The Beginning of the End

Well . . . today is my last day with my kids. I have to be honest it is a lot harder than I ever expected it to be! They are so full of life and love, always waiting with a hug or a smile or just something random and funny. I wish you all could be here to meet them, to laugh at them and with them. Each one of them has their own special personality and accent : ) but all of them I will greatly miss.
A few funny stories to brighten everyone’s day! SO yesterday we were talking about Benjamin Franklin and reading a story about him. Well right in the middle of the story one of the boys says this “Oh my word that man is not wearing any pants” which to the first grade eye it did appear that way, poor Benjamin Franklin was not wearing pants. Once I stopped laughing and regained my composure I began to explain that he was indeed wearing pants they were just flesh colored and very tight. Then when we were reviewing the facts of Benjamin Franklin’s life, a fact that was remembered was that “Benjamin Franklin does not wear pants” I was laughing so hard. Oh how those little munchkins make me laugh. I wish I could just record it all for everyone’s entertainment, I know that it would provide many hours worth.
Two months have flown by and in the process, God has taught me so much, and I have fallen in love with this country and its people. I stand amazed at the faithfulness of God’s provision and grace, I still do not know how he will use me in the future but I will wait, because God knows best!

So Much to Say!

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks, with school, traveling, and spending time with so many friends. My kids at school continue to make me laugh and smile. My first grader continue to surprise me with what they say, and or do : ) On Friday we were talking about Christopher Columbus, so I taught them a little rhyme to remember "In four teen hundred ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" well we sang it a few times then i looked and one of my little girls was doing a little dance. So then I just let all of them do the little dance. It was so funny!

Last weekend the Carolina's took us all over, to visit lots of fun places, it was so great to spend time with them and practice my Spanish haha! I am going to miss my Paraguayan sisters so much!

I also was able to see one of our other previous exchange students. Leticia lived with us about 13 or 14 years ago. So I got together with her and her two daughters late last week. It was so wonderful to reconnect with her and to meet and spend time with her girls.
Then this weekend we were able to go and visit Bob and Carol Givens, good missionary friends of out families. It was so wonderful to see their ministry and spend time with them. When I get to see them it feels like a little piece of home, although I did get really sick at their house and am still not back to myself but hopefully by tomorrow I will be feeling better.
It is so crazy to think that I only have one more week here, until reality hits and this dream ends. This next week is going to be so wonderful, and so hard all at the same time. It will be great spending last moments with everyone but sad as well knowing that almost a week from today I will be flying back to the states. Pray for me this week that I finish strong and handle the transition with wisdom and strength. Thats all for now : )

me and my sisters!

Well, here I am with "The Carolina's" It has been so fun to reconnect with them to see their world, meet their families and just spend time laughing and remembering the "old days". These two girls are such a wonderful part of my life and I am so thankful for the time that I have been able to spend with them. This morning we made breakfast together at my apartment. Stuffed French Toast, and bananna pancakes. I made this really delicious strawberry syrup, I have to admit I have really been surprising myself with my cooking skills. It was so fun and quite the adventure, all of us cooking together ; ) then later today, they took me to the most amazing ice cream shop! I loved it! I have decided that, that is my new favorite resturant haha! It was such a wonderful day! I enjoyed every min. of it! We are planning a road trip for next weekend!

I also started back at school this week, which was good for me, I missed having my purpose in the classroom. The kids never cease to amaze me! They keep me laughing! SO . . . there has been this rooster, that feels the need to cock a doodle dooooo ALL night long. I do believe he is a very confused rooster. So I had informed my little first graders that this rooster had been keeping me up at night and how it really irritated me. Then one of my little girl asks this "um Miss Cutting, do want to just kill that rooster?" and I replied with an enthusiastic YES, im thinking she must hear that same rooster when she is trying to sleep haha!

So, needless to say, life is still an adventure, and God is teaching me so much. It is amazing to me how much you think you know yourself, then God just feels the need to remind me yet again, that HE is in control and HE will take care of me. OUR GOD IS SO FAITHFUL! and I am so extremely thankful!

