Out of Towner

A strange feeling enveloped me this Christmas season: I am now an out of towner in my home town. I am the relative that people see at Christmas parties, special occasions, and few other times in between. I am the person that has to stand up when people at church welcome those that "aren't always with us." I will spent the next six months in Guatemala, and I won't return to MI after that time! Bring on the transitions from college to the 'real world' I guess.

These emotions give me small, small bit of insight into what Christ felt during his time on earth. Not at home or welcome (ok, I can't identify with that one) in the world that he created. But he persisted anyway. That dynamic, that healing of relationships broken, that reconciling creation to God, is what Christmas is about.

Grandville will always be my home as much as anyplace can be. I guess none of us are really at home in the nostalgic sense. There will always be a part of us feeling a little uncomfortable, a little off, because we live in a world that does not align with what it was created to be.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Years--start reclaiming some of our home and looking for ways we, as God's chosen people, can continue the story and move things toward the way they were meant to be in preparation for an eventual homecoming.

Three Weeks

Three weeks until "annetteinguatemala" will once again be written from Guatemala!

If you can't see it...

Bear with my ramblings on this one please, but I've been thinking a lot the past few days about something I talked about with my cooperating teacher. She has been teaching in Chicago Public Schools for a while now, and we've had a lot of really interesting conversations about the reality of inner city education. How do students break out of the molds? What's holding them back? How do we effectively educate the students we have in the situation we're in?

She shared a story with me about a student whose comment in response to some of those questions was, "if you can't see it, you can't be it." Think about that. For these students, if they don't have the examples in their lives, they have nothing to work for. That's heartbreaking in itself, but those words challenged me on a different level as well.

If you can't see it, you can't be it.

We are called to follow Christ, to be like him, "your attitude should be the very same as that of Christ Jesus." But, there are so many things in our lives that hinder us from seeing him clearly; and, if we can't see him, we can't be like him.

As Christmas approaches, I am caught up in the joy of this season, but more importantly, I have been thinking about what changes I need to make in my life in order to see Christ more clearly.

Time Flies

I cannot even believe how quickly my second placement is flying by...I have eight more days of full time teaching, then I start transitioning out. I feel like I am just settling into my routine at Kelly and I will be leaving. This year, and this fall especially, has been full of unbelievably challenging and exciting transitions.

And another one is coming. I am going back to Guatemala next semester to fill in for one of my cooperating teachers who is having a baby. A lot went into the decision, but it ultimately came down to two factors: first, if I don't go I really feel like it's an opportunity that I would look back on for the rest of my life and regret not taking. Second, the relationships are drawing me back. I love the students and teachers down there, and cannot imagine a better first job. So, next semester I will be back blogging from Guatemala.

As for my current student teaching placement, I daily see the reasons why God has me at Kelly. It's hard to see students show up to class with broken bones from a near-death gang fight, to hear teachers who write off students and have no passion for their job, to not be able to pray with a student whose pregnant aunt was shot in gang crossfire, to attempt to motivate students who have no desire or vision for education. Nothing about teaching in the inner city is easy.

BUT, I learned a lot about my limitations (aka I have them, which was a hard lesson for me to learn), and the kind of environment in which I will most effectively teach. Student teaching is a learning experience, and I definitely learned!

An Addiction

I'm addicted to blogging. It's cathartic for me, so I'm going to keep going...whether or not anyone reads it (it's not all about competition anyway, right?).

We sang a powerful song in church today. Trinity PCA (my church here) has a partnership with a prison ministry, and some reps from that ministry were at our church today. The worship leader writes songs specifically for the audience, and this one really hit me:

__________________________________________________
Here I am

If you were looking for accomplishment, then you know I wouldn't stand a chance. But you said you wanted failures, so here I am.

CHORUS: Thank you God for love I don't deserve; Thank you God for love I did not earn

If you were looking for intelligence, then you know I wouldn't stand a chance. But you said you wanted fools, so here I am.

If you were looking for good citizens, then you know I wouldn't stand a chance. But you said you wanted prisoners, so here I am.

