Quito here I come

I graduate from from grad school on Saturday May 02, 2009 and I will be on a plane with some friends from school to Quito, Ecuador on Sunday May 03, 2009. We will be gone for 3 weeks and is part of George Fox's teaching program, but since we already graduated we don't extra credit for going, so we're going just for fun!!!! As sad as I am to not have Evan with me when I go, it will be a once in a lifetime experience and I am literally counting down the days...166 to go :)

Just a few pictures I googled of Quito. This where we fly into and will stay for most of the time!





...Can't wait!!!!

Middle Schoolers Say the Darndest Things

Today marked the end of my first week as a real, live student teacher. While most of the week consisted of me observing, I did get to interact and work with the ELL (English Language Learners) quite a bit compared to my Language Arts classes. I am exhausted but somewhat fulfilled, in realizing that what I thought God wanted me to do, seems in fact what He really me to do. I don't know if that makes any sense, but since Kindergarten, I always thought that I wanted to be a teacher. From my first day in kindergarten to the day I graduated college, I said that when I grow up, I want to be a teacher! However, you never know if that is truly what you're meant to do until you actually do it. Well this week I actually did it, and I absolutely love it. While Middle Schoolers can be difficult, I have to remember how many crazy changes they are going through all at once. I also have to remember what I was like in Middle School and what I felt and then all the compassion in the world seems to just flow out of me for this age group. Especially working with the ELL kids. I truly believe that working with them is living out the gifts that God gave me, at least I like to think so. Working with them comes with such ease, I already know the names of all 30+ of them. They are crazy, funny, kind and loud all at the same time.

They acknowledge when I talk to them in Spanish, and they make fun of me when I don't know how to say something in Spanish. They work so hard trying to learn English and are just a joy to be around. I'm so happy to finally be teaching.

The Cons so far however....

• Apparently, today I looked pregnant. One of my 7th grade Latinas, Dulce, came up to me as she walked into 3rd period today and asked "Mrs. Hendrix, are you pregnant?!?!" in a very loud, and serious voice. A part of me wanted to cry and the other part just said, "NO! I'm not pregant thank you very much!", in as kind of a voice as possible...
• I tried, unsuccessfully, to explain prepositions to my 7th period, 6th grade ELL class today. I tried using doughnuts and clouds as visuals, all unsuccessfully. One Latino, made it very apparent that I wasn't teaching well, by expressing that opinon in front of the entire class...
• One student thought I was born in the 1970's (which makes me 30 something) while another thought I wasn't much older than a 7th grader...I just can't seem to win with them.
• I've had to work with 2 substitutes in the ELL classes this week as my CT was sick...both of them were a little crazy...nice, but crazy
• One boy in my 7th grade Language Arts class, walks into class on a daily basis now and calls me only Jimi Hendrix...who knows how I will try to convince him to call me by my actual name

That's all for now, I'm sure more "kids say the darndest things" moments will be blog worthy quite often as my student teaching adventure continues...

I want a sticker

Today, I voted in my second presidential election, but this time in Oregon. Oregon however, is the only state so far that has ONLY mailing ballots. The other option is to go through a drive-thru hut and drop them off. So, that's what I did. Also for the first time, I convinced Evan (finally) the importance of voting. With this whole process, I think more than ever, I've noticed how dangerous it is to be so far to one side or another. People of one party specifically have been down right belligerent, mean and hateful all because they are trying to support their beliefs. I don't see how you can stand for equality and peace, yet consider certain people of a different party unequal to you. It makes no sense. Ken in church on Sunday talked about the importance of truth and relevance in this life and even more so the balance of them both. He used the symbol of the volcano hole at the mini-golf course. The only way to make it through the volcano is to be perfectly down the middle. You can' get the little white ball through if you are too far to the left or too far to the right. Not saying that having no opinions or always agreeable with everyone is the right answer. But know what you believe in, without being selfish and still loving other people.

I think in faith and politics, people, especially today, in this election, are only focusing on themselves and stopped caring for others who may not be the same as themselves. I am proud to say that I voted for McCain/Palin, but I'm not about to bad mouth a person who voted for Obama. I may not agree with it, but I'm still going to love them. In my faith, I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior and that I trust in a loving and amazingly Powerful God. But with that trust, I still need to love with relevancy. Ken also said that all of the Bible is Truth, but all of it isn't relevant to everyone at everytime. You don't tell a person on their death bed about Leviticus or read a psalm talking about becoming dust. While all of it is true, that person needs to hear that God created the heavens as a better place to spend eternity and that trusting in the Lord will get him there. As this election ends, I just hope people will go back to normal. I hope that my life embodies caring for others regardless of where they stand. After all as Evan's three year-old cousin, and our ringbearer, "isn't Jesus our leader, so why do we need to pick other leaders?", refering to this election. Yes Isaiah, Jesus is our leader and that is what really matters!