Hello again! Things seem to have calmed down a bit in the drama department! Hallelujiah!!!!
We had another teacher come in this week, and another missionary who was here for just a couple of days. It is fun having more people around the house, not being alone, yet it is also a responsibility. Celestino is also staying with us and keeping us entertained as he serves as our "ninja guard"! He helps to keep my mind off the trouble we have had at the house. And having a male and a Honduran presence around the house and in the truck and at my new house is all a good thing for people to see!
Since I last posted I have seen the dog who I am certain is the one which bit me. He is not a pet, but rather a Honduran street dog. Oh JOY! I am more freaked out knowing that he is free to roam the neighborhood, and seems to have decided that he likes the street and the area near my new house to hang out with his other street dogs.
We have received permission from the owners of the apts. across the street from Annette's house to park the truck inside their gate, which is convenient and for the time being prevents me from having to walk to and from my new house and can avoid walking by this dog. But last night there was some complications with the gate and my clicker wasn't working so we parked at the house. It was raining and so that kept most dogs away. But then this morning I needed to walk to the house to get the truck for us all to get to school. I was so nervous. I was shaky and could feel my heart beating. Bonnel had sent me some verses after reading my blog last week and one was especially comforting this morning. It is Isaiah 41:13 so I was saying it as I began walking this morning. I got about a block and a half from Annette's house and seeing some dogs running around people's trash I just couldn't continue on. So I turned around and went back to the house. I was so afraid. It was overwhelming! Everyone decided to walk with me....we carried PVC pipe which I had gotten cut to fit my windows at the new house for curtains, and a rake I had purchased and we set off for my house. We were quite a site I am sure. But we were armed and "dangerous" !!! As we got to my house I saw him and he was coming up another street toward the street we were on. I quickly got us into my gate and to safety. I am pretty freaked...and people here think I am funny when I asked if Comayagua has any sort of Animal Control department! ha ha ha!!!! NO! was the answer! Perhaps we will find a humane way to exterminate the biting dog ...until then I will be walking with my PVC pipe/curtain rods!
Last night after celebrating Noel's birthday at LaCasita and then Baskin Robbins we went to my new house to pray over it. It was a good time of seeing all that God has given to me, the house He has provided for me, and His hand of protection in the recent weeks.
Please continue to pray for the school, and the missionaries who are here, Alysha and Haley.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Thank you for all your prayers and notes and text messages this week. It has been a difficult week.
It all started on Wednesday morning. I was walking from Annette´s house to the house I am renting and will be moving into when Annette returns from the U.S. I had been parking the Turner´s truck at my new house because the garage at the Turner house is tiny and I can´t put the truck there. After Rickie and Lucy left, we lost the parking across the street....so I was walking down to get the truck to go to school. Wednesday morning as we were getting ready to leave Alysha had a nose bleed, so I said I will go get the truck and come back and pick you up. So I headed out as I had been doing for the past week, and about 3 or 4 houses before my house I see this brown dog sitting on the sidewalk in front of a house. I look at him and walk on past trying not to pay him much attention. After I passed the house I hear the pitter patter of running dog feet and then chomp on the back of my leg. He cought me where your leg bends behind your knee, so luckily he only got one tooth in. But it hurt and I was very scared. I quickly got to my house and got the gate unlocked so I could get behind the fence and away from him. I went back to pick up Alysha and I was pretty hysterical. We went inside to clean it and put on some antibacterial cream. I tried to hold it together and then when I walked into the office at the school I had melt down and told them I had been bitten by a dog that morning. Our teachers are all so wonderful! They jumped into action!
Lissette went with me to see if we could find the dog. We THINK we found the house with the dog....is it the right dog? I don´t know...it was a brown dog....I was trying to ignore him as I walked by and he bit me from behind. But I remembered the house where he had been sitting.
We talked to the owner of that dog and he has all his shots so that is good. I also went to the clinic of another missionary here in Comayagua, and had the wound cleaned and got a tetanus shot.
