the strong, the weak

kahuna was right. you can repeat ¨te sin azucar y don chente con carne¨ all day long at monte alban, but that doesn´t mean you know spanish. you can even possess a confident understanding of vocabulary and all 16 tenses of verb conjugations, but still- that does NOT make you fluent. it´s very difficult, feeling like you´ve always had a way with the words in your own language, only to walk into a place where you communicate like a 10 year old. but already- i have learned so much. the gomez´s (the family i live with) and dilcia (from orphanage emmanuel who also lives with us) are very eager for me to learn spanish in just a few months, and are quite patient with me as they teach. learning is frustrating but fun, and very very humbling.

this past week, we have met a couple times about the school. these meetings have been really helpful, and i am getting a better idea of what is expected of me. i came into this feeling somewhat blindfolded, but with a good reason- this will be the very first semester of operation for Renacer Bilingual Christian School, so initially, even the faculty are unsure of what to expect. things are pretty disorganized right now, but we come out of each meeting with a more clear understanding of how this will all unfold. on tuesday i was informed that my decision to come here and help was the determining factor of whether or not the school would open for the 2007-2008 school year. as we are in the very beginning stages of the school, enrollment is low and there are only several kids commited to come. the age range right now is pre-k to first grade, which is a little less intimidating because i´ve done that before! i will speak ONLY in english, so basically my teaching will stay on a pre-k level, at least for the first semester. these kids have previously been in public school, so their english needs reinforcing. i will be teaching basic english (spelling, grammar, pronounciation, reading, numbers, colors, the alphabet), simple math, and the very early stages of science. the other teacher is honduran and will be teaching spanish and social studies (hank, laugh it up). scripture will also be taught and memorized, and it is intertwined in each subject. our material is great and comes from a christian publication, and is very easy to understand. however, the matieral is very expensive, so we are praying about how we will obtain necessary funds to buy all that we need for the teachers and the students. Renacer is a great church and has great visions for the children in this area to first know Christ, and then the english language. school begins on september 1, so please be in prayer about that.

i have a great family here with incredible support. but i am blown away with how much i miss home. it is very good knowing that mandy is only 30 minutes away, but it´s not as easy as you would think to just ride over to valle de angeles to spend time with her. things are waaaay different here than in the states, so that is also an adjustment. i feel like as soon as i got here, time stood still. no one here is ever on a time schedule, and they come and go as they please. this has been good, to learn to slow down and be obedient one day at a time, paso a paso, but the long days sometimes have the tendency to make me go insane. God is really growing me in the area of submitting myself to what He has called me to TODAY, and to not have all of my joy met in the excitment of the future. this has been so good for my anxious heart and mind.

for the past couple of days (surprise, surprise), i have been pretty sick to my stomach. i figured this would inevitably come, but i didn´t think it would happen so soon. please pray i wouldn´t become discouraged in the beginning, because i do realize this will be an issue throughout my time here.

well, here´s my first update! thank you for your prayers.

maridith