omar said the funniest thing in class this morning...
a lot of times the kids fool around when they know they're not supposed to, and i'll gently remind them that we're not playing or tell them that if they're going to play, they're going to lose a privilege. today during recess omar was playing candyland with tonio and marcos and marcos was doing something annoying...all i heard was omar tell marcos,"si estas jugando, no vas a jugar (if you're playing, you're not going to play.)" haha! i then had to explain that in recess, yes, in fact, we can play. oh goodness.

in art today, we made greeting cards. one by one the kids picked our leaves and then put the leaves inside the card and colored the outside so that the imprint of the leaf was on the card. as i was getting ready for school this morning, it occurred to me that the kids probably have no idea what a card is or their purpose - they don't get birthday cards, and i don't know what other cards they would have seen. i brought all my birthday cards and we spent some time talking about what a greeting card is, and why you would write them or send them, and then decided to write thank you cards. some of them came out so sweet, and it was great to watch the kids give them to the women. i also told them about pat, the guy who got hurt in the dominican republic, and we made a card for him. i explained what happened - that he hit his head on rocks while he was jumping in water - and how he has never been in a wheelchair but now he will be for a long time. the kids were really interested in his story and kept asking more questions about what happened, how he is now, and stuff like that. i mentioned that he needs our prayers, and alex told me we should pray for him before lunch, when everyone prays together! so we did :)

i have been working with our students, especially the morning class, on being polite and using good manners. simple things like please, thank you, raising their hands, asking permission before doing something, and other things like that don't quite come naturally to them. that's okay, but there's not reason not to improve on that!
today the kids did a great job of being polite. we were having snack and after someone said thank you for about the 3rd time without being reminded, i told everyone how proud i was of them and how much i loved to hear them speak with pleases and thank yous. then marcos goes yes and thank you to God, too, in the sky! for our lives and for snack. HA! precious.

gym class has required some extra planning time because of the makeup of our class. we've got three 6 year olds who would run for hours if they could, and 4 boys in wheelchairs who can't move themselves around very quickly. i've been looking at adaptive pe websites and getting a lot of good ideas, but between my spanish and their attention spans, things don't always work out as well as i hope. today we played catch, and each kid who wasn't in a wheelchair paired up with someone who was in a wheelchair. it was so simple - everyone knows how to play catch - but they had so much fun! i was encouraged and glad to see that they enjoyed playing together like this.

for science today, we outlined our bodies on butcher paper but ran out before everyone got a chance to get their body traced. it was okay because that activity will definitely need some better explanation the next time we do it :)

tonight becky and i went to ted and renie's - they invited us over for a bible study/devo kind of thing. it was really nice to be able to sit down and talk with them and pray together. we're in the middle of building a new house for all of the boys at gabriel house, and ted said that in 2 weeks a group is coming down to completely finish the house. if they're not able to finish it, they're going to leave all the materials for us to do it ourselves. this will be awesome, because then we can move our school inside, just in time for the colder weather! the house where the boys live now will become our classroom and a physical therapy room, and the boys will live next to the kitchen in their new house. can't wait!

i was walking up on my way to school this morning and i passed luis bracing himself again the shed where we keep the diapers (except we haven't had any diapers). he couldn't close the door because it was so full! we got a donation over the weekend and now we have a shed full of diapers. awesome.

chuy was back for school today and it went really well. he did math with the kids, which was great, and he did a really good job with it. he was praising the kids, working closely with them at their individual level, and kept the pace moving. i don't know how much of it was purposeful and how much he just did, but either way, it was really great. the kids responded well, too.

our afternoon class was fun - we've been using the wagon to go for walks for the last ten minutes or so of class. we sing songs together or practice counting as we walk. the kids love it and it's fun for me, too, plus it's a way to keep them all together and under control!

after school i went to the big house - i feel like i haven't been there in forever! i read to sonia and ely for awhile while jaime rolled around with his leg braces on and jose ramon kept trying to take sonja's sweatshirt off. it been really exciting for me to keep getting to know the kids in the big house. except for the sisters, none of them can talk or really communicate at all, but they each have their own personality, likes and dislikes, and needs and wants. it's totally different from the kids i spent most of my day with in school, but it's awesome and really special.

talked to my family, meghan, and lourdes tonight! great way to end the day :)

