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| We arrived |
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| We like to call it the how many people can you fit into the back of a truck |
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Six Mexicans and a Canadian
Some friends and I hit the road for the beach a couple weeks back. It is not uncommon to get pulled over by the police here for no apparent reason. I have been pulled over a half dozen times at least, and never for any reason. Anyway, my friend Emily was driving six of us teachers in the lovely big, blue teacher van. Nothing is more suspicious than seven teachers packed into one van, so we got pulled over. The officer checked all the documents and asked to see our passports. We explained we were residents and that we all have residency cards. He went on about our lack of passports and then scrutinized Emily's New Mexico divers license. A slight misreading of the license led him to understand that Emily was Mexican. He went on to ask if we were all Mexicans. I only heard part of the question and yelled to Emily that one of the teachers is Canadian. Emily relayed the message and told him that no, one of us is Canadian. We forgot to mention that all the rest of us were from the U.S. The police officer left believing that even though our Spanish is not quite fluent and we look and dress like Americans, that six Mexicans and a Canadian were on their way to the beach that day.
Later we ditched the van for a more Nica style of transportation.
It is always an adventure here!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Independence Day
My students practiced. They cut and built and created and molded. Grammar and spelling got pushed aside for poster boards and run-throughs.
My students danced. Over weeks, I watched as chaos turned into something that resembled a dance into a performance.
Independence Day came around and my students were ready. Fourth grade took first place on their presentation about Managua and the whole school (teachers included) danced for the parents in Nica fashion.
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| My 4th graders looking snazzy in their traditional outfits |
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| Flowers are a key part of the outfit. The bigger, the better. |
Independence Day in Nicaragua, like in any country, is a big deal. At NCA, every single student, teacher, and worker at the school gets involved. Parents bring supplies. Students work on presentations. Gardeners and construction workers help us transform spaces. Teachers make time for students to create their presentations and decorate. The Spanish department runs the show.
Nicaragua gained its independence from Spain in 1821. People all over the country celebrate with parades, dances, and food.
My students danced with the 3rd graders to "Juegos Infantiles". Here is a link to part of their dance:
The teachers donned their white dresses and fans for their dance to "Maria Estela":
What a blessing it is to have two places to celebrate with and two places to call home.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Earthquakes and Bats
I have written about both earthquake drills and adventures with bats before, but this week brought both of those home on a little more personal level.
It all started last Wednesday during elementary chapel. We were singing a song when all of a sudden I started to feel nauseous. The next moment I was hit by dizziness. I knew exactly what was going to happen next. I was going to faint! I have fainted a couple of times in the past, and it has always been proceeded by dizziness and nausea. I was trying to think of what would happen if I fainted in front of my students. Would they scream and freak out? Probably. Before I got to the end of that thought, I realized that the speakers in the chapel were swaying back and forth. I looked at the chairs. They were moving. Then I realized what was actually happening - an earthquake. Suspicions were confirmed when the alarm went off. Some panic from the students and a little confusion about where to go followed. We always practice earthquake drills in our classroom, and we weren't in our classroom. Students were counted and everything was fine. There was no damage, just some students with shaken nerves. We learned later the earthquake was in Costa Rica. It was strong, a 7.6, and so we felt it in Managua.
On Friday the excitement continued. First thing in the morning, like every Friday, the students came in and said their Bible memory verses. While I was listening to one student, another runs up to me with a big bag. "Miss Eberly, look!" Curious, I take a peek. At the bottom of the bag is a bat. Not a baseball bat, but a living, breathing, black baby bat. That was not what I was expecting. No one has ever brought a bat into my classroom before, so I was a little unsure of how I was supposed to react. The other students crowded around and wanted a look. I saw this student's parents in the hallway, and was under the assumption they were going to take the bat back home with it. I went back to listening to memory verses. About ten minutes later, as my students were doing their morning work, I noticed the bat was on the student's desk. The parents were gone. I had a bat in my classroom. Bats are not supposed to be in bags. Bats are not supposed to be in the classroom. Thankfully, my students left for Spanish class and I found some help. The parents were called and the bat was removed. Yikes.
