Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
"You are my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for You..."
I've been a bit busy with school starting and all, I am sure the further we get into school the better that will get. And right now we are still doing work for the UGEL (the like Peruvian head of schools, and they have changed the foormat on this document we have to do quite a few times). School has been going pretty well.I have some behavior problems in my classes, which is definitely difficult (so prayers for them and wisdom for me in that situation would be awesome). The kids are super loving though which is great. Something funny is that many of them like my hair. One little girl said I have hair like a Barbie...haha! And they like to touch it, they are funny:)
Yesterday the teachers got together at someone's house and had a lunch and worship session. It was a lot of fun to get to laugh, talk with, and worship with them. I really like the group of teachers. They are very loving and caring and make me feel like I belong. Two weeks ago I had to miss a day and a half of school because I had a stomach bug and when I came back they were all asking me how I was and telling me how they prayed for me:) I am definitely learning a lot from the people here! They are super caring, loving, and look out for the welfare of others, which I love.
Yesterday the teachers got together at someone's house and had a lunch and worship session. It was a lot of fun to get to laugh, talk with, and worship with them. I really like the group of teachers. They are very loving and caring and make me feel like I belong. Two weeks ago I had to miss a day and a half of school because I had a stomach bug and when I came back they were all asking me how I was and telling me how they prayed for me:) I am definitely learning a lot from the people here! They are super caring, loving, and look out for the welfare of others, which I love.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Some Things That Might Interest You
• We drink evaporated milk- the first time my host family gave me milk I just poured it from the can into my cup, it wasn’t very good. When they saw me do that they were like no (and one of the kids was like, “you don’t know how to drink milk?” haha), and they showed me the proper way. You put some milk from the can in the cup, then hot water, then sugar. (I actually just found out not everyone does this, there is actual milk…it comes in a bag)
• We drink hot lemonade (and most juices); I think this might be because drinking water right from the sink isn’t a good idea, at least not for me, so they boil it.
• Animals walk in the streets. Especially dogs, they are everywhere, and all different breeds of dog. I also tend to see flocks of sheep, cows, and bulls walking on non-busy streets. On Sunday a bull started walking right towards me. I was kind of frightened, but I just moved out of its path and it didn’t bother me at all. The animals tend not to. Sometimes the dogs will bark at you, but mostly if you leave them alone they leave you alone.
• In case you didn’t know, they eat guinea pig here (it is called cuy). Generally it comes like the whole thing (head, face, and all) on a stick. My host family gave me some for breakfast one morning (luckily just a piece, not the whole thing), I did not like it at all. It’s really tough and I did not like the taste at all. It’s a delicacy here though.
• The normal greeting/farewell is a hug with a kiss on the cheek.
• We eat breakfast in the morning, but they call it drinking breakfast, because it tends to be more like that. We eat lunch around 2 or 3 (now more like 3, because we eat lunch when we get home from school. The kids don’t eat lunch at school, but they do have a snack time, where they can bring or buy a snack). And lunch is generally large, it is the biggest meal. We eat supper around 7 and it is generally very light, just like some tea and bread or sometimes they eat a little leftovers from lunch.
• You know in the states if you are crossing the street and a car turns the corner or something it will generally stop for you? Or how sometimes cars stop and wave you to cross? Yeah, not here. The road has to be very clear for you to cross because they won’t really stop for you.
• One day when we went to a polleria (like a chicken restaurant), there was a chicken foot in my soup. They eat the skin off of it. There was also part of the neck.
• You can’t flush your toilet paper. Something about the pipes being too small or something along those lines. You put it in a garbage can. You also generally need to carry toilet paper with you because most bathrooms don’t have it.
• The mountains are gorgeous! There’s nothing like them in the U.S.
• Most have washers but not dryers. But the washers don’t really get the dirt out of your clothes, so things with dirt on (usually socks and the bottoms of pants) you have to scrub by hand before you put it in the washing machine. You hang your clothes on a line to dry. The only problem with that is that it rains a lot, randomly. So, it’ll be like, oh no, it’s raining, go get the wash off the line, it’s sunny, put it back out, it’s raining again, take it back down, etc.
• If you are in a group setting and have food it is rude not to share. I learned this almost right away when Megan (another English teacher here the same length as me) brought her breakfast with her to our teacher prep time. Bethany (English teacher that has been here for three years) told her about this and she cut up her mango and passed it around so everyone could have some. I really do like the idea of it, because it shows you care about the others around you.
• The movies here are pretty much all American, just dubbed in Spanish. No movie theaters though.
• We drink hot lemonade (and most juices); I think this might be because drinking water right from the sink isn’t a good idea, at least not for me, so they boil it.
