112. Top 10

Monday, 2/11/13-Sabbath, 2/16/13

I have been busy. And yes, slightly on the lazy side. My blogs have not seen my typing fingers for a good week. So, I want to give you a good top ten list of the most exciting things that happened this week. Let go:

10. Juan’s Tooth (Tuesday)

I woke up and left my room. I saw Juan and expected the usual “Buen dia hermano!” However, I only received a sad glance from his usually sparkly eyes. I asked with concern what was wrong. He did the opposite I expected when he smiled. There was a hole. In his mouth. His golden tooth fell out. Poor ol’ Juan. He takes such good care of everything and loves to look good. Maybe Chad and I will start a “Fill in the Gap Fund”.

9. Fruit (Monday)

Paradise!

I wanted fruit all week! On Monday, I finally bought some—okay…I bought a whole bunch! Peaches, mangos, apples, copuacu, and some random coconut thing. They were scrumptious and filled a gaping whole in my heart.

8. Brayan

Brayan is a great guy, but hates to work hard. He would only work semi-well if put under my supervision. Therefore, during the five work projects this week, he and I hung out for the entire 2 hours. We raked dead grass, cleaned the church, and pulled weeds. We joked a lot and he helped me watch the other boys I was in charge of. It was nice to see him happy and feeling useful to someone.

7. Carnival (Sunday-Wednesday)

Blue balloon to the
heart!

Red balloon

Carnival is the grandest holiday in South America. Unfortunately, it usually constitutes of fiestas containing unwholesome activities. Rurrenabaque’s holiday is less crazy, but still quite weird. Most of the kids just throw water balloons at you nonstop. Many of them have dye inside too. We experienced this when we went in for a “kids day out” with the younger volunteers.

6. Staff Meeting (Tuesday)

Finally, we now know what our careers will be for the rest of our time in Bolivia. I will be teaching all subjects for 5^th and 6^th grade. Yes, that includes Spanish. I look forward to expanding my vocabulary. Chad was given the title of Agriculture and Grounds Director. He will be mowing and beautifying Familia Feliz for the last 3 months of our visit.

5. Bye Oldies, Hello Rookies (Saturday)

We made a trade. Jacque, Tabitha, Amos, and Greg left in exchange for 7 new volunteers. Nequisha, Juanita, Jody, Alana, Lars, Mike, and Elijah. Nequisha, Juanita, and Jody will actually be with us for one whole year! Just in time since Ali left and the girls upstairs needed someone to care for them. We will miss the four who are leaving, but look forward to meeting some new faces.

The oldies drinking tamarindo juice

We will miss those Asians!

The new crop of volunteers

Maribel seems to like new Juanita quite a bit!

4. Tabitha and Jacque

Preacher Jacque when he is not using
the weed whacker. Rare!

Tabitha and Jacque are my soul mates. They are two of the temporary volunteers this week. They never stop working, but more than that, I cannot stay away from them. They are addicting. Jacque and I will eat pots of food together and Tabitha and I will jam with our angelic voices. J I wish they would stay forever.



Awww. Everyday is Valentine´s Day for these two!

3. Ali left (Thursday)

See number 2!

2. V-tines day dinner (Thursday)

Our shining star left today. Ali left for home today--but not before we made the most of it! Being Valentines Day, my parents sponsored Chad, Ali, Amos, and myself to an exquisite dinner at the nicest restaurant in Rurre. Since it was on my parents, we went all out!! We had so many appetizers and pasta dishes, we felt drunk on food after our stomachs were 10 times the normal size. Then we said goodbyes and Ali made us say that we would go to Australia for her big birthday in a year in a half. We’ll see—that would be quite another great adventure. Good luck with everything Ali!!

Two best friends

The new toys Ali bought before leaving

Well, at least I got this sophisticated fella

1. Teaching (Wednesday-Friday)

           

            Teaching these first three days has been…challenging…yet rewarding. I had 8 of my eventual 14 students. Our moto is the “Class of Champions”. That seemed to boost their morale the first day. We had fun and by the end of the first day they were saying that I am a great teacher. Then the next day was a wakeup call—I instituted a bit of discipline. When they would disrupt each other from learning, I would send them to one of four countries (a.k.a.-1 of 4 corners of the room): United States, Canada, Ecuador, or Germany. They liked the creativity but they soon did not like the idea…and neither did I. I felt like I was being too strict. Then, I kind of did away with the corners and lost respect with my students. I struggled through the day. As I thought about it that night, I decided I had to stick with the rules I made no matter how strange to establish consistency and some respect. Therefore, the next day I stuck with it, the students abided by the rules, and we were able to learn with less distractions. Mission accomplished…no… more like: Mission in progress towards accomplishment.

            By the end of the week the kids were begging for homework. So I gave it to them. Also, we had some fun. For some reason, the kids were obsessed with the phrase “Monkey Soup” that day. Somehow, those words appeared on the white board. My new rule was that we could not touch or erase that word and it was the most important thing in the room. I circled it, gave it sun rays, squared it, and underlined it to signify its importance. The kids got a kick out of that one.

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**