cinnamon roll

Alas, my Christmas break is over and I'm back to teaching full-force in La Paz. There are more reflections and stories from the past month to come, but for now, I'm happily busy with my first graders, curriculum, accreditation, and all those other jobs that only teachers really understand. But I had to take a moment to show off my now 20-month-old niece eating one of Momma Lu's special Christmas cinnamon rolls that only come once a year...I think Maddie was glad she tried it.

peace

Whew, there is a lot to be done in the next 72 hours! As my family and friends know, I can tend to get really overwhelmed with life at times. But the Lord has really been reminding me these past few months that it's going to be okay. It won't be perfect, and it most likely won't go the way I'd like it to, but I will survive and can even try to enjoy the difficult, stressful times by the grace of God. He is always faithful, and if I can take a minute to remember who he is and that he is what I want my life to be about, the next task on my to-do list won't seem so daunting.

God grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace,
taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it,
trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will,
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
~Reinhold Niebuhr

a few of my favorite things

Every day here is a gift. But at the end of the semester with tired students, being exhausted myself, and missing my family and friends, I sometimes have to choose joy by reminding myself of my favorite things here, in no particular order of importance:This is Pepsi, the puppy that belongs to the family that runs the tienda beside the school. He is so super cute and has the sweetest personality. He's my adopted dog in Bolivia (I even let him come into my classroom!).This is one of the owners of Pepsi, two-year-old Janela, who lives beside the school and comes to play after school almost every day. She is so beautiful, and she loved having a photo shoot.

Of course, as much as they can drive me crazy, I love my students dearly. They definitely make the favorites list. Aren't they precious?Another of my favorites is the fun I have with my teacher friends. What a blessing to be among a fun group of believers that love Jesus and love life!And last but not least, one of my favorite things about Bolivia is the scenery. How do people deny the existence of God when seeing such a breathtaking view?

I'm so thankful for the provisions and blessings of living here in La Paz. (All that to say, I'm also thankful I only have 9 days until I'm flyin' home!) Thank you, God, for the loveliness of my home here and my home in the States!

thankful

Last weekend an incredibly generous family, whose child Matthew is in my class, hosted the whole Highlands staff for a traditional Thanksgiving feast in their home a few days early. (Just a reminder: They don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Bolivia.) It was such a blessing to have good food and wonderful quality time with my family here, especially since I miss my family in the States so much. A really touching moment was when we were all sharing things we were thankful for and the mom who hosted broke down in tears when telling us what a blessing the school was to her. It's really amazing to see how we can bless each other and build each other up...I don't think she'll ever really know what a joy it is to all of us to have Thanksgiving at their home each year. After a delicious dinner, we watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and played games around the fireplace. I'm thankful for such a sweet time. It made missing Thanksgiving with my family back home a little bit easier.

On another note, this past week at school we celebrated Spirit Week with Crazy Hat Day (her hat says "I love first grade"),

Tacky Day,

Favorite Book Character Day (I was Olivia the Pig. If you haven't read any of her books, I highly recommend them),

Pajama Day (this kid didn't soil his pants, he just sat in the dirt...too funny, especially in his onesie!)

and Team Day, which was like a big field day for the whole school. It was really incredible to watch the high school kids lead the little ones and encourage them in the events (and also a nice break for the teachers!). I was able to observe the students from my station, and it just became so evident to me how much God's hand is over the school.
This was refreshing, especially since that evening my roommates and I were invited to a student's house for dinner and, heartbroken, I observed the parenting skills, or lack thereof, of a single father. It seems many parents at our school try to buy their way to kids' hearts, don't know Jesus and try to depend on their own strength day in and day out to guide their children, and put the responsibility of raising their kids onto their hired help. It can be overwhelming, but by the grace of God, I'm thankful to be at Highlands to try to point my little ones to their Heavenly Daddy that won't ever fail them.
Thank you, God, for the beautiful people in my life, who all teach me so much every day.

