i can taste it!

So close I can tast it! Two more half-days of review, then the exams, then the we’re-done celebration. I hope my students can finish strong. It’s getting pretty hard for them to maintain composure and attention in class. I’ve been blessed with a slightly higher toleration and understanding of their situation, but I am still having trouble with the balance between learning/reviewing and winding down.

The power has been going off more lately. Maybe even more important that power is the water. We’ve been without water at the school almost all the time. The lights have been going off at about 7am, and coming on about 5 minutes before we leave at 12:15. Great timing. And actually, I’ll have to publish this post later because as I’m writing right now, the power has gone off at the coffee shop. The last two nights at home I have had to go to bed without a shower due to the no water problem. Last night I was fortunate enough to find some water in the bucket in the bathroom (it was there for bathing). Daniel Ortega promises cheaper power, and more of it, so if he comes through, there will be many fewer of these problems.

I come here to the coffee shop (”Espresso Gourmet Coffee”) usually at least a couple times a week, and usually with Sidney, the other English teacher with me at Nejapa. Last week he ordered something that wasn’t on the menu; an iced irish cream coffee. After he special ordered it and found it to be the best thing they had and found me to agree, he asked the management if they could put it on the menu with his name. They agreed and asked him to name it. We’ll have to see if it actually shows up. I can’t imagine they’ll be getting new menus anytime soon. It will be called the McField Irish Cream Frozen.

This past weekend I went to Playa Flor with my friends from NCA. About 13 of us altogether went there to see the tortoises come onto the beach and lay their eggs. We weren’t disappointed and I think I saw at least 3 or 4. I watched one the whole time from coming out of the water til going back in. It’s at night and apparently too much light or activity could disorient them and send them back to the ocean, so we had to be careful taking pictures and using flashlights. Quite an amazing ordeal, though. We counted about 110 eggs as they popped out. I think the whole process took more than an hour. What an amazing part of God’s natural creation. Such variety and beauty.

Prayer Items

* - Strength to finish strong and stay focused. Same for the students…maybe more for them.
* - I would like to be able to relax and still be productive during the time before I come home…which I think won’t be all that difficult if nothing goes wrong!
* - Praise for the completion of one year. I have learned much, and have an even better idea of how much I still have to learn and grow–it’s staggering. Pray for encouragement and a sense of calling so that I grow in passion for teaching and more specifically teaching English.

it works again!

so, i have no idea what happened but suddenly my blog is working again. too bad for blogger that it was out so long i had already switched to wordpress.com

find my new blog at dstien.wordpress.com. unless i feel like i made a mistake and want to come back to blogger, that's where i'll be.

hasta luego.

me the blacksmith

Just got back a few minutes ago from a one-day intro to blacksmithing class given by my previous room mate, Mike. He and I and two others left this morning for the trade school that he just started this year. Click here for a brief description of what they do and how things are going. Anyway, I thought it was very interesting. We made a couple of hooks that can be used for hanging plans or hammocks or whatever. I felt a little bit stupid after I grabbed a little too close to the hot end of the metal to take a closer look at the beautiful work I had just done and burned my thumb and first finger. :) Thankfully it’s not too bad, mostly superficial.

Had my 5th and 6th flat tires two days ago. The same right rear tire had yet another nail in it. And when I went to put the spare on…it was also flat!…again! I ended up driving a very short distance on the mostly-flat spare to the nearest tire repair shop where it cost me much more than I thought it would–140 córdobas, which is about $8.

With about 8.5 days before exams (and a few short classes during exam week), I can’t wait to be done. Most of my classes are at the very end of the book already, and I’m trying to decide whether to spend a few days watching a video, or giving them a headstard on the next book, or doing special presentation-type projects. I’m very ready to be done with the high school class, although they surprised me a bit when they actually listened during the poster-presentations on Friday. Granted, only three out of 19 students actually did the assignment… but that’s another problem.

I got to my predecessor this week. She’s here visiting. It’s interesting talking to her and hearing a little about her experience.

Have a great week.

let's give it a go

I don’t know what happened to blogger.com, but it won’t work and I don’t have the time to figure it out. That means I’m going to give wordpress.com a try. Let me know what you think. A few differences you should be aware of:

1. Comments can be made by clicking on the comments link at the TOP of the post. The link was at the bottom on blogger.com.
2. On the right, under the heading “Check out my comments” is a list of all recent comments–slightly more accessible than the previous comments. You might find it interesting to glance here when you check out my page to see what other people have been commenting about.
3. That’s about it, I think. There are a lot of differences, but you’ll either see them or I’ll point them out as they become useful (and as I figure out how to the new tools that wordpress offers!).

