English Class!

“. . .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!