Fourth Grade is Pretty Awesome

Last Wednesday we celebrated American Thanksgiving at NCA. Parents came for a program put on by the Pre-kinder to sixth grade students.

Third grade boys waiting for their part in the program.

Fourth grade did an act called 'Behind the Scenes'. We wrote a skit about what it was like to plan an act for the Thanksgiving Program. They included things they were thankful for and Thanksgiving Day jokes. Want to hear one?

What do you get when you cross an octopus and a turkey?

Enough drumsticks for Thanksgiving.

They did a great job! I was so proud of them.

After the program the 4th-6th grade students served a Thanksgiving meal complete with chicken, potatoes, rice, and salad.

From Land to Sea

Since we were off from school for Thanksgiving Break, I participated in a fundraising event. It was a two day bike trip to raise funds for San Lucas, also known as the Luke Society. San Lucas in Nicaragua focuses on helping farmers and on community development. The money from the fundraiser would go towards the purchase of a land bank. San Lucas is working with about 100 farmers and one of their biggest needs presently is land.

The trip started on Friday morning. We had about 25 bikers and 15 participants in cars. The first half of the journey was on pavement. The second part of the journey was more treacherous with some steep, rocky inclines but a magnificent landscape. We crossed several rivers and rode through a mountainous/hilly region. The ride was a challenge but was a lot of fun.

We stayed the night at a wildlife reserve which was right on the ocean. This is the time of year for sea turtles to come out of the ocean to lay their eggs. That night 100's of baby turtles left their nests and about 60 mama turtles came ashore to lay their eggs. You need to be a night owl to catch all this, so sadly I have to admit I only got to see one nest of babies come out. See the picture gallery below for some pictures.

The next morning we started the journey back. This too was challenging because we were climbing up in altitude. We completed the trip with a great lunch of rice, beans, fried plantains, and fried chicken.

Overall the trip raised about $1,700. We pray that this money will be used effectively for farmers and they will see abundant blessings from it. This is a difficult time of year because many farmers lost their seeds and crops with recent heavy rains and tropical storms. We pray that San Lucas may be effective in helping farmers gain back what they lost.

You can do it! You can do it!

Aren't they adorable? Their journey of life has just begun. There will be many challenges for them along the way. The first is to make it safely into the ocean.

And we made it. Jason (former teacher at NCA) me, Mary (missionary) and Carey (teacher at NCA)

Enjoying the sights and taking a breather for the upcoming challenges on the road ahead.

Giving the bikes a break. We stopped here for a fruit and water break and to learn more about what San Lucas is doing in this community.

Anything Creepin' and Crawlin'

In class we just started our unit on insects so of course without a doubt the following day we had a wave of creepy insects come in. It's great though because the students can right away identify body parts and appendages that we've been studying. Then on Friday there was a humongous tarantula in the courtyard. I couldn't resist so I scooped him up and he is making his home in our classroom for a little while. It is the biggest one I have seen in this area.

On Friday students took what they had learned about insects during the week and had to create their own insect. It was tricky for them to think of all the characteristics of an insect and apply them to their own, but they were very creative. You wouldn't want to encounter one of these in your back yard. Below are some pictures of their creations.

Although I've posted a picture of the Goliath beetle before, their size continues to amaze me. This one was dead but we took a closer look at it under a magnifying glass.

Here it is. Our tarantula. What a beauty!

Halloween, Not a Nicaraguan Holiday

It is quite clear that Halloween is not an accepted holiday in Nicaragua. Last week I saw more than one person wearing a shirt that took a stand against it. We stay clear of this topic in school as well since it has become such a controversial subject. Halloween is clearly a North American tradition and one that the people in Nicaragua clearly do not want to adopt.

In our apartment, we wanted to have some fun knowing it is a very colorful time of year back home with all the pumpkins and colorful leaves. So, we bought 2 watermelon to gut and carve. Since that was working well we also carved some passion fruit. See the results below.

