Day Fourteen: Our First Friday Trip to the Beach

Today was the last day of our first week of school. Whew!

Fridays at Abbie’s school are pretty much like the rest of the week except that at 10:30 we will break off into research teams. As research teams we will be studying the rain forest. My team is focusing on the people and their cultures along with the products they make from resources in the rain forest. A pretty cool aspect of this is that there are kids from every grade level in each of the three groups we have. Abbie leads the group that is focusing on the waters (rivers, waterfalls, etc., and the animals that live in them), Lisa leads one that is focusing on the plants/trees and animals).

Cooling Off After a Long Week

Abbie and Kiddos!

Once we’ve met together for about an hour, we then head out to the beach, where we spend two hours, and then at 1:30 the kids are released for the weekend. Not a bad way to end the school week, huh???

Ready to Skim Board

Andres on the Skim Board

Danny on the Skim Board

Hannah and Friends at Tamarindo

Now, you may have in your head that this is not a very educational way to end the week! Au contraire!!! 

Today at the beach the kids learned about being careful around stingrays and they caught a jellyfish. They learned then that jellyfish are 95% water! One of our little guys saw some fish through his little goggles he had never seen before, which is something you just can’t learn in a classroom. In addition to the obvious wealth of experiences kids can have from the life that teems in the ocean, they also have a chance for more development in their interpersonal and physical skills. The older ones interact with the younger ones, several of the kids have skim boards, which they use and share with other students, and one of the girls has a birthday tomorrow, so her mom brought a wonderful birthday cake to share with us. It was very cool to hear the Puerto Rican/Culebrense version of “Happy Birthday”!!! I’m hoping to learn it and bring it back to teach to my future classes! J Won’t that be fun?

Some Non-Swimmers!

Helena and Lisa (Student and Parent/Teacher)
with Cedric Being Silly

Cedric

Ashley and Luce

Hangin' Out!

We then took home the students we had driven to the beach in our vehicle and headed down to see some folks who had told me about a possible place Hannah and I could live in when we need to move from Nadeen’s house at the end of October. Unfortunately, I know the living situation is going to really be a stressor for me until we have something set up. If it were just for me, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but since Hannah is going to be affected by it, it’s an important and major piece to have in place.  I’ll also need to make a decision about whether we’ll need a car. Where we end up living will make a big difference in that verdict, so it’s just an added pressure I’m feeling.

At any rate, we looked at a couple of places. One was about the size of our bedroom and is only one main room and a bathroom that you practically have to stand sideways in to get anywhere. The price was right, but Hannah and I would have to share a double bed that’s in the living room. Don’t think that’s going to fly. The other one we looked at is up for sale and it’s far from town, so we’d need a car. However, the view is AMAZING!!!! The house is tiny but could be managed…we’ll see. Hopefully, God will just drop something in our laps, just as He did with the place we’re in now! (Please, God, make it happen soon!!!) Sounds a little like “House Hunters International”, doesn’t it??

When we finished we came home and took badly needed showers and then headed back into town so Hannah could experience dinner at Mamacita’s. As it turned out, Tom, a waiter there, has been looking for a place and found one, but he has lots of leads on others that might be available for us!  He’s going to email his leftovers on Monday! Yay! Let’s hope one of them is just perfect for the two of us!

Hannah quickly got herself ready for bed and urged me to come in and pray with her, as she’s pooped! Plus that, we’re going to make a trip to the main island tomorrow (see Day Four), so she’s needs to be rested!!!

It seems like most days when I Skype Stan he tells me about someone he’s talked with someone who has been keeping tabs on us through the blog. I feel so perked up when I hear that. I know that the things I share make everything sound wonderful and glorious, but to be very honest, I am often very lonely. I can certainly relate now to folks who leave their family and friends and come to the States speaking another language. There is isolation when you can’t communicate with the local people. There is frustration and sometimes fear in not knowing what is and isn’t culturally acceptable in certain situations. It really keeps me going to know that this is truly a wonderful opportunity and my friends and family are praying for us and encouraging us. I also hold on to the fact that this is giving Hannah experiences that will shape her in a positive way for the rest of her life.

Today, I am thankful for the beauty of the island, for the jellyfish the kids found, and for Hannah finding that she really likes Mahi-Mahi!! Thank you, God, for this place. Thank you for this time.