Thanks for stickin with me. Almost done with the first year now! I am really looking forward to being done and visiting home. I heard my parents say something (during one of our video conferences) about the casserole is ready…and that just got my mouth watering. :)

Presidential elections are this Sunday in Nicaragua. If you don’t know much about Nicaraguan politics, there are many more than two political parties. In fact, there are probably more than the five that I can think of. You may recognize the leader of one party–Daniel Ortega. He was the Sandanista leader during the 80s when things in Nicaragua were pretty bad in just about every way. This man is friends with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (from whom he recieves much funding) and Fidel Castro of Cuba. There is some concern that if he gets into offi ce there will be many problems as there were before when he took office. It also seems to be common knowledge that his wife is into some kind of witchcraft. The more I find out about him, the more I can’t imagine how he has supporters. Yet, he does. He may be the candidate with the most direct votes in the election this Sunday. I’m not sure what poles are showing at this point, but a few weeks ago the poles showed Ortega winning the most votes, but not enough to take office (35%). What would happen is a second round with the two highest vote-getters. Most likely an opponent by the name of Eduardo Montealegre would be second up. In this scenario, most of those who had previously voted for someone other than Ortega would vote for Montealegre. Poles showed a big number of people would never vote for Ortega under any circumstance. Let’s hope this is the case.

Interesting note: one of the other candidates goes by the name “El Feo” which basically means “the ugly one”.

In other news, progress has been underway on the new high school wing of the school, and I have some pictures here for you. First up below is a shot where you can see most of the building. It contains four classrooms, an office, and two bathrooms.

Something I find interesting is the materials and building styles that they use here. Most everything is concrete and metal. No wood is used, which I guess isn’t so strange in a stucure such as this, but it’s true for houses, as well. Much of the wall is made of concrete blocks, while the supporting structure is made of rebar and poured concrete. The blocks are then covered by more concrete. You can see the bare blocks on some of the external walls, and the parts that have been finished on the inside. This picture is the inside of a classroom:

Parts of the roof. Brought to the side in smaller pieces, wielded together and painted, and then placed along the length of the roof. If you look at the picture just above, you can see brackets on the truss that will hold these long pieces.

High quality and high tech equipment for reaching high places. Seems to work effectively. I will often see ladders like this twenty feet long reaching up a telephone pole on main streets. I’ll try to get a picture of that sometime.

Here is a picture of the worksite. What I think is gravel for filling before laying concrete, and a pool they made for water. Not sure how they use it, but we do experience water outages on a regular basis.

The clothes of the workers just waiting around for the end of the day. Yesterday it rained quite hard and I’m sure they want dry clothes at the end of the day today. Not to mention, work here is hot and dirty, so maybe there are always clothes hanging around.

In other news, I never got that meeting to happen between the director and the willing students about tutoring. I’m afraid to push too much at this point, and it’s close to the end of the year anyway. I think I may have said some things the wrong way (in Spanish) and conveyed the wrong message in some discussions regarding this and other issues. In cross cultural situations, it’s always a challenge to say exactly what you want to say in the way you want to say it. Many subtleties go into communicating effectively including intonation, word choice, and much more. Hopefully we can still make some progress on that before the end of the year.

I have been finding this whole classroom experience harder again lately. Students, at least I think it’s them, have been finding it harder to listen and pay attention. Much talking and laughing and throwing of things. I have been getting very angry in class, and I don’t like it. My attitude is turning into, “Well, if you don’t care then I don’t either.” Lesson planning is a struggle and even when I think it should be fun, they don’t get into it, or they don’t even get started because I can’t get their attention. I think there are definately things I could do better, but I need to change my mental and emotional approach, which right now is a little tough.

In other news, I have seen some ways that I think communication could improve and overall involvement of the teachers at the school. It may take a shift in thinking by the leadership, but I have some ideas percolating that I’d love to share with the director of NCA sometime. I’m not sure how or when I can do that effectively, but I’m waiting and watching for an opportunity because I think much could be done in these areas.

Prayer items
-General strength to finish the year out strong, and perhaps a better attitude that is stronger and more influential than that of the students’.
-That I can present my ideas clearly and that they will be met with affirmation.
-I have been feeling a little sick for the last week. Some kind of bug going around. Sore throat, cough, fever. Many students are feeling it and a few teachers have had their own taste as well.

elections sunday approaching

Presidential elections are this Sunday in Nicaragua. If you don't know much about Nicaraguan politics, there are many more than two political parties. In fact, there are probably more than the five that I can think of. You may recognize the leader of one party--Daniel Ortega. He was the Sandanista leader during the 80s when things in Nicaragua were pretty bad in just about every way. This man is friends with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (from whom he recieves much funding) and Fidel Castro of Cuba. There is some concern that if he gets into office there will be many problems as there were before when he took office. It also seems to be common knowledge that his wife is into some kind of witchcraft. The more I find out about him, the more I can't imagine how he has supporters. Yet, he does. He may be the candidate with the most direct votes in the election this Sunday. I'm not sure what poles are showing at this point, but a few weeks ago the poles showed Ortega winning the most votes, but not enough to take office (35%). What would happen is a second round with the two highest vote-getters. Most likely an opponent by the name of Eduardo Montealegre would be second up. In this scenario, most of those who had previously voted for someone other than Ortega would vote for Montealegre. Poles showed a big number of people would never vote for Ortega under any circumstance. Let's hope this is the case.

Interesting note: one of the other candidates goes by the name "El Feo" which basically means "the ugly one". I kind of doubt a campaign like this would work well in the US... Now that I've said that, here are a few pictures...



