I'm out of time lately. Brazilian sisters who helped in the kitchen are gone and we have to do everything they did. I get up together with the girls at 5:45 AM and we go straight to the kitchen... and I spend most of my day there except when I go to school to teach English or have lunch break. If there is nothing to do in the kitchen then there is a girl who needs help with her homework or there is someone who wants her hair braided, I need to do the laundry, we have evening meetings, worship meetings, and then I still need to find time to take a shower. So my days are quickly gone. But they all are of great value! Usually there are some girls helping in the kitchen and I get to talk and sing with them. They have started to show some interest and motivation to learn English - soI teach them some English songs and they ask for English words and learn them. I'm really happy about that! I got to teach Ligretto (Dutch Blitz) to the older girls! And I think they got it. Few more games and they might become faster than me :D And Ligretto is the best game where they can practice what they've learned in their English classes - colors and numbers. Therefore during the game they joyfully shout out which card they need in English. Way to go :)
And sister Ondina has returned to Rincon! (Yes, Ondina not Undine how I have been calling her so far. There was a little misunderstanding. So now I'm making a correction that she's the same sister who came with me on the bus and then later by taxi to Rincon - Ondina). And I was unusually happy to see her. She was in Corumba all this time seeing her dentist. Now she has returned here to fix the children's teeth... and there is a lot of work. There are many black holes :D When I saw her I had a feeling that I had met someone from my previous life - someone who was there before Rincon. She showed me her dentist's office, now I know A LOT about dentist's machines, liquids, materials... I don't get to talk to other dentists about these things usually. Now I had the chance :)
My bathroom is ready, but it still needs some improvements before I can use it entirely. Local workers have not completed some things. Brother John looked at it and said: Of course... it's Bolivia :D And he also said it looks like they have tried to make a swimming pool not a bathroom :D
And it's a CRAZY mosquito season. There was a mosquito reunion in my new bathroom last night. I walked in there last night and there was an unusually loud buzz... I turned on my flashlight - WOW - a bazillion of them! They all hung out in my new abode. But they're in every humid place these days.
Getting online has become more exclusive simply because there is not enough time... so please accept that I'm not online so often :) You are in my thoughts and prayers every day! May God give you great joy today!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Other than bloody days and crazy night life...
Something new and interesting happens every day. For example, about OMO. Have you heard of such washing powder? So, Undine and I were at a shop in Puerto Suarez, Bolivia and she suggested I buy OMO because it will be very useful to me. OK, if she says so. Turns out OMO does everything! Of course you wash your clothes with it, but it is also used to wash the dishes, floors, furniture, glass, sinks, tiles and everything else you might want to wash. OMO is good for everything!
Then I was learning Bolivian anthem with the girls. If it is sung so often here I should get acquainted with it. I wrote down all 9 verses and we sung it. I loved that author of the lyrics is HOSE IGNASIO! Those who remember once legendary serial "The rich also cry" (first decent soap shown in Latvia) will understand my excitement about his name :)
I love that they make covers for everything! Girls have made covers for all their books and notebooks. But they are not nice plastic slips our kids in Latvia can buy. So what they use for book covers... once I was organizing the storage room and found several boxes with used plastic bags and other pieces of plastic. I asked Velta, if I can throw them away because I thought they were useless scraps. But I learned that they are stored there for children to cover their books when the school starts. They also use magazines, posters and calendars... and when Sunday school starts all teachers receive notebooks. And they also have covers!!! From very interesting scientific articles. And everyone also received a pen that doesn't write. How do I know so well what was given to them? Because I received such gift myself. Late on Saturday night I received a message that I have to teach a Sunday school class next morning!!! WOW! One teacher couldn't come and she asked me to substitute her because there is no one else who could do it... OK, I agreed. So on Sunday I had this unique opportunity to teach a group of 13 boys (4th, 5th and 6th grade) - all in Spanish! I really don't know how much they understood :D But we learned the Bible verse very well. It was a big challenge because younger kids are having a hard time understanding wrong Spanish. So I had to use all my knowledge of grammar to be able to speak fairly well. Then I taught them the "Si, Christo me ama" song in English and Latvian. They sung with a great passion :D I really like those kids... it's OK that I still have "some" imperfections in my Spanish...
"Simba" which means a braid is one of the most popular words lately. Girls noticed that I know how to french braid. Therefore every night and every morning there is a dark head that needs a hairdo. Their hair is so nice! They all have dark, dark and thick, thick hair - kind of hair they'd show in a Pantene shampoo commercial. Beautiful!
Then I have discovered that magazines have some really interesting reading material! So far I've been too lazy to read magazine articles, I just looked at the pictures. One day when the weather was bad and I wasn't feeling well, I spent more time in my room and checked what Zanda had given me - some Latvian women magazines. And now I tell her a big Thank you! I had never read magazines with such interest before - from cover to cover! And all of a sudden it all seemed so interesting and important :D So if anyone has a chance to send me some reading material , I'd be REALLY happy :) I will have some time to read... and my only literature here are English, Latvian and Spanish Bibles. They have earned a new value, too. I see and understand many things like I've never understood before. Now I'm reading Acts with an excitement I have never had before. But sometimes I want to read something different, too, you know? :) But in general I'm not picky about reading material :) I'll take anything!
