Hola gente, So this e-mail is going to address some of the more serious aspects of my life here.
Primero: My Schedule
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings around 7:30 I take a 10 minute walk down to the school where my brother teaches(NCA). Seems uneventful yes? But my blondeness (although fading) still gets me plenty of attention. At NCA I get picked up by Oscar, he is Nicaraguan and probably 60. His wife died 4 years ago and he has 6 kids, the youngest is 16. I usually get to my school around 8:00 and sit in the office or the kindergarten classroom until 8:30 . At 8:30 I go into the second grade classroom and teach for 45 minutes until recess. After a 30 minute recess I go into the 3rd grade room for 50 minutes and then onto 1st grade to finish off the day at 11:30 . After classes I wait in the playground until my driver comes. In the afternoons Julio drives me. He also is Nicaraguan and is 27. He is married with three kids, the oldest is 7. His oldest he had with his first wife who died, and now the kid lives with his grandma in a different town. After school he drops me off either at NCA or at my apartment then I do whatever. I realize that 8-12 isn’t a very long schedule but it is comparable to most jobs I have, and it is in Spanish.
Tuesdays I have off.
Thursdays I am at the school. In the mornings I help out the Christian education teacher and after recess I teach English to the kindergarten classes.
New Topic: more into the lives
Sometimes it is hard to live with people. For example, my brother. We always go though rough patches mostly personality clashes but this is the most time we have spent together in a long time. Also it is difficult because it is such a small community I don’t have my same outlets as I had in Davis . Actually in general there is just a lot less freedom than I’m used to. I can’t really do anything on my own either because of safety or my lack of transportation.
Relating with Nicaraguans is difficult as well, I often feel that my Spanish is inadequate to really get to know people. You also pray that this will improve and I will be bold with what I do know.
The school I teach at is Christian sponserd; we have Bible education on Thursdays and Fridays and chapel on Fridays. These are good things but I am unsure about the kids (and teachers) having personal relationships with Jesus. It is hard because statistically their futures are not looking bright. They are all so hungry for love but only Christ will be able to give them that and not let them down ever. You can pray that I will know how to show them Christ’s love but not sacrifice classroom discipline. One 1st grade girl in particular stands out to me. Her name is Selena. I noticed in class that she seemed a little different like maybe had a learning disability. Then one day at recess she introduced me to her mother. Her mom is missing one hand and walks with a fairly substantial limp. Her mom brings her lunch to her every day and last week her mom came with her arm in a cast and her face was scraped up. I don’t know what happened but more than likely it was abuseI know that now everything is even more difficult with the mom. Monday in class Selena tugged on my shirt and whispered to me that she loves me.
Another thing that I am realizing is that the lives here are just so much more difficult than I’m used to. Most of the teachers teach at my school in the morning and another school in the afternoon. The 2nd grade teacher is at my school from 7-12 and then at 1 she goes to a different school to teach high school science. And she has a family. Another girl that works in the office is 29 and has an 8 month old baby. But during the weeks the baby is with the grandmother in another town and the mom only gets to see her on the weekends. I don’t know where the father is.
So that is a very limited idea of what I am involved with here and I’ll try to keep sending things to give you guys a bigger picture. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Continue praying that I have wisdom in my relationships and that God shows me how I can be effective for His kingdom wherever I am (right now that’s in Nicaragua )
Much love to all, Joy
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