In other news, progress has been underway on the new high school wing of the school, and I have some pictures here for you. First up below is a shot where you can see most of the building. It contains four classrooms, an office, and two bathrooms.



Something I find interesting is the materials and building styles that they use here. Most everything is concrete and metal. No wood is used, which I guess isn't so strange in a stucure such as this, but it's true for houses, as well. Much of the wall is made of concrete blocks, while the supporting structure is made of rebar and poured concrete. The blocks are then covered by more concrete. You can see the bare blocks on some of the external walls, and the parts that have been finished on the inside. This picture is the inside of a classroom:



Parts of the roof. Brought to the side in smaller pieces, wielded together and painted, and then placed along the length of the roof. If you look at the picture just above, you can see brackets on the truss that will hold these long pieces.



High quality and high tech equipment for reaching high places. Seems to work effectively. I will often see ladders like this twenty feet long reaching up a telephone pole on main streets. I'll try to get a picture of that sometime.



Here is a picture of the worksite. What I think is gravel for filling before laying concrete, and a pool they made for water. Not sure how they use it, but we do experience water outages on a regular basis.



The clothes of the workers just waiting around for the end of the day. Yesterday it rained quite hard and I'm sure they want dry clothes at the end of the day today. Not to mention, work here is hot and dirty, so maybe there are always clothes hanging around.



In other news, I never got that meeting to happen between the director and the willing students about tutoring. I'm afraid to push too much at this point, and it's close to the end of the year anyway. I think I may have said some things the wrong way (in Spanish) and conveyed the wrong message in some discussions regarding this and other issues. In cross cultural situations, it's always a challenge to say exactly what you want to say in the way you want to say it. Many subtleties go into communicating effectively including intonation, word choice, and much more. Hopefully we can still make some progress on that before the end of the year.

I have been finding this whole classroom experience harder again lately. Students, at least I think it's them, have been finding it harder to listen and pay attention. Much talking and laughing and throwing of things. I have been getting very angry in class, and I don't like it. My attitude is turning into, "Well, if you don't care then I don't either." Lesson planning is a struggle and even when I think it should be fun, they don't get into it, or they don't even get started because I can't get their attention. I think there are definately things I could do better, but I need to change my mental and emotional approach, which right now is a little tough.

In other news, I have seen some ways that I think communication could improve and overall involvement of the teachers at the school. It may take a shift in thinking by the leadership, but I have some ideas percolating that I'd love to share with the director of NCA sometime. I'm not sure how or when I can do that effectively, but I'm waiting and watching for an opportunity because I think much could be done in these areas.

Prayer items
-General strength to finish the year out strong, and perhaps a better attitude that is stronger and more influential than that of the students'.
-That I can present my ideas clearly and that they will be met with affirmation.
-I have been feeling a little sick for the last week. Some kind of bug going around. Sore throat, cough, fever. Many students are feeling it and a few teachers have had their own taste as well.

5 down, 1 to go

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the end...the beginning of the last marking period. As I planned today with the other English teacher, we had in common the desire that this year would be done already. We are excited about starting again next year. After several meetings, I think we finally have a plan that we feel good about for next year. We also were able to brainstorm on other larger but related issues in terms of our vision for the English program, the direction of the school, the development of the staff, and change for Nicaragua. I am so thankful to have someone working with me who is able to share so much of the same feelings. My vision for how God may be using me here is developing and it's exciting to see. He has definately given me the strength to get this far and has provided me with all that I have needed.

I will be trying to get a tutoring program started (yes, I realize it's late) with some of the high school students helping the elementary students. I have been met with some skepticism (maybe I should say cynicism) that this will work, but I firmly believe it can work--and work very well. The principal is going to be talking with the students who have said they might want to tutor tomorrow. She was a bit negative on the idea, so I will pray that she isn't negative when she talks to them about it.

All for now. Take it easy.

Prayer Items
-Praise be to God for the way he has worked in my life and for the provisions he has blessed me with. Especially for a partner in the English department with whom I can share a vision.
-Pray that the next five weeks are productive, and that I am able to turn around the attitudes of my high school students. I believe if my attitude could change, it could have a large impact on theirs--so don't forget to make that an important point in your prayers.
-Pray that the tutoring program might get started quickly and be effective.

a few more things

Here we are at the end of another block. I am a little worried about the grades of my high schoolers. I have had a great deal of trouble getting them to participate in class, to do homework, and to generally be interested. Although I realize that I can't put all the blame on them, I do put a lot on them. They refuse to stop talking and listen. Then they complain that they don't understand and want to switch to the other English class. Here is an example of how frustrating it is for me. At the beginning of this marking period, I made space for 5 students to make presentations at the end of each week. They were to read an article (in either Spanish, or English), write a summary (in English), type and print it, and bring it to class. When they got to class, they would read the article and answer any questions about it. I didn't think this sounded too hard--challenging, yes, but this is the most advanced class at the school. I had one (1) student do that correctly. Probably about 4 brought an article, but it wasn't typed. One didn't want to read it in class--but I was so glad he did it that I read it for him. The class is 20 students strong...and only 1 student fulfilled the requirements during the past 5 weeks. I even wrote a requirements sheet and gave them a sample article and summary of my own. Then most of the time I reminded them a couple times during the week.

