June 2007

Classes finished June 21st...I know and we were supposed to go till July 6th. We held our first graduation for 6th graders and 3rd year of secondary. In Mexico 4 different graduations are celebrated: kindergarten, primary (1st-6th), secondary (7th-9th), and preparatory (10th-12th). Kids are given a ring and gifts for each graduation.
Above: Pledge and National anthem to begin graduation ceremony.
Below: We had 7 graduate from primary and 2 from secondary. The primary students will remain at Regents, but the secondary students will go on to the public preparatory.



Students with school and orphanage founders Gator and Deanna Carter (left) and teachers.

Secondary graduates Beto and Griselda. I will really miss them next year. They have promised to visit. I hope they blow their English teacher's socks off! :)

PARTY!

To celebrate their achievements, the graduates were treated to a rainy day at a water park. Consequently the teachers had to sponsor...sigh...oh the difficult job responsibilities we have. :)

Apparently it's OK in MX to leave the kids in the pool when it's thundering and lightening. :( We temporarily took our kids out.

We also had a really hard time grilling chicken in the pouring rain. The director got really creative.

WEDDINGS

Who decided June was the best month for weddings? Or better yet, who in Mexico decided that school should go into June and July? Either way, it caused my month of June to be quite busy. Thankfully I was able to go to both my cousin’s wedding and one of my best friend’s. I got to see family and friends in two full, blessed weekends.

Above:My sweet family at my cousin Andrew's wedding.

Below: My dear friends and supporters, Thomas and Natasha. She told me I would love this photo. I guess she was right.

Below: I also got to practice my Spanish with Natasha's Cuban Grandmother. We became best of buds.

May 2007

I like to incorporate art, music, and other "make class more fun things" in my classroom. It often takes the English speaking pressure off, and the students find themselves learning without even realizing it. I also teach content like history, math, and science in English to keep from focusing on English grammar and to reinforce the other subjects. Here is an example of these teaching methods. The students researched famous explorers, created a report on the computer, made paper mache sculptures of the explorers, then presented it to the class.

May is a month with many celebration days. It includes Day of the Child, Day of the Student, Day of the Teacher, and Mother's Day.
For day of the Student we had a party at the school and then took all of the Regents School of Reynosa students to Carl's Jr. for hamburgers. Unfortunately in transit Opal (our cook) and I got a flat tire. She didn't know how to change it. So i just walked into and office building and announced to everyone in their cubicles, "Excuse me, We have a flat tire and we need to use the phone!" Opal was mortified, the people were surprised to see an American, and I sat pondering if I had pronounced "flat" correctly....I don't think I did, but they got the point and we got our tire changed.:) Unfortunately, by the time we arrived to the restaurant, our food was cold and the kids were exhausted and ready to go home. Oh well, at least I got a good story out of it. :)

Above: Irving, Erika, and Cristian

Mothers Day
Mother's day is a big deal in Mexico. I had no idea. The most we had ever done in school for this day was make a card and glue macaroni on it. No, in MX they do full programs 1-2 hours long....! I think it is greatly celebrated because of the important role the mom plays. The number of single moms in Mexico is astounding. Of all of our students, only 1 has his father present in his life. The mother is the one consistent parent figure in the home. I think this is why she is so honored on this day.

Here are photos of different songs, dramas, poems, and dances performed during the Mother's Day program. Oh, did I mention that I was elected the MC. What were they thinking?! Do they not realize my first language is NOT Spanish?

The last song brought tears to the mothers' eyes. Unfortunately it did so as well for those students whose mothers did not attend the event.

Teacher Day!

Were were honored with a special dinner and a day off! Can't beat that.

Here are the teachers: L to R Me, Mundo, Josefina, Ariceli, and director, Rodolfo.

For our day off Mundo, Came, Dorthea and I took off to the beach at Matamoras. It is about a 2 hour drive, depending how lost you get. I like the Mexican beach. Sure it is a little bit dirtier (not too much though), but most people wear t-shirts and shorts rather than bikinis! :) They are there to play in the water and eat! I think I was the only one "laying out" and boy did I pay for it later! Also, people come by with carts selling fresh coconut, mango, roasted corn, candy, sunglasses (and I needed those because I soon lost mine in a vicious wave), etc. This is my kind of beach experience.

