Christmas Cheer

I thought I would share my few Christmas decorations with all of you. It's simple, but nice. Hopefully my cat will not destroy anything when she gets here in a week :)

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Well, I am exhausted, and I have already lost this entry once. I just wanted everyone to know that tonight was a great show. I am really very proud of my students and how hard they worked. The majority had a wonderful time doing it, and seem to be as proud of me as I am of them! :)

I wish you could have been there, but I wanted you to know - God answered our prayers abundantly!

Not as relaxing as it seems

Hey, I am finally able to download some of my new pics, even though I still can't get my older ones to show up. So, I thought I would share one of my fav. images. This was taken at Rio Selva, during the Teacher/Staff Retreat last month. It looks like I am able to just chill and relax, until you realize that I am studying my British Lit textbook :) Seriously, there are times where I can take things easy, and times where I have to work hard. God is good.
My friend, Kim, took the picture and we both feel that it is lots of fun.

Lemony Snicket

So, I am addicted to the Series of Unfortunate Events. It all started when I realized that our school library had the series, and I really wanted to see how books two and three contributed to the movie. I had read book one earlier, and thought it was cute, but I am pretty sure it went into one of our frantic garage sales before the Move. Anyway, so I discovered that I can read one of these books on 2 hours at the most, and you know me, I love to take a break and read a book. So, these books became my reward for getting school things done. "Ok self, if you work for 3 hours on this, then you can read the next adventure of the Baudelaire orphans."

Anyway, now I am stuck. :) The library only has up to number 10, so of course I have read all the way there. One of my students has number 11, which I am going to borrow, but 12 just came out. I think 13 will be the last one, whenever it is released. So, I asked the library, and next year they are hopefully going to purchase 11 & 12, and if 13 is out by then, that one as well. hopefully. As for now, once I finish 11 I will be waiting for awhile. There is no way I am going to buy it - it would drive me absolutely crazy to own the last 3 books of a 13 book series and not the ones before. It would be worse than the way mom feels whenever there is dirt and dust on her nice hardwood floors. :)

Well, it had been awhile since I shared anything. I want to get some pics up as soon as possible, and hopefully get my iphoto working again. But time is short here, and I am up to my ears in a musical. I must be crazy.

Thanks for all your love and prayers. God is an amazing God, and blesses me incredibly each day.

The baby is here!

Rachel & Jon Billups are now new padres! I got an e-mail this morning with a picture of sweet little Adeline Marie. I have been wondering for so long how things were going, and I hadn't heard from Rachel in FOREVER. So, now I know a little bit. The baby weighed in at 8lbs 8oz, and they are both thrilled to have the newest member of the fam finally in their arms.

Happy Birthday, Daddy

Just wanted to let everyone know today is my Dad's birthday. I am so thankful that God gave me to him as his favorite, youngest daughter. He sure is my favorite dad! :)

Those of you that know him, give him a hug from me when you next see him!

Inflicting terror on freshman everywhere

Well first of all let me say I am SO thankful that I don't have my freshman for two hours at any one time (like I do with my seniors and juniors). That means I have them every day, but I can handle that.

I am "attempting" to help them learn how to write a paper, but it is a hard journey for all of us. Because they are confused and overwhelmed they need constant reassurance that they are on the right track. That means I have 17 students clamoring for my attention (actually probably only 14, there are a few that either a, don't care or b, already know what they are doing). I just about went crazy yesterday at the mayhem. Thankfully today was better. They seemed to be getting a better idea of what they are doing, and I also explained to them that we cannot operate like we did yesterday.

Kimberly reminded me last night that freshman are the 3 year olds of pre-K. Amen. I just have to remind myself of that over, and over, and over again. If there is anything that might tempt me to lock myself in the bathroom with my hands over my ears, humming - This project would be it.

On the lighter side of things, I tried to fry a hamburger tonight and make some hashbrowns from scratch . . . Well, at least I had some watermelon still in the fridge. :) All I can say is this was not my greatest achivement in cooking. But maybe I will get better as I practice.

