Hey everyone! 8 school days and counting! Can you believe this semester has gone by so fast? I can't. As much as I am soooo excited to teach 2nd grade next year (already planning) I will miss my annoying, but loving Jr highers! We are gearing up for finals this week and ending the year next week. Next week is Spirit week and Field Day is the last day of school. Monday is crazy hat day, Tues is Twin day (Keren Wallace & I are going to be twins), Wednesday is crazy hair day and Thurs (Field Day) is Spirit day. The 8th grade team is called Dominican Flavor (Sabor Dominicano). That names so expresses what kind of group they are! These kids are awesome!

I will be in Chico June 14th - July 8th. My BBQ is June 30th. More info to come!

Election Results

Well, unfortunately, the elections were bought. The money and power out maneuvered the people's choice. They called in some Presidential vote counters to settle the so-called dispute, despite having counted the votes 8 times and Piedad won. The last official count said the Joselito won. "El lo compró"(He bought it) as we say here and once again any attempt at real democracy inLatinnAmericaa is thwarted by the idea's of the old dictatorship-style governing. The people tried to protest, but were met with soldiers and serious threats ontheirr lives. One wonders with such a legacy of control, will Democracy ever truly work for countries like the Dominican Republic?

Sorry I haven't posted any pics lately. My camera battery charger shorted out and I am waiting a new one in the mail.

Please pray for the country. There has been a surge of violence lately. Pray for God's peace!

Political Turmoil

Today marks two days after voting day. Half the country still has no politicians in power. Some of the politicians in power lost the elections (after counting the votes 8 or 9 times in some places). However, these men decided they don't want to give up power. They refuse to sign over power, declare themselves winner and then parade through the streets. We will see what becomes of these "self-declared" winners. Today could bring some serious upheaval. This is what you see when a newly founded democracy (10 years old) clashes with the old Caudillo system. Please pray for the politicians and the country!

18 School days to go!

AHHHHH! Okay so I am trying to work on my slide show to share with everyone once I get back to the states and some days in this country are so frustrating! Everything that has to do with computers is taking three times as long as it should. Not to mention MovieMaker is new to me, which just complicates things. It's starting to get easier and I can see the light!

This week has been good. Getting back into the swing of things is always good. It's amazing to look at how these kids have changed over the year. 8th grade has made enormous progress (I think it might be the age too) and it's incredible to think that these kids are going to be in high school (and a little scary!) next year.

I am reading a book that translates into The 12 Transgressions by Sergio Scataglini. I am not sure that you can get it in English. It is an amazing book and I am only in the first chapter. The whole book is about a new Holyness and revival that God is bringing to the church. On Sunday Sergio Scataglini was here and preached at my church. He brought an awesome message of repentence and new Holyness.

Sorry it took me so long to update my blog. I have been very busy with school. We spent Monday through Friday of last week at the beach with the jr high students learning about the reef. The pictures are listed under Outdoor Education Spring 2006. It was an awesome time for the kids to learn through hands-on learning. It was also some-what relaxing to spend time at the beach. I think that snorkeling is my new favorite thing to do. It's incredible to see the wonderful world that God has created below the surface of the ocean. Tomorrow is the formal presentation of what the kids have learned and they have spent every morning this week working on making it better. It's hard to motivate jr high students are don't really care about presenting what they've learned (in thier minds they've already learned it; what do they need to present it for). The presentation will reflect the majority of thier quarter grade and the press is coming to do another report. It's awesome to watch kids learn and understand that sometimes we have to do things that are hard.