Sarakawa Safari

So in amongst getting lesson plans done and living without internet for a weekend... we went on Safari with Brett Emerson and saw Zebras and monkeys :) Really close up. So exciting! This is one of my pictures! It is such an experience living somewhere where you can walk out your door and see lizards and geckos that would be on some special exhibit in a zoo... or go on safari 30 minutes from your house.

This is the third week of school and the boys have been so much fun! They get really excited when they figure out how to spell a new word or just in sharing stories with me. I really enjoy teaching and I am so excited to progress with all that the students are learning, I hope they look forward to what they are going to learn this year :)

Weekend!

So this is the end of our weekend here! Instead of Saturdays and Sundays off we have Sundays and Mondays off. On Sunday we went to Jim's house again for games and coffee with people from their team. We played scum which was hilarious. There is a president and vice president and you are ranked based on how well each round goes. The lowest person gets the title of scum. I ended the game with the least overall points making me scum :) hehe.

After that we hitched a ride over to the Emerson's for our team devotional and taco pile up! Yummy! It was so good enjoying the fellowship of everyone together and hearing Brett read from 1 Corinthians 12 about the body of Christ. The reminder that each of us play different roles in the work that is being done here and how each is necessary really encouraged me. It was something I needed to hear.

Today we were going on a hike with Brett Emerson, Mark Kennell and Ryan Richardson. We began the walk on a trail, but to stay closer to the water we had to walk through some brush and we ended up having a minor injury. Bethany had her foot sliced by a cornstalk in between two toes so we ended the hike early to get it cleaned out. So now we are all enjoying the extra time with internet at the Emerson's house :)

Keep us all in your prayers this week as we begin the second week of school!

Kindergarten

This is a picture of the outside of my classroom for the kindergarteners. I love the colors of the windows and the plants outside :) Oh and note the freshly painted floors in the picture... This was taken prior to decorating.

As was this photo... Note the beautiful white walls that were repainted :) Also note the organizing and decorating that needed done :)

Here is a picture of my classroom at recess today.. it still could use a little love, but looking at how far it has come, I love it :) I will post pictures of my students soon, I took one during recess today, but it is too comical to post.. perhaps I'll post that one with a good one later.

The first day of kindergarten was today and it was good to get accustomed to our schedule and work on transitions between subjects. We had 'A' day in kindergarten today :) It was a blast familiarizing myself with the materials available and getting to know my students, Asher and Gabriel. We had tons of fun reading books together and learning to write uppercase and lowercase A's! We read some 'A' books together during snack time after recess, which was so much fun. I really enjoy the curriculum I am using for teaching Reading and Writing. Sing Spell Read and Write incorporates music and it is very detailed and easy to use.

I am so excited to see how these boys grow in their reading and writing skills throughout this year... and they are already so far ahead!

Other than school things, all of us teachers have been getting in a good amount of walking this week :) Saturday and Sunday we walked to the Emersons, (which is about a 15 min walk) and then we walked to the Millers (12 min walk) on Monday to visit before we walked to the market (25 min walk) to do a bit of shopping. Today after school we walked with Nicole and two of our students, Hannah Reeves and Maddie Kennell, to the Kennells (20 min walk) for dinner, internet access and good company :)

So everyplace is in walking distance, but I definitely will be getting my exercise this year :) It has been fun to walk and greet people that I pass and it has offered opportunity to meet other local Americans. We met Matt from DC in the market yesterday who is working for Peace Corps for the next year and a half in Kara area. It was so odd to be approached while looking at a fruit stand with an english voice asking if we were in the Peace Corps. It was nice to meet another english speaker though and I think he hadn't seen very many Americans in a long time.

Many random things have happened that I have yet to blog about. If you would like to email me and ask any questions feel free to email me at sarah.elizabeth.hug@gmail.com or facebook me. Just be aware that it may take a while to get back to you. Also feel free to check out my fellow teachers blogs (listed on the right) if you would like to read more about our life here.

First Day!

So Today I had my first day of classes with the older groups teaching french. It was an interesting learning experience. I found out about where they were with their french and more about their learning styles. It was great to see all of my students and I am super excited for kindergarten to start on Tuesday and excited to show the older kids how fun french can be :)

Hopefully, I can at least have fun in the meantime while they are being convinced... honestly today I had a blast working with the older girls on a few things with pronunciation and counting. I think I'm going to make out a sheet of vocabulary they should work on at this point. I also have curriculums to work from, which I think I will begin to go through this next week adding homework and activities to make it fun and a positive experience.

Kindergarten will be fun, I need to make sure I have a nailed down schedule to start off and create a good routine so we can get the learning and work done while still having the time for fun! We had a wonderful processing discussion with Mark after our first day of teaching and it makes me excited for the next week of teaching and getting into the groove. I love my classroom more and more each day... I'm in the process of finishing simple decor and posting rules and things are more organized... I'm thinking of moving all my french teaching supplies to a room upstairs for me to access during lunch before my french classes and when I lesson plan. That way it won't be there getting mixed up with all the kindergarten curriculum.

Living here is so amazingly beautiful. Before my classes today I was able to just walk out my classroom and see the hills in the distance and I just savored that moment. It reminded me of the day I took the photo above on our roof. I just love how life just moves along here just like anywhere else. I love you all and miss you! I have been learning so much about myself here and about communication of all things.. Learning and growing really never leave you. Which I am very thankful for :)

BBQs and Friends

Yesterday we went to a BBQ with another missionary team at Jimmy White's house. His house was a great spot to have a get together with everyone. The gathering included the Hangens, the Emersons, the Kennells, the Huffs, the Shanks and the teachers :) We had a great assortment of American treats that each family had brought for desserts, it was fun! We brought Bethany's chocolate chip spice bars for our contribution to the desserts, and corn for a side dish.

Today has been an eventful day, currently we are at the Emerson's for dinner after team devo. I woke up this morning and Bethany trimmed my hair, and then a couple men, Joseph and KouKou, showed up at the house to see my classroom and to talk about painting it :) I am really excited about that.. hopefully it is all dry by the time classes need to begin. The class was overlooked when they painted the main building so now they are going to paint it on Monday morning 8/9 am ish.

Jacque, Bethany and I walked to the Emerson's this afternoon early so we would be able to get some internet time before afternoon church :) I was able to catch my mom and dad and get to skype with them which was really awesome! I'm posting this picture of me by request from Cecelia, who says I don't post enough pictures of myself... and also for Mom and Dad. It seems a bit blurry... I think that is from the humidity.

Although planning curriculum and arranging things in my classroom has been taking up a good bit of time throughout each day, I have had opportunity to read more which has been fabulous. I like to take a bit of time before sleeping to read and journal, currently I am reading John Adams, which I borrowed from Jimmy, and I just finished reading I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which Jacque brought.

It is preparing to storm outside right now so the wind is blowing strong, which makes it feel much cooler. I love how powerful the storms are here, the only downside is that it is usually accompanied with bouts of no electricity... which means no internet, and no fans. The electricity is flickering on and off, so I'm going to post now and see if it works :)