After a while, my new life has become my normal life - the bike rides to school, the dogs, the interesting food, and the countless mosquito bites all have become "normal" to me. In the beginning everything seems so drastically different so EVERYONE will want to know EVERYTHING. Now most of my life seems so natural that I don't think about how I still need to share what is going on in my world.
The school hosted an American Thanksgiving feast on Thanksgiving for the students and parents but it was not required for staff to attend. SO... Mr. and Mrs. Gee (also known as Poppa and Momma Gee) and Fabienne (our amazing secretary) loaded up the bags and went to French Guyana for a few days. Fabienne's friend was going to let us stay at her house for free and enjoy her pool! So EARLY Thanksgiving morning we were picked up my a taxi and rode for about two hours to the river, left Suriname and entered French territory. After getting our passports stamped, we found Budget and rented a car and drove for about 3 hours to where we were staying. Seeing a nicer beach was so wonderful, working on my tan, and visiting the European Space Center were fun (and educational) parts of the trip. It was nice to escape to somewhere else for a few days. Instead of mom's turkey with stuffing we had Brazilian pizza for dinner. :)
The Christmas season was super fun with my class. The school put on a super cute Christmas concert and they sang and danced their hearts out! I was even asked to do the dancer's makeup. I guess this diva title is more fitting that I was aware of! It was a great time to gather the school and parents together to celebrate the Reason for the Season. I will try to post pictures. I did a Christmas Around the World unit with my kids. Having international students it was cool to celebrate other cultures. We were busy learning and crafting! Within my class we did a gift exchange. It was precious. They kept it a secret all week and were so excited to have their person open up their gift! I got in on the fun and was given some fragrant perfume (in an apple bottle, of course!) from one of my students.
I was able to go home for Christmas and see some sweet faces. I treasured every moment I had with all my friends and family. It was a whirlwind of a trip. I can't thank enough those that let me borrow cars, sleep in beds, fed me, and planned special excursions. I am truly grateful for your generosity. I had some much quality time all jumbled into a two and a half week span my heart couldn't handle much more! Seeing Ms. Mitchell's class and all the questions they had for me was a definite highlight. I LOVE those kiddos! Walking into Target and Wal-Mart was a splendid experience. I typically live off of $100/week but I managed to spend $50 in Wal-Mart in 30 minutes. Maybe it is a blessing I don't have access to such goods on a regular basis. :)
I don't think I was upset about leaving America and returning to Suriname when the time came. I was more like...."I don't wanna go back to work!" It was great to have three weeks off, but I wasn't nervous about returning to Suriname since now I knew what to expect. Since being back I have gotten two new students...that makes 7 in case you have lost count. I have five boys and two girls. My two new students don't speak much English and one is quite shy. I ask something energetically and get a stone wall response. We are working on it though! :) We celebrated the 100th day of school last week and dressed up like 100 year olds! I had lots of fun and so did the kids. I have included a picture for those that don't have Facebook. :) I had so much baby powder in my hair that I whipped my hair later in the day and clouds of powder choking me.
Yesterday, February 9th, I went over to my friend Sherry's house to have a fun girls' day with some of her kiddos. (Hindsight I should have brought my kids over too) We did nails, hair, makeup, Just Dance, Sing It and art projects. It was fun to love on them. My eye makeup was rose colored. It looked like I just had my eyebrows waxed and my eyes were inflamed. :) Of course we played Truth or Dare which revolved around sharing the name of your school crush. (Oh to be 9 again!) They roped me into the game and I said "dare." So tricky...they said, "I dare you to tell the truth." It was a great day. :) It reminds me of why I am down here to spend quality time with these kids. My heart was full.
Lately I have been thinking about my amazing kids and how smart they are. They care so much for each other and know so much about the Bible. I want them to understand God in their minds and hearts. Not to be so full of knowledge that they miss a relationship with God. Pray along with me...ya mind???
Coming up...
-My 29th birthday!!!!! (My roommate Steph has her birthday on the 19th so we are having a joint birthday party at our house. The theme is going to the Roaring 20's since we are both turning 29 and leaving our 20's behind. I am sure it will be fun! We aren't dull people!)
-Moving houses...I am not sure where we will be going but pray that I can keep a sweet attitude about it all. I really like my house and hate to leave it. I have told the girls we are stealing the dryer...it may be ghetto-fabulous but it works (only if you duct tape it closed).
I hope you are doing well! Please drop me a line and let me know how you are!
You are loved,
Megan :)
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