OK, I am off to work on some Joseph stuff. I just realized I hadn't shared here in awhile. Make sure you check my webpage for pics of Bolivia!

The one that almost didn't make it!

I promised a picture and here it is. This is what the trunk looked like after everything was unpacked. Annette has one on her camera that was taken at the airport, and I will get that to you as soon as I can. God is good to me, almost everything was still there! And the things that weren't there, can be replaced.

I am thankful that I got to ride in a cushioned seat, and not in a trunk. Can you imagine how much that would have hurt?

Here I Am!

Well, it has been awhile since I posted and so many things have happened. But the long and short of it is, I made it to Bolivia! One of my trunks did not make it through yesterday, but it got in today. I will have to put a picture on here when I get internet at home. One whole side has been busted and was wide open. It looks like they tried to use one of my hardback books to be the missing side, which bent the book nicely. Anyway, it was covered in shrinkwrap when I got it, and Annette and I opened everything up and it looks like almost everything is there. Praise the Lord. I may be missing a few things, but I won't know until I get completely unpacked. I could have put them someplace else and just thinking that they were in there.

Life is tough right now. I am neck-deep in transition which means I am all over the place emotionally. One of my friends explained that it was a lot like grieving someone's death. You hear something or think of something and start crying because it reminds you of life before. I am on an emotional roller coaster - in the span of 15 minutes I can be smiling and laughing and then crying and aching in my heart. Being by myself in my apartment is the worst. But hopefully each day it will get a little easier, and feel more like I belong here. That is really what I am aching for. I am tired of not belonging to any place. The hardest part is the people I belong to (my fam) are a continent away, and I miss them like crazy!

So, I am floundering a bit, but God is still good. He comforts me, sends me friends, encourages me to get outside, and tries to keep my thinking right.

I guess that is about it right now. Send any questions or comments, but please remember that I may be awhile before responding.

Love ya!

Farewell to Costa RIca

This will be my last post from CR, although I still plan to put a few more pics here (and of course we will have my "best of" on my website). I can't believe I am leaving tomorrow - wait, a sec, yes I can! I have loved my time here, but I am ready to be home. I am kinda dreading the flight home (at least all the airport stuff). I have three bags, plus my backpack and I am hoping to pass one of the bags off as a checked carry-on size so I don't have to pay. One of my bags may be overweight as it is. Weeell, we will just have to see, won't we?

Margarita threw a farewell cena for me last night and it was beautiful. She gave me a few presents, and also a few things for Adia. I hope and pray this family comes to Jesus, they are such dear people. It makes me hurt to see them in pain and grieving with nowhere to turn for comfort except the saying "si Dios quiere." This statement amazes me because of the truth of the situation - whatever God wants. But when I hear it, I don't hear any of the hope Christians have. We trust God because we know He loves us for who we are, and not what we can do for Him. It makes such a difference.

Graduation was great today. It was all in Spanish and I followed along really well! Wahoo! Also, I got a diploma - that's right. I have officially graduated from ILE! Gabi told me that I only lacked one point to make the grammar requirements, and on my conversational skills I scored above their minimum requirements. So, she went ahead and graduated me! :) Que funny.

Tonight I am going to another get-together with 4 other girls. It is in the home of 2 missionaries here who work with student life at ILE. The Dudney's are wonderful people, and I am so thankful to have this time with them before I leave. I would LOVE for God to open up some doors into Santa Cruz for this couple. They are incredible.

There is a part of me that really wants to be sappy about this last journal article. :) Even though I am thankful for my time here, and I will miss the people - I am READY to get home and then get to Bolivia. So, it is hard to be sappy and emotional, no matter how much I have loved being here. My room is all packed (except for bedding, pillow and my monkey) and things just look bare). I will be seeing some of you very soon!

Butterflies Everywhere!

