CCI Church

Yesterday I went to my roommates' church. Heidi sings in the worship team and Melodee puts the message and songs on powerpoint. CCI is now at a new location and it had been around a year since I had last been there, but that didn't stop the attenders from coming over and saying hello. It was a very nice time, full of nice fellowship and good food afterwards. Though, I did have sweaters thrown at my head a couple of times for no apparent reason! (that's not a part of the service just so you know).

I also wanted to add that Jen has the cutest laptop ever. Rach, you would be proud, she has a mac (and I think its cute - go figure!).

Photo of the day: Trina and Jen at the potluck.


In Him,
-Amy-

La Tigra

On Saturday a group of us left for La Tigra, a hiking park found further up the mountain from us. What a glorious day!! I can't tell you how much I've missed hiking in Canada. The time spent at the CEC (Canadian Ecology Centre) was great for me. It has taken me a full year to get out to La Tigra and I'm so glad I did it now when the workload is still minor.

We left the apartments at 10 am. We being Heidi, Melodee, Robyn, Kyle, the Swansons, the Laparra boys and myself. La Tigra is a cloud forest and so we enjoyed the mists through the trees, the moss on the trees and the massive size of the trunks. Fantastic was the word for the day! I was in awe the whole way through!! We did end up going downhill most of the way to the waterfall - which was beautiful! The Laparra boys kept us entertained, falling into the water, running through the trails and basically adding comic relief as we grew more tired coming back. Kyle ended up doing the same things only with a major addition - he actually went swimming in one of the pools created by the waterfall. Which was a pretty impressive feat since the water was so cold!

On the way back it started to rain. It was impressive how hard it came down in such a short time. The canopy protected us most of the time, but the last stretch was on a dirt road that turned into torrents of water that had to be navigated carefully! Since we went to the park in a truck, there was only room for so many in the cab. The rest of us (being myself, Heidi, Kyla Swanson, Dan and Ben Laparra) ended up being in the back. It was pretty cold and wet for the first part, but as we travelled we sang worship songs and kept warm. It was a nice experience. One I may regret now since I've noticed the start of a nice cold coming on.

Once back at the apartments we quickly bundled up into warm clothes and basically didn't move the rest of the night. I guess now the soreness should start! :) We did end up watching the movie 'Holes' just to say we were doing something (but it was basically so we could just sit for a while). Good times, good times!

Now I've been working all day on lesson plans and grading...well, ok, so I took a few moments to write this blog and talk to my folks. ;) Later on today I will be going with my roommates to CCI church, it will be nice to see everyone there again.

Hope this day finds you all doing well!

Photo of the day: One of the massive trees in the cloud forest!

In Him,
-Amy-

The First Week

The first week of classes was very full! Not only did we jump into school wholeheartedly, but after school activities didn’t stop. Every day this week there has been something waiting for us. On Sunday when we came home Jen from upstairs was locked out, so we helped her climb up to the back entrance using a wooden ladder (it’s not too easy to do in a skirt!). On Monday…well…actually, I don’t remember there being anything on Monday (go figure!).

But Tuesday, my roommates and I organized a pizza potluck. We had about 40 teachers enter our little home bringing good smelling food! It was a great time of fellowship where we talked about everything from home to scheduling. The Trouts and the Swanson’s brought their kids over, so there was lots of entertainment as well! Since I took a lot of photos of that event, I’ll try to send out a photo album to you all.

Wednesday was when I crashed. I was pretty tired and had completely drained myself of energy during the day. The students were fine, in fact, I’m enjoying this year for behavior issues, but the constant demands during the day completely sapped me of strength. So when I had a lunch meeting, an after school meeting and then heard that we had rescheduled Bible Study for that night, I was a bit overwhelmed. The power went out that night as well, making it dark in the apartment with only candlelight. That definitely makes you sleepy! Heidi tried reading in the dark and Trina tried to work…I don’t think it worked well! Kyle came over and made us dinner (we were supposed to go over to his apartment, but we’re one of the only places that has a gas stove – very handy for power outages). We did end up going to Bible Study, with the lights coming back on moments before. This year we started a study on Ephesians. It looks pretty promising, since we had an in-depth discussion on the first half of Chapter 1 verse 1. I enjoyed it – even being exhausted!