what a day!
lerma and her husband (jesus) and her daughter (marlen) and grandkids (daniela and adan) picked us up and we went to san carlos. to get there, you go down the driveway of the baja country club, and then keep going for a loooong time. it was absolutely beautiful. for like 15 minutes there was nothing, just mountains. then all of a sudden we came upon this mexican style resort, with a lake and little swimming pools tucked into the side of the mountains. the church was in the middle of this forest of palm trees. lerma's brother is the pastor. it was a great service - almost 3 hours, and there were 3 vans full of guys from a nearby rehab. i love going to churches like these - the guys were singing and it was so beautiful. it didn't matter if they could carry a tune or keep the beat...they just sang.
after the service we had pozole, a mexican soup that has chicken, hominy, onions, and spices, and then you put radishes and cabbage on top. it's good stuff. then we went for a walk with lerma, and the pastor's wife and co-director of the rehab, olga. up higher in the mountains are thermal waters that you can go in - like a jacuzzi - and that's what san carlos is known for. we didn't go that far but we passed a lot of cactus trees and i ate cactus for the first time...it was delicious! a lot like honeydew but with seeds. the shell or whatever that it's in keeps the fruit cool, so it was really refreshing.
after our walk we went back to the pastor's house and the rehab, which is actually right behind the church that poughkeepsie united methodist has been working at! the pastor said he knew who i was talking about when i asked him if he knew the pumc group. they have some random animals, and lerma's grandkids had a ton of fun. except for when jesus put adan on the horse. hahahaha.

great day! school tomorrow, chuy's back, can't wait to see how it goes :)

pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/hilary.e.holbrook

because becky and i are going to laerma's church tomorrow, i spent today at marta's church with my friends. rocio and paco and i went to the teaching they have every saturday morning. it was cool - the teenagers up to 20 somethings go, and it's taught by one of them, too. today it was about discouragement and how to avoid it/get it out of your life.
rocio was in an accident last sunday - she was on her dad's 'moto' - i think an atv/dirtbike thing, and ran into a car that was turning. i don't know whose fault it was, but she's in a neck brace because her nerves got strained. she's thankful nothing else - nothing worse - happened. she said it doesn't hurt that much, but it's impossible for her to look down to turn her head, which makes cutting hair and painting nails a little difficult. 2 weeks with the neck brace, and she's supposed to 'take it easy' for a month. eek.

school was good on friday. chuy got back from his retreat and asked me how school went. we had a good conversation! i'm really happy.

i'm excited to see this church tomorrow. i've only seen roca de salvacion and marta's church, so it should cool. i'm looking forward to it!

today we had science for the first time. i thought, since i kind of have free reign for the day, why not do a fun, get-your-hands-dirty, exploratory science activity? so we planted carrots, turnips, and radishes, because for some reason those seed packets were in our kitchen!
we definitely succeeded in the getting dirty part. it's was really fun though, and the kids weren't quite sure what to do with themselves. jose, bless his precious heart, saw what we were doing and brought out a book of pictures of flowers. he then ripped off the cover, tore it into pieces, and tried to plant it. he thought that if he planted a picture of a flower, a flower would grow! it really does make sense, if you think about it from his perspective.

i have had to scale back my thinking and planning so much...it's really been interesting. our class is made up of such a range of ability levels for one. another thing is these kids have had such different experiences than most of my students in the states. yeah, they occasionally watch movies and learn some stuff that way, but at the same time, none of them have a "typical" view of a family. this is and has always been their family. there aren't any leaves that change color here. they don't understand that cows make milk...and a lot more! this makes it so fun, though, to do something like plant seeds. to help them realize that our veggies won't grow without water, soil, and sun. their world opens up a little more every time they learn something else in school.

parts of them are very much like my students in the states...omar and marcos spent the whole day asking when we were going to have gym! they called me profé today, which is a step above maestra (teacher). it was cool but at the same time slightly awkward and uncomfortable because chuy is their teacher - their 'profé.' we will work on that.

marisol and i worked together again today. learning the names of letters isn't something that happens overnight...it will take a good chunk of time. i'm really thankful though because she's super eager to learn and always wants to do more. works for me!

laerma, the woman who works with the boys, invited paco and i to her church this week! paco can't go because he leads worship at marta's church, but becky and i are going to go. she told us to bring shorts and a camera because there's running water. not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds like fun! i'm really excited to see another church. i talked to her husband today about a field trip. he works at the jersey factory, a huge dairy company. they have a factory about 15 minutes from casa gabriel with a park for kids - a playground, a train, a play area, and some other fun stuff. i want to make it part of a unit - study cows and the whole dairy process and then go as a class. the only thing we need to go is 3 jersey milk caps per person. good thing we have a bag of them in the office!

joanna, a lady who works down below, brought homemade corn tamales to work today. oh my. delicious. who knows what was in them, but delicious.

tomorrow we will have the first of our weekly english lessons!

today was i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e. i was so happy i was almost in tears. and all day long i have known exactly this - i had nothing to do with today. it was God, through me, that made this day happen.

chuy has a 3 day conafe retreat that he thought started tomorrow, but at about 10am remembered that he had to leave at 12:30. so he went inside to shower and pack and i took over for the rest of the day.

the kids have really done well with the schedule. they are constantly looking at it and talking about what we're doing next, or when snack is (go figure).

as of yesterday, i am now the gym teacher, music teacher, art teacher, sometimes math and science teacher, snack distributor, nurse, and classroom mom. today i felt like i was right back in the middle of student teaching, and it felt great. i was so proud of the kids today. we wrote words that started with the ch sound. we got stars for being good students. we did some work at the table, some work on the floor, some work with partners, and some work together in a circle. we had a gym class in the street, where we played red light green light, the parachute game, and who-can-get-the-ball-first-after-jose-throws-it-into-the-next-town-over. we worked on addition for the first time. we practiced being good classmates. we sang songs together, or at least clapped along.

