In time for a surprise

Little did I know that Sunday, as I waited for the church bus to come, that this would be no ordinary bus, and no ordinary Sunday. As our big yellow bus pulled up to the curb, I was surprised to see the words, “South Carolina Public Schools” inscribed on the side. I was ready to die of laughter right there and then, at the street corner. Who would have thought that I would have been climbing in a SC school bus in the middle of Guadalajara?!?! The Lord has such a sense of humor. Sunday was an interesting day since I went to church here in Guadalajara with Tita. This was one of those times when I remembered Makenzie and her prayer for me this week, that I would be brave and not shy, making lots of new friends. It’s my automatic response to cling to the one person I know when I’m in a new place, but I have to force myself out of it. And here in Mexico, it’s my automatic response to cling to the Americans (if there are any) because it’s just so much easier. God is teaching me that what He requires from me will not be the “easy” thing. He will require me to do many difficult things. Anyway, I sat with my friend Tita, but the pastor asked me (in front of the whole church) my name and all that. Then he asked me if I came with Marta. I looked all around me and was like, “Who’s Marta?” Tita hung her head, then I realized, Marta was sitting right next to me. Her nickname is Tita, which I knew, but I thought her real name was Catalina since that was what Vick always calls her. Come to find out, her name is Marta Catalina. Tita is a shorter name for Martita. We both died of laughter later and we retold the story over and over. The church was really interesting as well. The church has started a children’s home, so all the children (about 45) came to church and sat among the congregation. I feel incredibly blessed to see so many incredible ministries happening in Mexico.

Last week

Well, a week has passed since my last blog entry. Things have been busy here. It’s been a long week. To sum it all up, I taught my last lesson on Thursday, Lauren and I got our hair and nails done. =) I got to observe 1st and 2nd grade classes and we finished student teaching officially on Friday. Thursday and Friday were spent in sickness of the stomach infection, but Friday I made it to school for the very special occasion my students had planned. My students are incredible. They may not be really huggy or telling you how much they love you every moment, but when it counts, they go above and beyond to show you how much they love you. For weeks (without my knowledge) they had planned a going away party for me. We had these Mexican chip things, brownies and coke. With all the chairs in a circle, we ate our snacks and my students each said something they liked about my teaching and a tip for being a good teacher, (especially to 2nd graders!). I had the amazing opportunity to tell them that I would be coming back next year. They were so excited, it made me bubble with joy! Hojun was the first to share what he liked and his tip. And I quote, “Ms Iman, you will be a good teacher because you are very patient with us, especially when we don’t understand something. And a tip: Second graders are CRAZY!” They had just had the second graders in their class that morning and realized how long their attention span really was! Hehe. Next was Arturo, oh dear Arturo… “Ms Iman, you are very patient with …um…with some of us (looking very sheepish and guilty as the whole class laughed because we all knew WHO he was referring to-himself).” My fifth graders gave me a book filled with letters from them and their pictures, as I flipped through and read, we all talked and laughed. It was wonderful. I treasure the time I had with them. We had a lot of rough spots, but I saw them grown as well as myself.

Saturday we had the club for the children in a different town, children, who once again, have very little. But I must say we had some difficulty getting there. Vicktor had already gone with some of the other guys to the town, while I rode with Pastor Ceasar and everyone else who was going. For about an hour or so the van refused to start. We sat there in the heat waiting, hoping it would start soon so we could go. We knew that Vick and the other guys would be the only ones playing games with about 100 kids. They would have no other help if we could not come. Finally the van started and we were able to get there. I enjoyed myself even more this time since I got to take more of a part. I was on the red team, cheering them on with my limited Spanish vocabulary. =) I enjoyed every moment-met a little girl named Dulces (or sweet/candy). I’m reminded of all the times I did Bible clubs in the states.
March 27, 2010

Ready to make a decision? I think not.