• Animals walk in the streets. Especially dogs, they are everywhere, and all different breeds of dog. I also tend to see flocks of sheep, cows, and bulls walking on non-busy streets. On Sunday a bull started walking right towards me. I was kind of frightened, but I just moved out of its path and it didn’t bother me at all. The animals tend not to. Sometimes the dogs will bark at you, but mostly if you leave them alone they leave you alone.
• In case you didn’t know, they eat guinea pig here (it is called cuy). Generally it comes like the whole thing (head, face, and all) on a stick. My host family gave me some for breakfast one morning (luckily just a piece, not the whole thing), I did not like it at all. It’s really tough and I did not like the taste at all. It’s a delicacy here though.
• The normal greeting/farewell is a hug with a kiss on the cheek.
• We eat breakfast in the morning, but they call it drinking breakfast, because it tends to be more like that. We eat lunch around 2 or 3 (now more like 3, because we eat lunch when we get home from school. The kids don’t eat lunch at school, but they do have a snack time, where they can bring or buy a snack). And lunch is generally large, it is the biggest meal. We eat supper around 7 and it is generally very light, just like some tea and bread or sometimes they eat a little leftovers from lunch.
• You know in the states if you are crossing the street and a car turns the corner or something it will generally stop for you? Or how sometimes cars stop and wave you to cross? Yeah, not here. The road has to be very clear for you to cross because they won’t really stop for you.
• One day when we went to a polleria (like a chicken restaurant), there was a chicken foot in my soup. They eat the skin off of it. There was also part of the neck.
• You can’t flush your toilet paper. Something about the pipes being too small or something along those lines. You put it in a garbage can. You also generally need to carry toilet paper with you because most bathrooms don’t have it.
• The mountains are gorgeous! There’s nothing like them in the U.S.
• Most have washers but not dryers. But the washers don’t really get the dirt out of your clothes, so things with dirt on (usually socks and the bottoms of pants) you have to scrub by hand before you put it in the washing machine. You hang your clothes on a line to dry. The only problem with that is that it rains a lot, randomly. So, it’ll be like, oh no, it’s raining, go get the wash off the line, it’s sunny, put it back out, it’s raining again, take it back down, etc.
• If you are in a group setting and have food it is rude not to share. I learned this almost right away when Megan (another English teacher here the same length as me) brought her breakfast with her to our teacher prep time. Bethany (English teacher that has been here for three years) told her about this and she cut up her mango and passed it around so everyone could have some. I really do like the idea of it, because it shows you care about the others around you.
• The movies here are pretty much all American, just dubbed in Spanish. No movie theaters though.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
“In my head rang the words that my Father said; you’re never far, I will be where you are, and when you come to me, you can bet I will open my arms. Welcome home you, I know you by name, how do you do? I shine because of you today, so come in sit down, tell me how you are, hello son, it’s good just to see your face…”
As for the title of this blog, this is part of a song (Welcome Home (you) by Brian Littrel) that I have been listening to and has been in my head a lot lately. I think it is such a wonderful representation of how our relationship with God should be and it shows how excited God really is when we come into His presence and how much He longs to know us. I feel like my relationship with God has been growing deeper which is really exciting. I feel like God called me here to grow me a lot, it may not always be easy, but He is with me and loves me and the growth is so good for me.
So, this past week was the first week of school. School started on Tuesday. Monday was the first chance we got to decorate rooms, so it was busy! I have three classes (two 2nd grades and a 6th), so I had a space to decorate in each. I also tried to help the three teachers out as much as I could because that’s a lot to do in one day. I was at the school from 8 in the morning until 7 at night. The first few days of school were a little crazy. We had some scheduling conflicts, so things changed around a lot. We also didn’t have our books until mid-second day and I don’t have notebooks or journals yet because I got here after they ordered things. I consider myself a pretty go-with-the-flow, more relaxed kind of person. In training we took a strengths finder test and one of mine was adaptability, and I remember them saying that will be really good for where you are going. It is definitely the truth, and I am working on being more adaptable. Things are extremely relaxed and go-with-the-flow here. So, it definitely takes some getting used too, I definitely don’t think it is bad. The kids are definitely very active and chatty as well. I wasn’t really ready for how different it would be teaching here. The first two days were a little rough, their attention spans were extremely short (especially in 2nd), and they didn’t really want to listen (more so than I am used to). But I just was reminded that I am just going to have to keep trying different things to see what works, and break up the class a lot to hold their attention, and I just prayed hard and asked God to be my strength and the third and fourth days were definitely better. The kids are super loving though. I really enjoy that. And there aren’t as many like restrictions and what not here, so the kids hug you a lot and they even told us in training (at the school) to give the kids a hug and kiss (a kiss on the cheek is the greeting and good bye here) before they leave to make them feel loved and welcome here. I really do enjoy the kids a lot and just the people and their warmness in general. It makes you feel cared for and important. Okay, so I should share a funny kid story…Friday all the kids commented on how much they liked my necklace. One little girl especially liked it and she asked where I got it. And I was like it was a gift from a friend. And she goes, oh from Miss Megan (the other English teacher here from the states). I said to Megan, yeah because your my only friend…haha…I love kids and how their minds work
In news other than school, I finished language classes this week. It’s good and bad. Bad because I loved my teacher and loved the classes. I feel like they really helped to improve my Spanish. But good because this last week I finished at school, hustled home to eat lunch, then rushed to get there and between traveling and class it’s almost a 4 hour process, so needless to say, I was exhausted. The last two weekends Megan and I have gone on adventures to find things, especially teacher supplies (I am definitely kicking myself for not bringing more of that stuff with me). It’s definitely an adventure here because, generally you have to go to separate stores to get each thing, like if you want folders or notebooks you go to the libreria, if you need like computer stuff or hardware type stuff a ferreteria, we went to a plasticeria to get Megan a flyswatter, etc. We did find one like big flea market type place that had lots of varieties of stuff. Oh and I have been here 3 weeks now (wow!) and next weekend Megan, Mary, and I are moving into our apartment! (I will definitely miss my host family though) Okay, I’ll stop now, this is already very long.