If you were looking for faithful men, then you know I wouldn't stand a chance. But you said you wanted doubters, so here I am.

If you were looking for righteous men, then you know I wouldn't stand a chance. But you said you wanted sinners, so here I am.

If you were looking for worthy men, then you know I wouldn't stand a chance. But you said you wanted me, so here I am.
__________________________________________________

If my life in Christ was about me and what I have to bring, what I have to offer, then I would be nothing. It's so beautiful how Christ enters our weaknesses and makes them strengths, how he uses our vulnerability to bring change and hope into the world. I forget that sometimes in the face of all the pain and brokenness I see everyday. Christ doesn't ask us to change the world, he asks us to come as we are and offer ourselves as living sacrifices. That's something we can do.

Remember when (I feel OLD starting a post with those words...) halloween was about stretching creative muscles, finding a unique costume, and having fun. Specifically, I think of the year I went as a bubble bath. Yes, I found a cute ducky shirt, a shower cap, cut out the bottom of a laundry basket, filled it with balloons, and went as a bubble bath. Creative and fun.

Today I got a first hand look at halloween minus a dress code. This year's theme: slutty _____. You name it and I saw the slutty version of it. It was so sad because it reflects the girls' images of themselves. If, at first opportunity, the girls lose as many clothes as possible and come to school looking like a whore, that says a lot about how much they value their bodies. Heartbreaking, and teachers can't stop it.

Overall, I am adjusting to life in CPS. I'm learning how to pace my lessons, what to emphasize, and that there are situations out of my control. I can only do so much without students putting forth effort. Every day I am seeing the reasons why God has me in this placement: the one Christian in my fifth period class who is asking me about Trinity; the two boys in my sixth period class who are failing miserably but for some reason are doing work pretty well for me; the opportunities to witness through what I am NOT saying in the teachers' lounge.

We all have opportunities--small and large--in our daily lives to live for Christ. The question is, how are we using the opportunities?

From GUATE to GANGS

As a person who usually does extremely well with transitiong, the past two weeks have been hard. Really hard. I had about two days between returning from Guatemala and starting my new student teaching placement at Kelly High School--the largest and most overcrowded Chicago Public School. Picture this: 3600 students with capacity for about 2600; 40 students/class with adds about every week. Not the most beneficial learning environment.

Beyond the size of the school, the culture of it was a bit of a shock as well. To sum it up, the majority of the students just don't care. Attendance is spotty and investment in learning is fairly non existant (with the exception of my one honors class). Nearly 50% of my academic students (aka not honors) are failing because they just don't come to class or do work. The apathy stems from many sources: a lot of kids have no desire or ambition for college, so why does high school matter? some work nearly 40 hours to support their immigrant families; some kids are so deeply imbedded in gang life that school takes a far second to survival.

I was giving a kid a hard time about not using class time for homework. Another kid said, "but Miss Witte, it's better for me to have homework. It will keep me off the streets." Wow. That should not be the life of a 15 year-old. And, this comes after a Tuesday gang fight in the halls and a Wednesday retaliation fight. My response: "I can load the homework on if it will keep you off the streets; let me know what you need!" It turns out that his original work was a little sketchy so he still had some work...but that is his daily reality: find an excuse to stay off the streets.

It's overwhelmingly hard to teach in that environment, but I do know that the need is SO GREAT. It's hard to keep giving when there is no response though. We had a reading at church on Sunday that really gave me a gut/perspective check. One part of it said:

Because confusion can reign inside us, despite our faith; because anger, tension, bitterness and envy distort our vision; because our minds sometimes worry small things out of all proportion; because we do not always get it right, we want to believe:
Goodness is stronger than evil
Love is stronger than hate
Light is stronger than darkness
Truth is stronger than lies.

No matter how hard it is to go into this school every day, I have to believe that the goodness, grace, and truth of Jesus Christ in me will make a difference--even if only in the life of one or two students.

