So I've been here for a little longer than a week and a half and so far I LOVE it. Yeah, the weather is a little on the steamy side, especially with no AC in the car, but it's all worth it. Birmingham is absolutely beautiful and my apartment is in a really nice location (don't worry, its also very secure-its gated and in the evening there is a security guard at the gate checking parking passes, and on he weekend a police officer joins him) and my 2 roommates are never home (one of them I've seen once and haven't officially met) so I pretty much have the run of the place. My job is going really well so far. I'm in training until the end of the month, but it's been good. This last week I got to be at the school that I'll be at for the year and I got to meet the kids and teachers that I'll be working with. It's like a whole other world there. So different from what I'm used to. I'll be serving 25 first graders and they are way behind - some can't write their names yet, which broke my heart. The teachers are super strict and really harsh. They go from 0 to 100 in less than 2 seconds. Once second they'll be talking to a child and the next they'll be SCREAMING in that child's face. I've heard a lot of "I'm gonna bust your head if you don't stop that" and just so much screaming. I did take a small group of kids out of the classroom on Thursday because they were disrupting the class and so I offered to work on their work with them and oh my goodness, this is going to be a challenge. They were just so all over the place and made me understand why the teachers are so frustrated. No, I didn't scream at any of them, but I did have to use my stern teacher voice. One of the teachers that I'm with is so thankful that I'm there, she said "It's only your second day and you've already been such a blessing by taking those kids out and working with them, you are truly blessed." The other first grade teacher treats me like I'm not there for the most part. On Friday my team and I did Habitat for Humanity and I learned how to install vinyl siding. It was SO much fun and it was so awesome to see hos much we got accomplished in that one day (we got 3 of the main walls sided). We all went to lunch together too so it was really nice to visit and get to know one another a little better. I'm learning my way around here. I have a little notebook that I write directions down in so I can have them whenever I need them. I've been having to use it less and less though which is really good. I found out this week that at the Davis Center (its some sort of school district office and the building that has the READS office in it) they are offering FREE Spanish classes! So I get to take a spanish class every Tuesday AND get paid for it! So I'm really excited about that. It's really neat to see how God used Nicaragua to prepare me for this, from having a servant heart right down to the hot, sticky weather. I love it.
On a personal note, I met Bobby... Finally... and we're having so much fun spending time together. He makes sure I get at least one good meal in me a week. He was a little horrified to find out that I'm pretty much living on pb and j and tortillas with cheese and lunchmeat in them. So he makes sure I get fed and that my gas tank is full. It's great, I'm gonna get spoiled! I've gotten to hang out with his family a little bit as well, mainly his dad and step mom and that's been nice too to get to know them. I will try and keep this updated as much as possible so keep checking back! I mostly will only have time to update on weekends because I don't have internet yet and so I have to go to Starbucks or the library or whatever.
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