it. :)

The pictures are as follows (sorry, Blogger doesn't let me put captions directly with the pictures): Top: Aaron, one of my fourth graders, holding the flag while the parents sang the national anthem.
Kindergarteners dancing the marinera from the coast
Second graders dancing from the coast
Some of the third grade girls dancing from the jungle.
First graders (the little girls with the colorful caterpillar-like things) dancing from the mountain region
Four-year-olds (dressed like animals) dance about life in the jungle
Katy and Nurieth, two of my fourth graders, ready to dance. Katy danced the boys' part because fourth grade has 8 girls and 5 boys.
My third grade boys show their true colors pretending to be jungle natives. Sometimes they act like it in class too! :)
Fourth graders dancing (they're the ones with the big hats with straw on them).
And for those of you who miss seeing my face, here is a picture of me with Crhisnna, one of my fourth graders.

Blessed

I read a quote once: "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God." That quote would pretty well sum up this last week or two of teaching. We've now been in school for almost 5 months and the mid year, 2-week break is coming up after the end of next week. I think it's time. I think the kids think it's time too.
The last few weeks, I have come to the end of my rope. I have discovered that in myself, I don't have the patience I need to be a teacher. I have discovered that in myself I don't have the love for my students that I need to have. They do things. They bug me. They get under my skin. And then...well, let's just say teaching's not quite as fun then. But in this discovery, I've also discovered something else. God does have the grace and patience, love and creativity that I need in order to work with my kids. When mine is all spent, I can rely on His. And it seems the more spent mine is, the more His kicks in.
Take Tuesday for example. Monday and Tuesday were not very good days with third grade, especially. I was trying to be patient. I was trying to be loving. But it's hard when you feel like you're talking to yourself because no one else is listening. And then to top it all of, on Tuesday, right before leaving to come home, I realized that two boxes of crayons were missing from my desk. That did it. I came home furious.
"God," I complained, "I work and work. I spend so much time planning and thinking and trying to come up with creative ideas to work with these kids. And it's like they throw it back in my face. I make stuff and it gets destroyed. God, this isn't fair!" And then, ever so gently, He reminded me that, hmmmm......sometimes I do the very same thing to Him. And how does He respond versus how I tend to respond? And then, He gave me His presence and peace. The next morning, I arrived at school still quite upset and not quite sure I was ready to face a room full of 20 third graders. And again, God was faithful to take over where my rope ended. As I stood before 20 wiggly 7 and 8 year olds, God gave me this incredible calm and lack of frustration. I was able to explain to them what had happened and how we wouldn't be able to work on a specific project until the crayons were found and returned to my desk. And you know, they stopped being wiggly third graders and they paid attention! That was the turning point for the week so far in my interactions with third grade.
Wednesday came and went an there were no crayons revealed. I was wondering if they would in fact show up in the end. But lo and behold, Miriam found the last 5 crayons this afternoon in a box of papers and things.
Throughout the last couple of weeks, God has made it apparently clear in many situations that I need to rely on Him instead of my own strength. I don't have what it takes to be an amazing teacher and to reach students. But, as He keeps reminding me, He does have the strength, grace and peace that I need and that He will only give it to me if I ask.
So maybe I am at the end of my rope. But I've been so blessed by receiving from God the last few weeks. Not that I want third grade to be bad just so I can receive more from God...heaven forbid!) But I've been finding God to be incredibly faithful in the midst of all that's going on. I've realized how much I need to lean on Him and trust Him.
Paul said something similar in 2 Cor. 12.9, where God says to him, "My grace is sufficuent for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". It's my life verse and I think it's becoming more and more so the longer I live and the more times I can feel God's presence with me when I'm clinging for all I'm worth to the very end of my rope. We truly serve an amazing God!

Manuela´s Miracle

I guess you could call it a miracle. You may remember the other week, I shared about Manuela and Valentin, two older members of my church in Huacarpay. They had gotten married, but they had to push up their wedding a week because Manuela was not doing well and no one was sure how much time she had left.
Well, Manuela is still very much alive. And what´s more, she´s getting better! Manuela has cancer. From what I understand, it started in her eye. But it´s spread throughout her whole body now. The doctors say there´s really nothing they can do for her. So she´s living with cancer. For a long time now, her face has been covered with ugly scabby wounds, supposedly from the cancer. And she has a quite large wound in her eye where she has the cancer. It is always covered with a clean gauze pad, thanks to several of the women from the church. The last few weeks, the wounds on her face have actually been getting better and the scabs have been falling off! Her skin is, in the words of Ines, the pastor´s wife, like a baby´s. And indeed, when I saw her this morning, she looked much better. Someone quoted her husband as saying, "She´s getting pretty!".
And that´s not all. After church, some of us were discussing it again and someone said that now she can actually see out of her bad eye and that apparently it´s getting better, or at least better than it had been. Someone said this morning that Manuela said the other day that now she really believes in the power of God because she´s seeing it first hand.
It´s been exciting to see Manuela´s miracle and to know that God is reaching down to her tiny house in her tiny village in the middle of Peru and is touching her body and bringing restoration to her. What an amazing Father!

