My Adventures in Puerto Rico

tinta invisible

2012-02-04T17:06:00.000-04:00

This week, Leo has been teaching my students about Revolutionary War spies. So to go with these lessons, I showed the boys how to make invisible ink on Friday. One of the reasons that I love teaching older kids is that we learn about such interesting subjects and can do some pretty cool hands-on activities.

This one was easy. All you need is paper, lemon juice, and fire!

We decided to make secret messages to send to each class to call them to story time. Some of them worked just as we'd planned...

...and others did not.

But that's all part of the fun!

Naturally, all the other kids wanted to get in on some of the action.

(Kids...don't try this at home!)

el ganador

2012-01-22T21:08:00.000-04:00

So, thanks to un montón de blood tests over the course of two months…we finally have a winner. The reason I have not been feeling well for the past semester is…mycoplasma pneumoniae—walking pneumonia. Apparently I caught it and beat it without the recommended antibiotics sometime in the fall, and now I am feeling the residual side effects.

If you have any good walking pneumonia jokes or puns, feel free to post them. I have already heard a few good ones. I am happy to joke about my discomfort and general misery now because there is an end in sight. In less than six months, I should be feeling back to normal.

That’s my biggest news of late. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

feliz año nuevo

2012-01-05T20:19:00.002-04:00

I’m back in PR just in time for Three Kings Day. In case I could possibly have forgotten this enormous Puerto Rican holiday, I was reminded when we saw the Kings riding to the town plaza this afternoon with a police escort, and then later when they paraded past the school with an enormous speaker system and cheering fans.

This parade seemed especially loud because of the peace and quiet I have been experiencing in New Jersey for the past three weeks. I had a relaxing time with my family while I rested and recuperated from an arduous semester. I am hoping and praying that this new year will be filled with good health and strength for the second half of the school year.

I wish all of you a happy, healthy, and blessed New Year, too!

por fin

2011-12-17T20:30:00.000-04:00

We did it. We made it through another semester…a semester that I often doubted I could make it through. My flight home is tomorrow morning, and 6am cannot come soon enough!

We ended the first half on a strong note. Last week, I was surprised at how much quality classroom time I had—which was a blessing because I had a lot of ground to cover.

On Friday, we played the bells at El Yunque (rainforest) visitor center. We were a little nervous because people had been telling us that this event was being advertised on Puerto Rico’s most widely listened to radio station and in the newspaper. We feared there would be masses of people and the kids would be too nervous to play. Thankfully, there were only about 30 people in the audience (and maybe 20 of them were El Yunque employees). The kids did well, and I’m pretty sure some people in the audience cried. Also, the students had a chance to visit the exhibits. They were fascinated, and we had to tear them away when it was time to play the bells.

After we finished, we rushed back to school for Christmas lunch provided by Palmas Community Church. Then we opened presents.

Finally, parents arrived for the Christmas concert. The kids played the bells and signed some songs.

Kevin and Kristian each prepared a song. Kristian signed María Sabías Que (Mary Did You Know),

and Kevin performed Venid y Adoremos (O Come All Ye Faithful).

Carlos Motta also shared a Christmas message for the families.

It was a day that had potential to be filled with chaos, but thankfully it went smoothly and enjoyably.

contando los días

2011-12-11T15:02:00.000-04:00

Last week, we had our first Christmas bell performance. To everyone’s delight, it went quickly and smoothly. We have one more week of school until Christmas break, and in this week, we have three more concerts. We are hoping that these performances will go at least as well as the first.

The kids let their imaginations entertain them while they were waiting to perform. Here, Kioney is leading a lovely quartet.

Here, we have a good photo to embarrass Mizael and Kioney at their graduation.

On Saturday, we went to Old San Juan. This is probably my favorite place in Puerto Rico, and until yesterday, it had been too long since I’d been there. After some Christmas shopping, we found a new little coffee shop that quickly became my favorite place in my favorite city on the island. Finally, there is an alternative (which much better beverages) to Starbucks!

