Let's see, where to even start? Well, the last time I posted I said I had my voice back. What a blessing to get it back! I was able to go back into the classroom, which was a huge blessing. I couldn't talk very loud, so my kids had to learn how to listen. They did a great job! They learned to listen as soon as I said something and not to talk when I was talking. I should have thought of training them that way at the beginning of the year! Lessons for next year I guess. I did try, but since they had to listen, I think that really helped. About two weeks ago, I got a cold. My voice started to get scratchy and I was a little nervous. By a week ago Saturday, my cold was gone but my voice was still scratchy. I started to get a little more nervous, and so on Monday I talked to the nurse at the school, Linda, and she said she would take me to the doctor. So she called the doctor and we headed out, only to get there and find out he had already left for the day. He asked us to come back the next day, Tuesday. My rommate Amanda and I were hoping I would go there and he would laugh at me for coming back and say it was just a cold. Unfortunately, there was no laughing at the doctor on Tuesday. He looked down my throat and saw another nodule. Last time there were two, but this time there's only one, but it is way bigger than last time. He said it was not the same ones but was really fast for another one to come, since it had not even been 4 weeks since the last ones disappeared. He said there might be an infection in my throat, but he doesn't know. So I am on vocal rest again for two weeks, which means once again I can't teach. I am a little frustrated at this point, but i am hoping it will go away quickly and i will get to go back to my kids in a week and a half. Thankfully part of my silent time has been over Thanksgiving break, so I don't have to miss that time with my kids.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the song, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." My kids sing it and do motions for it too. That song has a special place in my heart, as it was very dear to a friend who died of cancer last year. I've been thinking of the line, "You give and take away." The Lord sure does give and take away, and I am thankful that what He has taken from me is not as big as it could be. I am glad He has given me a voice for the past 21 years. I can only imagine what it would be like to never be able to talk. This has made me all the more thankful for the voice I have had. I can still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
I haven't posted much about life around here lately. It's exciting, crazy, interesting, funny, hard, good, busy, and so much more all rolled into one. I sure have some funny stories! I am enjoying getting to know my 21 busy third graders more. We have had a lot of fun in class. They love to laugh, move, dance, and draw! That class could draw all day long, and if you know me, you know I'm horrible at drawing! Some, or probably most, are better than me. Here's a class picture we took on "Jean Day" when they are allowed to be out of uniform.
And here is my class being their true selves!
In the last few weeks, we have been studying about Native Americans. They had a ton of fun making Southwest pueblo houses out of cardboard that came from between the dishes I bought. It was so good for me to see them get excited about such a simple craft! Some of my friends also sent me pictures of what the SW looks like, which they loved. Thanks guys! My kids' favorite part was that the pueblos didn't have doors and you often had to go in through a hatch in the roof. They had fun making that, as you can see!
Because we were studying about Native Americans, we just HAD to have a feast for Thanksgiving, even though the third graders didn't last year. I was supposed to be on vocal rest for it, but I asked my doctor if I could at least talk through the party, since I went to him the night before, and he said yes! It was bittersweet--I was glad I could talk but sad that it would be my last time with my kids for a while. Here is my class writing down three things they are thankful for:
And of course, you have to have one Native American trying to stab another one!
And the Indian chief with his princess!
I had quite a few moms come in and help. Here is one, who is Dutch, helping my girls with the art project. Yay for moms who are good at that kind of thing!
And the finished project--a turkey puppet! Lesson learned--paper bags are impossible to find here, so bring them down with you!
In November, we had been collecting food for a food drive. On Monday, the third and fourth grade classes had the chance to take their food to the people who would receive it. It is a great thing for my very rich kids to see poverty, which they do not see almost at all, though they are surrounded by it. My kids will pray for the poor people, and we are trying to help them see that they can do something about it too. I told them that some people don't have enough food to eat 3 meals a day and they may only get one every other day or less, and they were shocked. Please pray that these kids who have a ton of material possessions would be willing to help! Here are some of the kids waiting to hand out their food bags.