Here I am with Abril. She decided she needed to come layout with me.



Below: Mundo is putting on the 50 sunblock and wondering how he let himself get in this situation with 4 women.

Also in May, my wonderful parents came to visit. It was nice to finally have someone see my life for what it is and understand why I love it so. :) Mom and Dad jumped right in there with their Spanish and presented different things to my class. The highlight was when my dad pulled out his sculptures to show the kids. I don't think they have ever seen "real art" before. Their expressions, ooo's and aaaa's, and the fact I saw one kid slipping the little raccoon in his shirt seemed to indicate it. It sure made my dad feel good. :)

I think the kids really responded to my parents because 1. They have heard so much about them from me. and 2. because my parents are the ideal example of what loving parents are. I think many of them live vicariously through my life and my family. I think that's OK, but I hope that seeing my parents encouraged them to know what God can do in a home where Christ is the center. Their lives and their future families can be just that.

March and April 2007

Classes are going well. Here are the three secondary girls. They are 14-15 years old. Griselda, Erika (her sister), and Carla.

Here are the 5th an 6th grade students playing English verb and adjective games they created. This one is called "Verbopoly."

My neighbor Mundo and I had the opportunity with an American group to lead worship for the people down at the Canal. This area called the "Nopalera" is known for being one of the more impoverished areas in Reynosa There is no running water nor electricity. Most of the houses are shacks pieced together with scrap wood and other materials. I met many wonderful people here and it was nice to do ministry outside of what I am getting to do at the school.

Just a funny picture....

Here is a picture of Abril, Mundo and Came's daughter, after she found one of her mom's cassette tapes. She just looks so innocent doesn't she?

April

April allowed me to visit many friends and family. We did not have a spring break but are given 2 weeks for Easter and Holy Week. It was nice to have the two weeks combined so that I could travel more.

I got to see old college roommates Danyel Rogers and Cassy Gray. That was a blessing.

I also had the pleasure of visiting Dallas and my friends and church there.
Here are some of the pictures from the visit.

Shabbat dinner

RV trip to Austin to celebrate a friend's engagement (Natalie and Josh...pictured below)

Matt and Lauren Chandler (and Audrey) My Dallas pastors and dearest friends.

More former pastors and good friends: Natalie and Josh Patterson and Beau and Kimberly Hughes.

I also got a few days in Waco with my sweet little sister Abby and her husband Michael and the "nephew" Ebeneezer.

(Sorry if all that bored you, but I felt like I had to give a shout out to all the people I saw. Otherwise I might be getting some comments about why certain individuals were not pictured :) Thanks for your understanding.)

In April we also went to a circus and fair. This is the name of the circus....does it slightly resemble another theme park whose mascot is a mouse? Yeah, I thought so too. The rides were a little rusty and all run by the circus performers (I think they were a family); the acts consisted of clowns doing flips on a trampoline and a mut walking through a woman's legs;and the benches were old 2x4's roped together; but a great time was had by all.

Above: Mundo, Came, Abril and Dorthea (our school nurse) are enjoying a snack before the show.

Below: Abril is riding a slightly frightening clown ride. I don't know how much I trusted that thin, rusty chain.

Also in April I turned 27! I sure don't feel that old. We had a simple party at the orphanage with cake and presents. Unfortunately the electricity was out for about three hours (this is a regular occurrence), so the party was done in slight darkness with no fans. This is a gift from Barbara, our wonderful seamstress.

Also in Mexico is the tradition on one's birthday to shove their face in the cake as they take their first bite. In my opinion, students should never be present at their teachers birthday parties in MX. They tend to take advantage of the situation. Although I am smiling in the picture with the girls who shoved my head the hardest (Erika and Yaneth), I am painfully enduring the cake up my nostrils.

February 2007

Many people ask what I do for a social life. We watch lots of movies at home and often go to the mall (very modern) for dinner and a movie and occasional shopping. The movies are usually 2-3 months behind the ones in the states, and most are in English with Spanish subtitles. Good for me. :) This is a picture of Eva and the other Miriam at one of the malls. The store to the right is called Soriana; it is much like our Walmart.

