Mas de mi vida ...

Well it has been a little while! Sorry for the delay, but thanks for your faithful reading! This past weekend I spent Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon at Alliance with Julie, Melissa and Barbie! I watched multiple American football games on Saturday afternoon between many different International School teams. The championship game was the Alliance faculty team (the team Barbie was on) vs. the Cotopaxi team (the school that I am currently student teaching in) QUE EMOCIONADO! Translation = how exciting! Annnd Alliance won! I also saw one of my fourth grade students at the game which was exciting.

We went out to dinner at a food court with the dorm kids at Alliance and then there was yet another rolling black out, which meant no electricity from about 6pm - 10pm. Apparently Quito has predominantly hydroelectricity and since it hasn't rained much there is a shortage.. Thus they have issued rolling black outs throughout the city. Different parts of the city have no electricity for varying amounts of time. However the part of the city that I live in is also the part of the city that the President of Ecuador lives in... thus our apartment has only had one, half-hour power outage! hah! It looks like it might rain now though which is great news! On Sunday I went to church at EFC with the girls!

This week at school I am teaching math every day, as well as Language Arts. Mr. Paul is continually encouraging and affirming of my gifts. He continues to supply me with excellent tips, lesson ideas and activities. I'm really enjoying the students! I am loving the opportunity that I have to teach more creatively and with inquiry-based activities (which is not always the case in the inner-city, American public schools). I really love the students' accents which make the pronounciation of my name sound like, "Mees Kreestee" or just affectionately, "Meees!" Prec. There was a diagnosed case of H1N1 in 4th grade today so pray that I stay healthy while I'm here!

Last night I went to the mall with my housemate and we ate at a TGIF. I also found out yesterday that over our 3-day weekend for Quito Day, the first weekend in December, I will be going to the Oriente with my housemate and her two friends who are coming to visit. P.S. the Oriente is the Eastern part of Ecuador which includes the RAINFOREST! We will take a motorized canoe down the river - which I think might be the AMAZON, visit an animal refuge, visit the natural hot springs (aka a SPA in the rainforest) and maybe do some hiking in Banos on the way back to Quito! I am very excited for this adventure! The best news is that all of this adventure, including hostel stays and meals = about $100 USD. Nice, eh?

I can say with confidence that I am here in this country, in this school and in this specific classroom for a reason. I believe that God is orchestrating this whole experience for HIS glory. I am learning to just trust God with every part of my experience here. He is providing the friendship that I need in him and secondly in the people that he has put around me here. The kind, warm teachers and parents of my students, my friends at Alliance, my housemate, even the guards at our apartment and at the school have been such blessings. Not to mention my incredible family and friends back in the States who I am keeping in close touch with. But above all of this Jesus is supplying for my every need.

Isaiah 46:4-5 has been a continual encouragement: "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?"

I am very excited to see my family and friends in December :) But I also truely want to get the most out of this experience and to live in the present rather than the past or the future. And I the present is ripe with lessons to learn, world to explore, fruit to bear and friends to make! Pray that I continue to obedient to the Lord in every thing that I say and do.

Thanks for your support! Miss you all!

Mucho amor,
Kristi