On Sunday Dave, Joel, Carey and I went on a little scouting trip to find the road we will take for our 2 day bike trip/fundraiser at the end of November. We went on the motos to make the trip a little more adventurous... and adventurous it was indeed. Every mode of transportation gives you a different view of the country. Riding on the back of a moto gives you two views; to the right or to the left. It was a beautiful ride but we did run into a little bit of mud since we had a huge rain storm the night before.

At that point we took out a map to find out our options whether it was better to continue forward or turn around and go where we came from. We choose the second one which seemed to be a reoccurring theme of the day.

A little ways from Managua it was pouring hence the rain suits.

And the end of the story is we never did arrive at the place we will be biking; perhaps another day.

A Mouse in Our House

For sometime now we've had a creature in our house stealing food. One night Carey, my roommate and I, went through the laundry room because we were sure he was in there. All our work was worthless but we closed the door to the kitchen believing he had to be in there somewhere. We were definitely in the wrong because the next morning he had left the remains of yet another feast. We had actually locked him into our kitchen instead. Our neighbors nicknamed him the pig-mouse with a big snout because we believe he was stealing food from both of us. Mice here aren't like those cute little ones we have in Ontario; they are actually a lot more like a small rat.

Last night while we were eating dinner the mouse was peaking out at us from behind the stove. We went after him but he was no where in sight; once again.

Later that evening my roommates both left. When I walked into the kitchen with another friend, Jess, the pig-mouse was eating a banana. Immediately I was determind to catch this thief. I chased him around the shelf with a sandal before Jess suggested I upgrade to a larger weapon.

That's when the wooden shoes came in handy. We had him trapped and were screaming. Jess was actually on a chair in the kitchen watching this war with the mouse. After a brief chase around the kitchen the war was over and I was victorious. Sorry little guy. You just chose the wrong place to make your home.

Indepedence Day in Nicaragua

It's Independence Day weekend again in Nicaragua. Friday we had our huge celebration and as always it was a fun and busy day. Below are a few of my favorite pics from the day.

Willy Wonka's cousin (a highschool presentation) explaining to the elementary students how they make chocolate from the cacao bean. Many, many years ago the cacao bean was used as money in Nicaragua.

Each class preforms a dance. Here are two of my students in action.

Students and teacher alike ready for the big performance.

The main program ends with a dance by the teachers. Here we are in our traditional costume. The Nicaraguan community loves to see the North American teachers attempting their folklore dances.

With the extra long weekend, I'm heading off to Canada. There is another very special event in my family which I feel very blessed to be able to participate in. My sister Sara and her husband were blessed with a baby girl, Anna Joy. We have awaited her arrival for many years and are celebrating this answer to prayer. I'm returning for a week to Canada to spend time with them, to attend the baptism and a baby shower.

Grilled Pizza

Recently I've discovered the richly enhanced flavour of pizza when it is cooked on the BBQ. The Nicaraguan family I visit often has asked me several times to teach them how to make pizza. Cooking them on the fire is a better way for a Nicaraguan family to make pizza since many homes do not have an oven.

We actually made two types of pizza. The normal way by mixing up the pizza dough and letting it rise and by making flour tortillas and dressing them up with toppings to bake.

These were my two rather competetive 'students' helping to make the balls for tortiallas. Both of them wanted their hands in the dough so I was surprised we did get it all mixed together. Lots of laughs (and a few elbows) and the dough was good to go.

Yolanda is a master tortilla maker but it has always been corn tortillas. Corn tortillas are a typical food in Nicaragua, while flour tortillas are more traditional to Mexico.

This is the BBQ area where we cooked the pizzas. Cooking them over the fire gives the pizza an overall better flavour and it is actually much more simple than it sounds.

GOOD EATS!

Tailless Whip Scorpian

It's not that I've abandoned my blog, it's just that starting up a school year always takes much longer than I would anticipate. This week one of my students remarked to me how fast time goes and that we had already been in school for 4 weeks. This is so true, I feel that the days just fly by and here we are in September already.