The tetanus shot is a story in itself! I got to the clinic and they said that doctor offices don´t keep the medicine for tetanus shots in the office, that you have to go to the health department to get the shot. They didn´t want me to have to do that, so one of the doctors there, whose daughter attends our school, went to the health department thinking she could pick up the medicine and bring it back to the clinic. Well they wouldn´t do it that way...so another doctor there, who speaks some English drove me to the health dept. where Kemys´mom was waiting for me and I got my shot. Now my arm hurts much worse than the dog bite...they are never very gentle here when you dealing with medical things. The kids in my class were all more concerned about me having to get an injection than they were about me getting bitten by a dog.
That was Wednesday...I was pretty freaked out because there are dogs here everywhere. And when you are on foot it isn´t good to be afraid of every dog you see.
Then Thursday I found out someone had tried to break into our house a week ago. I had heard noise during the night. The dogs barking and then thumping on the roof...but we have had several times when cats have gotten on the roof and fighting and thumping around...so I just thought it was the cats or some animal and the dogs were after them. (You may have read about that night in my previous post because part of our barbed wire was hanging off the house that I had to take care of the day I was also moving Rickie & Lucy´s apt. ) I found out this week that it had actually been 4 men on the roof of the house. One of the neighbors had heard our dogs barking and had gotten up and turned on their light....after that the men took off. After learning that part of me wanted to hop on the next plane to Texas and come home. I am alright now...still more cautious and more paranoid and paying much more attention to everything and everyone around me and around the house. Right now it is me and one 19 year old girl who is here to work at the school until the end of November. So Celestino is staying at the house with us now. There will be a man there for people to see as well as a Honduran, not just two gringo girls.
Friday morning I was reading my Bible, Psalm 86. I found a lot of comfort in those verses. I am trying to be thankful that I only got one tooth puncture and bruises from the dog....and that the men did not get into the house...and that I am safe and well and surrounded by people who care about me. I know these events are a part of living here. It is just a part I had hoped I would not have to experience personally. Please continue to pray for safety at Annette & Lance´s house and safety at the house where I will be moving and safety at the school. Please pray for safety and peace for me, Alysha, the other young people coming over the next couple months, Lance & Annette and the teachers and students at the school.
It all started on Wednesday morning. I was walking from Annette´s house to the house I am renting and will be moving into when Annette returns from the U.S. I had been parking the Turner´s truck at my new house because the garage at the Turner house is tiny and I can´t put the truck there. After Rickie and Lucy left, we lost the parking across the street....so I was walking down to get the truck to go to school. Wednesday morning as we were getting ready to leave Alysha had a nose bleed, so I said I will go get the truck and come back and pick you up. So I headed out as I had been doing for the past week, and about 3 or 4 houses before my house I see this brown dog sitting on the sidewalk in front of a house. I look at him and walk on past trying not to pay him much attention. After I passed the house I hear the pitter patter of running dog feet and then chomp on the back of my leg. He cought me where your leg bends behind your knee, so luckily he only got one tooth in. But it hurt and I was very scared. I quickly got to my house and got the gate unlocked so I could get behind the fence and away from him. I went back to pick up Alysha and I was pretty hysterical. We went inside to clean it and put on some antibacterial cream. I tried to hold it together and then when I walked into the office at the school I had melt down and told them I had been bitten by a dog that morning. Our teachers are all so wonderful! They jumped into action!
Lissette went with me to see if we could find the dog. We THINK we found the house with the dog....is it the right dog? I don´t know...it was a brown dog....I was trying to ignore him as I walked by and he bit me from behind. But I remembered the house where he had been sitting.
We talked to the owner of that dog and he has all his shots so that is good. I also went to the clinic of another missionary here in Comayagua, and had the wound cleaned and got a tetanus shot.
The tetanus shot is a story in itself! I got to the clinic and they said that doctor offices don´t keep the medicine for tetanus shots in the office, that you have to go to the health department to get the shot. They didn´t want me to have to do that, so one of the doctors there, whose daughter attends our school, went to the health department thinking she could pick up the medicine and bring it back to the clinic. Well they wouldn´t do it that way...so another doctor there, who speaks some English drove me to the health dept. where Kemys´mom was waiting for me and I got my shot. Now my arm hurts much worse than the dog bite...they are never very gentle here when you dealing with medical things. The kids in my class were all more concerned about me having to get an injection than they were about me getting bitten by a dog.