Well, I just wanted to let everyone know I was alive after experiencing my first canopy tour. Let me just tell you, it was so much fun! I will have more pictures and maybe even some video later. Everyone on the group is combining pics and video and making a CD. So, I am waiting to see if there are better shots than what I took. But, I had to share this one with you. After the zipline we took a nature walk and also went through a Mariposario (butterfly garden). I have seen my share of these, but there were more Blue Morphos than I have ever seen! I kept trying to get a picture of one in flight, but they were too fast for me! However, two little guys decided to test out the sweat on my hands. They must have liked it because they were sucking away at my skin. It felt like a very tiny cat tongue (kinda scraping) and was awesome! I walked around with them on me, and when I tried to move them to a plant, they both jumped back on me! Finally after about 5 minutes, I moved them again and they stayed on the leaves. If it had been a blue morpho, I don't think I would have let it go! They are about the most beautiful butterfly God has created.

So anyway, I had a blast and arrived home safely. I had a sore throat Friday and Saturday, and we ended up walking through a downpour on saturday so now I have a cold as well. But it was more than worth it!

Conversation is Better

I took my conversation test on Friday, and it went so much better than the grammar test. I still don't know what my score is, but I came away feeling like I had given an accurate representation of what I could do. Some of the questions I was asked I am not even sure how I feel about in English, much less Spanish! My opinion is more like a mix of jumbled thoughts in my head - For instance, we covered the war in Iraq and America's Involvement and we also covered homosexual marriages. Whew! I am pretty sure it came out jumbled, but at least something came out. Oh and my teacher knew about the Indy 500! How random is that?!

I ended up finishing the test and then hanging out with Nancy and Nicole. Singles had one last dinner together at Fortuna Inn (an INCREDBILE chinese restaurant here) and then we all slept at Nancy's apartment. We had to be at the school at 7:15 Saturday morning to leave for Turubai (a nature park and canopy tour). I had a sore throat on Friday and it was still there on Saturday, but I still had lots of fun!

So, I am done with my tests, and everyone tells me this last week should be fluff, but both of my teachers are still giving homework, so we will have to see how that plays out! :)

Failing my first test EVER

Well, it had to happen sometime in my life I suppose. By God's grace I made it through college without an F, but I am pretty sure I made up for it today. I took a three hour grammar test that was hideous! I did my best, but realized how much I still have to work on Spanish. Will I never get this language?! Everyone came out of the test completely exhausted (which made me feel better - misery loves company, yeah?)

The upside to this is that it doesn't matter what I get on the test, I am still leaving Costa Rica and going to Bolivia (after a much needed time with all of you!) So, I can flunk this test without any fear of punishment!! The goal is to get a 70% at least (as well as score an advanced low in the oral exam tomorrow) in order to graduate with a diploma from ILE. At this point, I am happy just to get a certificate - which is what happens to everyone else who leaves before the year is over.

So, I have had an incredibly long day & I am looking forward to another long one tomorrow. After that I should be able to breathe a little. One of my friends looked at me today and said "You've already left haven't you?" And I realized she was right. Aside from my friendships here, I have mentally disengaged from most things. Too bad I still have another week to live here. Pray I keep my wits about me for the ECO (oral interview) tomorrow at 12:30 CR time. But, even if the worst happens and I can't even remember present indicative conjugations - God is still God, and I am still going to Bolivia!

On the positive side - one of our classmates who was VERY ill, seems to be on the mend from her latest bout of pneumonia - she has lung disease and severe asthma and gets sick often. But this last time was the worst I have seen. We are so thankful that God is giving Kathy strength to keep going. And I think she is starting to realize that people here really do care about her.

Well, TTFN - I will try to write more later about my ECO and also the canopy tour I am going on this weekend! VERY excited about Saturday!

Love you,
Em

Just to give you an idea

So, this is what I look like most of the time when I am sending you an e-mail or working online. I get the best signal in the weirdest positions. I will be so happy to get cable internet actually in my apartment instead of trying to capture a passing signal. I still have no idea where this signal comes from! Sometimes it is there, sometimes not.

Speaking of being online- make sure you check out the newest page on my .mac site (remember to look under Tica Times).

