When the verb ser is used with a first or second person subject in the main clause, followed by a relative clause, the verb of the relative clause will be conjugated in third person, based on its agreement with the relative pronoun as subject.
uh huh. So, I have this Spanish grammar book from college. Let me tell you a little bit about me and Spanish in college.... we did not get along. I think I had a boyfriend during my grammar class which equaled not as much studying as I should have done, and there was all this grammar vocabulary that I didn't understand at all. I think in one of my education classes, I had a professor that said we learn things like that to forget them, so as far as English went.... I don't remember direct objects or relative pronouns or antecedents. Anyway, all that to say, when we moved those to learning in a different language... I really, really didn't understand and I didn't try to learn it. (Bad idea, kids, pay attention in class!- and I'm not just saying that cuz I'm a teacher now ;))
Fast-forward a couple years, and I'm now having to teach the English language and grammar to my 6th grade- which means I really have to know what I'm talking about! So, now that I actually understand some of these vocabulary terms, I actually really enjoy the grammar side of things. So, I decided to take out that Spanish book (which I brought to Honduras for fun, and didn't understand at the beginning of the year) and I understand it now! Which means my Spanish skills have improved greatly. I also am trying really hard to talk to people in Spanish and not worry if I sound dumb. I'm learning! YAY!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
windmills and wooden shoes and honduras.
k. part two of 'how books dictate my life'
This one time, (like last weekend) my roommate Rachel's parents were coming to visit. I folded all my clothes for the first time since... September probably (I'm not even joking), we organized all the food on our shelves so they looked nice, and had ourselves a through Spring cleaning. Monday night, everyone was gone and I decided I should clean the bathroom since... that's an important thing to do when you have company coming. (I learned that from my mom ;)) So, I started in and here's the thing with our bathroom- the sink is pretty terrible. It's this tiny little porcelain thing that moves everytime we touch it. Pretty iffy. Also, the plastic pipes are cracked so at the beginning of the year I had put plastic and duct tape around them to keep the water from spraying out. This works fairly well, but there's still a pretty steady drip so we keep a big bucket underneath that we empty every few days. Well. People were visiting- and not just any visitors- parents! So, we had to make it look we really know what we're doing here :) I thought it would be a good idea to readjust the plastic and fix it up a little bit. Once I took the plastic off, I decided the pipes were really gross and it'd be a good idea to clean them out. So, I took the pipes off and stuck them in a bucket of bleach water. Then I investigated. (If you've read Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, you might know where this is going. If not, keep reading because it gets better :)) I discovered that the sink was held on by a metal plate and the screws were loose and I thought, "Wow, if I can just screw this thing back in our sink will be fixed and everyone will think I'm ridiculously handy!" First problem- we don't have a screwdriver in our house. But we do have butter knives which ended up being the perfect size. Second problem: the sink is what water comes out of and there are tubes connecting the faucet to the water outside. I found this out when I thought I'd just take the sink off the wall and unscrew whatever that little white thing was attached to a tube running into the wall.... yes. I have a college degree, and yes a very powerful stream of water came shooting out at me and into our bathroom.
I solved this problem by screwing the tube back on and deciding to just hold the sink while I also screwed the plate back in. Slightly tricky angle, but do-able.... except for the fact that our house is made out of adobe, which is basically dried mud. This means that no matter how many times I screwed that stupid thing in, it was going to keep falling out because the wall is just not strong enough to hold it anymore. So I was stuck. Rachel came home (thankfully her parents decided to stay in town for the night and come see our house in the morning) to a soaking wet roommate and bathroom. We both ended up working on the sink for about 40 minutes, which included the oh-so-lovely water tube that was attached to both wall and faucet to this time come out of the faucet and spray both of us several, several times (after seeing me, Rach put on her swimsuit before helping so I would probably say she's the smarter of us two ;)). So what does this have to do with my book? I'll tell you! In Hans Brinker there is a story about a little Dutch boy who, on his way home, sees a leak in the dike and sticks his finger in it. He stays there all night because he knows if he takes his finger out, the water will make the hole bigger and bigger and pretty soon all of Holland will be flooded!
