First Week Down

Well friends.... I finished my first full week of teaching alive : )

Monday went very well. I finished the day in awe of how the Lord gave me the strength I needed and the patience.

The rest of the week did not pass with quite the same novelty, but went well. The students have been adjusting to me, and have begun to test my authority a little bit, which was defintely the most difficult aspect of my week. I loved the teaching, but the challenge was to react appropriately to the students in unexpected situations, in a way that not showed them that I am the teacher, and that was consistent with the way I treat the rest of the students. I am always hearing "consistency is the key" for classroom management, and now I believe it, but also recognize the difficulty in it. O boy. Just pray that I will be firm, but show the kids that I love them (while being consistent!).


The hilghlight for me was teaching the kids about rhyming words and then writing a little poem about the weather together. I gave them the first line of the poem, "I like to see a ____ day" (they had to fill in the type of weather they would like to see) and then we wrote the second line together. They were allowed some variation, but they all evloved around the word "play" (like, "I like to go outside to play"). I think they enjoyed writing them, and I enjoyed their creativity.


Another highlight was teaching Bible on Monday. I taught them about God coming to Mount Sinai before the 10 commandments. One girl asked about how if the Israelites could not touch the mountain because of their sin, can we come to God? I then had the great priveledge of reminding them about how Jesus died to take away all the bad things we do so that we would be able to come to Him!


The highlight of the week for the students, I'm sure, was the Valentine's Day party on Friday. Even though they don't celebrate Valentine's Day here in Bolivia, we celebrate it in first grade because it ties in with the theme of loving God and loving others. For the past two weeks the students have been making cards for one another (they had to make one for their neighbors on either side of their desks, so everyone would get at least two... only one boy ended up getting only one...). For the last twenty minutes or so of the day on Friday, I distributed their cards and they ate jell-o jiggler and brownie hearts (mine and Mrs. Steele's valentine).

So, that was my first week as a teacher in a nut shell.
Today, because of Carnival (a holiday that involves throwing water/water balloons at innocent pedestrians), we (the teachers who live around me) had our own little Sunday morning service, with a delicious feasty breakfast, singing, and a downloaded sermon. It was nice to all be together.

Well, I am going to go work some more before the Valentine's party tonight. I hope you all are doing well!

In His grace,
KP

p.s. I have included a couple of pictures from last weekend, a Saturday of SIM orientation, but mostly visiting a cabin in the beautiful outskirts of the city. I got to canoe on the lake (!), we went for a walk, had a cook-out dinner, and roasted marshmallows. It was great!

The group (mostly short-termers, a couple who are coming long-term).

What a wonderful Creator!!

Life

Hello friends!

Tonight will be a short update, but I just wanted to fill you in on how life has been going.

Right now I am sitting in my apartment, (it's almost 9 Ohio time, but almost 10 Cochabamba time), listening to the soccer game that is going on at the stadium downtown. Don't be fooled - I don't live right next to the stadium, but... I can hear a play-by-play on the Bolivian radio that is travelling through my wall, coupled with the fireworks that go off every five minutes or so. Ha! Someone told me soon after I arrived that their family's first newsletter was about the noises that they had to learn. Well, I can certainly attest to that! It's probably a good thing most of it is in Spanish so I can't understand it all :).

Anyway, teaching is going well. For last week and this week I have been teaching Math (telling time), and today I started teaching a science unit on Weather. Next week I start teaching Bible (Moses and the Ten Commandments) and Reading: that means I will be teaching everything, "full time". Please pray that the transition goes smoothly, especially for the kids (which can drastically affect their behavior). I am now taking over the afternoons, and they keep asking me, "Where is Mrs. Steele?"

To provide a little glimpse into the joys and special moments of teaching, I will tell you about an event that occured today while I was reading them a story after lunch. A little boy (who is often making noises and can hardly ever sit still) passed some gas, rather loudly. Of course the little first graders all thought it was hilarious and burst into a fit of giggles. What could I do but let them laugh it out for a couple of minutes, and try to calm them down. We talked about how passing gas is something that we all do, especially when our body is digesting food and sendind it to where our body needs it. Thankfully, they had just finished a unit all about their bodies, so they understood. Oh they are so funny.

Well, I need to get to bed. See Meredith? Finally I manage to make it to bed before 11:00!! It just took me moving to another country and living by myself, ha.

I hope you all are doing well! Know that I am praying for you all back in the states, and not a day goes by that I don't think about the snow that you are having. I miss the snow a little, but the mountains make up for it :).

Here is a picture of the week: my students (minus one).

In His Grace,

KP

Finally!

Well, I've been here for three weeks now. It's kind of hard to believe! Time has passed by so quickly and I know it will only get faster. Sorry I haven't been updating as often as the beginning. I will try to do better!

