Things You Can Do Without a Voice

I am finding out there is a lot you can do without talking! I have now not talked for almost two weeks. It's crazy to think that it has been that long. I am hoping that my vocal cords will be great in a week so that I can talk!I am finding out that there is a lot you can do without a voice though. Just to give you a little idea of the things you can do...I have found that you can...
-Communicate with your roommates and others. One day I need to video record it. It often involves lots of crazy motions on my part and guessing on the other's part, or a pad of paper and a pen. I am getting fast at writing things down, and my roommate Amanda is going to be the best charade player on the continent!
-Go to the beach! A group of nine of us took the bus to Sosua, a beach on the Atlantic Coast, for the day on Saturday. It was a very good and restful time. The beach is so beautiful! The water is warm and I probably shouldn't tell you that we were hot! It was in the 80s at least. Amanda and I didn't appreciate the ride back as much--two guys from across the aisle stared at us the whole time!
-Barter with a store owner! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I can barter and get the owner to agree to my price without talking! You're probably not too surprised :). Amanda and I found a painting we really liked while we were at the beach. We decided we only wanted to pay 500 pesos for it, which is like 15 dollars. Paintings are cheap here! She doesn't speak Spanish, so we grabbed another teacher, Christine, to help us. The first price he said was 1,500 pesos, which is like 45 dollars. Christine bargained for a while while I was just shaking my head. The lowest he would go was 1,200. I eventually took out the 500, which is the only money we had on us, and showed him that was all we had. By that point, Christine stopped talking and let me take it. He kept telling other prices but I just shook my head and showed him the money. We started to walk out, which usually does the trick. He still didn't want to give it to us, but I wouldn't back down. And in the end, I was victorious! It was great! Now I can say I bought my first painting without saying a word!
-Take a taxi by yourself. Now, before you get all worried about me, let me tell you that my roommate Robin had already called the taxi and told him where I wanted to go, I know him, and he had taken me there before. So no worries!
-Go to church by yourself, where you are already the only white person. Once again, no worries. Robin had called my friend I met there and told her I wanted to come and to please meet me. She was also going to call the taxi to pick me up. I started to get a little worried when she didn't show. I probably looked funny just sitting there, not even trying to sing. Thankfully, she got there about an hour and a half late. She translated for me and called the taxi.
-Do the teacher stare. I went to school today for the first time in over a week. Obviously, I can't teach, so I spent most of my time helping in the library. When kids in there were not being quiet and obeying, I gave them my best teacher stare, and it worked! I even did it on my own kids when they were in the library and it worked on them too! So you don't need a voice to remind students to obey!
-Talk on the phone. This one is a little more challenging, and I only did it once with our neighbor who can see me from her window. She wanted to know if I needed a ride to Bible Study. I motioned to her and she confirmed what my motions meant. It must have been quite a site, especially since it is still across the block. The buildings between us are low, but I am sure others could see us motioning to each other with the phones in our hands!
-Pray, read, and rest. Hmm, those things are pretty self-explanatory. My body has definitely needed this time to slow down. I guess God needed to get my attention to remind me to rest, and He sure did!

Well, there is a little update on my life as a mute person. I would love to hear from you readers out there, as my only real communication right now is written. I am sure I will have more stories soon enough. I am going back to the doctor sometime this week, so we will see what he says. Thanks for being interested!

ONE WEEK!

I have officially gone one week without talking at all! I did not know that was possible for me :). It has been a challenge but also a good reminder. It has taught me to sit still and listen. I am learning more about words. Words have such power. There are so many words that come out of my mouth that don't need to. Not being able to have any words come out of my mouth has been a good wakeup call. I have been reminded that I don't need to say a lot of what I do. Hopefully I will remember that lesson when I can speak again!

It has been weird to not be around my students all week. I got the cutest email from one of my little boys today, saying, "I want that you get well soon because I love you with all my heart." It almost made me cry. I miss them so much! I have been able to rest though, and that has been good for me. I am not very good at slowing down, so this has forced me to do so!