So, Rachel and I were two little Dutch girls with our thumb over a tube for a very long time (to save all of our house from being flooded!) before we decided to call a neighbor to see if there was any way to turn the water off to our house. Which, of course there was. So we set our sink on the floor and went without water until some people from school came up Wednesday and today and fixed it for us. Now we have shiny, new metal pipes; some branches that the cut to keep the sink propped; and a faucet that somehow got broken off and doesn't work. Which means.... we still can't use our sink, but that will have to be fixed another day. :) Anyway, it was a pretty fun time and quite the learning experience!
ps. It's taken me this long to find out that I can put pictures throughout my blog instead of all in a big clump in a separate blog , so maybe I can start being a little more high tech and add pics :)
This one time, (like last weekend) my roommate Rachel's parents were coming to visit. I folded all my clothes for the first time since... September probably (I'm not even joking), we organized all the food on our shelves so they looked nice, and had ourselves a through Spring cleaning. Monday night, everyone was gone and I decided I should clean the bathroom since... that's an important thing to do when you have company coming. (I learned that from my mom ;)) So, I started in and here's the thing with our bathroom- the sink is pretty terrible. It's this tiny little porcelain thing that moves everytime we touch it. Pretty iffy. Also, the plastic pipes are cracked so at the beginning of the year I had put plastic and duct tape around them to keep the water from spraying out. This works fairly well, but there's still a pretty steady drip so we keep a big bucket underneath that we empty every few days. Well. People were visiting- and not just any visitors- parents! So, we had to make it look we really know what we're doing here :) I thought it would be a good idea to readjust the plastic and fix it up a little bit. Once I took the plastic off, I decided the pipes were really gross and it'd be a good idea to clean them out. So, I took the pipes off and stuck them in a bucket of bleach water. Then I investigated. (If you've read Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, you might know where this is going. If not, keep reading because it gets better :)) I discovered that the sink was held on by a metal plate and the screws were loose and I thought, "Wow, if I can just screw this thing back in our sink will be fixed and everyone will think I'm ridiculously handy!" First problem- we don't have a screwdriver in our house. But we do have butter knives which ended up being the perfect size. Second problem: the sink is what water comes out of and there are tubes connecting the faucet to the water outside. I found this out when I thought I'd just take the sink off the wall and unscrew whatever that little white thing was attached to a tube running into the wall.... yes. I have a college degree, and yes a very powerful stream of water came shooting out at me and into our bathroom.
I solved this problem by screwing the tube back on and deciding to just hold the sink while I also screwed the plate back in. Slightly tricky angle, but do-able.... except for the fact that our house is made out of adobe, which is basically dried mud. This means that no matter how many times I screwed that stupid thing in, it was going to keep falling out because the wall is just not strong enough to hold it anymore. So I was stuck. Rachel came home (thankfully her parents decided to stay in town for the night and come see our house in the morning) to a soaking wet roommate and bathroom. We both ended up working on the sink for about 40 minutes, which included the oh-so-lovely water tube that was attached to both wall and faucet to this time come out of the faucet and spray both of us several, several times (after seeing me, Rach put on her swimsuit before helping so I would probably say she's the smarter of us two ;)). So what does this have to do with my book? I'll tell you! In Hans Brinker there is a story about a little Dutch boy who, on his way home, sees a leak in the dike and sticks his finger in it. He stays there all night because he knows if he takes his finger out, the water will make the hole bigger and bigger and pretty soon all of Holland will be flooded!
So, Rachel and I were two little Dutch girls with our thumb over a tube for a very long time (to save all of our house from being flooded!) before we decided to call a neighbor to see if there was any way to turn the water off to our house. Which, of course there was. So we set our sink on the floor and went without water until some people from school came up Wednesday and today and fixed it for us. Now we have shiny, new metal pipes; some branches that the cut to keep the sink propped; and a faucet that somehow got broken off and doesn't work. Which means.... we still can't use our sink, but that will have to be fixed another day. :) Anyway, it was a pretty fun time and quite the learning experience!
