The Latest in La Paz

As promised, a new blog update is FINALLY here! Here is a random collection of some of the many adventures I am having in Bolivia.

Ant Invasions:
In past blog posts, I believe I have mentioned our pet spiders (Iggy, Fred, Aunt Jemima, Louise, Ted...We have several.). However, I have not mentioned that in addition to our spider friends, we also have adopted a colony of ants into the family. More accurately, they have invaded our home! Jess and I often see ants crawling along our walls, and occasionally we find them crawling out of our computers. However, for a while, it was one or two or ten here and there. UNTIL...one morning I walked into the kitchen to throw away a napkin and discovered an inch and a half thick, black line of ants crawling into our trashcan! Yuck! The song "The Ants Go Marching One By One" popped into my head at this point, except the verse I was singing went more like, "The ants go marching 12 by 12, Hurrah! Hurrah!" Since then, we have invested in some killer ant spray and we are hoping to get an exterminator out to the house in the near future. As much as we love our pets...We're ready to see a few fewer!

A Bolivian Birthday (or "How I got Frosting on my Face")
My first birthday abroad! October 1st happened to be the day of our Spring Festival here at Highlands. I wasn't sure what to expect from the day, but I did not expect my birthday to be a major focus of the festivities. We got to school early on Saturday morning, and spent the first hour finishing last minute set-up before we started our soccer, dodgeball, and ultimate frisbee tournaments! Our lady teachers soccer team lost a game to our 8th grade boys, but we won our next game against the middle school girls! After all of the tournaments, we had several carnival style games and a yummy lunch. There was a dunk tank, bounce house (slightly unconventional...), wet jail, sports toss, fish pond, bake sale, and face painting (my station!). Sometime in the midst of the festivities, Nicole (one of my awesome 8th graders!) came to get me, "Miss! Come here!" She dragged me away from what I was doing, and I thought, "Oh great, here comes the Wet Jail!" BUT instead, I was greeted by the 8th grade class holding a chocolate cake and singing "Happy Birthday" to me! It was so special. After they sang, I blew out a candle and they told me to "take a bite!" of my cake. I was somewhat suspicious, but...I leaned in to take a bite and...SUDDENLY had a face full of chocolate frosting! Yum. :) I was happy to share the mess by giving my students besos on the cheeks. They then rushed me off to be sprayed down in the Wet Jail, "so I could clean up." On the way, I got several stares and double-takes from parents and students alike! My students are wonderful. They made me feel so loved and appreciated on my birthday, and I am so thankful I was able to celebrate with them. In the evening, we went out for pizza with several of the teachers from the school, which was a great end to my first Bolivian Birthday.

Mural Madness
Another thing I have not mentioned in previous blogs is that I am one of 3 advisors for the Highlands Student Council. We recently painted a BEAUTIFUL mural on the main wall of the high school building. It is so colorful and fun! I'll try to post some pictures...

Waiting in Line (or "How I got my Visa")
So, you know how the DMV is known for its long waits and inefficiencies? Well, the DMV has nothing on the Bolivian immigration office! First of all, the immigration office is essentially a single large room with about 8 different lines to stand in, all for different parts of the process. There is seemingly no set order to which of these lines you may have to stand in at any given time. Here is the general process:
#1: Wait in line #4 for 30 minutes to sign one paper.
#2: Wait in a different line to pay for signing the paper in line #4.
#3: Wait in line #4 for ANOTHER 30 minutes to write your name in an "official" spiral bound notebook.
#4: Wait in line #3 for 30 minutes to give a folder of paperwork to the woman behind the counter.
#5: Wait in line #2 to sign a different paper...
Also, the word "line" is relative. Not always, but sometimes, the "line" is in actuality a group of people standing in front of a certain window. Whoever is able to reach the window first will be the "first" in line.

BUT in spite of the long lines, I now have an official Visa! God is good. Apparently, it is getting more and more difficult for Americans to get Visas to stay in Bolivia, but ours went through without a problem. Please pray for the remaining 3 staff members who are still waiting for their Visas to be processed. We are praying that the government officials will have favor on our staff members and pass their paperwork along smoothly and quickly.

Middle School Mania (or "Ice Cream, Detention, and Classes")
Middle School is wonderful. We have our share of downs (e.g. Detention), but we have many "ups" (e.g. Ice Cream party to celebrate our 6th and 7th grade classes awesome behavior for the month of October). My classes have been studying many different things recently. 6th and 7th grade are busy adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions these days in math. 6th grade has been studying light, and I have covered my windows to turn my classroom into a "cave" suitable for studyng light. We made "Pinhole Cameras" out of old Pringles cans last week, which was a fun way to see how light travels. The kids got such a kick out of making the cameras AND the fact that we had a "Pringles Party" to gather enough cans for the whole class to make their own cameras. In 7th grade, we have been learning about the weather - tracking hurricanes, watching tornadoes on YouTube, and studying different types of clouds. We are almost done with both of these units, which is bittersweet because they really are fun subjects to teach! But, we're moving on to equally fun topics! Next on the agenda...Outer Space and Forces, Motion, and Simple Machines. 8th grade Algebra is finishing word problem equations and will be moving on to inequalities this week. Of all of my classes, Algebra is the one where I feel most "out of my league" as a teacher. Please pray for me to have wisdom as I plan units and lessons. I don't always know what should come first. I also have a wide range of ability levels (and motivation levels!) in my 8th grade class, which makes it difficult to keep the whole class on the same page. Nevertheless, I really enjoy exploring these abstract concepts with my students and trying to help them think outside of the box.