That was Wednesday...I was pretty freaked out because there are dogs here everywhere. And when you are on foot it isn´t good to be afraid of every dog you see.
Then Thursday I found out someone had tried to break into our house a week ago. I had heard noise during the night. The dogs barking and then thumping on the roof...but we have had several times when cats have gotten on the roof and fighting and thumping around...so I just thought it was the cats or some animal and the dogs were after them. (You may have read about that night in my previous post because part of our barbed wire was hanging off the house that I had to take care of the day I was also moving Rickie & Lucy´s apt. ) I found out this week that it had actually been 4 men on the roof of the house. One of the neighbors had heard our dogs barking and had gotten up and turned on their light....after that the men took off. After learning that part of me wanted to hop on the next plane to Texas and come home. I am alright now...still more cautious and more paranoid and paying much more attention to everything and everyone around me and around the house. Right now it is me and one 19 year old girl who is here to work at the school until the end of November. So Celestino is staying at the house with us now. There will be a man there for people to see as well as a Honduran, not just two gringo girls.
Friday morning I was reading my Bible, Psalm 86. I found a lot of comfort in those verses. I am trying to be thankful that I only got one tooth puncture and bruises from the dog....and that the men did not get into the house...and that I am safe and well and surrounded by people who care about me. I know these events are a part of living here. It is just a part I had hoped I would not have to experience personally. Please continue to pray for safety at Annette & Lance´s house and safety at the house where I will be moving and safety at the school. Please pray for safety and peace for me, Alysha, the other young people coming over the next couple months, Lance & Annette and the teachers and students at the school.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Hello!
I cannot belive it has only been one week since I was here writing to you. It seems like a month has gone by. It has been a busy week!
First....the PACE order came in.... sort of! Two of my English PACE numbers did not come, and I have kids who have had NO English PACEs all year because I have needed these numbers. The word is that they don´t have any of them at the Bodega in Tegucigalpa....so I dug through old PACEs that had been worked by students, and found a 1013 and a 1014 and took them home and erased everything and used white out on the incorrects and other pen marks, and then we had copies made so now ALL of my 2nd grade students have English! This is wonderful!!!!
I met with the father of one of my students last week. He is a very smart boy, but he works very slowly, he does not like to make any mistakes. And then when he does make a mistake or gets to a page where he thinks he can´t do it he just stops working. And he has not been doing his homework so he is very behind. His father came last week to talk to me because he didn´t understand, he had seen the grades he was getting on his tests....all 100 except for one test....so he thought Miguel was doing great. But he should have 12 PACEs complete and he has only completed 5. His dad calls me now most days after school to check on Miguel. He speaks pretty good English, so we are able to communicate on the phone. And it has made a huge change in his work! Perhaps he just needed some special attention from dad.
I still have two boys who are very behind.... Brian and Anthony. Please pray for these boys and pray for me to have the wisdom to know how to help them, how to motivate them, and how to keep them focused on their work.
I had my first real melt down last week..... It was Wednesday. During the night there was a horrible cat fight going on the top of our house. They kept me awake for hours. Thumping and howling and screetching....and then when I left for school that morning part of the barbed wire from the top of the house was hanging off over the sidewalk. I thought.. . great ' something else I need to take care off. That evening was the day of moving all the furniture and things from Rickie and Lucy´s apt....and also picking up some items from the ministry school that had been given to Annette.... I had a rough morning that day with my kids. When we broke for lunch, Angel came in with Sandra to talk to me about the barbed wire at the house ( he had been there earlier to clean up the back yard). I began crying. Angel was sweet and said he would come over after school and fix it....not to worry about it! I just completely had a meltdown with Sandra. I was feeling so unqualified with my kids. I am responsible for 15 children, resonsible for a year of their life and a year of their education. Am I really capable to teach them? Am I the best teacher for them? I had had several parents tell me that their kids didn´t like having a teacher who didn´t speak Spanish and it had really gotten to my heart. I think a combination of being tired, and the the stress of additional responsibilities with the move and getting my new house cleaned and ready, and knowing we had a missionary coming in a few days and I just broke. Some of the kids saw me crying and ran to the office to say something has happened to Miss Stephanie. Lisette came and we both cried together as I shared my heart with her and Sandra. I pulled myself together and listened to all the encouragement from them.