This year I have a class of 20 fourth graders. We had several new faces join our class all of whom already fit in so well. In our mix of 20 students half of them are Nicaraguan, 6 North American, 3 Korean, and 1 Canadian. I'm still getting used to the scheduling this year since a number of my students go in and out of my class to recieve Special English, Special Spanish, or Learning Assistance. All around they are a very well-natured class. In devotions one morning we were talking about people in authority over us. Somehow in the discussion one student remarked, "And we know that Miss Bootsma loves us." This took me off guard, but it was the same thoughts I had that previous day when I thought to myself, "I might just have one of the best classes in the school." (So thankful that God gives me a great group of kids each year :)

Below are some pictures of my student with their reading buddies from first grade.

Although I'm not sure why, but I was a little alarmed to see this creature (photo below) in the teacher workroom this week when I was cutting off some butcher paper. Naturally I called over a colleague to help me trap it. The next day the students in my class took a keen interest in looking at it. I heard several people say, "Look a spider", "No a crab", etc. This creature, as I discovered the first time I saw one, is a Tailless Whip Scorpian. It looks ugly and mean but is completely harmless. We put an ant in his jar one day after recess and watched him respond, but he didn't eat it. This guy is more interested in crickets.

Wonderful Surprises in Small Packages

Okay so maybe it wasn't such a small package. My sister Sara and her husband William were blessed with a baby girl on August 19, 2009. Meet Anna Joy...

What an amazing testimony! This little one has been our prayer for years. I can't wait to meet her. As far as I know mom, dad, and baby are all doing well.

Vacation is Over

Something tells me that the rhyme and rythme of vacation is over for me. The past three days I've been in teacher meetings and in my classroom getting ready for a new school year. There's always something exciting about putting things back in their place and back on the wall to start the year with a new bunch of kids. Summer seems to have come and gone by quickly but when I think back to all I did I guess it makes sense. I might say that most of the summer involved spending time with family with the exception of a 2 day conference at Redeemer College and a trip to North Carolina.

Notice anything different about the girl on the left? Sara, Chester (the little one), and I spent lots of quality time together. Sara helped me run around and shop for clothes and school supplies for another year and I helped her get ready for having a baby around the house.

Charlie and Rachel having a siesta with Daddy

This summer I got to see and visit with several aunts and uncles I hadn't seen in a while. Mom and I went to Toronto for the day to see Aunt Jessy. We had a great time going to the market, riding the subway, seeing a movie, and eating out. Although it was lots of fun, it was rather a relief to be out of Toronto traffic again.

On a trip to North Carolina I got to spend a couple of days with Pam and John Day, former collegue and friend from Nicaragua. Don't fall off your chair, but yes I did participate in the 4th of July activities as is given away in the photo above. I joined the Day's in participating in the golf cart parade. We also had a special 4th of July lunch with the nieghbours and fireworks at night.

The rest of my time in North Carolina was spent with Amber Hubers, a great friend from college. We spent a week together before she got married. There were hours and hours catching up, talking about life, and just laughing. Amber spent a bunch of time complaining about the hassles of wedding planning while I held her down from eloping. When not tied down with flowers and dresses we were off kayaking, at the lake, at the ocean, and golfing.

Charlie loved taking rides on this bike which has gotten the name Phyllis

Dirt, sand, and toys are part of the fun at camping

I like camping. It's a great time to be with family. I don't like camping in the rain. This summer while camping on two occasions it rained sooooo much. The first time it flooded out my tent so the second time I got smart and used some tarps. We also got a humoungous tarp to put up as a shelter. Faye and I spent... let's just say the whole morning putting it up, but it was worth the effort.

Annika roasting her marshmallows with Aunt Aimee

Tim and Andrea moved back to Canada after 10 years of mission work in Zambia. I spent a couple days at their house. One day Tim and Andrea went out furniture and appliance shopping so the boys and I ruled the house. Moving means boxes and boxes means hours and hours of fun!

The next post should be something about Nicaragua again. I've been back for about 4 days now. Friday we have an Open House for the parents and classes start again next Tuesday.