Recuperacion - Remediation and Retakes

    This morning began pretty normal, with me waking, showering and dressing, making my proffee, taking my vitamins, writing yesterday's blog and publishing it so it would be visible to friends and family, and then heading to the Comedor to be with the toddlers...all in that order.  I begin the day wearing pants since it is a little cooler and the mosquitos are worst in the morning.  When I got to the Comedor, the toddlers weren't there, so I sat and interacted with some of the bigger girls and listened to the big boys recite their verses before heading to the Toddler House.  At the Toddler House, all of the littles were in one room (not the sala) just waiting for the bigger girls in charge to get done sweeping and mopping.  They were trying on different rain boots as it had rained throughout the night.  Brithany and Clara had outgrown their boots and were no longer able to squeeze into them, so they had to resort to wearing their tennis shoes and were told not to hop in puddles on the way to school.  

The forecast for today and through the week

Hector's big boys reciting their verses

   When it was time to go to school Brithany and Sara each grabbed one of my hands and we headed to school.  We saw a toad in the road that looked like it was run over by a gator.  The kids shouted "Guacala!" (which means yuck or gross) as they pointed to it.  Nobody seems to like toads down here.  When we got to school, the kids wanted to see pictures of Mindy (our new puppy back home), so I went through the phone to find a few pictures of her as well as a video of her playing fetch.  Then we watched a video together of Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo singing a 30th Anniversary rendition of "Time to Say Goodbye".  I chose this because it is one of my favorites to listen to, and it is very soothing, hoping to settle the toddlers down just a little bit.  Then it was time for them to get in line and they behaved so well (for once) that they were the first to get excused into their classroom!

   I headed back to the Girls Volunteer House in order to prep for the tutoring I would be doing after lunch.  The three 11th graders requested a review of "Limits and Continuity" which I definitely needed to brush up on in order to make a review as this is not a topic I teach back in the States.  And being an upper level topic (generally pre-calculus), it is not something that comes naturally nor can I "wing it".  So I spent the morning going through the topic and working through 3 pages of problems.  The three 10th grade students requested a review of "Matrices" which I do know well and didn't need to review prior to the afternoon.  

   At lunch, I found out that a girl named Naomi found the flash drive that Noah had lost yesterday, and returned it to him.  I am sure he was relieved to have that returned since it contained all of the movies he had purchased for the Small Girls House to watch.  Oscar comes to greet me each meal in the Comedor and to ask me how I am doing.  He has such a good heart and I wish him all the best when he decides it is time to leave Emmanuel.  He has already graduated and I am sure just waiting on God's timing for his life.

Today's lunch: cole slaw, beans, chunks of hotdog(?) and a tortilla

   After lunch, I gathered my things from the house and headed to the school to tutor the 10th and 11th graders.  There was also a 9th grader there from the Toddler House today that has her test tomorrow and didn't understand "Systems of Equations" and solving the systems via the Elimination method.  So I worked with her has well, since I wasn't able to go to her house after supper.  The two older grades feel they have a better understanding now after 2 days of the topics that are on the test and requested a 3rd day of tutoring tomorrow where I would make a small practice exam for them to take without help, whether it be me, their notebooks or their textbooks.

   Supper in the Comedor was quick and then since it was Wednesday, we had church at 5pm.  Tammy Young spoke to the kids about the new horses and how they were chosen and the long process of getting these 2 colts to Emmanuel, which was crafted by God all along the way.  Tammy and her husband Chris run the Tennessee International Dude and Guest Ranch in the Sequatchie Valley.  She has a phenomenal southern cowboy accent and the story of the horses kept me captivated!  For those that don't know, a horse was the ONLY "pet" I ever wanted as I was a child, and my wish every year on my birthday until I reached adulthood (and didn't make wishes anymore was to have a horse of my own.

   After the service, Nora and I made our way back to the Girls Volunteer House and she used her keys to let us into the front of the house since my keys are for the back of the house.  When she opened the first screen door, she jumped a bit.  I looked down and saw a rather large toad that was facing the main door, ready to enter as soon as we opened it.  I think this may be the same toad that was calmly watching us from the side of the house last night too!  So we decided to head around back, use my keys and then I grabbed the broom to open the main front door and nudge the toad back into the yard.  I am not sure how a big toad like that got wedged between the 2 doors, but obviously he couldn't find his way back out.  One of God's creatures, gotta let him live.

Ready to enter the house!

   Before going to bed, I got probably one of the best texts ever...but I will wait until that materializes to share it with all of you...to be continued on that.