3 months down, 6 months to go

Buenas Tardes,

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

Buenas Tardes!

Here is a Summary from my Ministry Exposure Trip/Vacation we took last week:

We left on the overnight bus to Santa Cruz on Friday night. We left around 10:00 and it was a pretty uneventful trip. We traveled in a Buscama, which means that the seats recline and you have a nice foot rest. So it was a very comfortable trip, even for someone that is 6'2. We were all able to sleep pretty well and we arrived in Santa Cruz about 7:30 am. We then were on a search to find a bus that would take us to San Ramon( where we would be visiting the Missionaries). We were able to find a bus that left at 9:00am, so we bought our tickets and then waited until it was time to leave. We got on the bus around 9am and then had a 3 hour bus ride to San Ramon.

In San Ramon we met up with The Nelsons, a couple that has been in Bolivia for 26 years. They spent two of those years in Cochabamba, about 15 years in Santa Cruz and they have been in San Ramon for about 8 years. In San Ramon, The Nelsons minister to the Quechua people in the local churches there. They are focusing on Discipleship and helping grow leaders in the church. Don provides Seminary Classes for the men in the churches and Doreen focuses on Woman's Ministry. We were able to attend a church service at one of the churches that they minister at. It was a small gathering, but full of people who loved God and wanted to learn. Don gave the sermon in Spanish( which I was able to understand!) and he spoke about the life of Moses. I enjoyed my experience at this church, everyone was very welcoming and it was great to see what God is doing there.

The rest of our time in San Ramon, was spent visiting different sites and hanging out with the Nelsons. We took several long drives to see the beautiful landscape. It is quite different than Cochabamba out there. We were basically in the Jungle. There were palm trees mixed with regular deciduous trees, there were a lot of cows and lots of different rivers. One day we took a drive to a river that flows into the Amazon. There we were able to hear a lot of different types of birds and see fish in the river. It was fun to be there, because my kids just stopped learning about the Rain-forest in my classroom.

One morning we were able to visit a Christian School in the next town over. This school is open for both Primary and Secondary Students. We were able to meet with the director of the school to learn more about the school and what is going on. Throughout our conversation we learned that they are in a pretty big financial crisis. We heard about the needs they had and then were able to walk around the school and meet some of the kids. Even though there such a big financial problem all of the kids and the teachers were full of life and had a smile on their face. Please be praying for this school, that they would be able to get the financial help they need and that God would continue to work there.

On Our last day in San Ramon we traveled about an hour to a town called San Javier. San Javier used to be a location for a Jesuit Mission back in the 1700's. The Temple and part of the Mission are still there, so it was fun to be able to see the old structures and to learn more about the Jesuits. After walking around the Mission, we went to lunch at a place that is owned by a friend of the Nelsons, where we had delicious Fettuccine Alfredo and were able to swim in his swimming pool for the afternoon. It was definitely a fun way to end the trip!

On Wednesday morning we took a taxi back to Santa Cruz, where we stayed in a Hotel for the next two days. It was nice to be able to relax in an air conditioned room and swim in a nice pool! We were also able to meet up with some SIM missionaries in Santa Cruz, that we had meet about a month ago. We had a fun time going to dinner and ice cream with them and catching up with them.

On Friday Morning, we boarded a bus for a 10 hour ride back to Cochabamba. We arrived safely at 7pm and enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend!

We started classes again yesterday morning, which went well. The kids were a little crazy, but all in all it went well!

Hope you are all doing well!

Here is a link to the pictures from my trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2510123&id=9133492

Adios! - Rachel

Bolivia week 9

Buenos Noches!

Well it is the start of a new week in Bolivia. I hope you had a good week last week.

This past week for me was pretty busy, but good.

Monday was a big day at Carachipampa, because this was the day the first Report Cards were handed out. I had a lot of nervous students come up to me Monday morning asking me what their grades were like. I tried to reassure them that everything would be ok and that they would have to wait until the end of the day to see their grades. Report Cards were handed out that afternoon and Tuesday brought some students asking me about their grades, but all in all it was not too bad.