OK, that's all for now. Tonight's electricity minutes are coming to an end. Sweet dreams :)
Then I was learning Bolivian anthem with the girls. If it is sung so often here I should get acquainted with it. I wrote down all 9 verses and we sung it. I loved that author of the lyrics is HOSE IGNASIO! Those who remember once legendary serial "The rich also cry" (first decent soap shown in Latvia) will understand my excitement about his name :)
I love that they make covers for everything! Girls have made covers for all their books and notebooks. But they are not nice plastic slips our kids in Latvia can buy. So what they use for book covers... once I was organizing the storage room and found several boxes with used plastic bags and other pieces of plastic. I asked Velta, if I can throw them away because I thought they were useless scraps. But I learned that they are stored there for children to cover their books when the school starts. They also use magazines, posters and calendars... and when Sunday school starts all teachers receive notebooks. And they also have covers!!! From very interesting scientific articles. And everyone also received a pen that doesn't write. How do I know so well what was given to them? Because I received such gift myself. Late on Saturday night I received a message that I have to teach a Sunday school class next morning!!! WOW! One teacher couldn't come and she asked me to substitute her because there is no one else who could do it... OK, I agreed. So on Sunday I had this unique opportunity to teach a group of 13 boys (4th, 5th and 6th grade) - all in Spanish! I really don't know how much they understood :D But we learned the Bible verse very well. It was a big challenge because younger kids are having a hard time understanding wrong Spanish. So I had to use all my knowledge of grammar to be able to speak fairly well. Then I taught them the "Si, Christo me ama" song in English and Latvian. They sung with a great passion :D I really like those kids... it's OK that I still have "some" imperfections in my Spanish...
"Simba" which means a braid is one of the most popular words lately. Girls noticed that I know how to french braid. Therefore every night and every morning there is a dark head that needs a hairdo. Their hair is so nice! They all have dark, dark and thick, thick hair - kind of hair they'd show in a Pantene shampoo commercial. Beautiful!
Then I have discovered that magazines have some really interesting reading material! So far I've been too lazy to read magazine articles, I just looked at the pictures. One day when the weather was bad and I wasn't feeling well, I spent more time in my room and checked what Zanda had given me - some Latvian women magazines. And now I tell her a big Thank you! I had never read magazines with such interest before - from cover to cover! And all of a sudden it all seemed so interesting and important :D So if anyone has a chance to send me some reading material , I'd be REALLY happy :) I will have some time to read... and my only literature here are English, Latvian and Spanish Bibles. They have earned a new value, too. I see and understand many things like I've never understood before. Now I'm reading Acts with an excitement I have never had before. But sometimes I want to read something different, too, you know? :) But in general I'm not picky about reading material :) I'll take anything!
OK, that's all for now. Tonight's electricity minutes are coming to an end. Sweet dreams :)
Friday, February 18, 2011
Important information
In order to survive in the middle of jungle, keep this in mind:
- always hold a shoe in your arm when opening the closet, because almost every time there is a cockroach you should kill QUICKLY for they, frights, run as fast as years!
- buy a mosquito repellent that does actually work. I have one that is useless and thus I always have mosquito bites. And these mosquitoes are much faster than Latvian ones. Firstly, they bite you much less noticeably, secondly, they notice that you intend to kill them much sooner. So you have to be really fast if you want to kill any.
- don't yawn in darkness if your hand is not in front of your mouth - you could find a happy nimble friend in your throat.
- if your nose is itching during the night know that it's not running nose! It is a tiny insect that is looking for a home.
- if you haven't worn a closed toe shoe for just a few days, definitely look inside before you put your foot there. Most probably someone has made some nets there and is sleeping there already.
- if you need to go anywhere in the middle of night, definitely, definitely light your way because you might step on a living creature.
- If in the middle of the night you think a little cat is nibbling by the door and wants to be let outside, don't worry - a little wild cat has not strayed in. It's the big frog that has gotten into your room and now wants to go outside to be with its relatives.
- If you eat anything outside the kitchen, make sure your hand that holds the treat is above your waist because that food might end up in a dog's stomach.
- If you feel like someone is trying to get into your room during the night, scratches the roof, tries to cut a hole in your door or window, don't worry because it's not as bad as it seems. All those noises have a natural explanation.You will not always find out this explanation, therefore you will feel afraid. But try not to be afraid! Always keep in mind that even after the most terrifying night comes a sunny morning!
Bloody Saturday
I have no better word to describe last Saturday. It was bloody, indeed. But don't panic - I'm well and so are other Rinconians. The blood came from a cow because it was butchered. Workers butcher a cow every Saturday morning. Probably it was cow's husband this time, I didn't notice such delicate details. Locals told me a joke that bull's greatest insult is being called a cow after its death :D
So we divided this killed animal in different parts - a part of it was given for selling to local people, the other part is for meals for the whole Rincon household. And I was really surprised that one such cattle is enough to feed about 16 people every day + to be sold to about 30 customers; each of them buys several kilograms for their families. I had this unforgettable experience to be at the kitchen with older girls, we had to divide the cow into certain pieces. So I was as close to the cow as I've never been... I was in its lungs, throat, heart and other body parts. WOW! And the weirdest thing was that it was still really warm in some places... and there was so much blood. I apologize to those who have weaker nerves, but I really wanted to share this experience because I had never done it before. I was cutting the cow with my big knife for about an hour... then I literally got sick of it and I did something a lot nicer - something that didn't involve blood. It was a sweet and pleasant task - we made a cake for Velta. We celebrated 50 years of her ministry in Rincon on Sunday. There will be another anniversary on February 25 - she will turn 75... and most of these years have been spent in Rincon working hard, persistently and unceasingly. Therefore she really had deserved a big cake which we succeeded to make. I had to decorate it. Oh how I loved it after all that blood! I stirred a really sweet frosting we later colored with all kinds of artificial food colors. The cake turned out really tasty on the inside and pleasing to the eye on the outside. I really hope that one day I'll have enough time to add some pictures to my stories.
