live N love

more in love than ever

2010-04-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

My kids and I are going to get married, I swear. They are the cuttest, best thing in my life here in Nicaragua. So one day after class when I finally managed to get away from the screaming kids yelling, "teacher please don't go," and me having to tell them, "Don't worry its only until tomorrow," I went to grab something from my house and then headed back towards the church. When I got closer I noticed that about half or more of my kids were still there all in a group with what looked liked like a piece of paper. As i got closer they noticed I was coming and all ran up to me for another round of hugs. After, they all started asking me all kinds of questions like what's your favorite food, what is your shirt and shoe size, what's your favorite fruit, and about every other question you can imagine. It was soooo cute because they were planning a little going away party for me. I don't know how they would ever do that but just the fact of the matter was so cute I almost cried. The next day in class a few of them put together some money and bought some crackers and bananas to put in a bag for a little present for me. It was the best present I have ever gotten in my life. Right now I'm working on thinking of ideas of how I can leave my kids with things to do with English once I leave. I don't just want to leave them with nothing. If anyone has any ideas please let me know!

awww.

2010-03-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

today I was on the bus like normal heading to class and then something soooo cute happened! My kids were at the bus stop all waiting for me to come in and when they saw the bus they all started running with it to meet me. It was the cuttest thing ever! I love them sooooo much.

little visitor

2010-03-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

so there was a monkey on the roof last night. . . having a party or something and i swear it was coming straight for my bed since the roof in my room has the biggest gap in it. great!

Friends Forever

2010-03-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

So my best friend michele was here for a week and it was soooooooo fun! When she first came we stayed in the Pastor Bayardo's house for a night then had our own little room in Cataraina. First we went to the lagoon all day!!! It was so fun. Michele and I swam out really far, taught the guys how to swim, and took TONS of pictures with the underwater camera! Which, might I add, broke half way through the trip, so we only have less than half of our trip on camera :( And i didn't have my camera, because I left it in my house in Nandasmo. After that we went to a 5 star Resort on the beach. . . it was so nice. It was unlimited everything, food, drinks, facilities and anything else you could want. We just chilled in the pool and on the beach all day and ate all the food we wanted! The beach lifeguard definitely had to come out into the water to tell us that we had gone way too far out. OK I'm sorry, but the waves were so big and sooo fun! Oh and we also went to the spa and got pampered! After that we came back and did some tourist shopping and just hung out with some of my friends! It was perfect, and I'm so glad she got to come. I have about two months left. Teaching is going good. I don't understand how I keep getting more and more students everyday! I've finally figured out a way to teach verbs and sentences rather than just vocabulary, and it's going really well! I can actually see that the kids are learning, and it makes me really happy! I also have a 5 year old girl and another boy that I give separate private classes to. In about a week I'm going to be teaching another group of teenagers (I think) 3 times a week. Soon I'm going to start working on a scrapbook for the church; that should be fun to make.! Well, i gotta go teach right now!

more and more love.

2010-02-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Fist, the other day I was walking with Mira in Nandasmo and found this school with a big school yard. . . a perfect place for Mira to run without me worrying about her being smashed by one of the crazy buses here. We were playing for about 3 hours just running, and finally I was like ok we gotta go. Then I noticed that all the lights in the school had been turned off and I was the only one with Mira! So we walked to the exit and everything was all locked up everywhere! I thought ohhh gosh now what. . . . so eventually I found a spot where there wasn't a huge amount of barbed wire where I would hop the fence WITH Mira in my arms. I must say it was very interesting, but I'm alive! I went to the lagoon again. We left early in the morning and climbed back up when it was dark! I'm actually starting to get in shape again. This time I climbed the whole thing without stopping once in just over 30 minutes! I'm pretty sure I still had some left at the end! Soon I'm going to run it! maybe. . . . And I'm going again tomorrow! My class is going amazing. We have so much fun. I really am completely in love with my kids. I don't know how I'm going to leave them. Everyday when I'm walking to class, they meet me in the middle of the street running as fast as they can, so they can hopefully be the first one to reach me. I really wish I had about 30 more arms to have one for each of them. The other day there was so much emotion, we actually fell over on the ground! In my morning class today it was me and five other girls. We did some English, and then realized my camera was in my back pack, so we had a girls day taking pictures, laughing, and we walked all over Catarina taking pictures having so much fun. I also have a special project planned for my class with English and the Bible that I will tell how it goes after! One thing that is very hard is to see my students come in the exact same clothes everyday to class! I really with I could just fill their drawers with clothes, but right now I can't but I also have an idea for this too that I will say later!

