I Live Like a Queen

I did a good amount of griping last week.

I know I live in a third world country, but I still expect water to magically flow through the pipes when I turn on the faucet. If I have pipes, shouldn’t water come through them? If there is a backup tank of water right next to my apartment, shouldn’t it work? If it is 95 degrees out, can’t I at least shower and flush my toilet and wash my hands? There are ants and cockroaches taking over my house. Can’t I at least wash my dishes and the counter? I don’t live out in the middle of nowhere, I told myself. My apartment is next to a main highway. There should be water.

I definitely said those things. Probably multiple times. Probably in the morning when I was already hot and sweaty and knew there would be no refreshing shower to start my day or to come home to at the end of the day.

It was during one of those hot and tired and unclean feeling moments when a Nicaraguan lady told me how five years ago a water pipe got damaged by her house. Five years later, still no running water. Nobody has come to fix it. Her family carries water from a couple of streets over to fill up water jugs they keep at their house. That shouldn’t have to happen, I thought. As if hearing me, she told me that this happens all over the country. Most people don’t have running water. For most it is hard work just to be clean.

Sigh.

I know these things; I’ve seen it.  Everyone knows it. Life is hard, everyday, for so many people around the world. 

“I know about people in Africa,” she told me next. “They have it worse. They walk miles to get water. Children starve to death. I don’t like walking to get water, but I have it good. I live like a queen. I thank God everyday because I live like a queen.”

This conversation has circled through my mind quite a few times this week. There were some guilty feelings, of course, followed by the ugh, I've been very entitled and North American again. But I know it isn’t that simple. Poverty doesn't turn people into thankful machines. The poor and rich and everyone in between struggle with contentment and thankfulness and dealing with life’s little problems. Running water or buckets of water, Africa or Nicaragua or the United States, it doesn’t matter. We struggle, we complain, we wish our problems would disappear. Nevertheless, the whole situation bugged me. 

One of my room moms came in last week to spruce up my classroom door for springtime. Spring doesn't actually exist here, but we like to pretend that we have four seasons and decorate accordingly. The door served as the reminder that I needed.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. (Psalm 98:4)

I want to do that. I really want to do that. It is normal to be frustrated when the water doesn’t work. However, I know that I did not make one joyful noise despite my frustration. In contrast, “I thank God everyday because I live like a queen” was a joyful noise.

Here's to a new week. My goal is to make a joyful noise. 

Flying Ants

Imagine it's a hot day, about 95 degrees. Your house hasn't had running water for days, and you aren't necessarily hitting the definition of "clean". You've had a good, but long day at work. Once you arrive at your car, you set down your heavy bags in the seat next to you, get out your keys, and think about how refreshing it will feel when the cold blast of air conditioner will hit you. You turn the air conditioner nob and are surprised when you are hit in the face, not with cold air, but with dozens of flying ants. Ants that are now crawling over your body, face, and hair and are turning you into a driving hazard on the already hectic roads of Managua.

I found myself in this situation just a day or two ago.

It was mildly unpleasant to say the least. However, it did cause the light bulb to go off in my head. For the past week or so I had been covered in ants when I got home from school. I couldn't figure out where they were coming from. First I assumed it was from my desk that I use at school. Then I decided there must be some food crumbs in my car that were attracting ants. Neither of those theories really added up because I couldn't find a group of ants in either of those places.

When I got blasted in the face by those ants that fine sunny afternoon, I remembered all the times in the past week when I had turned on my AC and assumed it was little pieces of debris and dust that were hitting my body. It is the dry season after all, and every inch of every surface is covered by dust. Now I know better. I haven't been showering with running water lately, or even dust, but ants.

And so my adventures with ants continue. 

In slightly related car news, I am finally getting four brand new tires today for my van. I am hoping this will solve all of my flat tire issues. For those of you who are counting, I think I am on flat tire number 14!

My Earthquake Fail

If you want to know what not to do if an earthquake happens in the middle of the night, follow my example.

Here's what happened. It was late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. I was fast asleep, having some psycho nightmare. My sleep abruptly ended. I thought I was still in the nightmare, so my first thought was that there was a murderer in my bedroom. I sat up, looked around. No murderer. Then it hit me: - my bed is shaking like crazy, my dresser is pounding against the wall - this is an earthquake. Sitting there in my bed, in a weird nightmare/half sleep/who-knows-where mindset, it didn't even cross my mind to do something. There were no thoughts of taking cover under something sturdy or making a dash for the front door. I just sat there in my bed, heart pounding, trying to imagine how much it would hurt when the ceiling fell on me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't quite terrified.

I am not sure why I freaked out, except that it was in the middle of the night, and I had had a horrifying dream. When there have been tremors during the day (although I admit I have never felt one that strong), I always assume it is no big deal. During my moment of frozen fear in the middle of the night, my roommate had already jumped out of bed, crouched in a door frame, and later walked into the hallway, ready to go outside. Next door, my neighbor was contemplating whether to hide under her whole bed or just under the mattress. Some neighbors down the way snatched their kids out of bed and ran outside. Some people managed to sleep though the whole thing, which means they must be very heavy sleepers. That was no small amount of shaking going on.

After the tremor stopped, I saw my neighbor turn her light on next door, which inspired me to turn my light on in some sort of "I'm alive! Did you feel that earthquake?" Morse Code-like signal. That made me feel a little better. The aftershock came next, but the tremor wasn't as bad as the first. My body didn't want to sleep after that, but after some struggle, I fell into a couple of earthquake inspired dreams. I was relieved when my alarm went off and the world seemed normal again.