I could add to this past Saturday that in my previous post about 1 month away from Latvia I got too excited too soon about being used to living creatures on this side of the world. I have some new night adventures. The big night-moths have begun to crash on my forehead! Yes - on my forehead! And why? Why should they do it? And then there are new black beetles that crawl under my blanket and in other places, where it's impolite to crawl... awful feeling!!! And then the cockroaches... oh.. but thank God Velta gave me some ant poison that also works for cockroaches. The poison is a white powder that you put on the floor and in the morning you sweep away the dead bodies. Good stuff! I recommend :)
So we divided this killed animal in different parts - a part of it was given for selling to local people, the other part is for meals for the whole Rincon household. And I was really surprised that one such cattle is enough to feed about 16 people every day + to be sold to about 30 customers; each of them buys several kilograms for their families. I had this unforgettable experience to be at the kitchen with older girls, we had to divide the cow into certain pieces. So I was as close to the cow as I've never been... I was in its lungs, throat, heart and other body parts. WOW! And the weirdest thing was that it was still really warm in some places... and there was so much blood. I apologize to those who have weaker nerves, but I really wanted to share this experience because I had never done it before. I was cutting the cow with my big knife for about an hour... then I literally got sick of it and I did something a lot nicer - something that didn't involve blood. It was a sweet and pleasant task - we made a cake for Velta. We celebrated 50 years of her ministry in Rincon on Sunday. There will be another anniversary on February 25 - she will turn 75... and most of these years have been spent in Rincon working hard, persistently and unceasingly. Therefore she really had deserved a big cake which we succeeded to make. I had to decorate it. Oh how I loved it after all that blood! I stirred a really sweet frosting we later colored with all kinds of artificial food colors. The cake turned out really tasty on the inside and pleasing to the eye on the outside. I really hope that one day I'll have enough time to add some pictures to my stories.
I could add to this past Saturday that in my previous post about 1 month away from Latvia I got too excited too soon about being used to living creatures on this side of the world. I have some new night adventures. The big night-moths have begun to crash on my forehead! Yes - on my forehead! And why? Why should they do it? And then there are new black beetles that crawl under my blanket and in other places, where it's impolite to crawl... awful feeling!!! And then the cockroaches... oh.. but thank God Velta gave me some ant poison that also works for cockroaches. The poison is a white powder that you put on the floor and in the morning you sweep away the dead bodies. Good stuff! I recommend :)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
1 month
... away from Latvia. I can "celebrate" such an "anniversary" today, February 8th. And I can say that it has been one of the most colorful and unforgettable months of my life! And it has literally flown by.
I've gotten used to the spooky night hours when I have to fall asleep accompanied by horse, donkey, dog, frog, bird, grasshopper and other animal created sounds. I've gotten a little used to my brothers cockroaches who peek out of my closet or drawers quite regularly. Now I'm not just terrified by them but I also try to kill them... and sometimes I succeed :) Now I know, what's inside of them :D I'm not so surprised to literally be face to face with a horse, donkey or a donkey-horse, a fat, furry pig momma, or a curious ayoreo as soon as I walk out of a building or turn around the corner :) I take easier the big furry spiders and gigantic warms... Time heals all the wounds :D Also mine :D
I understand what girls are saying to me better and better, although there are many, many things I still don't understand. But I have faith I will eventually! Velta said she started to speak Spanish normally after 4 months of being here. So, I've still got time! But I really want to be able to speak soon... I need to talk to these girls so much! But patience, patience and again patience! It's my Top 1 word now!
It was raining all they long today. And raining really hard. So the school was cancelled because no kid has an umbrella and they can't walk to school. So I didn't have to teach 4 English classes today. But I hang out with my chicas instead. I showed them my photo album from Latvia. They were so excited to see so many "white people" :D And it was even more exciting for me to listen to their comments! They were so surprised to see my home in Jelgava - they were surprised they people live in SUCH BIG houses (I have a two-storied house), then they were surprised how it's possible to have white snow on the ground, they were surprised to see the beach and Jelgava palace. Someone said I look fat in a picture. Other one asked if Agrita (Dreska) is my sister, they asked if Toms (Asnevics) is my father :D They asked if Toms (Svoks) is my son! (I love that they assumed I had a baby on the other side of the world I had left for 6 months :) ) They asked if Parsla is my twin because we look the same. They loved all the people who wore boots because they don't wear them. And almost all of them loved my brother Karlis and they said he's really good looking. And they couldn't recognize me in pictures I had curly hair. These and other unique comments came from their mouths in abundance! It's Tuesday night 7:46 PM and girls come to Velta's house to buy cookies and waffles, They're always, always hungry! Did I mention that ALWAYS? And they'll eat anything... But I can understand them actually because their meals are very simple... So they spend all their coins for cookies... my lovely, brown girls...
I've gotten used to the spooky night hours when I have to fall asleep accompanied by horse, donkey, dog, frog, bird, grasshopper and other animal created sounds. I've gotten a little used to my brothers cockroaches who peek out of my closet or drawers quite regularly. Now I'm not just terrified by them but I also try to kill them... and sometimes I succeed :) Now I know, what's inside of them :D I'm not so surprised to literally be face to face with a horse, donkey or a donkey-horse, a fat, furry pig momma, or a curious ayoreo as soon as I walk out of a building or turn around the corner :) I take easier the big furry spiders and gigantic warms... Time heals all the wounds :D Also mine :D
I understand what girls are saying to me better and better, although there are many, many things I still don't understand. But I have faith I will eventually! Velta said she started to speak Spanish normally after 4 months of being here. So, I've still got time! But I really want to be able to speak soon... I need to talk to these girls so much! But patience, patience and again patience! It's my Top 1 word now!