My first week of school went well. I met all 11 of my first graders, and they all speak Spanish as their first language! Looking at this in a positive light, I guess it will be good for the students because they will get more practice speaking English with me, and I will have lots of practice with ESL instruction. This does not help immensely with practicing my Spanish, but I am taking Spanish lessons with an instructor at school twice a week. She is very patient and encouraging, despite my lack of understanding and poor memory :)

The students are all pretty good, and my cooperating teacher has a wealth of knowledge for teaching first graders. I was also pleasantly surprised with the relatively large school library, and the teaching resources available! Just another reminder not to have many expectations!

The second week of school, I moved into my apartment (Monday). It is just across the street from where I was staying, so it was nice not to have to move very far. I have slowly begun to settle in, and am learning the quirks and strange things that have given my apartment quite a reputation.

For example, on Friday I was home from school (a story I will share later on) and when I woke up, there was music BLARING through my wall. Pretty much, I have my own personal Bolivian radio (though sometimes it is kareoke, sometimes Spanish, sometimes English, sometimes... who knows). Ha ha! I am still experimenting with the volume of my music that will sufficiently mask the personal radio :) As another example, sometimes cats prance their way accross my tin/plastic roof, creating quite a commotion. But, thankfully I have a hot shower, running water, a bed, a couch, a kitchen, and a "skylight" (the plastic part the cats run accross). Really, it's a pretty nice place to have all to myself, and thankfully I am a heavy sleeper, as some of you may know... Here are a few pictures of my place:

Here is part of my living room

This is my kitchen (excuse the mess - my table is acting as a cupboard because there's no pantry)

And this is part of my bedroom (the door is the bathroom), there's also a wardrobe

Monday night we had girls' Bible study, with the females (most of them teachers at CCS) from the surrounding apartments. We are beginning to study James. What a huge blessing to have fellowship with sisters in Christ!

Tuesday I went to my SIM Life Group (I think this is a monthly Bible study). It is nice to get to know some other missionary families and study the Bible together.

This was a pretty crazy week, despite the fact that I was not teaching yet (though I am picking up little classroom routines here and there).

Okay, now for the story of the week:

On Wednesday all of the teachers arrived at CCS, but by the end of our morning staff meeting, we discovered that there was a bloqueo (blockade in English), which means that a road was blocked, and in this case it was the main road that leads to CCS. Therefore, the school buses could not get through. The "principal" (though that's not the title we use for him here) cancelled classes for the day, so the buses turned around and dropped the students back off at their homes, and the students who had managed to get to school because they don't live on the blockaded side were sent home. The teachers were not able to leave because most of us live on the blockaded side of the road, so we ended up staying at school until about 12:00 in the afternoon. Basically a bloqueo is when people block off a road (or more), sort of like a demonstration or protest, until they get what they want. In this case, the people wanted the road to be paved, so they blockaded it until action would be taken. (Later that night an agreement was reached that when there is a sunny day, construction will begin.)

Eventually we were able to leave on the "teacher van" (the vehicle the school graciously supplies for us to safely get to and from school every day). However, we had to take an alternate route, resulting in an hour long trip, rather than the usual 25 minutes. It actually ended up being pretty neat because I got to see a whole other part of Bolivia that I have not seen. It was basically like the "countryside" of Cochabamba, with farms and fields and animals and such. It was beautiful (but smelly and muddy). Here are a few pictures from a friend's camera:

Here we are about to go over a one way bridge to a one way road

Here's part of the road

A farm house (the animals are tied to a stake in the ground)

The woman in the background is wearing an "aguayo", a brightly colored-woven cloth that they use to carry bundles of goods or babies

Well, on Wednesday we also learned that the president decided to declare a national holiday on Friday, in honor of the new Bolivian name and his swearing in (or whatever it is called).

So, we had two days off of school this week, which was nice, but that means I won't begin teaching until Tuesday (Math). Here I go!

Thanks for all your prayers! I love hearing from you!

KP

A Little Jaunt

Today has been great so far! I had breakfast with the lady from Peru again, and managed to understand a little. She was so patient with me :)

I also ate lunch with Beth, accross the street in her apartment. It was nice to spend some time with someone else, rather then being cooped up in my room all aftrnoon. We had a very American lunch, with turkey and cheese sandwiches and apples. We soaked the apples to clean them of course, because much of the fresh produce is grown in the ground... which is not so good for foreigners' stomachs (let's just say that the sewage irrigation system isn't so great).

After lunch, Tim and Liz, a couple from Australia, kindly invited me to come with them to visit the "Cristo de La Concordia", a huge statue of Jesus.

It was pretty amazing, because no only was the statue ginormous, but th views of the surrounding city and mountains was hermosa (beautiful).

We rode up and down the mountain in a gondola-type thing, and we were even able to climb up into the statue and see out through little holes in the walls. We climbed up and down I think 9 twirly staircases!