Odds and Ends

Well, I am back in the US and am thinking and reflecting on Guatemala constantly. I deeply miss the people there, the community, and all the relationships that are still in such a formation process. (BUT I have thoroughly enjoyed my time catching up with people here too).

I thought I would post a few more pictures and stories--as my entries do not even begin to touch on the magnitude of my experience, and I kind of slacked off in the last week.

First, this is a picture of me with the best kind of man possible... :) No, but, this gives an idea of indigenous Mayan dress. Each region of Guate has a slight variation on the typical dress. It's a part of their culture now, but was originally imposed on the people by Spanish settlers as a way of distinguishing between low class mayans who had guidelines on where they could go and when, and the Spanish.



Saying good-bye was hard (and most of my pictures are still on my camera). But, this was the farewell from the bball team. The best farewell gift was that we won our Copa (conference, essentially) by beating a team we had lost to by 40 two weeks before. The girls made a "defense" cake because I led them in numerous shuffling drills, etc. and gave me some awesome team pictures--and a toenail (another story, another time...it's gross though).




Antigua: The last "big" trip I made was to Antigua. Antigua used to be the capital of Guate, but it was destroyed by natural disaster numerous times; therefore, they moved the capital to Guatemala city. Antigua remains in the old colonial style, so there are regulations on what colors and style any new buildings can be in. It's a beautiful city full of amazing architecture and history. One interesting thing I heard about was how Guate celebrates 'Dia de la muertes" (day of the dead). While we were wandering Antigua we saw lots of skeletons and death masks and statues of Satan. It was a little spiritually oppressive--but their tradition is to where these masks and sweep all the trash out in the streets, light it on fire, etc. It's the ritual that "cleanses sin" before semana santa, or holy week, aka Easter. The reason it felt spiritually oppressive is because a lot of the people who practice this do it for ritual sake and don't believe or mean it--the spiritual warfare involved without people realizing it is very frightening to me.



To continue that story...the Catholic churches in Guate are extremely beautiful and have a rich history...but they are not like Catholic churches in the states. In order to entice the Mayans, the Spanish intermingled pagan Mayan religions with Catholocism...as a result, there is no pure Catholic church. If you look at this picture, you see the pagan moon on the bottom and stars on the top...surrounding Mary. While the Catholics saw Mary, the Mayans saw their gods. The mixing of faiths created a huge tendency toward idolatry over iconography. Again, a little overwhelming to be in those churches and realize that most of the people are not believing in Christ, just through a different means...they're actually lost.






And last but not least, a look at a pretty typical meal: rice, guacamole, and kebobs with chicken and tropical fruit--the meal that I will make the lucky winner to be named after I count up all the posts!!!!

A list

One week from now and I'll be in the States. My time went so fast!!! Here are some things I am looking forward to and some things I will miss:

I'm excited to:
1)See my friends/fam (esp Noah who can't talk to me on the phone...)
2)Run whenever and wherever I want (due to saftey issues I cannot run alone and it gets dark at 6)
3)Flush toilet paper in the toilet
4)Drive

I will miss:
1)All the new friends I made
2)Teaching 4 different grade levels and 4 different classes
3)The CAG girls bball team
4)The volcanoes surrounding the city
5)Having/sharing an office with Trisha
6)Chocobananas
7)Guacamole (for dirt cheap!!!!!)
8)All the amazingly beautiful places to spend quiet time/journal time

Okay, so this list is a little superficial...but, it's the little things about a place that make it so special. Those little things really stand out as I am about to leave them behind!

And the fish cry foul...

Okay, my dad officially wins for the comment that made me laugh the hardest. I hadn't thought about our goldfish in a while. If you haven't met Dora, Dutch, Nemo, Lazarus, Rocky, and Snowball then you should make your way to Grandville. How big are the little guys these days?

Here are some brief tidbits of update: no theme, no topic, just some insights into life here.

