Staff retreat!

“So the last will be first and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:8

This year our school is focusing on service and will be unpacking this idea with students from PreKinder-12th grade throughout the year. However, before we can teach students we as staff must begin to understand as well.

This past weekend, Ed and I joined about 80 other staff members for a spiritual retreat. We headed out of Bogota on a two five hour bus ride (thank you construction zone!) to a small town. There we relaxed, played in the pool, and were challenged to understand God’s command of service at a deeper level.

One of the things that stood out to me most was the understanding that in order to serve, we must know who we are- sons and daughters of God. We looked at Jesus’ life and focused on the fact that in order for Jesus to be the ultimate servant (who died on the cross) he had to know that he was the son of God and that his Father had a purpose in his life on earth. In order for us to be able to really serve others, we must be focused on the Father and our relationship with him.

Besides teaching and learning- we also got to play a bit too. One of the highlights was seeing the collaboration of groups as we all wrote and performed songs outlining what we learned about service. Our group parroted the “We will rock you” song and switched it up to “we will serve you”. Ed and two of his groupies rocked it and now are considered rock stars in the ECA staff world.

We are excited about Colombia!

Just a little fighting...

And a lot of eating!

As well as rock starring

and naturizing

and maybe a little goofy-izing!

I can!

Our first unit in pre-kinder was labeled “I can”. During these two weeks we learned about all the things we can do in school. We read the book “All by myself” (Mercer Mayer) and played with lots of tin cans (yes, pun intended). We all learned how to say “I can…” as the first setence in English. Here are all the things we can do!

I can PAINT

I can PLAY OUTSIDE

I can SCULPT

  

I can PRETEND

 

I can RACE CARS

 

I can EXPLORE WITH MAGNETS

I can DO A PUZZLE

I can CLEAN UP

I can SLEEP

Pre-Kinder 2013 set up!

Well it’s been almost a full week of school. So far we have spent a lot of time learning routines, procedures, and more routines. The nerdy teacher part of me is pretty excited at how the classroom is set up, so I’d thought I’d share some pictures.

Teacher corner- I call it the brain of the classroom!

Dramatic play- For now it's a house

Library

Art and math/science center

Now class, this is where we hang out back packs

Carpet area!

Stars to help us line up in order

Classroom as a whole. I was super happy with the colored fabric on the ceiling!

Caught in between

I live in a place of constant tension.

I am very happy to call Bogota my home and I love serving at El Camino. I love the challenge of speaking Spanish, navigating Bogotian culture and not always understanding how to do simple tasks. At the same time I have moments where I long to be back in Oregon with my family and friends. Where I can read cultural cues, speak the language with only a small amount of confusion, and everyday tasks don’t consume my time.

I am happy where I am, but constantly wonder what my life would like life if I didn’t decide to follow Christ to Bogota.

I think this tension is healthy. I am here and there. I live in the present and yet long and wonder about the future. I think God placed me in this place to understand him and his purposes more. We as followers of Jesus are considered citizens of Heaven; the earth is not our home. We are placed on this beautiful ball of once-perfect creation to know and love him in the present. Yet at the same time we long for heaven and being in eternal worship of our savior- but he has said “NOT YET; I have work for you”.

Pslam 96:2b-3 says: Proclaim his salvation day by day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

If that is not a clear command of why we are here on earth, I dont know what it. Our job is to speak of salvation. Act as if we are saved from the sin of this world. Have an attitude that we are redeemed.

We may be citizens of heaven, but our residency in this time is here on earth. I can understand. I can live this.

First day of school!

Well, it’s here. The new school year. Every year our first day includes 2 hours with the students and a picnic afterwards with all the families. It was so fun to see parents of my students from last year as well as begin to meet the new ones. This year my class is 13 boys and 8 girls. If today is any indication, it is going to be a talkative, energetic group! Ed was able to hang out with all of his students as they checked out books and met the new teachers.

Earlier this week my co-teacher shared with me some verses that God had given her about our role as teachers. Proverbs 31:8-9

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.

She said that a bit part of our job is to be a voice for our students to their parents and to the school. This has stuck with me this week as we prepare. A reminder that in order for me to speak up for someone I have to know them- their strengths and weaknesses. My prayer is that I can know my children the same way that Christ knows them. One day at a time. Listening. Watching. Caring. I am excited to see how I can serve these students and love them as Jesus does.

On a lighter note, here are some pictures:

Ed looking snazzy!

Pre-Kinder team 2013! Pre-Kinder door   

Panorama of the pre-kinder classroom

Hello, my name is…

Every culture has a way of naming people. In Mali last names were important as they identified a person with their “name family” which gave them status and joking rights (bean eaters was a common insult). In Colombia there is also a different systems of names which has lead to confusion and some very awkward moments in my life.

Here are two key differences between Colombian and North American methods of names:

1. When a woman marries, she does not change her last name.

2. When a child is born, the child is given two last names: the first last name of the father and the first last name of the mother. For example, if I was Colombian, my name would be: Sarah Silberstein-Mayfield.