A few hours later my principal poked her head into my classroom. "Excuse me, Miss Eberly, we have a little emergency. Will you come here?" She quickly informed me that that Nicaragua Ministry of Education has said that due to strong earthquake activity, students needed to leave school. There had been around seventeen tremors in the last day, and it was causing some trouble along the fault line, leading officials to believe there might be some activity with the volcanoes. That left me with the excellent task of telling my students. This news would not faze many of my students; in fact, I knew it would cause excitement. Who doesn't want to leave school early? However, I knew this news would scare some of the others. Calm communication generally creates calmer reactions, and my students handled it well, for the most part. We left school early and my friends and I thought we better grab some brownie dynamite ice cream after all the excitement.
Today, San Cristobal Volcano erupted and has been sending up ash and gas, causing an evacuation around the area. It is not near enough to effect me or the school.
A very large earthquake happened in Managua forty years ago that completely destroyed the city. People here are no strangers to disaster, and the current rumblings are causing a lot of people to worry, thinking back on past damages. Thankfully we know who is in control and who holds all things in His hands. Please pray for Nicaragua this week.
It all started last Wednesday during elementary chapel. We were singing a song when all of a sudden I started to feel nauseous. The next moment I was hit by dizziness. I knew exactly what was going to happen next. I was going to faint! I have fainted a couple of times in the past, and it has always been proceeded by dizziness and nausea. I was trying to think of what would happen if I fainted in front of my students. Would they scream and freak out? Probably. Before I got to the end of that thought, I realized that the speakers in the chapel were swaying back and forth. I looked at the chairs. They were moving. Then I realized what was actually happening - an earthquake. Suspicions were confirmed when the alarm went off. Some panic from the students and a little confusion about where to go followed. We always practice earthquake drills in our classroom, and we weren't in our classroom. Students were counted and everything was fine. There was no damage, just some students with shaken nerves. We learned later the earthquake was in Costa Rica. It was strong, a 7.6, and so we felt it in Managua.
On Friday the excitement continued. First thing in the morning, like every Friday, the students came in and said their Bible memory verses. While I was listening to one student, another runs up to me with a big bag. "Miss Eberly, look!" Curious, I take a peek. At the bottom of the bag is a bat. Not a baseball bat, but a living, breathing, black baby bat. That was not what I was expecting. No one has ever brought a bat into my classroom before, so I was a little unsure of how I was supposed to react. The other students crowded around and wanted a look. I saw this student's parents in the hallway, and was under the assumption they were going to take the bat back home with it. I went back to listening to memory verses. About ten minutes later, as my students were doing their morning work, I noticed the bat was on the student's desk. The parents were gone. I had a bat in my classroom. Bats are not supposed to be in bags. Bats are not supposed to be in the classroom. Thankfully, my students left for Spanish class and I found some help. The parents were called and the bat was removed. Yikes.
A few hours later my principal poked her head into my classroom. "Excuse me, Miss Eberly, we have a little emergency. Will you come here?" She quickly informed me that that Nicaragua Ministry of Education has said that due to strong earthquake activity, students needed to leave school. There had been around seventeen tremors in the last day, and it was causing some trouble along the fault line, leading officials to believe there might be some activity with the volcanoes. That left me with the excellent task of telling my students. This news would not faze many of my students; in fact, I knew it would cause excitement. Who doesn't want to leave school early? However, I knew this news would scare some of the others. Calm communication generally creates calmer reactions, and my students handled it well, for the most part. We left school early and my friends and I thought we better grab some brownie dynamite ice cream after all the excitement.
Today, San Cristobal Volcano erupted and has been sending up ash and gas, causing an evacuation around the area. It is not near enough to effect me or the school.
A very large earthquake happened in Managua forty years ago that completely destroyed the city. People here are no strangers to disaster, and the current rumblings are causing a lot of people to worry, thinking back on past damages. Thankfully we know who is in control and who holds all things in His hands. Please pray for Nicaragua this week.
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