Don’t get me wrong, I loved Soccer. Yet, there was always something about the orange wedges we would get at halftime that just made the sport so much better. How could it not! After chasing a black and white blur around a humungous field for what seemed like eternity, these vitamin C packed slices of heaven were demolished about as quickly as that eating freak Takeru Kobayashi enjoys Nathans hotdogs! I remember feeling so sticky I seriously considered playing goalie for the second half.When I got a bit older and a tad more competitive in another sport whose playing field is much smaller, we didn’t get treated with oranges at halftime. Instead we would sit in a circle, share some Gatorade, and hear our coach reflect, berate, and then instruct our team for the next half of play? I was in shock “Coach, this is halftime, its vitamin C time baby! I know you got some questions about my play last half, but I have a major question too: whose mama brought the wonderful wedges?” Needless to say, there was a good chance those words never made it out of my head but let me say proudly that I was thinking them! Instead I learned the true meaning of halftime, and while I could seriously write an entire blog about the very interesting halftime experiences I have witnessed during my days of playing organized sports, I’ll refrain, and instead shed light to this current adventure. Its halftime in Colombia: time to reflect, berate, and plan!
Life at the Public School
Tomorrow is exam day at our school. All the kids have paid their 2500 pesos to have the school print out t
he 4-6 page booklets that are all our tests. I made a “muy facil” exam this semester, because frankly, I believe my students have learned as much as I did when the very blessed Sydney (now) Clayton sat next me in Kinesiology (Dave: you are a lucky man!). My kids, co-teacher, and I have had some tough times getting on the same page and as a result I am coming into halftime knowing none of them will be gracing the cover of any ESL newsletter and I am in no way going to be paraded around this pueblo, on the shoulders of their thankful parents, as we all sing Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus (I hate that song)! Who said teaching English would be easy! There are days that kids seriously look at me with such joy you would think I am telling them to march to a death camp! But I wake up each morning, make my coffee, and walk to school. I my own dry and sarcastic humor, I have berated myself enough, and have decided to now move onward to the planning part.There are things from the first half that worked! The kids love when I make a fool of myself in class. So they can expect more of that in the form of some great singing and even a dance or two (this will not end up on YouTube). We even just learned these cheesy raps which seeing I can barely write about because I’m laughing so hard, not sure how I’d get through that one live in action! The kids also like when I am “cool Eric” and not “tough Gringo-because his co-teachers refuse to stay in class to help discipline). So I will do my best to prepare and empower these teachers to be a part of every experience and will crank up the “cool Eric” (which is not hard when your “cool”…is that what kids still say these days?). I have also seen what doesn’t work and that’s Spanish in the classroom. Many of you in that instant sighed “duh,” and while your right…this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever committed to. One class in particular, there will be nothing like managing thirty-two 8th grade gremlins as you mettle on in a foreign language which appears to have the same effect as sunlight to vampires! As it’s been in class, a bit of Spanish was like a vile or two of blood, a nice way to tame the beasts! But I am going to change, and while it might be the death of me, it’s for the best! I love you Mom.
All joking aside: These kids are worth it! This project is worth it! So this second half will be one where we move forward having after careful and meticulous evaluation, greatly improved the game plan! And if by some miracle this small poor village comes to adore Uncle Sam’s language, how cool would it be to be toted around this pueblo on one of my donkey friends while people throw palm branches at my feet singing “Blessed is the Gringo who comes in the name of English.” That was kind of dumb and maybe a bit too sacrilegious but it beats anything having to do with Miley Cyrus…
Seeing my body is fighting something weird, I think I am going to end this segment here, and go crawl into my bed with the flies that have recently invaded our island! Hope to get the halftime report about “life in Colombia” up here very soon.
Real quick final note: During a rough spell of homesickness, I was watching the movie Julia and Julia. In a particular scene, Julia (Child) and her husband Paul got notice they needed to move out of Paris, which prompted her to sullenly ask “where is home?” Her husband very calmly responded “whe
rever we are.” While not the line of the century, it was something that hit me in the face. I have stated on this blog that this place feels like home more and more. Than all of sudden, I hit a rough patch of straight up loneliness. This line was so potent because it caused me to reflect on why I stated this and eventually how I got here. God opened up door after door for me to come here. He has taken my life and turned it upside down since I’ve arrived. I have come to see Him in a way I sometimes believe would have been impossible in my old life. What an amazing blessing this experience has been because I have got to Know God. This place has felt like home because I have come to crave and depend on Him. And in this very admittedly “new” outlook on life, He gives us a peace that can even surpass those amazing feelings we have when we’re in the presence of our amazing families. Mom, please don’t read into that more than you should, as I can’t wait to curl up on the couch with you, Dad, and Ellie! But if you are down, sad, lost, empty, angry, hopeless, or you fill in the blank, look to the God who never abandons His sheep. He is holding out His hand for you with promises of peace, joy, hope, and unconditional love. Take hold and I promise that despite this world’s darkness, you will be granted a spirit of family and security that unlike all this place has to offer, will never fade away. Props to God for using Julia Child…! Ha!“O Lord, you have searched me and know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in- behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Psalms 138: 1-7.
Miss you all very much!
E