Since our school is American-based, up until a few years ago, the policy was in place that Colombian female staff were to follow the North American tradition of a wife taking a husband’s last name. For example if a teacher’s legal name was Sofia Cardoza-Rodriguez*, and her husband’s name was Luis Mendoza-Gutierrez*, her school name would be Mrs. Mendoza. This was to (attempt) to clarify family names and follow the model of the wife identifying with the husband. However, on all legal documents they would keep their legal name, like in this case Sofia Cardoza-Rodriguez. This is why my Colombian facebook friends have different last names than I knew from school.

Now our school has slowly allowed teachers and staff to choose which name they would like to identify themselves. For some staff they like having the choice to identify with their husband in that way. Others know that the students are used to their married names and keep it to avoid confusion. Still others are changing to their legal names. Many of the Spanish teachers have been allowed to use “profe” in front of their first name to avoid any confusion at all.

Now since I am North American and have decided to legally change my name to my husbands, this has caused some interesting moments outside of our school. A few weeks ago when we checked into our hotel on the coast, the receptionist wanted to confirm with me that the bed in our hotel room was a double bed, not to singles. Finding that assurance a bit strange- after all I am married- I laughed and we proceeded to check in. Only an hour later it dawned on me that because Ed and I have the same last name, it was assumed we are brother and sister- not husband and wife. Once I realized the misconception we laughed at how awkward our check in must have been for that poor receptionist.

Little by little we learn to understand and grow in Colombia. Names are such a small thing, but really do make a difference. I am just glad for gracious people who are able to understand both cultures and help us all out with the complexities of living side-by-side.

*All names are fictional for the sake of illustration

New Year-ing in July

The schedule of a teacher is forgiving. We start our year in August or September, continue through December. Pause, re-focus with the world during January 1 and New Year’s Eve, then continue from January until May or June. At the end of the summer we pause again, refocus and take time to start again. Essentially we have 2 new years in a calendar year.From a teachers point of view August is a new beginning; a fresh start.

Monday begins teacher orientation for all the staff of El Camino Academy. Over the past week my co-workers have slowly trickled back into Bogota unpacked bags, reconnected, and started to feel the loss of friends who are not here this year. It’s an exciting time. Refreshing. Energizing.

As with New Year resolutions, this is a time for us as teachers to consider what this school year is going to look like. There are the academic aspects: what classroom management strategies can I implement earlier, how can I better use my time for planning and grading, what strategies will I use to best reach all of my students? But there is also the spiritual aspect: how can I be a living example of Christ to my students, what is God going to teach me, and how can I be better at listening?

This year I have decided to make Psalm 96 my focus. While on vacation I stumbled upon this scripture and loved the action of worship described, the description of creation and the promises it contains. I am excited to look deeper into the words and apply it to my heart. At this point I don’t know what God is going to show me through these words, but for now I hope to just listen and learn.

Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.

 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Vacation!

This summer we decided to stay in Colombia and explore a little more of this beautiful country.

The first part of vacation we headed to Cartagena- on the Northern Coast. Cartagena was an old Spanish fort that has turned into a beautiful tourist destination. We spent 3 days exploring the city and being very warm (ok, hot is more like it with temperatures in the 90s the whole time.) We were grateful for plenty of fresh sea food and lots of historical sights to explore. Here are some highlights:

 

The second part of our trip was to Santa Marta- also on the northern coast. There we stayed at a relaxing resort and ate way too much food (sea food included). We were able to do a tour of the city as well as just relax on the beach.

 

Things you see in Bogota #10

People- It is really hard to describe the grand size of Bogota. Sometimes it seems like a small community- you can run into people you know anywhere in the city (this happened yesterday when we were across town working on legal documents and ran into a lady from church). At the same time, however, Bogota is a city of 8 million people. 8 million folks! That’s the same as New York (8.25 million) and WAY more than Los Angeles (3.82 million), or Paris (2.23 million). It’s hard to wrap my mind on how many people that really is, so I did some simple math.

In my apartment complex there are roughly 400 people.

In my neighborhood (7 square blocks) there are roughly 25 apartment complexes.

If each apartment complex has roughly the same number of people as ours (most have more, since we live in a smaller complex) that is 400 X 25 or 10,000 people.

That’s more than the population of Monmouth (OR) in just my neighborhood. 

On the map below outlines where I live in comparison to the whole city.

This is only part of the city. Imagine the whole city. Now that’s a lot of people.

This is part of a series- for all the posts click here.

Things you see in Bogota #9

People walking dogs- Living in apartments, I would assume fish and hamsters would be the pets of choice, but in Bogota it is definitely dogs. Dogs are treated like children. I have even seen/heard of companies which run “doggy spas”. They pick up your precious pup from your house in the morning, transport it to the spa for a day of grooming and play and return your "refreshed and relaxed" pooch back to your apartment at the end of the day. On any given street, you will see people walking their dogs and taking them out to “take care of business”. As long as they pick up after their pet, it doesn’t bother me!


This is part of a series- for all the posts click here.

Things you see in Bogota #8

Strange Fruit- As expected, living in a different country means a wide variety of unique food. In Bogota- we find all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Here are some- want to guess what they are called (see answers below)?

1. Pitaya

2. Noni

3. Feijoa

4. Chirimoya

This is part of a series- check out the rest here.