I didn't write very faithfully the last few months, did I? So, here's another scorching summary of what's been going on since my last post...
Sigma, a business that supplies us with food, hosted a party for the kids, with inflatable toys, piñata, clowns, and etc. They did a really nice job, very mature group of people, but fun.
Betsa had her 15th birthday party in early May, which in Mexico is kind of the rite of passage into womanhood...dress, cake, party, ceremony, family, friends, etc. Betsa is Ruth's oldest daughter, followed by 3 rowdy and rambunctious boys...Manuel, Josue, and Angel.
Lupita had her 15th birthday party in early May as well. She elected the informal route, with a short ceremony, cake, pictures in the dress, etc., followed by everyone changing into old clothes and playing volleyball, baseball, etc. I missed out on a lot of pictures of this one, because I was driving a route at the time, but such is life.
I now have a US and Mexican driver's license! I also have a Mexican cell phone! I'm becoming a national!
ENLACE, Mexico's national standardized testing, came and went with few problems. I think the kids did pretty well.
That same week of ENLACE, the kids had another kind of learning experience when Duane Wulf and Joel Leman butchered a hog and the kids got to watch and help, all the way from the hammer blow to the head (we had no stun gun)(the first one didn't do the job, so they whacked him again) and throat-slitting all the way to the hide-scraping, gutting, anatomy lesson, and bacon preparation.
Joel and Steph Rinkenberger's wedding went off very well...I am still very much in awe of their willingness to start life together with 4 very energetic kids...I also admit I choked up when Joel walked down the aisle with Marcos, Aaron, and Diego in tow in their little suits...they were so obviously excited to be in a (their very own!) wedding with a new Daddy to walk behind. They were very manly tears, though, and I didn't let them fall, so it doesn't count against my reputation as a Macho Non-emotional He-Man Stoic. Plus, I always have a very large lump in my throat, so the fact I was swallowing hard and often (but very briefly, mind you) can be written off as an extra, temporary thyroid gland, probably the result of exceptionally high levels of muscle-building testosterone flowing through the glandular system into my massive biceps...
Keith and Emily Schambach officially announced their decision to move back to the US. They are now in Leo, IN, where Keith is working at Paragon Landscaping. It was obviously a very tough decision for them, and tough for the girls and the rest of us, but God is simply moving them from one mission field to the next, and He is trustworthy. Pau and Kali are taking over the girls now.
We had testing, finished school, held an end-of-year fair and exhibition, and had another lock-in at the school! Pretty similar format to last time in December really....devotions, explanation of rules, games, farewell slideshow for Keith and Emily, more games, singing, food, movie, food, cleanup, go to bed at 4am...
The dorm was finished, and looks much better! Then we moved. Part of the craziness of the last few months was having basically half the staff shifting places, with Seth, Fede and I moving into town, Steph and Joel moving into our dorm (which is now a house), Pau moving out to the girls' house, Keith and Emily moving to the US...you get the idea. All of this while we had up to 3 different housing projects (new construction or remodel) going on and hosting a number of work teams...
We went to Michoacan, finally! Fede, Michelle, Cassidy Wulf, Nicole Knobloch and I headed down to Hermosillo by car and to Guadalajara by airplane (first flight for Fede and Michelle), then met up with Gloria Gonzalez to tour Guadalajara before heading to Ixtlan. From Ixtlan we went to Zamorra and Camecuaro (a very beautiful lake area), then by bus to a national park in Uruapan, an island with a famous statue (Ajintzi, I think) close to Patzcuaro, and then on to Morelia, where I had my language training for 2 months in 2009. In Morelia, we visited a craft museum, a candy museum, churches, my Mexican host family, markets, restaurants, and a couple of universities. From there we went back to Ixtlan for a few days of welcome rest and hanging out, then back to Guadalajara and Hermosillo and Magdalena.
When we got back, there were lots of new kids...Mariela, who is 9, I think, came first, followed by Belem and Belinda, who are Fede and Jaqui's younger sisters (ages 12 and 10, I believe). Last, we finally got a family of 5 kids who we had been told were coming months ago...Fernanda (8 yrs.), Tadeo (6), Perla (3), Leobardo (2), and Milagros (10 months). All were very thin and underfed, but especially Tadeo, who has special needs, and Milagros, who was immediately sent to the hospital for stage 3 malnutrition. It is amazing what regular baths, good food, and safety will do for kids. I would never have imagined Tadeo could be as energetic and expressive as he is now, and Milagros, though still small (she's about the same size as Soraya, Limon and Kristy's baby girl born only a few months ago), is much more energetic and cheerful. There will be a long period of adjustment for many of these kids though, who will need to find their way to a new normal.
Meanwhile, the girls (Jaqui, Lupita, Karla, Tania, and Yaneli) went with Pau, Geo, and Kali on a special trip to Culiacan, south of Mexico City, for a couple of weeks to see Pau and Geo's parents. Their mother, Rebecca, then came back with them to stay for a few weeks.
Also, Bere's mother and younger brother came about the same time to stay for a month or so.
Summer school went off very well, in spite of the chaos. We had a number of volunteers who helped out as summer school teachers....Rebecca Aquino, Pau and Geo's mom, taught Spanish classes and was then succeeded by Sarah Frank, who taught in summer school last year and is now at CVE full-time as our primaria English teacher. Heidi Krueger taught science and sign language classes and helped take care of some kids while several staff members went home for wedding receptions and such. Apparently she likes it here, as she is now planning to stay on full-time in child care. Alyssa Myer and Lisa Aschlimann came down from Bluffton to teach study skills, math, music, art, and English, and Sara Schick was our swimming instructor and PE teacher. Meanwhile, some of our own kids got into the act, with Michelle helping in swimming, Jaqui teaching kindergarten and preschool, and Karla also stepping into the kindergarten classroom and serving as a translator for Sara in PE. Seth also stepped in admirably as the go-to substitute teacher whenever there was a shortage of people, so I actually got a few weeks off of teaching! (I didn't realize until then how much the classroom schedule had drained me of enthusiasm and energy last year...thankfully, with the time off from teaching and ability to focus on supervision this summer, I'm starting to recharge.)
Another part of the hectic schedule this summer was a simultaneous temporary exodus of child-care workers....Joel and Steph went back for a week or two to hold receptions for their families in Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana, and took their best man and maid of honor with them (Seth and Jenna) while Jodi went home to visit family and take Jorge to get his leg fixed...(Side note...Jorge's leg didn't need surgery because God healed him before he even headed north!)
It was a welcome change of pace for me to be teaching this summer in non-standard classes...I got to teach a couple hours of swimming per day, plus driver's ed! Swimming was fun, courtesy of the Duane and Ann family pool, and I spent a lot of time with Limon and Kristy's boys (Angel, Isaac, Daniel, Marcos, Eduardo) and Juantan and Bere's kids (Ramses, Aaron, Nere, Jose, Keyla). Driver's ed was a little nerve-wracking at times as we did parallel parking, driving in reverse, and other exercises, but the kids really did very well, even with stick shift! Fede and Michelle were on Saturdays while Jaqui, Lupita, and Karla had Wednesdays.
VBS week was tiring and crazy but good...we had a total of 524 kids during the week, plus another 30 adults or so. With all the heat and driving and teaching, it was nice to get it done, but definitely an important part of the CVE yearly routine. Joel Rinkenberger and I were teaching the 12 to 15 year old boys.
Now, I have a couple of "free" weeks to plan and organize for next school year, do some teacher training, and relax a bit before school starts on August 22!
Thanks for your patience!
Todd
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