Last night I was on my way home--I was accellerating down the hill where I usually get up some good speed when I noticed a ways ahead of me a group of people gathered in the road--probably an accident. As I approached I could see the reflective vest of a police man--"yup, an accident," I thought. I've seen countless accidents here of all kinds--car/car, car/motocycle, bus/car, truck/motorcycle... I've even had some close calls myself. A lot of people pull out in front of you (sometimes not even looking), or stop just in front of you. I could see there was definately a taxi involved. I scanned for the other car and didn't see one. Then I saw the taped off area of the street, and someone laying in the middle. Nobody was within 15 feet. He or she was covered with a sheet except for part of the lower legs. As I drove around the scene I felt sadness for the tragedy of what had just happened only minutes before. Without expecting anything someone had just lost their life. I thought of how that could have been me instead of the taxi driver. This is a stretch where I usually get up pretty good speed, as I said, and it's also a dark section of the road. I've seen so many people here walk out in to the road and then look to see if there are cars--sometimes running across and sometimes running back to the same side. Other people look but then keep walking slowly forcing a quick lane change. At night people will walk in the road pushing a cart wearing dark clothes. Some will lay on the raised concrete median with their feet dangling dangerously close to the passing cars. I definately need to be careful.

If that's not enough reason to be careful, here's another. I'm told that when something like that happens here, those involved are put in jail until they are proven innocent...which in these parts could take a while. I just heard of a case involving another missionary where he spent several days in jail until the family of the person he hit admitted that he was always drunk and probably the missionary was not at fault. Keep in mind this is just heresay--I don't actually know any more details than that, but it's something I don't want to put to the test if I can help it.

Thanks for reading. Take 'er easy.

change of face

I updated my version of "blogger", and was able to change the look of my blog. I threw my own picture on the top. It's at El Valero, which is a beach on the Pacific Ocean. I hope you like the changes. It's much easier to customize now, so you may see more changes--I want you to stay interested! :) If you haven't read the post just below, check it out.

P.S. Whoever wrote the comment on the previous blog, please identify yourself to me either by email or by comment! I don't know who you are and I feel really bad about it! Thanks.

keepin' on

It's Friday afternoon at 3:10. School let out about an hour ago. I'm now back at NCA, not at my school, in the air conditioned computer lab with a wireless connection. I had a good day today. I was pretty relaxed, unlike most of this week. I had a pretty rough first few days. The stress was mounting as the feeling of being inadequate pressed in. The high school class is a difficult bunch for me. They're a tough crowd, but I think I've mentioned that before. What was encouraging was one really good day last week. I'm not exactly sure if it was me or them, but they were interested and participative...and we laughed and joked. They told me it was an excellent class. Then this week I had another student telling me he and his friend want to switch to the other class because they don't understand anything in class. So I'm trying to take things a little slower...have lower expectations for how much to do in a class and how quickly to move on to the next thing. Not a highly productive class always, but we are progressing...I think. :)

With the younger kids it has been a somewhat different story. I have recieved several compliments from parents of first graders. Two have said that they are pleased that their children are learning and interested in learning English. They also asked if I would be back next year and expressed a desire for me to teach their kids again--this is a big encouragement.

It's once again time to plan for exams. This time and one after that and I'll be through one full year. I'm really looking forward to coming home. I'm looking forward to driving down the road and not seeing people pull out right in front of me, not stopping in the road, not crossing the road at the wrong place, not walking in the road at night wearing all black. I'm going to like driving at night not really having to worry when I go through a green light--sometimes I feel safer going through a red light here. :) But I'm also looking foward being with my family and seeing many friends that I haven't seen in a while. I'm looking forward to Christmas goodies and not eating fried foods for 3 meals everyday.

I came across some excellent latin music a few days ago. You can listen or download free of charge here. Click on "Katia Cardenal" and then click on "Discography". I haven't listened to all of this music, but so far I especially like "Sueño de una noche de verano". Let me know if you like it, too. I believe (not sure) that the artists on this website are Christians.

Thanks for reading. The prayer requests for last time still apply! Adios y dios le bendiga!

the 'black hill' and some other tidbits

It appears that I am the last of my friends to write about our trip to Cerro Negro ("Black Hill"). I had some techincal difficulties with my camera, so for some pictures and other more creative descriptions of this adventure, see these links: Rachel, Jason, Jess. Basically, Cerro Negro is just what it's name indicates. It erupted last in 1999, I believe, which is why there is no growth on it yet. The climb was pretty brutal: 400 meters of lava rocks and a bit of ash. My shoes got a little torn up and I'd be lying if I said my legs were not bleeding in at least three places. :) But I was the second one to the top so it was worth it. They say it took about an hour or an hour and a half to climb. At top waiting for the rest of our group to reach the top, another group that had started after us suddenly appeard next to me... :) They happened to have a guide who knew that the backside of the volcano was much easier. They had hardly broken a sweat. Another part of the fun of this trip was that there were several large puddles/mud on the way...you can be sure I and those in my car enjoyed those. By the way, here is a picture I didn't get a chance to post with the last puddle adventure.