Here are some pictures from our 2nd floor patio. In the first picture you can see the kids walking down the street to the orphanage after classes have been released. It's about a 3 minute walk.

Here you can see our guard dog Hershey. She sleeps so much during the day that she seems quite worthless, but at night...boy does she do her job. I like her. In this picture you can also see the houses on our street. The black tanks on top hold and heat water for showers.

Across the street is the workings of our parking area and Came's (my neighbor) future kindergarten.

These are my youngest students. Asael, Angel, Yareli and Gilberto. We are planting our lima been plants after growing them and studying about the parts of the plants. This is the only patch of dirt on the school grounds. The rest is cement. I hope it doesn't get covered, because I need it for some science projects. :)

February was a difficult month in saying "goodbye" to Mr. Poo, our beloved rhino beetle. After losing him once in the trash can (that was a close call) and noticing an increasingly lethargic and unsocialble attitude about him (not to mention a stinky classroom due to the old fruit we were feeding him), we decided it was time for his release. These animals only live 4-12 months and we had him for 5. It was time. The release was emotional, but we know it was best. Unfortunately his release was not well planned and I think we may have shortened the already short life span because of it. (See the gut-wrentching video here www.myspace.com/miriammw) Here the secondary students are saying goodbye. The second picture should tell you something about the unfortunate release which resulted in what I diagnosed as a broken leg and possible concussion. Poor Mr. Poo.

January 2007

Above: Good friends Elizabeth, Eva, and Opal

Well, January, believe it or not is quite cold. While July and August are our hottest months, January is our coldest. I'm not sure it got below 35 degrees, but when there is no place to get warm (or thaw out) the cold seems more extreme. My clothing consisted of 2 shirt layers and a coat, leggings, normal socks, knee socks over the regular socks and the leggings, pants, gloves and a tobogan. That was both indoor and outdoor attire. :) During this month I found a new best friend....my electric blanket...I became so attached to it I almost named it...but then I realized that would just be weird.
My nightly routine was to blowdry my feet then quickly jump into my nice warm bed, courtesy of my BFF. I tried to enjoy every moment of the cold, knowing that the scorching heat would soon come and would last more than 2-3 weeks like the cold.
Here I am with Elizabeth and Eva inside our building.

Also during January the groups continued to come. Here is a picture of the kids with the ukaleles a group from Missouri gave them. That was one noisy room.

Another very exciting thing that happened in January!!.....I moved into my apartment! I now live at the school. The classrooms and kitchen are on the first floor, and the teacher's apartments are on the 2nd. I have a large room with a bathroom. It is nice to finally unpack my boxes, stop living out of suitcases (which I did for 6 months), and finally have a "home." It is really nice and perfect for my needs and comfort. Don't be decieved. I'm not exactly "sufferin' for Jesus." It will be nice to have a little more separation from the kids in order to better establish the "teacher/student relationship." The main thing I will miss is living with Eva, Miriam, Elizabeth, and Opal. We had so crazy times. Now they will just have to come to my house.

Here are some pictures of Eva and Eli helping me move in. It was exhausting.

I quickly became known as "the girl with a lot of stuff." I think I might agree with them.

These are my precious neighbors Mundo, Came, and daughter Abril Cruz. Mundo teaches 6th grade at the school and Came teaches and directs her own kindergarten. (Eva teaches there as well). They are crazy, fun, godly, and determined to help me experience as much Mexican culture as possible. :) I am so blessed to have them. They often feel more like roomates than neighbors because they live next door and we share a kitchen and washing machine. :)

December 2006 (and a little bit of January 2007)

Craziness. December was a crazy month. Between weddings, wrapping up the semester, and vacation, I felt like I was all over the place. I was ready for a break from the holiday season and to get back into a routine. But here are a few photos from the month.

Here are the 2nd and 3rd graders in front of our class Christmas tree. L to R: Yareli, Asael, Angel, and Gilberto. One thing stunk. I missed the party day because I was deathly ill. :( So sorry, no pictures of that.

My Best friend's Wedding. One of my dearest friends and roomate Molly, got married in December. I flew home for the wedding and had a super weekend with friends.

