I will apologize right up front: I'm sorry, but I forgot to take pictures at school today. I took my camera and everything, but it sat in my purse all day and as soon as I turned off the lights to leave, I remembered that it had been my plan to show you the inside...
Anyway, school starts on Monday, so for those of us who are teachers, we all know that means crunch time! And being in a completely different culture and under a different system for school funds, well, it makes for its own set of challenges!
I found out yesterday that Abbie's total budget for the year...total...is $70,000. That's paying for everything, including salaries. Yeah, I'd say that's a shoestring budget. Here, even colored pencils and scissors are like gold. Yesterday she handed me a stapler still in its wrapping and I knew she was giving me something special. Then I thought of how many staplers I have in my classroom and in our storage room back home.
At home, I laminate every single poster that goes on my classroom walls. Here, it's hard to get posters and when you get them, they wilt in the humidity because they're not laminated. Her husband cuts new desktops for the desks and she paints them so they will last. The sociology textbook has a copyright date of 1990. It's actually pretty humbling and motivates me to use every available source I can to help these kids.
So today, Hannah helped paint another desktop - Abbie loves Hannah's painting of a crab - and made some posters for a car wash fundraiser we're having on Saturday, and then she just hung out at school.
In the middle of the day, we took a break for lunch and then I took Hannah to the clinic for a little check-up. Our co-pay at home is $20. Their total office visit charge is $20. Life is very different here.
When we were done for the day, we took a walk on Melones Beach, which is another great one for snorkeling. Hannah was looking for sea glass, but the pickings were thin. We were able to watch the sun setting beautifully over a cay just off the island. It was breathtaking.
Thank you, God, for another day. Thank you for reminding me of your provision. G'night!
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