ps. It's taken me this long to find out that I can put pictures throughout my blog instead of all in a big clump in a separate blog , so maybe I can start being a little more high tech and add pics :)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
how books have completely dictated my life :)
I've decided to stay a second year.... I told my principal on Monday and he was pretty excited. I also said something about it to my kids and they were even excited, and a little disappointed I'm going to stay teaching 6th grade and not moving on to 7th. :) So that's a good thing right? I've been thinking about living here a lot lately- obviously- because I was trying to decide if I should stay for sure.... and let me give you a list of books that helped me make my decision:
Swiss Family Robinson
Little House books
all the American Girl books
(ok movie but still...) Peter Pan
anything about Native Americans
anything about WWII- esp Anne Frank and The Hiding Place where people stay hidden in walls :)
Chronicles of Narnia
Boxcar Children
see any theme in these books? ok maybe you don't because maybe you haven't read them so I'll just tell you. They're all these stories about kids/people having to live out in the wilderness or by themselves or foraging around for food and shelter and water.... my siblings and I would seriously play these kind of games all the time. We'd run around outside all day and pretend we were on a boat looking for an island, or be sitting in our teepees cooking 'food'.... one time, my dad got mad because we'd pulled up a bunch of plants for our 'supper' and it was his rhubarb haha :)
Anyway, what does this do with now? I love my life. I feel like I'm really Laura Ingalls Wilder or Roberta from Swiss Family Robinson or Peter Pan! (cuz most of the time, he really is being played by a girl so, I can say that :) I've found that I love love love having to wash all my dishes outside and look at the mountain while doing it; that I wash all my clothes by hand; that I burn trash... it seems so romantic and simple and lovely. you should all come try it :)
So. that's what's going on. I have a second edition of 'how books have completely dicated my life' that is related to the book Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates (a Dutch favorite ;)) but I'm going to have to wait to share about it because it is WAAAY past my bedtime. I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've blogged, I'll try to get better at the updates!
Swiss Family Robinson
Little House books
all the American Girl books
(ok movie but still...) Peter Pan
anything about Native Americans
anything about WWII- esp Anne Frank and The Hiding Place where people stay hidden in walls :)
Chronicles of Narnia
Boxcar Children
see any theme in these books? ok maybe you don't because maybe you haven't read them so I'll just tell you. They're all these stories about kids/people having to live out in the wilderness or by themselves or foraging around for food and shelter and water.... my siblings and I would seriously play these kind of games all the time. We'd run around outside all day and pretend we were on a boat looking for an island, or be sitting in our teepees cooking 'food'.... one time, my dad got mad because we'd pulled up a bunch of plants for our 'supper' and it was his rhubarb haha :)
Anyway, what does this do with now? I love my life. I feel like I'm really Laura Ingalls Wilder or Roberta from Swiss Family Robinson or Peter Pan! (cuz most of the time, he really is being played by a girl so, I can say that :) I've found that I love love love having to wash all my dishes outside and look at the mountain while doing it; that I wash all my clothes by hand; that I burn trash... it seems so romantic and simple and lovely. you should all come try it :)
So. that's what's going on. I have a second edition of 'how books have completely dicated my life' that is related to the book Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates (a Dutch favorite ;)) but I'm going to have to wait to share about it because it is WAAAY past my bedtime. I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've blogged, I'll try to get better at the updates!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
It's the weekend! It's February!
