Recent Class Photo

A recent class photo.

100 Days of School

On the 100th day of school, my students and I created a bulletin board: 100 Reasons to Love Lima.  Here are a few:

Paolo Guerrero, Peru's best soccer player...

Puente de los Suspiros, a cute bridge in my favorite part of town...

Ceviche, the raw-fish dish Peru is famous for...

Lomo Saltado, another tasty dish...

Kennedy Park...also known as the Cat Park due to its overabundance of cats...

Of course, Monterrico Christian School...

Sublime...

Friendship Park...

Polvos Azules, home of all things pirated...

Pizza Hut (not "Hot" as the picture says)...one of the less Peruvian things on our list...

...and last but not least, Lima wouldn't be Lima without the traffic.

Earth Balls

This chapter in science we are studying the Earth and its layers.  Last week we used peanut butter, jelly, chocolate chips, and crushed graham crackers to make an edible model of the Earth. 

The Mantle

Insert the inner and outer core...

Squeeze it back together...

Roll in it crushed graham crackers to make the crust...

And there you have it, a yummy, sugary Earth!

Aji de Gallina 101

My roommate, Natalie, and I have both prepared Peruvian aji de gallina before, but neither of us makes it like our friend, Flor, does.  So, since we are on vacation from school this week, Flor came over and spent Friday morning teaching us how to make aji de gallina her way which, in our opinion, is the best aji de gallina there is.

Step 1: Boil the chicken.

Step 2: Cook the potatoes.

Step 3: Wash and cook the rice.

Step 4: Mix chicken stock with bread and crackers.

Step 5: Lots and lots of onions.

Step 6: Shred the cooked chicken.

Step 7: Aji, the most important ingredient.

Step 8: Mix it altogether.

Flor cleans our house twice a week and cooks for us once a week.  We are so grateful for how she takes care of us, for her sweet spirit, and for her friendship.  

4th Grade Under the Sea

The fourth graders and I went under the sea last week on our first field trip of the year when we visited a retired submarine that is stationed in the port of Callao!

Ready for the bus...they are getting so big!!

All aboard!

There's only one way in...

Tanner was here visiting and was able to go with us too!

It was a bit of a tight fit for him.

Checking out the periscope...

Up we go...

March Newsletter

Courageous Fathers...

     Over the last few weeks, I have been encouraged to see how God has allowed several different things to coincide in a way that has been a poignant reminder of how incredibly vital the role of a father is in a child's life and what an immense responsibility so many of you men have as dads.  A little over two weeks ago, my church here in Lima rented out a movie theater and sponsored a showing of the new movie "Courageous".  It was exciting to see the theater sold out and the many unsaved guests who came and were challenged to be better fathers, better husbands, and committed followers of Christ. I myself had already seen the movie once in the States, but for whatever reason (maybe because it was the second time, maybe because it was in Spanish, I don't know...), the movie had a much more profound impact on me the second time.  Even though I am not a father, nor will I ever be one, someday I do hope to be married to one and I was challenged in a fresh way in relacion to the kind of man he needs to be, for me, yes, but more importantly, for our children.  All of that has been continually reinforced through the sermon series that my pastor has been preaching for the last couple of weeks.  He has been teaching from Ephesians 5 on what it means to have a happy home and how to achieve that goal, and has been especially emphasizing the role of the father in that process, as a leader and as an example for the rest of his family.  A particular comment last week resonated with me in a unique way.  In talking about verse 25 of Ephesians 5, which says, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her", my pastor asked the question, "Why am I going to love my wife?" There are many responses a man could give: because of the romantic feelings I have for her, because God commands me to, because she needs that love...and the list goes on.  My pastor said, "All of those reasons may be valid reasons for loving my wife, but there is another reason that motivates me to love my wife in a real and tangible way and that is this: I have two daughters who are watching me.  And I cannot expect them to wait for a man who will love them in a way that I myself am not demonstrating in the way that I love their mother.  And I have two sons. How can I expect them to be a kind of husband and father that I myself am not being?"   Dads, don't ever underestimate the power of your example to your children.  That reality hit home for me in a tangible way this Friday as I sat at my desk correcting a writing assignment I had given the previous Monday.  I had given a writing prompt that said, "If you could change one thing about one of your family members, what would it be and why?"  I didn't make it very far in correcting before I found myself in tears in the silence of my classroom.  Because of my 20 students, almost three-quarters of them had written, "I wish my dad would work less and spend more time with me."  Even the students who had only written three sentences (although they were assigned to write a page) included something to that effect.  Dads, do not underestimate the power of the time that you spend with your children.  If your work (or some other activity) is your first priority, trust me, your children know it.  Your impact on your child's life is not neutral.  It is either positive or negative.  No matter how difficult a responsibility it may be, don't miss out on the tremendous opportunity you have to make a positive impact on your child through your leadership and your example.

First Day of School!

     Being that I came to MCS partway through the year last year, today was technically my first first day of school! The week and  half since I arrived back in Lima has been a school-preparation marathon and today we reached the finish line...depending on how you look at it, I suppose, since it is also only the beginning.  Up until very late last night, the school was still a maze of paint cans, sawdust, desks, cables, boxes and dropcloths due to the very late notice we received from Defensa Civil that our school building was not up to code in some ways.  So in addition to regular start-of-school preparations, we were also rushing to finish the list of requirements made by the government in order to start school. Check out some of the improvements:

New cubbies for 2nd-4th grades...I have a set inside my classroom too!

New, fireproof paint all the way around...

New paint and glass to enclose the balcony...

     We are also excited to have more computers and a new copy machine in the teachers' lounge and the creation of a classroom specifically outfitted for the use of a projector.  

     In my opinion, the most exciting outcome of my nonstop work in the last 10 days has been my classroom.  This year my classroom has an Olympic theme, which we are going to use to learn about various countries and to emphasize perseverance and hard work.  It started out as a bunch of related ideas without much of an actual plan and somehow it all came together in a way that I'm really proud of. Check it out:

  

Roomies on the first day of school!

Excited for a new year!

Already hard at work....

     As a staff, we are excited about a new year and are starting off with enthusiasm and energy, but we know it won't be long before we are exhausted...pray for endurance and energy for us as we do our best not to burn out.  Also pray that our books arrive soon! There was a problem with the order (which was placed months ago) and we were told today that our workbooks will probably not arrive for at least another 3 weeks, so we are currently getting our money's worth out of the copy machine and doing our best with what we have.