School Begins

We have officially been here for two weeks now, and it is astounding the things we have done so far. One of the most important things we experienced was the first day of school. Unlike school's in the States, the first day of school is a half day and consists of an all school assembly with a short time for the students to get to know their teacher and the school grounds. Ceremonies are a big part of Nicaraguan culture, and as a result the assembly took up a good portion of the morning. I don't know how they did it, but the students were so well behaved as they stood in the blazing hot sun listening to Pastora, the principle, talk about the upcoming school year. The teachers, myself included, broke up the speeches with a few fun songs for the kids complete with an impromptu solo by me (mf)! Needless to say, I wasn't expecting to be singing to all the students and their parents, but I guess that's what you get when you're the only one who sings or speaks English!


Pictures- Welcome Banner for Students, my fellow teachers and me, kids coming for their first day of school, the team and teachers with the new backpacks, school assembly, and the preschoolers who tried so hard to be good!

One extra special part of the morning was when we handed out the backpacks Pastor H and the rest of the team brought down from Seattle. The teachers had separated the backpacks by color and had filled them with notebooks, pencils, pens and crayons. The student's were so excited as they came up and received their backpacks and their parents were beaming with pride as they watched their children embrace their education.

In terms of my teaching, as of today (2/11) I have successfully made it through the introductory lesson of all my classes. It is interesting to be the "wandering teacher" as I move from grade to grade, rather than having a specific classroom to which the students come. At this point, while I am still feeling overwhelmed (and at times inadequate), I have really enjoyed seeing the excitement the students have about learning English. Aside from a few, the students are all at a very beginner level of English, so this year I will be working on establishing good foundations in their English studies. It is a job that is bigger than I am, so I will take it one day at a time and trust that the Lord will provide the strength and wisdom to help these kids succeed. However, despite these emotions, the most encouraging thing to me are the hugs, excited hellos, and eager faces of the students that greet me every day.

Beyond the school aspect of life, we enjoyed a typical "tourist" day with the team from Seattle on Saturday. We went to the artisan (aka tourist) market in Masaya, had pizza in Granada the oldest city in Central/South America, took a horse-drawn buggy to the lake side park, and indulged in a boat tour through the 356 islands in Nicaragua's largest lake, Lake Nicaragua. It was a wonderful opportunity to relax and enjoy the incredible natural beauty of this wonderful country.




Pictures-TOP: Evening outdoor church in Montefresco, Lee Lockridge with a few of the girls from Casa Havilah (a safe house for girls who have lived in the dump), Josh, Hilario, and Nancy in the horse-buggy. MIDDLE: Nancy, Julie, H, Jonathan and Scott the 1st team of the year from Seattle, Josh and me on the boat tour, our ride to the boat tour. BOTTOM: Superman Josh and Mateo Bustamante, getting ready for the boat tour, incredible exotic bird nests seen from our boat.


Now it is a new week, filled with adventures, challenges and successes. It will also be the beginning of living in Los Cedros, as we are moving in to our house on Wednesday. Josh has been working hard with David Bustamante and Lee Lockridge to put the finishing touches on our house. While we will still be lacking a kitchen sink and cabinets, our stove, fridge and washing machine are all prepped and ready for us start using. So, stay tuned as we enter in to our third week of life in Nicaragua.