Thursday I had duty after school, which meant I stayed at the elementary side by the ‘Big Toy’ until everyone was gone. It was pretty peaceful (other than the stinky black smoke coming from the buses!). Melodee and Heidi went down to look at fabric for swimsuits while I made dinner.

Friday will be the first High School Bible Study. I’m hoping it goes well. I’m pretty involved this year with extracurricular spiritual groups. I’ll also be helping with the Youth Retreats, putting together activities and games with Heidi. That’s coming up soon (Sept. 30th) so I’d better get moving on it!

Saturday a large group of us will be going to La Tigra…it hosts a waterfall further up the mountain. I had heard a lot about it last year, but never ended up getting there…so this will be a new experience for me! Well Melisa, I hope this was a long enough blog for you! ;)

Again, thank you for all of your prayers and emails, I enjoy hearing from you all!

Photo of the day: Trina with Lilian Trout at the pizza potluck!


In Him,
Amy

One Wet Day!

I just had to add this... (the picture is the result of this story). Today, Saturday, Kyle and I bought waterguns since Heidi and Melodee were armed with supersoakers from last year (and using a bucket just didn't cut it). Apparently, we had to try them out right away. This meant that Kyle had to see how far his gun reached...resulting in Melodee and I getting soaked. Melodee went on the warpath and decided to use Melisa to get Kyle back. Unfortunately, the code words of "Amy, can Melisa use your purchase of the day?" made a lot of sense to Kyle and he was ready for the onslaught. And so began world war III, where Heidi and myself took on Kyle - who then used the age-old weapon of a bucket and completely destroyed us! Melodee was caught in the crossfire and Melisa was brought in as reinforcement, but turned traitor and kept us trapped behind a pole! So...what I'm saying is...it was a really WET day!

Photo of the day: Me posing by the pole (while being sprayed)

In Him,
-Amy-

One Fine Day

Our second half day was great. I had psychology lab right away, which may seem hard since it's important for the students to know something in order to do a lab, but it ended up being a good start! I am pleased! Now if I could only be organized, everything would be set!

Quite a few teachers came out for soccer after the students left and played a pretty intense game! Then, as a release from school, 16 of us decided to go out for supper at Los Cebollines ('The Onions). Only 14 were able to get there because of Betsy's car dying, which was very unfortunate since it adds an expense that they can't cope with right now. Other than that it was a great time for us to get to know the new teachers and spend some quality time with the returning teachers! When we got back to the apartments a few teachers came over to A1 (that would be our apartment) and watched 'Corner Gas'. Yes, Heidi bought the complete First Season DVD set! After we finished with two shows the true entertainment began!!

For some reason we had talked about the infamous 'broom trick' during dinner. So Kyle wanted to try it out. I showed him how and then proceeded to let the P.E. teachers have a go at being flexible. That would include Heidi, Kyle and Katie Wells (who is an awesome teacher who helps with almost everything!). The funny thing was that I could do it easily, Melodee could do it easily...but they couldn't! I really don't understand why Melodee and I were more flexible, but it was pretty funny watching the others do a contortionist act on the floor trying to bring a broom past their head! (that was after they hopped around for five minutes trying to place their foot over the handle!). Ah, good times! I must give them a standing ovation however, because by the time the night was over all three had successfully done it! (or maybe they just wouldn't let the night be over without doing it). ;)

It seems that we have about 6 or 7 roommates (give or take a few on a given day) in our little apartment instead of the 'normal' 4! It's fun to have people just showing up for no reason at all...I almost feel like I'm on a sitcom (without the laugh track)! We had to consider that when we went out to the store looking for a plate set! (Now just four plates wouldn't do!). Other teachers are getting new things as well...Kristy and Krystal are enjoying their new home in Teguc, we're hoping to go see the apartment soon! Chris and Kara painted their walls a sage green (I think it's actually called dill) and are making their apartment look homey. Unfortunately, the horse of Don Chico (one of our guards) died a few weeks ago, so we're pulling together funds to help him get a new one.