This whole process made me think back to when I anxiously awaited my report cards, to see what my grades would be. I can say that I am glad that I am done with tests and getting grades.

Parent/Teacher Conferences took place this Friday. I was a little nervous going into them, because I did not know how some parents would react. I was also nervous because I knew that we needed to have a couple of tough conversations with some parents. I was able to do the conferences with my co-teacher which was a real blessing. She has had more experience with these kinds of parents and she is a parent herself, so she can add a lot. The interviews went really well overall. God gave us the words to say and we were able to share what we felt needed to be shared. I was talking with my roommates later on that night and I mentioned how I felt that I had to be extra professional during my interviews. One of my roommates responded by saying, well of course. I said that I knew I had to be, but it was just weird to think of myself as a professional. The things you learn as you get older!

Here is a sweet story for you! Every week we have a chapel on Thursday mornings. This means that each grade takes turns doing some skits and doing a time of worship. It is a fun time each week where parents can come to see what their child has been learning in Bible Class. This week the sixth grade class focused on how Jesus Washed The Disciples Feet and sang some fun worship songs. One of these songs was Blessed Be Your Name. Later on the the afternoon I was working in the first grade classroom with a student that has some severe learning disabilities. We were working on learning different shapes( figuras geometricas), when all of the sudden he starts singing the chorus of Blessed Be Your Name. It was such a sweet sight to experience. Here is a kid who has a hard time remembering the difference between a square and a triangle, but he remembered the song from chapel that morning and wanted to sing. I joined in with him and we both started to sing together. It is the little moments like this that make me so thankful to be a teacher and to be working where I am working.

The weekend was a very relaxing weekend full of hanging out with friends, reading, and sleeping.

This week is our last week before a week of Vacation. Sarah, our friend Rebekah and I are going to be traveling to another part of Bolivia during this week to visit other SIM missionaries. We are excited about this opportunity to get out of Cochabamba to see a different part of Bolivia. We will be taking an overnight bus to Santa Cruz on Friday night and then we will have to take a 3 hour bus ride to San Ramon, where the missionaries live.

I am looking forward to a week off and look forward to updating you on how it goes!

Adios!! - Rachel

Two Months in Bolivia

Buenos Tardes!

It is hard to believe that we have hit the two month mark of being in Bolivia. At times it has flown by and at times it has not. I think this is pretty typical for being away from home and dealing with that adjustment.

The past two weeks in the classroom have gone pretty well. I must say I feel very accomplished having a quarter of teaching under my belt. Teaching at Carachipampa has definitely been a good first teaching experience. The staff has been so supportive of me as I have spent these first two months learning the ropes of teaching at a new place and getting into a routine. I am excited to see what the second quarter brings. I am excited to continue to help my kids succeed and work to their best potential. I am excited to further relationships with the other teachers in the school and with students in different grades.

These past few weeks I have also been working in the first grade classroom, while their teacher is in the States. This has made for long days, but I have really enjoyed working with the children and getting to know them. I have a cute little story about one of my first graders. The theme for our camp a few weeks ago was the Fruits of the Spirit ( Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control). This idea was talked about a lot during the week of camp, so the students are familiar with this. The other day I told one of my students that he was not being kind and I told him that he needed to be kind to his friends. He responded by telling me that he did not eat that kind of fruit. I had to stop myself from laughing in response. I went on to tell him that we need to be nice to our friends and we had a little chat. I thought that it was funny that he remembered what we talked about, but did not want to apply it.

