Highlights from the first 2.5 days

Nothing like being thrown into the mix! Fortunately, I arrived safely in Guatemala. Got to sit next to a Guatemalan weight-lifter (future Olympian?) on the way down who was kind enough to converse with me though I speak in broken Spanish. I found Lito pretty easily at the airport (no thugs!) and he took me shopping. I was hoping for a little bit of help--I wasn't sure what to buy as soon as I arrived, but since he does not speak English and he didn't have any recommendations, I was on my own. But I think I managed okay. And he delivered me safely to La Senda in spite of slightly erratic drivers--blinkers aren't enough here, you just stick out your arm to indicate the direction you're already headed whether someone is in that space or not. A couple of times I thought a bus would side swipe us as it moved into our lane and Lito didn't appear to be moving. Alas, there was no incident. :-) Other highlights:

• I began teaching the next day after I arrived. Talk about overload! Seven classes--Level 4 English, 3rd grade math, 3rd grade science, 5th grade English, 2nd grade math, junior high English, and 6th grade English. All of the meetings on what to do with each class seemed to muddle my mind. However, after going through everything once and getting a better handle on it, I am enjoying it. Second grade went much better today--yesterday it was chaos (poor planning on my part). They are evidently dubbed the "bad" class, and it appears it is so because they don't like to listen and aren't highly motivated. They like to do the work, but they are much more social. So, today we worked on building incentive--charting individual progress, making a class goal, that sort of thing. We'll see how it works!


• The other two volunteers who have been here since February have been invaluable. They are the ones who informed us that we need to disinfect our vegetables while we're here; they also invited me to dinner the first night, which was extremely appreciated so I didn't have to eat along. The other two volunteers for the summer have arrived, and I think I'll really hanging out with them.


• The weather is awesome--high seventies during the day, late fifties/sixties in the morning and evenings.


• Tonight is pizza night. Yum yum! Tomorrow night is a bonfire. Oodles of fun!


• My computer decided to quit working once it crossed the border, so updates may not be as frequent as I hoped.


• The junior high voted to have Holes read aloud to them (the choice was that, Dandelion Wine, or The Horse and His Boy (from The Chronicles of Narnia)).


• Any other thoughts to share are eluding me, but I am grateful for the chance to be here. I am praying that the tasky stuff won't steal my joy and that I can see the ways God is working here. It's pretty cool!