Days 11-18

I can't believe I only have a week left here!  This past week, two ladies from Texas stayed with me.  I am so thankful for them.  Just as I was getting homesick, they arrived and kept me busy this past week.  They left this morning and another girl arrives in about an hour to stay with me this last week from California!  

To sum up this busy week, here are some of the highlights:

• Baking and burning (definitely my fault!) brownies with the baking team
• Dressing up Julio as superman using a trash bag as a cape and construction paper for a mask
  
• Watching Night at the Museum with all the children
• Making Coke floats
• Teaching 9th grade with a 5 minute warning
• Receiving a t-shirt and cake for Teacher's Day
• Having a dance party today in the court yard 
  
• Meeting Megan and Amanda and staying up late every night with them eating Twizzlers and playing Dots
  
• Going to the Typical Market
• Assembling a crib in 4 minutes
• Meeting teams from Colorado and Virginia
• Church and worship with the children 
  
  
  
• Constantly loving on the children and hearing their laughs 

I'm ready to be home to see family and friends, but am no where near ready to leave the children.  I am already planning my next trip!!

Days 8-10

I have had a few very eventful, unforgettable days.  I have officially left my mark on El Salvador and made memories that I won't forget.

On Friday, I taught 2nd and 4th grades again.  I was told ahead of time that I would be teaching and had the night before to prepare.  In 2nd grade, I taught them the days of the week song.  Little did I know, after 45 minutes of my should-only-sing-in-the-shower-singing, I lost my voice!  Teaching English to Spanish-speaking students has challenges.  However, teaching English with no voice  to Spanish-speaking students has many more challenges. 

Later on Friday, the teacher I am assisting was supposed to teach the 3rd grade lesson.  She told me to go ahead and go to the classroom and talk to the students for about 5 minutes while she finished something.  I did not have a lesson plan and was not too sure what they were learning, however all I had to do was entertain the class for 5 minutes.  Forty minutes later, my teacher arrived to class.  I must have misunderstood her because she showed up for the last 5 minutes.  I threw together an impromptu lesson on pronunciation and action verbs.  Everything was going okay, until I decided to write on the whiteboard.  I thought I was using an Expo marker, but it turned out to be permanent!! The whiteboard in the 3rd grade classroom will forever say "Judy is washing the vegetables.", "la fecha = date", and "Friday, June 14th, 2013."  I have forever left my mark on the school in El Salvador (at least until I find a way to clean it off.)

On Saturday, I went with Mrs. Teri (also known as Hermana Teri), Teresita (her daughter), and Noelia to the mall and grocery store.  Hermana Teri and Noelia were getting haircuts so I spent time entertaining Teresita at her first trip to the salon!  After Noelia's hair cut, she and I took Teresita to Pizza Hut for lunch while Hermana Teri finished getting her hair done.  While at Pizza Hut, I was supposed to order Hermana Teri a pizza to-go.  With my lack of Spanish vocabulary, I ended up ordering her 2 pizzas to-go.  Oops!

After the mall, we headed to the supermarket so I could pick up a few groceries and more cupcake supplies.  We passed a little girl in the sea of people and she was looking at me.  After we passed her, Noelia told me that she looked at her mom and said, "That's my English teacher I told you about!"

Teresita and Noelia asleep in the car after lunch

A Father's Day Barbecue Cake!

When we got home yesterday afternoon, I decided to open up my bag of sour gummy worms and have a few.  When I was done, I folded the bag tightly and left it on the couch while I ran over to the nursery for 30 minutes.  I ended up being over there for 3 hours.  I love the babies!  When I came back from the nursery, I sat back down on the couch and started looking at my computer.  I noticed an ant crawling on my computer while I was reaching into the bag of gummy worms for another gummy.  I was so focused on the ant on my computer that I didn't realize that I had just put a gummy worm covered in ants in my mouth!!  I looked over and noticed the ants swarming all over the gummy worm bag and immediately ran to the bathroom to try to spit out what I had not consumed of the gummy worm.  I only counted 8 ants in the sink which means I must have ate about 15 ants!  Needless to say, I doubt I will be eating gummy worms again for a long time.

Today, I have spent the day in bed trying to overcome a stomach bug.  It started before the ants, so at least I know it is not from eating the ants!  We do not have school tomorrow because it is Father's Day.  El Salvador always celebrates on June 17th.  This is the first year for the country to celebrate the day with no school.  I am excited for a day off!  However, I am worried that this will not be much of an enjoyable day for the children at the orphanage.  So, we will be spending the day baking cupcakes for Teacher's Day which is this upcoming Friday!  We are going to try to make cupcakes that look like apples (pictured below) for the teachers.

the cupcakes we will ATTEMPT to make

 I will blog again after the cupcake baking and decorating with our finished product!

Today is Father's Day in the States, so Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy in the world!  Thank you for always being there for me and giving the best advice.  I hope you are enjoying your trip and I can't wait to see you when I come home in a couple of weeks!  I love you very much, Moto.

The best dad in the world!

Happy Grandad Pryor's/Papa's/Godfather(Uncle Mike)'s/Uncle Dayne's Day to everyone else!  I hope you all have enjoyed your day.  Thank you all for treating me like a princess for the past 20 years and for setting an example of how true gentlemen should act.  I'm thankful for each one of you!  Love you all!