Well, today is Tuesday. Another weekend has come and gone too quickly. I only cant believe that I will be here for only 2 more weeks. QUE TRISTE! How sad! Over the weekend, the missionary family in Chapala took me to a place called Tonala. Can I just say, I LOVE shopping! There is nothing better. Rows and rows of market and shops. After church, we ate KFC, went shopping in Tonala, and then had a lovely visit to starbucks. Monday, we had a meeting for those who want to be involved in the children’s program on Saturdays, playing awana games with the children and teaching them Bible. Everyone was supposed to make a decision if they would be helping every week or not. Pastor Pelayo, Cesar and Vick were all saying that I would be there every week and that I would be back soon. They couldn’t believe that I was leaving. On little papers, we had to write if we would be part of the weekly help (of club ancla) or just help when we could. On my paper, I wrote, if I am in Guadalajara, I will help. This obviously was not what they wanted to hear and kept trying to change what I wrote on my paper. I think it is awesome that two churches, from Chapala and Guadalajara, that are so different can work together for a purpose. In one church, the women only wear skirts and dresses, they listen only to conservative music…Those in Chapala are exactly the opposite, yet both can work together to do something like helping the children of other villages. I find this incredible. I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to get to know all these people. I feel comfortable with all of them and love them all. I also had a great day with Keren, tickling her all the day long and soaking up her attention, especially since I haven’t spent much time with her.
On to today, I am back at my old house again for another few days, so up bright and early I was, ready to catch the bus. My only surprise, someone from Lincoln staff was on the same bus I was! How funny! I didn’t even know that anyone else took the bus to school, much less, the same bus as me! Today, we finally had our Egyptian museum for my class. They were so excited, that during Spanish class, they kept asking the Spanish teacher if they could start with the museum. Then they kept asking me when we were having the museum. My students had a ball dressing up as people from Egypt. There was a large pyramid covering my desk this morning when I walked it. It was part of our wonderful Egyptian display. They students had fun and did a great job. It was neat to see them share with others exactly what they had learned and there were so excited! We had all kinds of people come through our museum, including the coordinator for elementary and about 5 other classes. The principal even wanted to come through, but he was just a few minutes too late. The other 5th grade class did not come prepared, so they will be presenting on Thursday. Hoping that they come prepared! It’s been quite a great day and ready for tomorrow. We will have our sports Olympics day tomorrow!
Also, sidenote-my principal stopped me today and told me that he wants for his teachers to be involved with their churches, his exact words were, “I just don’t want you starting a church your first year!” He encouraged me in still pursuing ministry, but knowing my boundaries. He told me that he trusted me to find that balance once I started teaching, and that is what I had really wanted to hear from him. So, I am 99% sure I will probably end up at Lincoln, but still unsure (mainly because I’m scared of making adult, 2 year, difficult, stressful decisions!). Pray that I will just have the Lord’s peace when making a decision. I have only another week and a half to decide, and I really need the Lord to show me exactly where He wants me.

So Little Time

Sometimes the weeks seem to go by so slowly, but as I looked at the calendar today, I realized we only had 2 more weeks left to teach! WHAAAAAAT? Yeah. It’s been good though. Still waiting for God’s guidance, but enjoying my time here, just the same. Last night we had our first “Parent school” night since I have been here. It was quite the long day. I taught Math and two periods of history. Went to the Brien’s house for lunch and got to know them a lot better, which was absolutely incredible! I found out we have the same heart-orphanages and ministry. I love it. Then off to “Parent School.” I felt very encouraged though because of one of my students and her mom. I had just assigned a big project for my students. They are to create an Egyptian museum, which I am very excited about. The mom of my student, Karen, said that the whole way home, the whole afternoon, and the whole way to the meeting, all Karen could talk about was pyramids and mummies. She complimented my teaching and said I was a good teacher. After last week, I felt like this was such a huge encouragement. Nonetheless, it was a long night, especially if you haven’t looked at your lesson plans and it’s 11 at night. Let’s just say that there was lots of coffee flowing in the classroom today! It’s a beautiful thing in life, a beautiful thing…So today I taught math. Thought it seemed rather uneventful, I had a lovely classroom management moment today, at least I thought so. We were going to do some fun pair work stuff, but as I chose partners, my students began to shake their heads and moan. Just yesterday, Kelli had talked to them about that. After two students in a row did it, I just said, “You know what? Forget it, take out a book and read.” There was complete and utter silence for the next ten minutes until I was the one who began talking to them and asking questions about what they were reading. Total silence! Later, I finally let them do their pair work and let’s just say that this time, they didn’t moan and groan. Becoming a teacher, I think I am!
March 12, 2010

Waiting eagerly

It’s a new day and I am ready for a new start, a start that includes starbucks! =) hehe. One of the traditions of Wednesdays is that my teacher, Kelli and I, go to starbucks. It’s a beautiful and wonderful thing to have starbucks just right down the road. I do not have to teach classes until 10:20, so it’s a wonderful thing and I feel so blessed to have that time with Kelli and to prepare. I was able to pick her brain a little bit today about what my meeting was about yesterday. I definitely felt like she clarified things a little more, but she encouraged me to talk to the principal some more and talk things over. I hope to do that soon. I am still thinking and mulling over things for next year. Will I be back at Lincoln? Where else will I apply? Where would I want to teach? If not Guadalajara, then where? Second grade? How do I feel about second grade? Will I like it? What if it’s not what I expected? So many questions, still no answers. There is a verse in Psalm that I was reading last night where David says, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to you and eagerly watch”-Psalm 5:3. I have prayed and prayed, now I am eagerly watching, watching to see what He will do. I have hope and know that He will answer my prayer. He will give the answer I need. I know He will. Waiting eagerly…
March 10, 2010

My life thrown into chaos.

