Colorado

I have been in Denver for close to 3 months.  I am adjusting well to life in America.  Sometimes I wonder why things are so strange here though, or why I always have to do the laundry.  School is going really well.  I have 16 students and they are very sweet.  Yesterday we decorated pumpkins for Friday Fun.  This weekend I am going to Colorado Springs to see some friends.  

African Safari with Bryan

My brother Bryan and I went on a safari in Africa together. We spent 6 days in Tanzania riding around to different parks looking at different animals.  We saw the big 5 minus a rhino.  Then we flew to Rwanda and went trekking through the jungle to find gorillas.  Not the men but the animals.  It was a great time to spend with my brother.  We also went to a tea plantation in Rwanda to see how tea is processed and picked.

 Elephants drinking water.  They are very noisy drinkers.

 This is a python that swallowed a gazelle 4 days ago.  He would spend the next 2 weeks digesting his food.

 This is the silverback gorilla.  Yes we were this close.

 Very comely outfits from the tea plantation tour.

Back in the US of A

I have been back for about a week and a half.  Some things that I have noticed.  The man at the supermarket does not care if you pass him things with your right or left hand, just give him the money and take your change.  In Indonesia your left hand is considered dirty (I will let you come to your own conclusion as to why.)  We have also been into the catching and releasing of groundhogs and other vermin from our backyard into other places where they will not eat the garden, such as beautiful fields along the road. For those of you that are wondering we do not eat groundhog in Indonesia (mainly because they do not exist there) there is a certain tribe in Indonesia that eats dog and dog's blood.  I had some before I left.  It was spicy but tasty.

Ojek-ing in Jakarta

This is Jakarta traffic on a normal day.

Brittany and I were in Jakarta to meet some friends.  We wanted to get somewhere fast so we took Ojeks.  You cannot tell from the picture but there is always a lot of traffic in Jakarta.  An Ojek is when you hop on the back of a random man's motorbike and he takes you down random side streets to get to your destination.  Then you pay him.  It is like taking a taxi but much faster.  As we were taking pictures in the middle of the road a man in a truck also wanted his picture taken.  I ran along side him to get the perfect shot. 

Pool Time

I went to the school pool yesterday to work on my tan and to swim a little bit.  I wanted to take my lounge car with me.  I strapped it to the back of my bike with bungie cords and away I went.  I almost lost is a couple times so I had to stop on the side of the road and strap it back on.

I am now tan and ready to hit the sun and lake in Michigan.  

I'm Moving

The time has come.  My bags are beginning to get packed.  My house is being cleared out.  Things are being sold and given away.  I have accepted a position in the city below.

I will be teaching 1st Grade at Denver Christian.  It has been a long road of expectantly waiting on God to provide the perfect job for me.  He has provided many different options but it took trust and faith to pick the best one.  I know that this is where God wants me in the new season of my life in America.  I'll be coming round the mountain August 12.     

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Enough Said.

Failed Experiment with the help of a Plant Fairy

We are learning about what plants need to grow.  Water, sunlight, good soil, a seed, and some air- basic ideas.  We did an experiment with 4 different pots.  We gave them certain things to see what would happen to them.

The fourth pot was not given water or sunlight and it grew the most.  The first pot was given water and sunlight and it did not grow at all.  We are speculating that a magical plant fairy came and watered the last pot so that the pepper plants could grow.  My wonderful experiment foiled, silly plant fairy.

A normal day in the village

Every week Brittany, Ibu Fany and I go to the village to teach English to the children.  You never know what to expect when you go.  This week was no different.  As we were working on our worksheet this little baby comes in half naked with a huge meatball on a stick.  Everyone wanted a bite of the meatball.

Then another girl came in with her bathing suit on.   

After the lesson we always take an Ojek to the mall where we usually grab dinner and then catch the bus back to Sentul. This man is always waiting to give us a ride.  This week he dressed up for the occasion and wore a hat.  

As we were waiting for another Ojek.  I took a picture with Brittany and the kids. They love getting their picture taken.  

Another normal day in the village. 

Door to Door Laundry Service

This is what we saw on our way from church to dinner.