I am getting really good at writing quickly, and my roommates are getting better at reading my motions. I don't know if I am necessarily better at charades, or if they are just getting better at knowing what I am trying to say! I spend a lot of time during the day by myself, enjoying the presence of my Creator. It has been really good for me. I also have had time to read and work on other projects.

Thank you to all who have been praying for me. Please continue to pray that my vocal cords would heal quickly and that I would be able to talk again soon. I miss teaching! I go back to the doctor next week. I have felt your prayers--thank you!

No talking, day 3

Well, I guess I should give you an update on this whole "no talking" thing. It has been almost 48 hours since I was told I can't talk anymore. I found out on Thursday night. Last time I wrote, there were a lot of unknowns. There still are, but not as many. The school found a sub who will take my class for the next three weeks. She used to work at the school as a sixth grade teacher, so she will be great. I met with her and the other third grade teacher to get her up to speed, as much as I could without a voice :). My kids did well with her yesterday, so that's really good. The school wants me to take an entire week where I don't come to school at all. Part of this is stress induced, so they want me to lower my stress levels as much as possible. After that, I may be there doing other things at the school that don't involve talking, we will see. Katie, the lady who is subbing for me, will be handling my parent/teacher conferences on Thursday. Pray for her as she just met the kids yesterday! I will be writing stuff out for her. I have no idea what I will be doing next week, but i do know I will be trying to rest! It is definitely strange not being able to talk! My roommate Amanda and I will challenge you to charades in about three weeks. We will win! She is already getting good at figuring out what I am trying to say. I try to keep paper with me or my computer. Thanks for your prayers. Please keep praying for patience in this and also that my throat would heal. Thanks so much!

Challenges and Blessings

Well, first of all, sorry for not posting in a long time. Life has been crazy, and it just got crazier. I have mentioned before that my students talk all the time, and I think I said that my voice was not very strong because of it. It has been bad for almost seven weeks now. I can't really talk loud or change pitch or sing. The last few days, my chest started to hurt too. The nurse at the school started getting concerned so we went to the doctor today. Before going, someone told me I may have to go on complete vocal rest for one week, so I was trying to mentally prepare for that. At the doctor, he stuck a camera in my mouth and looked down my throat at my vocal chords. I didn't want to look, but the nurse who was with me, Linda, was able to see my vocal chords on a TV screen. Technology amazes me! Well, from the camera, he saw two nodules on my vocal chords, one on each side. For those of you like me that have no idea what that means, basically, there are two bumps on my vocal chords that are very bad. If they don't go away, it could require surgery. So, the doctor has ordered complete vocal rest for THREE WEEKS! I cannot talk for at least three weeks, which means no teaching. At this point, that all hasn't sunk in. I still can't believe I can't say anything for that long. Please pray that my vocal chords would heal so that I don't have to get surgery. They should go away with rest. For those of you who know me, you will know that it will be very hard for me not to talk for that long! Please pray for my kids as well as they will have a sub for quite a while. I found all this out today after school, so they don't even know yet.

Other than that whole mess, life here is crazy but good. I have been able to do a few fun things, like jump off and slide down waterfalls. That was quite the experience! It was absolutely beautiful. My students are chatty (obviously!) but so cute. I have seen an intense interest in Spiritual things. Please pray that God would open their hearts and that they would all enter a real relationship with Him that will last. I was able to try out a church I really liked the last two weeks. Last week I went by myself! I probably won't be able to go for a while since I can't talk, but we will see.

On the funny side of things, my mom sent me a rubber chicken in the mail! Those who know my mom won't be shocked. It was so funny to get a bound and gagged rubber chicken in the mail! Maybe it can talk for me :) Life has truly been good, though it is tough at times, and will now get tougher. Please pray that everything would work out for my students. I also don't have enough sick days at work, so we are not sure what will happen there. I know the Lord will work everything out, it will just be finding out what that will look like. Thanks for the prayers and I will try to post an update with pictures soon!