MEESS!!!

Wow. I have been praying about teaching overseas for a year. As of yesterday, I'm doing it. I have had two wonderful days, and I'm so excited to share about them...

First of all, in regard to the title, here at Academia Los Pinares about 95% of the student population calls their teacher (if it's a girl) "Miss." That's right. No last name. Just "Miss." However, this isn't just any "Miss." When delivered with a precious Honduran accent, the short i sound comes out more like a long e sound like in free or cheese. So "Miss" becomes "Meess," and in the case of a few of my students, it seems a bit more like "MEESS!!!" :)

As I shared in my last post, I have 22 students. However, only 21 have come so far. One of my boys, Alberto, has been sick. His parents called yesterday saying they were concerned he might have the flu, so they were keeping him at home until Monday. I have heard wonderful things about him from his fourth grade teacher, so I'm hoping everything will transition very smoothly when he joins us.

Yesterday I started my day with staff devotion at 6:55 and then went straight to my room around 7:05 and students and parents began coming my way around 7:10. The kids did not seem shy or reserved at all. I was thinking about how last year, on the first day of school at Vincent, I felt like no one said a word all morning, and they just looked hesitantly around at each other. Yesterday, I had a few boys who made quite an entrance into the room - so I was already on alert. Haha. I stood in the doorway, and there was a list of students placed in my classroom just outside. I couldn't believe how many kids found their name on my list and tried to just walk into my room with acknowledging me. I basically had to stop each one just to ask their name and try to welcome them. The parents that I met yesterday were all very pleasant and only one did not speak English, so her son helped to translate a little bit. According to the list that the school provided for me, all of my students except three boys have at least one parent who speaks some English. For something informal like greeting each other, I can usually hold my own or get help from a student. However, in parent-teacher conferences, I will request the translation to be done by another employee. I'm sure it would be interesting to try to discuss discipline issues with a parent through the translation of the child!

Both yesterday and today were half-days. Yesterday, we opened with prayer (isn't that such a blessing?!?!) and spent our classroom time getting to know each other and beginning to set up our rules and procedures. First I introduced myself, and then we played a name game that I think they enjoyed. It involves a bit of a memory challenge, and they did much better than some of my classes and Bible studies in the past. :) After that, we discussed the classroom rules and consequences along with some of our procedures like how to line up properly and things like that. They also had snack, PE (which they only have two times each week - but I guess that is balanced by having two recesses a day!), and Spanish with Mr. Torres. All in all, I thought it was a good day. They seemed very active in a manageable way as long as I establish structure and expectations and am aware of what they're doing at all times. No pressure. Haha... My girls all seem very sweet and most of them are quiet and polite. About half of my boys are outspoken and even somewhat silly, so it will be my task for the year to keep them separated. :)

I only had one that really stood out as a challenge. His name is Eduardo, and I couldn't even count the number of times he rolled his eyes at me yesterday. From what I understand, he is a kid with older brothers who thinks he's the cool kid and just as old as them. He has very little parental support at home, and while he's very smart, he's also very lazy and only cares about school for soccer during recess. Yesterday, he came across as very disrespectful - and honestly, I was very firm with him from the very beginning. I could tell he was trying to do whatever he wanted, and I was quick to correct him if that did not match my expectations. I was a bit uncertain of how he would respond to a day like that and how he would challenge my authority today, but it was so much better... I don't think he rolled his eyes at me even one time - and I was definitely still watching! I somewhat joked around with him in a little bit of a sarcastic way throughout the day, and he really seemed to respond well to that. I hope and pray that as time goes on, I can really get to know him and develop some sort of bond with him. I'm sure that there will be many days that do not seem to go as well with him as today, but I'm just thankful for this blessing...

Today, we had school again from 7:30-11:30, but this time we didn't have anything outside the class or with any other teachers. I wasn't quite sure if I would have the energy to stay on top of their activity and talking for all that time without a break, but today was so different! The majority of them entered the classroom at the same time today, and I was shocked to see them go to their desks and work diligently and silently on their morning work. I didn't know how to handle it! Then we opened with prayer again and passed out workbooks and textbooks. They began to liven up a little bit at this point. After about the sixth workbook, I heard, "Meess! I want to cry..." coming from David (not pronounced like David in the States, but more like Dah-veed). I said, "Why do you want to cry?" to which he replied, "There are so many books!" The statement coupled with the accent was so funny.

After that, we reviewed the rules and went over some more procedures, had snack and a bathroom break, and then they interviewed partners and introduced them to the class. Of course, many of them shared about a love for soccer and their favorite teams, but I was surprised to hear how many of them at least claim a favorite US baseball team... A few of my boys seem to love the Boston Red Sox, a lot like the Yankees, one likes the White Sox, and another is on my side in that rivalry cheering for the Cubs. :) During the presentations, two things blessed me the most. The first would be the things they say they want to be when they grow up. These kids have big dreams... Many of them say they want to be a doctor, architect, engineer, astronaut, or something of similar caliber. One girl even said she wants to be the director of an orphanage. (Sidenote: She actually came up with this by coming to me and asking me for an English word for someone who helps poor people. I told her there are lots of ways to help poor people and I asked what she wanted to do for them. She said she wanted to give them clothes and food, and one of her friends nearby told her she could direct an orphanage, so I guess that sounded good enough to her. It's precious to see a ten-year-old with compassion for the poor!)

