Venezuela Strikes Again

Hi Everyone!

I was busy correcting a pre-test for Reading. In answer to my question, "What should you do if you read something and it doesn't make sense?" one of my students responded, "Don't read it"- ha! I love kids' candid answers! I won't tell him, but that's what a lot of adults do when they don't understand something too!

This past Sunday I succeeded in climbing to the top of Mt. Casupo- I attempted hiking to the top with Dave & Christi (a CIC teaching couple that live in my apartment) the week before, but almost passed out from exhaustion and heat! This time I paced myself and reached the top unscathed ;-) I have attached pictures of Casupo and of the view from my apartment windows.

As far as teaching and adjusting to Venezuela goes, so far so good! I am happy here, though of course I miss everyone back home. There are certainly annoyances here too, but I am still reveling in some of the benefits- mountains, ocean nearby, an apartment that is paid for and a good job. Some of the annoyances include: not having a car and living some way from the rest of the teachers, several things didn't work in my apartment and didn't/aren't fixed quickly. Overall though, I am surprised at the lack of any true distress signals so far- I haven't really suffered in my transition to life here. I attribute  my smooth transition to the prayers offered by you all back home (Thank You!) and the sincerity of the welcome I have received from the teachers and the Venezuelan people.

My students behave well for the most part. I am glad I haven't had any real discipline issues though- no fighting, name-calling or sassing.

My biggest concern is lesson planning. This last week I spent late nights planning for each coming day, and I am required to have this next week's plans all finished by Monday afternoon (yikes!). I only pray I can actually plan them all in such a short amount of time. Other than that, my only other concern is being rather isolated- no car and only that couple nearby to talk to or hang out with, unless people are willing to drive out to me to give me to say hi. Cars are about as expensive here as in the US, so I doubt I will save up enough to buy one anytime soon, and driving in Venezuela is a little like how James Bond drives- every man for himself and look out for cars flying around the corner! The fact that there are so few accidents here is plainly evidence of the existence of God.

Well, that's all for now. I may send some pics of the beach later, but not sure- I neglected to take any myself, so I'm relying on a friend to email me hers! All of us teachers went to the beach last Friday, so a few others took pictures while we were there.