Hey all!
So, it's been awhile, but before we start, I now have a youtube account! Little by little, I continue acquiescing to the vices and wickedness of the internet. However, below in blue are links that will take you to my two whole videos if you just double-click. If for some reason that doesn't work, just copy and paste the address below in your webbrowser. If that doesn't work, you're pathetic or I made a big mistake.
Karla's impersonation was part of an English project/presentation for the end of the year. The kids had to impersonate everything I do and say in Spanish in the classroom throughout the day, but in English. You can't see it very well, but she taped a small, unripe apple to her neck under her chin (I don't know why....) as well as wore my sport coat, tie, and hat. The other student is her classmate, Federico. The content of this impersonation is exaggerated...slightly. Very slightly.
Karla Impersonation of Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZdJ_MfQ5VY
Blind tanks is a game played in teams of two...one, a seeing (or screaming) guide who can't move away from the wall, gives instructions (left, right, forward, backward, duck, fire, etc.) to a blindfolded "tank" who has a ball to throw at the other tanks as they move around the room. Whoever survives, wins. They big, muscular, stunningly handsome gringo in red would be...me, of course. In my defense, allow me to explain a few factors that negatively affected my otherwise sterling performance...first, Jaqui doesn't enunciate her words very clearly, whether speaking or screaming, in Spanish or English. Second, the room is really big and all hard surfaces, so everything echoes. Third, everybody else is screaming, and it all mixes into one big noise, where individual voices are indistinguishable. Fourth, and most importantly, the Spanish word for "straight" is "derecho" and the word for "right" is "derecha," which sound exactly the same when screamed loudly from a distance of more than 3 feet away. Please see "first" above.
Blind Tanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtINwgkElFA
We had rain! For the first time since (I think) early February, it really rained here! Two days in a row! In Illinois, when it rains, everyone runs inside. Down here, everyone runs outside. If there happens to be a gutter sloshing a small waterfall off the rooftop of a nearby building, so much the better! On Sunday, everyone ran out and we had a huge game of soccer, which was like trying to play football on a slip-n-slide. Very, very fun. Monday night, we just had a waterfight, involving mud wrestling (Frankie)(what a surprise), 5 gallon buckets of water, and a small waterfall that became the favored spot to soak everyone who was soaking you. Also very, very fun!
In other news, our school was asked to provide the escolta (flag escort) at the end of year celebration for CONAFE in Santa Ana (CONAFE is the department that certifies our school, Santa Ana is the nearest town to Magdalena to the south, about 20 minutes, named after General Santa Ana of Alamo fame)(or infamy...he's a very unpopular figure in Mexican history as well). Michelle, one of our older students, was selected as the top student overall for our region in CONAFE. A few weeks later, we had a graduation ceremony for several of our kids, including Michelle. There were family invited, pizza, cake, slideshow, speeches, and an inspirational message from Bill Schick. Very good time had by all.
I've had the fortune (or misfortune) to join some of the little guys for camping and swimming the last few weeks. These sorts of things always look great before and after, but can often be miserable when it's actually happening. During camping, I was left without a sleeping bag and had to suffice myself with not much padding (my fault...took a bad count) and Diego almost burned down CVE campus....this was before the rain, so everything, including the pile of large fallen tree trunks, dry twigs, and bark that Diego set on fire, was really, really dry. Fortunately, Dan Coughlin was there helping out and caught it fast enough to get it out. As for swimming, the kids are actually doing pretty well, though obedience is a little lacking at times. At least I'm in a pool when they disobey me! Actually, like I said, they do pretty well for their ages...
Kid Profile for the Month: Federico Figueroa (Fede) is a nice kid, sensitive, 15 years old. Very artistic, reasonably but not superbly athletic, intelligent, generally diligent in a lazy sort of way (yes, that's a paradoxical oxymoron, but it's true), very funny, especially the way he talks. Several months ago he committed his life to Christ, but since then has struggled a bit, not from overt sin but more from distractions, complacency, lack of urgency in his walk with Christ. Pray that as he grows he will find direction and purpose, not just for this life, but for all eternity. Pray that God focuses his heart, mind, and eyes on the prize and draws him into a headlong pursuit of the holiness of God.
Speaking of spiritual things, I myself am facing some of the same temptation to stagnate as Fede, and as I'm sure many if not most of you are too. Please expand that prayer above about headlong pursuit to me and yourselves and the American church in general, including our denomination. There is more to true life than novels, movies, tv, sports, job, money, food, sleep, friends, or even family. There is an eternal, almighty, loving, holy, just, righteous, burning, glorious, majestic, merciful, ever-present, all-knowing God who invites and demands our slavish devotion as the only thing really worth pursuing with the tiny piece of time that we are each alloted. Dare we forget it?
Gracias,
Todd
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