The Drama Continues . . .

Not only am I teaching 9th, 11th & 12th grades of English, as well as 2 hours of theatre, BUT I also am teaching 3 hours of Junior High Beginner Spanish. NOBODY TOLD ME THAT WAS COMING! I got my class schedule today, as well as 4 class rosters (still missing the Spanish one), and I just about freaked. You have got to be kidding me, I can't teach Spanish! Here I thought I was escaping it by getting out of language school and moving to a south american country! (You better hear the sarcasm in that statement, I am laying it on pretty thick) I am concerned that I have 5 preps (all of you non-education people, preps are not snotty students, they are different subjects to prepare) this first year with no ability to pre-plan. This is going to be one rocky first year of teaching. "What does not kill us only makes us stronger!"

I jokingly e-mailed back to Steve (HS principal) that although I wasn't sure I could do it, I know God could, and HE would just have to do it through me. My stomanch is in knots just thinking about this. Also, I have had really weird muscle twitches in my lower abdomen today and I am not sure why. My uterus is learning how to jump rope I guess.

Well, I am off to a Ladies Night Out in about 15 minutes, so I better go!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Freaking Out Emily!

Last night I received an e-mail from the choir teacher at SCCLC, who sounds like an absolute sweetie. Anyway, she is putting on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and wanted to know if I would consider letting my Theatre students be involved as well. I have no idea how this is going to flesh out. Joseph is a huge show, that can also be done in a small space, but those are two completely different production styles. I know my kids will be acting, but I don't know whether I will be blocking, directing, or what (if anything). I also don't know if Jackie wants me to be in charge of lighting & scenography, or if she is going to handle everything. She sounds like she knows what she is doing. So I am praying that is true! :)

Needless to say, I did not sleep much at all last night. My mind kept whirring with all sorts of possibilities and I had to make a few more purchases on Amazon. I pray this is the end of it, I don't know if I can take much more spending. I am not usually a big spender, and if I do need to make a big purchase, I usually only do one for the whole month, and make myself wait for other things. Well, eso es imposible when you have to leave in less than a month, and need to have everything packed. :) This is absolutely crazy, and I pray that I won't have many more terms like this first one. Hopefully I can leave things in storage (school stuff at least), the next time I come back.

YIKES!

By the by- if anyone has any DVDs they don't want anymore and think I would enjoy them, I am willing to give them a comfy south american home. :)

La Negrita

Imagine having a festival day where thousands upon thousands of people walk in the streets towards the same destination. Some go as a pilgrimage, others walk for the novelty. Here in Costa Rica, the day is August 2nd. Some people started walking last thursday (depending on how far they came) to arrive in Cartago at the church of Los Angeles to petition the Black Madonna. Some people who come from the coasts, like in Guanacaste, rode in on horseback. Those with serious needs and concerns, after walking the whole way (from San Jose it is 4 hours), enter the church on their knees, and crawl to the front of the church.

This kind of devotion humbles me and breaks my heart. I live with a family who believes in the miracles of La Negrita. My tico mom's daughter Teres) and granddaughter (Michel) walked four hours yesterday to attend the mass today. I see the stress of life on Teres' face and I wish I could help her. It's strange - for being such a relational culture, I feel such a tension to talk to her about Jesus. She thinks there is nothing wrong with her life and her religion. She won't even show me she is hurting, but everyone can see it. Her mother is such a devout catholic, and even though she loves Jesus, she has yet to see that He is the only way to get to God. So, Teres sees her mother, and relies on her religion to save the whole family.

So, I listen to their stories and feel useless. And I wonder why God has brought me here, and what He will bring me through so I can speak the truth with a loving boldness, and not shy away because I am scared of what people will think. In reality, I am scared of what I don't understand - catholism, and a desire to live life in whatever way someone chooses even though he or she is miserable. I know Jesus wants this family. They have had 4 Christians before me, living in their house, sharing in their lives. I pray that they will turn to Him and understand what it means to have a relationship with Him. To serve others, not so they can get to heaven or because it is the right thing to do, but because we have been served by the Son of God. I have much to learn from Margarita and her family, even in the last few weeks. And I pray, God will use me so that they may learn something from me as well.

