semana santa

We’ve had a busy few weeks around our school.  Here are some highlights: 

Betsy and I went to New Jersey for the weekend to attend my church’s mission conference at the beginning of the month.  This was my first time attending the events on the “missionary” side.  (It still feels a little strange calling myself that.)  It was a wonderful whirlwind of a trip.  I really enjoyed seeing my family and friends and learning how God is working through others locally and abroad.  

We arrived back in PR just in time to get a few hours of sleep and go to school Monday morning.  It wasn’t too hard to muster the energy for each day, though, because we saw the light of spring break at the end of the week. 

Then, on Friday night—as we were preparing a goodbye meal for our visitors and a vacation kick-off—I tried to be helpful (I guess that was my first mistake!)  I joined Jen and Judy in their kitchen chopping sweet potatoes and zucchini.  In the process of cutting the potatoes, Jen cut her thumb on a knife.  I said, “I am going to be SO careful.  There’s no way I’m going to cut my finger.”  (That was my second mistake.)  Shortly after, I sliced off the tip of my finger.  I took a look, got a few second opinions, and we were off to the emergency care office in town. 

What I expected to be a freezing, pain-stakingly long, inefficient experience turned out to be quite lovely (if you can say that about an event involving a whole lot of blood)!  I was in, seen, paid, out, to the pharmacy, and home in an hour and a half.  I can’t always go to the bank or the grocery store that quickly!  Except for the rude doctor who later yelled at Jen and me as we tried to explain why the pharmacy needed my prescription changed, it was a smooth and almost-enjoyable experience.

I’m very happy that all this happened at the beginning of spring break because I spent the next five days in a hammock with my hand elevated sleeping off the dreadful side-effects of the antibiotics and pain-killers I was taking.

I came to life by about Thursday and went to church.  The kids in my Thursday-night sign language class performed a song, as did two of my high-schoolers (Johanely and Kevin).  Then on Good Friday, we attended a Spanish service in the morning and an English service in the evening.  Today we spent the day at the art museum in San Juan.  So the tough week has had a happy ending. 

Happy Easter!

chocolate con queso

Tonight after church, we had Mexican hot chocolate…with cheese.

This was a new cultural experience for me.  My pastor here is from Mexico and he brought hot chocolate for us to share.  Since you can’t just serve hot chocolate by itself, it was accompanied by a nice spread of cheese, bread, and candied papaya.  I thought this was a strange selection of foods (as I would not have chosen any of them to complement hot chocolate). 

But apparently I was alone in this thought.  I looked around and saw that almost everyone was putting the cheese in their hot chocolate!  This is apparently the Puerto Rican thing to do.  So I decided—when in Puerto Rico, do as the Puerto Ricans do.  (My pastor—who has adopted this same philosophy—told me that he has indeed never partaken in this tradition.)  I have to admit it wasn’t too bad, but I think I prefer my chocolate solo.

My mom (who also did not put cheese in her hot chocolate) has been visiting this week.  It’s been nice having a touch of home.  She’s been teaching the kids about health and hygiene.

This weekend, Betsy and I will venture to NJ for my church’s mission conference.  (I feel sleep deprived already just thinking about it!)  But I’m really looking forward to spending time with my church family (and real family, too!)

la luna

Tonight, we went to the beach to look at the moon.  When we first stepped onto the sand, we searched the sky but did not see it.  Then, we spotted a sliver of orange rising on the horizon.  What a brilliant sight.  I couldn’t help but stand in awe of God’s creation as we watched the moon ascend gracefully into the night sky. 

Sometimes it’s difficult to appreciate the beautiful aspects of nature when we see how much devastation it can also cause.  I’m sure some of us hesitate even to turn on the news for fear that we’ll learn about more tragedies and troubles.  After weeks of nonstop coverage on earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear reactor problems, Middle Eastern conflicts, and bombings it’s easy to develop a pessimistic attitude. 

In light of these events, our pastor challenged us this morning to remember God’s love.  God never called us to fear the things in this world, but rather to conquer them through Him.  He promises that nothing can separate us from His all-encompassing, all-powerful love. 

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

 

cinta adhesiva

This week was eventful to say the least.  Our staff has been studying spiritual warfare this semester, and we saw evidence of it in each classroom.  As expected, though, God has carried us through it!

In art class we’ve been having some fun with packing tape.  Inspired by sculptor Mark Jenkins, we have been making sculptures of our own.  (Visit his website to see some really interesting photos http://xmarkjenkinsx.com/)  What started out as a project for the oldest kids has quickly spread around the school.  Almost every student has, at this point, wrapped something or has been wrapped.  I seldom see the kids this excited about something.  I rarely see the little ones sit as still as they do when they are being wrapped!  Who knew that hours of entertainment could be provided by plastic wrap, packing tape, and scissors?

We are currently making a life-sized statue of Johanely.  I’ll post the final product as well as the rest of the sculptures when they are finished.