It's been probably more than a week now since I've been able to do any real internet work (emailing or blogging). Power outages have been quite persistant, and for a few days the power was out at the school from 4pm until 9pm. Other days it's been out during the day from 10 until 3. On Thursday night it was out from 7pm until 3am...and when it finally came back on it was only on until 8am. Not sure when it came back back because I was at school. This is making it hard to plan any kind of computer work for the students--so that whole idea has sort of been put on hold. I don't feel like I have time to plan lessons that I probably won't be able to use.

Teaching middle schoolers and high schoolers is difficult--more difficult than I anticipated. I thought we would naturally connect a little more, but at this point I am actually preferring my elementry classes. I have been very excited to see the progress of my first graders. They're learning a lot and it satisfies me to see this. I'm not sure if I wrote about this before, but I had several complaints from parents that maybe my teaching style wasn't dynamic enough and that their students were not very interested in learning English as they had been the previous year. I am pleased to say that I think that has changed at least in elementry. In my opinion so much of that has to do with the attitude of the teacher. My attitude hasn't been the greatest, in fact a lot of the time I walk into the classroom frustrated rather than excited. This is an area that God has been answering prayers, yet, I still feel the tendency (or temptation) to be more frustrated than forgiving.

I played soccer a few weeks ago with several churches in a "friendship" game. It reminded me how much fun it is to play soccer and how much I love that intense competition. I hope to play more in the weeks to come. It is good to be able to run and play. Praise the Lord.

I also had my third (and fourth) flat tire in the last month and a half. Same tire-- the right rear. Good thing I was at NCA because the spare (the fourth flat) was also out of air. I'm going to try to beat your world record of 8 flats in 6 months, Ben! I might be wrong about those numbers, so correct me if I am.

Also, here are a few pictures of Patriots Day at the school to celebrate the independence of central America.

Prayer Items
-continued success with elementry, and especially continuing good attitudes.
-that I will find a local nica church to belong to--yes, I am still looking.
-lots of energy and passion for what I am doing, with a clear vision for how I am affecting change and using my gifts.

a two minute blog

In an effort to make good on my promise to myself to be to work by 9am and also because I want to post another blog, here is a two minute blog...

This has been a great weekend. It basically started last week Tuesday after school. Wednesday was a performance at the school by the students in celebration of the independence of Central America. Many parents came and students dressed up, danced, and did a few dramas. Then we had Thursday, Friday and today off. Friday I went to Cerro Negro with my friends. It's a fairly young volcano (1999) that has nothing growing on it. It's just a pile of rocks and ash. It was a lot of fun. Today I'm going to work for the first time...which is a little different from the plan to work on Thursday and Saturday as well. :)

Gotta run!

so much to tell

Needless to say, it's been a while since I've posted...so it's about time for this one.

First of all, if you didn't notice Andy wrote back to let me know that he was pretty upset with his agent about being on billboards down here... I hope you got that straightened out. I'll let you know if I see any more of your pictures down here.

Since I last wrote, Ted & Laura came down again with Uncle Ken. Interesting story there. I decided I'd make the trip down to San Juan del Sur to see them so I left Saturday night late with my friend Luke from NCA. Got to the place they were staying with no problems (aside from being stopped by the police for passing in a no passing zone...they let me off and then mentioned that they were hungry...haha...so I shared some of my teddy grahams with them). When I got up the next morning I found a flat tire on my truck (the second flat tire in the past month--I thought of you, Ben). Luke and I spent the next hour driving around trying to find a place to fix it because we didn't want to be without a spare. To make a long story short, we were going to meet the Keys and ended up being a bit late. Since they were waiting with the realtor and another two other clients, we decided it would be best for them to leave ahead of us and call us with directions of how to get where they were going to so we could meet them at the next checkpoint. Somewhere along the way on some of the worst roads I've ever seen we lost track of them because there were no cell phone towers (no signal). We spent a lot of time driving around trying to find them. During that time we found some awsome puddles and made good use of them (see the pictures of my truck). If you want a video of splashing through, I can send it to you in an email. That was pretty fun. Finally found them at the last place we knew they were going and hung out for a while before heading back to Managua. There's also a picture of Raul here. He's the security guard at the school. Mud got everywhere. It splashed up into the car through a hole in the floorboard. The engine was absolutely covered. Not sure how good that is for the engine, but hey, it was fun. The only differences with the car now are that one brake squeeks a lot and the car wants to turn right when I hit the brakes. Oh, also, the driver's side door now rubs when it opens/closes. :) It was a rough day for the truck. It cost 30 Córdobas to fix the flat tire. That's less than USD$2.