World Traveler

Well, in the last few days I have seen the countries of Brazil and Argentina, as well as one of the seven wonders of the natural world! It was a blur of scenery and an enormous testimony ofGod's AMAZING creation! Four of us from the school where I am teaching took a 2 day trip to the Iguazu falls that rest between Brazil and Argentina. Im telling you these falls make Niagra look like a trickle : ) It was so amazing, we spent part of the day at the falls, then we went to a bird park, then we took a tour around Itaipu, which is where the world's largest hydro-electric dam is located. We then went out for dinner at an authentic Brazilian resturant, they also a live show representing a number of latin American countries and their traditions and dances. We stayed in a hotel Tuesday night and then got up the next morning to head into Argentina where we were going to take a boat ride through the falls. WELL . . . we ran into a bit of a problem when we realized that the forestry workers were on strike and there was no way we were going to get through. I was a little dissapointed that I didn't get my boat ride BUT it was a wonderful day anyway. while we waited in the car for a few very HOT hours we all improved our card playing skills haha! So then we ended up going back and forth between the border at Argentina and got lots of stamps on our passports! We eventually ended up spending the rest of the day in a bordering city of Paraguay, we went to a wildlife refuge center and the zoo! So all in all it was so much fun! I had a blast, the two days felt like a week because of all we were able to do, it was so awesome!

New Adventures

Wow! yeah new adventure, well I experienced my first Paraguayn bus ride on sunday! and what an expereince, needless to say the buses here don't really ever stop, they just slow down and you jump on then you pull a string to ring a bell, they slow down and you jump off. It was so funny, I went with Sam who is a teacher at the school and Daren who is also doing his student teaching here. I was so grateful that they were there because they took good care of me haha! I am so not ready to ride the bus alone yet haha! Then the adventure at church, well you will have to talk to me personally to get that story, needless to say, they do communion a little bit differently down here lol! Then yesterday one of my first graders threw up all over, once in the classroom, once in the hall on his way to the bathroom, then again on the bathroom floor. Then today when he was at school (which he should not have been) and walked in the classroom and said "oh wow what is that terrible smell" al the kids just looked at him like he was crazy haha! so yeah the room still smells a little like vomit BUT overall it was a good 2 days. I love teaching the first grade, they are so fun and just loaded with energy. They keep me laughing!

Kids Say CRAZY Stuff!

So we are learning about China in First and Second grade, for what the school calls "Parade of Nations" it is where each class in the elementary through highschool researches a certain country and then presents it to the rest of the grades in teh school. So there is the background for the next two stories I will be sharing!

The First Story!

The kids were supposed to bring in different things that reminded them of China or were made in China. Well one of the little girls comes in the other monrning and says this "Miss Cutting I have just the thing, I brought in my stuffed dog and cat since that is what the people eat over there." Oh my word I was laughing so hard!
The Second Story!

Today was the day that they kids were able to go around to the different classrooms and see all of the presentations. Well we were at the presentation for the country of Italy, and in the classroom there was a model of the leaning tower of pisa, well one of the students in the middle of sixth grades presentation decided to inform everyone that, "that tower over there looks like its gonna tip over, I think someone should look at it" So funny I was cracking up!
Kids are so funny! I have posted a picture of me and my little first and second graders! They are so wonderful and just as cute as anything : )

Simple but Good!

Well school today was okay, I was really tired and didn't feel well. Everyone said that sometimes you get sick when your trying to adjust. I have just felt really sick to my stomache all day but I rested a little and now I am feeling somewhat better. So since I wasn't feeling very well and Mary the lady I am living with wasn't feeling very well either. I just made white rice and cooked carrots. I burnt the bottom layer of the rice haha because its a gas stove and a little tricky! but the rest of it was realy yummy! Then I made this really really good sweet lemon sauce to go over the carrots and rice mmmmmmm. . . it was so yummy! I used a fresh lemon from our lemon tree : ) a little sugar and a tad bit of butter. I cooked it for a little while in a sauce pan and WOW it was soooo good! I was pretty proud of myself . . . simple but so good : )

First Day Teaching!

