Celebrating Independence

Nicaragua, the land of lakes and volcanoes 

Celebrating Independence Day is a big deal in schools around the country. At my school, students from preschool to 12^th grade wear traditional outfits, give presentations about geography and culture, memorize poems and songs, and present dances to all the parents.

This is the girl that I tutor twice a week after school. She didn't want to give me a toothy smile for this picture, but she is hilarious during tutoring time. She is always telling jokes and trying to make me laugh. 

Students can’t have all the fun, so like always, the teachers dress up and dance. Not only can we teach, but we can dance! Who knew we were so talented?

We are all hungry after the festivities and dancing, so we end our celebration with traditional Nica food. Today I want to share with you the joy that is the buñuelo. It's a delicious combo of yuca and cheese, deep fried with honey and cinnamon on top. YUM YUM YUM. I recommend you come to Nicaragua ASAP to try one out. 

After eating one too many buñuelos, some of the teachers hit the road for a little weekend adventure. 

Here we are exploring Somoto Canyon

Our adventure included hiking, floating, and boating through this beautiful canyon. 

 Happy Independence to my adopted country!

Flood

A couple of days ago I was reading a new book I got for the library about Hurricane Katrina. After I was finished, I spent a lot of time thinking about floods and how I would never like to be in one. 

Later that day I came home from school and sat down at my desk ready to get some work done. I needed to make a few phone calls, download a book to my kindle, and do some things for school. All required the internet.

Internet was out at my house, again. Off I went to the coffee shop a couple of kilometers down the road. 

As I was sipping my delicious mocha the power went out. I decided to stick around for a while to see if it came back on. I opened my kindle, the staff passed out some candles, and I enjoyed my book. When the electricity came back on I plowed through my school work. Up next: phone calls. I was talking to my friend when out of nowhere a huge storm blew in. The skies opened and the rain came pouring down. Only a few minutes passed when I heard a strange noise and looked up to see water rushing through the coffee shop. The floor was now covered with a mini river, a river that was flowing over my feet. 

The other customers and I did some scrambling until the staff herded us behind the cash register area - the only area that was safe from the rising water. During this time I was shouting on the phone, grabbing my things, and probably making it sound like the end of the world was coming. 

The water kept rising and rising around us. The electricity went out, and with it my phone call. I could barely see in front of my face, but I could hear the water. Of course my mind wandered to the Hurricane Katrina book I had been reading earlier that day. I was imagining the snakes floating at the top of the water and how I might really appreciate a canoe in the near future. 

My canoe thoughts were quickly replaced with electrocution when the lightning moved in and the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life was booming overhead. The storm was on top of us. The other ladies in the coffee shop were shrieking and we were all a little jumpy every time the sky lit up. The lightning lasted a little too long for my liking. After it finally moved on, the rain kept coming down. Rain, rain, and more rain. 

I tried to call my roommate to tell her about the situation. I was out of cell phone minutes. I felt a little bit stranded. An hour passed. Little by little the staff ventured out into the water-filled room and swept the rain out. When it was safe enough for us to walk through, they said we were welcome to stay as long as we needed to, or we could book it to our cars and head home. It was still raining and the power was out, but I figured I should leave instead of staying. Who knew how long the storm would last? 

When I got to the front door, I realized my car was parked at the bottom of a steep hill that just so happened to be at the top of a drop off to a lagoon. Of course there was a fence separating my car from the drop off, but it made me nervous anyway. One of the staff members graciously offered to drive my car up for me. Another staff member held an umbrella over my head as we ran to my car. We all ended up completely drenched, but I felt like we had achieved a small success as I pulled out onto the street. 

That feeling stopped after about three seconds. No street lights + pouring rain = little visibility = panicky feeling. I turned on my hazard lights and drove three miles per hour like everyone around me. I was inching down the road, having no idea where the center line was, swerving to avoid oncoming traffic, when my gas light went on. Uh oh, I thought. The only option I had was to keep driving, so on I went. 

This is a good time to mention that the highway I live on has been going through some major construction. They have been digging ditches on the sides of the road as they resurface and do whatever it is they are doing. Without lights and with water rushing down the road, the ditches were invisible. I drove by two cars that had tipped over in the ditches and were stuck on their sides. 

At this point I was unsure what would happen first: my car getting carried away in the rushing water, my car running out of gas, my car tipping over in the ditch, or my car getting hit by another car. After much praying and death-gripping the steering wheel, I arrived home, drenched and with my heart beating a little too fast, without any of the aforementioned events happening. 

To top off this rainy week, I had flat tire #14 yesterday. 

Life here is an adventure. 

Week One

Week one is finished!

Do I like being the school librarian as much as I thought I would? Yes, I do. There is something very beautiful about being in a room surrounded by books with twenty eager faces sitting on a carpet in front of you.

