Greetings from Bolivia. It is hard to believe that we have been here for over three months now. I officially have less than 6 months left.
These past couple of weeks have been pretty good overall, but busy. I started teaching 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade PE two weeks ago, and that has been an adventure and a half. As some of you may know, I am not the most athletic person in the world. I love to watch sports on TV and in person, but me playing them is a totally different story. I have no hand eye coordination, and am not really competitive. How did I get myself into this you ask? Well our PE teacher had to leave in the middle of November, and we did not have anyone to cover for him, so different teachers had to fill in. Since I am only teaching in the morning, I was asked to teach the elementary PE classes in the afternoon, and I reluctantly said YES! But it is all for the kids right :)
My class is still going well. I have had a few issues with students and their parents recently, but I have been able to receive a lot of support from the other teachers at the school which has been a huge blessing. Through all this I am learning what it takes to become a better teacher and how to handle challenging situations with grace. Please be praying that I would continue to have wisdom to approach these situations and know how to teach these specific students.
The Christmas program is coming up in a few weeks, and my students have been practicing their parts in music class and in our classroom. All the elementary teachers got a copy of the Christmas music on CD to play in our classes. We have been listening to it a lot, and I think the students have fully memorized their song. They are going to sing "Good Christian Men Rejoice" and they will be attempting to do Irish step dancing along with it! I am excited to see how it turns out.
In math we have started a new chapter about time. Math is a hard subject for a lot of my students, so I am hoping that this will go well! In our reading curriculum this past week, we read a story about baseball. This was especially fun because some of my students had not heard of baseball before. I was able to teach them about the different positions on the field and the different rules, and we were even able to play some baseball in P.E. ( the perks of being the gym teacher and the classroom teacher :) ). Next week's story is from the Ramona series. I use to love reading the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary when I was little, so I think this will be a fun week!
Of course, this past week was Thanksgiving! It did not feel like Thanksgiving with the warm weather, working all week long and not being with my family. However, we were able to have a really fun Thanksgiving! Most of the teachers at the school were invited to a family's house for Thanksgiving dinner. All of us brought a side dish, and we were able to share in a feast together. It was so much fun and made me so THANKFUL for the family that I have found here. Here are some things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving season!
T- Thankful for all of you who have made it possible for me to be here
H- Health, I am thankful for good health, and I hope I will be feeling back to normal soon :)
A- Adventures, I am thankful for the adventures I have had here and those I will have during the rest of my stay in Bolivia
N- New Friends- Thankful for the great friends that I have made here
K- Kids, I am thankful for the students in my class and the impact that I can have on them
F- Food- I am thankful for the yummy Bolivian food that I have been able to eat
U- Unconditional Love- I am thankful for the Unconditional Love that God gives me, even though I do not deserve it!
L- Learning- I am thankful for all that I am learning about myself, God and other cultures while I am here
It is hard to believe that we have only 3 more weeks before Christmas vacation. Christmas vacation will bring about the halfway point of our time in Bolivia. We are starting to think about our Christmas break plans, which is really exciting. We think we will go to La Paz and spend some time at a really pretty lake called Lake Titicaca.
Other Exciting News is that my Mom will be here to visit in January. I am really looking forward to seeing her!!
Hope you are all doing well!
Adios!! - Rachel
Hope you are all doing well!
Adios!! - Rachel