Only Three More Weeks

It seems like I have been here forever, and then again, like I only moved in yesterday. I remember looking at my school calendar and thinking, "Lord, we are never going to make it through this!" Well, we only have 3 more weeks from today until I board an airplane for the US, and say goodbye to fulltime language learning. I just got back from the Children's Museum in San Jose and it was excellent. Although the resources were not quite as advanced or up to date as Indy, the quantity of material covered was incredible. Imagine a place were you can learn about space travel, Costa Rican history (from the Mayas to the present), technology, be recorded on TV or in a sound booth, tour the inside of a train engine car, sitting car, and caboose, not to mention incredible detailed displays of all the parts of the human body! Incredible! We were there for about 3 hours, and didn't even get through all the exhibits. If you ever visit C.R. this is a must see.
Anyway, not I am online trying to get a few more purchases to be ready for packing when I get home. Airport Express, School House Rock special edition DVD (for my classroom), and maybe a few DVDs, although I probably will wait on the DVDs.

Right now mom and dad are in CA with Matthew and Melis. I can't wait to hear how they are enjoying themselves. I must admit, I am a little jealous about not being with them, but I will be so thankful to see the pics. I will def. be visiting Matthew and Mel someday, I just don't know when. :)

Life has gone pretty much the same as usual. We had a sub in grammar class this week, because Laura is in the US looking for a house with her hubby. He works with Procter & Gamble and is being transferred to the US for a few years. They both speak English very well, but it will be hard for Laura to leave her family and friends. Our Sub, Maritza, was INCREDIBLE! I loved her just as much as Laura. She is usually a regular teacher at ILE, but she was in a very serious accident right before term started. The doctor wanted her to take one more month to rest, but Maritza would have none of that!! Anyway, this woman is a grammar queen, and she pushes like you wouldn't believe. But she is so encouraging when she does it. I hope I develop that attitude with my students. Pushing hard, but always beside them, encouraging and helping. I am more afraid of being too easy of a teacher than too hard. :)

I miss hearing from all of you - send me an e-mail, why don'tcha? I will be back in the States the evening of Aug. 20, until Sept. 2. Give me a call, or if you will be in the Indiana area - let's get together!

Waking up on the beach!

Sigh, this last weekend was a long relaxing one. We were celebrating the annexation of Guanacaste on Monday, so there was no school. About 50 of us chose to celebrate by going over to the Carribean side of CR. It is gorgeous over here, even if it is hot and humid! The resort where we stayed was right off the beach. Make sure you check out my pictures on my homepage (under Tico Times). If they aren't up yet, they will be shortly. Anyway, we left from ILE on Saturday morning about 7, and rode for approx. 5 hours without A/C. This was a funny language issue, because we asked if he had "aire" and he said yes and turned it on. So we all rolled up the windows and waited for cool air to surround us. Only a puff was coming out of the vents, and this was in no way cool air. It was like having the windows cracked, or maybe worse. Turns out, he had "aire" it just wasn't "aire acondicionado." That's right, the mini bus just brought air in from the outside and gave it to us! Needless to say, we all elected for windows instead. :)
Anyway, all I did this weekend was swim in the ocean (the water is glorious!), lay on the beach (you should see my tan, Margarita calls me morena now), swim in the pool, and eat. Oh, and I played Euchre for the first time in at least a year!! It was excellent. The food was wonderful there as well and such a variety. We saw a crocodile (or alligator - the spanish use the same word for both) and I got some cool pics of it as well.
Anyway, I promised to do better and taking pictures, and I think I have. I got some beautiful sunrise pics (imagine me, purposefully getting up to see a sunrise, and I still got there about 30 minutes late!), as well as some photos of my friends. So, take advantage of the situation and check them out!
On the way home, Nicole and I chose to ride in the kids bus. We had PRIME seats, close to the front, with plenty of leg room. But one of the families came on last, and both of their kids are young and very prone to carsickness. By this time, the only seats left on the bus were the very front passenger seat, and the fold down front passenger/middle seat. So, guess who got to ride up front with the bus driver?! Thankfully, Nicole took the middle seat, they are horribly uncomfortable. But we had some excellent Spanish practice that day. Incidentally, the little girl of the family to whom we gave our seats still ended up throwing up, but it wasn't alot.
I was so glad for the time of rest and relaxation, but after 5 more hours in the bus (closer to six because we ended up eating lunch on the road), I was soooo ready to get back to San Jose.

