Donde Estoy...

 On Friday, we had a home school day, so that allowed time to have meetings to plan for next year. It's bittersweet to think of how things will be changing.

I started writing about the bittersweet happenings... people coming and going... Things changing and staying the same... where I am and where I am not, but the bottom line is that I'm right here, right now - I'm not there yet...

Here I was this weekend, exploring a part of this city for the first time :)

Going up the teleferico...

 On top of the Avila

Galipan

News is news...

We've been mostly contained to the house.

Caracas has been quiet - this is so abnormal.... a friend once described Caracas as a city of sensory overload... always smells...always sights...always sounds... always.

My mother told me how she couldn't sleep very well when she came because there were always sounds that she was not used to. I suppose I have just become so accustomed to it that I don't really notice anything as much. I know when to put on my head phones... I know when to plug my nose and just breathe through my mouth... I know what wet spots to avoid on the street... I know the cars, I know the people of my neighborhood, I know the parts of this city that I frequent.

Today was silent.
Not a sound.
Not a bang.
No music.
No chatter
Eery.

That is... until 7:30ish... it began with one pot, followed by a few other pans... and then a full pot and pan ensemble ensued. Fires that lacked the 'works' (as far as I could see) were the bangs of some sort of firecracker device. Apparently, it's a normal custom to bang pots and pans when there is a political happening that you disagree with.

We live in a neighborhood that is mainly supportive of the opposition. Maduro, the vice president, was getting ready to be sworn in as interim president. It's a very controversial issue here.... We sat around a tv and listened.

For now, everything is still pretty tranquil... We'll see what the next few weeks and election shall bring.

In news... 

COFFEE NEWS!!!! 

No puede ser....

Grey

I know every one wants to know what is going on here...

Yesterday, Hugo Chavez died.
Speculation... Espionage... Corruption... Deception...
 Who truly ever really knows anything?
Armed guards monitored the local grocery store.
People cried, people celebrated.
Fireworks... crowded streets... in houses... complete peace

This is a picture that a friend posted of Sabana Grande... on a normal day, you push through the crowds and street performers to walk by.

We are out of school until at least Monday. The country is under 7 days of mourning.
We awoke today to go to the grocery store to "stock up" in case there becomes a food shortage... This is not the way I live, so thinking in this manner is... not me.


Until then, we have a 5 day weekend vacation.
Weather is perfect.
Life is lovely.

I changed my room around - just so I could have a better view of the sunrise every morning.

My window is just an open space with bars and open glass... no curtains, not necessary. I live with the sun.

View from my window...

Caracas, Venezuela

Day 1

La Sonrisa... 

the morning smile glimpse 

 I never want to miss.

My Class Is Awesome

Today, we invited the Kindergarteners to our class to read with us... 18 students in my tiny room, and they were amazing. I never had to redirect them or remind them of anything once.... Oh, being a proud teacher makes me smile :)

The Beat Goes On...

We are in the planning process for next year. Our staff dynamics will be changing quite a bit. We still have vacancies for our music and high school science teacher positions. It's weird to be in a place of enjoying the rest of this year... being excited for the summer to come... and being eager for the changes of the next year. It's quite nice to be happy and content in the present while excited and looking forward to the future.

My sister will be getting married this summer, and...

I GOT MAIL!!!!!!

This is quite exciting... I can't really explain the reasoning of this, but we can't really receive mail. Well, apparently we can, but it's just unreliable... and it takes a LONG time. This letter took 12 days to arrive, and her last letter took 19 days to arrive. My mother says she has sent at least one or two letters, but I have never received hers. Another co-worker had a package sent to her, but in order to find the package, she would have to search around Caracas and then pay high prices in order to obtain the package. 

We had a staff gathering of food, dance, and fellowship... As we were leaving, we stumbled upon this sight... a van parked on the side of the road in order to watch some free, stolen cable tv off of a scratchy purple screen...

Oh, Venezuela...