Prayer request: There are a lot of festivals here (especially near where my language class was) and I hear they are like religious type festivals and there is a lot of drinking. I walked by one and I was shocked at how much alcohol I saw, and there were lots of kids there watching that, which is sad. Don’t worry, it’s not like dangerous to me or anything, I just feel the need to pray for the people and against the festivals, so if you would join me in that that would be awesome! Thanks! <3
So, this past week was the first week of school. School started on Tuesday. Monday was the first chance we got to decorate rooms, so it was busy! I have three classes (two 2nd grades and a 6th), so I had a space to decorate in each. I also tried to help the three teachers out as much as I could because that’s a lot to do in one day. I was at the school from 8 in the morning until 7 at night. The first few days of school were a little crazy. We had some scheduling conflicts, so things changed around a lot. We also didn’t have our books until mid-second day and I don’t have notebooks or journals yet because I got here after they ordered things. I consider myself a pretty go-with-the-flow, more relaxed kind of person. In training we took a strengths finder test and one of mine was adaptability, and I remember them saying that will be really good for where you are going. It is definitely the truth, and I am working on being more adaptable. Things are extremely relaxed and go-with-the-flow here. So, it definitely takes some getting used too, I definitely don’t think it is bad. The kids are definitely very active and chatty as well. I wasn’t really ready for how different it would be teaching here. The first two days were a little rough, their attention spans were extremely short (especially in 2nd), and they didn’t really want to listen (more so than I am used to). But I just was reminded that I am just going to have to keep trying different things to see what works, and break up the class a lot to hold their attention, and I just prayed hard and asked God to be my strength and the third and fourth days were definitely better. The kids are super loving though. I really enjoy that. And there aren’t as many like restrictions and what not here, so the kids hug you a lot and they even told us in training (at the school) to give the kids a hug and kiss (a kiss on the cheek is the greeting and good bye here) before they leave to make them feel loved and welcome here. I really do enjoy the kids a lot and just the people and their warmness in general. It makes you feel cared for and important. Okay, so I should share a funny kid story…Friday all the kids commented on how much they liked my necklace. One little girl especially liked it and she asked where I got it. And I was like it was a gift from a friend. And she goes, oh from Miss Megan (the other English teacher here from the states). I said to Megan, yeah because your my only friend…haha…I love kids and how their minds work
In news other than school, I finished language classes this week. It’s good and bad. Bad because I loved my teacher and loved the classes. I feel like they really helped to improve my Spanish. But good because this last week I finished at school, hustled home to eat lunch, then rushed to get there and between traveling and class it’s almost a 4 hour process, so needless to say, I was exhausted. The last two weekends Megan and I have gone on adventures to find things, especially teacher supplies (I am definitely kicking myself for not bringing more of that stuff with me). It’s definitely an adventure here because, generally you have to go to separate stores to get each thing, like if you want folders or notebooks you go to the libreria, if you need like computer stuff or hardware type stuff a ferreteria, we went to a plasticeria to get Megan a flyswatter, etc. We did find one like big flea market type place that had lots of varieties of stuff. Oh and I have been here 3 weeks now (wow!) and next weekend Megan, Mary, and I are moving into our apartment! (I will definitely miss my host family though) Okay, I’ll stop now, this is already very long.
Prayer request: There are a lot of festivals here (especially near where my language class was) and I hear they are like religious type festivals and there is a lot of drinking. I walked by one and I was shocked at how much alcohol I saw, and there were lots of kids there watching that, which is sad. Don’t worry, it’s not like dangerous to me or anything, I just feel the need to pray for the people and against the festivals, so if you would join me in that that would be awesome! Thanks! <3
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