White Water Rafting

Thankfully I didn't fall in the water (although 3 others in our raft did). This was a level 2 or maybe 3 (very tame) and reminded of what we did when I was younger. But the views and nature information was incredible. Our guide, Oscar, knew so much about Costa Rican wildlife and he could spot everything in the trees. This was a great experience, but a very long day. My calves hurt so badly the day after because I used those muscles to keep myself in the raft!

Adventures & Airports

Santa Vaca, do I have a story for you! Last night I went with my friend Nancy to pick up her parents at the airport. They are visiting until Monday. Usually when we go to the airport (I have only been once, aside from when I was being picked up), we hire a driver and van to take us there and back.
BUT, this month some students were able to rent a Jeep Cherokee from another missionary who is in the States right now. Let me give you a few clues about this Jeep - to roll down the windows, you push the electronic lever UP, the spare tire is flat, and you never know how long it will take for the engine to turn over. Sometimes it helps to put the jeep in nuetral, and then it SHOULD start, but every time is an adventure. Also, the shock system is nonexistant. OK, got an image? So, we get into the jeep (which for the first time in my experience, starts up on the first try), we have our verbal directions from a missionary couple, our seatbelts are buckled, doors locked, and we are READY!! The only concern we really had was the four major rotundas that we would need to navigate.
Well, thankfully the rotundas were not a problem. HOWEVER, we ended up back-tracking twice on one road trying to get to an exit, driving around the airport twice trying to enter the parking garage, and then the party really started. We found her parents just fine, they had only been waiting about 20 minutes. As we start home, we drove for about 20 minutes, and suddenly had no idea where we were. NO IDEA. Nothing looked familiar to Nancy or myself (of course nothing looked familiar to her parents either). We drove a little longer and hit the toll road back to the airport (without turning around at all! How does that happen?) So, the lady in the booth directed us back to San Jose, but somehow we ended up downtown (about 9:30 - not a good time to be out). Every once in awhile we would see a familiar landmark from our many bus rides, but everything is different when you are driving. We all kept praying, Nancy's dad kept trying to make helpful suggestions (one which I appreciated was to occasionally remind Nancy to slow down).
Finally, somehow God led us to San Pedro (an area that Nancy is very familiar with, and I am becoming so), and we were both so happy!! We made it back to San Francisco de Dos Rios and she dropped me off in front of my house. I have never been so happy to be there in my whole 3 months!! So, good story, good experience, and I praise the Lord nothing bad happened!

4th of July

I promise to be better from now on at taking pictures. I just get so excited about experiencing stuff here, that I don't take photos of it. And when I do take pics, they are usually of other people. Sorry, kids. I'm heading off to the Caribbean side again this weekend. I will try to do better!

This picture was the only one with me in it from the weekend. I am sitting with Nancy and Jen, and Matt and Nelia (look down beside Matt and see an exhausted Austin - poor fella). The weekend was awesome and so relaxing! I'll try to give you a better idea of the Caribbean side after this weekend.