On Friday, I had a minor meltdown because I couldn't find ANYTHING to wear. I brought 3 pairs of navy pants and 2 navy skirts to use for my uniform... most of them were slightly bigger than I would normally wear clothes, but they were super cheap and I figured I'd wear a belt. Well, I walk up and down a mountain every day and have started running after school with some of the other teachers which has resulted in losing a little weight-- which I know is a good thing, but not when your clothes don't fit and there's no place to buy them in Gracias! Friday, my only option was the pants I'd been wearing all week and they were covered in dust and dirt so I was very frustrated. Luckily, Sarah lent me some of her pants, but parent teacher conferences are this coming weekend so I knew I'd need to figure something out so I didn't look like some unprofessional, young girl who didn't care how she looked! I talked to one of the teachers, Ana, and she said we could just go to Santa Rosa this weekend and she could help me find something. So, that's what we did! Ramon, Ana and I travelled about an hour to Santa Rosa on Saturday morning and spent the day shopping. We went into several stores and the market and eventually I was able to find a pair of pants and a skirt I liked. It was an interesting experience. Women's dress clothes here are made of really thin, really clingy material. So that was the first problem. Second problem is that Honduran women are TINY. We went to the market and tons of stands were selling navy dress pants but hardly anyone had bigger than a size M and no one had over a size L. Apparently in Honduran pant size, I'm an XL so that was discouraging, especially because the reason I was shopping was because I've lost weight!! :) There were a couple funny moments though. At the market (which is just rows and rows and turns of stands inside a big building), they let you try pants on behind their stands and someone would pin up a towel in the back corner. One place, they had no back area and no way to pin anything up, but they did have a big baby bassinet that could block one side of me and a lady that could hold up a blanket on the other side of me. So, I tried on pants with a baby looking up at me the whole time from one side, and a lady looking at me from the other. :) The pants were buttonable but certainly not wearable- you know what I mean, when your stomach just pushes itself out all over the sides of your pants? yeah... not something I'm going to be wearing to school. I showed Ana and said they were too small, and then the lady selling me the pants lifted her shirt up and showed me that's how she wears her pants! :) It's actually how most women wear clothes, which I find so odd. The tighter you can wear something, the better, even if it means you have shirt buttons popping and pant tops folding over. Very attractive, but not the look I'm going for :) Eventually I found what I needed - I got both the skirt and pants for about $22, or 450 Lempiras, which I thought was really expensive but... necessary purchases! Ana was so helpful and brought us to a sweet little coffee shop where I had some delicious chocolate cake! I ended up spending the evening with Ana and my neighbor Mrs. Laureles- we made some Valentine's for our kids, gave ourselves pedicures and watched a movie!
Today, I had an extremely productive day. The girls all went to town but I just couldn't get myself out of bed, so I stayed there until 10:30 (!!!!). Then, since there was no one around, I got bored and started to clean. I cleaned our kitchen, swept and mopped the floors and did all my laundry (including my bedsheets!) all by myself! Then, I burned some trash and by that time Jacki and Sarah were back. They bought some flowers in town, so we planted those in front of our house- it's so pretty! So, now I'm covered in sweat, ash and dirt and our water is off :) Hopefully I get clean before our Super Bowl party tonight! I think we are having PIZZA, and Kirsty and Rachel are making puppy chow right now! I don't think I care who wins, but last year John Elway was on one of the commercials so.... cross your fingers!!!
On Friday, I had a minor meltdown because I couldn't find ANYTHING to wear. I brought 3 pairs of navy pants and 2 navy skirts to use for my uniform... most of them were slightly bigger than I would normally wear clothes, but they were super cheap and I figured I'd wear a belt. Well, I walk up and down a mountain every day and have started running after school with some of the other teachers which has resulted in losing a little weight-- which I know is a good thing, but not when your clothes don't fit and there's no place to buy them in Gracias! Friday, my only option was the pants I'd been wearing all week and they were covered in dust and dirt so I was very frustrated. Luckily, Sarah lent me some of her pants, but parent teacher conferences are this coming weekend so I knew I'd need to figure something out so I didn't look like some unprofessional, young girl who didn't care how she looked! I talked to one of the teachers, Ana, and she said we could just go to Santa Rosa this weekend and she could help me find something. So, that's what we did! Ramon, Ana and I travelled about an hour to Santa Rosa on Saturday morning and spent the day shopping. We went into several stores and the market and eventually I was able to find a pair of pants and a skirt I liked. It was an interesting experience. Women's dress clothes here are made of really thin, really clingy material. So that was the first problem. Second problem is that Honduran women are TINY. We went to the market and tons of stands were selling navy dress pants but hardly anyone had bigger than a size M and no one had over a size L. Apparently in Honduran pant size, I'm an XL so that was discouraging, especially because the reason I was shopping was because I've lost weight!! :) There were a couple funny moments though. At the market (which is just rows and rows and turns of stands inside a big building), they let you try pants on behind their stands and someone would pin up a towel in the back corner. One place, they had no back area and no way to pin anything up, but they did have a big baby bassinet that could block one side of me and a lady that could hold up a blanket on the other side of me. So, I tried on pants with a baby looking up at me the whole time from one side, and a lady looking at me from the other. :) The pants were buttonable but certainly not wearable- you know what I mean, when your stomach just pushes itself out all over the sides of your pants? yeah... not something I'm going to be wearing to school. I showed Ana and said they were too small, and then the lady selling me the pants lifted her shirt up and showed me that's how she wears her pants! :) It's actually how most women wear clothes, which I find so odd. The tighter you can wear something, the better, even if it means you have shirt buttons popping and pant tops folding over. Very attractive, but not the look I'm going for :) Eventually I found what I needed - I got both the skirt and pants for about $22, or 450 Lempiras, which I thought was really expensive but... necessary purchases! Ana was so helpful and brought us to a sweet little coffee shop where I had some delicious chocolate cake! I ended up spending the evening with Ana and my neighbor Mrs. Laureles- we made some Valentine's for our kids, gave ourselves pedicures and watched a movie!
