Of course we took a funny face picture. I asked the guard to take it and then realized by his facial expression that he had never used a camera before. I'm impressed that he got most of us in the picture:
I know these faces are just faces to you, but to me, they are memories. Every single child at this school is so precious and I have loved getting to know each and every one of them.
In the above picture, Mafat is the boy making the Mafia expression. He is exploding with personality and has the cutest little studder because he is always so excited to say whatever he is thinking about. I once sat at my desk after school and kicked him on accident because he was hiding from his twin brother under my desk. He always insists that I show him how I can pick my nose with my tongue and then freaks out when I do it.
In the back row of the above picture you'll see Natasha playing with Miria's hair. I would have been friends with these girls in high school. They are constantly laughing and teasing one another, have great senses of humor and are both very bright and studious. Natasha has one of those contagious laughs and the other day she couldn't stop giggling when I grabbed a paper out of the trashcan (long story) and said, "did someone spit in the trashcan?" Of course I picked up the paper covered in her spit and she couldn't stop laughing.Directly in front of them is Domingos, Natasha's little brother. He has transformed so much this year and it has been so neat to watch God work in his life. At the beginning of the year, he had major attitude and I had to talk with him about respecting authority figures. Now he is one of the most respectful students I've ever had, is super diligent in his studies, and always making me laugh. Domingos is the one who told me I look like Wonder woman and calls me such as he walks past me in the halls. He used to bring the class down with his negativity but now he is constantly volunteering, giving serious answers (he used to give me wrong answers on purpose) and has brought the entire class up because of his new attitude. What is most exciting is to see him pursue a relationship with God. He attends the fellowship group at the ambassador's house on Sunday nights and I heard through the grapevine that his last prayer request when we broke up into groups was to, "have wisdom in my pursuit of becoming more like Christ." It is very evident in his attitude at school that God is answering that prayer and it has been a joy to watch.
The art teacher, Bev, is in the middle in the purple. I hope I have as much energy as this woman when I am her age. She is such an encourager and is always telling others about the latest thing that God is teaching her. I love that. I can be a little kid at times and won't eat the crust on my bread so she always eats is for me.
How adorable are these kids?? Don't you just want to pinch their cheeks? Esther is sporting the pink scrunchy with her arms crossed and her older sister Veronica is striking a similar pose behind her. Although giving off the impression of having attitude, nothing could be further from the truth. They are both so incredibly sweet. Esther has now made it a point to hug me every time she sees me. Those who know me well, know that I'm not much of a hugger but getting hugs from cute 5 year olds is a different story. Daniel is in the background waving at me- he also is quite the hugger. I was having a rough day and was leaving the campus but right before I passed through the gate, he came running up to me from his PE class just to hug me and say goodbye. How can one stay cranky after that?
As previously mentioned, in this picture I captured Miria and Natasha in their typical pose. Also in the back row, some of my boys noticed me sneaking pictures and opted for "cool" poses. Igor is popping his collar (is that the right expression?) and next to him, Ude went for the classic "tongue out" pose. Both of these boys are incredibly bright and very special to me- well all my students are. I had to work to win Igor's affections since as seen in the picture, he seems to feel "too cool for school" but he actually said goodbye to me the other day before I initiated it. I was thrilled. Ude on the other hand giggles if I just look at him. He and his older brother Oko are the South African boys belonging to the Xhosa tribe with the "clicking" language.
How sweet to be able to pray as an entire school! One of my favorite things is listening to little kids pray. The other day, one of the first graders was praying and thanked God for the Chinese and their ninja skills.My ninth and tenth graders are my largest class- a whopping 10 students- and I get to have them twice a day, once for English and then for economics. I was not exactly jazzed about teaching economics since I'm not a fan of math, but it's actually turned out to be much less painful than I anticipated and a few of my students seem to really enjoy it. Others have told me it is against their religion to study economics but for the most part they are understanding the concepts and doing well in the class. I had a nightmare the other night because I couldn't decide where to invest my money and was very worried about it. I woke up laughing at myself- never before have I dreamt about mutual funds- probably because I didn't know what they were until this year. It's true- it belongs in the category of "things you should know about by the time you're 25" so I felt silly asking, but at least now I know:) Here my students are proudly displaying their advertisement for a fictitious product they invented.
The week we returned from Easter break was spent planning and preparing for the annual "Swim Fest" which is a swim meet that the entire school participates in. Besides the typical races, we also had "treading water" competitions, relays, and the "biggest splash" competition. Teaching swimming was one of many "unexpected blessings" I've experienced in Mozambique. Here are a few shots from my last official day of swimming at the Swim Fest.
Every year I grow so attached to my students and this year is no different. It has been such a joy to get to know all my students on a much more personal level than I can in huge schools. I cannot imagine myself teaching in the States and going over to my students' homes to babysit, have dinner and play basketball. Teaching in a small missionary school provides this unique opportunity to really invest in the lives of each of my students and I have loved it!
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