When it got dark, we were able to enjoy the city’s Christmas lights, including a nice light show on La Fortaleza (the governor’s mansion).

La Fortaleza

This outing was just what I needed to energize me for one more week here. The last few weeks of this long semester have been crawling along, and I have been itching to travel home to family and friends.

acción de gracias

2011-11-23T22:53:00.000-04:00

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 118:1

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope you all take time to thank God for the many blessings He has given you.

I thank God for the numerous ways He has blessed me over the past year that I have been in Puerto Rico. He has given me friends and "family" here with whom I am able to celebrate this holiday. I wish I wasn't spending this day away from my family in New Jersey, but I thank God for Skype!

pelo loco

2011-11-06T20:07:00.000-04:00

On Halloween, we had Crazy Hair Day at school. Our good friends Hector and Gisela came over to dye and gel the kids' hair. Their daughter and her friends painted faces. We all had a great time. Here are some of the highlights:

Kioney has the best hair for this!

The clown and the iguana face off...

Leo was a good sport...not only did he ask Hector to give him a mohwak...he let the kids go crazy with it.

Crazy hair and all, we had a concert to get ready for.

Saúl made sure that Hector didn't leave without his share of the fun.

Spartacus

2011-10-29T15:52:00.000-04:00

This week Jen and I caught a new pet. His name is Spartacus. He is long, skinny, brownish-greenish, and he slithers. Can you guess what he is?

Now, in order to for anyone who does not live at the school to appreciate this story, I will share some background information.

Chris had been trying to catch a snake for most of his time here. He often went out on snake hunts and even got the kids involved during play time. We would hear frequent updates about his quest. He came close a few times to catching one. Finally, a few weeks ago, he found one waiting for him on his porch. Contrary to our suggestions, he named the snake Bo.

Now we fast forward to Wednesday afternoon. Jen and I were getting ready to go to Walgreens for flu shots. While I was waiting for her, I heard franticness coming from her classroom. I found her and Judy chasing a snake! Naturally, I joined in the fun. To make a not too long story short, we used a dustpan, broom, piece of paper, and an empty coke bottle to catch it.

Temporary home #1

Not until it was writhing in anger in its plastic prison did we realize how big it was...bigger than Chris’s. That’s right; a bunch of girls caught a big snake in a matter of minutes. That’s all I’ll say about that.

We named him Spartacus because that was Jen’s rejected suggestion when Chris was naming his snake. Plus…he’s a fighter!

Temporary home #2

In the foreground, you'll see his dinner, which Jen became unusually attached to. Fortunately the lizard was still alive in the morning, so we decided it was only right to set it free.

Since Chris wasn’t home, we decided we had to rush out to get a box to keep him in. As soon as Chris saw him, he decided he was too big to be in our little container, so he moved him into the big tank with Bo.

Jen was so right when she recently told me that we never have to make excitement here, it just finds us!

el arte

2011-10-22T19:19:00.000-04:00

This year in art class, I have been teaching about the seven elements of art: line, shape, color, value, texture, form, and space. So far, we’ve completed line, and we are halfway through shape.

Last year my art class was more of an arts and crafts time (because I didn’t have too many spare moments or brain cells after planning reading, writing, vocabulary, math, science, and Spanish to use on planning an art curriculum). However, this year, things are a little more under control in my classroom, so I am able to focus some energy on art. Art education is an important piece of a well-rounded curriculum, and it has been proven to help students academically. Therefore, I am trying my best to do it justice.

I started the little kids out this year with a standard back to school activity where they each make a “mini-me”.

Then we all learned about different types of lines and completed various activities about them.

Next is shape. Here’s what we’ve done so far.

I had hoped we’d be further by now, but I’m getting used to the fact that I’m never as far as I’d like to be. Art is the hardest in this regard because I only see each class once a week, and this time slot sometimes gets used for other seasonal or special activities. Nonetheless, we’re all having fun with it and maybe even learning something!

vistas extraordinarias

2011-10-16T21:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I spent the day doing “Puerto Rico” things. These, of course, are not the things that most Puerto Ricans do, but rather they are things that are markedly Puerto Rican to me.

