Every time I think about writing on this amateur electronic publication, I get overwhelmed with the thought that everything I write here must be flawless genius. And combined with a lack of Internet access (until recently - hallelujah for an apartment with a phone line!), and a severe lack of free time, I've abandoned my poor little blog. But to start off its re-ignition, here's a little sound-bite about what's been going on in Parral lately:
1. Passion Conference in MX City: I was privileged to go with my church youth group to Passion's World Tour stop in MX City in 3-4 October. Although the 20-hour bus ride and nonstop action during the weekend caused a little sleep deprivation, I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the event. I was a volunteer, which meant I kept really busy during the whole event. I was able to practice my translation skills a lot as well. Our volunteer group leader was a girl from Brazil that spoke English quite well, but couldn't speak Spanish! So I translated for her to our group, half of which was Mexican and couldn't speak English. So that's a new favorite thing for me: translation!
2. "So, how's school?": I'm often asked this by friends (when I have the time to catch up with folks via chat, Facebook, or email), and my answer is always, "Busy!" Things have really picked up the last few weeks, and I've gotten a little behind in my plans, especially in my math class. Over half my math class failed the first grading period, which is rather alarming for a green algebra teacher. There's good reason for said failure: almost half the students are new to our school, which has an exceptionally high level of excellence for math, and these kids really had a hard adjustment coming in. Another reason is losing a whole week of school due to the flood. Also, many of the students are really quite lazy: they're failing because they don't work. So, that's been fun. But my other classes are going well: my history students are learning about WWII (my favorite period of history to teach), and my little 4th graders are in the process of earning lots of little "happy dollars" to get the chance to go to a special activity we're presenting on Friday. Oh, what fun it is to teach!
3. Parral and the Druggies: Mexico has been in the news lately for a whole lot of drug-related violence, and Parral has been no exception. A close friend of mine here was a witness to a shooting about a month ago: he saw a man empty an automatic weapon into a pickup truck and its passengers as he was walking down a relatively quiet street at twilight. The dad of one of my 4th graders was kidnapped about a month and a half ago, and showed up dead a few days later. Another one of my students' uncles was gunned down in Chihuahua 3 weeks ago. There's just a lot of violence going on here, and it doesn't help that the government and the police force are still fighting corruption within their own ranks. As much as the rest of this bloody world needs it, Mexico is in great need of God's justice. Pray that his Kingdom would come here as it is in heaven.
Well, that should serve for now. I'm off to do my Algebra lessons.
2 comments:
I've missed you, friend. So glad you're back in the bloggin world. You, your students, and Mexico are in my prayers. I love you, brother! <3 Courtney
i came across your blog through allison's (too much time on my hands, i know...) but my parents are missionaries in chihuahua! i spent 11 of my formative years there. my parents are actually taking a furlough starting next week, but my dad's been telling me all the stories about the drug violence.
it's ridiculous.
that's all.
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