In other news, I have really enjoyed getting to know the most recent other English teacher. His name is Sidney and he's 25. He's been teaching English for about 4 years. I think he's going to be raising the level of the English Department at Nejapa. He's been good for me as a friend and as a colleague. We're planning on getting our students into the computer lab more often to get them used to using the computer and to make things more interactive. Currently the internet is very slow but the school is looking at really improving the bandwidth by two or three times. This would make it much more possible for us to do interactive internet things. I have been working a little on designing a website for us to use as a launchpad for in-lab assignments--somewhere that I can put both links to external sites as well as audio and video clips that I make. If this works, it could be really cool and I think the students would love it. My computer can act as a webserver, so when we're in the lab I can just plug my computer in and they'll be able to access the website--regardless of whether or not the internet is working and at high-bandwidth speeds even if the internet is slow. I also discovered a website builder on my compupter which is helping a great deal, too.

Still learning Spanish. I think it's taken a few steps up during the past weeks. I am still complaining that I don't study and blame myself for not learning several times faster. I can definately understand more and my speaking is improving, too. It's encouraging to see this improvement. Living with the family has been good. I still enjoy them quite a bit and they're always in a great mood. Food, though, has been a little less than healthy on the whole. Lots of grease. Not as many veggies or fruits as I would like, but it's been slightly better lately in those areas. I think I will recommend some mangos this week. I have been wanting mangos. I my fat cells might be developing a bit. I should try to offset this by exercising more than occasionally once a week.

Prayer Items
-I feel like things have been going really well lately, and I really need to give thanks to God for responding to my prayers and those who have also prayed on my behalf. He has clearly responded and it has been very encouraging!
-Pray for continued success in the classroom, and continued improvement in many ways "including but not limited to:" (make sure you use that phrase in your prayer ;) 1-communication with parents; 2-patience with and understand of students for me; 3-student behavior.

andy, is that you?

Pretty funny--this billboard is all over Managua right now and everytime I pass one I can't help but wonder if Andy has done some modeling on the side. But modeling for beer companies in Latin America? Well, I guess you gotta start somewhere.



School things. Yesterday (Friday) I met the second replacement for the English teacher who left at the end of last semester. That's right, apparently the first replacement was only a temporary. I probably have spoken with him for only five minutes, but he seems like a good guy. He has four years of teaching English, so he should be a strong asset.


Yesterday I also met with a woman from the publisher of our curriculum. I thought it would be helpful to hear how they explain their books. I think I've mentioned before that I'm a little frustrated with the books in some ways. It was good to sit down with them and have them explain a little bit of the methodology of the book and suggest some helpful ways of teaching the info. I realized again how much I missed by jumping straight into teaching rather than by first getting a teacher's education. Overall it was good to sit down and talk with them.

Things with the family have been going pretty well. I think I am understanding more. of what they say. Some days I am quite impressed by what I can understand. :) Usually when I'm really tired I understand quite a bit less, and that's when I get discouraged about how much I've learned. But when I've had a good rest or a good day then I can understand things much better.

It's time again for the midterm tests. I'm supposed to have the tests written by Monday, so this afternoon is going to be a busy one.

Also, it's about the time of year that we need to make decisions about next year. The director told me yesterday that if I was thinking about changing the curriculum that I need to let her know during the next several weeks. Any other major changes will have to be made soon as well.

Prayer requests
-for clarity of mind as decisions are made for the next school year
-for energy and ideas in teaching
-that my vision of what the lord is doing down here and through me continues to grow and develop

the change

Ok, finally we made the change. High school is now two levels of English, and I am no longer teaching second grade. On Tuesday the principal surprised me with the new schedule. I was about to suggest option number 3 (the flip flop, see previous post). Haven't done too much with the new group yet. First day we went over the policies and procedures (my expectations) and then I had them do some writing for the rest of the class. Yesterday they took a test so i could figure out how much they know from the material in the book they have been/will be using. Today we have a day off and I am enjoying it too much. Still I haven't done any work and it's almost 4:00! Funny how much there is to do when you don't really want to work.

I was really having harder time earlier this week. I didn't want to teach and I didn't want to plan even more. I cried out to God asking him to give me some encouragement and make this a little more enjoyable. He responded yesterday by injecting me with a better attitude and injecting my students with a little more attention and interest. :D Please pray that as I continue with this the same 1st, 3rd and 4th grades and as I take on the 2nd level high school class that I stay positive and interested and that my students also have good attitudes. I have been struggling lately to have a good attitude in class. Another teacher reminded me that especially the young ones are like sponges. They even absorb your energy and attitudes.

Thanks for keeping up!

another mixed week

It's been another mixed week. My lower grade classes, first and second, had a hard time giving me their attention. Second grade is almost always that way, but I had such a good week with first grade last week that my expectations were a little higher for them. Another thing I found challenging this week was lesson planning and getting to work. It was incredibly hard to motivate myself to work, and I think that may have contributed to lesson plans that were a little less interesting and a little less well-prepared. On the other hand, I had a teacher from the US helping me out for a couple of days. She is down here with Christ for the City and was a big encouragement to me. After being a part of a few of the classes, she commended me for my bravery (which I pointed out was not what got me here in the first place! :) ). Also, aside from a few good ideas for lesson plans, she helped me understand what was frustrating me about the curriculum that I'm using. It's not broken down very well into categories. The student textbooks do not really have clear goals, and the chapters don't seem to have a clear connection. There's no chapter summary including new vocab, etc. It also lacks a lot of examples and extra work to strengthen understanding. So it was encouraging to hear that I'm working with a difficult curriculum, and that a different curriculum could make things easier on me.