In the morning, Jen and I went to our favorite bakery in the town plaza for our regular breakfast: un sándwich de jamón, queso, y huevo en pan sobao con mantequilla y un café. I think we can safely call this our regular because this was the fourth Saturday in a row we have eaten it. (In fact, we are waiting to see how long it will take before the people who work there know our names.)

Then we decided to climb to the top of El Yunque (the rain forest). This is something that we’ve been wanting to do since we returned from summer break. For a while I was not feeling up to it, and then we were waiting until the top of the mountain was not covered in clouds (this rarely happens—hence the title rain forest). But, as we were standing in the Luquillo Plaza with our stomachs full of Puerto Rican goodness, we could clearly see the top of the mountain. We raced home, got changed, got Jen’s dog Delaney and hit the road.

After the first few steps up the mountain path, we were both pretty sure we were not going to make it much further (maybe we’re a little out of shape—but we’re working on that). However Delaney was so excited, she practically pulled us to the summit—it only took an hour and a half! It was well worth it. At the lookout tower most of the way up, we had clear views of the ocean and surrounding cities. At the very top, we were in the clouds—which is every child’s dream the first time they go in an airplane. The wind and mist were so cool and refreshing…it almost felt like fall. Then God gave us a break in the clouds for a brief moment, so we were able to see the spectacular view. I won’t attempt to describe the beauty…that’s why we have cameras! See for yourself.

After we hiked down (we made much better time this way) we went to the beach. The water was so clear and the waves were small—perfect conditions for floating and relaxing after a long climb. It was exactly what our tired bodies needed.

Then we went home and watched a movie and ate a delicious dinner on the porch.

This was exactly the kind of day that I needed. I’ve been feeling pretty homesick lately, but this day helped me to appreciate the beauty of this island. Perhaps it was just the right thing to get me through the two months I have before I get to see family, friends, and home again.

un cuento clásico

2011-10-08T15:10:00.000-04:00

Here's my week in pictures:

In history class, we are learning about life in Colonial America. To gain a better understanding of how hard life was, we made our own candles; we concluded that it's much easier to just buy them!

Kristian signing the word candle while we wait for the wax to melt

Here is the first of many dips--and I mean many! If you don't have patience, don't try this at home.

The finished product

On Friday, my class read a story to the little kids. We performed the classic book Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. It is my favorite kid's book, so I had a lot of fun. When Krisitan and I (Kevin was out sick) finished reading and acting, we led the kids in a coloring activity. Then, as is our custom at ESD, the little kids acted out the story.

Saúl as the peddler

Kioney and Gaby as the monkeys (Kristian was the one who made sure no one fell out of the tree!)

Then after many renditions of the story--featuring every possible combination of students--I did a good old-fashioned read aloud. You can act all you want, but there's nothing quite like just sitting and watching a story. This is one of my favorite parts of teaching. I love to watch the students' faces and reactions to the story--even though they already know what's going to happen. A good story will almost always enthrall a group of children--and Caps for Sale is one of the best.

Here's one version of the kids' drama. Enjoy!

la justicia

2011-10-03T08:53:00.000-04:00

Last week, we went to court! In chapel we are learning about Micah 6:8: “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

In order to learn about justice, we visited the courthouse in Fajardo. We had a tour of the building, we met two judges, and we even had a mock trial. That was the best part.

Here are the highlights of the trial: The People of Puerto Rico vs. Mizael.

Mizael was being charged with the theft of a hearing aid. Chris was his defense lawyer, and Leo was the prosecuting attorney.

Gaby was the witness, and I was the person who makes the witnesses swear to tell the truth.

Kioney was the court secretary.

The honorable Kristian presided over the case.

The two sides made their arguments and questioned the witness, then the judge made his decision.

The sheriff, Larimar, carted Mizael off to jail after he was found guilty.

