Schewl

            Wendy had told me the topics we were going to be going over for the week and Monday was supposed to be conversational phrases  in English. I knew that I had a sixth grade class at 10:00 and a fourth and sixth grade class after that. After talking to Wendy I thought that I was simply going to be helping her and the kids with pronouncing things but she would still be teaching the class. I was very wrong. She told me a couple of things and I feigned comprehension. She handed me the white board markers and eraser and walked to the back of the classroom. I realized at this point that I should have prepared something as I was going to be teaching the whole class. I wasn't that worried though because it was in my native tongue.

           I started with sayings like "Hi, how are you?" "What is your name?" "I am thirsty" and most importantly "Where is the bathroom?" I would say a word or syllable and then have everyone repeat it. I would call on kids and ask them their name and then to repeat the phrase. A big thing that I was very focused on was getting them to be confident in what they were saying. I would offer them a big smile after words and say "very good" which they would often repeat. When I ran out of phrases, because it is much harder to think of fifty minutes of phrases off the top of your head, I asked the kids what they wanted to learn. As the day went on I ran out of things earlier and earlier because I already knew what I was going to say and didn't need to spend as much time thinking about it.
It went well and I asked Wendy how I should manage the tine of the class better. She is very shy and told me that what I did was perfect. I decided to come with lesson plans for the rest of the week. I use the word lesson plan very loosely.

             Each morning before going to school I would look to see what the days topic would be and I would write things down on a piece of paper that I would later write on the board. One day was emotional states, one was prepositions, opposites, and Friday was emotional states again because Wednesday I only taught the six grade. On opposites day I ended the class with a competition by splitting the room up into two teams and had then compete to see which team could come up with the opposite first.
Ovidio built a little gym in the center so we have been working out in the gym after school. I have really enjoyed that and is nice to be able to relieve a little stress.

        Today was the second day of teaching without Wendy. It came to me as a surprise yesterday morning as I walked into school. One of the other teachers told me she couldn't make it and to just work on the stuff from last week. I taught the song head, shoulders, knees, and toes and twinkle twinkle little star. The kids really enjoyed that so that was good. We also played the opposites game which they like. The fifth and sixth grade classes were very behaved and I really appreciated that. Some of the fourth grade boys were terribly rambunctious and it was hard to get them to do anything. It is very hard to chastise someone in a foreign language. Sorry to my teachers throughout the years that had to put up with me and thanks for not giving up. I would say I was worse than my worst, but it's hard to tell. They are all awesome fun and funny kids but to get them to not wrestle is hard.

            Today Wendy came by the house early to ask if I could go to school at 8am every day to teach the whole day for her. She said that she was very busy studying for exams and needed the time to study. I said of course, quickly got dressed, had a bowl of choco krispies and went to school. I was told to just have the kids do two pages out of their workbook and to help them and explain the directions. It went well and I love the first through third graders. They are just sweet and want to do the work. The fourth grade boys kept fighting for dictionaries even tho they barely knew how to use them. I sat down with them and tried to teach them and I feel like they know a little bit better now. They actually ended up doing the work and that made me very happy.

            I am now sitting across an arm chair in the living room watching Franklin play some farmville Facebook game and writing this on my phone. The rain patters on the tin roof making it sound like a downpour. This is the third night it has rained since I have been here and I absolutely love it.
Sunday was fun as we went to one of the Ochaetas friends big lake gazeebos and had a cookout. There was chicken and beef cooked over a wood fire on a grill which turned out excellent. Blended beans, tortillas, tostadas, and seafood soop. There was also paella with plenty of saffron which was killer. Albana and I went swimming along with little Valeria, one of the friends daughters who is good at walking and a bit at talking and Marcello, one of their friends four or five year old grandson. It was fun wrestling Marcello in the shallow part of the lake and playing with his slingshot. I had an awesome and very relaxing time as I watched the sunset while in a chair in the water while drinking a beer.

            I am reading the purpose driven life with Katelyn right now and am enjoying it. Even before reading the book I have felt much more ready to start real life. I have been postponing it and didn't really want to do much but have fun after I graduated. But now I am getting more and more excited about finding some sort of job that will lead into a career. I know that I love working with people and I love helping people. Whether I end up getting a masters in social work, go the counseling route or go full time Young Life, I am excited to start the search for Gods plan for my life. I also set a goal to read from Acts to the end of Revelations by the time I get out of Guatemala. The pelican brief was 300 pages and I read that in three days, so I figured I could do this. I have realized 300 Bible pages is much more than 300 Grisham pages but will still try to make it. I have gone through phases where I read the Bible to solely please God and phases where I will read until I find something I can dwell on and do it for personal knowledge. I am dwelling on Isaiah and is taking very long to get through it so I decided to add the  new goal. I am learning so much and loving it. I don't know if I have ever read the Bible as a story (still nonfiction) but I am doing that now. It is so awesome. I love the part in Acts where they ask God to show them who will be the replacement Apostle. They pray to Him and ask Him and I expect a dove to land on the shoulder of one of the men standing around. But no, they then draw lots! That would be like praying who God wants and then picking names out of a hat. It is something that I would think is chance, but no, it is completely God ordained.  One of my favorite inspirational verses is Acts 5:41 and 42
It is after the apostles are whipped for proclaiming Christ:

So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. NASB

Lord, Forgive us of the times we don´t take into consideration the fact that everything is because of You and is for You. Allow us to live each day dependant on Your love and grace and never think that we are capable of living without You. I pray that you can show me the purpose that You have for my life and place my feet upon the path to glorify You. I thank You for each day that You have given me and repent of the decisions I make against You. Lord, fill me with Your spirit and allow me to find joy in living for You. The happiest times of my life are when I am in Your presence and worshipping You, O Lord. Show me the areas in my life that need to change and allow me to show Your grace, love, and caring attributes to the lost of the world. God, I pray for Your church that You would unite it and bring about a revival. I pray that when You test my fellow Christians, I can be there for them and be a rock on which they can gain a foothold. I pray for the myself and the Christians that are in my life to be living for You alone and not for worldly pleasures or materials. Keep us strong as one body and remind us that each gift You have given us can and should be used for You.

I love You and strive to understand Your love,
Amen