this afternoon we painted with watercolors and most likely painted the table better than our papers. oh well! the kids loved it.

i worked with marisol in the afternoon - she's in the morning class but doesn't know the names of letters. she's super smart because she taught herself how to write every letter, she just doesn't know their names. she wanted to work some more after dinner but i told her that school 3 times a day was too much! she didn't agree.

i bought another watermelon for a dollar today...the kids don't get much fresh fruit here, so i try to bring it for snack whenever i can. they loooove watermelon! and cookies, but what can you do :)

today was really exciting.
i explained to the morning class (2nd ish grade) that our school has a lot of changes. we talked about those changes and then went over our new schedule. they were alert and attentive and really seemed to be enjoying their time in school. we did our calendar, then writing words and reading them, and then we had recess and a snack for the first time. after snack we had art, where we made 'i am special' posters and wrote acrostic poems. the acrostic poem was a bit of a stretch for most of them, but at least it got the kids thinking. we finished with me reading 'if you give a mouse a cookie' in spanish :)

at dinner marcos ran up to me, gave me a huge hug, and said something that sounded very much like i want to go to school. i asked him to say it again, and yes, in fact, he did say just that. i told him he didn't know how happy i was to hear that hahaha

i'm hoping that chuy sees that the kids work better when they're engaged and that he can tell what i'm trying to do, and that's help these kids learn. i talked to him briefly tonight and asked him for input and if he wanted to change anything, and that i want to do what's best for the kids and i hope he does too. i know it takes lots of time for people's hearts to change, and i hope that process has started in him.

darell, one of the babies, went back home with his mom! i know i should be happy...but he was so precious. i'm sad he's gone. dulce, one of the workers who just turned 20, cried and cried on saturday when she found out - he was her special baby. gah!

here's the video link again...apparently i'm technologically illiterate.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/j-CChNJ3AANc6-qKZssUCQ?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLPvL2ByP6CfA&feat=directlink

or this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23vlkzMkyHw

here are the lyrics

(i know someone named jose
i have a friend teddy)
and tono too
and alex likes my car
he likes my keys
he wants to drive

and all the time sergio is washing (the clothes)
he drinks a lot of water
maybe he's thirsty

everyday they get up early
i think it's the roosters
i don't know

i have a lot of friends
they are crazy
they like to play
i know they're laughing all the time
but they don't like to study

school was rough today. we've been doing the same thing for a long time and the kids are starting to get bored, which leads to behavior problems. we also have some kids who can read and write perfectly and others who don't know their letters. not a perfect situation, but it's the one we're in. it can definitely work.
jaime came to the afternoon class today - renie wants him there. he had fun coloring, and it was nice for him to get out of the big house. it was funny - i was telling chuy that renie wanted jaime in the afternoon class and one of the ladies who works with the boys said but he can't talk! how will he learn? and i said look at alex, jose, and antonio! they can't talk but they absolutely can learn! it was wierd because she works with those boys every day and she knows what they're capable of and also that they can't talk. i think she's so used to them and their sign language that she kind of forgot about them not being able to talk like most people!

i talked to chuy after school today and it didn't go that well. please, please, pray for us. we both need to remember that everything we do is for the kids and everything else needs to be put aside. pride, emotions, selfishness, laziness, and fears can't get in the way. they just can't.
tomorrow will be the first day of a lot of changes in school, changes for the better, and i am just praying that chuy will see that and also be able to see my heart. i'm praying for him too, that he will find and develop a passion for teaching and will be able to impact the kids far more than i could ever hope to.

here's some of the song paco sang yesterday.

becky and i went to calimax tonight and we walked to the main road with a bunch of the ladies who worked today. we were talking about their walk home and i asked if they could take a micro instead of walk for half an hour. they said they could, but they don't have the money. a bus ride costs 8 pesos. that's 60 cents. i know that life down here is different, but it's those little things that just stay in my head as i think about how i can spend $20 and have it feel like nothing. we gave them money to take the micro, but it's like putting a band aid on a wound that's gushing blood. not a permenant solution.

ely was my saving grace today...she was so much fun. every time i passed her she was laughing. at dinner, jose wanted more rice milk, so i got it for him and accidentally filled the cup up really full, almost to the top. i brought it back to him and he took it from me without spilling, but when i told him to be careful and that i would get in trouble if he spilled it, he started laughing and rice milk went everywhere. ely was laughing for like 5 minutes. every time i looked over at her she would start again...throw her head back, close her eyes, and just shake with laughter. i wish i had a video of it...it's the best feeling to be laughing with the kids here.

