Wednesday, October 17th:
Today overflowed with activity and blessing. Woke up at 5 am and
dressed in the dark, so we could go on a sunrise hike. It was magnificent! The
hike was a little steep in some places and the loose gravel meant it was easy
to lose your footing (reminded me of Dad’s description of the McLaughlin hike,
although this hike was only about 40 minutes to reach the top.)
Still pretty dark out as we made our ascent:
The sun just peaking over the ridge
Sunrise! (Duhok Dam below us)
A beautiful morning in the valley:
On the way down, we stopped at the cave where Andy, Dan, and John
spent the night last Spring.
We got back to our apartment around 7:30. I took a quick shower,
got ready for school, and met the rest of the group in front of our apartment
at 8 am. The college students were able to sit in on some classes – Mary’s
humanities class, Lisa’s art class, Sarah’s literature class, a science class
and a humanities class taught by local teachers. All of my classes went really
well. By God’s goodness, 5B is making a turnaround. They love lining up at the
door to give me a handshake before they walk in. Yesterday, seven of my best
students were in class early. “Miss, why can’t this be our class? The rest make
noise and we can not study.” Understanding their frustration, I “recruited”
them to be my secret role-model agents. They have promised to be on their very
best behavior, regardless of the distractions, in order to help me. As part of
our plan, I make a concerted effort to call on them, point out their example,
and pass them a couple winks during the lesson. It’s been fun for all of us and
I notice that the minor improvement in their behavior has had an effect on the
rest of the class. Today, only one student lost his break.
In 5A one of my students was indignant when I wrote his name on
the board. Even though he knew why I had issued the warning, he refused to
complete any classwork. I added an X for breaking my first rule, “Try your
best.” And then another X for the disrespectful behavior that followed. After
class I talked to him a little bit, but he was still upset with me.
6B has been noisier each day. I finally sent three students out of
the class and told them they could have their conversation outside. The class
breathed a sigh of relief. When one of the students poked his head in the door
and asked if he could come in, I told him that I could hear them talking
outside and knew they weren’t ready to come back in. I heard a couple chuckles
from the rest of the class.
During the breaks, I’ve been sitting outside the 6th
grade classrooms and visiting with my students. They love teaching me Kurdish
words and asking me about my life. I get to hear about their lives and learn
about their interests. Today, I noticed that some of the students were upset.
As it turns out, 6A has some drama … I was addressing it at the beginning of
class when one of the students told me, “Miss, it has finally started. All last
year we had this problem.” Right then, I knew what I’d be tackling this year.
Near the end of my class, the teacher after me (Miss A) asked if I could stay
for 10 or 15 minutes while she went on an errand. The kids needed extra time
anyway due to the interruption at the beginning of class, so it wasn’t a
problem.
After 15 minutes and Miss A hadn’t come back, I told 6B to start
on their homework assignment. Half of the class did exactly as I asked and
worked quietly on the assignment. The other half didn’t even try; they
whispered to each other and passed notes. Ten minutes before class ended, I
announced that anyone who had been working on the assignment could turn it in
for full marks. They didn’t understand at first. “Miss, but I’m not done.” I
explained that God says, “Them that honor Me, I will honor.” Because they had
honored me through their obedience, I wanted to honor them with full marks on
their assignment. It was obviously a novel concept. “Really Miss? You will give
me 20 out of 20 even though I didn’t finish?”
During the next session, I taught John’s 7th grade math
class (a little hesitantly since I know they act out a lot for John). God kept
them under control and strengthened my voice so I could teach the entire
lesson. [Side note: they told Mr. John the next day that they didn’t understand
anything, even though I explained the lesson three different ways and had them
solve example problems. Oh bother!]
After school, I headed over to Andy and Lisa’s to visit with Lisa,
Lisa H, and Mary who hadn’t gone to Al Qosh. We chatted until the rest of the
group got back and we went to dinner at Dilshad Palace. (It’s not really a
palace, just a fancy restaurant). On the way back, Lisa H, Sarah and I were
dropped off at the Mareen St. apartment. (Sarah and I wanted to show Lisa our
rooms). We grabbed some bonfire clothes, then walked back to A&L’s.
Realizing we needed chocolate and crackers for our bonfire S’mores, I ran back
out to the ducan (corner market) near A&L’s to buy some. As I left the
ducan, God impressed on me that the owner had given me too much change. I went
back, to the owner’s surprise, and gave him the extra money. A good opportunity
to demonstrate honesty and uprightness.
We enjoyed our bonfire…
And got home late and exhausted.
Thursday, October 18th:
Happy Birthday Eithen!
The group left early this morning. My throat still hasn’t gotten
the rest it needs, but thankfully I had a review day in all of my classes. All
of my students were really good. In 5A, I couldn’t help noticing that the
student who was so upset with me yesterday was on his very best behavior. I was
shocked! I made sure to thank him … and then thanked the Lord, knowing that
these changes don’t come from anything I do or say.
After school, I came home and slept for 2.5 hours! My voice was
almost gone. Thankful for the time to rest and recover. John, Mary, Sarah, and
I went to Vin House for dinner. We were all craving “American” food (hamburger
and fries). A great way to end the weekend! I tried to Skype with Eithen for his 3rd birthday, but John and Mary's Internet ran out too ... not a good week for Internet.