Today, I had an extremely productive day. The girls all went to town but I just couldn't get myself out of bed, so I stayed there until 10:30 (!!!!). Then, since there was no one around, I got bored and started to clean. I cleaned our kitchen, swept and mopped the floors and did all my laundry (including my bedsheets!) all by myself! Then, I burned some trash and by that time Jacki and Sarah were back. They bought some flowers in town, so we planted those in front of our house- it's so pretty! So, now I'm covered in sweat, ash and dirt and our water is off :) Hopefully I get clean before our Super Bowl party tonight! I think we are having PIZZA, and Kirsty and Rachel are making puppy chow right now! I don't think I care who wins, but last year John Elway was on one of the commercials so.... cross your fingers!!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Ponderings (that is what blogging is for isn’t it?)
Last week, I had music clips of different instruments for some of my music classes to listen to. We've been studying the difference between winds, percussion, brass.... So, I used some music for the kids to hear the differences between the instruments. One song was "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic (proud, Flake?) .... It has some good flute at the beginning and the kids like the song so I thought, "Why not?" :) I played my different clips for the sixth graders and one girl, Angelica ((ahn-hel-ee-kah) said, "Miss, I don't like this song." When I asked her why, she told me that it was her and her dad's song- he had been in a car accident and didn't know if he'd make it out of surgery, so he told Angelica that would be their song. Now.... I'm sure many of you remember the Titanic craze... I was in 6th-ish grade (so the grade of my kids!) and I remember some of my friends going seeing it 13 times in the movie theater. I ... wasn't allowed to see it at all. :) It may conjure up images of a super sappy love story or a ridiculously over-romanticized Leonardo DiCaprio but... if you actually listen to the words of the song, especially right after your student told you this story and that her father had indeed died... you might get a little choked up. Not only did she tell me about her dad, but Angelica then asked Leonela (Lay-oh-nay-la) if both her parents were still alive. Leonela said, "My mom, yes. My dad... I don't know. We don' tknow where he is" to which Azucena (Ah-su-say-nah) responded, "Yeah, my dad moved to the United States and stopped answering our phone calls and changed his number." This conversation went on in the same week that the father of one of our third graders was shot and killed because of his huge involvment in drugs. Basically, Titanic ruined my week.
What awful places and homes our students come from! Every single one of my students has had a family member die and for most of them, it's way more than one. The amount of crap they deal with is so, so terrible to hear. I'm beginning to learn that most of the students are not setn to the school because it is a Christian school, and, being from strong Christian families the parents want their children to grow spiritually. Instead, it's because it is a prestigious school and you can make a lot more money if you can speak English. Ahhhhh. cute.
However, I can at least say that that is not the intent of the school and its administration. I think God can definitely use twisted philosophies to further HIS philosophies.... I pray that my students are learning something from me besides English.
My students have been memorizing verses in song form. Some of the songs are definitely ones I made up, some are from VBS, some are random songs I know from church, and some are from STeve Green (I love him. I don't care that all my music selections are from the 90s!) The songs might have a few words missing or a few added, but the content is there. These are the verses we know so far.... how many do you recognize?
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning- great is Thy faithfulness.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and give peace.
Jeremiah 32:27
Ah, Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power. Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thine outstretched arms. Nothing is too difficult for Thee- great and mighty God, great in council and mighty in deeds.
Psalm 34:13
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!
Philippians 2:14-15
Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may be called blameless and pure children of God.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Matthew 7:12
Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law of the Prophets.
II Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.k
I John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another for love comes from God and anyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, loveth not God for God is love.
k that's all I can remember right now- but look, I know them too! There's lots and lots of verses on love.... a few on how to behave in class.... ;) I am decorating my door for Valentine's Day and using ....
I Corinthians 4:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in good. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
I really, really love these verses and have always meant to memorize them but... haven't. SO. I think I'll make up a song and teach it to my kids and that will be the next one we learn. Just in time for the day of LOVE!!!!!
ok. Sorry this is full of lots of extra readin this time... pray for my kids, their families, all that. Enjoy your week!
What awful places and homes our students come from! Every single one of my students has had a family member die and for most of them, it's way more than one. The amount of crap they deal with is so, so terrible to hear. I'm beginning to learn that most of the students are not setn to the school because it is a Christian school, and, being from strong Christian families the parents want their children to grow spiritually. Instead, it's because it is a prestigious school and you can make a lot more money if you can speak English. Ahhhhh. cute.
However, I can at least say that that is not the intent of the school and its administration. I think God can definitely use twisted philosophies to further HIS philosophies.... I pray that my students are learning something from me besides English.
My students have been memorizing verses in song form. Some of the songs are definitely ones I made up, some are from VBS, some are random songs I know from church, and some are from STeve Green (I love him. I don't care that all my music selections are from the 90s!) The songs might have a few words missing or a few added, but the content is there. These are the verses we know so far.... how many do you recognize?
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning- great is Thy faithfulness.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and give peace.
Jeremiah 32:27
Ah, Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power. Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thine outstretched arms. Nothing is too difficult for Thee- great and mighty God, great in council and mighty in deeds.
Psalm 34:13
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!
Philippians 2:14-15
Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may be called blameless and pure children of God.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Matthew 7:12
Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law of the Prophets.
II Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.k
I John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another for love comes from God and anyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, loveth not God for God is love.
k that's all I can remember right now- but look, I know them too! There's lots and lots of verses on love.... a few on how to behave in class.... ;) I am decorating my door for Valentine's Day and using ....
I Corinthians 4:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in good. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
I really, really love these verses and have always meant to memorize them but... haven't. SO. I think I'll make up a song and teach it to my kids and that will be the next one we learn. Just in time for the day of LOVE!!!!!
ok. Sorry this is full of lots of extra readin this time... pray for my kids, their families, all that. Enjoy your week!
Monday, January 18, 2010
I love my life.
This weekend was a nice, relaxing time at home. Since getting internet at our house we don't have to go to town so much and if we do, we don't have to stay for 5 hours while trying to catch up with everything! We also are getting a ride up and down from our house right after school on Wednesdays to grab groceries which is really nice because we don't have to take a mototaxi back up and/or stay for a long time. This Saturday we ended up walking to town just for fun but we didn't bring anything ... backpacks, computers, etc. We just walked! I even got a little sunburn! (The weather has been mostly warmer so that's nice). Saturday night we had church and hung out with friends. We have a new teacher here - Tad Vanden Brink from Michigan. He'll be helping at our school with the ESL program as well as teaching some Social Studies classes!
Sunday morning I went to the comedor and hung out with our neighbors. Abi and I spent about half an hour outside chasing hens and little chickens around - it was so great! Then we went inside and Abi did my hair and make-up - it was so beautiful! Luis Enoc also joined in on the fun but this was after he'd eaten a bunch of cookies so I had make up, glitter, knots and cookie crumbs in my head. Perfect Sunday morning/afternoon :) Since I was over, the neighbors made me stay for lunch- we had Yuca con chicarron. Yuca is kind of like potato or yam and chicarron is really good fried pork. Sonya had put some spices on the pork and it was SO SO SO good.
I had a dream last night that I was in Half-Price books picking out books for my kids. When I woke up I got so sad! I've been doing DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) for the first ten minutes of my reading class with the kids and we use books from the school library, but there aren't a lot of books that work for my kid's English reading level and are interesting. So after waking up from this dream, I layed in bed for a little while (well, obviously I stayed in bed, it was like 1 am :)) but I stayed up and thought for awhile and this is what I came up with.... if anyone is interested in donating books.... wouldn't that be so cool? You could put a little note in it and my kids could have some interaction with people from where I'm from! Anyway..... just a thought, I love books so so much I want my kids to like reading too! I think their reading level is about 2-4 grade so... Boxcar Children, those Great Illustrated Classic books, anything that has to do with soccer.... anyway. so if you want to send something.... that would be SO GREAT!