Class

2010-01-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

I just got done teaching my first class, and right now I am in the "garden house" where I go to eat lunch everyday in between my classes. They are so nice, because they take really good care of me and don't ask that I pay anything. In my first class, we made menus for the kids' restaurants, and then we played a game where there is a song playing and the kids are passing around a ball. Before they can pass it they have to say the name of a food or drink in English. If they have the ball when the music stops they are out, and the last person in the game wins a prize. They loved it and got so serious. It was so funny. Yesterday I learned the Lords prayer in Spanish . . go me. Right now I'm really really hungry! Saturday I'm going to the lagoon with a bunch of people!

2010-01-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

faster than I thought!!!!!!

2010-01-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

January 24, 2010. . . .. . . 97 days left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where is the time going????? Seriously the time has gone by sooo fast and I still feel like I have so much to do! I still want to go to Casa Materna, visit Danilo’s mom, visit an orphanage, and I still have sooo much to teach my kids! Not only kids. I also just started teaching adult classes, and I feel like I have no time! But its okay. We are going to cram like crazy. I really really like the adult classes; they really want to learn, make a lot of funny jokes, and we always laugh a lot. It's good, because I have adult class on Monday after a day of 3 other classes, and it’s a good relief! I also had my first experience of being really sick in Nicaragua. Don’t worry I’m perfectly fine. I woke up one night with a horrible stomach pain and a few hours later I was throwing up everywhere. The whole next day I had the worst stomach pain ever, and I ended up going to the doctor. I had about 7 shots and some tubes in me to give me water or something, because I didn’t eat all day. . . .I'm not really sure but now the doctor says that I have to be really careful what I eat and I can't eat things with acids and some other foods that I really like. Ohh well whatever! I'm still having a great time and I'm fine so all is good! In about 25 days my best friend Michele is coming to see me. yayyyy!!!! It is going to be soo much fun! I'm really excited for that! Also Cheryl and another women are coming to do some things here really soon and I'm really excited to see them! I have my Spanish Bible and I like it. . . Joel and I have been staying up long nights comparing the English and Spanish just to be sure they are the same. lol. We're finding out that yes, its true, they say the same thing. Nelson, one of my best friends here (who speaks English) just recently found out that he is going to live in New York as soon as possible to work and help an aunt who lives there. I'm sad, because he is one of my best friends here, but I know that it is really good for him because he is going to be able to send money back to his family to help out with things here in Nicaragua. Right now I'm helping him get his passport and visa, even though I told him I don’t really want to because I don't want him to leave! For about a week and a half it was really cold here and I don’t know why! I had a sweater on everyday and two at night! But now. . . . we're back to tank tops. Mira (my puppy) is doing really well. She hates dog food. She cries when I'm not with her, and when I leave she looks at me like she is going to die. Soooo I just bring her to English class. . . in the church! The kids love her and she helps me teach! She is much bigger now too, but she is still my little puppy. When we go on walks she stays right with me and loves to run with me! I still haven’t tried to see if she can swim, but we are going to go to the lagoon soon! Well church is about to start so I gotta go! Hope everything is going amazing for everyone! Love to all!

Family and more!

2010-01-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

OK so it has been a little while and I'm so sorry! I promise this year I'm going to try harder to write more! About three weeks before my amazing family came to see me, English class got really intense! We started learning a lot of new things but the best was when we learned classroom objects. We would play a game where I would put a table at the front of the class with various objects from the classroom like books, pencils, staplers, paper, markers, crayons, and just about anything else you can find in a classroom. There are two teams and it’s a relay race. I say an object and one person from each team runs, grabs the object, runs back to their team and has another person run back to me with the object, and the first team to get me the object gets a point. The kids go completely crazy. It’s so fun! I like to play to 15 points but they like to play until their team wins . . . .so the game goes on for pretty long ☺ We also learned commands like sit down, stand up, back, forward, jump, and spin. I have a song that says all these things and makes it into a dance. They love doing it and love to have competitions to see who could dance the moves the best and who could sing the words (in English) the loudest. I have some amazing videos of the dance and all the games that we play in class. Since Christmas was coming fast, we learned some Christmas words and phrases, and I thought I would teach them a simple Christmas song. So we started learning Silent Night. I mentioned it to the Pastor, and he said he wanted the kids to sing it for the Christmas service in church. I said ok but it’s going to take a lot more work! So we worked extra hard on the song and eventually it was really good and we were ready! Also, one day in class I said we were going to make Christmas cards for family, friends or whoever you want (in English) It was so cute, because almost every kid made a card for either my family or for me.