But in the process many of the kids had seen me crying and knew something had made me terribly sad. The rest of the day kids were coming to me to ask why I was crying. The next day in class almost every one of my 2nd grade students had drawn me a picture or written me a note. One of my students had even brought a little flower for me. It was so sweet of them! They are great kids!
We got the apt moved, and furniture delivered to Annette´s house and my new house, and to the school. I took the boys to eat Pizza afterward then took them all home. I finally got home about 10:00 and collapsed, I was exhausted! But it was done and it all worked out. It was a fun evening with the kids. Two of the girls from school came along to keep me company...or to be around the boys. :) I enjoyed having them with me. I had 7 boys and 2 girls, plus me...and many trips with a loaded truck. The kids were great and a huge help!
We have a new teacher who arrived yesterday. She is 19 years, and currently in college studying to be a nurse. She was homeschooled and graduated early. She began taking college classes when she was 16. She is very sweet and will be a huge help at the school. She loves chemistry and biology, and she is good with math. Oh how we will love her in high school!
This morning I took her to Sandra´s chuch, it is just down the main blvd from our house. I went once while Rickie and Lucy were here and I really enjoyed it. So this morning Alysha had a cultural experience. A hot and sweaty experience! Then we went to eat lunch at La Casita, I showed her around town a little then to the mall to do some email.
Please remember Alysha in your prayers and her family. She is the oldest of 6 childen and is very close with her siblings. Her sister who is two years younger than her really had a hard time with her leaving. She will be here for 6 months. Pray for her and for her family while she is with us in Honduras. We are so happy to have her here and know that God will be able to use her here. But I know how hard it is to be away from your child, and how hard it is to be away from your family.
Please continue to pray for the students at the school, pray for the school, and for the teachers. There are too few teachers and we are all hot and tired and the kids are wound up.
Please continue to pray for Moises in my class. He is really out of control, and Merlynn is having a lot of trouble with him in her spanish class as well.
I cannot belive it has only been one week since I was here writing to you. It seems like a month has gone by. It has been a busy week!
First....the PACE order came in.... sort of! Two of my English PACE numbers did not come, and I have kids who have had NO English PACEs all year because I have needed these numbers. The word is that they don´t have any of them at the Bodega in Tegucigalpa....so I dug through old PACEs that had been worked by students, and found a 1013 and a 1014 and took them home and erased everything and used white out on the incorrects and other pen marks, and then we had copies made so now ALL of my 2nd grade students have English! This is wonderful!!!!
I met with the father of one of my students last week. He is a very smart boy, but he works very slowly, he does not like to make any mistakes. And then when he does make a mistake or gets to a page where he thinks he can´t do it he just stops working. And he has not been doing his homework so he is very behind. His father came last week to talk to me because he didn´t understand, he had seen the grades he was getting on his tests....all 100 except for one test....so he thought Miguel was doing great. But he should have 12 PACEs complete and he has only completed 5. His dad calls me now most days after school to check on Miguel. He speaks pretty good English, so we are able to communicate on the phone. And it has made a huge change in his work! Perhaps he just needed some special attention from dad.
I still have two boys who are very behind.... Brian and Anthony. Please pray for these boys and pray for me to have the wisdom to know how to help them, how to motivate them, and how to keep them focused on their work.
