can't sleep

Big decision to make this month whether to sign on for another year at IST or to go back to the states. And if I decide to return to the states, what will I do? where will i live? how will i make money? etc. And since I am terrible at decision-making (especially important ones), it's going to be a very back and forth month I feel like. Your prayers (and words of wisdom) are greatly appreciated.

coming soon to an airport near you...

25 hours until I step foot on California soil. Getting prepared for flushable toilet paper, carpet, driving, chick-fil-a, taco bell, and most exciting: my family and friends!! See you soon.

a caribbean christmas... not quite

Well, i guess if Christmas technically starts on the day after Thanksgiving, then technically it was a caribbean Christmas. Casa Verde and Friend, consisting of Anna, Corrie, Megan, Melissa, Eduardo (Megan's bf) and I traveled by bus to the caribbean coast of Honduras where we caught a 1.5 hour ferry ride to Utila, one of Honduras's three Bay Islands. We were able to spend Thanksgiving Day and Friday riding bikes down the beachfront, playing frisbee in the water, reading in the sunshine and spending time with friends. It was a wonderful vacation.




Upon returning from the actual Caribbean, Anna and I returned to another Caribbean, in full force: "A Caribbean Christmas" this year's preschool Christmas program. Imagine for a minute, 200 children between the ages of 3 and 6 performing a number of songs with choreographed dances. Cute, right? Adorable. Now, imagine those same 200 kids 1 week before the actual performance, practicing for literally 3-and-a-half hours a day those same songs and movements. Those poor things: standing up, sitting down, shaking their shoulders, shaking their hips, flailing their arms, bouncing their knees, trying to smile while singing at the top of their lungs in a language they don't know. They hate it. We practice from 7-9am, do some phonics, have snack and recess and then practice again from 10:30-12, followed by some more classes, lunch, and then the occasional in-class practice of our own class song for the program. The look on their faces when I line them up for the second rehearsal of the day kills me. Now you know what my life has been like since Thanksgiving.

In other news, we did not end up going to San Pedro to visit Nandi and her family last weekend. Some things came up and it didn't work out. There is still a chance that a couple of us may go this weekend, but my confidence in that idea is quickly fading. Please continue to keep them in your prayers though as the dad is still going through some major surgeries, Nandi has about a month of recovery before she even begins to do physical therapy to re-learn how to walk, and the mom is having to be so strong going back and forth between the hospital where her husband is at, and her relatives house with her daughter.

in less than 8 days I will be back home in California!! I'm so excited, I can't wait. But there is yet so much to be done between now and then (homeless dinner, tamaleada, another filling, possible SPS trip, Christmas program, and more), so I'm sure the next 8 days are going to fly. And when I get back it's not going to slow down much either. Lots to see and do in Cali as well. Pray that I find time to rest. My love is with you all. Can't wait to see you!

::update::

Here is the latest of what I have heard on the family who was in the car accident. Maria, the mother, who suffered the least physically (several fractures as i understand), is now in a recovery room in the hospital. Nandi, the little girl, broke both of her legs and her wrists. She had surgery on Wednesday on one of the legs and yesterday on the other one. I think she is in the recovery room with her mother. Jose, the father, is still in intensive care. He has finally come to, but is suffering from memory loss. He apparently recognized his wife, but he has no recollection of the accident. I'm not sure how much of his memory has been affected. Elisa, the sister who passed away in the accident was buried in Nicaragua (where the family is from), while the parents are still in the hospital. Yesterday, a few teachers from the Bible department at IST drove up to San Pedro Sula to visit them in the hospital. Rumor has it that when the little girl saw Mrs. Nieto, her Bible teacher from last year, she was asking about me and my assistant too. Myself and a couple other Kindergarten teachers and assistants are planning to make the 4-hour drive up there on Sunday. Please, please continue to pray for this family, and for us as we drive up that same stretch of highway where the accident took place. Pray that God will give us wisdom and peace in the midst of it all.

you never know

This is Nandi. She was one of my smartest students last year. This partial she got High Honors in First Grade. Yesterday afternoon Nandi and her family were in a very serious car accident. Her twin sister, Elisa was killed on impact. Nandi, her mother, and father were taken to the hospital where Nandi and her father are both in critical condition and her mother is being sedated because she has suffered numerous fractures to her body. Please pray for complete physical and emotional healing for this family, and peace for all those involved in their lives.

http://www.latribuna.hn/news/45/ARTICLE/50216/2008-12-01.html

a.r.t. d.a.y.

my apologies once again for the long delay in updates. i didn't know anyone was checking the blog, so i got discouraged and stopped writing cause it felt like a waste of time. But now that I know at least 2 people check it, I will try to update more frequently. BUT, you have to comment on the posts so I know you're still checking them. Ok?

Alright, so since it's been forever since the last post and it would take a really long time to update you on everything that's happened since the robbing, i will pick a couple random samplings from the time in between.

1. After my cell phone was stolen (as you read about in the last post), it took about 3 or so weeks to get a new one, and when i finally got the new one, I found out that they didn't have the same one I had before, so one of the administrators at school worked it out that I got an even better one. So my new phone is a 3G Motorola Razr with some pretty sweet features including Moto ID (which can listen to about 10 seconds of any song, analyze it, and tell you the name of the song and the artist who sings it), USB transfer of songs pictures and video to and from my computer, and the best feature: video calling. Sadly, I only know one other person who has video calling as well, so I haven't been able to take much advantage of this.

2. At school we have been practicing every morning for the upcoming Christmas program. One kid in my class is so funny when he sings. We try to get them to sing as loud as they can, but he is apparently incapable of singing loudly without making a sort of scowl on his face. So here he is, singing Feliz Navidad at the top of his lungs with a furrowed brow and a huge smile on his face. It's awesome.

3. Art Day! I've been trying for a couple months now to have an art day some Saturday morning, and it finally worked out. It actually ended up being saturday afternoon and it was quite a success. I was expecting it might go for about 3 hours, but we went strong with the art-making from 3pm until 8:30. It was great! There was cross-stitching, painting in various formats, coloring, baking, and different types of paper art. All in all, we had lots of fun, and I can't wait until the next one!

ay ladrones!

Today in continuation of our Community Helpers theme for Social studies we talked about Police Officers. The kiddies all made their little police hats (I wish I had my camera, they were so cute), and then took turns acting out scenarios for when a police officer would be needed. All they could come up with was robberies, so one girl had her purse stolen, a boy had his backpack taken and two more robbers stole some kids' play-doh as they were playing. As soon as they shouted "Police!!" however, two cops quickly chased down the thieves and recovered the stolen items.

If only it were that easy. Last Saturday I fell victim to my third robbery since being here in Honduras. While visiting a neighboring town, a group of seven of us were hanging out in the main square right next to the church when two men came around the corner saying (in Spanish, of course) "this is an assault, give us your things..." We were all very stunned and there was nothing we could really do 'cause one of them had a gun. By the time it was all over they made out with two cell phones (one of which being the new one I just bought) and three digital cameras. It was a huge bummer, but thankfully the Lord kept us all safe. It was a good reminder that we always need to be aware of our surroundings, and never to get too comfortable. Praise the Lord we are all ok though!! His hand of protection has been upon us all along. Sometimes it's just more noticeable than others. Thanks for all your continued prayers.