After our party on Wednesday, Amanda, the nurse Linda, and I set out for the Caribbean side of the island, about five hours away, to spend our Thanksgiving break. No snow for us! Be prepared to be jealous! On Thursday, we took a catamaran out to this island called Isla Saona. I didn't think places like that existed--clear greenish bluish water, white sand beaches, palm trees...the works! It was gorgeous! What a way to spend thanksgiving! Though I couldn't talk, I was reminded of all the things I do have to be thankful for. Not having a voice is nothing compared to all my blessings. Here is where we spent Thanksgiving:
My mom likes to send me crazy things in the mail, as you all probably know. This time, I received a little stuffed turkey that makes noise! Of course, he had to come to the island with us on Thanksgiving. Here he is, in the sun with me!
We had pizza for Thanksgiving dinner at a little Italian place. I had a pie left over from our feast that we wanted to eat for dessert. Unfortunately, we didn't have any utensils to cut or eat it with. But when it's Thanksgiving, and you really want apple pie, you think of a solution!
I've never had pie circles cut with a glass before! It was great though.Here is a picture of Amanda, me, and Linda at this beautiful art school we stopped at on Friday. This country is gorgeous!
Most of you probably remember that my mom sent me a rubber chicken in the mail that was bound and gagged. She seems to think it was prophetic, since he couldn't talk, and shortly after receiving him, I lost my voice. I finally ungagged him, so hopefully that will be prophetic too! Here we are, both not able to talk!
There has been some funny stories that have resulted from not being able to talk. On the boat on Thursday, one of the Dominican guys who was working for a resort and taking pictures for the tourists kept asking if we spoke English. I was carrying a notebook to write down what I had to say, and he saw it and was like, "That's English. Let me see!" So he starts looking at it. I was sitting in the aisle with Amanda on one side and a lady across the aisle on the other side of me. Linda was next to the lady. As he was looking at my notebook, Linda said, "She can't talk." Then the random lady said, "She's deaf!" Amanda and I got a huge laugh out of that as Linda proceeded to explain to her that I am in fact NOT deaf!Another funny thing happened today. Amanda can't speak Spanish, and I can't speak at all, so it's interesting going places together. We needed to go to the store today, so we walked over to it. All went well until we tried to check out. I checked out no problem, and then it was Amanda's turn. Things were going okay until something funny happened to the computer and the checker didn't notice, so she thought she was ringing things in and wasn't. Here we are, I can't speak and Amanda doesn't know the language, trying to explain to the lady that some of her things didn't ring in! The lady behind us thought she understood, but totally didn't, so then they were trying to take other items off her bill! The item she tried to take off we finally convinced her that we wanted it, and I tried writing down that some of our other things didn't ring up, but they never figured it out! So we ended up leaving the store, being forced to steal things! We tried to tell them, but it didn't work!. We left and busted up laughing in the middle of the parking lot. I have now seen someone be forced to steal something!
I will try to also post a movie on here for the first time. This is at our Thanksgiving meal. Both third grades were in my room, and while they were working on their puppets, I turned on a cd with songs they sing in chapel. They started to sing along, especially to, "Our God is an Awesome God." It almost made me cry seeing these third graders worshipping God while working. Most of them don't hear anything about Him at home. I love that they are learning about Him at school, and that I get to share in that!
Okay, I tried posting the video, and it didn't work. It was "uploading" all night, but never came through. Do any of you bloggers have any advice on how to do that?
Our God truly is awesome! I am so glad that I know Him and can share Him with others! I love being here, and I am so glad that my parents and my brother are coming on the 13th. It will be good to see them and have them get a taste of my life here. My friend Katie is coming on the 26th, and I am so excited for her to come too! I am hoping to go explore some orphanages with her. I haven't been able to do that yet, and it's killing me.
Please be praying that my voice would heal completely and quickly and that this is the last time I ever hear the word "nodules" again. that would make me unbelievably happy! Pray for my kids too. The sub is going to be the same one they had before, so that's good. Pray that God would open their eyes and show them their incredible need for him. You can join me in praising Him for all His blessings. He truly is awesome, and I can say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