I had my first real melt down last week..... It was Wednesday. During the night there was a horrible cat fight going on the top of our house. They kept me awake for hours. Thumping and howling and screetching....and then when I left for school that morning part of the barbed wire from the top of the house was hanging off over the sidewalk. I thought.. . great ' something else I need to take care off. That evening was the day of moving all the furniture and things from Rickie and Lucy´s apt....and also picking up some items from the ministry school that had been given to Annette.... I had a rough morning that day with my kids. When we broke for lunch, Angel came in with Sandra to talk to me about the barbed wire at the house ( he had been there earlier to clean up the back yard). I began crying. Angel was sweet and said he would come over after school and fix it....not to worry about it! I just completely had a meltdown with Sandra. I was feeling so unqualified with my kids. I am responsible for 15 children, resonsible for a year of their life and a year of their education. Am I really capable to teach them? Am I the best teacher for them? I had had several parents tell me that their kids didn´t like having a teacher who didn´t speak Spanish and it had really gotten to my heart. I think a combination of being tired, and the the stress of additional responsibilities with the move and getting my new house cleaned and ready, and knowing we had a missionary coming in a few days and I just broke. Some of the kids saw me crying and ran to the office to say something has happened to Miss Stephanie. Lisette came and we both cried together as I shared my heart with her and Sandra. I pulled myself together and listened to all the encouragement from them.
But in the process many of the kids had seen me crying and knew something had made me terribly sad. The rest of the day kids were coming to me to ask why I was crying. The next day in class almost every one of my 2nd grade students had drawn me a picture or written me a note. One of my students had even brought a little flower for me. It was so sweet of them! They are great kids!
We got the apt moved, and furniture delivered to Annette´s house and my new house, and to the school. I took the boys to eat Pizza afterward then took them all home. I finally got home about 10:00 and collapsed, I was exhausted! But it was done and it all worked out. It was a fun evening with the kids. Two of the girls from school came along to keep me company...or to be around the boys. :) I enjoyed having them with me. I had 7 boys and 2 girls, plus me...and many trips with a loaded truck. The kids were great and a huge help!
We have a new teacher who arrived yesterday. She is 19 years, and currently in college studying to be a nurse. She was homeschooled and graduated early. She began taking college classes when she was 16. She is very sweet and will be a huge help at the school. She loves chemistry and biology, and she is good with math. Oh how we will love her in high school!
This morning I took her to Sandra´s chuch, it is just down the main blvd from our house. I went once while Rickie and Lucy were here and I really enjoyed it. So this morning Alysha had a cultural experience. A hot and sweaty experience! Then we went to eat lunch at La Casita, I showed her around town a little then to the mall to do some email.
Please remember Alysha in your prayers and her family. She is the oldest of 6 childen and is very close with her siblings. Her sister who is two years younger than her really had a hard time with her leaving. She will be here for 6 months. Pray for her and for her family while she is with us in Honduras. We are so happy to have her here and know that God will be able to use her here. But I know how hard it is to be away from your child, and how hard it is to be away from your family.
Please continue to pray for the students at the school, pray for the school, and for the teachers. There are too few teachers and we are all hot and tired and the kids are wound up.
Please continue to pray for Moises in my class. He is really out of control, and Merlynn is having a lot of trouble with him in her spanish class as well.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mothers Day!
It is odd to celebrate Mothers Day away from my family. But all holidays bring sadness when you are away from those you love!
First I want to answer Marjo´s question about a pupusa. It is delicious! It is like a tortilla stuffed with cheese. And then topped with sort of like coleslaw. Many things here are topped with shredded cabbage and carrots that is mixed with vinegar and salt. Similar to in the U.S. putting lettuce on things. Pupusas are wonderful and Paty´s are great! She used more cheese than some of the local pupusa stops.
It has been a while since I have posted, so I will try to catch up on everything here.
Continue to pray for issues we are having with PACEs, which is the curriculum we use for the students. The last order we sent in is "coming" but they didn´t have enough of the numbers that we ordered so we will be making copies of PACEs. And some of my students are so bright they are almost finished with half of the school year (except for English because I still am waiting on those PACEs)....so I am about to need to order the last half of the year for some of my students. It is hard to explain to parents why their students have not finished some of the subjects because we don´t have the materials. Some are understanding and some not so much.
Last Friday was when we gave the grades to the parents. This was a new experience for me. Some conferences were easy because their child is a good student and well behaved. And some are difficult when I have to tell them the problems I am having with their child´s behavior. One of my students was sitting with his father as I explained that he is not staying focused on his work and many times just day dreams and does not work...and out of 12 PACEs has only completed 5. His father looks at him and says "You´re going to get it" Brian put his head down and began to cry. I wanted to cry with him. But dad wants to help him and has taken away his game boy and playstation until he gets a better report from me on his work habits. I had Mr. Peter with me during these conferences with the parents to translate for me. Most of the parents only speak Spanish. And of course two of my boys with problems, I had no parent show up to pick up their grades. Makes it hard when you can´t get support from home.
