Another week has past(supercalifragalisticespaladocious)

Another week is done, and it seems like the weeks here fly by faster than it did in the States. Then again, in the States,I had the children for 12 hours a day and the days just seemed to drag. In Peru, the children leave at 1:15 and we have the rest of the afternoon to work on the next day and Fridays we work on lesson plans for the next week.

I can see changes in the children here, and they have started looking at me as their teacher and that they need to obey me. They also are learning the vowels and numbers better than I expected; I only have to say 'Speak in English" only 4 times a day now. Teaching in another culture after having years of experience in the States is proving to be harder than I thought, not bad just hard. There are several things that teachers do in the States that are not acceptable here in Lima, for example, in the States, it is expected almost in a way that a preschool teacher gets on the floor and play with the kids. In Lima, a teacher should never play with the children. I had to learn a new way of teaching and simply put away what I did in the past.

I am getting more and more comfortable teaching here with the children, at first I was very hesitating and not sure if they would understand everything I do and say. But now the children are more and more eager, and I have found that if I have one fun activity for them to do that the lesson goes better. The children are also teachers in a sense that every day they are teaching me a new Spanish word or phrase. Being here and not having a lot of Spanish knowledge is rough but I am in class and am working everyday error every hour and practicing my Spanish and hopefully in no time I will start understanding.

I have found a church here (Inglesia Vida Nuevo), and I love it. It reminds me of Suber Road Baptist Church and is the only church that has English translations so I can understand the message. I have come to the point where singing the songs I don't use the translation device but try sing along in Spanish to see how it goes. There are several families from the school that goes to the church and, in fact, one of my student's family goes there.

The experience overall has been fun. I would encourage everyone to go on a mission trip or if they gave some time to help out somewhere in the world. I am not going to lie to you the first month is hard, and you will be broken physically, emotionally, mentally thru the whole getting used to everything. The first month I was experiencing cultural shock (my stomach had to adjust to the foods here, and the routines and habits of the Peruvians, and just being exhausted from getting off the plane and diving head first into the school year).

It is still a challenge, but I am loving every minute that I have with the children and also with the other teachers. Giannina de la Cruz is my co teacher, and she is the best that there is. She is very caring, and she loves the school and the children. She is understanding of what I am going thru and is patient and I am trying to find how to teach the children and accepting that I do not know the Peruvian way so I will slip up daily(ok not daily but it seems like). My students names are Jordan, Sofia, Leonardo, Mateo D., Antonella, Astrid E., Thiago, Valeria, Belen, Mikel, Franco, Mateo C., Hadassah, Moises, Flavia, Romina, Ana Claudia, Tiziana, Alonso, Maria Fernanda, Daniel, Astrid M., Kyara, Lucciano.Their names are harder to say than they look believe me.They are a joy to teach and have constantly been reminded that Miss Matthews does not speak or understand Spanish so if they speak in Spanish than I can not help them unless they speak in English.

I have to get back to work and finish my lesson plans( I mean start) and get ready for tomorrow where I can sleep all day long and just relax and drink coffee :)

Thanks everyone for praying for me, I have felt the many prayers every single day :)

Every Day is an Adventure

Life has become very busy but good these past few weeks. At first I would just go to school and stay until 4:10 and then come back to the house to relax. Now I wish I would leave at 4:10, I am lucky if I leave around 6:30 at night and then sometimes a group of teachers goes to a few restaurants with air conditioning to work on lesson plans and paper- work. On the weekends, I will sleep in the morning and help out at a local church with their Awana program.

Today, however, was Family Activity Day at school so from 9-1 we all were at school playing and enjoying the fellowship of the families and other teachers. My games was called Minefield(which is where we create a maze out of balls, cones, ropes, and such and the person going thru the maze is blindfolded and has to listen to the ones behind them getting from start to finish without stepping on the "mines") and we has a blast playing the game :)

I am getting more confident speaking Spanish and have learned a few phrases and that I have repeated several times, and am looking forward to the tutoring for Spanish so that I can have a set schedule of when I am going to practice Spanish.

One Month :)

I have been in Peru for one month today and have loved it very much!!!!! There have been some difficult moments but nothing that is not normal for someone adjusting to a new culture and new life. This month has gone by so quickly and have learned several new Spanish phases and learned some important need to know information. The hardest part at start was the kiss on the cheek when people greet you and say goodbye, at first I was uncomfortable with it but now I have started to do it(when I go to the States for Christmas I might greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek lol).

I have also become confident enough to take the buses to school and to church and to the house by myself. Taking the bus is literally an adventure every time. They pack the buses so tight to where everyone is very snug up to each other. I have gained quite some muscles holding on to dear life when I have to stand up on the buses. Twice I have been literally at the door while the bus is moving. I have not fallen out of the bus thankfully. If you don't want to take the bus, you could always take the taxi but you have to be very cautious when taking taxis so for that reason I tend to stick to buses.

