Wow, What a Week

Well, this has been quite an eventful week, and I have some prayer requests to go along with all of my news. First, the good (but a little sad) news: we have a new girl living with us! Her name is Magaly, is 8 years old, and is precious. We got her on Sunday, and that was a little bit of an emotional experience for me. She has a mother and siblings, but her widowed mother has more children than she is able to provide for and can't afford to put any of them in school. When Jerry and Hugo went to pick her up on Sunday, they brought her whole family with them so that they could see where she is going to live and meet the girls that she is going to live with. It was hard meeting her mother and siblings, knowing that they were going to have to leave her here and part from her. I can't imagine having to do that. So far Magaly has been doing really well, and I hope it continues that way. I can't imagine how overwhelmed she must feel with being in a new place and being put into school for the first time. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

The other big news is (as I'm sure many of you have already heard) that there has been a police riot against the President in Quito, the capital of Ecuador today. Everything in Quito is shut down, and there are even roads in Ecuador that are blocked off. I have a group coming to visit that lands this Sunday in Quito, and so they are now watching to see if it will be possible/safe for them to come. Please be in prayer about this whole situation. As of tonight, I've heard that things have calmed down, but I have no details at all. Please be in prayer about all this.

To add to the chaos at school today with the news of the police riots, we also had to say goodbye to three of our fantastic teachers at the school who have gotten good government teaching jobs. It was very sad, and we had many sobbing young girls (didn't really see any boys crying :P) who are going to miss their teachers terribly. This also puts the school in a tight spot as we are now five teachers short, and certified teachers are very difficult to come by right now with all the jobs that the government is offering. This makes functioning on a day to day basis very stressful for everyone. Please be in prayer that God provides the teachers and support that we need. We need individuals who will not only be good teachers, but who can be good Christian role models to these children and be involved in their lives. Not only do we need more teachers and support, we especially need certified teachers so that we can finish the process of legalizing the high school so that the oldest students can graduate in a couple of years. The Lord will provide somehow. Be in prayer for this school with its mission, aim, and heart.

To leave with a good thought: tonight at our women's Bible study, we sang one of my favorite songs, "Ancient Words." I absolutely love the words to this song...

Ancients words, ever true
Changing me, changing you
We have come with open hearts
So let the ancient words impart

Ecuadorian Civic Day at School

Yesterday all schools across Ecuador had a national civic day to honor the top students of the 7th grade. At Hacienda of Hope Christian Academy, we had a ceremony to honor those students. I took the opportunity to take some photos of some of my students :) Unfortunately, I didn't get any good photos of the oldest students, who I spend most of my time with. But please enjoy those I did get!

9th and 10th grade girls marching in... 

The oldest students marching... 

8th grade boys 

The top students from last year carry in the flag 

7th grade girls 

7th grade boys 

Maritza presents the top students 

Jordan, Christian, and Salma 

The 7th graders hold the flags 

Ingrid, the top student, making a presentation 

 Orlando, Carlos, and Nicole

Ms. Fabi (house mother for the boys), Laura, Maritza (secretary and replacement house mother), and me! :) 

Pamela, Hugo's daughter. So pretty! 

Christian. How handsome is he?!

A Busy But Good Couple of Weeks

I've been quite busy the past couple of weeks, but it's been good too. After a week of orientation, we started classes last week. I've so enjoyed getting to know all of the students and spending time with them. I'm the head supervisor for two Learning Centers (rooms where the students have their own "offices," or desks, to do their work): the 6th-7th graders and the 10th-11th graders. I have no doubt that MY students are the best in the whole school :) I have had so much fun with them, and enjoy working in a one-on-one environment, similar to a tutor.

In addition to helping students in Learning Center, I am also teaching a few traditional English classes for the oldest students, the 8th-11th graders. Right now, I'm focusing on conversational English and will soon dive into more serious grammar. The nerd in me is really excited about that, because I always loved grammar :)

This past weekend was Laura's and my weekend off, and we did some traveling. Friday night we went into Cayambe and had some fantastic pizza (no rice the whole weekeend!). Saturday we traveled to Otavalo, the pretty market town, and wandered around there some. I bought a cute butterfly keychain for my room key and...a guitar! It's a beautiful and unique orange wood, with a pretty design around the hole. All of the guitars here have vinyl strings for the top three strings, which I just don't like as much, so I bought some steel strings and restrung it myself. It's so nice to have a guitar again and be able to play. I've been practicing a little bit every night before I go to bed. I've sung to the girls some too. They love to sing, and are always asking me to sing for/with them.

I have a group of visitors coming in a week and a half! (Carrying so many things for people down here, haha) My parents, grandmother, Art Leslie, and Steve and Ann Clark are going to be staying at Camp Bellvue and will be able to see all that is going on here and hopefully travel around some. It will be so good to see them.

Now I'm off to bed for a good night's sleep! I have to get up at 5 am every day. Not fun at all, but I'm getting used to it. A good night to all!

A Relaxing Weekend

First, (for those who do not have Facebook), I wanted to share some photos that I've taken of the kids. These were all taken last Friday, when the kids were playing outside in the afternoon and then helping make pizza for dinner. It was a beautiful day, and a happy time.

Esteban (Maritza's son), Maria, and Caty jumping rope

Dayana...how precious is she?

Carmen...the baby :)

Esteban swinging the rope while Fabian jumps. Fabian is almost never without that huge smile.

Maria...beautiful girl (and that's Dayana in the background)

Go, Caty, go!

Jorge cutting vegetables while Cynthia, Caty, Carlos, Maritza, and Christian work on the pizza!

All 16 kids sitting down for dinner. It was a fun night!

This week has been busy as we've finished up our teacher training. We didn't spend as much time on English this week (just a little bit every day) because there is so much more that needs to be done before school starts on Monday. Construction on the school is wrapping up, and now it's a matter of getting everything cleaned, organized, and ready for the students! Next week is only half days, doing orientation and giving aptitude tests for all the new students.

As part of teacher training, we had worksheet packets to do in Spanish, and had to take tests over them, and I survived and did well! I learned a lot, and although I didn't get much sleep this week because of it, I am thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow. 

We also received our schedules for school this week, and in addition to helping the kids in the Learning Centers with their English, I am also teaching traditional English classes with the 8th-11th graders, and I am looking forward to that. I hope to have some fun and doing a variety of things with literature, grammar, and pronunciation. I have considered certifying in English as a Second Language and working with Spanish-speaking students in the states, and this will give me an excellent opportunity to see how I like it and gain that experience. 

Laura and I have this weekend off, and we wanted to take the time to rest before school starts, so we are crashing at Jerry and Pat's house :) When we came over last night, all four of us got into our pajamas, and then Laura and I made yummy fajitas for dinner. We all curled up in the living room next to a roaring fire, and ate while watching the second Anne of Green Gables movie. (We watched the first over the past two weeks for teacher training, and were really in the mood for it :)) Late last night, we also made fabulous gooey brownies. It was an excellent, relaxing, fun night. Today we slept in late, and are taking the day to relax and read. We will be refreshed and ready to go for next week! 

"And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!'" Mark 15:39  I enjoyed finishing up our study of Mark this week!