The past ten days of my life were amazing, because my family and my amazing boyfriend came to see me! When I was waiting in the airport for them to come in I really almost peed my pants! So they got here and we came back to the house and had a really good lunch that Francie, my host mom, cooked, and then we went to church. My family started to meet everyone and my class, too. The kids love my family! There is one girl named Anna, and I really think she was in love with Zach. Not just her but everyone was amazed with how tall he was, and Anna loved to have him pick her up over his head.
We saw the Mirador of Catarina, went to Derick’s and Julisa’s wedding (which was amazing), saw my kids sing Silent Night in church, gave gift bags to all my students, went to San Juan del Sur, and Zach and I with other teenagers from Catarina, climbed up AND down a mountain that I swear was at least 10 miles. Ok it was probably more like 1 but it was sooo hard I almost died! We also saw the project site for the Nicaragua Project and other towns and cities in Nicaragua. ANDDDDDD I had to translate the whole time for everyone and I could actually do it! So I am learning my Spanish. The house was FULL with people while my family was here. My mom, dad, sister, boyfriend and me, Bayardo, Francie, Derick, Joel, Joshua, and Heyler, and all the other people that would come by everyday to meet my family or do other things in the house. So after my family left and I came back, the house felt really empty and I was soo sad because my family left. But its ok, because I am almost half way there and I still have a lot of things to do here!

Now that the holidays are over I’m going to start teaching again next week. Yesterday I climbed the horrible mountain again. The only good part to the mountain is at the bottom is the Lagoon of Catarina and it is sooo fun to swim in! It's just hard, because we leave early in the morning and spend all day there in the sun with not a lot of food, so by the end of the day when its time to climb back up, I am almost dead. I am even closer to dead when Nestor, a boy from the church who is in really good shape, grabs my arm and practically drags me up the mountain running. It was really horrible, but I am actually getting in shape now, which is good!

So everything is going good. I had a great time with my family, I now have a new sister in the house, Derick's new wife Julisa, and I am beyond ready with school supplies to start teaching again soon! Thank you so much to everyone who sent school supplies, presents for the kids, presents for me, and prayers. It really all helps so much and makes such a difference in my teaching and the kids lives. Thank you so much for all the support!

Better and Better. . . and Wheres the money going?¿?¿?¿?¿?

2009-11-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Things are going great! Besides the fact that sometimes during the day I'm falling asleep, because the night before I stayed up till three in the morning being teased, jumped on, scared out of my mind, tickled to death, and then laughing all at the end. . . . because my brothers (all four of them) are "only adjusting to having a sister" According to Bayardo they are just not used to it and don't really know what to do but they are starting to figure it out. . . .I guess I'm adjusting to having brothers too. Francie and I are close now and laugh at all the boys in the house and call them crazy, but of course the only two girls in the house. . . we're not crazy at all! MIra is also doing good, still very very tiny and very crazy. She is also in love with Derick, the oldest. Everything in the house is going good. Classes are going amazing. I love all my little children and I'm pretty sure they love me too! We have been learning colors, shapes, numbers, time, alphabet, family, and short sentences. With the little kids right now it is better to stick to simple vocabulary like food, family, and animals, because they really do not understand sentence structure. Today in class we are learning to write things in a birthday card and after, each student will make a card for Luisa, my best friend here because Monday it her 15th birthday (with a party on Sunday in the church) In Latin America the 15th birthday of a girl is very important. Luisa cannot afford the huge fancy party that a lot of girls have; actually she cannot afford anything for her 15th. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm helping! NOw starts where the money that all my supporters have given me.
1. Luisa has many problems and comes to me very sad and crying a lot of time. It is very important to me to help Luisa and make her happy for her birthday. I am having a beautiful pink dress made for her, earrings and a necklace to match, and a few other things. I am also helping the pastor to organize a small ceremony for her in the church on Sunday so she can have a party.
2. Many of my friends have never been to the water park here or the movies or little things like that, that is very common for kids in the US to do every weekend. So every so often I'll take people to the water park, movies, or to eat pizza or other things that they really want to do but cannot pay for and probably never will be able to.
3. After class, I say all my goodbyes to my students and many hugs and then eventually they start to leave. There is more than one boy (and girl) who does this but one comes to mind. His name is Ervin and after class as I'm walking away, I feel a little tug on my shirt. . . "Teacher I'm soo hungry and have no food and no money and my mom cannot feed me." He also looks like he is about to pass out because he is so hungry. So Ervin and I go to the park every other day or so, and I buy him lunch, everything that he can possibly eat, which is not expensive at all. We sit in the park and he tells me about his life, and I make sure he eats enough. There are other boys and girls that I do the same thing with.