I forgot to take a lot of pictures this week, but here are a couple that I snapped.

Second grade wrote speech bubbles based on our read aloud story, David Goes to School.
Even with little school experience and very little English abilities, the preschoolers enjoyed exploring the library and looking through picture books. 

New books are being processed and put up on the shelves. I love recommending new books! 

There was one major library mishap this week: the long picture book shelf fell over. I am not quite sure why this happened, but I think one of the wheels on the bottom was loose. ALL of the books on the shelf fell out. Let's just say that I was really able to work on my alphabetizing skills this week!

On to week #2!

New School Year, New Job

For the first time in my teaching career I am starting the new school year not as a 4th grade teacher, but as a librarian.

This is a huge change for me. I thought I would teach 4th grade forever. However, when I heard last year that my school would be building a new library, I knew I wanted to jump into this role. The new school year has started, and here I am. Miss Eberly, the librarian.

Although our new library isn't built yet, I will be spending the next couple of months teaching in the old library and helping our school transition into our new space.

Am I excited? That would be an understatement. I get to teach library skills, books, authors, and the love of reading to preschoolers all the way up to high school. I get to put good books into the hands of students who need them. I get to collaborate with teachers. I get to teach all of my students from previous classes. I get to be there when our new building is ready and help bring a whole new library program to our school. I am not sure if I have ever been more excited for the first day of school.

Until all the fun begins, here are some pictures of our current library. A lot of rearranging happened this week as I tried to make our old space feel new.

The view when you walk in the door

The view when you turn to the right

The nonfiction wall

All of my classroom "friends" came to the library with me. 

There are certainly many more changes that I want to make in this current library, but those things will happen over the next couple of weeks. For now I need to focus on lesson planning and getting all of our new books processed and into the the hands of our many students.

Last night at Open House. Can't wait to start reading with my students! 

Hangin' with the Preschoolers

The craziness that happened at Pizza Hut was thankfully no indication of what went on during our field trip earlier that day.

We spent the morning at a tiny preschool. The school has zero supplies. No crayons, no paper, no anything.
The three teachers teach for love and don't receive a penny for their work.
The school is supposed to receive money from the government so it can run like a proper school, but none of the money ever makes it into their hands.
During the earthquake last month the school was damaged. A big tree on the side of the building was shifted during the quake. The tree's huge roots also moved, causing some of the foundation and a part of the wall to crumble.

I am pretty sure the forty little preschoolers were a little scared as my big fourth graders filled up the room. I was a little nervous too. I planned the field trip, but my students were in charge of running it. Letting 10 year olds run anything is always a little nerve racking. There was no need for me to be worried, because the majority of my students went about the next two hours like they were born to do it.

Two of my students taught the Bible story to the whole group of preschoolers and their 4th grade peers. One student immediately transformed into a preacher. He preached the story of Jesus healing the blind man. He had actions. He had the phrases. He had the emotion and the conviction and the charisma that makes you want to listen to him.  I was standing in the back with my mouth hanging open. His partner was a little teacher in training. As they co-taught the story, she guided the little preschoolers, asked important questions, and chose students to do a hands-on activity. I know where both of them will be in 15 years - teaching and leading others.

At the end of our day, they got up and prayed for the preschoolers and the school without my prompting. It was beautiful and from their heart.

Another part of our morning was spent in small groups. The 4th graders helped the preschoolers act out the story and do an activity. My class quickly learned that 4 year olds need a LOT of prompting.

We sat down at the tables later to do some coloring and cutting for our craft.

After the preschoolers left, we helped clean up the school and gave them the supplies that we brought.

I loved this field trip for many reasons.
1) My students owned it. Students need responsibility, and they thrive when you give it to them.
2) Serving others is good for the heart. Knowing we left enough supplies for the school to use for many months was a blessing to their school and ours. It is good to give.
3) My students were able to see a school that is very different from their own. They know they are blessed to attend the school they do.
4) We shared the love of Jesus and made some new little friends!

Teachers Need to Teach

One week of no school due to earthquake alerts was a stretching time for me. I learned new computer skills to better communicate with my students from a distance. I made a fool of myself making learning videos to send to my students that explained fraction concepts and promoted new books. Some new presentation methods were added to my repertoire of teaching skills thanks to some professional development. All in all, I enjoy learning new things, so this was a good experience.

Getting ready for our Origami Yoda Book Talk video 

Two weeks of no school due to earthquake alerts was difficult. I wanted to see my students. I was worried we would get behind in our studies. I had some major curriculum units I wanted to do, and knew I needed more time to do them.

THREE WEEKS of no school due to earthquake alerts was maddening. I felt like I lost my purpose. I wanted to teach; no, I needed to teach. Being in the classroom and teaching math and watching my students learn something new was where I wanted to be. I had a strong urge to read a picture book to someone, but no one to read it to. It was during this week that things started to get out of hand, at least for some of us teachers.