It was raining all they long today. And raining really hard. So the school was cancelled because no kid has an umbrella and they can't walk to school. So I didn't have to teach 4 English classes today. But I hang out with my chicas instead. I showed them my photo album from Latvia. They were so excited to see so many "white people" :D And it was even more exciting for me to listen to their comments! They were so surprised to see my home in Jelgava - they were surprised they people live in SUCH BIG houses (I have a two-storied house), then they were surprised how it's possible to have white snow on the ground, they were surprised to see the beach and Jelgava palace. Someone said I look fat in a picture. Other one asked if Agrita (Dreska) is my sister, they asked if Toms (Asnevics) is my father :D They asked if Toms (Svoks) is my son! (I love that they assumed I had a baby on the other side of the world I had left for 6 months :) ) They asked if Parsla is my twin because we look the same. They loved all the people who wore boots because they don't wear them. And almost all of them loved my brother Karlis and they said he's really good looking. And they couldn't recognize me in pictures I had curly hair. These and other unique comments came from their mouths in abundance! It's Tuesday night 7:46 PM and girls come to Velta's house to buy cookies and waffles, They're always, always hungry! Did I mention that ALWAYS? And they'll eat anything... But I can understand them actually because their meals are very simple... So they spend all their coins for cookies... my lovely, brown girls...
Profe Liene begins to work
You can congratulate me - today (February 7th) I taught my first 7 English classes to Rincon students. Oh my! Oh my! What else can I say? I had prepared classes according to the textbooks I had received for each grade. And then I had to change everything in the class. To a lower lever. To level 1, no - to level 0! They're having a really hard time with English. Even the 12th graders couldn't understand the simple questions about age, country, school, family... We started by repeating numbers, colors and names of ordinary objects. You don't see so many surprised eyes in one place often! The greatest challenge is a class with 29 students... and they will come to the class together. You cant split them because you need at least 30 students to do that. So imagine a class with 29 students that have to be taught English almost from the very beginning... on the condition that they learn from a textbook for 10th graders. I'd say that it is my greatest Rincon challenge. And they read ALL English words as they were Spanish... so I have to constantly correct their pronunciation. Ugh... there's a lot of work! I came out of each class sweating because I had to move, walk around, point at things and places all the time for them to understand me. And it's interesting that they don't have a break between classes! The ring of the bell means both the end of the class and the beginng of other one... so I have to manage to be in two places at once. C-h-a-l-l-e-n-g-e! But after all, everything that doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, doesn't it? :) So I'll continue to go further with repeating things 100 times and having a huge patience. There must be some improvement by June!
P.S. Many of the girls have gotten an allergy with a strong itching... may God protect us from it and take all the diseases away!
P.S. Many of the girls have gotten an allergy with a strong itching... may God protect us from it and take all the diseases away!
What I am eating
I have received an official question about my diet here. So I'll hurry to answer that :)
Breakfast is the same all the time. They have 3 pots - milk, tea, coffee. I always take tea. They have a home-made bread which is really tasty. They put either butter or something like condensed milk (an interesting brown, sweet home-made stuff) on the bread. There are some lucky days when they have cheese. Home-made of course. This write round cheese tastes simply salty. Locals put both the cheese and the condensed milk on their bread together. I haven't had the guts to try it yet :D For lunch and dinner we ALWAYS have rice, beans and simple pieces of beaf. Sometimes we have beaf liver. Before the school started there was a really good cook, she always made something in addition to the rise and beans, for example, she added some carrots or potatoes to the beef, made corn casserole or tamales (corn paste with cheese in corn leaves - really tasty!), we also had boiled palm tree cores and different kinds of salad. One day was a feast - we had chicken! I was so happy!!! Now there are some Brazilian ladies working in the kitchen, they're here for 2 weeks. So now we have just rise, beans, beaf and a salad. Great happiness is that every other day we have watermelon - they grow them here so they're really sweet and not genetically modified :) We try to make different juices ourselves, for example, from sesame seeds, watermelon, acerola berries etc. When we're out of time we make a cool-aid type of a drink. That's my diet. Seems like there's not much difference but since there is quite a long time between meals when you work really hard you don't have time to think that you're eating the same thing all the time. Then everything seems good and tasty. They try to make something different on Sundays. Then we have pasta days. And tomorrow is going to be really special because we will have lasagna! I can't wait! When we have some extra time (which doesn't happen often) we bake cheesecakes or make corn pudding or rise pudding for dessert. On Thursday nights we have a missionary meeting that is lead by a different person each time. This leader has to provide a snack for others. Day before yesterday was heavenly for we had chocolate cake. Oh my goodness how good... I'm really craving chocolate... I have few pieces left and I eat a little when there is a great desire. But by tomorrow or the day after my chocolate will be gone. Then I will be only able to dream about chocolate :D It's ok - I will eat that sweet breakfast cream and try to cope :) In general I'm well fed and I'm happy that for the first time in my life I'm not able to eat after 6 PM :) Because there simply is no food :)
P.S. If anyone wants to delight me on Valentine's day Women's day or on any other special occasion I wouldn't deny a chocolate package :) Milk chocolate with nuts... mmm... And Lāču fruit bread... mmm... Maybe it wouldn't melt totally until it got here!