It was a fun time. There were two real lawyers and a judge to guide us with our roles. I think my favorite part was when the real lawyer was trying to coach Gaby (4 years old and shy) on his answers—like what time he saw Mizael break into his house, how far away he was, etc.

Gaby was just standing there with a nervous look on his face. When it came time to answer the questions, of course he had no clue what to say. Since I was sitting next to him, I whispered made-up answers in his ear. His shy, smiling face was priceless as everyone in the courtroom started at him with anticipation of his answers and while Betsy (seated in the jury box) was signing answers across the room at him.

The kids had fun and maybe even learned something. Next stop…a nurse’s office to learn about mercy.

un visitante inoportuno

2011-09-28T18:43:00.001-04:00

So a funny thing happened late last night…

I woke up to the sound of rain—that’s not the funny part. Then I felt something cool and wet drop on my leg. I was in that state of consciousness halfway between awake and asleep, so I merely thought it strange, closed my eyes and continued sleeping.

I don’t know how much time later, I was awakened again by a cool, wet spot on me. Since it was still raining, I thought it possible that my ceiling had developed a leak. I was awake enough to notice, but too asleep to do anything about it. So I closed my eyes to resume unconsciousness.

The next time I awoke to the newly familiar cool, wet sensation, it was about 5:45am. I was more alert since it was almost time to get up. I felt the wet spot on my leg, so I reached down and felt for it. I picked up something strange and unidentifiable by touch alone. I brought it closer to my face. It was dark, and I did not have my glasses so I could only see a vague outline. It looked and felt like a wet, shriveled up flower or something. Not satisfied with this guess, I reached for my cell phone and shined its light on the subject. Still not good enough. Finally, I sat up, put on my glasses, and turned on my light. The uncertainty was killing me. I looked down at my bed and saw an eye. This was definitely not a flower!

It was, in fact, a mangled coquí frog!—slimy, cool, and with something like guts protruding from its mouth! I immediately jumped out of bed, grabbed a tissue to pick it up with, and threw it in the garbage. After a minute of pondering how a dead coquí wound up in bed with me, I concluded that it must have hopped on the box fan at the foot of my bed, gotten sucked through (probably killed or fatally wounded in the process), and landed—SPLAT!—on me. Gross! I took a deep breath, collected myself, and managed to sleep for the few minutes I had left before my alarm.

(Now for those of you who are not familiar with the famous Puerto Rican coquí…it is the national symbol of the island. It is a tiny frog that chirps all night long. Some people find this charming and say that it lulls them to sleep, but I beg to differ. It is one of the most annoying sounds I know. If there is one chirping outside my window or on my porch, it will drive me crazy and steal precious hours of my sleep.)

I’ve tried to warn the coquís to stay off my porch…and especially out of my apartment, but some of them just don’t want to listen.

Let this be a lesson to you tiny frogs: If you come into my home, you will not live to regret it!

Cabo Rojo

2011-09-18T23:11:00.000-04:00

The first item on Jen's Mississippi list (all the things that she wants to do in Puerto Rico before she gets married and moves to Mississippi) was to visit Cabo Rojo. This is the furthest you can get from Luquillo. On an island that is 100 miles wide by 30 miles deep, you would think the furthest point would be reachable in less than 3 hours. NEWS FLASH! It's impossible in PR to do this.

Part of the reason we took this getaway was because we needed to drop off two of our students and their mother (who spend every other week with us) in the town of Hormigueros. The little girls were so excited to see their father. It was so precious to see them run up and hug him, grinning ear to ear. It made me wish (once again) that all of our students could have the same relationship with their fathers.

We got to the hotel in Cabo Rojo after dark. It was so beautiful, there were pools and hammocks and a beach and docks. Some people may wonder why we would take a vacation to another beach in Puerto Rico when we live so close to one here. Our idea of a vacation is an air-conditioned room and a TV! We also did other things--like see a light house and hang off precariously high and jagged cliffs (see photos below).

