¡gracias!

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

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.