Breakfast is the same all the time. They have 3 pots - milk, tea, coffee. I always take tea. They have a home-made bread which is really tasty. They put either butter or something like condensed milk (an interesting brown, sweet home-made stuff) on the bread. There are some lucky days when they have cheese. Home-made of course. This write round cheese tastes simply salty. Locals put both the cheese and the condensed milk on their bread together. I haven't had the guts to try it yet :D For lunch and dinner we ALWAYS have rice, beans and simple pieces of beaf. Sometimes we have beaf liver. Before the school started there was a really good cook, she always made something in addition to the rise and beans, for example, she added some carrots or potatoes to the beef, made corn casserole or tamales (corn paste with cheese in corn leaves - really tasty!), we also had boiled palm tree cores and different kinds of salad. One day was a feast - we had chicken! I was so happy!!! Now there are some Brazilian ladies working in the kitchen, they're here for 2 weeks. So now we have just rise, beans, beaf and a salad. Great happiness is that every other day we have watermelon - they grow them here so they're really sweet and not genetically modified :) We try to make different juices ourselves, for example, from sesame seeds, watermelon, acerola berries etc. When we're out of time we make a cool-aid type of a drink. That's my diet. Seems like there's not much difference but since there is quite a long time between meals when you work really hard you don't have time to think that you're eating the same thing all the time. Then everything seems good and tasty. They try to make something different on Sundays. Then we have pasta days. And tomorrow is going to be really special because we will have lasagna! I can't wait! When we have some extra time (which doesn't happen often) we bake cheesecakes or make corn pudding or rise pudding for dessert. On Thursday nights we have a missionary meeting that is lead by a different person each time. This leader has to provide a snack for others. Day before yesterday was heavenly for we had chocolate cake. Oh my goodness how good... I'm really craving chocolate... I have few pieces left and I eat a little when there is a great desire. But by tomorrow or the day after my chocolate will be gone. Then I will be only able to dream about chocolate :D It's ok - I will eat that sweet breakfast cream and try to cope :) In general I'm well fed and I'm happy that for the first time in my life I'm not able to eat after 6 PM :) Because there simply is no food :)
P.S. If anyone wants to delight me on Valentine's day Women's day or on any other special occasion I wouldn't deny a chocolate package :) Milk chocolate with nuts... mmm... And Lāču fruit bread... mmm... Maybe it wouldn't melt totally until it got here!
Lately
It's Saturday night, February 5th here. It seems like there is more and more going on and less and less time to write it down. I'll really have to write a book after Rincon so you can know EVERYTHING!
Life with 60 chicas is becoming more and more ordinary. They have accepted me! And they greet me every time they see me. Some only in Spanish, some want to stand out and they say 'Hello!' I will start to fulfill my teacher's duties next week, then probably everyone but few will wish to say 'Hello!' For them it's really really cool if they know how to say something in a different language.
Some things about the cool chiquitas. When they have nothing to do, they sing. They sing in bed, in shower, at the textbook, in the corridor... they sing everywhere. And they have really interesting voices... I will definitely record them and play them for you when I'm in Latvia. Since they don't have a radio, they provide music for themselves. I LOVE to listen to them! Another interesting thing is that they're always hungry. Right after lunch or dinner I can see that a group of girls is trying to get some berries from a nearby fruit tree with a tall bamboo stick again. I have no idea what it's called in Latvian but it looks like a mix of plum and apricot. Very good. They also love to look at themselves in the mirror. They comb their hair countless times and make the same hair-do again and again. Many of them haven't had a mirror at home so now they look at themselves in the mirror really thoroughly. Then you can see groups of girls where one is a leader and she usually sits somewhere higher. This leader usually looks different from the other girls - either she is a little lighter, has different features, or is a little richer. She talks most of the time, the others listen and laugh or agree with her, depending on the situation. On the first day of school they all decorated their notebooks. It is very important to have more than the name of the school, grade and subject on the first page. You have to draw a special frame around! So they all color as pretty as they can. Some have palm trees, some have the morning star, some have hearts and flowers but everyone has some artwork there. And as far as I have seen the boys' notebooks, they do the same thing!
One day my job was to take all the guest bedding from late Claudia's home a the storage room at the girls' dorms. So I was sorting the bedding and putting it on shelves. Girls came in time after time, watched what I'm doing and always said: Muy bonito! (Very beautiful!) I thought I was simply putting bedding in nice piles but I guess it was unusual for them...
They have gotten braver about visiting my window, too. Sometimes several of them come to my window and look inside. They wonder and say 'Muy bonito!' again :D I guess it's because I don't have shoes and clothes all over the place like in their rooms :) In general I've been watched all the time. Even though it seems like they have accepted me, there are some little eyes watching me anyway. People's eyes by day and my bug friends' by night, they're trying to find a fresh piece of flesh that's not yet bitten by them :D So I have a big responsibility to be a good example for them. Principal Panfil told me straight away that she wants me to be the good example for the teachers at school for they, too, have some attention, behavior, discipline and tidiness issues... for they're just Bolivians themselves... so I have a great "state" duty to show them the good "work style". Sometimes it feels weird that I have such a great responsibility but I have to do what is expected from me!
One more piece of news is that I will have more grades to teach English to besides highschoolers. Teacher Norah (Panfil and Samuel's daughter in law) who taught 7th and 8th grade is a mother to 3 little children, she is also the librarian and takes care of the school shop. She asked me to teach her classes so that she has more time for her other duties. After discussing this with Velta we decided that I can do this. It means that I will have to teach 16 classes a week... I'll have 7 classes on Monday! May God be with me!
On Friday I was watching some classes. And I understood why they can sing their weird national anthem so well. They begin and end each day by raising the Bolivian flag and singing some verses from the anthem, which has 10 verses altogether. They translated one sentence for me. The best one - I'd rather die than give away my country Bolivia to a stranger. It was interesting to watch that even the little 5 and 6 year olds sing these fateful words with such serious faces.
Then I was surprised that the PE teacher also teaches them nice handwriting! It was so interesting to watch that such a grown-up, large man demonstrates how to neatly write different letters on the blackboard. Panfil told me later that in real life his handwriting is quite awful :D And this wasn't 1st graders' class, it was the 8th graders'. I guess they have this class all the time.
Today I'm actually more tired than usual. I worked in the big second-hand clothe storage room almost all day long. And there are billion clothes without any system. So I was working hard to create an order there. It was really hard. But I'm really determined to finish this work next week! After all I have a pretty close relationship with second hand clothes :D
Life with 60 chicas is becoming more and more ordinary. They have accepted me! And they greet me every time they see me. Some only in Spanish, some want to stand out and they say 'Hello!' I will start to fulfill my teacher's duties next week, then probably everyone but few will wish to say 'Hello!' For them it's really really cool if they know how to say something in a different language.
