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As is true in many places around the globe during this month, this weekend’s Christmas festivities included the school program. It was typical in many ways…the grade one students stole the elementary school with their dancing and nose-picking, the beginning band sounded better than expected, flashing cameras were present in abundance, and my favorite part […]

I live six degrees south of the equator but seemed to be surprised by the heat of the afternoons this term. I am told this is pretty classic dry season…cool mornings, but mighty hot afternoons where the sun seems so very close. Because of the direction the science classroom and the puniness of one fan, […]

Thursdays make me smile because there are three happy reminders of Texas on this day each week. First, it is Store Day, which means of course, that the supply store is open, and I get to go grocery shopping! This week was particularly exciting because food from the US had arrived on a container and […]

I’ve been living in an international community for 12 weeks, and to celebrate that here are twelve ways I know that I’m not in Texas anymore: 1. “Shame” rhymes with “again” in worship music. 2. Lunch is peanut butter and jam and Kraft dinner instead of peanut butter and jelly and mac n cheese. 3. […]

Yesterday a helicopter flew over the center at dinnertime. I have a feeling that you are wondering if this is worthy of a blog post and debating if you should read on. I can’t determine those things for you, but I can tell you that a helicopter sighting is rare here. As I looked out […]

In the movie Up, Carl and Ellie dream of living in South America on the edge of Paradise Falls someday. They realize, being the sensible eight-year-olds that they are, that there are other things that must happen before it becomes a reality, but Paradise Falls is their plan. According to Stephen Covey’s Urgent/Important Matrix, Carl […]

I described the past week as much to a friend recently. I realize that an English teacher may frown upon that description, but that is exactly what it has been. As a result this post may be longer than usual, but I wanted to share. In the midst of overwhelming feelings to be back in […]

Papua New Guinea has been my home for 23 days now, which means I am way past getting to blame jetlag for the things I am not quite used to yet. I have been told, however, that I do get to use the altitude as a scapegoat for a few things over the next couple […]

The first week of school at Numonohi Christian Academy brought back memories of previous teaching experiences and gave me lots of wonderful new ones. The past two years have given me lots of opportunities to work with teachers, but this week confirmed how much I love teaching teenagers. There are lots of things about moving […]

I leave today for Papua New Guinea and hope to post on Saturday that I have arrived. Your prayers for traveling mercies are much appreciated!