i'm a midianite

I’m only allowed to upload two photos today, says my connection. Like I said in the last post, Mon through Wednesday this week was spent in Santa Cruz doing visa stuff. Lots of waiting, lots of back and forth. One of our stops included a urine test, bloodwork, weighin, height measurement (i’m still short), lung xrays. The medical exam paper directly translated to ‘physical exploration,’ causing a lot of laughter with my colleagues and myself. In our defense we were also very tired, and perhaps just needing a light moment. While in line at this physical exploration, we bumped into an English speaking man, who asked what we were doing there. We told him we were missionaries teaching at a school, mostly with Mennonite people. A conversation followed, during which he said, “Midianites? Wow, that’s even in the Bible!” Mennonites have become Midianites.
Boliva Tip #3: Bolivian pee cups are not waterproof.
Thursday and Friday were spent in teacher training workshops from 8 to 3. About 30 teachers, Low German, Spanish, English and High German altogether, from different Christian schools in the area. Lectures are in Spanish, with 3 different translators speaking to different areas of the room. These are informative, but exhausting on the brain (mostly the language part). I have definitely improved in my ability to understand low German already.

This is the back of the school. My music classroom is in the upper right, along the back wall. The gym (aka wide open green or dirt space) is right behind us.

One shot of my classroom. There’s still things from the previous year to move out, and a lot of work that needs to happen before it’s ready to use. First day of class is Feb 10!

This morning was a very loud thunderstorm. I woke up hoping to see some cool clouds and lightning bolts, but alas, it just all gray and sheet lightning. Tonight I am moving into a different guesthouse, for the next week or two, as my current room was prebooked. I do have housing from March till Dec though, a house that I’ll share with another teacher! So only during the month of Feb will I be floating around a bit.

As I’m about to publish this, a little cute gecko popped his head up on the wall beside my desk