We have a new student at our school. We call him New Christopher. Because we have another student who is Christopher Joseph who we have problems with, so as to not confuse the two boys, this child is New Christopher. He came to our school because he had been kicked out of other schools and Christopher Joseph´s father recommended our school. Christopher Joseph has come a LONG way, but we continue to have behavior problems with him.
The New Christopher needs prayer! Last week he showed me this long marks on the bottom half of his leg. He told me that his mother beat him with a belt. These marks looked like he had been beaten with a belt or switch or something that would make these marks....he said it was because he had thrown his sister´s food at her when she broke his toy. Then he said she will beat me tomorrow too. I asked him why he thought that. He said because I got an 88 on my Word Building test. I told him that was a good grade, his mother would be proud of him. He said oh no that is not good enough, she will beat me.
This broke my heart! I talked to Miss Paty and he had shared this with her as well. Right now we do not know much about his family or what his home is like. Paty was going to talk to Miss Denora about the situation and see what we can and need to do from this point.
Please continue to pray for my student, Moises, as he continues to teach the children bad words, and talk about sexual things to the other 2nd grade students. We are struggling with what to do with him, and Denora has even talked about not letting him continue at Ruach.
Now for some good news.....
I rented a house this week! I really wanted to find something near Annette & Lance´s house. There were 3 houses which I found, and one was $350 a month....one was $450 a month...both way out of my budget! I was afraid I would not find anything I could afford. There was a house by the school but it was rented almost as soon as I heard about it being available. There was one other house which I had seen a sign but we had not been able to reach the owner. Finally we got him last week, and Lucy went with me to look at the house. It is in Colonial Casa Blanca (a colonial is a step up from a barrio)....this is a nice neighborhood and would truly be a blessing to be able to find an affordable house here for me. Well he was renting it for 4000 limperas, which is about $215 ...my budget was $250 so I was thrilled! It is a 2 bedroom one bath. There are several things about it which I really liked....for one it has closets in both bedrooms! And cabinets in the kitchen! Sounds unbelievable I know, to think that houses would not have these things, but these are a luxury here! There are ceiling fans in each room = a plus when there is no air conditioning. And the area outside the kitchen where the pila is (out door sink/laundry area) has a fence on each side so that I can keep Samson out of this area which will be great when I am hanging clothes to dry. Otherwise Samson would think my clothes on the line were there for his enjoyment! This will be a new experience for me as I will not have a washer or dryer. I am planning to hire Maria, who works at Annette´s house 3 days a week cleaning, etc....so she can help me with my laundry being done by hand.
I will stay at Annette´s house through the end of this month. Annette is in the U.S. and we have people coming this month from the U.S. who are coming to help at the school. So I will be with them at Annette´s house until she gets back from the U.S. then I will move myself to the house. My new house is about a 5 minute walk from Annette´s. This will be nice, I will be close by and still able to hang out with all the folks coming in to help out this year! And I will be nearby to help Annette if she needs a hand with all the new folks.
That´s it for now....I have some errands to run and then to the new house to measure windows so I can have PVC Pipe cut to make curtain rods this week...then back home to watch the season finale of Survivor!!!!!
Yes I get Survivor here. The cable company we currently have gets 4 U.S. channels with current programs. Although that could change at any moment...but hopefully it won´t change today!
Love and Miss you!
It is odd to celebrate Mothers Day away from my family. But all holidays bring sadness when you are away from those you love!
First I want to answer Marjo´s question about a pupusa. It is delicious! It is like a tortilla stuffed with cheese. And then topped with sort of like coleslaw. Many things here are topped with shredded cabbage and carrots that is mixed with vinegar and salt. Similar to in the U.S. putting lettuce on things. Pupusas are wonderful and Paty´s are great! She used more cheese than some of the local pupusa stops.