Days 6-7

Hola! Yesterday, I met the teacher I will be working with at school.  Her name is Mrs. Ruby.  She is young (28 years old) and very nice!  She has a 2 year old daughter so the school's schedule works well with her schedule.  The school is named AMILAT Christian School. It is for grades kindergarten through 9th grade.  School starts at 7am and ends at 12:15pm.  Mrs. Ruby teaches 1st through 9th grades and meets with each grade two or three times a week.  I was able to shadow her to 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 1st grade classrooms.  Today, she had me teach to both 2nd and 4th grades.  I was very nervous because I did not have much time to prepare, however I was teaching from her lesson plans.  In 2nd grade, I taught the students about the weather.  In 4th grade, I taught them about illnesses and injuries, specifically colds, coughs, and headaches.  I am teaching both grades again tomorrow!  My little knowledge of Spanish is really being put to the test even though I am teaching English.  I will work on getting more pictures of the school and my classes soon!  

View from the third floor of the school - beautiful!

Some of the students lining up to go to class

Drawings and a lollipop from the kindergarten girls today!

After school today, I helped out in the nursery.  Two more baby girls arrived in the nursery yesterday afternoon.  Therefore, Ana Ruth (I posted a picture of her in my last blog.) had to move downstairs to the toddler room.  The nursery is very busy with the two new additions and there is a need for extra hands.  Starting tomorrow, I will spend my afternoons in the nursery rather than doing homework help with the students.  Pray for the health of the two new baby girls as well as all of the other babies and toddlers.  

John 13:34-35

Days 1-5

I made it safely to El Salvador! I have been too busy to post anything until now.  It is thunder storming right now (It is the start of rainy season.) and I am typing next to a flashlight since the power is out.  I arrived with Mom on Friday in time to have lunch with the children and play in the nursery.  The children's home is nicer than I expected and is a very welcoming environment.  There are about 50 children who live at the home.  The children's home has separate homes for the babies, toddlers, special needs students, boys, and girls.  I have spent a lot of time in the nursery holding and playing with the sweet babies. 

Sweet Ana Ruth

Holding Rodrigo

I am living in an apartment by myself (with a lizard who has become my pet) until the next missionaries arrive in about a week.  

My bedroom

Living Room

On Friday, I met with the principal and assistant principal of the elementary school (AMILAT Christian School).  I am working with the English teacher who travels classroom to classroom teaching 1st through 9th grades.  I will be at the school on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  On Tuesdays, I will be working in the nursery to cover for another woman while she takes a little boy to therapy.

Also, I learned how to play a game called Pikachu.  It is almost the same as Rock, Paper, Scissors.  The younger girls love that I now know how to play this and are constantly asking to play another round.

On Saturday, we went sight seeing.  First, we ate lunch on top of a volcano!  

Nohelia, Teresita (Mrs. Teri's baby), and me

View overlooking San Salvador pre-storm

View overlooking San Salvador post-storm

Plaza in San Salvador

Street market in San Salvador

Brand new Denny's being built

Pizza Hut - serves breakfast too

Then, we went to Jungle Snow for ice cream.  I have never had this much ice cream.  I ordered a Pina Colada dish with pineapple sorbet and coconut ice cream.

Served in a frozen pineapple

After, we ran errands and went to the Salvadorian version of Costco, Price Smart.  They even had samples just like the American Costco!!

Saturday night, a mission team from Canada arrived.  The four of them are very nice and I have enjoyed getting to know them.  However, they leave tomorrow.

On Sunday, we all went to church in the city.  Thankfully, the church provided headphones and translated the service for us.  After church, we went to a famous hotel and restaurant for lunch near Lake Suchitoto.  It was delicious!! After lunch, we did a little souvenir shopping.

Mom and I by a fountain at the hotel

Old oven used at the restaurant

Painting of the two owners and the hotel's dog

Yesterday, I went to school for my first day.  When I arrived, I found out that the teacher I am supposed to work with was absent.  I shadowed the kindergarten English teacher.  He teaches three classes a day so I was able to assist with teaching the 4, 5, and 6 year olds.  They had never seen blonde hair and wanted to touch it and ask questions about it the whole day.  I am excited to meet the teacher I will be shadowing tomorrow!  

After school, Mom and I taught the older teenagers how to bake cupcakes.  We made 86 cupcakes from scratch along with homemade butter cream frosting!  The teenagers want to learn how to make cupcakes to sell them at school and start a business.  This was just the first of many cupcake baking adventures I have ahead of me this trip!  I think it is safe to say that their favorite part was licking the bowl!

Everyone pitching in to help mix the batter

Rebekah licking the bowl

Teamwork to measure the flour

Less than 1/4th of the finished product

Last night, we went into town for papusas (a Salvadorian favorite).  Papusas are tortillas (rice or corn) with a variety of toppings inside.  You order the papusas similar to how you order sushi rolls.  Most people eat their papusas with hot chocolate or coffee.  The papusas are only served as breakfast and dinner foods.  In this small town, there are around 100 businesses that sell papusas! 

Making the papusas

Today, I spent my morning in the nursery.  Mom left today and has now made it safely back to the States.  This afternoon, I helped one of the girls who is a sophomore in high school with her English homework.  We spent about 2 hours together and she told me all about her story and when she arrived at the children's home.  She thinks English is a very difficult subject and doesn't understand why we have all the silly grammar rules that we do.  

Sorry for the long post! Hopefully I can keep this updated enough that I won't have to write one post to cover 5 days.  Adios!
 

Psalm 121