Beyond My Wildest Mango Dreams

It was Teacher Appreciation Week last week. My students showed that they really know me; They gave art and mangos! THIS is a mango pie. Wow is all you can say.

I felt encouraged and my tummy was happy. And, look at those flowers our house helper picked from our front yard!

We also started Mango Math last week. That really means math learning centers, where they work on skills in small groups. For us, their groups are mangos and they travel to the different branches instead of centers. It has been a blessing because they love it, and help each other learn.

Strange... but good

A student finds, captures, and releases a baby lizard from my classroom. Strange... but cute. We celebrated Peach Day, as all students have finished reading  James and the Giant Peach. One family sent mango pie instead, because MANGOS are cheaper than peaches. Strange... but delicious. Parents come in to conference about their daughter's progress and behavior. The dad asks if he can pray for her, the class, and the teacher in closing. Strange... but good.

Mbudya Island

Well, I don't think any of you are feeling particularly sorry for me... but in case you were, because of the heat or humidity or centipedes or kids who don't listen to me, or something, pity no more! Here are some photos of where I woke up last Saturday morning.

We had a five day weekend for mid-term break. (Which by the way means the year is more than half over. Wow!) Some friends and I went to Mbudya Island for the day. A few of us hiked around the whole island. I was excited, because the tide has been too far in the other two times I've been to the island. We found coral caves, pictured below, with holes to the sky, on the back side of Mbudya.

After a day of hiking, swimming, and eating fresh fish, most of the friends went home. Jen and I, however, had a fire built for us and donned sweatshirts for the first time in months as we cozied up for the night. It was actually too cold! However that was a blessing because I woke up about every two hours and enjoyed the traveling stars and full moon, walked a bit on the beach, stoked the fire, and fell back asleep. There I am in my louge-bed, right where I slept, not more than a few feet from the Indian Ocean!

Truly International

My  final parent-teacher consultation took the cake for international medlies... The parent's mother tounge is Korean, she speaks Swahili, and has some words in English. My mother tounge is English, I speak Spanish, and have some words in Swahili. So, we started the consultation off in my few words of Swahili, until I was in over my head. Then my brain automatically switched to Spanish, which was not very useful to her. Next I switched to English, which meant we had to switch to using my student, her 9 year old son, to translate English to Korean and back again... as we talked about his progres and his behavior! She finished the consultation with some beautifully spoken words of thanks in English.
Funny. Chistoso. Kuchekesha. 재미있은.

Graffiti, Timed-Tests, and Donuts

Hello There! Here's an update from the world of Grade 3.

On your right you can see a stack of homework notebooks. If you look closely you will see graffiti... "I love God" and "I *heart* God" among the nefarious messages. I had never seen that in my teaching experience!

To your bottom right we have a timed test session. Four zippy mathematicians have already passed all the tests, like Chema whose standing in this picture. Those four now get to check other kids' tests! It's a coveted position.

Below you see two happy boys at lunch break. The boy on the left has a HOPAC donut, very popular along with the brownies. And they still seem healthy... probably because a game of football always follows the donut consumption.

LIFE is VERY HEARD

Just like the trucks, bajajis sport mottos on back. This one made me laugh... because life IS heard! ...It's hard, but it's quirky and makes you laugh too. And, we are heard in the hard times.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1

Something New

We had a day off school this Thursday... and for the first time since I came to Tanzania I made a picture. It's inspired by my bathroom window. The mediums include African fabrics, crayon, paper bag, acrylic, ...and glitter, thanks to generous glitter donors!

It was a refreshing time, creating, seeing which mediums would supply the colors I wanted, with music and sermons providing a soul soundtrack.

Other things that are new:

• The Simbiti people group near Musoma are starting to read their language for the first time, including passages from Luke. Read more.
• We are reading James and the Giant Peach AND The BFG in class.
• A group of girls who struggle with hurt feelings and little fights explained to me yesterday that they have been praying together and with their moms, and that the friendship disturbances have waned!
• Kara, one of our five housemates, went back to the states, as had been planned. We have a new temporary housemate. Transition!
• I plan to start helping with a program that works with local village kids once a week.
• I can speak a little bit more in Kiswahili, thanks to my quick language studies over break.
• Pineapples aren't as acidic as in the USA, so I can eat half a fruit with no sore throat.