Yo entiendo mas!

Aaaand another photo that Kim Loosa gave me -- the four Sojourn chicas on top of the mountains!

I am understanding more and more Spanish. Gracias a Dios!!! I have been working hard with my tutor to learn an endless list of verbs (more than 200) and it's amazing what a difference it is making in my understanding. Today at church, a gringa named Bonnie introduced herself to my tica mom, Blanca, and explained that she is a student at the Instituto. Bonnie had an assignment to ask some questions of a tica, so she began her questions. Blanca told Bonnie that I was also learning Spanish, but I don't think Bonnie understood her... I explained to Bonnie (in Spanish still) that I live with Blanca's family and I am a teacher at the Institute, but Bonnie gave me a blank look and nodded her head (ha, my own default mechanism also -- to smile and nod when I have no idea what's going on)... so then I said in English, "I am a gringa too." Blanca was laughing and Bonnie was still looking at me blankly. ... did she really think I was tica?? ha, that would be a nice switch, because to ticos, I am obviously gringa. ha, it's always an adventure in both languages!

I cut Tricia's hair on Friday afternoon... photos to come :)

Kim, Tricia, and I hung out last night and literally talked for like 4 hours straight. It is so good to have good friends here! We have our differences, but we are so thankful that we enjoy each other's company... if we didn't, this experience would be miserable and lonely!

Please pray for my students. These past couple weeks have been rough and I am often losing my patience... In talking with Mr. Reilly, the principal, he said that February and March are often the hardest months of teaching because there are no breaks and it is becoming warmer throughout the dry season. The students are becoming irritable with each other... Maybe it's time for another encouragement conference with them? ha, that worked in November when we were having similar problems. I think another part of the problems is that because I have such a small class now, each child's issues are magnified to me... Instead of focusing on many issues, I am focusing on just a few major problems ... but I feel way in over my head right now with what the students need. Pray for wisdom for me in how I handle the situations tomorrow.