We're still working through what the schedule will be for this semester, which is quite strange after two weeks of classes. There are a several possibilities. First, we could just keep working with the same schedule; I teach grades 1-4, the other teacher takes 5-9. Second, we could follow with the changes we had from last semester; combine grades 5 and 6 (which are working on the same material), redivide the three high school grades (7, 8, 9) into two levels of English--I exchange one of those levels for my second grade class. Third, we could do a flip-flop and I would teach all of the classes that I don't teach now, and the other teacher would take my classes. You know, the third option is sounding better to me as I type this. That would mean that I only have two preps. The 5th and 6th grades use the same material, and 7th, 8th, and 9th grades all use the same materials, too. Hmm. :)

I also have been without a car for the last week. I was planning on getting some major oil leaks fixed early in the week. The valve cover was leaking slowly, but more importantly the transmission was leaking very quickly...from what looked like more than one place. Before I had a chance to fix that, my alternator went bad. Kind of strange, because the previous owner had just installed a newly rebuilt alternator. I came very close to paying C$5,300 (cordobas) to get a new one installed. That's about USD$300. It ends up I could get it repaired for C$500 instead, which made me a very happy man. By the time that was done, the oil levels were getting very low in the tranny, and it was starting to make a little bit of noise, so I parked it at the school. I was told to fix the leaks would be right around C$1700 (USD$100). When I picked up the car it was only C$1500. So there was something else to be pleased about. And that was a big job--it involved taking apart the transmission to replace two seals.

Please continue to pray for all of these things, especially relatig to school. Apparently someone just donated some money towards cieling fans for the classrooms. When they are installed we will have two per room. This will be an amazing blessing! Currently there is only one fan in one room. Catch you later. Thanks for reading.

P.S. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. First there are a few from the field day, which happened the same week as Mother's Day. Next are a couple of pictures I took this week. There was a group from the US a while back that left some jump ropes. The students have been enjoying them and the first graders have been tirelessly trying to figure them out! I don't know why they don't give up. If only they would work that hard at English!

san juan con ted y laura

Just arrived back from San Juan del Sur with my cousins Ted and Laura. We had a very nice weekend down there looking for properties to invest in. No, I wasn't looking, they were. :) Here are some of the views we enjoyed.









Now it's back to work. Actually, today is a holiday, so we don't have classes. I took yesterday off so I could be in San Juan del Sur with Ted and Laura a bit longer. They will be there until Friday when they drive to the airport and leave, so I wanted to spend a bit more time with them. Things have been a littel crazy lately as we're still not locked down for what classes I will be teaching this semester! Yes, for the second week now, I will be teaching grades 1-4 and no high school. I think the week after this one (week three) I we will be changing the high school around and having two levels. I will be dropping second grade to the other teacher. But these changes still have to be implemented...which is a bit strange. I have been able to connect with the principal about these things, which has put me much more at ease about the confusion and having to wait.

So, please continue praying. :) Thanks much!

a quick one before it gets going

So, here comes second semester! Tomorrow morning (Monday, July 24) I will begin again with my students. I am looking forward to the end of semester 2. :D During this break I started thinking more of home and being with my family again.

This will be short because I am short on time.

I will be facing a new group of students for the first time--high school students. I have a chance to start fresh and get it right. I hope I do that well.

Please remember me in your prayers this week. It should be a busy week as I have classes to keep up with and many of my friends from NCA will be returning because their school year starts in a couple short weeks.

My family (the one I'm living with) comes back/came back today from Honduras. They left me for 1.5 weeks, and the last day and a half I realized how pitiful I am when it comes to providing food for myself. I will welcome them back with open arms (and a growling stomach!)

Gotta run. Thanks for those prayers.

dental work

A lot has happened in the last week. First interesting story is that I went to the dentist and had 4 cavities! I've never had a problem in the past. Whenever I have been to the dentist, they have told me that I'm a good brusher and that my teeth look great. You can imagine my surprise and doubtfulness when the dentist said I had four cavities. But then he proceeded to show me the one large dark spot on the side of my tooth (I could hardly believe I was looking at my own tooth!) and three other spots where the discoloration (kind of a yellowish color) indicated that the enamel was breaking down and the dark spots would soon be forming. As he explained everything I gained confidence that he knew what he was doing. He then shared that it would cost $30/filling and $30 for the cleaning and he could do it right away. So away we went. He used a local anasthetic only on one side and I toughed out the other side--which wasn't anywhere nearly as bad as I thought it would be. So, after about an hour and a half of my mouth open wide, we were done and I had four fillings. He used some kind of glue and white material, the same color as my teeth. And before he put that stuff in, he put in an insulating material because apparently the filling tends to conduct heat and cold more than the original tooth material, so it would otherwise leave the nerve too exposed to changes in temperature. I learned a lot about this whole process...but I was shocked that it had to happen. I still haven't completely gotten over that shock.