Photo of the day: Angela (Kindergarten teacher) holding Abby (daughter of the High School Bible teacher and the Nurse).

In Him,
-Amy-

Enter the Students

Wiffle ball was a blast! The whole Swanson family joined us for a very 'cute' game! They have three precious children; Jared, Kyla and Josh. Kyla has a tremendous swing! She could go far in that game! ;) One time this week we also had the chance to go out and play night frisbee. This is the type of encouragement I hope continues on throughout the year!

Kara (grade 9/10 English teacher) and I got together to pray last night. It was a real blessing knowing we could talk to each other about our concerns and then take it all to the Lord. She has some big plans for getting the students involved in a drama production this year, I hope it works out - I'd love to be involved!

We had classes today. Only a half day, but it was still unnerving. Especially for the new teachers. As soon as I saw the students again it was as if no time had passed. The grade 10s this year are exactly as they were last year (chatty!!) :) The grade 9s don't know me yet so they were pretty quiet. I hope that continues throughout the year! My schedule still has issues so Mr. Smith is working on tweaking it into shape.

For some odd reason I keep getting more and more resources! Orfa keeps showing up at my door with boxes of books! :S It's good but I have no idea how I'll use them all! Ah well, I can't complain!

Tomorrow we'll have another half day with longer classes. I'll be happy to get into full days next week and the routine that comes with them. Right now we're finding ourselves pretty tired, it must be the stress of starting the year, I'm glad that tomorrow is Friday. That will give us the weekend to sort out final odds and ends.

Photo of the day: Melodee, Heidi and Jenny (1st Grade teacher).

In Him,
-Amy-

The Calm before the Storm

The past few days we teachers have gotten down to business! Our walls are decorated, our lesson plans are coming along and we are geared up for the beginning of the year...well...ok...so the stuff on our walls are falling off because of the rain, the lesson plans are only haphazard because our lesson plan books aren't in yet and the stress is gearing up for the beginning of the year! :)

Yesterday, after working hard all day, my roommates and I went downtown to pay a bill. I enjoyed the ride down with Brian Swanson (mostly cause he wouldn't let me do the work I brought with me!). We met Marcela while we were in town and ended up getting a ride back to Pinares with her -- we will probably be starting Bible Study at her house again this year. When we got back Kyle had made us dinner in return for the food we made him. We ended up moving around his furniture and changing his lightbulb (yes, it took four of us to get that accomplished...don't ask how!). We ended off the night by watching "Finding Forrester" with icecream mixed with peanut butter and chocolate (Heidi's famous for it!).

This morning we listened to a sermon about a Pineapple field and how a missionary had to deal with tribes coming in and stealing his fruit. The main idea behind it was for us to let go of things that we worry over, God deals with them much better than we ever could...and true blessing will come if we allow Him control of the things we think are important. What great timing! I needed to be reminded of that! Please pray that we would work hard on the tasks before us, but also that we would know when to let things be and not worry about them anymore. And with that said, I'm going to go try out wiffle ball!

Photo of the day: Adam Trout (6th Grade teacher) and his daughter Lilian.

In Him,
-Amy-

Trip to Valle

This is a picture of Heidi, myself, Trina (our new roommate) and Melodee! Today we left for Valle de Angeles...the annual trip for the new teachers to experience the wonderful culture of Honduras. It was great to get to know a few of the new teachers. We had a lot of fun conversations on the bus -- mostly about accents and how weird we sound to each other. (Guess that always comes up when you have Canadians mixed with Southern Americans!)



Because we've been to Valle a few times last year we weren't needing too many items. Melodee wanted cloth napkins (which she didn't get) and I wanted a change purse...talk about big spenders! But Kyle came with us, he is the new highschool P.E. teacher, and he needed larger furniture - like a coffee table and end tables. So we decided to help him find them. It was a pretty fun day! I'm impressed, he has almost as bony elbows as I do! ;) Go figure. We found some nice things for him and ended up buying bead curtains for our apartment, pictures to come. Kyle also bought a hammock chair that we tried out after we came back. It was hilarious because he didn't look too comfortable in it - hopefully over time it'll be alright. This picture is him trying out a hammock in Valle.