I spent last weekend at the beach: Monterrico is a little piece of paradise! One of my cooperating teachers offered her beach house for the weekend so I went with the Fry's and my office buddy Trisha. So beautiful, and I saw a lot of Pelicans :)

I'm finished teaching 7th grade and tomorrow is my last day with 9th grade. I feel like I have nothing to do, but I think my sleepyness is catching up a little bit. I've been hitting a wall by about 9 every night.

Funny teaching moment: I'm teaching the Constitution (and my scavenger hunt was a HUGE hit!!!!!) and was focusing on the executive branch. As all you astute US Citizens may or may not know, in order to serve as President you have to be 35 and a natural born citizen. After explaining that, one of my students raised his hand and asked, "so, you can't be president of the US if you were born by C-section????" Totally serious. And I thought Nike made cars...

Anyway, I answered his question and had a great laugh about it later!

Oooooh, this is a big deal right now: finals for Latin American Idol are tomorrow night. One of the finalists is from Guate, so the kids are all super excited about it. It's funny because the judges are all Latin American equivalents of Simon, Paula, and Randy.

Here are some beach pictures...don't be too jealous!!!!



The waves were GIANT...like 6-7 feet!









The life of and English teacher: we even have to grade at the Beach!








Kelli's beach house...the pool provided a break from the crashing waves: rough life, huh? (oh, and the super cute little Guatemalan girl is Xela Fry, one of the coolest little girls I've ever met!)






The Beach: black sand on the Pacific Ocean

Happy Birthday to ME :)

I feel blessed to be surrounded by such a loving Christian community--it really shone through today. First, the teacher whose office my desk is in brought me a mocha and delicious breakfast food. Then, my 7th graders planned a birthday party for me in homeroom, complete with cupcakes and cards. Some of my seniors who lead worship had the ENTIRE school sing happy birthday to me in chapel, then proceeded to produce a birthday cake in class. The birthday surprises were topped off with a dozen roses from my boyfriend down here. (ha, just kidding...I bet my mom freaked out for a second though. They were actually from my host mom).

Anyway...I did promise a few more reflections from my volcano time. I'm inserting an article I wrote for my church back home. So, First people...this will appear in First Facts so don't feel like you have to read it twice :)

Guatemala, Volcanoes, and the Refiner’s Fire
My time in Guatemala is proving to be a time of great adventure, learning, and reflection—often intermingled. One of these experiences came just a few days ago. Guatemala is a country whose geography is shaped and reshaped by volcanoes and volcanic activity; the capital city itself is surrounded by active volcanoes. I have never seen active volcanoes outside of my Geology text books, so it is quite a sight. While a chunk of my heart beats for the rugged, piercing rocky mountain skyline, something about the cylindrical, symmetrical force of a smoking volcano draws me in. In fact, it drew me and a group of friends up the side of Pakaya. Our guide, in his traditional Mayan dress and dialect, took us around the back of this volcano to a place where thick, viscous lava oozed down the mountain and across the ground.
I do not know what I expected of lava, but it was hot. Intolerably, skin singeing hot from five feet away (and the pyromaniac in me still had to burn the end of my walking stick in the lava floes!).

I have never experienced heat with this intensity, but, along with the appearance of sunburn, it gave me a refreshed insight in the work of the Lord in my life. In Jeremiah 23:29 God compares his word to fire; in Hebrews 12:29 we are commanded to worship the Lord “acceptably in reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Sidenote: Malachi 3 also refers to this image in regards to injustice—which is challenging and convicting and too much to handle in these few paragraphs. Read it!)

Our God is a consuming fire. He’s not a “let’s warm up and roast a hot dog” kind of fire. He’s a melt me, break me down to the elements, reveal my impurities, refine me into something new and better, consume me kind of fire. As I reflect on this fire that is my God, I have to ask myself a few questions:

1. How do I approach this consuming fire? Is it with the reverence and awe demanded of me? Or is it with hesitancy at what might result from an encounter?
2. What impurities does God so desperately seek to remove that he speaks to me with words of fire? Am I blind to these areas of my life?
3. Do I embrace the pain of refining fire as part of the process that draws me closer and closer to my Savior and my God?