Some things about the cool chiquitas. When they have nothing to do, they sing. They sing in bed, in shower, at the textbook, in the corridor... they sing everywhere. And they have really interesting voices... I will definitely record them and play them for you when I'm in Latvia. Since they don't have a radio, they provide music for themselves. I LOVE to listen to them! Another interesting thing is that they're always hungry. Right after lunch or dinner I can see that a group of girls is trying to get some berries from a nearby fruit tree with a tall bamboo stick again. I have no idea what it's called in Latvian but it looks like a mix of plum and apricot. Very good. They also love to look at themselves in the mirror. They comb their hair countless times and make the same hair-do again and again. Many of them haven't had a mirror at home so now they look at themselves in the mirror really thoroughly. Then you can see groups of girls where one is a leader and she usually sits somewhere higher. This leader usually looks different from the other girls - either she is a little lighter, has different features, or is a little richer. She talks most of the time, the others listen and laugh or agree with her, depending on the situation. On the first day of school they all decorated their notebooks. It is very important to have more than the name of the school, grade and subject on the first page. You have to draw a special frame around! So they all color as pretty as they can. Some have palm trees, some have the morning star, some have hearts and flowers but everyone has some artwork there. And as far as I have seen the boys' notebooks, they do the same thing!
One day my job was to take all the guest bedding from late Claudia's home a the storage room at the girls' dorms. So I was sorting the bedding and putting it on shelves. Girls came in time after time, watched what I'm doing and always said: Muy bonito! (Very beautiful!) I thought I was simply putting bedding in nice piles but I guess it was unusual for them...
They have gotten braver about visiting my window, too. Sometimes several of them come to my window and look inside. They wonder and say 'Muy bonito!' again :D I guess it's because I don't have shoes and clothes all over the place like in their rooms :) In general I've been watched all the time. Even though it seems like they have accepted me, there are some little eyes watching me anyway. People's eyes by day and my bug friends' by night, they're trying to find a fresh piece of flesh that's not yet bitten by them :D So I have a big responsibility to be a good example for them. Principal Panfil told me straight away that she wants me to be the good example for the teachers at school for they, too, have some attention, behavior, discipline and tidiness issues... for they're just Bolivians themselves... so I have a great "state" duty to show them the good "work style". Sometimes it feels weird that I have such a great responsibility but I have to do what is expected from me!
One more piece of news is that I will have more grades to teach English to besides highschoolers. Teacher Norah (Panfil and Samuel's daughter in law) who taught 7th and 8th grade is a mother to 3 little children, she is also the librarian and takes care of the school shop. She asked me to teach her classes so that she has more time for her other duties. After discussing this with Velta we decided that I can do this. It means that I will have to teach 16 classes a week... I'll have 7 classes on Monday! May God be with me!
On Friday I was watching some classes. And I understood why they can sing their weird national anthem so well. They begin and end each day by raising the Bolivian flag and singing some verses from the anthem, which has 10 verses altogether. They translated one sentence for me. The best one - I'd rather die than give away my country Bolivia to a stranger. It was interesting to watch that even the little 5 and 6 year olds sing these fateful words with such serious faces.
Then I was surprised that the PE teacher also teaches them nice handwriting! It was so interesting to watch that such a grown-up, large man demonstrates how to neatly write different letters on the blackboard. Panfil told me later that in real life his handwriting is quite awful :D And this wasn't 1st graders' class, it was the 8th graders'. I guess they have this class all the time.
Today I'm actually more tired than usual. I worked in the big second-hand clothe storage room almost all day long. And there are billion clothes without any system. So I was working hard to create an order there. It was really hard. But I'm really determined to finish this work next week! After all I have a pretty close relationship with second hand clothes :D
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Chiquitas
I have spent almost 4 days side by side with 62 beautiful, noisy, talented, smiling, lively and fun Bolivian and Ayoreo chiquitas. There are 7 dorm rooms in my building, each of them has 4 or 5 bunk beds... and they're all occupied! Now it's never completely silent. Girls go to school in two shifts. At 8:00 AM younger girls go to classes, at 1:00 PM older girls go to classes. While one group is taking classes the other has different chores such as cleaning the dorms, gathering mowed grass, washing and ironing clothes, helping in the kitchen etc. Therefore there are louder or quieter voices all around. And I feel like they have gotten used to my appearance :D First days were really funny because time after time I wanted to go and look in the mirror to check if I don't have a huge broccoli between my teeth or something written on my face with a red ink... I had a feeling something is wrong with my face because of their looks :D But now I'm accepted more or less. And the next level of relationship can begin. They want to talk to me. They ask all kinds of questions about my life, for example, What's my age? What's my mom's name? What language is spoken in my country? Do I have a husband? Is Latvia far? and so on... I can answer these questions in Spanish perfectly! And girls gladly help me understand more complicated questions, they help me with different verb forms. One girl asked me to help with her Math homework. That was a challenge! Since Math is not my favorite thing on the world I had to make some effort... plus - I had to explain that in Spanish! But I guess I succeeded... Girls gladly grab every piece of attention they can get. And every day I understand more and more strongly that they are my true mission here! I pray that God allows me to speak Spanish fluently very soon so that I can talk to them not only about my age and mother tongue. I think God sent me here to tell them a lot more! I'm really happy to be with them. On one hand they're like Latvian girls but on the other hand they're totally different... Every communication with them is like a little adventure! No wonder I see so interesting dreams every night! May God give me wisdom, strength and unceasing love! AND my prayer is for them to see that God is more than a Bible character they need to learn about because the teachers say so. Pray that they can get to know and love Him personally! For He is great, mighty, friendly and wonderful even in the deepest jungle, isn't He?