LBVP
guancascos
gracias, lempira, honduras.
ok. anyway, that has been my weekend! Today at school was great. I thought of a fun treat for my fellow teachers- teach the kids the Lamb Chop song. If you were a child, parent or teacher in the 90s, you probably know this song but if you don't .... here are the lyrics:
This is the song that never ends
Yes it goes on and on my friends
Some people started singing it, not knowin what it was
And they'll continue singing it forever just because (repeat.... forever)
What? I had to teach that repeat didn't always just mean two times! So now there are 2nd through 4th graders in Honduras that can sing that song. And my friends are.... really happy with me :) Ah.... the freedom of beinga teacher without curriculum. ;)
Not a lot elso going on. Hope everyone is having a great week! (how's the weather)
This weekend was a nice, relaxing time at home. Since getting internet at our house we don't have to go to town so much and if we do, we don't have to stay for 5 hours while trying to catch up with everything! We also are getting a ride up and down from our house right after school on Wednesdays to grab groceries which is really nice because we don't have to take a mototaxi back up and/or stay for a long time. This Saturday we ended up walking to town just for fun but we didn't bring anything ... backpacks, computers, etc. We just walked! I even got a little sunburn! (The weather has been mostly warmer so that's nice). Saturday night we had church and hung out with friends. We have a new teacher here - Tad Vanden Brink from Michigan. He'll be helping at our school with the ESL program as well as teaching some Social Studies classes!
Sunday morning I went to the comedor and hung out with our neighbors. Abi and I spent about half an hour outside chasing hens and little chickens around - it was so great! Then we went inside and Abi did my hair and make-up - it was so beautiful! Luis Enoc also joined in on the fun but this was after he'd eaten a bunch of cookies so I had make up, glitter, knots and cookie crumbs in my head. Perfect Sunday morning/afternoon :) Since I was over, the neighbors made me stay for lunch- we had Yuca con chicarron. Yuca is kind of like potato or yam and chicarron is really good fried pork. Sonya had put some spices on the pork and it was SO SO SO good.
I had a dream last night that I was in Half-Price books picking out books for my kids. When I woke up I got so sad! I've been doing DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) for the first ten minutes of my reading class with the kids and we use books from the school library, but there aren't a lot of books that work for my kid's English reading level and are interesting. So after waking up from this dream, I layed in bed for a little while (well, obviously I stayed in bed, it was like 1 am :)) but I stayed up and thought for awhile and this is what I came up with.... if anyone is interested in donating books.... wouldn't that be so cool? You could put a little note in it and my kids could have some interaction with people from where I'm from! Anyway..... just a thought, I love books so so much I want my kids to like reading too! I think their reading level is about 2-4 grade so... Boxcar Children, those Great Illustrated Classic books, anything that has to do with soccer.... anyway. so if you want to send something.... that would be SO GREAT!
LBVP
guancascos
gracias, lempira, honduras.
ok. anyway, that has been my weekend! Today at school was great. I thought of a fun treat for my fellow teachers- teach the kids the Lamb Chop song. If you were a child, parent or teacher in the 90s, you probably know this song but if you don't .... here are the lyrics:
This is the song that never ends
Yes it goes on and on my friends
Some people started singing it, not knowin what it was
And they'll continue singing it forever just because (repeat.... forever)
What? I had to teach that repeat didn't always just mean two times! So now there are 2nd through 4th graders in Honduras that can sing that song. And my friends are.... really happy with me :) Ah.... the freedom of beinga teacher without curriculum. ;)
Not a lot elso going on. Hope everyone is having a great week! (how's the weather)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
back again.