I think that was the highlight of my time so far, simply because I love mountains and the sky, and as you can see in the picture, both were amazing!

Tonight some of us were invited to another SIM family's house for dinner. Everyone is so kind and helpful! I guess it really is true that everyone functions as a family :) We do all belong to the family of God, after all!

Well, I'm off to try to get a bit of work done before dinner! Hope you all are doing well.


Here is my favorite picture from the day. Precious little sisters!

Love KP

His Love Has Lifted Me

Upon request, here is the verse that is on the tiny picture above. If I knew how to make pictures larger, I would, sorry!

"He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord."

Psalm 40:2-3


As a bonus, I read Psalm 92 this morning, and would like to share some of it with you:

"It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night...

For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
How great are your works, O Lord,
how profound your thoughts!"

Psalm 92:1-2, 4-5

Estoy Seguro

Hello dear friends and family! If you have not heard by now, I am safe (which is the title of my blog post in spanish :) I arrived in Cochabamba safely around 9:30 Monday morning... after almost a full day of travel. I am praising God for safe and smooth travels, especially considering the 3 layovers (Akron-Charlotte-Miami-Santa Cruz-Cochabamba). The flight to Santa Cruz was overnight, but I managed to snatch a few hours of sleep :).

There was a host of SIM people to greet me (and Beth, a fellow worker at the school). They were so kind and understanding and helped me get settled in my temporary room at the Guest House. I will be staying in the house probably until next Thursday, when I will be moving into an apartment (the complex houses other single teachers from the school as well), conveniently right accross the street.

Yesterday seemed quite long, but it was not too overwhelming. After dropping of my things and freshening up Beth and I headed to lunch at a local restaurante (which is safe for foreigners stomachs, ha) with Amallia. There we ate a traditional 4 course meal - "salad" bar items, soup (with pumpkin! delic.) meat (I had beef) with rice or noodles ... or in our case, potatoes, and then dessert (warm pinneaple, yum). Then we took a taxi (called taxi trufis, I believe) to a supermarket, with many American-type foods. Needless to say, it was somewhat of a humbling experience... for those of you who have gone shopping with me in an American store, just imagine me shopping in a store where I have to think about how there are 7 bolivianos to 1 US dollar... and I don't really know how to cook! You would have had a laugh, I'm sure :) BUT, I will learn!

After shopping I took a long nap, and then we were invited to dinner at an SIM family's house, which was delicious.

After a good night's sleep (eight hours!) I ate breakfast with a woman from Peru. I only speak a very little Spanish, and she only speaks a very little English... so here is what I gathered from our 1/2 an hour -45 min. meal:
-her name (I know how to say that! "Me llamo..." = my name is...)
-she is from Peru
-she works at a university there, but is not a professor
-she has lived there for 22 years
-she is travelling
-she has no family there
-she is leaving on Viernes (which I had to look up later becuase I forgot that it means "Friday")

I'm sorry to say that she probably did not learn very much about me.... maybe only this:
-that I can't speak spanish very well, and can understand only ever 7th word, ha
-I will be teaching at a school
-I will be teaching children in primary school
-I am staying here until April
-I visited Lima, Peru last April

O boy... I have so much to learn!! I wish I could understand so much more! Hopefully that will happen over the course of the next four months.

One thing I learned yesterday about my first grade students is that many of them are still learning to speak English. I am excited to learn about how to teach these students, and it will be a good experience for both me and the students (I hope).

Well, this entry has been entirely too long, and probably full of details you didn't want to know, but there you go. I have no idea yet what I am doing today (it's 12:23 right now), so I am trying to stay occupied :)

I hope that you all are doing well, especially those of you who just headed back to school yesterday (or today)!

Adios,
KP

Saddle Up Your Horses... I've got a trail to blaze!

Well friends... Here I go!

I leave for Bolivia in two days. I know, pretty crazy. Sometimes I find it hard to believe myself. The other day I had the thought that I don't know if I would have decided to do this at the beginning if I knew all that I know now... but that won't even be compared to what I will know when I get there (which is not very much right how, ha!). But then, I think I probably would have. I have had the wonderful opportunity to trust God and see a little glimpse into the amazing way that He works... like only He can!

And this is just the beginning.

The old Steven Curtis Chapman song popped into my head the other day:

"Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure"

Come to think of it, this describes life pretty well. The "glorious unknown" doesn't always seem so glorious, but following the Leader in His grace will always result in a "Great Adventure".

So, anyway... I have to finish packing and making sure that I have everything that I need... and leave behind everything that I don't :)

Lord willing, I will arrive in Bolivia Monday morning after a day and night of travel... hopefully with some sleep thrown in there.

Here we go... the big adventure!

Back soon with an update on Bolivian life, I hope :)

KP