The view at the cliffs was spectacular! It was worth the four-hour drive each way just to see and climb on the rocks. I was a bit frightened by the fact that one wrong step could result in me plummeting to my death, but when I saw Chris jumping and playing on the rocks, and I was convinced I had to try. So slowly and carefully--and with some helping hands--I crept out on the rocks. The view was indescribable and the pictures do not do it justice--and I could not help but stare at the beauty in awe of our Creator.

mi equivocación

2011-09-13T14:17:00.000-04:00

Okay, I was wrong about Maria. Apparently she didn't miss us; she just slowed down and postponed her arrival. I was awakened at 2am by sounds of strong wind, rain, and thunder. When my alarm went off later, I wondered if we were going to have school. (There is a river that runs by our road, and it floods often.)

"hurricane"

A river ran through our courtyard today!

We all came downstairs for morning prayer, and waited for children to arrive. We had a total of three today (neither of mine).

As I was sitting in my classroom getting ahead on some planning, every teacher's dream came true. Leo came to my classroom with his laptop. Kevin (my oldest student) had called his webcam in hopes that he could be "in school" today. So I put him on the table, and taught him vocabulary!

Imagine that! A student who wants to learn so badly, that even when he is flooded in, he requests school by webcam! I am truly blessed and have the best job in the world!

Kevin and me in school

nada

2011-09-11T20:59:00.000-04:00

No rain...no wind...no Maria. What a letdown.

tormenta inminente

2011-09-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

Here's a great photo Betsy took at beach recently. I've never seen anything like it...you can actually see a rainstorm approaching. Notice the blue sky on the right, too. (It was actually a rather nice beach day.) It makes me wonder how people don't believe in God when we see this kind of manifestation of His power, creativity, and beauty.

I am posting this photo from last weekend because it doesn't seem that we'll have anything exciting this weekend from Hurricane Maria--I mean Tropical Storm Maria--okay, I really mean rain.

Everyone had been building this storm up to be bigger than Irene, and I couldn't decide if I wanted another storm this soon after the last one. It's certainly exciting, and it's a change of pace from our ordinary routine, but I really didn't want the power to go out again. I love my fans and cold beverages!

There's still a chance of some rain and flooding, though. We'll see...

¡gracias!

2011-09-03T21:56:00.002-04:00

On Thursday, I had art class with the three oldest kids: Kevin, Kristian, and Larimar. We were having a great time drawing and laughing. In the middle of it, I had them stop what they were doing so I could make an announcement. I said something like, “Thank you all for being so wonderful. Thank you for paying attention to me! Thank you for understanding me and doing what I ask.” They all kind of looked at me like I was crazy. You see…this week, I’ve had a few opportunities to work with our two newest little girls who have trouble maintaining eye contact for more than two seconds, never mind obeying instructions. God bless their teacher this year!

I would like to thank God for my boys: Kevin and Kristian. (I hope I can still say this a month from now!) We had such a good week in school together. We worked hard every day and almost accomplished everything I had planned. It is not often that I can say this, so I’m posting it here as a reminder to myself for the future. I love the dynamic I have right now in my classroom. Every day, I am appreciating teenagers a little bit more.

So in the classroom, it was a great week. And in the afternoons, we took the kids to badminton practice. A retired gym teacher in Luquillo has made it his hobby to teach kids the sport. So, for two hours every afternoon for three weeks, we ride down the street to la cancha and sweat and run and play and try to focus little children’s attention. This was our first week doing this, and we were exhausted by the end! But the kids seemed to enjoy it. In two weeks, our students will participate in some kind of tournament. By the looks of the practices, we could have some contenders.

el huracán Irene

2011-08-28T00:09:00.000-04:00

Finally I am connected to the world again. I’m sure you’ve all seen the news to know that Hurricane Irene did indeed hit our small island.

The power went out Sunday night, and the winds picked up. I had to close most of my windows, but I put up with some rain coming through the slats in exchange for a breeze.

