Rich in Spirit.

View from our porch in the neighborhood, and my
cup o' noodles, which literally everyone eats here.

         It has been a crazy few weeks! We've been in a rush of having mission teams from various locations visit, and work with us since I arrived back from Guatemala. Since Miss Deborah usually houses these groups, I decided to move in with a co-worker and her family who were kind enough to let me stay with them, so I could avoid a crowded house. Although I was hopping back and forth at times, this experience had quite the impact because I got to be closer to the kids and families in the neighborhood, as well as learn to adapt to a few new things like bucket showers; something I found I was fully capable of adjusting to with a good attitude! Over and over I find myself so grateful, that my parents taught me how to be responsible for my own attitude. Another plus, was living closer to the kids allowed me to really get to know some of them, and have the privilege to experience more of their world. I have also realized that living in a location that has such a tight-knit community, as it is here, creates a very beautiful environment.

Onice had probably the biggest
difficulty learning English in the E- girls
 and she is doing so great!

       To give you an update of my classes and such: My Kindergarten kids are in a challenging point where the most of the older kids are maturing and understanding a lot and there are a few younger ones who struggle to keep up. This is the challenge of classroom style teaching and trying to keep all kids at a certain average. I would love for those who are learning fast to have the chance to keep going at this pace, but alas, this is not my situation. Still adore these kids though!
 Instead, I'm keeping them all together MWF, and giving the slower kids some extra attention on Tue and Thurs. It seems to be working a little, but we've only done this a few times.
      My elementary girls have blown me away! Compared to Kindergarten, these girls were challenging in the beginning of the year, because I didn't really know what they knew so I wasn't sure where to start! Well what I picked up on the most was that they didn't know how to construct a sentence with "Subject -Verb"- kind of thinking; they mostly would just through out whatever words they could think of and it mostly went: "...and the___!! ...and the___!!!" So I started reading books to them, and had them mark down how many times they heard a specific word, of which they had a picture on a paper. Then we would retell the story together and draw a picture about it, then I gave them sentences they could use for presenting their picture, and they practiced and then said these sentences to the class. Their phrases started out simple: things like "This is my picture......this is.....and this is.....", then we moved to getting some verbs in with everyday activities: 
              "What do you do every Saturday?"     - "Every Saturday, I swim at the beach!" 
(fyi....teaching them how to pronounce "beach" - funniest day EVER). And after doing this for maybe even 2-ish months...they finally are using Subject-Verbs and their English has improved incredibly!!! A big shout out goes to Dr. Seuss -whose books have become their favorites (they particularly love "Cat in the Hat" and "One Fish, Two Fish"). One day I even had two of them trying to insult each other by using Dr. Seuss characters: "You are a cat in the Hat!" "No, I'm not! You are a Thing 1!!!" -all in good humor!Let me tell you! The moment I realized how much they had improved -and that they are now using it on their own!? One of the proudest days I have ever had!

           My adults are making progress as well, Basic 2 have recently been trying their best to encourage each other to come to class, and even made a pact that anybody who showed up at 6:01pm had to buy sodas for everyone else! This was not my doing, I promise...(I don't know if that will actually be enforced). But this group is full of fun and laughter and even though we have been learning past tense the last 4 weeks, they are determined to learn as much as they can. This last week one of the students stayed for a minute after class, and told me thank you for giving my time to these classes, I told him it was my pleasure and thank you for always showing up, no matter what. He responded:
 "Well I understand you are doing this for free, and I think if you are giving us your time for free, then its my responsibility to show up!" 
   which, after having a long day and being very tired, just made me the happiest person ever!
       My Basic 1 class remains small, I have two younger girls (17+19) who come regularly and they are showing real progress, but they are also still used to being in classes and learning everyday. I have one mother who comes to Basic 1 as much as she can, who is such a kind-hearted person and just loves God and her family (her kids are in my Kindergarten class). Last Sunday I got to visit her church with her, which was a very sweet experience. When this woman prays after class (we always pray in Spanish at the end of class), it is one of the most beautiful experiences I have had here. Every word she utters is full of passion and love.

    Right after I got back from Guatemala, I got to see one of my co-workers get married. Mr Jorge is my age and also graduated from University with a degree in teaching English, so we have become good friends. He doesn't mind that I like to argue and debate about things, and he has blessed my time here tremendously. His new wife is just as lovable as he is, and I hope she will be joining my evening classes soon!

One thing I have recently just meditated on are the rich in spirit here. When I was a kid, my brother and I would sometimes ask my parents if we were rich or poor, and every time they would tell us "We are so, so rich, because God has blessed us so richly with Family, Friends and His love!", which has definitely influenced my priorities, growing up. But over my time here, where 'economically' most people are very poor but spiritually, they are so rich. They have love, friends, but even more a peace and joy in life that resides securely in the face of many troubling times. I can tell you that in the past especially, trusting God, being joyful, and being at peace were not really present when troubles arose financially or otherwise...but I assure you, in my future I would prefer a life of being rich in spirit over being rich financially.

learning to love,

Jules