Odds and Ends

Several days ago me and Jo got out of school and started walking towards the train station...our route takes us by the track field and past the first building of the school.  This day though, we happened to walk by right during rappelling class (which we didn't know existed).  A group of seventh graders and their teacher were rappelling down the side of the school!  They were hooked to the railing on one of the upper stories.  It was really fun to watch, especially since some of them were pretty apprehensive.

We taught at one of our last temporary outside schools for the year and it was way up in the mountains.  The area is apparently famous for hang gliding.  Before we left we were waiting at the front of the school watching our kids practice singing one of their tribal songs in the field.  All of the sudden it started pouring rain - it was one of the first rains we've seen this season.  It was really refreshing and hilarious to watch because the teachers made the kids finish the song out in the field.  As soon as they were done all the kids ran to where we were under the sheltered foyer.  As a gift, they gave us a CD of songs that our students had recorded.  

One of the new classes we started at our school is a music class and of course since we are English teachers, we teach English songs - and we get to pick the songs.  It's so fun to end a class period and hear the kids singing 'Do, Lord'.  The new classes are a little bit stressful, but I know that the little opportunities we get like that to put in a tiny glimpse of our faith makes it worth it. 

I'm reading through Nehemiah, and realizing how much he did for the people of Israel in the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  He cries out to God in 5:19 to think on him for good.  While over here, I certainly haven't done anything that could compare to Nehemiah's work, but I hope someday I'll be able to make as much a difference as he did for the Lord.

New Plans (Lesson)

Last week we had a meeting at the English village with six different elementary schools.  All six of us teachers are assigned right now for the month of June to teach at one of these schools.  I was placed at a school where I already know the kids, and I am friends with the English teacher.  All of us are a little bit apprehensive about what we are going to be doing since this is a whole new game for us.  All year we have had to be flexible within certain unvariables, but this last month we've been getting ready for many changes that we will be implenting to kick off for the new teachers coming next year.  That meeting was one of the most scariest things on my agenda besides next month, and God was so good to answer my prayers for it to go well.  The Lord has been incredibly gracious to me recently especially as it has been kind of stressful working out the new programs and stuff as a teacher.  

It hasn't been all work and no play though...on Tuesday we went to inspect a crocodile farm as a prospective activity for summer camps.  After feeding the crocs and then fishing for bullfrogs we got to hold one of the smaller gators.  At the end of our visit, the man was showing us around tied a pig's foot onto a big bamboo pole and dangled it over the pool where the 30 year old crocodiles were...they jumped and snapped at it, and the guy was just standing there pulling on the pole to tease them out of the water.