Being independent girls - Heidi, Melodee, Trina and I decided to put up the bead curtains we bought. After we were done Heidi decided to tackle the kitchen drawers that don't open unless you strain with all your might...putting a leg up on the counter for extra muscle! ;) (Don't ever give her a hammer!) She took apart the siding and we're thinking of getting new drawers, the humidity has made them expand and not work right. I must confess...Heidi did put the siding back on quite successfully, so she's proved herself worthy of carpentry!

We ended up having Joseph and Kyle over for supper tonight...I don't think they'd ever pass down food! Kara and Chris also came over and critically examined our art work. Then we watched a movie. I'd say this day was action packed.

One last thing I should add. I received my schedule for the year and I'm a bit worried about it. Not too much, but I have a grade 10 class right before lunch and after lunch. Which are the worst periods for behaviour issues. I'm hoping that the grade 10 classes are split up well so that I won't have many discipline problems...but I know that it's a hard time of day...dependence on the Lord is a must!

Photo of the day: A fountain in the Valle de Angeles Hotel.

Thank you for your prayers and emails. It means a lot to me!

In Christ's Love,
Amy

Beginning the Work

I've been working at the school for the past couple of days. Yesterday was filled up with meetings but today I had a chance to put some maps up and make my classroom look less random. It looks a whole lot nicer this year, probably because it was repainted and all of the old maps were removed...I've had a lot of comments on it. I hope the students like it.

My new books are in...I've got SO many new resources I hardly know what to do with them all! It's a bit overwhelming! So I'm only looking at one class at a time...and trying to figure out which resources I'd use more.

After our workday was over, a group of us went out to play Ultimate Frisbee. I realized how out of shape I was!! Of course, the elevation could play a part in it. We have a lot of athletic people on staff again this year. We're thinking of having a set day to play sports after school since there are a couple teachers who live off campus - I'm liking this organization!

So hoping tomorrow will have a lot of work accomplished as well!

In Him,
-Amy-

Honduran Update #1

I have officially arrived in Honduras for another season! The time spent at home was wonderful. I’m so glad I was able to spend the summer in Canada enjoying such great fellowship with family and friends! I appreciated seeing you all!

Heidi and I were able to get the same flight back but the one we had was at 7 in the morning, so we decided to spend the night in Toronto so we would have at least a little bit of sleep. The night before we left the country we enjoyed a final meal at the Rainforest Café. Richard Brooks joined us for a great time of fellowship with the strange atmosphere the Café created. Every half hour there would be a ‘rainstorm’ with water streaming down into troughs while electronic jungle animals would move around and make noise. It was a great segue to our tropical life in Honduras!

The next day Heidi and I left bright and early. When we were lifting off the runway we were able to see the wreckage of the Air France crash beneath us… it spoke to me about how frail we are. There are no guarantees that we will live beyond this moment. It’s good to know that we have a loving God that is in control of everything!

In Miami we met up with Henry Laparra (the Spiritual Life Director) and his family, only 8 children were with him this time! The world is much smaller when you meet people you know in a ‘foreign’ place. We arrived safely in Tegucigalpa.

I had a few surprises when we came up. My classroom had been painted, my new textbooks had arrived (what a blessing!) and the weather was so cold that I had to take out my sweaters right away (I’m wearing one even as I type this). Melodee is back with us again and our new roommate Trina has settled in. She’s very nice and knew quite a few teachers before they came to Pinares…what a small world!

We’re now setting up for the new year. Please pray that we would be organized before next Thursday (the start of classes) and have all of our goals for our students and the year finalized. If you’d like to contact me using the traditional route, my mailing address is as follows:

Academia Los Pinares
Apartado 3250
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

I hope that you’re all doing well and enjoying the rest of your summer!