We are all in this together (yes, High School Musical fanatics, you may sing that line). We are--individually and as the body of Christ—constantly being conformed and refined into the likeness of Christ. Like the oozing lava and the landscape of this country, we are in the process of formation and re-formation.

So here I am in Guatemala, standing (well, actually sitting in a hammock) at the edge of all my tomorrows, reflecting on the God ordained changes that have occurred even in my five weeks here. I have learned that I love teaching middle school students (SHOCK), I have learned that I love Guatemala, and maybe someday I will return and love teaching in Guatemala. I also am learning what it looks like to daily serve a God who loves me so deeply that he will not allow me to remain how I am. He is refining me with consuming fire while embracing me with a grace that is more complex and beautiful than I will ever comprehend.

In honor of the birders...

I have some dear honorary family members that love birding. Here are the bird stories I have:

1. School is always open so we've had birds in the classroom
2. My friend Karina has a parrot that says "gringa loca" whenever I walk past it.
3. Birds fly into restaurants and eat leftovers

My apologies, it's nothing exotic, but it's the best I can do right now!
(be thankful that I'm a little better at teaching than at birding!)


A bird eating leftovers...


MONKEYS (I forgot to post a picture the other day!)

Quince Weekend

I had a lot of adventures this weekend--Independence Day weekend in Guatemala. On Saturday I hiked a live volcano (more on that later...I'm writing something about it for church...).

Saturday I went with some friends to Pana Jachel, a town on Lake Atitlan. Atitlan is on Time Magazine's list of places to visit before you die. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. Pictures don't do justice, but I'll include them anyway. We took a boat across the lake (we actually rode on TOP of the boat the whole way...sitting on the roof) to a city called Santiago. There is a big, beautiful Catholic church in Santiago which, as recently as the mid 1990's served as a refuge for those being pursued by guerilla warriors during the civil war. There was a monument for all the people of Santiago who died in the war.

This morning, after watching the sunrise, we went kayaking on the lake and stopped by a nature preserve where we saw MONOS (monkeys) in the wild! It was so sweet, I love los monos :)

It was a refreshing weekend full of beauty, excitement, and awe at God's creation.

Happy Constitution Day!



Trisha Williams (a fellow teacher) and me
on top of the boat on the way to Santiago.


The church in Santiago


Kayaking on lake Atitlan with
the volcanoes in the background.


Yes, that is hot lava. The real stuff--
not the red carpet in Oma's basement :)


Pakaya and its lava!

9-11

I cannot really put words on my feelings about being out of the country on 9-11, but I will try to describe it. The majority of the people I am around were not in the States on 9-11. While they obviuosly care about the event, it did not cause the impact that it would have had they been living in the States; therefore, 9-11 wasn't even mentioned today until I brought it up! That was a strange feeling.

In government class I planned a discussion about 9-11--I wanted students' thoughts and responses to the event, but I also wanted to challenge assumptions. We read articles about the tragedy of the event from the perspective of those who lost loved ones, looked at some stuff on terrorism, but also looked at different crises around the world. I challenged the students to examine global happenings in context of the purposes and intents of governments. Are governments holding up to the test?

We then looked at a few scripture passages: Isaiah 1's call to look out for orphans and widows (amongst a lot of other huge challenges!); Micah's call to "seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our Lord."

It was an interesting class that raised a lot of questions, but I'm glad the students were thinking and interacting.

A sidenote: basketball games 1 and 2 were cancelled. Game one fell victim to Felix's threat. Today we drove to the school to find out that they had an outdoor court which was flooded due to the daily rain storm. So, we turned around and drove back to school...hopefully tomorrow's game will actually happen!

All is Well in Guate

As you all know by reading and observing the new, Felix changed directions...we've had cloudy skies and more rain than usual, but no severe weather.

My life was increasingly busy this past week as I picked up teaching full time. It went well (I think) and I have my midterm evalutation with all my cooperating teachers and my college supervisor tomorrow. I'm not nervous yet, but hopefully it goes well.