A man is on a bicycle with a washing machine on the back of it trying to maneuver through traffic.

Funny Quotes from the Day

We learned how to write friendly letters.  Students had to write letters to a friend of their choosing.  These are some of the funny quotes from the letters.  

"I like your power Kevin."

"You will be my bffttaa ok" (Best Friend Forever Today Tomorrow and Always)

"I like cake."

Then we were learning about the life cycle of a butterfly.

"When God made everything Ms. Leanne what came first the butterfly egg or the butterfly?" - He is my philosopher 

With an Aussie Accent "When I was picking up my scraps of paper I threw my butterfly in the bin."

Gallon People and Robots

We are learning about capacity this week in math and to start we made gallon people.  The students really enjoyed making their person.  It also helped them to understand how many cups are in a gallon and so on.

 Asiya and Katrina with their gallon gals.

 Heizel and Diego with their gallon men.

Casualty in the classroom

Sometimes in a classroom in Indonesia there are casualties.  This is probably a weekly occurrence.  Today  I had to scoop a dead lizard from under a students desk with a piece of paper.  Once I got it on the paper then I threw it in the trash can.  Yesterday there was a live frog.  A couple of weeks ago a kitten under the computer desk.  That is a day in the life of a teacher in Indonesia.

SB13

Spring Break this year was in Australia.  Brittany and I drove on the GOR (Great Ocean Road) with our friends Matt and Rocio.  We borrowed my headmasters car.  We nicknamed it Great White.  It was a boat of a car.  Then we flew to Sydney to spend some time with my dear friends Brent and Kathy.

Some highlights were driving the Great Ocean Road, walking through the botanical gardens along the harbor in Sydney, spending time with good friends, and eating pizza with a great view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. 

Easter Lilies

We made Easter Lilies to remind us that there is new life when we accept Jesus into our hearts.  We were learning about Easter and Jesus rising from the dead.  The students were very proud of their lily bouquets.

Sunset

Brittany and I have been going on a prayer walk to pray for the school, city, teachers and students of SPH.  As we were at the top of the hill praying for the city we got to witness this beautiful sunset.  It was truly amazing.  On the other side there was this:

It was a double rainbow.  

Character Day

At the end of book week we had a day got to dress up as our favorite book character.  I had a lot of princesses, fairies, and superheroes.  I was reduce, reuse, recycle Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus series.  

"Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy"- Ms. Frizzle

Pajama Day

We had pajama day at school today because we are celebrating book week.  I got a couple of comments such as "you look like my grandma."  I did wear a batik moo-moo that I bought in Jogya.  I was going to buy one for my grandma, and then I loved this one so much that I decided to keep it.  Here is my pajama clad class complete with a superman.

God's promise to care

This week I have been looking for a new job.  I have sent in a couple of applications and resumes and I am waiting for responses.  For devotions I have been reading Jesus Calling.  This is what it said last night, "Your future looks uncertain and feels flimsy- even precarious.  That is how it should be.  Secret things belong to the Lord, and future things are secret things.  When you try to figure out the future, you are grasping at things that are Mine.  This, like all forms of worry, is an act of rebellion: doubting My promises to care for you."

I know that I do need to be active in my search for a job and where I will live next year but God knows where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing.  He has everything under control.

Autobiography Quotes

My Grade 6 students wrote autobiographies this week. I have been reading through and grading them. Often I laugh out loud and the funny things they say.  Here are some lines that I have found extra humorous:
 "At last at grade 3 to 4 I can speak English goodly."
 "I used to be skinny and white. And don't even get me started about that."
 "Right now I'm 11 and I'm pretty much in the puberty stage. Many people say puberty is good, so ok..."
 "When I was a baby I farted a lot if I laughed really hard."

Wasp Nest

I made it back safely to Indonesia after a trip to Michigan for Christmas. Josh had a huge wasp nest in his backyard that they had created while he was away for Christmas. One of the gardeners from school came and burned it for us. We all watched from inside the house while he did it. Here is the link to the video so that can watch how we entertain ourselves in Sentul. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rOyhnRRp0Y&feature=youtu.be No one was harmed in the making of this film. Except for the wasps.