With noisy but very happy greetings from Rincon,
Profe Liene (that's what they call me here now) :)
With noisy but very happy greetings from Rincon,
Profe Liene (that's what they call me here now) :)
February 1 = September 1
Hello dears!
I'm sending you greetings from Rincon school due to the beginning of the school year. We started today by raising the Bolivian flag and singing their really strange National anthem. I really admire the fact that they can sing SUCH melody without accompaniment. Maybe you can find it on Youtube and listen to it :D Impressive piece of music! It slightly reminded me of late Purvs' compositions we once had to sing in Jelgava baptist church choir :)
All 3 dormitories are full of students from grades 1 -12. Some of them are 20 and 22... My neighbors - girls are here too. And it seems like there's a constant buzz. I had to do something interesting on Monday. Since the locals are of the habit of throwing their belongings on the ground and not picking them up there was a strong rule to put one's initials on their personal belongings so the owner can be easily found. So Velta and I sat by the door of the dorms and checked if there are initials written on. At first we just asked them if they have done it. ALL the girls confirmed. Then we asked them to show their belongings. And many times only one shirt from all the bag had the owner's initials on it. So we examined all personal belongings of all 40 girls, ALL personal belongings... and the view wasn't very pleasant. Most of the girls come from families who live in the middle of jungle in clay or dirt homes with palm leaf roofs. Parents sometimes visit cities and buy the necessary things but it seemed like they rarely do it. Some girls seemed to have all the contents of their closet with them. Others had nothing but a pair of socks, underwear and a skirt with them... their underwear looked like it's been worn 100 times - worn out and dirty... it was a bit sad to see that and put their initials on these things... but that's how they live here. And for many of the students this school and the dorms is the fanciest and coolest place they've ever lived at. And when you look at the pictures of the dorms you'll see that this is a very very simple place. Most kids live completely without electricity. Here they have it for 2 or more hours so they feel like they're in a completely different world here. Ms. Velta told me there have been girls who could wonder about tap water for hours. They could just stare and think, and wonder how's that possible that water comes out of a tap. Girls have a lot to learn about tidiness, hygiene, helpfulness, caring, diligence, honesty... That's why they're here and that's why all the staff is here to help them. One of the greatest challenges is to talk them out of the idea of starting to have babies as soon as they're 12 or 13 and keep having them for the rest of their lives from several different men. A Latvian man used to lived here, now he's in Brazil because of health issues. Once one of the students approached him with these words: I want a child from you! And this man was 75 at the time... These girls have seen only their moms' and neighbors' example - they all give birth and stay in their dirt houses without any will to achieve or change something. When I ask the girls if they have any brothers or sisters I always hear numbers like 6, 7 or 8... no one is the only child here :) I don't even know if it's good or bad, it's just different...
It's interesting that it's the 2nd day for the girls with me but they still stare at me like at a miracle! The youngest girls are even a little bit afraid of such a white person :D There are some younger kids who stare at me for 5 minutes... I guess they're staring and wondering 'What kind of soap this girl is using that she's so white?' :D When I ask them what's their name, some of them run into their rooms. But the older girls gladly talk to me and help me with my Spanish, correct my mistakes and help me find the right words. But they wonder anyway. I wonder what will happen during English classes where I'll have to meet the boys... they have seen me for a little bit. I guess the new vocabulary for first week will be 'different', 'accept', 'foreign' and so on :) It's going to be exciting!
Everything is good otherwise. I'm alive and well as always. The bugs still bite me every night. We have to get up at 5:40 every morning... And if you ever have a feeling that everything is done then know that it's not true. And I'm glad that there's something to do all the time :)
I see Latvia in my dreams lately. But it's totally different Latvia. There is a huge observation tower in Sigulda and you can see whole Latvia from there :D My work office is turned into a jungle room :D And there are many other colorful dreams. I guess it's normal if you live in a jungle village.
Please pray for superwoman Velta. Her legs really hurt. She needs a leg surgery but she doesn't have either time and money for that... she has to take expensive medicine to be able to endure every day. And she is on her feet ALL day long. Except when she eats or goes to bathroom. But I will definitely write more about her :)
It's time to go now. Hasta luego!
I'm sending you greetings from Rincon school due to the beginning of the school year. We started today by raising the Bolivian flag and singing their really strange National anthem. I really admire the fact that they can sing SUCH melody without accompaniment. Maybe you can find it on Youtube and listen to it :D Impressive piece of music! It slightly reminded me of late Purvs' compositions we once had to sing in Jelgava baptist church choir :)
All 3 dormitories are full of students from grades 1 -12. Some of them are 20 and 22... My neighbors - girls are here too. And it seems like there's a constant buzz. I had to do something interesting on Monday. Since the locals are of the habit of throwing their belongings on the ground and not picking them up there was a strong rule to put one's initials on their personal belongings so the owner can be easily found. So Velta and I sat by the door of the dorms and checked if there are initials written on. At first we just asked them if they have done it. ALL the girls confirmed. Then we asked them to show their belongings. And many times only one shirt from all the bag had the owner's initials on it. So we examined all personal belongings of all 40 girls, ALL personal belongings... and the view wasn't very pleasant. Most of the girls come from families who live in the middle of jungle in clay or dirt homes with palm leaf roofs. Parents sometimes visit cities and buy the necessary things but it seemed like they rarely do it. Some girls seemed to have all the contents of their closet with them. Others had nothing but a pair of socks, underwear and a skirt with them... their underwear looked like it's been worn 100 times - worn out and dirty... it was a bit sad to see that and put their initials on these things... but that's how they live here. And for many of the students this school and the dorms is the fanciest and coolest place they've ever lived at. And when you look at the pictures of the dorms you'll see that this is a very very simple place. Most kids live completely without electricity. Here they have it for 2 or more hours so they feel like they're in a completely different world here. Ms. Velta told me there have been girls who could wonder about tap water for hours. They could just stare and think, and wonder how's that possible that water comes out of a tap. Girls have a lot to learn about tidiness, hygiene, helpfulness, caring, diligence, honesty... That's why they're here and that's why all the staff is here to help them. One of the greatest challenges is to talk them out of the idea of starting to have babies as soon as they're 12 or 13 and keep having them for the rest of their lives from several different men. A Latvian man used to lived here, now he's in Brazil because of health issues. Once one of the students approached him with these words: I want a child from you! And this man was 75 at the time... These girls have seen only their moms' and neighbors' example - they all give birth and stay in their dirt houses without any will to achieve or change something. When I ask the girls if they have any brothers or sisters I always hear numbers like 6, 7 or 8... no one is the only child here :) I don't even know if it's good or bad, it's just different...