It has been a while since I have posted, so I will try to catch up on everything here.
Continue to pray for issues we are having with PACEs, which is the curriculum we use for the students. The last order we sent in is "coming" but they didn´t have enough of the numbers that we ordered so we will be making copies of PACEs. And some of my students are so bright they are almost finished with half of the school year (except for English because I still am waiting on those PACEs)....so I am about to need to order the last half of the year for some of my students. It is hard to explain to parents why their students have not finished some of the subjects because we don´t have the materials. Some are understanding and some not so much.
Last Friday was when we gave the grades to the parents. This was a new experience for me. Some conferences were easy because their child is a good student and well behaved. And some are difficult when I have to tell them the problems I am having with their child´s behavior. One of my students was sitting with his father as I explained that he is not staying focused on his work and many times just day dreams and does not work...and out of 12 PACEs has only completed 5. His father looks at him and says "You´re going to get it" Brian put his head down and began to cry. I wanted to cry with him. But dad wants to help him and has taken away his game boy and playstation until he gets a better report from me on his work habits. I had Mr. Peter with me during these conferences with the parents to translate for me. Most of the parents only speak Spanish. And of course two of my boys with problems, I had no parent show up to pick up their grades. Makes it hard when you can´t get support from home.
We have a new student at our school. We call him New Christopher. Because we have another student who is Christopher Joseph who we have problems with, so as to not confuse the two boys, this child is New Christopher. He came to our school because he had been kicked out of other schools and Christopher Joseph´s father recommended our school. Christopher Joseph has come a LONG way, but we continue to have behavior problems with him.
The New Christopher needs prayer! Last week he showed me this long marks on the bottom half of his leg. He told me that his mother beat him with a belt. These marks looked like he had been beaten with a belt or switch or something that would make these marks....he said it was because he had thrown his sister´s food at her when she broke his toy. Then he said she will beat me tomorrow too. I asked him why he thought that. He said because I got an 88 on my Word Building test. I told him that was a good grade, his mother would be proud of him. He said oh no that is not good enough, she will beat me.
This broke my heart! I talked to Miss Paty and he had shared this with her as well. Right now we do not know much about his family or what his home is like. Paty was going to talk to Miss Denora about the situation and see what we can and need to do from this point.
Please continue to pray for my student, Moises, as he continues to teach the children bad words, and talk about sexual things to the other 2nd grade students. We are struggling with what to do with him, and Denora has even talked about not letting him continue at Ruach.
Now for some good news.....
I rented a house this week! I really wanted to find something near Annette & Lance´s house. There were 3 houses which I found, and one was $350 a month....one was $450 a month...both way out of my budget! I was afraid I would not find anything I could afford. There was a house by the school but it was rented almost as soon as I heard about it being available. There was one other house which I had seen a sign but we had not been able to reach the owner. Finally we got him last week, and Lucy went with me to look at the house. It is in Colonial Casa Blanca (a colonial is a step up from a barrio)....this is a nice neighborhood and would truly be a blessing to be able to find an affordable house here for me. Well he was renting it for 4000 limperas, which is about $215 ...my budget was $250 so I was thrilled! It is a 2 bedroom one bath. There are several things about it which I really liked....for one it has closets in both bedrooms! And cabinets in the kitchen! Sounds unbelievable I know, to think that houses would not have these things, but these are a luxury here! There are ceiling fans in each room = a plus when there is no air conditioning. And the area outside the kitchen where the pila is (out door sink/laundry area) has a fence on each side so that I can keep Samson out of this area which will be great when I am hanging clothes to dry. Otherwise Samson would think my clothes on the line were there for his enjoyment! This will be a new experience for me as I will not have a washer or dryer. I am planning to hire Maria, who works at Annette´s house 3 days a week cleaning, etc....so she can help me with my laundry being done by hand.
I will stay at Annette´s house through the end of this month. Annette is in the U.S. and we have people coming this month from the U.S. who are coming to help at the school. So I will be with them at Annette´s house until she gets back from the U.S. then I will move myself to the house. My new house is about a 5 minute walk from Annette´s. This will be nice, I will be close by and still able to hang out with all the folks coming in to help out this year! And I will be nearby to help Annette if she needs a hand with all the new folks.