If you have ever had a day that was just complete chaos and completely draining emotionally and physically, congratulations. You know what I am going through. Whenever you have a crazy, exhausting day, it usually starts at the very beginning of your day, as did mine. I went through my usual routine of getting up and getting ready. By 7:00, I was standing at the door, ready to go. Victor said his usual, “Lista?” My response was the usual, “Whenever you are!” Then something unusual happened as I climbed into the car…it cut off. Victor tried it again. Nothing. It was not the battery; it was not the transmission…we had no gas. Yes, you all know that feeling when you need to be somewhere and you realize you have no gas. We also had no money. We went back into the house, got some change and hopped on a bus. With only 45 minutes to get to the school, we decided to find and atm and hail a taxi as soon as possible. That’s what we did. With 10 minutes before class started, I arrived at the school. It was especially crucial that I be at the school, not because I was supposed to teach first period, but because we were supposed to have a game with 4th grade during that first period, and you can take a guess as to who, exactly, was in charge of this game…that would be me. I arrived at the school and the first person I saw was Jed, the teacher for 4th grade. Hallelujah! I approached him quickly before entering my own classroom, when he told me that he had forgotten his class would be going on a field trip that day, meaning I would have to teach my math lesson (prepared for later in the day) first period (IN TEN MINUTES!). I’m sure I was running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off, for sure. Let’s just say it was not my most impressive lesson, but I survived. I then had my double history class time, then it was time for my meeting. This was no ordinary meeting, mind you. This was a meeting between myself, my principal, the recruiter, and the person who assists the principal. I had set up this meeting to clarify information concerning my living arrangements, and why I am living where I am. These were things that needed to be explained. As I explained these things, they were all very gracious and understood everything I said. They then proceeded to tell me that they had accepted my application to teach at Lincoln, but that I would not be able to do any kind of ministry outside of Lincoln. For those of you who know me, you can understand why this was so difficult. Every church I have been in, I have been deeply involved. I am not one of those people who can go to church, listen to the sermon, and take a hike. That’s just not ME. That’s not how I function or grow. All day today, I have been struggling back and forth with a decision. I have told them that I will decide before spring break, which is March 27th. I am not sure where God wants me right now. If I cannot do any kind of ministry, then I do not believe that it is God’s will for me to be at Lincoln. I do not believe I can function that way. I eventually gave up on the worrying though and decided to sleep it off, then grade papers. Have you ever had times when you just needed a little bit of encouragement and you didn’t even realize it? As I was grading papers, I came across a worksheet I had given my students (a fun one of course!) in which they had to finish the sentence about a funny picture shown. At the bottom of the page, it said, “Notes for teachers.” I hadn’t even looked at this because I definitely did not expect my students to put anything there. On one, Fran had written, “Do this again!” because she had enjoyed the worksheet. Imagine that! Students actually enjoy some worksheets! Shocking! Another of my students had written, “You are a good and fun teacher. =) -Abi” If you have kept up with my blog at all, you will remember that more than one of my students had complained to their parents (who had then complained to Kelli) that they were bored in class. Since then, I have determined to do everything in my power to make life more interesting and keep those students occupied, but this little note of encouragement brightened my day and will definitely keep me going for a good long while. Teachers need encouragement too. So, here I am waiting for answers from the Lord, but encouraged by just a few kind words…
March 9, 2010

Slow Motion

Now that my 3 weeks of full-time teaching are over, everything seems to be going in slow motion…well, at least. slowER. What a peacefull weekend I had in Chapala. I did…NOTHING. Ok ok, so I did do some lesson planning, but I slept better than I have my entire time here. Saturday night some of the girls were in the kitchen cleaning up dinner. I curled up on the couch and they asked me, “are you going to sleep?” I responded with a “no, I’m just resting my eyes.” For those of you who have said this before, you know what that phrase REALLY means. I was sleeping like a long in only a few short minutes. Maybe I should always sleep on the couch! Hehe. Today, I taught only one period of math. Once math was over at 9:25 this morning, there was nothing left to be done, but prepare for the rest of the week. Believe it or not, I got all my copies made and resources needed for the entire week! I told kelli she should be proud of me. First time that has ever happened.
March 8, 2010