I can add to the list of critters I’ve found in my apartment: a mouse, and a couple of bees. The other night, my roommate Jae woke up to what she described as something scratching at the canvas of her shoes. A couple of days ago, I woke up at 5am to something in my trashcan. I sat on my bed for a little while, trying to figure out what to do. I realized that we had a spare laundry basket that I could put on top of my trashcan to trap the creature. At this point, I still didn’t know it was a mouse. In my attempt to put the laundry basket on top, I knocked over the trashcan and the mouse ran under my bed. At this point I screamed, waking Jae up. I told her what had happened and so she helped me look for him…and by “helped me look for him” I mean she investigated while I sat on my bed and watched. I didn’t realize that I was scared of mice until this incident. After figuring out that he was under my big chair in my room, I convinced her I would be ok since I knew where he was. We both rested the 30 minutes or so until it was time to get up. During the day, we decided that we didn’t want to get a trap b/c he was cute and we couldn’t picture him dead. That night, I saw him again while I was working on stuff while sitting on my bed. He ran under my desk and so we decided to try to catch him. We blocked all potential exits for him but one by placing my shoes around the base of my desk. We alternated rattling the shoes so that the mouse would turn around so Jae could grab him by the tail and put him in the trashcan. After about an hour of this, we finally succeeded! We put him in a trashcan and gave him some Trix cereal to eat and a little capful of water. We named him Mr. Trix since he liked the cereal. We went to the pet store and bought a cage for him and some food. He’s going to alternate being the pet of the 9th grade class (Jae’s class) and my 3rd/4th grade class. The principal said it was fine as long as we didn’t let the kids touch him. He’s really cute and now he has a nice little cage! [update: Mr. Trix escaped the first night in his new home. We haven't found him yet.]
This was the first week of school with the kids! I’ve had a lot of fun! My class is great. Sometimes my students may not make the best choices, but I can tell that they are really good kids. It’s fun having only 3 students. Everything can be more relaxed and informal and I we can get to know each other really well. This first week has been a little challenging just trying to figure out how to manage everything and what needs my kids have, but overall, it’s been a good week! I don’t know if I mentioned this in a previous blog, but in addition to my 3rd and 4th grade class, I’m an ESL teacher to two 9th grade boys who are in the Spanish curriculum part of the school, and am helping another teacher teach a chemistry class to two 11th graders. The teacher of the chemistry class is moving back to the states after Christmas, so I will be the main teacher in the spring.
It’s been about 3 weeks now since I got here. There have been some days when I’ve missed home and all that a comfortable life back in the states involves, but after being in school the past week, God has given me a peace and joy about being here. I’m here to teach these kids, and I’m finally able to do what I came here for and it’s an amazing feeling. On the way back from the city on Wednesday, it was dark and so I was looking at all the beautiful lights in the valley of the mountains and then up at the stars in the sky and the pretty moon. It was during this time that I felt a real sense of calm and excitement about being here. It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed being here before now, I’ve loved it! I would just feel a little nervous or homesick if I thought about staying here for a while. It was during this time at night that when thinking about the future here that I felt peace and joy instead of the nervousness/homesickness.
Some highs and lows:
Lows:
Lack of sleep.
more critters J
Highs:
School has started
I went to this yummy gelato place in Tegus on Wednesday.
Prayer Requests/Praises
Praise that the first week of school has gone relatively well and I love it!
Pray that I would continue to develop healthy relationships with the kids here at the ranch, especially with the girls.
Pray that I would keep spending daily time with God a priority in spite of my busy schedule.
Pray for the new family that’s coming this week and the teachers that will arrive in the next month! We’re excited that they are coming!!
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