un día maravilloso

today was incredible!
paco picked me up and we met rocio at roca de salvacion, where candelario is the pastor. i can't even describe how amazing it was to see everyone. pastor cande's whole family was there - his wife, eliseo, josue, caleb, and then abraham and bryan his adorable son, and lots more familiar faces. we were early so we talked to eliseo while we were waiting for the service to start. it was awesome to hang out with him and rocio. sometimes my friends talk to me really slowly and simply, and i appreciate that, but i can understand most of what i'm hearing. eliseo talks normally with me and once in a while i would miss something and then he would help me, but it was nice to feel like a 22 year old having a conversation hahaha. he said i was understanding a lot, which was encouraging to hear.
eliseo didn't sing like usual - he said he's been leading worship every thursday and sunday for 2 years and he's "just tired." it was great though because he sat with rocio and i during the service.
so instead of eliseo singing, caleb sang! he was amazing. he's got a beautiful voice. and he's like 15! we sang for a solid hour which was probably the highlight of my week, if not month. then pastor cande preached for another hour, which was another highlight. he reminds me so much of my dad. i think that's part of the reason i love to be there.
somehow they found out it was my birthday last week so i got more hugs from everyone after the sermon hahaha
my heart is in this church. it's hard to be at martha's and i feel silly because it's kind of a selfish problem to have...but just like you can't help who you fall in love with, i can't help that this is where my heart is! i'm hoping i can do an every other week thing, because i don't want to hurt feelings or leave my friends at martha's church, but i also really would like to be at roca de salvacion.
pastor cande says hi to everyone from new york!

after church, rocio, paco, his sister, her husband, and their daughter and i got pizza. it was just like most pizza in the states, except the crust was sweet, like the sweet soft bread you can get from the bakeries. it was interesting. very different.

we took rocio to buy material to make an apron - she got to pick everything out, down to the color of the apron, ribbon for edging, and the buttons! i'll post a picture of her in it next week when it's made.

paco dropped me off at gabriel house and he played a song for the boys - a song he wrote for them! it was so sweet and he mentioned each of their names...they loved it. it was awesome. then we played soccer in the smallest soccer field known to man with 2 kids in wheelchairs and one on the ground. it was by far the most entertaining soccer game i've ever played in my church clothes!

later i skyped with sarah AND krista. so great to see their faces :)

so thankful for such a wonderful day!

today was a nice low key saturday. did some random house stuff...cleaning, laundry, blah blah blah. i decided to take on our oven, once again, and try to make banana bread. after a trip down the street to the tienda for milk and a plea to the kitchen for vinegar to sour the milk, all was ready except the oven. our oven is just like the stove, except the gas burner is bigger. where there should be a temperature dial there is instead a dial with the numbers 1 through 5. it would make sense that each number signifies another 100 degrees - 1 = 100 degrees, 2 = 200 degrees, 3 = 300 degrees, etc, but apparently this is not the case. when i made cookies last week, i put it on the 3 and in about 5 minutes the thermometer inside the oven said 450 degrees. i was determined to master the oven this time so i had the oven on as low as i could without the flame going out. in the hour the banana bread was in the oven, the temperature was anywhere between 250 and 350 degrees. it worked though...it's so delicious!

i spent most of the morning with the kids in the big house. they were all sitting outside and thankfully there were hardly any flies today. it can be ridiculous. they're drawn to saliva (perfect...) so when they're bad, the kids have flies crawling all over them. when it's really bad, we usually go back inside but it's sad because everyday is so beautiful and the kids love to be outside!

i apologize for the long and irrelevant banana bread story. today was a pretty chill day and not much else happened!

every morning i spend an hour at the big house before i head over to school. today, breakfast took extra long and every kid was either in the kitchen or his bed when i got there. i'll usually play with whoever's in the big room, but since no one was in there, i went to the next logical place - the baby room! i rocked lidia for almost an hour. it was awesome.

school this morning was good. i'm picking up more relevant spanish and the kids are respecting us more and getting some great work done.
this afternoon, i asked chuy if we could split the class up. we had pilar, chloe, ruben, and sergio for an hour, and then they went back down below and we took josue and irene for about half an hour. it was INCREDIBLE. it was such a huge change from every other day. josue works well with irene and ruben wasn't there, so those two weren't setting each other off like they sometimes can do. i was so thankful that it went well. hopefully this will be permenant after we get the okay from renie/conafe.

becky and i went to the movies this afternoon and then stopped at el poblano on the way back. they just finished a renovation - yesterday, tacos were 2 for 1! it was packed. i think with the redecoration their tacos got even better. i'm not sure how that's possible, but it happened :)

school this morning, school this afternoon, then i worked down below because joanna was alone again. the kids seemed kind of off today...lots of crying and general unhappiness. gabby's back from the hospital though! she looks tired but other than that, pretty normal.

after dinner becky and i went with angelica to costco to get some stuff and also look for my coffee creamer. it doesn't exist in mexico, even though it used to. grr.

on a more relevant and important note, we no longer have a doctor. he used to visit twice a week and see all of the kids who needed a general pediatrician. we can't afford to pay him anymore.
please keep gabriel house in your prayers. money is beyond tight and it's really putting a strain on everyone and everything involved. we know and we have seen that God absolutely provides and takes care of his children, so we are trusting in that and praying for provision and care to come in whatever way He chooses.