On Monday morning, it was still raining and windy, but by later in the day, the winds calmed. Then it was cleanup time. We were fortunate not to have too much damage, although people told us that our road was the worst they had seen in the area. We had some trees down on the property, but no damage to our buildings. God was our fortress and kept us safe.

This river is normally not visible from the road.

Thank goodness we found the generator. Chris and Betsy took turns babysitting the finicky choke lever.

I raked...a lot.

Look closely to find Chris and a chainsaw.

By the middle of the week I was finally feeling better, and I knew it because I started to get stir crazy. All the work was done, but we still had no power and no school. We did have some pretty lightening shows though!

Evening activities by candlelight

Despite how it seems, this photo was not taken in the daytime.

We finally started school on Thursday…we had one student…not one of mine. This is when I actually started to go crazy.

When I was on the brink of boredom, we started telling stories to practice our ASL.

That night, as I was heading upstairs after learning how to play Othello (which is my new favorite game), I prepared myself for yet another night of sporadic sleep and constant sweating. Before I turned the corner to go up my stairs, I saw yellow flashing lights. Upon closer inspection, I could see that these were the lights that could bring us relief from boredom and heavy, still air. The electric company had arrived!!!

We encouraged the men with candlelight and cheers. They told us they hoped to get the power on that night. They pulled out a long stick and began poking up at the electric pole by the light of a flashlight. On their first attempt, they hit something that let off a large blue spark. On the second attempt, they missed the pole completely. On their third attempt…they did it! We had power again. After more cheers and excitement, they drove away to bring relief to others in our town.

Even though our storm is over, we are keeping the east coast in our prayers as they weather Irene, too.

¿una tormenta?

2011-08-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

This week in six words…

Eager students must bear unwell teacher. (Sounds a bit like a boring news headline, doesn’t it?)

Monday morning was the beginning of serious school this year. I was pleasantly surprised by the positive attitudes of my teenage boys. Kevin is ready and excited to learn a lot this year. He has a goal of graduating in two years. Kristian is happy to be in the high school class for the first time. So far, his behavior is helping him to earn his stay here. Pray that these attitudes last for longer than a week!

Unfortunately I’ve been battling a headache all week. Thankfully my students and fellow teachers have graciously put up with my lack of energy and lackluster attitude. Hope this discomfort will soon subside.

On a brighter note, we’re expecting a storm today! It’s not yet a hurricane, but who knows what Irene will be by the time she reaches Luquillo. In light of this impending weather, we had an abbreviated church service so that people could get home to batten down the hatches.

This could be my first big storm here. We’ve got plenty of candles, matches, and cans of soup. I’m getting all my computer work and copying done today in case we have no power for a while. Last time we had this much hype for a storm was Hurricane Earl last year. But I didn’t even have to close my windows for that one!

una nueva comienza

2011-08-15T17:18:00.000-04:00

I'm back to blogging! Sorry for my long break...

We did it! We made it through our first week of school. A group from my church came to work and put on their Vacation Bible School program for our school kickoff. They cut our grass, planted things, cleaned things, taught things, and played things. We went to the beach and the rain forest. We enjoyed having them with us. I know the kids had a blast! These pictures are evidence of that:

The girls on both ends are new this year. They live on the other side of the island. Please pray for transportation solutions and for time spent learning at home.

Our dreams of a pergola are slowly coming to fruition!

Kevin, Kioney, and I are singing on Main Street.

Everyone's favorite game this week was drip...drip...drop!

This is our junior missionary for the semester--Chris. We welcome his energy and are glad to have a new hero for our little boys.

But now the fun and games are over. I commented to Judy last week as we were joking and laughing with our students, “It’s a shame we have to be mean to them next week!”

el capitán

2011-07-09T22:37:00.000-04:00

Today my family and I went to the Yankee game. We bought the tickets months ago, anticipating just a nice family outing.

Little did we know that we would witness history! We saw Derek Jeter get his 2,999^th— 3,000^th —3,001^st —3,002^nd —and 3,003^rd hits!

What a game—maybe the highlight of my summer? Congratulations Derek!