Today was so awesome! It was my first day of teaching : ) I taught Bible and Science to second grade! They are such awesome kids. They are all so well behaved and respectful, and all talk with such cute little accents. My lessons went so well, I was kinda nervous b/c I hadn't even seen my cooperating teacher teach, so I had no clue what the kids were used to but it went so well. I taught about Nehemiah for Bible and the 5 senses for science. Two funny stories, first, one of the kids came back in from a special and he says "um . . . Miss Cutting so and so called me a booger in spanish" haha it was so hard to remain somewhat composed lol! Then towards the end of the day one of the parents came in and introduced himself and began talking to me in spanish then stopped halfway through and said "you do not speak spanish?" and I responeded in spanish "no sir, not so much, just a little" he laughed and said "oh sorry I thought you were Paraguayn" haha thats two, I am totally keeping track : ) I think its just God letting me know im a "natural paraguayn" haha! but overall it was a wonderful day! 6:00 comes so early but a seista at 2 is wonderful! Now I am going to attempt to make dinner haha I will have to let you all know how that works out!

First Church Service : )

Well I went to an authentic spanshish baptist church this morning! It was so wonderful to see people praise the Lord in another language. The music was wonderful, I could sing along with the slower songs lol if they got to fast I would just smile and hum haha! The pastor introduced Bethany and I, so we stood, smiled and then nodded when we heard our names . . . who knows what he was really saying about us haha! It was quite the experience then halfway through the service Bethany leaned over to me and said "hm, maybe next week we will have to try the english speaking church" and I said "are you kidding me, I didn't even know that was an option" it was funny, I might try the english church next week but overall it was such a good experience to attend a spanish church. My brain was really tired by the end, after trying to understand, I know that it was a sermon about the 10 lepers, but that is about all haha! I am really grateful for the experience though : )

Finally Here . . . and Loving Every Second!

What a whilrl wind : ) It has been such a wonderful transition. The trip here was sooooo long but praise the Lord there were no complications! There was a welcoming comittee waiting to greet us at the airport, I told them all I had never been so happy to meet a bunch of strangers haha! I went to school on Friday and met my classes! I will be teaching second grade science, Bible, Scocial Studies and Math and then First Grade Math. The kids are adorable and so much fun! I will teach my first two lessons on Monday . . . crazy!
So far I have been to the grocery store twice, two different malls and out to eat! I love everything about this place, the people, the culture, my room with a balcony lol and yes even the heat ; ) I have greatly appreciated the hospitality and encouragement from the missionaries here. They are such wonderful Godly people and I am truly blessed. I just sit and admire the soverignty of God, his grace and his goodness in my life. I have no idea where my future is headed but I am open and availible as God continues to lead and guide in my life.
Funny story . . . so this afternoon we went to the grocery store and took a cab back to the apartment. We got in and the two other girls with me were trying to explain to the cab driver where to go to. So the driver looks and points at me and says in spanish "well why can't she just translate for you" we laughed so hard, he thought I was a Paraguayn . . . so funny, most people think that I belong here. . . until I try to communicate with them that is, then they know real quick haha!

Meet my kids from my first placement . . . These were my wonderful energetic kindergartners that I had for the past 9 weeks! Now in just 3 short days I will be meeting my new class of second graders. I grew so much during my first placement and absolutely fell in love with the kids in this picture! I hope and pray that I had an impact on their lives!

Hey everyone! wow its been forever since I have written.
It has been pretty crazy, right now I am finishing up my public school placement where I am teaching Kindergarten. I love those little munchkins so much, its crazy to think that in about 2 and a half weeks I will be miles away in Paraguay starting all over again! I am so excited and anxious to begin, and really excited for the warm weather!
I will be flying out Wednesday march 10th so please keep me in your prayers!
Thank you so much everyone for everything!