How School is Going - Hannah

Things have been a little rough here. Let's just say that behavior problems can be amplified when you're put in difficult situations. I don't want to share too much, so I will be a little more general than specific. But going to school where you don't speak the language is a challenge. Obviously we knew this would be the case before we came. And we're hoping it gets better. But every day we seem to have to rethink our approach. Also, I know the kids miss their friends at home, and that is difficult too.

We've become very flexible. Partly that is due to the fact that we never really know when school is going to be cancelled, or even what time school will be over. Each morning when I drop the boys off, we ask what time I should pick them up. And it varies each day. Also, there are times the kids just don't want to go to school and so they stay home. We try to encourage as much as possible, and just yesterday Michael and I were trying to figure out more good activities that the kids could work on in their increased spare time. 

Jonah

I usually go to school with Jonah less than the three days we pay for, but the principal at the school told me essentially that it's my time, and to come whenever I want. So we often go late, leave early, or don't come at all. It depends on if Jonah wants to go--sometimes he says school is long so he doesn't want to go. It depends on whether I need to be home with other kids who don't have school. And it depends on whether I have to get laundry or shopping done. We try to go as much as we can though. 

Today the students did self-defense, and Jonah was proud of the jumping jacks he learned how to do. Tomorrow will be a costume party--not exactly a Halloween party because Halloween seems slightly frowned upon in this heavily Catholic area, but it's still a good excuse for a fiesta.

Dylan

Since Dylan's running away episode, I pick him up early each day. He usually goes from 7:00 until 11:30. Much longer than that is difficult for him. Yet when he's in a good mood, and I ask him how school was, he tells me it was good. Today he was showing me how he did a math problem that wasn't even assigned, and got it right. Last weekend he was able to go to a friend's house and had a good time playing the Wii.  

He usually likes the school lunch, which is often beans and rice. The United States could learn a lot from Costa Rica about what food they feed their children. 

Since Dylan comes home early, he often has a long rainy afternoon ahead of him. He sometimes gets antsy and could use more outlets for his energy. I'm hoping that will get better as the rainy season comes to an end and he can run around outside more.

Caleb

Caleb is probably at the ideal age for this adventure. He's still in elementary school, yet is old enough to understand why we are here and the difficulties involved. He has been making great efforts in the language and it seems to be paying off. He says the day is sometimes long, and he spends a lot of time copying things off the board, but he generally has a good attitude about it all. 

He's also had some great opportunities to explain the Book of Mormon to people at school. He has a goal to read the Book of Mormon before he turns twelve, and is well on his way. So he brings the Book of Mormon with him to school to read during breaks. His home-room teacher, English teacher, and several classmates have asked about the book. We plan to pick up some Spanish copies of the Book of Mormon next time we go to the temple, so he can give them away.

Julia

For Julia, she hates her Tuesday morning class which is some sort of agricultural class. Once they were harvesting tomatoes for several hours, and another time they were beheading chickens. She escaped to the bathroom that morning. So we've compromised and she doesn't go those mornings anymore. Also, when she first started school, she was going from 7:00 until 4:30, which was way too long. So we pick her up early as well. But it seems that more often than not school is cancelled for who-knows-what reason. 

I have not been as pleased with the high school as I have with the elementary school. The classes are so big, and Julia talks about how little discipline there is, so that students are always getting up and talking over the teacher. If it were possible to pick up the language, it would be much easier to do with only one person talking at a time. Also, I think it's probably more difficult for her since as kids get older, they talk together much more. When they're younger, they can play together, and that often doesn't require a lot of language skills. So making friends can be easier. But when so much of friendship involves communication, that can be a challenge. We invited a few of her classmates over last weekend for hamburgers, making cookies, and a movie. I appreciate her classmates efforts to try to include her, but there's only so much you can do when communication is so limited. 

Watching "Forever Young" (originally in English, 
dubbed into Spanish, with English subtitles) and eating treats

Yummy chocolate covered marshmallows that the kids made together.
Julia's friend brought all the ingredients. 

Mental looking oatmeal raisin cookies. I can't quite figure out
our gas oven with celsius degrees. They were still tasty though.

Anyway, we are still hopeful but every now and then wonder and hope that we are doing the right thing. Our next step is to get some Spanish tutoring for me and the kids. Hopefully that will help alleviate some of the difficulties we are facing.