Life as normal

I've often wondered what normal is. I've begun to think it's a social construct. Normal depends on where you are and what society around you says. Often I think "Oh, there's not much to write about. Life is going on as normal". And then I realize that normal here is different from normal in the States. So I thought I'd write about normal life here in Peru to give you an idea of what normal is like for me these days. Peru is a relationship-oriented culture, which means that spending time with people occupies a lot of my days. Often these times with friends happen very spontaneously, thus inciting the comment from John Kreider, a fellow missionary, that here in Peru, things are set in Jello, as opposed to cement.
Case in point, I began this blog entry this morning, then received a call from one of my friends inviting me to go play racquetball with her and some other friends. Since today was a transportation strike, I walked for an hour and a half to get there, then wandered around being lost until I found them and played racquetball for about an hour before having to head home for a missionary team meeting. Now it's evening and I'm still updating my blog. :)
If you'd look at my proposed agenda in my head at the beginning of the week, it would look very different from what actually happens by the end of the week. A typical day in my mental agenda looks like this: wake up, go to school, come home from school, spend time with Marga doing what needs to be done around the house, work on schoolwork, go to bed. However, a typical day generally actually goes somewhat more like this: wake up, go to school, at school learn that someone wants to do something together in the afternoon or needs help with English, come home from school, do something with someone, do a little schoolwork, go to bed.
But there are many blessings that come with being a part of such a culture. Sometimes these times of spending time with people doing whatever we're doing are the best times to really get to know someone and/or make memories. The other week, I came home from school and Marga asked me to help her make wedding cakes for a wedding that was to be the next day. Valeria, who was supposed to make the cakes, had to travel, so she had asked Marga to make the cakes. Valeria has a large wood-fueled oven in her house, so we could bake them all at once and do it very quickly. So we went to Valeria's house, where we met up with about 4 other people. Working together, we mixed up 10 large cakes in a very short amount of time. Then we stuck them in the oven. 5 minutes later we quickly took them out of the oven because the oven was way too hot and the tops burned black in the short amount of time that they were in there. We covered them with wet pieces of paper and finished baking them. As they came out of the oven and cooled, Frida cut the burned parts of them off with a knife. They turned out fine! But it was definitely a bonding experience for all of us. We had lots of laughs trying to figure out how to fix our problem and what we were going to tell Valeria.
And then there was the conversation I had with Marisol the other week, walking from school to where she needed to get a combi to go home. We were able to share from the heart as we walked along, eating popsicles. It was totally a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment thing, but it was so great! Another day the same week, Marisol asked me for help with English, so we went downtown and ate pizza, then spent a while working on English. She also decided she wanted to get her hair cut, so the next evening we went downtown again and spent time at our friend Norma's styling salon.
And then Juana calls sometimes wanting help with English homework. So she'll come over and we'll spend more time talking and catching up with where each other's at and what's going on than actually working on English.
When I'm in Huacarpay the same phenomenon happens. I have yet to get out to Huacarpay and right off the bat have worship team practice. I doubt it will ever happen. I usually get there and no one's at the church. So I walk down to Rene's house, where something is always going on. This past week I got there only to find her in the midst of making her son's birthday lunch for the next day (which I had no idea about but ended up going to). Once that was finished, then we had worship team practice. And then I usually go back to Pastor Celestino and Ines's house and crash there for the night, spending time with their family.
Living life relationally is very different from living life in a planned, structured way. Sometimes I wish I'd have more time to work on schoolwork. But then I think about all I'd miss out on if my mental agenda looked more like my actual agenda. And then I decide I'm really actually glad that I live in this new kind of normal, where people come first and relationships are forged in the midst of these spontaneous times of togetherness. It's a blessing and the energy I pour out is more than replaced by the energy generated by friendship and fellowship.
So when I say my life is normal, what I really mean to say is that I am forging relationships in the midst of this culture and feeling very blessed to have the opportunity to do so.