The Firsts Come in Threes

1. The first day of school - This was by far the most interesting first day of school I have ever experienced. We had all of our classes for 20 minutes, and then we had chapel. So really there was only enough time to briefly start to review and get the kids acquainted. However, when they have chapel at 11:00, they so something kind of different each year. This year we al had tshirts on that had the names of different types of leaders - manager, boss, CEO, president, etc. We also all had ties on. We were there to demonstrate servant leadership, and we all washed the feet of 96 middle and high school students to be an example of that. It was fascinating, because it made most of the kids uncomfortable, but they accepted it and it ended up being a really cool example for them. And then they pumped up the loud music and Liam, our director, started talking about the fact that there are some new things happening this year, including the fact that there were no more demerits, which was pretty funny because he let it sink in for a minute before talking about the new way that the NCA was going to handle discipline. It was really a lot of fun. Afterwards we served lunch to our homeroom, and then they split up and played team-building games for the rest of the afternoon. It was really quite fun, and we were all hot and sweaty and dirty by the end of it. The kids are really great, although it's new for me to have to remind people to speak only English in my classroom! :)

2. I cut up my first pineapple yesterday!

3. There are always things that are going to go wrong at the beginning of a new job or new school year, and this is both. So there have been some interesting challenges that have tested my patience and flexibility and dependence on God. For those of you who can comprehend the Nicaraguan mail system at all, you'll understand when I say that what happened this afternoon is an actual miracle, and I don't say that lightly. I'm teaching physics, and most of you know that I've never had a physics course in my life. It is defintely going to be the most challenging course I've ever taught, and I get really worried about it sometimes. However, when I got my books there was a teacher's edition for the lab manual, which were not using, but there was no teacher's edition for the actual book, which we most certainly ARE using. And to be completely honest, I can't get past teh second chapter without it. They ordered a copy yesterday (Monday), and they rushed it as quickly as they could, which meant that it SHOULD be here next week. With Nica time, though, I wasn't holding my breath for anything much earlier than September, but with small hope for next week.

However, a little while ago the director walked into me classroom with a big grin on his face and something behind his back. Neither of us understand it, because these books came from the states, but my teacher's editions came this afternoon. I don't know how it happened, and no one understands it, but it is probably the greatest blessing I could have right now.