Celebramos Colombia! (We celebrate Colombia!)

One of my favorite all-school events is "Celebrate Colombia". The Spanish teachers in each grade level create a presentation that tells a part of Colombia history, celebrates an aspect of Colombian culture and allows the students to grow in their personal cultural identity. Then parents are invited and the school comes together to watch each other's performances! It is so fun to see students to have patriotic pride in their beautiful country.

7th and 8th graders paid tribute to the farmers in this bountiful country and shared about the different political influences that have inhibited their growth (such as the conquistadors, the FARC, communists, etc.). They did then a traditional dance of the farmers.

PKers learned the traditional Cumbia dance. This is from the coastal region and very common in Colombia Some of my students memorized a small speech to share the history of the dance, then the whole class danced together. The students loved their outfits and the chance to dress up. I was so impressed and proud that they all memorized their steps and were not too nervous to perform in front of their parents and other students.

Kinder and first grade also did dances. It was so fun to see my previous classes not only grow in their dance skills, but work together as a team to dance and perform. As part of the celebration the MC called on parents and teachers to join the students for encore performances- which was great fun to have all the audience involved!

Kinder in their costumes during the dance

Various PK, Kinder and 1st grade students giving a small introduction speech

Palm Sunday

The arrival of a King. People praising. Crowds participating, as well as watching. Palm fronds waving. Garments laid down. A joyful celebration.

Every year I have the privilege to share with my students the celebration of Jesus' arrival into Jerusalem. This year we cut out paper palm fronds and waved them around, danced around the classroom singing Hosanna, discussed kings, and, thanks to a team of high school students from the States, we allowed our students to ride a "donkey" (one of the high school boys on his hands and knees).

Celebration. Joy. King of Kings.

As I was discussing this important event, I was struck with the simple joy of child-like faith. As I continue to grow in my understanding of symbols, the entrance into Jerusalem speaks to me of fulfilled prophecy, Jesus' declaration of His Kingdom on earth, and the wonderful grace-filled salvation from His sacrifice. For my students however, Jesus' entry is celebration! Jumping up and down, singing at the top of their lungs, and child-like joy.

It makes me wonder if after so many years in the faith, do I loose my child-like-ness? I get excited for Easter because I know it is the most important day of remembrance in my faith, but am I jumping up and down in excitement? Am I on the streets singing Hosanna at the top of my lungs? Do I eagerly wake up in the morning ready to praise God for His salvation? Have I lost the child-like inhibition to celebrate just because God is God?

My goal this Easter to to be filled with child-like joy. No, my neighbors don't have to worry I will be waking them up sing (screaming) early in the morning. But I am asking God to give me moments  of joy-filled, child-like celebration- whether it be through praise music, some great food, or creating beautiful things... we will have to see!

This is my student's favorite Easter song!

And here is their version! (disclaimer... they were all crowding me and the camera.. aren't they the cutest!?!)

Christmas vacation part 3- Falkland Islands, Uruguay and Argentina

So almost 3 months have passed. And one quarter of school. And I finished another grad class. So I guess it's time to finish posting the pictures from our trip over Christmas break. This is more for my memories and making sure I actually post pictures.

We knew we weren't in Antarctica anymore when we saw the British flag flying in the Falkland Isalnds.

Ed and I decided to hike to a penguin colony in the Falkland Islands. As we headed out of town we saw the large city of Stanley. 

On our hike we encountered this. Good thing it was on a clear fence, otherwise it might have been an eventful trip home.

After a 2 hours hike in strong wind we finally saw the penguins (that's sand, not snow!)

Back in the Capital city of Stanley we quickly grabbed pictures of the church before the rain started to pour!

Our next land stop was Punta del Este in Uruguay. I enjoyed re-visiting my first country overseas.

No visit to Punta del Este is complete without walking along the beach.

We also encountered lot of rain in Uruguay- but I did get to see the hand.

We also spent a day in Montevideo!

I enjoyed remembering the art and big city of Montevideo!

Street art in Montevideo- I love my neighborhood!

The last few hours of vacation was spent crossing the 16 lane streets in Buenas Aires Argentina. Check out that bus!

An "average" Wednesday in Pre-Kinder

Ah, childhood! It's the best, especially if you are in pre-kinder! Here are glimpses in the daily activity of a cheerful 5 year old at El Camino Academy.

We start every Spanish class looking at the calendar.

We love to sing in music class!

We have also been learning about different kinds of notes.

In the library we have been learning about the snow-capped mountains in Colombia.

During free choice time we love the playdough!

Free play time in the classroom is so fun!