Christmas and New Years. I got to spend a week with my family in Hereford and a week seeing friends in Dallas. It was a much needed time of rest and socializing. (not a super social life here, but that is not really a complaint, because that, too, can be exhausting :)

Sister Abby and her husband Michael and the nephew Ebeneezer.

One sees many intersting things when driving through the Texas panhandle, and I'm not talking about my sister Rachel in this picture.

Good Friends at the Sushi bar. I brought back pictures of the sushi rolls to show my students, and they said I was disgusting. I told them, "Well, at least I don't eat cow intestines." Oooo, got 'em with the menudo!

November 2006

Date Night. To encourage the kids to foster healthy relationships with each other, the missionary Deanna, created Date Night. All the kids 13 and up were allowed to ask a a person to "dinner and a movie." The boys picked up their dates and paid for the food. The restaurant Arturo's Pizzaria was created, and Arturo and Martha were the host and waitress. I got to be the photographer. :) It was lots of fun.

Here are a few "around the school" pics so you can see what it looks like. Doesn't our big orange building rock!? Here the kids are waiting in line for lunch.That dog is our "guard dog" Hershey in the picture. She has little to no energy and is a bit stinky, but when someone unfamiliar passes by, she does her job.

This is the breezway where the 4 classrooms are located. These are my 2nd and 3rd graders...only 4, but a handful! You can see that one of them is ticked off at me for some reason (I can't remember what I got onto him for).

Thanksgiving. I received the blessing of the a plane ticket to fly home for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful time with the family. The great thing about have photographers for sisters is that you always get great "family snapshots." Pictured: Michael Criner(brother-in-law), Abby, Dad, Rachel, Mom, and me.

October 2006

BUG OBSESSION!

So, a praying mantis flies into my room unexpectedly. The students ask a few questions, I give a few answers, and then it all begins....

Soon afterwards in my way to school I find a giant beetle. I assume it is a dung beetle because....well I'm not sure why but, he had the horns that looked like they would be great for rolling dung. So I put him in a cup bring him to school, and soon afterwards he received the oh-so-clever name of "Mr. Poo." Instantly, every child was fascinated and in love with our new class pet. The kids put some dog poo in his box to see if he would roll it. Well, after I did a little internet research I found he was actually a Rhinocerous beetle. Oops, minor error on my part. :) They also sell for $12 on ebay. I asked the kids if they wanted to sell him and use the money for a class party or keep him...well, needless to say he's been an important part of our lives for quite some time now. (they only live 4-12 months, so I need to start prepping the kids for the his loss) We nearly lost him once already when he escaped and fell into the trash can. THAT was a close one!

Well, here are the pictures of Beto and Griselda with their beloved Mr. Poo. (Oh and we found out the hard way, that he flies.)

In one of my classes we made cornhusk dolls and created companies and company flyers. We then had a shopping day where the kids bought each other's products with American dollars. It was both exciting and chaotic, and all along they didn't realize how much English they were learning...waahaahaa (evil laugh).

September 2006

First of all I wanted to share this interesting picture....don't worry no crime has been committed here. Life-sized pinatas in trunks.....Only in a border town....


What's pictured here is evidence of God's grace and the fact that this is HIS school and He DOES provide! Most of you know my desperate prayers for curriculum. God answered that prayer and left me awestruck. A representative for Hampton-Brown Publishers whom I phoned about possibly ordering from, just so happened (yeah right, God's sovereignty) to have a storage unit in McAllen (the border town to Reynosa) with extra materials that they are permitted to donate. I expected a few books and resources here and there.....but LOOK at this! A program from 1st-6th grade, that does not require student text books (Hallelujah!-a HUGE expense), over 600 picture cards, books, posters, 2 complete programs (worth over $600 each!), etc. I drove away shocked and in awe of answered prayer. Doesn't our Father give good gifts to His children?! WOW! Thank you Hampton-Brown representatives!