I remember the one reason I liked snowy cold weather (and there is only one reason) - all the bugs are dead. The first week back I quickly acquired 17 new bug bites- 3 on my face, one right under my eye which proceeded to puff up and make me feel like I was squinting at people for about 4 days :) But other than that, I'm pretty happy to be back. I thought I'd be thrilled to be back, which I am, but it was a little bittersweet realizing how long it's going to be before I'm home again. For those of you wondering... yes Emily's wedding was beautiful. I only cried a little bit :)
When I left Honduras it was 70 degrees. When I came back, it was FREEZING. Okay, so relatively freezing. It's between 40-50 degrees which sounds like it could be decent but.... it's windy and cloudy and gray and we can't escape from it ever. Our houses and schools are completely open so I just dress in lots and lots of layers :) Hopefully it gets back to being nice and sunny and WARM!
School has been about as good as can be expected for the first week back. My kids are wild and goofy and don't want to work! I bought a gumball machine while at home with lots and lots of gumballs to use for incentive with my class. The first day I had it at school, I (yes of course it was me!) knocked it on the floor and since it only cost a dollar it definitely broke... right after I filled it all the way up with gumballs. I instantly had 21 sixth graders crawling on the floor trying to grab all of them. awesome :)
I have actually felt really out-of-sorts since being here and I don't if it's from lack of sleep over break or just getting back into daily routine. Saturday, we were walking down the mountain and I turned my head to make fun of one of my friends (two lessons here: 1) never make fun of your friends 2) never, ever stop looking at the road when you are walking on a mountain). I tripped, fumbled around in the air for a little bit, and then landed on my hands and knees and skidded for a second. It was great! I think my palms will heal but... kind of sucked while it was happening!
Part two of feeling out of sorts was Sunday morning. We usually try to make pancakes over the weekend because we actually have time to have a long breakfast. I thought I'd be helpful and cook that morning.... pancakes from a mix- easy right? It should be .... but for some reason I could not make pancakes. Plus I was knocking things off shelves all over the place- in my defense we have a very small kitchen without any counters but still- I felt very uncoordinated and ridiculous. After scraping 4 pancakes into the trash, I burst into tears and told my roommates I just couldn't do it! Looking back now.... it's funny. Crying over pancakes? hilarious right? :) But I really did feel highly incompetent and stupid so it was kind of a bummer. Anyway, I think I've mostly gotten over my more-than-usual uncoordination but .... we'll see :)
OH. I forgot. I'm typing this from my house. We got internet on the mountain :)
Enjoy your week!
When I left Honduras it was 70 degrees. When I came back, it was FREEZING. Okay, so relatively freezing. It's between 40-50 degrees which sounds like it could be decent but.... it's windy and cloudy and gray and we can't escape from it ever. Our houses and schools are completely open so I just dress in lots and lots of layers :) Hopefully it gets back to being nice and sunny and WARM!
School has been about as good as can be expected for the first week back. My kids are wild and goofy and don't want to work! I bought a gumball machine while at home with lots and lots of gumballs to use for incentive with my class. The first day I had it at school, I (yes of course it was me!) knocked it on the floor and since it only cost a dollar it definitely broke... right after I filled it all the way up with gumballs. I instantly had 21 sixth graders crawling on the floor trying to grab all of them. awesome :)
I have actually felt really out-of-sorts since being here and I don't if it's from lack of sleep over break or just getting back into daily routine. Saturday, we were walking down the mountain and I turned my head to make fun of one of my friends (two lessons here: 1) never make fun of your friends 2) never, ever stop looking at the road when you are walking on a mountain). I tripped, fumbled around in the air for a little bit, and then landed on my hands and knees and skidded for a second. It was great! I think my palms will heal but... kind of sucked while it was happening!
Part two of feeling out of sorts was Sunday morning. We usually try to make pancakes over the weekend because we actually have time to have a long breakfast. I thought I'd be helpful and cook that morning.... pancakes from a mix- easy right? It should be .... but for some reason I could not make pancakes. Plus I was knocking things off shelves all over the place- in my defense we have a very small kitchen without any counters but still- I felt very uncoordinated and ridiculous. After scraping 4 pancakes into the trash, I burst into tears and told my roommates I just couldn't do it! Looking back now.... it's funny. Crying over pancakes? hilarious right? :) But I really did feel highly incompetent and stupid so it was kind of a bummer. Anyway, I think I've mostly gotten over my more-than-usual uncoordination but .... we'll see :)
OH. I forgot. I'm typing this from my house. We got internet on the mountain :)
Enjoy your week!
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