In Christ’s Love,
Amy

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

Prideful Thinking & Last Days

I just finished reading "The End of Christendom" by Malcolm Muggeridge. It consists of lectures given by Muggeridge to a group of University students and the questions they raise afterwards. I am amazed at the discrepancy between the message he gave and the subject of their questions. I can feel the pride through the written words...it's almost as though they were intimidated by his understanding and wanted to show him that they too had knowledge and could put him in his place by lengthy questions on subject matter that they had studied. Unfortunately for them, they had to switch the flow of thinking in order to attain this. Muggeridge wasn't phased by anything, but was actually able to take their questions back to the concepts he had brought out - amazing!

It's strange how pride surfaces over the smallest thing. I was a University student recently and I can understand the atmosphere that is shown here. It's a competition to be the most intellectual, the most worthy of attention - whether that be respect, acknowledgement or rewards (scholarships). Our society has made pride into a positive characteristic, which is ironic since it was what made Satan fall in the first place, causing the fall of mankind into sin. In his book, Jesus Rediscovered, Muggeridge says it so nicely:

"Every act of true humility is a sort of grace whereby the soul grows as the will, or ego,
diminishes. Whosoever would be great in this world...is small; and whoever, through his sense of God's greatness, realises his own smallness, becomes spiritually great."

Today was my last day in Callander. I was able to say goodbye to quite a few people at Church. I found it funny that some people would come up and say "Wow, it's so nice to see you back!" I felt like I was hurting their feelings when I said I was leaving the next day. During the afternoon I spent some time with my brother's family. It's hard to think that when I see Logan again he'll be so much bigger...and Emma will probably be much taller. It was nice to see them one last time, so keep in touch you guys! :) After evening meeting a few friends and I had the true Canadian summer experience...Dairy Queen! It was a very nice way to end my summer! Though I think that England was brought up way too much! Just kidding Huey! :) Tomorrow I will be leaving for Toronto late in the morning. We're hoping to stop in Barrie so I can buy some materials for my classroom. And that's how quickly my mind turns from holiday to work.

In Him,

-Amy-

A Parting Shot

In two days I'll be in a whole new world...again. I'm getting to that stage where everything that I see now is sharpened, thinking that if I take it in clearly now then I'll remember it better later. The Lord truly blessed us when He gave us memory! Now if only I could get mine to work properly all the time! ;)

So, with only a couple days left in Canada, my parents and I took to the golf course yesterday. I can honestly say that I did...HORRIBLE!! My word! I was glad that there weren't that many people on the course. I did have a few good putts, and I did pitch a shot in using a 5 iron (only because the pitching wedge was being used at the time), but for the most part I was in the bush looking for balls. We went to the golf course by Terrace Suites, very small course but beautiful! The sun was setting when we reached the 15th hole and it was spectacular! (Mind you...we couldn't see after that and did even worse!) It was a wonderful time!

In Him,
-Amy-

Chronicles of Wasted Time

Malcolm Muggeridge titled his autobiography "Chronicles of Wasted Time". I have to admit that if his time was wasted then mine doesn't stand a chance. So hopefully I will have a challenge when I wake up - to live a life by dying to self and give what I have to the only One who can make it worth anything. Since Christ was the one who gave me everything in the first place, I'm not losing out. Now starts a year where I must learn this lesson day after day.

Today, I thought, would be a good day to start a journal. Maybe this journal will be different than any I have attempted previously, meaning that I'll actually write in it once in a while. So this is me attempting.

I've had a good summer and I'm sorry to see it leave. Three weddings, camping, family, friends and a lot of relaxation...can't get better than that. It's hard to say goodbye, but in a way, I've already left. My mind is now turned to what I need to accomplish before leaving Canada. What should I pack? What won't I be able to find in Honduras? What plans do I have for my classroom? Why did Toronto have to have a plane crash this past week? Well...I suppose I'm not too worried about that. The Lord is good and will keep us safe. History is good evidence of that. Losing my passport at the airport last season wasn't the smartest move on my part, but the Lord saw fit to get it back to me. Getting hit by a transport wasn't exactly fun either, but for some reason the Lord kept me safe. I can't say I understand why things happen the way they do, but I have an assurance that the Lord's always in control and will be no matter what the situation. I guess that this week Mat B. and Hillary are agreeing with me!

In Him,
-Amy-