This past weekend we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving at our house. There are several people from Canada here, so we celebrated in honor of them. The day of our dinner was hectic to say the least. We arrived home from church to find that our water was not working. We looked into our "well" and there was plenty of water in there, but nothing was working. We went to go ask our landlord about the problem and we soon found out that he was not home. His wife was though and she told us that something had happened with the electricity that went with the water. So at this point we were one hour away from having 30 people over and we had no water. We proceeded to use a bucket and the dog leash( yes.. this is all we had) to get water from the well. We filled up several containers full of water and we were ready to make the most of it. Soon people started to arrive and we quickly informed them of the situation. As people were showing up, a man came to look at the water situation. We were all very skeptical that he knew what he was doing, but after about 45 minutes of him looking around, turning the electricity on and off, WE HAD WATER!! Let's just say it was a huge answer to prayer and we were very happy campers.

I am doing pretty well overall. There were times last week when I was sick when I felt pretty homesick but God really used friends to encourage me and help me through that time. Some friends sent me verses that really spoke to me, one of these was a couple verses from Psalm 62

⁵ Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

This was a great reminder that I can find rest in God during the times that I feel homesick and alone. He is my rock that I can lean on and trust in at all times. I have turned to this several times these past few weeks and it has been a great reminder and a great blessing( Thank you Shelley).

Hope you are all doing well!

Adios! - Rachel

Visiting The Simon Patino House

Buenos Dias!!

Yesterday Sarah, Bekah and I went on a tour of the Simon Patino house in Cochabamba. It is a very beautiful house with a lot of European Flair. We had a fun time walking around the gardens outside the house, and seeing all the beautiful architecture. There were times throughout the tour that I felt like we were in Europe instead of Bolivia. After the tour we ate lunch at a new restaurant.

It was a fun outing and we were very proud that we were able to do this all on our own ;)

Here are some pictures of our time there

Me and the House

The Gardens

The House

A Statue in Front of the House

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Adios! - Rachel

Sights of Bolivia

Here are some pictures of my time in Bolivia

My Classroom

Streets of Cochabamba and The Andes

The view of Cochabamba from the Cristo

6 Weeks in Bolivia!

Buenos Tardes!

6 weeks have flown by!!

Life has been pretty busy here. Last week was a normal school week and Olympic week in my classroom. We wrote "postcards" to friends about what it was like to go to an Olympic Event, we invented our own Olympic Sports, had our own version of the Opening Ceremonies, learned about some famous Olympic Athletes and learned about the very first Olympics in Greece. The kids really enjoyed learning about the Olympics. They had all sorts of questions that I tried to answer or tried to look up. It was fun to teach my students about a topic that they were really interested about.

The kids seem to be falling into a good rhythm. They have calmed down and are working hard. Last week my class also had chapel. Chapel happens once a week, and different grades take a turn leading each week. Each grade does a skit or two( based on a certain topic), sing some songs and share a little message. Our chapel was on The Calling of the 12 Disciples. The kids did a really great job. They did two skits, helped lead some songs about making fishers of men and my co-teacher gave a little message. Another fun thing about Chapel is that the parents get to come. They watch the chapel and then the kids have a little tea with them. It was fun to see the kids so proud of their work and to talk with the parents.

This week was Camp week, which means that all the kids at the school had camp! The Camps are divided into different grades with 1-3, 4-6 and 7-12. The different groups have a different length camp and different locations. I was with the 1-3 camp who had a normal week up until Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon we had a full day and then camp began in the afternoon, with a lot of games and activities. After an afternoon and night full of activities we spent the night in our classrooms. We got up Thursday morning after an interesting night of sleep and had breakfast. After breakfast we were off to an exciting afternoon of swimming, making sandcastles and playing a a retreat area. It was a fun, but very tiring week. I think all of the teachers are thankful for a day off on Friday!

Personally, I am doing pretty well. I am continuing to enjoy life here. Last weekend we went up to the Cristo, which is a huge statue of Jesus. It was quite a sight to see. We were able to take a gondola ride up to where the Cristo stands. From the top we could see a great sight of Cochabamba and we were even able to go up into the Cristo. It was a fun day!

Hope you are all doing well!

Adios!! - Rachel