Additionally, I was able to share my testimony in Chapel in the past few weeks, which was a really neat way to give my students an idea where God has brought me. My prayer for my students is that they will see God as he truly is and that they will see the world through his lens. I know that, more than anything we can say or do, is what will change their hearts and their lives.

Happy Halloween! (or "The Great Wall of China Visits Bolivia")
Who knew that Halloween was such a big holiday in Bolivia?!
The grocery stores have been flying plastic pumpkins and ghosts since September!
Our staff Halloween party this year consisted of junk food and games...and COSTUMES, of course! Jess and I dressed up as 2 of the Wonders of the World (You can make anything with cardboard...). I was the Great Wall of China. Jess was the Pyramids. Although manuevering our costumes in the taxi was difficult, we made it to the party in style and spent the evening eating and laughing with "Dr. Pepper", 3 funny fish, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, cat-woman, a ladybug, and Salt, Pepper, and Cumin.

More Staff Adventures
Last weekend, we had our first staff retreat of the year. We spent time listening to sermons, worshipping God and praying together, and for fun, playing PAINTBALL! We literally crawled up the side of a mountain to take on the team waiting at the top of the hill. There's nothing like shooting your fellow staff members with paint to bring you together as a team... :) It honestly was a ton of fun! Additionally, our time worshipping, praying, and listening to message was a great time of refocusing and remembering. At the end of the retreat, I found myself thinking about the excitement of celebrating in heaven with my students, particularly those who don't know Christ. It reminded me of the great importance and the great joy of having them know him.

Another fun adventure of the week...On Wednesday this week, we did not have school because it was "All Saints Day/The Day of the Dead" which is a national holiday here in Bolivia. Several of us lady teachers took a hike up to the "Muela de Diablo" (the Devil's tooth), which is a high point that juts out from the top of one of the mountains near our homes. We planned to eat lunch at the point, but due to some rain and thunder, we decided being at the highest point around was not the best place to be in case of lightning. A few of us "climbed" down the steep, somewhat slippery slopes of the Muela by basically crawling from one solid rock to the next. We probably would have been fine standing up, but it somehow felt safer to stay as close to the ground as possible.

In other news, this week, Middle School has community service on Wednesday and will be going to a group home for the elderly here in La Paz. They requested Jello, so we are bringing several colorful, jiggly cups of the popular fruit flavored dessert to share. It is fun to have the opportunity to serve with our kiddos.

Also, I am getting SO excited for Christmas break! We're 6 weeks away from a flight back to South Florida. Ironically, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" just started playing on my iTunes...Is it too early for Christmas music? For the record, I have already started Christmas shopping! There was a craft fair at the American school yesterday, and Jess, Julie, Bekah, Becca, and I spent a few hours browsing the stands buying gifts for friends and family (and a few for ourselves!).

Thanking God
There is so much to thank him for. Praise him for the great things he has done! He is our protector, our helper, our teacher. I know I need him to guide me and teach me how to be a good teacher. I am thankful for his grace. Even on days when I feel like I am not faithful or have failed, I know that his grace is sufficient for me. He is still faithful, and he is the one who makes all things grow. I can find great peace in knowing him and understanding what is truly important in this life and the next. When we fail, we can seek his grace with joy, knowing that he is the faithful one. We have a treasure in jars of clay. Though we are weak, he is strong, and he often works in situations that look chaotic to us.

When I feel out of control, I often think back to last summer. At the camp I worked at, the first week, I can honestly say, was absolute chaos. We had a really rough group of campers. A few of them were pretty restless, rebellious, and generally mean to each other. On the night where we were sharing the gospel with our campers, a few of them were "out of control" - clearly not paying attention and distracting the rest of the group. AND YET, in the midst of the chaos, one of our campers asked me directly, "How can I know God? I want to know him." What a shocking and beautiful reminder of the way that God works. So on that crazy night, we gained a sister in Christ. This story reminds me time and again that God is the one who works in my students hearts and that he can work in the most hardened hearts, even in the most distracting situations, to draw people to himself.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and encouragement. I feel so supported knowing that I have family and friends at home who are thinking of me and are partnering with us in prayer.

Please pray for our staff. We have several staff members who have been sick. One of our middle school teachers is having wisdom teeth surgery this week. Please pray for a quick recovery. We also have several staff members making big decisions about where to be next year. They have to give the school an "Intent to Return" form by the end of November, so we will know within the next few weeks which teachers will be staying at Highlands next year and which teachers God is calling to the next big thing.

I love you all!