great news. i meant to speak english today, but i spoke spanish instead! that means my brain is thinking in spanish first. well, once in awhile, at least.

today was awesome. we weren't going to have school - no one does on independence day, but i asked chuy if we could have a shorter day and make flags. there was a big parade with students in the morning, but it was too far away and too early for us to load everyone up and go to. so instead, we had our own parade! i found a story about the history of mexico so chuy read a little bit of that and then we talked about what we were actually celebrating (omar thought we were celebrating making flags. kind of...) we had three different flag stations - the kids could cut out a flag, paint a flag, or color a flag. then we walked to ted and renie's house, down the street, shouting viva mexico! and cheering. it was awesome. the kids had so much fun. this is what i wish school could be like everyday and hopefully will be...interactive, exciting, engaging, and purposeful.

in the afternoon i made flags with the kids in the big house and taped them to their wheelchairs. it didn't go quite as well as with the kids in school. ramon tried to eat his flag, jaime threw his on the floor, and victor crumpled his up because it was bothering him. sonia, ely, and chely loved their flags, though! i put chely's in her seatbelt and she still had it when we went to dinner. i went to feed her and her flag was in the way - she thought it was hilarious. i love when those girls laugh. at first it's scary because it sounds like they're screaming...but it's their laughs :)

orchidia made fish tacos for dinner tonight. oh boy were they delicious. the kids loved the fish.

marisol, a lady who works with the girls in the big house, made tortillas for lunch today. from scratch. YUM.

school was great today. the morning went really well - no one needed a time out and the kids did some beautiful writing. some people from conafe stopped by and dropped off workbooks for every subject for each kid. everyone was excited to have their own books. the afternoon went surprising well, too. i set up centers today and all the kids were actively engaged for about ten minutes! that's 9 minutes longer than usual hahaha.

sylvia was working with the boys but she went home sick so i spent the afternoon with them. it was a lot of fun - it always is. tomorrow is independence day so ophelia made a mexican flag for jose's bike. he was really proud of it.

john came by today - he's an older man from the states who stops by every so often. the last couple times he's brought me about 5 issues of the new york times - oh man. i am such a nerd but so very lucky. he said next time he'll bring the sunday edition - ahh! he also brought a ton of food which was great because we are really, really low.

tomorrow should be a lot of fun! there are huge parades through the streets and everyone shouts 'viva mexico!' all day long at random intervals.

here are the loudest yogurt eaters ever, oduhly, and pictures of the day.

renie just got back from the states with all of my mail...it was so awesome to get the cards and presents! thank you everyone! krista i will wear my new yogurtland shirt with pride as soon as i'm not around the kids (it will get ruined hahahaa)

school was pretty good. we're settling into a routine, especially in the morning. the afternoon is still utter chaos, but it will get better.

i brought the new toy to the big house today and the babies seemed to like it! well kind of. angelino fell asleep less than 5 minutes after i put him down and jose manuel just laid there. at least he wasn't crying.

we've had some staff shortages lately so things are all crazy. joanna has been here for about a month and she was alone down below with the preschoolers - 8 of them! 5 of them are in our afternoon class that's crazy. i went down to help her for the rest of the day. it was fun because, other than school, i don't spent a lot of time with the kids down below. i'm always working in the big house or hanging out with the boys. definitely lots of energy. the kids could use an area the size of a football field to work off some of that steam.

we went to dinner and as the kids started eating, josue smacked me on my shoulder and made the sign for pray. i realized they didn't pray before they ate (which they don't always do, it kind of depends on who is working) and so i was like, 'oh great josue! definitely, let's pray!' so we prayed and then ruben smacked me upside the head and wanted to pray too. ruben and i haven't really hit it off yet - he appreciates me as a punching bag and not much more. we're working on that. he knows i love him and as time goes on i'm sure he will love me back. anyways, after we prayed he gave me a huge hug and a salty, beef stew covered kiss. wow. it was the best kiss i've ever gotten!

amy from the mexmed office sent me 'the magic purple book' a week or so ago...it's called breaking out of beginner's spanish. it is completely amazing. it's got tons of practical, super useful, and hilarious info. there's a chapter on how to curse correctly, but i skipped over that one. i don't want to know when people are cursing or learn how to do it hahaha. well, i'm off to read about verbs!

oh also, gabby went to the hospital today. i don't know why but it wasn't for a scheduled appointment, so please keep praying for her especially. hospital visits are (unfortunately) starting to feel routine, but there's nothing routine about them. i think about the kids lying in their beds alone at night in the hospital and really worry about them. i pray and trust that they don't feel alone, because i know God is right there with them.

ahh sorry!

i know i've been spastic with the blog lately...saturday night i'm always at church and if david's not there with his computer i can't get online. their internet is configured for macs because he has a powerbook. go figure.