To practice sharing and being good friends, we used water colors to paint pictures in partners.

We love reading books!

This week we have been learning to write the number 3. And then we drew 3 cheeses on our paper

Sometimes we do music class outside in small groups. Today we played drums to practice our notes.

After all that work, we need a nap!

Oh, and Tuesday was the 100th day of school!

Chile 2014!

Our Christmas break travels continue... or really begin in Chile. We spent the first week and a half traveling south through Chile taking in it's history, culture and more than anything the natural beauty. Here's the highlights!

Santiago

The first day of our trip was visiting the capital city of Chile- Santiago. We enjoyed seeing beautiful murals and hearing more about the recent history of the country.

Valparaiso

Located on the coast, this used to be the a big port. Now, it is known as a colorful cultural center. We enjoyed seeing the colorful graffiti and traveling up the elevators located all over the city to get to the top of the hills.

Puerto Montt, Castro, Chacabuco

On our cruise we stopped at 3 beautiful small towns located at the northern part of Patagonia. We saw beautiful volcanoes, fishing villages, waterfalls and breath-taking natural beauty.

Volcanoes and rapids! So beautiful!

Houses built on stilts for when the tide comes in.

Excited to see the first of many beautiful glaciers!

Punta Arenas

The southern-most city in Chile and the first of our penguins stops. We took an hour long trip to a penguin rookery and saw a whole bunch of penguins in their natural habitats. So beautiful and fun!

So many penguins! So much cuteness!

I spy two cute penguins!

Antarctica 2015!

This Christmas break Ed and I had the amazing opportunity to visit our 6th continent- Antarctica! Due to a wonderful gift from a family member, amazing last minute cruise deals and Ed's awesome deal skills we embarked on a 20 day cruise from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina with stops along the way in various small cities in Chile, Cape Horn, Southern Chile, Southern Argentina, Antarctica, Falkland Islands, and Uruguay.

I plan on sharing pieces of our trip in stages as I reflect, but will start with the icy continent.

We spent 3 days floating around the waters of Antarctica, viewing wildlife, taking lots of pictures of landscapes and enjoying the pleasant summer weather (hovering around zero degrees). We had some of the most amazing weather I could have imagined: sun for 2 days and low clouds for the third. This allowed us to want to spend times on the decks and get a wonderful view of the surroundings.

We saw so much wildlife: penguins, whales, penguins, scientists, penguins, seals, and more penguins. Did I mention penguins?

As part of our cruise we had 3 experts on board giving lectures and leading our sight seeing. They offered around 20 different lectures on topics such as: historic explorations, birds, the Antarctic treaty, living in Antarctica, and current research. Our experience was enhanced by their wonderful information and detailed commentaries as we floated along. We also stopped at one of the US stations (Palmer) and picked up 10 scientists and support staff who gave a talk and a Q&A session.

Here are ten facts I learned about Antarctica that I thought I would share with you!

1. Antarctica is not "owned" by any one country. There are 7 countries who claim territories, but that is not really counted. Antarctica is governed by the "Antarctic treaty" which was written in the 60s and any country that wants to do research or have any entrance to the continent must sign it. It governs environmental laws and the use of military.

2. Icebergs are fresh water pieces of ice broken off of glaciers.

3. The ice on Antarctica is over a mile thick. Scientists have been able to drill all to the way to the land underneath. They have even found fresh water (not frozen) under all the ice.

4. There are many rules to going to Antarctica that we had to follow: no eating or smoking on outside decks, the ship was not allow to use or carry heavy fuel, no loud noises, etc. This is to protect the natural environment and keep it as pristine as possible. We also were not able to leave the ship. The rules state that there must be less than 500 people on board (we were with about 1400) and only 100 can disembark at a time.

5. The Drake Passage (between southern South American and Antarctica) is considered one of the roughest seas in the world (we hit a great day and it was very calm).

6. There are only a few land dwelling animals native to Antarctica, the biggest being a beetle measuring 3mm in length.

7. While we were there it was just after summer solstice and it was light for 22 hours of the day.

8. Antarctic waters begin at 60 degrees South Latitude. We were as far south as 55 degrees.

9. The USA has 3 research stations. One is on the Antarctica Peninsula (where we were), one is closest to New Zealand and the third is at the geographical South Pole.

10. Antarctica is bigger than the continental United States. It is also home to the world's largest desert.

Well... there you have it! Now for some pictures!

We saw many whales jumping and blowing!

Around the Chilean research station were a ton of penguins.

The Chilean station... the brown is because of penguin poop :)