May 17th:
The weather is definitely getting warmer! I've got some serious farmer tan-lines :)
Got to school and tried to find a teacher to take my classes in case the Residency Office took longer than expected. It was really sweet when one of my students came down to the teacher room looking for me, "Miss, aren't you coming to our class? We want to play BINGO!" (Usually they come down, hoping they won't find me so that they can go play in the garden.) We ended up going to the RO ten minutes into my class, so the kids didn't really get to finish their BINGO cards, but I'm glad they wanted to learn.
After talking to an official at the RO, they told us to send our rep on Monday. We'll see how it goes... Got back to the school and hung out with Andy and some of the other teachers in the break room. There is a new kids television program starting up in Duhok. The school's PE teacher has been offered a job with them to organize exercise programs for the kids. He and Andy talked about some ideas.
In the 12:15 session I had them play another review game. We divided into two teams. I picked two players to come up to the board. The first one to write the correct answer to an oral math problem got a point for their team. Halfway through the class, the curriculum coordinator brought me a piece of paper with the Semester 2 grades for all of their subjects. I had to read the grades out loud so the students could write them down. By the end, students from both fourth grade classes were in tears. Thankfully math scores weren't the issue since I have been giving them grade updates for the last three weeks!
At 1:45 I had my third grade art class as well as one of the second grade classes (I was substituting for another teacher). I combined them into one classroom, then had them write "Thank You's" to their favorite teacher. It was a little chaotic with 40+ kids in the same room, but by the end I had a stack of notes to hand out to teachers. The teachers were very appreciative.
Got engrossed in a conversation with a third grader as the kids were leaving and totally forgot to grab my keys from my locker. I didn't realize it until I got back to the apartment. Took a taxi back ... thankful that the guard noticed me and unlocked the main gate. Got to the door to the building and breathed another sigh of thankfulness as it swung open. Another praise when I found my keys hanging from the locker.
Lisa and I were planning to go to the market around 3:30pm anyway, so I just walked from the school and met her at the halfway point. We enjoyed a leisurely time shopping, then went back to her house so she could feed Zephie before we headed out to Dream City. John, Mary, Dan, Andy, Lisa and I met up with some of the seventh grade students at the amusement park that is part of the Mazi Empire. While we were waiting for more students to arrive, I saw some of my third and fourth graders having a picnic with their family. I got to visit with them for awhile. As I walked up to the playground, one of my third grade boys saw me, leaped off the toy structure, and running up to me, gave me a huge hug! That really made my day!
The other students finally arrived and we went into the park. (One of the boys had hit his eye on the door before coming and it looked awful! He said he would go to the doctor after Dream City ... Yikes!) Go-Cart racing between the boys, then a race between Andy, John, and Dan. We got something to eat, then Dan, Andy, Lisa, and Mary headed back home. John and I stayed with the kids and went on "Crazy Dance" - a spinning ride that was actually better than I thought. It definitely got my adrenaline rushing, which was fun and also a bit unusual... One of the girls had to leave and so did John, but I stayed so that the other girl student, "Haley" could stay a bit longer. We went on a few more rides, and then it was time to go. Haley called her driver and he picked us up. She had permission from her parents to hang out longer, so we went to Texas Chicken. I enjoyed getting to know her better. Hopefully we will hang out again before I go home.
May 18th:
Had a good morning at fellowship. We looked at Luke 8, which was encouraging as it points to 1. the Word of God as the instrument to 2. Faith. Enjoyed our time of fellowship. Came home and listened to Pastor John's sermon on "The Need to Reflect a Gospel Mind." Really encouraged as I have felt a lot of bombardment from the enemy. There are changes on the horizon for our team, which leaves lots of room for conflict to arise. It was good to be reminded that conflict is setting where the gospel can be exemplified... now to walk in His strength through the conflict.
Spent time journaling - wrote down the distractions of the enemy and then a portion of God's Word that refutes or squelches those distractions. Lastly, tried to write down promises that I can rest on, those daily portions of manna that He provides that I need to learn to be satisfied with.
Chatted with Stacy over some ice cream, then got ready to go to dinner. John, Mary and I taxied to Shendokah where we met up with the school administration for dinner. It was a nice time. I got to visit with the vice principal (which I haven't been able to do much since I arrived). His children were there (I teach his daughter in third grade) and I met his wife for the first time. It was a laid-back atmosphere and everyone was in good spirits. We left around 10 pm. The curriculum coordinator gave Dan, Julie, and I a ride home.