Everything is good here and getting better every day. I have had no problems but one. It is soooo hard for me to see so many people who need help and who are not happy. Everyday Luisa or someone else come to me and tells me about their problems and cries and wants a hug. Or a kid tells me how hungry they are. I want to help so much and sometimes i just don't know what to do. BUT .. . .. I'm figuring it out and doing the best I can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never say Never

2009-10-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

Never say . . .

. . . that you won’t stick out your thumb on the side of the road and then the next thing you know you’re in the back of a truck flying down some road trying not to fall out.

. . . that you won't buy the cutest puppy ever that can only sleep when you or your “brother” Heyler is holding her

. . . that you won't go to a water park with no rules or lifeguards. . . .a.k.a. you can do whatever you want, like go down the huge slides with 5 other people at the same time

. . . that your brother (Heyler) won't convince you to do crazy things. . . like get up super early and climb down a huge rocky mountain, swim in some interesting looking water, and then climb ALL THE WAY back up. . . .and think you are about to die

. . . .that while taking a nap during the day, every 15 minutes or so you have to wake up and look in the mirror just to make sure you are not on fire because it is sooooo ridiculously hot

. . . that girls won't go up to your brother and the whole rest of the family very concerned, because they are scared that you might be Joel’s girlfriend who they are in love with. . . and then have to explain that you are only living with the family and not to worry heheheheh!

. . . that your students won't bring you the cutest little gifts like candy, drawings and on some special days, birds that they found on the street right before class

. . . that it won't rain so hard for so long that you are a little worried you might be swimming to teach English the next day

. . . that your cute little puppy wont give you a big ugly scratch on your face that makes you not want to leave the house

. . . that you won't go to a “farm” with a huge machete and help cut fruit and other things

. . . that you won't fall in love with all your little children, because they wait for you to come down the street and then run to you so they can walk with you to class

. . that you won't miss your Zachy Poo more than anything in the world and can't wait for him and the rest of the family to come in December

. . . that you won't meet the most amazing, cutest, smartest 8 year old boy in your English class that gives you huge hugs and smiles everyday. . . that is in desperate need of a surgery so his brain can grow properly or the worst can happen. I'm determined to help, and my family is helping me. More information later; for now please keep Christian and his family in your prayers.

English Class!

2009-10-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

“. . .but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. So that your giving may be in secret. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew . . . something, sorry can't remember right now

Had my first class!!! First class Tuesday morning. . . 4 kids. Very calm and just went over some basic things and got to know each other. All was pretty well except the oldest boy was about 13 and knows a good amount of English and the youngest one I really think is only five and knows nada!!!! Next class in the afternoon I had fifteen kids. Same things for the most part. . . . some kids know a lot and some are soooo young and don’t know anything. I love all the kids and they are amazing and fun, but I realized I am going to have a challenge when it comes to making sure everyone is having fun, understanding, learning something new, and not bored because they already know what is going on. I went home that night and kinda freaked out.  How was I going to do this?!?!?!?!?! I still had one more day this week of teaching, (Wednesday), so I decided I would bring some notebooks and folders to pass out, do some more basics and then try to get a better feeling for what people know. So Wednesday morning I packed up 5-6 notebooks for the first class (and a bunch more for the afternoon) just in case there was an extra student or two. . . There was ten students instead of four! OK that’s fine. Afternoon class I had over 25 students of all different ages! It was crazy, and I will definitely need to be bringing more notebooks on Monday! I have some ideas of how I am going to do everything, I just need to work it all out and sooner or later it will all be good. All the kids get along great with each other and me, and we are having lots of fun already even though it’s a little loco! My Dad and my Mom are giving me a lot of help and ideas but if anyone has any suggestions of games, things to do, and strategies please let me know!

