April 2021 update

 April 2021 update

I continued teaching at both the Pan de Vida orphanage and the Esperanza orphanage. In addition to learning English grammar, I taught them how to sing hymns and recite verses like Proverbs 3:5-7 in English. I also reviewed a few of the church sermons with the kids at Pan de Vida.

My kids and some kids from the orphanage helped celebrate my niece's birthday.

 Our family had Paco and Zuu over for dinner one night. They are friends of nearly the same age who help at Pan de Vida. Paco is the son of one of the volunteers and Zuu grew up in the orphanage. They are former students of mine. We had a good time of fellowship.

Duane, a volunteer at Pan de Vida, installed the last piece of our stairs.

Brenda received her new American passport in the mail. The previous month we went to the U.S. embassy in Mexico City to get it renewed. Her passport application was processed a lot faster than mine. I had my passport renewed in the United States last fall.

A missionary couple in Reynosa gave us an old phone for Brenda to use. Brenda’s old phone wasn’t working properly. A few volunteers at a ministry in Reynosa came to PDV for a couple of days to help at the orphanage. They brought the phone along with them.

I worked on the calendar for Sunday school teachers at the Pan de Vida church. The teachers teach on alternate days.'

Artisic photo of Ariadne used for an ensemble she participated in

One day, I got frustrated by the bad attitudes from my 5^th and 6^th grade students. Their rude behavior had been going on for a while. They wouldn’t verbally give me a reason for their actions. So, I told them that they need to write me a letter explaining their bad attitudes and tell me what they are going to do about it. I told them we couldn’t continue class if they were going be this way the rest of the semester.

They gave their notes the following class. After reading and reflection upon their explanations, I began to understand that some of the kids at the orphanage don’t fully realize how their attitudes and actions affect others. Instead of keeping their thoughts to themselves, my students tend to blurt out whatever they are feeling at the moment. Class behavior improved after that. With the help of their caregiver, they started to understand a little better what is proper conduct in the classroom.

Tacy spending a lazy afternoon on the hood of our car

Saying good bye to my neighbor's friendly cow. It went to see the butcher the following day.