Tuesday, April 23rd:
Another good day for applications. When I walked into 6B I was met with a chorus of, "Oh, phew! Miss Helen, you're here. We LOVE you, Miss Helen. You've saved us!" I discovered that they'd been punished and were writing out portions of their literature book. They were supposed to write out an entire chapter or write until I arrived, whichever came first. Obviously, my arrival was their release from torture. Interestingly enough, our verse for the day was, "let love be genuine." I explained what genuine meant and then asked them how they would know if love was genuine. It was an encouragement to hear them quote some of our earlier verses. "It will be in deed and in truth, not in word and talk" and "real love will lay down its life for its friends" and again, "love will build up." Then we gave examples of fake love - love that loves for its own sake and not for the sake of others. I asked them about their love for me that morning - was it real? or was it simply because I'd "saved" them from punishment? (As an answer, I received a thank you note, a Snickers and a Twix during the break.) :)
Hannah and I were able to walk home, but within a half hour it started pouring rain and I could even hear thunder from my room. I spent the afternoon grading and booking my final flights home.
Wednesday, April 24th:
Everyone was excited about the science fair today ... I've had lighters, eggs, buckets of water, tea bags, and light bulbs circulating in my classes for the past 3 weeks. I'll be thankful when the students finally present their projects tomorrow.
The fifth grade lesson was about adding decimal points to whole numbers in order to add and subtract them to decimal numbers. In 5A I turned the lesson into a game and had students play "pin the decimal point on the whole number." They really got into it and couldn't wait until it was their turn (of course I made them answer math problems in between turns.) ;)
Our verse for today was, "if anyone loves God, he is known by God." It was a good reminder that God sees the heart and knows those who truly love Him ... it was also a comfort for me to think that God really knows all about me, especially when so few here know me well.
Hannah and I enjoyed a sunny walk home and then I went on the roof to read. After I came down, Hannah and I made Alfredo and pasta for a late lunch, chatting over our meal. At 4, I walked to the orphanage. One of the girls told me that she'd had a dream that I was going to come today! In America we don't think much of dreams, but oftentimes dreams are very significant here as a means God uses to reveal Himself. I was thankful that she'd been thinking of me and prayed that my time with them would be a blessing. The last couple times, the girls have observed their time of prayer just as I've arrived. Today they asked me how I pray (do I cross myself?) and I explained that I talk to God with my eyes closed. They also asked when I pray and I told them that I don't pray at set times, but that I like to and want to pray to God many times throughout the day. As we talked about other things, one of the girls went to the head teacher and asked if I could take them to the Gely (Duhok Dam). The head teacher called the director for permission and then told me I could take the girls (I had no idea this conversation was going on. In broken English, it was communicated that I'd be taking the girls rather than asking if I'd like to take them.) I was happy to go, but extremely nervous as this is the first time the teachers have indicated that they trust me. I was admonished several times to "be careful," "to come back on time," "don't be late," and again, "be VERY careful." Gulp.
The girls were so thankful to get out. They changed out of their house clothes and we were off. As we walked, they held my hand and told me how nice it was to be with me. I tried to relax and enjoy the walk ... but I couldn't help realizing the responsibility of taking five teenage girls out in public. I'm used to being stared at, but I worried about the girls' reputation being seen with me. They didn't seem to mind or think anything of it, laughing and smiling the entire way. A couple times they would put me on the inside to make sure I didn't get run over by a car, which was very sweet as I thought I was the one supposed to be taking care of them! I told them they were like my five daughters and of course that brought even more smiles.
We walked around the little park at the Gely, bought some chips and then headed back. It took us 45 minutes to get there and I was worried about getting the girls back on time. They weren't too worried, but I've started to catch on to how things works here ... make excuses to the American who doesn't understand the language, have fun now, apologize later (and I knew who would be taking the heat for it!) They wouldn't have meant anything by it, but I knew that this was sort of a trial run to see if the orphanage could trust me. As we started back, one of the girls had a blister on her heel and couldn't walk very fast. Knowing we weren't going to make it, I called Lisa for a huge favor. She graciously dropped what she was doing and came to pick us up. We made it through the door right at 6pm. It was apparent that the teacher was very pleased and repeated again and again, "Bashe, bashe" or "good, good." Phew! I think I passed the test, but of course I won't know for sure until the next visit...
Lisa drove me back to their place where the rest of the team had already gathered for dessert and our Skype call.