anyways...a great weekend! i spent saturday morning with the kids in the big house and the boys. paco and rocio came to pick me up and we went to buy more stuff for her...she needed a uniform and shoes. paco's sister, cindy, who is 24 and has the most adorable daughter, finished beauty school last year and works in a nail salon. she came with us saturday afternoon which was awesome, because she knew all the tricks of the trade. she knew what stores to go to for the lowest prices, where to find the supplies that were seemingly nonexistent, and she also gave rocio some good advice, from what i could understand. one thing she couldn't help rocio with was shoes...that girl is so dang picky. we went to six (six!) shoe stores before she finally found a pair she liked in her size. eek.

paco and i went to marta's church - he had band practice - and everyone remembered my birthday. it was so sweet! paco brought cake, and they sang the mexican happy birthday song (which i swear is 3 times longer than the english version) and we had a little fiesta.

paco has a friend named edgar who is 15 and a great guitar player. genarro, the last guitar player, hurt his wrist and hasn't been able to play for weeks. paco has been playing guitar and singing but he would rather just sing so that he can lead worship better (his words). anyways, edgar has been practicing with the band and was going to play today. marta makes everyone in the band read one chapter of the new testament everyday and write a summary, and they have to turn it in to her every saturday night. edgar didn't do his 'homework' because he said he was busy and had things to do, so edgar didn't play in the band today. when paco joined the band, he was about 40 days behind and he had one week to catch up on 40 chapters and 40 summaries. marta runs a tight ship!

pictures from the weekend.

as brock rice will tell you, when it's your birthday you have to go up in front of the congregation and get prayed for and then every single person hugs you. it's very sweet but slightly awkward since i'm a solid 6 inches taller than the average mexican. oh well.

to all of you thrift store shoppers - the states have nothing on mexico. oh my goodness. on the way to gabriel house from downtown, there's a whole strip of segundas (literally, second). i've had my eye on them for awhile so today we stopped on the way back and i bought this adorable toy for the babies/kids who can't sit up. it's that thing where they lay on their backs and look up at toys that hang down, and it's really colorful. $4.50! almost new! alright!

thanks for the love!

it was so great to hear from so many people today! i am feeling great. i told a friend that i know it's cliche but i really believe God has a reason for everything. i prayed a lot between naps yesterday, and it was really rejuvenating.

school went pretty well today. i am really trying to focus on the little accomplishments because it can get a little overwhelming sometimes. 10 of our 13 students have disabilities (the other 3 have hiv) and have never been to school before. the fact that they can respond to directions, sit at a table, and understand the teacher-student relationship even for 15 minutes is awesome. the morning class has definitely been improving. here's some work from our 'a' day. the afternoon class - preschool - is a little bit tougher. we're working more on behavior, being a good friend, and stuff like that. i can't wait to look back in a year and see how far we've come (hopefully!)

miss you all!

good news, folks...

it looks like i won't be staying in mexico any longer than a year because apparently this country hates me. in 3 weeks i've had an ear infection, a nasty cough, a fever, and i've been in bed since 2 yesterday afternoon on the verge of throwing up but couldn't. believe me, i tried everything.

what is going on??

so i currently have no health insurance, and i was semi freaking out because i knew i had an ear infection. the whole side of my head was throbbing. we have a doctor that comes two times a week, so i asked him to look at my ear. he looked at it, wrote down the antibiotics i need to take, and then one of the ladies went and got the medicine from the medicine room. oh snap! that was so cool.

i read i'll love you forever, i'll like you for always in spanish to the sisters today. i told them that my parents always used to read this book to me and it was one of my favorites. they loved it! of course.

i discovered a pomegranate tree across the street! the boys and i ate so many of them...yum.

we have this really cool cd player - it has a hook up for 8 headphones! tonio, jose, teddy, sonja, ely, darel, jaime, and i spent the afternoon listening to music. one of the books i brought with me went along with a cd that gabriel house already had, so teddy was singing in his adorable voice along to every song. it was so sweet.

this is where i start my day, every day. it's wonderful.

i now know what a suppository looks like...

sonia and ely, the sisters, are wonderful girls. sonia's about 15, and ely is 19. they're always smiling and understand absolutely everything you say to them, in english or spanish. they are truly trapped in their bodies, and today i felt like i got just a tiny taste of what that's like. sonia has a stuffed animal that she's always holding, and today ivon was close to her and she took the stuffed animal from sonia. i heard sonia making noise, which she doesn't usually do, so i looked up and she was bawling. i mean just hysterically crying. one of the ladies knew right away it was because ivon took her stuffed animal, but for a minute i had no idea what to do. i had never seen sonia cry like that. once she got the animal back she was fine...but it was just so sad! this girl who i talk to as my friend had to act like a toddler to make herself heard. gahh. it was easy to make her smile again, though, which made both of us feel better.