Everything else is going pretty well. Soon I am going to be doing some special work with the church and soccer team because they need some extra help with something that I'm not quite sure of what it is, but they asked for help and that’s what I'm here for! I have really become close with the girls on the soccer team. I go to almost all of their games. I'm getting to be a good cheerer! They keep asking me to play, and I keep saying maybe one day just for fun. . . but I know sooner or later they are going to get me to play. In the mean time I have my own soccer practice going on with some of the kids in my class. Nelson (20) one of my good friends here has a very younger brother about 5 or 6 maybe (who I am in love with and is soooo cute!), and then a sister and brother who are about 12 maybe. Since I know their family pretty well, when I'm bored or in between class, I wander over to their house (even though Nelson is not usually there because he is very busy) and they get me to play soccer in the street with them. Last night we played for about two hours! There you go mom, there is my exercise you wanted me to have! Even though soccer is not my specialty, I had fun getting the crap scared out of me when they would kick the ball at me as hard as they could on purpose, and the kids probably could have died they were laughing so hard.

In the house everything is going well. I am starting to learn to cook with Franci. Bayardo loves to mess with me and play every joke he can think of on me. I talk with Derick the most about his music and my favorite question is “your wedding is getting closer!!! How nervous are you?!?!?!?” Then he tells me about everything he has to do for it and other stuff. . . . Joshua and I joke around a lot and now we talk more because he is in my English class. Joel is teaching me the piano! And there is a new member of the family. . . my puppy! I mentioned one day that I would love to have a puppy one day because they are so cute, and Bayardo instantly said you can buy one and have it here at the house. Their other dog is getting very old and is sick and they are sad. They are dog people. So Bayardo, Franci, and I went shopping for everything for my puppy! I think they had more fun then I did. In a few days I will be bringing home my puppy. I can't right now because she is to small, but I visit her almost everyday! Her name is Mira ( which means look in Spanish. . . and I stole this name from my neighbor at home) Hope to write again soon!

here!

2009-09-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Hola. I am in Nicaragua and first i cANT typw very well on this jeyboard so sorry for the mistakes ill try and fix them lol. so the first night bayardo and joshua picked us up from the airort and i was sooo happy to see them. once in the car on the way to his house the talking was a little slow but we quickly got talking fast about everythin and my dad and bayardo get along great. Everyday bayardo tells me how he misses my dad and how he loved to talk with him. I have an amazing room with a big bed and a big mirror. It is so nice, and I have a nice place to put my clothes. I am not really in there that much because it is soo hot. The weather is out of control! I am always hot no matter what, but I am getting used to it. I have figured out not to take my shower when i first wake up and take it before i leave the house to feel refreshed. And the bugs are huge all over me in the night. lol Its crazy. The food is amazing. We eat all the time huge meals, and I am going to explode. i told franci, my mom, lol, that I can't eat so much. She doesn't seem to always understand that I am not Bayardo who could eat everything in the house. lol I have finally been reunited with my best friend in Nicaragua, Luisa, and we talk all the time and sit with each other in church. I start teaching CLASSES THE FIRST WEEK IN OCTOBER AND I AM PRETTY EXCITED TO BE WITH ALL THE LITTLE KIDS, and then i have one adlut class a week. I am also learning to play more on the piano from my new brothers. The other day Derick, Joshua and I played the piano together for hours and it was sooooo fun! Okqy I'm running out of time on the computer now, but one last thing! I have finally gotton one of my wishes in life. I have always wanted an older brother who is nice that I can talk to and kinda looks out for you i guess. . . I dunno but i got one, Derick! He is sooo nice, and we talk all the time and get along and he is always looking otu for me and teaching me new things. This morning he made me breakfast. Everything is perfect except I can't figure out how to work my phone. Love everyone. Hope to write again soon.

ahahahahah!

2009-09-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

LEAVING THE COUNTRY! HOLY CRAP!!!!!

Thanks!

2009-09-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much EVERYONE who has given me so much support. My church, friends, and family have done so much for me to help me on this trip it is crazy! You all are amazing people with huge hearts <3

I have 4 days before I leave and the packing is. . . . well it is getting there. I have packed one suitcase and all I could fit in it was paper and it already weighed 50 pounds!

As for all the other school supplies my dinning room is still kinda filled :)

but eventually it will hopefully all be packed and ready to go! Most likely I will talk to everyone again once I am in Nicaragua!

Counting down. . .

2009-08-22T17:46:00.001-07:00

So today it is exactly three weeks until I move to Nicaragua. I am not really nervous at all just a lot to do! Getting all my school supplies together and planning out how to teach kids and adult English classes! Thanks to everyone who has given me so much support and donations! Also just working on getting Zach his passport. . . get on that buddy!

:)

2009-08-20T16:31:00.001-07:00

Testing :)