The school is about 15 minutes walking and 5-10 minutes taking the bus from the house. I teach K4 and have 24 students. They are a joy to teach and some days tend to be disobedient but over all a joy. I teach Phonics, Math and Language and share opening routine and Bible with the other teacher(who teachers Science, Skills, and Art). I spent last week talking about the United States and bought in Dr Pepper and Cherry Coke(there is a grocery store that sells American products but they tend to be a little pricey) for the students to taste. I also bought in Inca Kola which is the soda here in Peru, it is like Mountain Dew and Cream Soda put together.

This week at school was a very short week. Monday and Tuesday was a normal teaching day, but Wednesday was a whole school activity. Every class went to different locations to spread the Gospel and pass out tracts and Bibles to the people. My class went to a local preschool and sang "I Have The Joy Joy Joy Down In My Heart" in English and Spanish. We also told the Easter story and passed out little baggies filled with treats along with the tracts and Bibles. The children were amazingly good(until we got back to the school) on the bus and at the other school.

The food here in Lima is very good, we are eating a lot of chicken and rice which are two of my favorite dishes so I am happy. The past week however I have been eating only crackers and Gatorade and ginger ale cause my stomach was getting used to the food. The Peruvians eat their big meal at lunch(which is around 2 p.m. ) and then have a little snack at night time. I am getting used to that routine but sometimes it is nice to have a sandwich and chips for lunch and have a decent size supper.

The weather here never changes. Since we are in the desert there is little to no rain. If it does rain it sprinkles for a few minutes and then it is done. Since it is a desert there is dust everywhere and you are covered from head to toe at the end of the day. The temperate right now is about 80 degrees(it is summer time right now) during the day and 69 degrees at night. Winter will start at the end of May to beginning of June and then it will get cloudy and down to about 50 degrees.

There is no air conditioning or heating system at the house and school so we use fans everywhere and have windows and doors opened and drink alot of water. I have drunk more water since I came down here. In the States I would drink maybe 5 cups of water a day, but here I am drinking more like 20(no exaggeration) cups of water a day.

Two weeks done!

I have been in Lima for about two weeks and have loved every moment of it. The weather here is nice cause it never changes so you always know what to expect. I have recently experienced the routine stomach issues adjusting to a new culture and foods and hopefully I am over that cause it is not fun. School is interesting at this point, the kids are slowly learning that if they speak in Spanish I will not help them cause I have no clue what they are saying. I am working on a few key phases that I can pull out when they are not listening to me in English, so far I have go, sit, stay, no, yes, stop, listen, and quiet in Spanish down pat. The kids are funny when I speak in Spanish cause they get this very scared look on their face as of if they are thinking "wait you just spoke in Spanish, we are in trouble". The church that I have been attending as a translation device so that is good for people coming who know none to little Spanish. However this week I was on sermons audio and fount my church in Greenville, Suber Road Baptist Church, on there so I have been listening to messages in the afternoons to just stay in the word and be encouraged. Thank you all for praying I appreciate it and feel the prayers on hard days.

New Month, New Ministry, New Culture

As of yesterday I boarded a plane for Lima,Peru. This is my first time out of the United States. Got to Lima about 12:30 this morning and slept for about 5 hours. I got a chance to go over to the school this afternoon to meet the teachers and staff and some of the staff children. Played a vigioroua game of volleyball and had a cookout and got to know several people. I experienced my first bus ride this afternoon which was interesting and scary at the same time. The house that I am staying out over looks the Andes mountains(which I thought was cool cause growing up I read about the Andes mountains and now they are essentially in my backyard). The house does have a pool and a pool house and at least 9 bedrooms and a lot of bathrooms. It is a huge house to where you won't be bumping into people. School starts on Monday and I can not wait to meet my 24(that's right that is how many students I have) students.In preschool there are two teachers(Peruvian and American) and I will primarily be teaching Phonics, Math, and Social Studies.

God's Timing

The past year of my life has reflected to goodness of God. Back in the summer of 2012 I started praying that God will provide me a mission opportunity as my teaching job at the time was closing due to lack of students. I started applying for jobs with the prayer "God show me Your will". After months of praying and applying for jobs several mission opportunities opened up as a test from God to see if I wad willing to leave my comfort zone. In January 2013 I was looking at a career web page and saw a need for a preschool teacher in Lima, Peru. After praying over it I felt the Lord saying to submit my resume. God has opened the door for me to travel to Lima, Peru and to teach K4 at La Molina Christian School. I am excited for this opportunity to grow and to serve the Lord. This process of waiting on the Lord has definitely taught me patience and to accept that God knows your need and that He has something better in mind for every individual. The verse that has been a help to me is Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you."