A few stories: I went to a Guatemalan church last Sunday (as opposed to Union Church whose ministry is with English speaking people in Guate). We had communion and sang a lot--I had enough frame of reference during those times that I was able to understand what was going on. We sang some great songs--including good 'ol "Victory in Jesus" and "Amazing Grace" in Spanish of course. I had to laugh because as much as we Dutch CRC people get laughed at for our inability to clap on beat, this church was just as bad! I felt so at home...

Last Saturday I spent the day in the city with new teachers and Sharon Rosa, whose unoffical title is "make all the new people feel loved, supported, and at home." We went to the relief map which is a scaled down version of the whole country of Guatemala. It was built in the early 1900's and gave me a great picture of the geography of the country. Apparently another Central American country wanted a relief map and the architect was assassinated because Guatemalan people wanted to be the only ones with such a structure.

We then went to the Central Market, the national cathedral, and out for lunch at a pretty nice restaurant. It was a good day and I learned a lot about the city and history of the area.

Off to a long night of lesson planning...

prayer request

Here is something to add to the prayer list: Felix is coming and threatening to hit Central America pretty hard. We already cancelled our Open House for tomorrow because it's supposed to hit in the afternoon. Guatemala should only get heavy winds and rains--most of the damage is supposed to be in Honduras and Belize. Pray for safety and that the hurricane dissipates before causing too much destruction, especially to the Indian people along the coast who have no means of protection or travel.

I had a wow moment a few minutes ago when I was reading an update about Felix: after describing the path and damage that may result, the article went on to say, "breathe easy, it won't hit Texas." How about global thinking and caring for the brothers and sisters in the world around us.

Anyway, I don't want to scare anyone (aka mom) but I do appreciate the prayers!

On teaching

I am getting a real taste of life as a teacher--I spent almost all night after basketball practice until at least 10:30 lesson planning and grading and doing homework for my class. A few people have asked what I'm teaching, so here is a brief summary. First of all, CAG is on block schedule--so rather than teach units on different topics, they're all rolled up into one long class.

7th: Grammar (parts of speech), short stories (focus on elements of plot), a novel--The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and vocabulary. It's pretty busy, but Monday if vocab day, Wed. short story day, and Fri novel day. We do a little bit of writing and grammar every day.

9th: Because the curriculum didn't come in on time, we started with research papers. I teach various aspects of the research process then the students have a chance to work on their papers.

Government: Origins of U.S. government, moving toward the Constitution. Okay, you all know that I am a nerd, so this won't surprise you. September 17 is the anniversary of the US Constitution so I'm planning a Birthday party with a "National Treasure" esque scavenger hunt :) I'm pretty stoked about it...

English as a Foreign Language: This class will be a lot of trial and error, but I am starting a writing portfolio. It will incorporate reading, writing, and speaking which are obviously important aspects of learning English.

Anyway, that's my life teaching--full time for three weeks starting on Monday.

I should have some good stories and adventures after this weekend, so more to come!

It's a small world after all...

This is the secondary building at CAG


Yo Quiero Taco Bell...all the Spanish one needs


Pretty flowers, I had to make Herm proud


La Chapina (Karina) y la Gringa (me) a la mercado


The world shrunk considerably this past weekend. I was walking with the ladies in the neighborhood (wow, I really am a teacher...) and mentioned to one that I am from Michigan. She said, "oh, I have a girl staying with me from MI, Grandville actually." Yes, a former Little League teammate of mine--go Superior Sports--went to language school in Antigua and is staying right down the road from me. We reminisced about the bubble and ended up going to a Barlow Girl concert with a bunch of the other teachers. Afterwards we were hungry, and where else is there to have a 10:00 dinner? Taco Bell. I promise, I am actually living in another country!

I picked up my 9th grade English class. Day one went pretty well...they're chatty so I had to lay down the law as best I could. I start government later this week (pray for that one!). Basketball practice is interesting--one gym, one court; ideally boys and girls rotate practicing outside, BUT, it's rainy season. So today we learned our offense and defense in the chapel. It gave true meaning to "I will enter his courts with praise." Ha, don't laugh too hard at my jokes.