The earthquake was a 6.4 on Richter scale, taking place a little off the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, about 99 miles northwest from Managua. Looking back, I see that my reaction was ridiculous. Why didn't I do anything? Why didn't I get out of my bed?! Thankfully, the tremor we felt here wasn't any bigger and did no damage. I will let that be my practice run; next time that happens in the middle of the night, I will NOT just sit there.

The good news is that I can reenact this story to my students tomorrow, and they will LOVE it.

Baa!

I came across a really cute book a couple of months ago:

The author only uses two different words in the whole book. On every page except the last page, the word moo appears in some form. Punctuation and the facial expressions of the cow clearly explain what is happening in this story.

I thought the story was hilarious, and so did my students. We had to read it twice because once just wasn't enough. After we were done laughing, we discussed the importance of punctuation. They understood that "Moo?" clearly means something different than "MOO!!!"

On the last page of Moo!, the cow blames a sheep for his actions, and the author introduces the second word, baa, to the story. We decided to see if we could create our own stories using David LaRochelle's example and the new sheep character.

Over the next couple of days, my students plotted out their stories, made flip books, and finally wrote and illustrated their own Baa! stories.

On Friday my students presented their stories to the class. Some were a little embarrassed about saying "baa" over and over again in different voices, but once they got started they had us laughing all over again.

I love the sheep in the hammock. I imagine that is the exact sound I would make if I was a sheep swaying back and forth. . .

Iguana Soup

Any retreat with the theme of "Survivor" is bound to be a little crazy.

Our 4th - 6th grade students were on eight different tribes. We spent the morning pushing our students physically through various activities. Running, swimming, climbing, searching, crawling, they did it all. They were exhausted by lunch time.

After free time in the pool, the students rotated through different workshops. They learned to read and follow a compass, pitch a tent, create an SOS signal, and build a fire.

The real fun came at dinner time. Two of the workers from NCA came out to the retreat center to show my students how to kill, skin, and cook iguana. We received a lot of different reactions - screams, shouts of "This is the coolest thing ever!" and some tears. After everyone calmed down, each group got their own iguana and set to work. The brave students handled the iguanas, while the rest cut onions and tomatoes for their soup and rebuilt their fires. It soon became dark. I loved watching all the groups huddled around their fires, mixing soup, and hearing them talk about the experience. By the time the soup was done, most were either 1) brave enough or 2) hungry enough to eat the soup. Did I try it? Of course! Wasn't bad. Imagine tough chicken with a slight fish taste.

Here's a look at our day in pictures:

Getting ready for the day's activities

Mid-afternoon visit from a scorpion

Mr. Iguana

Ready for some high quality reactions?

Soup preparation 

Iguana preparation

Showing off his iguana skinning skills

My first taste of iguana soup

More than outdoor survivor skills and teamwork, we wanted our students to walk away from the retreat with spiritual truths that they can apply to their lives. During our chapel sessions, we learned that in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. (Romans 8:37)

Ending the retreat with a little water fun 

Library Expansion

Books.

Reading.

Libraries.

I’m obsessed. It is a known fact and I don’t try to hide it.

The first place I visit when I return to the U.S. for summer and Christmas break? The library. Gotta pick up my 20 books that I put on hold. Last place I visit? The library, to return said twenty books.

Last summer I spent my trip to Boston searching for every library and book-related building (not to mention driving my best friend crazy in the process).

My weekly visit to the pool has nothing to do with swimming, and everything to do with reading in the sun for two hours. 

When I tell people I am busy or have plans, they usually assume it is because I have a date with my book. And they are usually right.

My suitcases are always overweight when I travel, and it is always the fault of the new books I bought for my classroom.

My classroom is centered around books and reading. My students know I am obsessed, and they willingly listen as I retell the plot line of whatever book I'm devouring. They come to me for book suggestions and trust me to put good books in their hands. Whether we are reading a short picture book or a longer novel, we cherish our daily read aloud time together. 

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here and get to the point.

Right now I have even more book excitement than usual.

The reason?

My school is looking to build a new space for our tiny library. This would mean more room for more books. This would mean more than ten students could come into the library at one time without feeling squished. The library could be transformed into something more than just a small room where the books are kept. It would be a room for learning and discovery, where good books are put into the hands of students who need them. For me, as a teacher and book lover, this idea has me buzzing with excitement for the future of our school. More books, more literacy = more learning, more growth.

The idea is there, and now it comes down to raising a lot of money in a short amount of time. I want to share this idea with all of you, and ask you to share it with anyone who you think might be interested in helping us pray or give financially. 

Check out the video to see our current library and to hear our plans for the Library Expansion Project. 

Invention Fair

I want to take you back a couple of weeks to one of my favorite days of the school year.

Some background: We spend a good month discussing inventions and inventors in class. We discuss qualities that inventors need, like persistence, imagination, and curiosity. After discussing patents and their purpose, my students turned in their own to me, complete with detailed pictures and descriptions.

When the day of our Invention Fair came, my students were a bundle of nerves. Two asked to go to the nurse. One went to the bathroom because they thought they were going to throw up. For most of them, it was their first big presentation, and they were scared.

We set up tables and taped down display boards. The students readied their stations and then in came their parents, other classes, teachers, and staff.

Need slippers that clean the floor, a fun way to feed your dog, a handy gadget that keeps your book open, or a nifty cover that keeps your water bottle cool? We have them!

How about a quadruple pencil, a fruit chopper that catches fruit as it is cut from a tree, or a shoe covering that conveniently has a pocket for your money? We have those too.

After each student presented a couple of times, their confidence grew. I saw hand motions, big smiles, and enthusiastic demonstrations. As I walked around, they told me things like: "I'm really good at this!" "People want to buy my invention!" and "I was never really nervous, Miss Eberly. I was just pretending." Not sure I believed the last statement, but I was proud of them nonetheless.