Conferences, Fancy Birthday Dinner, Laughter, and More

It has been awhile since I have updated this. Sorry. I tried to post this last night, but the internet decided not to work. Anyways…I think this will work. I hope that you are all doing well! This week has flown by like others. My experience is already half way over. I am loving my time here, learning a lot, and glad I am here now; however, I will be so excited to be home for Christmas!

I taught mathematics this week to the Kindergarteners, and it went well. It was easier for me to teach this than Language Arts because there is only one group of Kindergarteners in the room during math. During Language Arts, the first graders are also in the room which makes it hard for both groups because they distract each other. But, both have been fun. These are the two main subjects that are every day. The other subjects are only one or two times a week. Next week I will take over science. Even though I am teaching the majority of the curriculum, I feel like I am not teaching a lot compared to teaching in my last experience. This is somewhat of a blessing because it allows me not to be overwhelmed here and to really enjoy the people and experience which I was afraid would be taken away with busyness that I felt during my last placement.

Thursday night John and I decided to watch a movie. I picked out several that we could choose between with a process of elimination. He liked all of my choices, but I think he liked the elimination game better. So, at the end he said, “Let’s just add some more to our choices.” After we decided that Land Before Time was the winner…we realized that the VCR was out of commission. It no longer releases the movies, so John came back with two rulers. For twenty minutes he and I tried everything to get the movie out. After my cut finger and him getting shocked, it came out! Then, we went to put it in, and it wouldn’t stay in! I was cracking up! We eventually got it in and working…persistence pays off!! John said to me in a serious tone, “Oh, life is hard!” We both had forgotten how sad this movie was. Wow…little kid movies teach kids hard things about life awful early. We were both sad during the movie, but it was a fun experience.

Thursday and yesterday were parent-teacher conferences, so I sat in on them with Sheila. It was so interesting to see the parents from several different countries and to see how each culture views their children’s education. Compared to parents in the states, most of these parents are “over concerned.” Some parents don’t speak any English, so Sheila would speak in French for some conferences. I tried to follow along during these twenty minute sessions in French, and I understood the basics. I now know maybe five phrases in French instead of my two starters, “Bonjour!” and “Se la Vi!” Another thing I really enjoyed was observing the different clothes that the mothers wore. Most came in beautiful African dresses. It was a great experience to be a part of!

Yesterday afternoon I went to Marina Market with Sheila, John, and Kaytah. We restocked the kitchen, and I decided to buy a few treats to share…like WHITE CHOCOLATE Magnum Bars!! When I got to the counter, the bill was extremely expensive. I realized when I got back that the magnum bars were the equivalent of $4 a piece…not per box. So, I don’t think that I will be purchasing any more of these!

Today was a wonderful day! I did some reading this morning after sleeping in! :) Then, Sheila took me to Charity’s birthday party so that I could help Alice. It was a Dora theme party and a lot of fun. There were twenty little girls, all 5-7 years old. It was loud but great! It was nice because I knew all of the girls from class. They all thought I looked different since I was wearing jeans instead of a skirt. I got some lesson planning done this afternoon and went to school with Sheila for awhile. Then, Sheila, John, and I got ready to go to dinner in another city…next to Ouagadougou. Its name is Ouagadoumil, and it is amazing. I had seen only a small part of it last time and remember being in awe of the president’s palace. However, I was blown away today by the mansions we passed (literally). I think that I have seen another side of Burkina Faso this time. Maybe it was just where I was the last time, but I think that Burkina is doing better economically as a whole. But poverty is still a major issue. You just have to walk out your door to see a hungry child or starving dog rummaging through the trash on the road. Anyways, we went to Ouagadoumil to eat at a fancy restaurant in which I can’t remember the name and couldn’t pronounce it when the sign was right in front of my face. All of us dressed up, and it was so wonderful to dine together and to enjoy our fancy meal. I guess I forgot to mention that we went because tomorrow, the 16th, is Sheila’s birthday. We went on the back roads home, so John was navigating. He asked if I wanted to go past the Presidential Palace, and I said I would since I forget what it looks like. Well, Sheila drove us down a road, and we went through an intersection with a yellow, flashing light. John started to kind of freak out and told Sheila that she had to turn around because we weren’t allowed to go this far. I guess that it was the street to the palace and that there are military waiting with guns a little further down. So, she put the car in reverse and we backed up several hundred feet. It was hilarious! We were all laughing, and I told John that they probably have a camera that they can see us on and are saying, “dumb Americans!”

Thank you for those of you who have been praying for me. God has opened my eyes and heart a lot these past few weeks, and I am excited to share what He has been doing. You are a part of that! My health has been great so far, and I thank God for this. Please pray for continued heath as mosquito bites are inevitable, and malaria is so common. I think that I may have mentioned this before, but one of my prayer requests is that I would be proactive about the rest of my time here. It is so easy to be consumed in the routine of school and just living. Even though I am so happy that I am truly experiencing an international teaching experience, I want to be able to soak up the Burkina experience. These are so different from each other. Please pray that I would have the motivation to look for opportunities and to also have opportunities come my way. Please also continue to pray for God to confirm things in my heart.

I appreciate each one of you!