If you're wondering about the pictures--"gringo" is not a derrogatory term in Guate like it is in Mexico. Karina calls me gringa, and I call her chapina which is the name for Guatemalan people.

Oh, a note to those who are taking seriously the posting challenge...I want you to post, but keep it clean. Lunch with me is worth it, but no fighting (ahem, Herm, Tasha, and a preemptive warning to Uncle Lenny). And Dad, if you win you'll probably have to pay anyway :)

A Challenge

I've been thinking a lot about what my goals are for student teaching, and for life in general...and here's one I want to share. I'm re-reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, and in the preface he writes the following:

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself.

It is as if they are showing you the way.

How can I live life and love Christ in such a way that my passion and love is contagious? Jesus came "that we may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10)--am I living life to the full, or am I just living life? What am I doing to show the way?

It's something to think about...

On the first day of school...and my new home

On the first day of school a seventh grader gave to me...a tasty box of chocolates! We had a half day today--all classes for twenty minutes. It's amazing to see the differences between middle schoolers and seniors on day one of school.

I start teaching 7th grade English on Wednesday--I'm not too worried about it yet, but I am a little nervous about the government class I'll be teaching. We're starting with philosophy of government: think Montesque (I can't even spell his name...I have a lot of work to do!), Locke, etc. It'll be a great experience and I'll learn a lot in the process.

After a week with the my friend Ethan's family (they took me in like family and made me feel SO comfortable here, a HUGE blessing) I am not settled into my home with the Soderling's. I've enjoyed getting to know the family--they're involved in a lot of ministries down here. Mr. Soderling is a doctor and helps organize Christian physicians and health care. In addition they are starting a Christian school up in the mountains somewhere--hopefully I'll get to see it while I'm here!

I am making some good friends already, which is another blessing--most of you know how much I love to talk with people :) I've been running with another teacher, Karina, and am getting to know her outside of school too.

Basketball practice starts on Thursday! I'll be a coach for the first time...

That's all for now, and I PROMISE that pictures will come--I haven't taken that many yet, I'm a slacker.

On Rod, Mario, and a real update

The Tigers/Yankees series has been playing here in Guatemala...watching Tigers' baseball with Spanish commentators makes me miss Mario and Rod! Too bad I didn't get to see any victories!

Okay, now for the real stuff. Over the past week I have been attending New Teacher Orientation and all the beginning of the year teachers' meetings. I have already learned a lot about the C.A.G. culture. C.A.G.'s mission is primarily for missionary kids. These kids are growing up in the overlay between multiple cultures: at this school it's primarily North American, Korean, and Guatemalan. They belong to all while not fully belonging to any. C.A.G. is a place where these students can find a home.

C.A.G. provides a solid, rigorous, academic setting for students so their parents can devote themselves to the mission field here in Guatemala without having to worry about their children's educations. The community here is more interdependent than that of a school in the states: the students need any and all adults in their lives and don't have the outside resources like students in the states.

I think the mission of C.A.G. is a beautiful mission. Every kid, whether a missionary kid or a kid growing up in the inner city, needs a place that he can call his own.

I start teaching tomorrow! Finally the students will fill the classrooms. Over the next few weeks I will be picking up 7th and 9th grade English, an English as a Second Language class, and 12th grade U.S. Government. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out as I will be reporting to four different cooperating teachers :)

Adventures in Guatemala Blogging

Alright, the much anticipated and promised blog is now up and running! I finally sat down in an internet cafe tonight to put this together...apparently since I connected to a Guatemalan network Google is in Spanish. As you can imagine, it took me a while to figure out exactly what to do to change my language to English. I should have paid better attention back in High School Spanish!

A very brief initial update: I love it here, I love the people, I love the school (Christian Academy of Guatemala), I am grateful to be able to see the beginning of the school year, I am excited to meet the students, and finally be a real (student) teacher.

More details to come, but at least I started!