It's interesting that it's the 2nd day for the girls with me but they still stare at me like at a miracle! The youngest girls are even a little bit afraid of such a white person :D There are some younger kids who stare at me for 5 minutes... I guess they're staring and wondering 'What kind of soap this girl is using that she's so white?' :D When I ask them what's their name, some of them run into their rooms. But the older girls gladly talk to me and help me with my Spanish, correct my mistakes and help me find the right words. But they wonder anyway. I wonder what will happen during English classes where I'll have to meet the boys... they have seen me for a little bit. I guess the new vocabulary for first week will be 'different', 'accept', 'foreign' and so on :) It's going to be exciting!
Everything is good otherwise. I'm alive and well as always. The bugs still bite me every night. We have to get up at 5:40 every morning... And if you ever have a feeling that everything is done then know that it's not true. And I'm glad that there's something to do all the time :)
I see Latvia in my dreams lately. But it's totally different Latvia. There is a huge observation tower in Sigulda and you can see whole Latvia from there :D My work office is turned into a jungle room :D And there are many other colorful dreams. I guess it's normal if you live in a jungle village.
Please pray for superwoman Velta. Her legs really hurt. She needs a leg surgery but she doesn't have either time and money for that... she has to take expensive medicine to be able to endure every day. And she is on her feet ALL day long. Except when she eats or goes to bathroom. But I will definitely write more about her :)
It's time to go now. Hasta luego!
About Bolivians
Hello dears!
It's Sunday night and I'm sitting in Velta's room. First kids arrived today and they're staying in the dorms. I can hear them through the walls. WOW, they can make some noise! And it's going to get louder. It's also interesting to watch all the teachers who have arrived here to begin their work on Tuesday. I've discovered many interesting things about the locals. Almost all of them wear long jeans even though it's +30C (+86F), +35C (+95F) or even hotter! And since I didn't want to stand out in the first meeting (although I did anyway), I also wore jeans... oh my goodness how hot it was! No wonder they fan all the time even though it wasn't so hot outside that day... only +27C (+80F)... People, please wear shorts! After the meeting I put my jeans in the furthest corner of my closet, may they wait for me there until the temperature drops. Another interesting thing is that they all carry a washcloth with them. At first I couldn't understand why they are doing it. But they use them to fan themselves, wipe off sweat and keep the crazy mosquitoes away. If they don't have a washcloth they have a roll of toilet paper in their bags that they take out once in a while to wipe off sweat. Some use branches from the nearby trees for that! Bolivians and Ayoreos are actually pretty short. When I stand next to some of the teachers I have to slightly look downwards... which never happens in Latvia taking into account that I'm 1.62m (5'3") :D And many of the teachers are young men who look even younger than they are because they're so short - they look like they should be students themselves. And some behave like that :) For example, one used a paper roll to keep off mosquitoes, kill them, move them on the blackboard and communicated with them in other ways :D It was quite entertaining. At least I had something to keep my eye on when I no longer understood what they were talking about in the meeting. I loved that many approached me after the meeting and tried to say something in English. For example, they said 'Good afternoon!' and are were very happy that I understood them :) I've got a feeling that this is going to be a very exciting school year! I'll definitely discover much more new to wonder about. OK, I'll run back to my room while I can still see the road :)
It's Sunday night and I'm sitting in Velta's room. First kids arrived today and they're staying in the dorms. I can hear them through the walls. WOW, they can make some noise! And it's going to get louder. It's also interesting to watch all the teachers who have arrived here to begin their work on Tuesday. I've discovered many interesting things about the locals. Almost all of them wear long jeans even though it's +30C (+86F), +35C (+95F) or even hotter! And since I didn't want to stand out in the first meeting (although I did anyway), I also wore jeans... oh my goodness how hot it was! No wonder they fan all the time even though it wasn't so hot outside that day... only +27C (+80F)... People, please wear shorts! After the meeting I put my jeans in the furthest corner of my closet, may they wait for me there until the temperature drops. Another interesting thing is that they all carry a washcloth with them. At first I couldn't understand why they are doing it. But they use them to fan themselves, wipe off sweat and keep the crazy mosquitoes away. If they don't have a washcloth they have a roll of toilet paper in their bags that they take out once in a while to wipe off sweat. Some use branches from the nearby trees for that! Bolivians and Ayoreos are actually pretty short. When I stand next to some of the teachers I have to slightly look downwards... which never happens in Latvia taking into account that I'm 1.62m (5'3") :D And many of the teachers are young men who look even younger than they are because they're so short - they look like they should be students themselves. And some behave like that :) For example, one used a paper roll to keep off mosquitoes, kill them, move them on the blackboard and communicated with them in other ways :D It was quite entertaining. At least I had something to keep my eye on when I no longer understood what they were talking about in the meeting. I loved that many approached me after the meeting and tried to say something in English. For example, they said 'Good afternoon!' and are were very happy that I understood them :) I've got a feeling that this is going to be a very exciting school year! I'll definitely discover much more new to wonder about. OK, I'll run back to my room while I can still see the road :)
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