Vacation Time!

So, with the end of October coming soon, it means we are getting into the month of November. Here is Panama, this means LOTS of national holidays, which means LOTS of days off from school. I think it is coming at a perfect time where I am very much in need of a vacation. And, I mean a vacation from Panama and all the stresses from school. A vacation where I don't have to do any school work. So, this weekend, some of us are headed to Costa Rica for 4 days! Yahoo! Pray for safety as we travel on a long bus ride and that all the details of our trip will work out. I will keep you posted! Costa Rica here we come!

I Love Water!

So, I just had to post about last weekend. I have 3 roomies and last weekend 2 were away on a retreat. So, that left myself and another to explore and use the car. Yahoo! We dropped them off at the church to meet the group and felt like we were parents dropping off our kids...."When the kids are away, the parents will play" was a common quote from the weekend.

We had an awesome weekend going all over town, doing errands, walking the Causeway, eating delicious Chai beverages, shopping, and laughing together. All of this happened the same weekend our whole area didn't have WATER! We laugh about it now and how crazy it is that it stopped working on late Friday night and started again Sunday afternoon (just in time for our other roomies to return).

We were about to start watching the World Series game on Sat. night when it started pouring down rain. We both felt so gross from not being able to shower so I jokingly said "we could just go outside in the rain". Well, that is exactly what we ended up doing! We changed into shorts and a t-shirt, grabbed our towels, and yes even shampoo. We ran around and stuck our head right under the water that was pouring from the roof covering the cars outside. We were laughing the entire time and I would hide every time a car drove by (my roomie just froze as if she was a part of the scenery). We raced inside just as one of our neighbors came outside. HILARIOUS!

So, let's just say we felt so much better and we now have a new appreciation for water. God continues to teach me these lessons of being thankful and content with what I have. I LOVE WATER!

A True Panama Adventure

So, I just had to share with you all about my day here. My aunt and uncle were coming through the Panama Canal on their cruise ship today so 6 of us (me, my cousin, her husband, and their 2 kids, and my uncle) went out to Diablo Point to wave and show them our signs. We found them early in the morning among all the many people (our guess is that my uncle got up early to claim that spot). A few hours later, we came side by side with the cruise ship again...this time we are all in the boat (owned by my cousin and fam) and caught up with cruise ship in the canal. Boy, I am sure we were the talk of the cruise ship since many people were waving, taking pictures, and video taping us. Hilarious. We were able to find our relatives again. So cool.

The whole time we were doing this, I just kept asking myself....who does this? It is not just everyday that you get to be with people you love waving at more people you love while in the Panama Canal. After waving to them for a while, we ventured out to feed the monkeys and returned home. Just another day here in Panama:-)

More...

Sorry, for some reason it didn't show some of my other post. What I meant to say was that I tried to get some work done in my classroom but it just unimportant at the moment. I was not motivated.

A Hard Lesson Learned.....

Today was a pretty good day at school with just a few situations that happened with some students. The kids are always usually much better on Fridays but then they have the weekend to run free at home! (making Mondays hard). All was fine...I had just finished the day and returned to my classroom to put things away. I was happy to have completed another week of school. All was fine...until about 3:00pm.....

There was suddenly a lot of people running around in the hallway and all the students from outside were coming inside to wait for their rides. Not knowing what happened, I asked another teacher who replied "Someone fell from the roof". This immediately gave me this sick feeling in my stomach. Here at the school/church, they are building a new tall roof to the parking lot, which can be used for sports and other activities. One of the construction workers on this roof fell from where he had been working. The paramedics arrived but were unable to help him. He died from the fall.

Some of us gathered to pray for this man, his family, and the hard times we have had at the school. What is going on? At the end of September, a dad of 2 students at the school was shot and killed in their home. For me, today's devastating accident has taught me an important life lesson. It puts my life into perspective. As hard as my job is, as much as my students drive me crazy most days, I still couldn't imagine if one day they never came back to school. I can't imagine my life without knowing these kids (and oh the stories that I have from knowing them too:-). It makes me thankful for the things God has given me. Here I have been inside teaching at the school, and this man has been outside in the heat working on this roof. Wow!

I later went back into my classroom and TRIED very hard to get work done. I just was not motivated. It just wasn't that important at the moment.

Please join me in praying for this man's family and all the other workers who knew him. Pray for our school and the students who may have witnessed this accident. Pray for the church as they explain to the congregation what happened. This is all tough stuff and a hard lesson learned.

Super Cool Roommates!

So, I just wanted to give a shout out to my super cool roommates here. We had a blast together last night at our Bible Study's girl's night and it just made me even more thankful to have them in my life. We always have so much fun! Also, another funny story...

You know you have been in Panama long time when....... you get cold from sitting in the air-conditioned coffee shop! Well, this is just what happened to one of my roomies and me yesterday. We both got so cold sitting there for about 45 minutes that we decided to walk back to "warm up". Hilarious! I am totally gonna freeze when I head back to the states for Christmas.

Celebrate Good Times!

So, I have to share my excitement with you.....I have just finished the 1st quarter of teaching here! This feels like a huge accomplishment and one that I thought would never happen. It feels so good to have grades in and to be able to have some fun with friends this weekend. It was a tough push to finish this week but I did it. Oh, and I have learned so much during these last few months! On top of all the craziness that usually comes during the week, one of my little students fell outside during recess and broke her arm! Pray for her as she recovers and will hopefully come back to school soon.

So, pretty much I could not have gotten this far into the school year without God's strength and wisdom. Please continue to pray for me especially when I talk to parents about their child's grades!