That´s it for now....I have some errands to run and then to the new house to measure windows so I can have PVC Pipe cut to make curtain rods this week...then back home to watch the season finale of Survivor!!!!!
Yes I get Survivor here. The cable company we currently have gets 4 U.S. channels with current programs. Although that could change at any moment...but hopefully it won´t change today!
Love and Miss you!
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Hello! Thank you all for your prayers. I had a miracle at the dentist this week! Originally, the dentist told me I should go to a specialist...it was obvious that he was concerned about pulling this tooth. The tooth was broken and it was infected. Lucy went with me on Thursday morning. We arrived and he said he was steralizing the equipment.
I went back and he numbed my mouth then gave me two shots to numb all the area around the tooth. He then called me back again for the extraction. He reached in and grabbed hold of my tooth, and pulled out part of it, then grabbed again and pulled out the other half. As he did it he said "God is Good!!" He continued praising God as he said I got it all, all the root came out. He then said to me, "whenever there is something that should be difficult and it is easy I say God is Good!" " This should have been difficult, but it was very easy. It took about 30 seconds!"
It truly was amazing and how well I felt the rest of that day. I took it easy, watched tv, ate ice cream....and then on Friday I went to school. I was pretty wiped out by the time I got home late last night (after helping prepare for a bazaar we held at the school as a fundraiser today)...but I did not feel like I had just had an infected wisdom tooth pulled the day before!
Today, I am great! We had a successful fundraiser at the school today too. It was a combination garage sale, food sale, games etc...all the money going toward the air conditioner in the learning center. Of course Paty made pupusas and I was happy I could eat real food today! I had two of them! They are sooo delicious! We made a little over 8,000 limperas, which is about $425 US....we are getting very close to the amount needed to install the air conditioning!
And oh what a happy day that will be because it is soooo hot here!
Rickie and Lucy leave Honduras on the 15th of this month and we have a new teacher arriving on the 17th. She will be here through the end of the school year. And then two other college students who arrive later in May. It will be great having the extra help at the school.
Celestino went with Rickie and Lucy today to go to Seguatapeque to visit the orphanage. I couldn´t go since we had the event at the school this morning. They have been wanting to go to the orphanage and needed to make the time to go as they will be leaving Honduras soon. I am sure they will come back to Comayague with their hearts pulled by the boys there!
I went back and he numbed my mouth then gave me two shots to numb all the area around the tooth. He then called me back again for the extraction. He reached in and grabbed hold of my tooth, and pulled out part of it, then grabbed again and pulled out the other half. As he did it he said "God is Good!!" He continued praising God as he said I got it all, all the root came out. He then said to me, "whenever there is something that should be difficult and it is easy I say God is Good!" " This should have been difficult, but it was very easy. It took about 30 seconds!"
It truly was amazing and how well I felt the rest of that day. I took it easy, watched tv, ate ice cream....and then on Friday I went to school. I was pretty wiped out by the time I got home late last night (after helping prepare for a bazaar we held at the school as a fundraiser today)...but I did not feel like I had just had an infected wisdom tooth pulled the day before!
Today, I am great! We had a successful fundraiser at the school today too. It was a combination garage sale, food sale, games etc...all the money going toward the air conditioner in the learning center. Of course Paty made pupusas and I was happy I could eat real food today! I had two of them! They are sooo delicious! We made a little over 8,000 limperas, which is about $425 US....we are getting very close to the amount needed to install the air conditioning!
And oh what a happy day that will be because it is soooo hot here!
Rickie and Lucy leave Honduras on the 15th of this month and we have a new teacher arriving on the 17th. She will be here through the end of the school year. And then two other college students who arrive later in May. It will be great having the extra help at the school.
Celestino went with Rickie and Lucy today to go to Seguatapeque to visit the orphanage. I couldn´t go since we had the event at the school this morning. They have been wanting to go to the orphanage and needed to make the time to go as they will be leaving Honduras soon. I am sure they will come back to Comayague with their hearts pulled by the boys there!
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