We sat around and made origami puppets. And not for a video for my students, but just to do something constructive. I cooked actual food. Some friends and I read a story out loud, round-robin style. We made a schedule just to remind ourselves to eat vegetables. Our normal routines were gone and we didn't know what to do. Hear me when I say this: TEACHERS NEED TO TEACH. We go crazy if we don't.

Thankfully, we are back to school this week.

We are back, and we are happy.

To say that I am extra thankful for schools right now would be an understatement. I am thankful to be a teacher. I am thankful for my twenty-three students and the three weeks that are left of school. I am thankful for this country even though I don't always understand it. And I am thankful God put me here.

I am thankful my identity is in Christ, and not in what I do. This is one I forgot about a time or two last week; however, I know my identity and purpose are ultimately found in him. Not in teaching, or my students, or anything I do here. It's Jesus, always Jesus.

Mom in Nica

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the blog of my mother's adventures in Nicaragua! Like all plans made here, most of our plans involving her trip didn't happen. Or at least they didn't happen in the way we thought they would. Nonetheless, we had a blast. Below I tried to capture some of our time together.

We may not have a Walmart or Target here, but we do have the colorful market. If you want it, they probably have it in some form. Want a hair cut, fresh fruit, or laundry soap? Do you want to sweat while buying it? Then I recommend going in the middle of the day when it is 100 degrees out. My mom and I did just that, but we still made it out alive with clothes, sandals, and souvenirs. And I only got disoriented and lost about four times, which I am sure is a new world record.

Other Nica-y things we did include:
Scaling a volcano to check out the crater. Ok, we didn't scale the volcano, but we did drive to the top in the mom van.

Drinking coke out of a bag while eating jacotes and watching people in the town square.

We ate food! Lots of plantains, chicken, "salad" aka cabbage, and beans.

We drank all the coffee. Nicaragua has fantastic coffee. Come down and try it out.

One afternoon (as we were drinking coffee) we planned a great lesson to teach to my students at school later that week. Minutes later we learned school was probably cancelled for the whole week due to the earthquakes we had been having. I can't tell you how upset I was. I had been so excited for my mom to meet all my students and to hang out in the classroom with them. I wanted her to see me doing what I love to do. With no school, this plan was ruined.

The next couple of days involved all the teachers scrambling around making learning packets for the students to take home and learning how to use online resources so students could do work online. During this mad scramble, my students came in to pick up their materials for the week, and my mom was able to meet most of them. Not quite what I had in mind, but it worked.

During the course of the week my mom got to meet all the people who are a part of my life on this side of the world. We hung out with my roommates and dyed eggs on Easter. We visited my Nica family and had almost coherent spanish/english/miming conversations.

We did a lot of driving. At one point the passenger side window got stuck half way down and refused to go back up, so we were able to enjoy the hot, exhaust-filled air in all its glory. We marveled at the poverty/wealth distribution. We laughed at the animals crossing the road and were thankful that it was Holy Week so the traffic wasn't half as chaotic as it normally was.

And now, to mix things up, let's hear from my mom herself. Before she returned to the States, we ordered some coffee and had a little interview. My questions are in purple.

Is Nicaragua like what you expected?

I wasn’t sure what to expect. Seeing pictures is certainly not the same as being here.

What has surprised you the most about Nicaragua?

The living conditions about some of the poorest. It isn’t anything like that in the US. 

Would you like to live here?

No. I would miss the four seasons, especially fall when the leaves change color.

What did you think about the heat?

I expected it, but what I didn’t realize is that I wouldn’t be able to cool off. There is so little air conditioning. You can't just go inside if it is really hot out.

Did you feel any earthquakes?

No! But I saw the water in the water cooler swaying back and forth, so I knew one had happened. 

What was your favorite part of the trip?

My favorite part was seeing where Bismark lives. (Side note: Bismark is my parent's sponsored child that lives in Nicaragua). My second favorite, of course, was seeing your classroom. I wanted to see where your teach. My only disappointment was not getting to see all the students.

Bismark's city

Tell us about some of the touristy things that you did.

I really liked Catarina. The view and lunch were excellent.

I liked the cathedrals in Granada. I liked the town square too because I am a people watcher. I had my first coke in a bag with a straw!

Any last words? 

I would stay longer if I could.  I will miss the sounds of this city.  I will miss the rooster and the goose who kept me company at the picnic table outside your house.  I'm going to miss your neighbors and your friends.  But most of all I'm going to miss you.  But wait . . . you'll be home in 6 weeks so now a new countdown begins.  I heard kitty misses me at home.  Don't worry kitty, mom is on her way! 

And, did anybody do the dishes while I was gone?

Thanks for coming to visit, Mom! I loved showing off my crazy city to you. Come back soon.