In teaching,

it's incredible how kids can find a way to make grading papers put a smile on my face...

Love Song...

My heart beats only for You...

2/14/13

My Husband,

Who has loved me more wonderfully, more perfectly than you? Who has fought harder for me, stuck closer by me than you? Who has seen this shattered broken heart and chosen it to be enough to satisfy and honor you?

I have nothing to offer
I have nothing to give

For all I have has come from you, my God.

Who could take these hands and use them to the works of Your Kingdom? Who could use these tears and fill overflowing rivers and streams of life? None other than you. None other then my God, my Lord, my Master, my Love, my Father, my Heavenly Husband in Christ.

All I can do, is say these simple words to you that these broken pieces are Yours to build and mold in the work of your hands. What I have broken, I give to you to restore and fill to use for all your delight.

My hope is found in You...

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Relentless Love

Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans." (Hosea 3:1)

No human can comprehend God’s love for His_children! Our limited experience of human love hinders us from understanding God’s unconditional love for us. We can see a picture of this love in the life of Hosea.

Hosea was a righteous man, but God told him to marry a sinful woman. Hosea obeyed and took Gomer as his wife. He cherished her and treated her with dignity and respect. Never before had Gomer experienced this kind of love, but she soon grew dissatisfied. She began giving her affections to other men. She became so involved in adulterous pursuits that finally she abandoned Hosea altogether. Other men used her until she had nothing left to give. Then they sold her into slavery. After this, God gave Hosea an amazing command: “Go and buy her back.” Despite the intense pain and hurt that Gomer had inflicted on him, God told Hosea to forgive her and to pay any price to bring her back into his home.

God’s message is clear: When we reject Him and turn our devotion elsewhere, our rejection carries the same pain as an adulterous betrayal. After all God has done for us, it is incomprehensible that we should reject Him. It is even harder to fathom that God could love us even after we have rejected, ignored, and disobeyed Him. Yet God’s love is completely different from ours. His love follows us to the depths of our sinfulness until He has reclaimed us. His love is undaunted when we run from Him, and He_continues to pursue us. What incredible love He has demonstrated to us!

http://www.blackaby.org/devarchive.asp

The Lost And Found

My dad questioned me the other day if I was still singing and dancing in Colombia...

Where did January go?!

Oh my, oh my this time sure flies...

So, after arriving home from Colombia, I spent Christmas with a dear friend and his family.
This was my Christmas day.... How beautiful.

My mom came to visit, and she got a real feel for what life is like here. People asked, "What did you two do?"  Since I had been away for the previous two weeks, we simply lived... She said that she left with a better understanding of why when asked, "What did you do today?" that "I went grocery shopping and cooked a meal" is a proper response for a full day of work. It's now so normal to me that you'd probably have to ask her in order to get a proper perspective :)

I saw on the news that CNN was reporting the food shortages in Venezuela. This is legit...

Granted, this was a day in between Christmas and New Years when people weren't working, but cooking and grocery shopping here is always an adventure. At my local grocery store, we have not had sugar or flour since... November. Chicken was absent during December and January. Eggs can come and go... Toilet paper was gone for a while... Condensed milk is a substitute for sugar, and then that was gone.

Oh, the adventures...

I vomited into the new year... I don't know what that means for the year to come, but at least with my mama here, I was well taken care of :)

Happy 2013!

And now we are settling back into life... and man does it get busy.

A student of mine left for the remainder of the year, which is terribly sad with such small class sizes.

Saturdays have become my park days, and oh what peace...

Every Sunday we have a roommate dinner which is a fun-fabulous time of fellowship and love between our lady roommates. It has become quite a unique challenge to cook for the us, however, because our menu is gluten and dairy free due to dietary restrictions of one of our girls... From cooking one meal every four weeks, I have grown a profound respect and admiration for how she is even alive :)

This was my gluten/dairy free lettuce wrap creation (chicken was still MIA)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

-Romans 8:28-