so yesterday, i was holding jose manuel, a little baby who's about a year old. i checked his diaper and he had pooped so i told cristina, the lady in the baby room. she was feeding another baby so she had to put her down and then when she went to change jose manuel, his diaper was completely dry! apparently i was hallucinating. so whatever...i felt kind of bad. then today, i was holding him again, and this time he pooped for sure. i told cristina and she was feeding lidia, so i told her i could change his diaper. i took his diaper off and this little plastic thing was in his diaper too...and i was like what on earth is this? cristina had a cleft palate so she can be hard to understand sometimes...but i got the word suppository as i was taking a closer look at the thing in my hand, which i immediately realized was covered in poop. in the middle of all this, jose manuel peed on the changing table, and i told cristina i couldn't put the suppository back in, because, well i just couldn't. then when she went to put another diaper on him we couldn't find the suppository. i was looking for it all over...on the floor, in the closet, and as she was putting a new blanket on the changing table because jose manuel peed on it she said it didn't matter but still...it was so awkward and embarassing that it was funny. ay yi yi yi hahaha

after dinner jose, alex, tonio, and i were talking. they love pictures of any kind. when paco was at gabriel house on sunday they found out he plays in the worship band, and they asked why he didn't have any pictures. he told them i hadn't taken any because i was too busy clapping along to the music. i told them i wouldn't clap this sunday and would take pictures instead. then we made a deal out of it...jose doesn't always want to go to school, so paco made him promise that if he goes to school all week, every day, i'll take 5 pictures on sunday. we must have spent an hour talking about it today...one of the boys will sign - applause, no, guitar, picture, yes. i went along with it for about half an hour until i couldn't keep talking about the same thing...so then i pretended not to understand their signs and made up crazy stuff. i thought they might get upset but all three of them were laughing so hard they came close to falling out of their wheelchairs. so stinkin funny...their whole bodies light up when they smile. it's incredible.

i just bought a huge watermelon for 20 pesos($1.50)...i love this country!

becky got back from the states today...she got me brown sugar, chocolate chips, an oven thermometer, and a timer which means cookies will be made! i've missed baking.

today was great with chuy...we had some time to talk and keep getting to know each other. sometimes i feel like we have kind of a weird relationship because he's the teacher and i'm the helper, but i have these ideas i really want to share with him in the nicest way possible, and they probably make no sense because i'm trying to say these complicated things in spanish. ay yi yi! the better we are of friends, the easier the teaching will come, i think.

someone brought a ton of craft stuff so we spent the afternoon making signs for each kid in the big house. it was fun to hang out with the ladies...
they started talking about Jesus and how and why he died for us and what happened as a result of that. there are some ladies who really don't know that much about Jesus, but there are also those who are passionate about their faith and share whenever they can. it was the first time i've been part of a legit conversation that's not about the kids or what they're doing over the weekend :)

there's a fig tree outside of the boys' house, and sergio prefers to eat the fig, dirty peel and all. so funny.

couldn't get to a computer last night...

saturday morning i took a micro into town and met rocio and paco at the flag. we went to buy rocio's supplies for school, which starts on monday. she was so excited. it was awesome. i wanted to take a picture of her but i think she would have been embarassed lol. the cashier walked into a back room and came back with gifts for rocio, i think because she spent a certain amount. maybe just because she was nice...who knows. rocio was clapping and smiling and so happy...it was precious.

after paco and i dropped rocio off, we were headed to the church when he got a call. it was from his family in guanajato and he was really worried that something bad had happened - they never call. it was his dad who left when paco was 2. he called to tell paco he loves him. ah! he was crying but trying to hide it, i was trying to figure out just exactly what was going on, and his dad was saying i just wanted to tell you i love and am thinking about you. it was pretty awesome.

later that night, marta, abuelita, lis, paco, and i went to a party for a church that was celebrating 16 years of ministry. it was an intense party, let me tell you. they had flags representing about 20 countries and had this huge procession with them, and then read a bible verse and prayer to go along with each country. then a very large pastor from leon preached for almost 2 hours. he was hilarious and super energized...whenever he wanted to make a point he would smack his fists against his gut. i'm sure he's covered in bruises from the way he was talking/hitting himself.

today, sunday, i taught sunday school. it was really great! lourdes helped me find a bilingual website with tons of lessons. we talked about hebrews 12:1-2 - running the race. we talked about derek redmond in the barcelona olympics who pulled a muscle during the race and whose father came down from the stands to finish the race with him, because derek was determined to finish. see the comparison? our father came down from his place in heaven to run the race with us. we colored a picture of derek redmond at the finish line, made our own medals and i made a word search for the kids to do. lots of fun, but i missed hearing the message.

a group from california was in church today. they introduced themselves and said they were working at rancho el refugio! it was a father son team doing some work on the pole barn. i love when americans come because i can have a legit conversation and say everything i want to say...but this was even better! they usually come for easter 2 and were back for a short week. it was so great to talk to them.

i'm so excited for rocio and school tomorrow. i hope she loves it and it's the start of something great!