The other thing that blessed me was when a group of three girls introduced each other to the class and they made sure to share that they are Christians. I have heard that these girls really have hearts for the Lord, and I loved that it was such an important part of who they are, that it was obvious to them that it should be shared in an introduction. In one of our orientation meetings, we were told that 75-80% of our students and families are not Evangelical Christians. It is such a neat opportunity to serve here. In Alabama, I feel like many (not all) teachers in Christian schools are doing great jobs but in a way, are preaching to the choir. Here, I have the daily priviledge and somewhat frightening (more out of respect than fear) responsibility to share Christ with students who do not know Him personally.

Towards the end of our half-day, we finally got out of the classroom and went to the best place on the school grounds - the playground, of course! As expected, the girls spread out to play and talk to each other, and almost every boy automatically joined in what appeared to be a somewhat intense game of soccer. For ten years old, they're so good! I was impressed. The only boy who did not play was Pablo. Oh my... Pablo is such a character, and I'm sure there will be many stories to share about him in the future. He recently had surgery, so he can't really play hard like the other kids. He told me that for his surgery, the doctors took a small piece of his rib and moved it to his ear. It appears that one of his ears, on the outer part, is deformed, and may have covered the whole in the past. I believe the surgery was to try to open up the outer part to make it look a bit more normal and to try to fix some of his hearing problems.

As soon as we got to the playground, Pablo said, "Meess! I'm bored..." I think that from now on, he will spend his recess time in the library, but today provided a wonderful opportunity for us to sit and talk together. His accent is really heavy in such an adorable way, so I had already been enjoying him all morning. He seems to be a bit of a class clown, so hopefully we will work on appropriate times to seek attention vs. times to be serious, but he's so lovable - it's hard to get mad at him for the things he says and does. Around snack time, his water bottle got a hole in the bottom and was leaking, and he wanted to pour it out but he didn't really know how to say that in English, so he said, "Meess! Where can I throw it?" :) Anyway, back to our conversation... He was basically telling me a little bit about his Christian walk. It was a little hard to follow his train of thought in broken English, but he said that he knows God and that he asked God to solve all his problems. That seemed to be his way of describing when he received salvation. Then he told me that since then, he has changed. He said, "I still watch tv, but I am different." Haha... He also told me that he pretty much reads the Bible everynight and has been reading Psalms lately. His parents are Christians and he said that his dad has lots of books about all the books of the Bible. He said when his dad dies, he will complete it for him. I didn't really understand what he was talking about, so I made him explain it to me. He said his dad studies the Bible and is figuring out everything about the Bible, so when he dies, Pablo plans to study everything his dad figured out about the Bible and to complete it by figuring out all the rest! Isn't that beautiful??? Oh - I'm so blessed.

So anyway, that was basically all of our day. They have to take their textbooks home and put covers on them, so many of my students filled their backpacks with most or all of their heavy books. They were so funny when we were leaving, saying things like, "Meess! I'm falling over!" I even got my very first hug today!!! It was from a girl named Argentina as we said goodbye, and I almost cried. Earlier in the day, during a whole-group bathroom break, two of my sweet girls spoke to me and said, "I want to tell you... Of all of my teachers, I think you are number one." Haha... Apparently I have some early suck-ups. :)

So now it's the weekend, and my apartment is very still and quiet. Except for setting up my gradebook, I'm done with school things until Sunday afternoon or evening. All of my lesson plans are finished and I have submitted my copy requests for the week. Just a half-hour or hour preparing the classroom on Sunday, and I'll be ready for a full week of instruction starting on Monday. :)

I know this is long, but to close - I feel like I've shared a lot about what I've done and very little about how I am. Today, I'm good. There have been brief moments of sadness or homesickness over the last two weeks, but never yet a full day or anything. I have been spending lots of time (probably too much) on Skype and Facebook chat, so I still feel very well connected with home. I'm adjusting to life here in the apartment and up on the mountain. I have made basic friendships with almost everyone, and there are three girls that I have really clicked with - so it will be interesting to see how the Lord cultivates my relationships here with these girls and some others. I feel good spiritually... I feel a lot of responsibility in teaching these children about the Lord, but I know it's His work to draw them to Himself, so maybe it's just more of a feeling of accountability... At the same time, I love how God has made my life so big... I feel blessed to be able to dream of doing this and then for Him to make that dream into a reality.

So many of you have commented on here, sent emails, and commented on my status and pictures on Facebook. Thank you for your love and support. Thank you for promising to pray for me and the work of the Lord here. I really appreciate it.

Last but not least, I'm still listening to the sermons from Brook Hills, and they have begun to study the book of James. My dad used to study it and teach on it a lot when I was growing up, and he even made me copy it and write an essay on it one time as a punishment for smarting off when I was a teenager, so it always makes me think of him. In a response to an email from me, he said his men's group is also studying it right now and that he's thinking of skipping a couple of weeks because James is talking about how faith=works. I've been thinking about it, and I've decided it's true... Watch out. If you start studying passages like that, you might just find yourself teaching children in a third world country. :)