I've been taking spanish classes all week in the morning from 8:30-12:30. They've helped, but the material has been more of a review than forging new themes. I am a little bit disappointed by that, but I really got a lot of much needed practice and I really strengthened what I already know, while enriching my vocabulary.

Below are some more pictures of the house I am living in, including the familiy I'm living with. I am enjoying the family a lot. I have also begun to develop some relationships with other people closer to my age. The church that the father of my house pastors at seems to have many young people highly involved. One of them lives directly across the street--his name is Lenin. My family left for a week and a half on Wednesday. Lenin is staying with me while they're gone. He and I eat dinner together and teach each other our respective languages. I really enjoy his friendship. I think the family was a little worried about leaving me alone to fend for myself so they told the maid, Mirna, to make me lunch every day and they are the ones that arranged for Lenin to come and stay with me while they're gone. So far, Mirna has made so much for lunch that Lenin and I don't even have to cook for dinner. It's been great! :)

From the left to the right are Susana, Josue, Omar, and David. You probably recognize David because that's me. :)



This picture is looking at the house from the street. The front door is to the left of my truck.




Here's the living room, which is right inside the front door. I have watched more TV in the past two weeks than I have watched in the past 7 months!



This is the bathroom that I share with Josue.

























And here is something interesting. Notice two things. 1) the crazy amount of silicone or something...aparently put there to stop a leak, and then another leak, and then another leak, and then another leak, etc... I think this is a pretty common way to fix things, including cars. Also, there is no knob under the sink to turn off the water from the faucet. Hmm. I wonder what I'll do if there's ever an emergency like the faucet breaks. Both of the hoses there are cold water--there are no hot water heaters in Nicaragua. Hot showers come from a heater that is attached to the shower head. I don't have one. Only the right faucet on our bathroom sink works, and it leaks a pretty constant stream.



So there it is. Catch you later.

settling in again

I have now been living with my new family for almost a week! Yesterday I also took possession of my car! And, I haven't done any work in 7 full days. Life is good. I am really enjoying the family that I live with. They have been very good to me in terms of helping me with Spanish and in terms of feeding me. I get three wonderful meals a day. Most of the time there are veggies, fruit and meat in addition to beans and rice tortillas, so I'm getting spoiled. The evidence of it will probably showing itself around the edges. Living with these Hondurans, I get to learn their special words as well as those of Nicaragua (from my co-workers). I'm really liking it. They eat together at every meal because the father is a pastor and spends a lot of time working at home. It's been good to just be around them. Because they have a TV, I have watched more TV in the past week than I have since I arrived seven months ago. There will be a few pictures below of my place. I will have to post a few pictures of the family and some more of the house. They will come--but look below for some pictures of my truck, which is parked in front of the house, and my room.

Tomorrow I'll be going to Tipi Tapa to spend some time with a co-teacher. He wants me to come to play basketball, help him with his English, and help me with my Spanish. So, it should be a fun day. Sunday I'm going to take it easy. I'll worship in the morning and then play games with some friends Sunday night. Next week I plan to take Spanish classes every morning with a friend. Then I'll try to walk around my neighborhood and get to know some of the neighbors and work on my Spanish. If possible, I also want to work on my preparations for next semester. I have some relatives coming down from Florida right as school starts, so that's even more incentive to work as much ahead as possible. I have plans to visit Herty Landia next Saturday with a couple of fellow teachers and their families. Herty Landia is a water park in northern Nicaragua. I'm sure it will be fun. Then Sunday I made some plans to go out of town and enjoy my "cuatro por cuatro" (4x4). :) Looking foward to that. When I come back, I will have another week to focus on work...not looking forward to that in the same way. :)

Those big changes I mentioned last time changed a little. The other English teacher, Cristhian, has left for some personal reasons that I do not know, and so that will shake up the English department a little. They are thinking of hiring someone from the staff of NCA. I don't know the guy but apparently he knows English pretty well and has even tought it before. I will likely be teaching the more advanced high school class now, rather than the less advanced class.

Without much more reading, here are the pictures:
(prayer requests at the end)

This is a 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser. It's got a 3.0L, 4 cylinder diesel engine. It's a real beast--the torque is crazy. It's got a 4 speed manual tranny, with reverse to the left and down. No power steering. The car doesn't look amazing, but I'm starting to like it anyway. :) The tires are different on the back because apparently the previous owner likes that kind better. They're 10-ply as opposed to the normal 3 or 4-ply that are on the front. He switched after too many flats on the other tires. Air conditioning blows cold. Guages work. I'm really pleased to have a good-workin' car.







My room is about 2 times bigger than my previous room, so I opted to leave the loft behind in order that I wouldn't have to climb into bed every time I want to catch a few quick z's. I do have a boxspring and frame now.

Prayer requests:

- Pray that my break will be both relaxing and very productive.
- Pray that the school will be able to figure out how to fill the gap Cristhian left, and that semester two will start really well.
- Pray that I will be sensitive to the Lord's leading in every area of my life, and that I have wisdom and knowledge to do all that he puts before me.