The month of September is the patriotic month. The 15th and 16th celebrate Mexican Independence day. Here we are partying at school to celebrate. How about my braids huh? I almost look Mexican. :) ...Almost. (That is Yaneth with me in the picture)


Here we are downtown for the big "Grito" or "Yell". When all the Mexicans were called to arms to fight at midnight they all yelled "Viva Mexico!" So every 16th at midnight people gather and scream. We went for the cultural experience, but missed the "Grito". oops. Here we all are in front of what I think is the courthouse.
Eva thought it absolutely necessary that I take a picture among the sea of short, dark haired people. There were well over 2,000 people there, and I think I was the only tall, blonde American. Everytime I'm in public I have to keep reminding myself that if I were them, I would be staring, too. :) (Not sure what Roberto is pointing at...but no, it is not my stomach.)
OH and we lost Opal at one point and if it weren't for cell phones we would have been lost forever in the ocean of brown ponytails.
Again, the courthouse.

Eva and I dancing to the music at the Grito...I love her.

Deanna and Gator went to Alabama for 2 weeks and brought back gifts. The boys got fake moustaches. How cute is that? The first picture is Irvin and Arturo.
The second "Los Guapos del Barrio"--Edgar, Irvin, Arturo, Angel and Gilberto.
Want to see a video of these guys....? Go to http://www.myspace.com/miriammw .

August 2006

Here are some pictures from Griselda’s Quinceñera. She had her princess dress and all the trimmings. She looked beautiful. The cool thing about Gris is that her heart is as beautiful as her face. She loves others and the Lord with such sincerity and humility. It was a fun, honoring, and exhausting event. Here she is pictured with her damas Erika, Dayana and Martha and Beto, her escort. 2nd Picture: This is Opal (Gator and Deanna’s daughter) with her kids Roberto and Dayana. She is our hilarious and amazing cook and has become a good friend.

This is Came and her daughter Abril. To the right is Mundo her husband. Mundo is a fellow teacher, and they are my soon to be neighbors. They are both crazy, God-loving, and musical. We are so excited to get moved in and be neighbors. With Mundo in the picture is Andrew, the boys dorm supervisor.


Now what you’ve all been waiting to see….and what we’ve been so vigorously working toward….THE CLASSROOM!
We postponed school for a week to finish the construction and worked right up until the last minute to finish up. I began setting it up at 2:00 pm the day before school started and worked until 11:00! As I dig through my boxes, I have slowly been adding onto it and adjusting my materials to work for my classroom.

The kids love it. To be honest, so do I. I loved how the kids complained of freezing to death and getting sick with the thermostat set on 80. hehe.
The blue shelves hold the “library.” The kids think that’s pretty cool, except most of the books are in English. Soon they will be reading them, Lord willing.

Mundo took this of me after doing construction. I do not dress like this for school. As a matter of fact we have to wear dresses, below the knee.


This is the first day opening ceremony. Friends and family came to bless the school and celebrate its opening.
Right: Students in pledging formation. The director Rodolfo is to the right.

First days...cont.

This is the road from the school to the orphanage. It’s about a 3-minute walk. The brown wall all the way at the end of the road is the corner of the children’s home. The tall guy is Andrew who takes care of the boys, and the other two boys are brothers, Beto and Edgar. The little guy is Raul, the youngest kiddo we have; he’s three, cute, and spoiled.

Also in route from the school to the casa hogar…yes, that’s how we dry our clothes around here. Raul and Gilberto...the youngest...cute, but trouble. :)

First Days.

My room upon arrival. It looks much better now. My friend, fellow teacher, and soon to be neighbor, Mundo Cruz and I have painted non-stop for the last 2 weeks to make it all come together. He is awesome and I am so excited to work with him and the other teachers!

Here are the classrooms. My apt. is on the floor above them and across from them is the kitchen. A guy named Pipi (apparently the named originated from his name Pedro and a problem he had as a child) who lived in another Casa Hogar (children’s home) where Gator and Deanna used to work is doing the tile floors. It’s so cool to see one of the kids all grown up with children. These are coming along…hopefully to be ready by the time school starts, August 28th!

Here is the delectable view from my porch. I love it! See that bright orange? Yes our WHOLE building is that color. It continues to illuminate the neighborhood for up to 2 hours past sunset.

This is the awesome gym that sits at the back of the school property. We play some mean fútbol here. Ok…THEY play some mean fútbol here.