You say Cabra, I say Cobra

Actually, it does make quite a bit of difference - read on.
For instance, last Thursday in my conversation class, we talked about various topics, some serious, like a comparison between the young adults of the 70s and young adults today. I was very pleased with how I managed to make my thoughts understood, and even conjugated verbs correctly! Then we turned to a lighter topic of typical foods and strange foods. We talked about some of the Costa Ricans eating armadillo and iguana on a daily basis, and how in the States we can try frog legs, crocodile, etc. Then we started talking about "cabras" and how there weren't many of them here, but some farmers raised them and used their milk (combined with cow milk) to make milks and cheeses. I asked how on earth cabras were milked and my profesora responded that it was very similar to the way cows are milked. We talked more about this and my amazement grew. Finally I asked, "Isn't it dangerous?" My profesora was confused and then she said, "Dangerous? For who, the cabras?" I said, "No, for the farmers. Aren't cabras venomous?" At this point my classmate looked at me and I said (in english), "Cobras are venomous right?" Kathy burst out laughing and said, "Emily, CABRAS are GOATS!" We then explained my misunderstanding to our profesora and we all laughed hysterically until the end of class. Some of you may be familiar with the term "milking a cobra," which refers to extracting the venom from a cobra. For some reason, that phrase stuck in my mind, but not the explanation. So to me it seemed perfectly logical that somehow, someone had managed to get milk out of a cobra here in Costa Rica!

red in the face

This is the hike that almost killed me. at Volcan Poaz there is a lagoon that used to be a volcano but has ceased to be anything other than a lake for a long time. No wildlife in this water, though, it is way too acidic.

Life in General

Hey friends and neighbors! OK, so none of you can be called my physical neighbors right now, but you are all near and dear to my heart. I just thought I would send our an e-mail talking about my life for the past two weeks. I keep promising more info on how I am doing, and wouldn't you know it, life gets in the way. Right now it is 8:55 on Wednesday night, and really I just want to play a little on my computer, listen to some audio books and go to sleep. But, I want you to know how I am doing, and also what I am doing, so I must press on! :) Isn't it nice to know I am still your friendly dramatic Emily? :)

OK, the last few weeks have been busy, mostly with life, but also some schoolwork. I have loved getting mail (thank you to those who have sent letters!), and e-mails hearing how you have been. It helps to know (1) that I am still a part of your lives, and (2) that you are thinking of me as much as I am thinking of you! So, this past weekend we took a singles trip to visit the oldest Costa Rican coffee plantation, the Volcano Poaz, and also some waterfall gardens (which also had butterfly and hummingbird exhibits). Absolutely gorgeous, but I thought I would kill my heart in the process. I never realize how out of shape I am until I try and hike around volcanos and waterfalls in high altitudes, with people whose hearts are kept in much better condition. Seriously, I am surprised I didn't drop dead. But, God brought me through it, and more importantly, the sights of God's awesome creation "vale la pena" were worth it (literally the pain has worth, but the phrase is just a general modismo to mean something was worth it). I will be setting up some pictures as soon as possible, and I am still waiting on the San Carlos Mission trip pics from other people. I will send out a postcard announcement when I get another page up. Hopefully everyone will be able to see it.

I have been spending a lot of time lately with Nancy Johns, a new friend of mine. She lived with my Tico fam last tri, so we spend many afternoons laughing about similar experiences. Last night she showed me the spiders fellowship on the bottom floor of my closet shelves. Yech, they are everywhere. Consequently, I made her move my shoes to the next shelf up and we discovered a weird brown growth on my leather "clunker" shoes (the Skechers that I wear EVERYWHERE in the states). I cleaned off the growth, which was powdery once it came off and still have no idea what creature decided to do something to my shoes. I think I am happier not knowing, and just knowing that for now they are clean again. The weather has been too hot to wear them here, but I still have hopes of needing them in Bolivia two or three times a year. :)