i felt so great today. i think i finally caught up on sleep or something hahaha. being with these kids makes me so happy. i wish i had more love to give them!
school went well...a couple minor hiccups with the kids down below so unfortunately they didn't get a sticker as they left school today. they were quite upset....but they have to learn somehow that there are consequences to their behavior!
one of my favorite parts of the day - during recess 2 of the younger boys were reading intently. i was pretty sure they didn't know it was recess time because they're always begging to play with the toys, but when i told them they just kept on reading. they were choosing to read! for fun! this is what i call a victory hahahaha
i went to the movie theater tonight to meet adriana, and while i was waiting for her, i walked through the two story mall that the theater is part of. born in the u.s.a. was playing, quite loudly, i might add. nothing like walking through a mexican mall listening to springsteen! (it made me miss you dad!)
i found yogurtland - mexican style! (but with american prices) i'm glad it's a half hour micro ride away, because otherwise that could be super dangerous. by looking at what other people were eating, it was clear that the most popular toppings were prunes and slabs of coconut. mmm.

rocio, paco, and i are going to buy her beauty school supplies tomorrow. she starts school on monday. i asked her if she would cut my hair in a month or so. it's just hair, right? just kidding! i have faith in her. really.

good news - most of the sick kids (so, everyone) are bouncing back. it looked and sounded like a hospital wing for a couple days - nasty coughs, runny noses, feverish bodies laying around...but things are looking up, gracias a Dios!

great day at school today! the way conafe teaches reading is by reading the same words over and over until the kids more or less memorize what the words look like, and then eventually will be able to translate that into their reading. it's not a method that i've studied before but i also realize that conafe has a lot of schools in mexico, and all of the kids that went through those schools must know how to read.
the kids were waiting patiently for their turn to read/memorize the words and i knew things were going to turn sour in about 5 minutes when everyone got bored except for the kid whose turn it was. i asked the kids to pick one of the words on the board, write it down, and then draw a picture to go along with it. they all did a great job following directions and completing their work - i was so proud of them!

today, some of the kids from down below (who can talk) were talking about how the boys - jose, alex, and tonio - can't talk. they weren't making fun but they kept pushing it and i was looking at alex and tonio who were just sitting there and couldn't say anything...i felt like an overprotective mother haha. i explained to the kids that they most definitely can talk - maybe not with their voices like some people, but they talk with their hands and can communicate just like everyone else. grr.

poblanos for dinner tonight! i told the guy i wanted quesadillas and he looked at me and said very slowly, "con carne?" and i said no, quesadillas. queso. no carne. then he realized i kind of spoke spanish and asked me what i wanted on it and i said everything. he smiled and said everything except meat. it was a special moment between a mexican and a wanna be mexican :)

some kids want to say hi!

well, i got to see the hospital for the first time today. heriberto broke his femur. it was terrible...if we didn't hold his leg together it just flopped around. martin and i took him to the hospital and were there for several hours while he got examined and taken care of. it was weird - heriberto is one of our kids who is upset a lot of the time. he's definitely gotten better and calmed down, but when he gets angry he hits himself, and that makes him even angrier. i don't know if he was in shock or if God just calmed his heart, but he was so peaceful the whole time we were at the hospital. he didn't like when we moved him, obviously, but he was really seemed okay. i was relieved for that, at least. he'll be there for a couple days because a specialist will see him tomorrow and then they'll figure out where to go from there. i was glad i went with martin. he has such a good heart and we are able to have great conversations, at least when he talks and i listen :)
as we were driving to the hospital i told him how sometimes i wished that the kids could be in heaven so their pain and suffering would be over...and he told me about the passage in the bible that talks about how God formed each and every child to be an "angelito" that would bless people on earth. all the kids at gabriel house are meant to be a blessing to others, as are each and every one of us. this guy knows his bible...it was great to have so much time to talk with him.

i was telling meghan as we skyped tonight that there are 3 kinds of spanish speakers here. there are those that can't speak any differently no matter what you ask or do, those who can speak slower but continuously say the same thing, and then those who slow down and use different words to help you understand. all of these are totally okay - don't get me wrong. it's just what i've noticed. marta, the pastor of the church i've been going to, is a perfect example of the first kind of speaker. so anyways, she said something to me on sunday about sunday school, next sunday, and do i want to. i thought she was asking me if i wanted to go to sunday school, and i was like oh sure why not? well apparently i signed myself up to teach sunday school. oops! today, though, in the boys' house, i found a picture book about the ten commandments in spanish and english. now i just have to come up with a craft and we'll be good to go :)

i got to skype with leah and barbie last night in their new apartment in grand rapids - so fun! skype is amazing. meghan and i have a skype date tomorrow woo hoo!

not much to report today. school was okay...it's still an ongoing process. i'm learning some essential spanish like pay attention, behave yourself, sit the right way, cut here, show me, please let go of my hair, and so on ;)

i spent most of the afternoon making business cards and a pamphlet for angelica, maggie, ted, and renie. angelica asked me to translate the pamphlet from english to spanish and i was like well i'm glad i appear to know a lot of spanish! because i certainly couldn't have translated that.

i just got off the phone with rocio - she moved in with her dad. she tried that once before and it didn't work out so i'm hoping that it does this time, i guess. i just want her to be in the right place with the right people. i'm excited for school to start so that she'll have something to focus on. keep her in your prayers please!