playing dress-up

I'm not a huge proponent of Halloween, especially here in Bolivia, because it can be so dark and demonic. I do remember that I loved to dress up as a kid to go to a church function or trick-or-treating, and I'm sure my sister would be happy to tell you about the Halloween when I dressed up as the Solar System. So weird. This, however, might be the cutest costume ever. And the cutest little girl ever. My sister Kelly even made this wig for my niece. Oh, I miss those girls. Maddie, I'm sorry I missed your second Halloween and won't be there for Thanksgiving, but I'll be there for your second Christmas!
In other dress-up news, it didn't work out for my roommates and I to have our costume/masquerade party Halloween weekend, so we scheduled it for the following. We were not characters, but rather an era--an incredible decade in which fashionable clothing was at its peak of classiness and hairstyles were big and beautiful. We were the '80s. Here's the female crew in attendance. L to R: Sarah Palin, 80s chicks, pregnant hick lady, Tim the biker, butterfly, and ant

Since my roomies and I can be overachievers, we didn't settle for just dressing up in 80s attire--oh no. We learned the dance to "Thriller" and performed it for everyone, leggings, hot pink lipstick and all. Who says missionaries can't throw fun parties?

i heart my school

I had a visitor in my classroom the other day. His name is Pimiento (Pepper in English). We have a few dogs that live on our school's campus. It's quite humorous that they hang around the playground and the office, and the kids play with them all the time. This one morning before school Pepper came in my classoom and hung out for a while. It's fun to have some furry friends around since I don't have time or space for a pet right now.

Friday was my first parent-teacher conference day, and I survived! Most of them said their children were very happy and loved school. What an answer to my prayers, both to have survived conferences and to find out that my students do actually enjoy my class. I still have to be mean Ms. Letchworth oftentimes as they learn the rules and routine of a full day at school, but what a blessing to know that my little ones enjoy coming to school and learning! I pray that they can continue to learn and grow, to see the love of Jesus in me and the other teachers, and that I can rely on God's strength to teach and love them well the remainder of the year.

P.S. Only 9 weeks until I come home for Christmas break!!! But who's counting? :)

dos adventures in bolivia

I've been quite adventurous the past 2 weekends, if I do say so myself. The weekend before last I braved the infamous Death Road, a mostly dirt road here in Bolivia on which many people have been injured and a few killed. My friend Sarah and I geared up with a local company to try our luck, and, minus the scare when we both got a little too close to the cliff, we had an amazing time! This is pre-road practice...yes, I'm that good that I can close my eyes while riding.

Phew! Talk about an adrenaline rush. We descended from a high elevation into the jungle. That little tiny strip is the road.
After we finished victoriously, we stayed at a lovely wildlife reservation/lodge. There were animals everywhere...not just dogs and cats, but monkeys, macaws, an ocelot, ducks, bunnies, and more monkeys. It was one of the coolest places I've ever visited. Monkeys would jump up on you and "talk" to you. Now I'm not an advocate of evolution, but it was really fascinating to watch how humanlike these guys' actions were. That hairy thing on my lap is a spider monkey.

One of our other teacher friends met up with us and spent the night in our tiki hut-type cottage after we played in the jungle together. It was so peaceful and relaxing, and an incredible reminder of the beauty of God's creation. Fabuloso.
Last weekend I traveled to Copacabana (yes, like the song) with some other teachers and students from my school. We hiked and camped for three days...the longest I've walked in my life!

Even though the hiking was a bit strenuous (think Bolivian mountains at 14,000 feet), it made everything else that much more rewarding. Arriving at our destination was that much more victorious, meals were that much tastier, and sleep and rest were that much more appreciated.

It was great to get to know some of the older students better and to bond over hard work and appreciating the wonders of God's creation...
...including some llamas along the way...
...and some pigs. These animals are proof that God has a sense of humor.
The views were absolutely breath-taking (well, both the scenery and the lack of air at such high altitude).

My favorite part was camping out the second night on the beach of Lake Titicaca.
I'm so grateful for opportunities to travel rather inexpensively and experience life in another culture. I'm beginning to learn the importance of living it to the fullest! I have a much greater appreciation for the Creator and his creation, for rest time away from work, and for shared experiences that allow people to grow closer. Thank you to all of you who've made this bit of traveling possible. What an amazing couple of weekends!