I heard back from Annette Wood a few days ago. She had mailed me an info packet on SCCLC and what I might be teaching in Sept. Everything sounded fairly certain from her letters, so I e-mailed to ask what the WGM missionaries were thinking/planning. Right now we are fairly certain I will be needed in Bolivia for school starting in Aug. Thankfully everyone realizes I CANNOT be there until Sept, and they are being wonderful about it. I will have my own apartment in the compound (within walking distance to the school) and I will also have 3 grades of HS English (9,10 for sure, and then either 11 or 12), AND I will have a theatre elective 2 times a week!! WAHOOOOOOOO! The HS principal also sent a letter explaining the elective and asking that we only do some possible chapel skits and maybe travel to some churches for skits as well the first semester. That sounds fine with me, I am only praying that I will have suitable and challenging skits for my students to work with. PLEASE pray as I begin to set up my curriculum, with no theatre resources here and very little Language Arts resources. Pray that God will give me wisdom and knowledge. Also pray that my students (and myself) will be yearning for God's truth as it relates to our subject matter. There is a heavy emphasis on integrating the Scriptures into all of our subjects, and I am praying that God will give me ways of doing this and still making the classroom an academically challenging environment. I do not want to make the Bible another textbook, nor do I want all of our lessons to center on scriptural "stories." I would love for my students to get to the point where we are applying Biblical truth as we discuss difficult topics, but our reasoning is beyond simply because "the Bible says so." I want us to get to the place where we understand the truths God has given us and are able to discuss them in relation to what man views as wisdom and truth. So my students can leave SCCLC knowing what man expects them to know, but also understanding God's truth for our lives and the relationship between the two. I hope this makes sense, I am still praying about my own heart in the matter. :)

OK, on to other matters. I am in the midst of Spiritual Emphasis Week here at ILE (Instituto de Lengua Espanola) and simply loving it!!! Our speaker is Dr. Vern Steiner. He has been a professor of college and seminary, as well as a pastor. He specializes in OT literature and Hebrew. I am in the heights of academic heaven!! Now he is the founder and president of Miqra Institute, a training institution for pastors and church leaders that concentrates on learning to read, understand, and translate the meaning of Scripture to others. He has such a love for God's word, and such a complex understanding of it. We have focused on the book of Ruth this week and I have learned so much. The Bible has such depth that I, in my limited understanding, am unable to reach without someone else guiding me. How frustrating, but at the same time, how exciting when a leader does come with this knowledge!! As an added bonus, he has such a theatrical, descriptive way of presenting that I am scribbling like a madman trying to keep up with him the whole time he is speaking. I am praying about writing a short piece for my HS students on Ruth. I have no idea what it would look like, and I have never written a script before, but something beautiful has been planted in my heart. Pray that if God wills, it will take root and flourish. This book is fast becoming one of my favorites in the Bible. And to think, all of scripture has the breath of God throughout, if only we would learn to listen.

If any of you are interested in learning more about what I am learning, let me know and I will try to make enough sense of my notes to type and e-mail them. The basic point is this - Does God always work in the majestic, or can He not also work in the mundane, the practical, everyday humdrums of living, and work in such a way that would leave the angels praising His name? The answer is, of course, He can. But to see this theory fleshed out in the book of Ruth, and then to draw the implications into my own life of "dailiness" is a wonder to behold. Do you know, God's direct action is only mentioned twice in this book? The rest is simply godly people working to live their life in ways that would be pleasing to their God, invoking His blessing and protection for others, and then working in ways that are answers to their very prayers. It is an incredible parallel between God's part and man's part in living a faithful life. Incredible.

Well, that's it for now. It is 9:30 and I really must go to bed. I am having more and more trouble getting up in the mornings. The sign of it being midway through the tri. Everyone is feeling this emotionally. Please pray that our desires to learn Spanish and be a part of the life God has called us to would be new every morning, just like God's faithfulness.

I love you all - Write me!
Em

Thanks Melis!

I was so thankful that my sis-in-law created a blog for me. I already had this one started, but I couldn't figure out how to make changes in the template (like putting links on the side). Because Melis got a blog started, I could use that template to remake this one the way I wanted. Awesome! Thanks Melis, you are a blessing!

Blogger Bug

Well, I already had a semi-private blog with some girlfriends, but I figured I would use this one for general use. Then I can link it to my homepage and everyone can know what I am doing. Even though it may not be too exciting! I just finished my institute-wide testing, and I will know in a week how everything went! I pray it went well.

Write me!