Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Humpty Dumpty Sat On a Wall (exactly 1 m high), Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall, And 2 out of Three Humpties Survived!

Preparing the egg and cup!
Ready, Set,....Drop!
My fourth graders have been learning about types of energy (potential, kinetic, thermal, etc.) and so to finish up our unit on the conservation of energy, we did an egg drop lab! The students worked through the scientific method to develop what they thought would be a good cup protection for their egg to successfully drop 1 meter without breaking. And after experimentation…. two of the three eggs successfully survived! They finished up their lab sheets with pictures of the changes that occurred in types of energy with the lab groups. All in all a wonderful and fun learning experience.
A happy group whose egg survived!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

4th Semester, new changes and beginnings!

        It seems that each time the semester starts it comes and goes faster. It is also crazy to think that I am starting my fourth semester here in Paraguay! With the start of this new semester we have had many new changes. Two of our 4th and 5th graders family had to move back to Taiwan and Korea because of their fathers’ jobs and it was hard to see them leave. Yet we also feel blessed to have a new 4th grader who has been away from the school for a year and was an exciting return to her friends and classmates.



        On the school level we have some teachers leaving, our music teacher (which was a temporary placement), and our high school English teacher who use to be our music teacher. If that isn’t confusing enough our music teacher from this last semester was also an aid for a high school girl and our long time wonderful librarian has also decided to explore other options. Mirta our last librarian had her doctorate, was a sign language instructor and translator, pastor, etc. We are sad to see her go, but know God will use her in great ways. Thankfully most of these positions are being filled at least temporarily with other long term replacements getting their paperwork together from the states to come down.


       Also as our semester is flying away, we are in the swing of preparing for our Parade of Nations! Fourth grade has chosen to research Kenya! They have already squeezed me for as many stories of Kenya as possible and whenever possible. We have learned several phrases in Swahili and are working to learn the song Jambo Bwana. They are also praying specifically for Tenwek Hospital and looking at several of the major challenges in Kenya. Fifth grade is studying Turkey and we are learning more of the very small Christian church in Turkey and all of the challenges that it is facing. Future pictures and information are to follow shortly!

Prayer Requests:
1. That new teachers will be found quickly and those that are coming to have their paperwork and other requirements to go smoothly.
2. For the changes that will be coming for the school.
3. For the new students and new semester.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Andes Trip to Chicoana and Salta, Argentina!

Picasa Web Album of the Trip: https://picasaweb.google.com/webercj2/ArgentinaSaltaAndChicoana?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKeXmN6xuqrFTw&feat=directlink

The trip was incredible!!!!! We were truly surrounded by so much beauty in the landscapes that I can only say it was breath-taking. The pictures don’t do it justice. To get to Salta, Arg. We took two buses and arrived about 1.5 days later. Our first bus went from Asuncion to Resistencia, Arg. This bus took about 7 hours and included a stop at the border for immigration. Then we took a bus from Resistencia to Salta which was about 12 hours!



We got into Salta early on the day before our 5 days of horseback riding and after finding our hostel we explored the city and stumbled on most of the major landmarks of the city! The cathedrals and square were beautiful and we enjoyed slowly strolling through the streets. We were then picked up the next morning at our hostel by a taxi from Chicoana (about 30-40 minutes away). Bright-eyed and bushy tailed, we arrived in Chicoana ready for what we thought was to be an easy day around the city….8 hours of riding later we were located in a small cluster of houses nestled in a valley. We continued at this pace for all 5 days! Thankfully by the third day we were really not that sore anymore : ) ! We explored much of the area during the days that followed as you can see in our top 10 list below!


Top 10 List for Trip to Andes in Argentina



# 10
10. Exploring Salta= unplanned and beautiful places


9. Riding through the tall grass about 2 ft. above our heads on horseback (about 10-11 feet tall)


8. Eating fruit from all sorts of trees and plants (We probably had about dozen different fruits off of cacti, trees along the road, and other plants along our path. All in all quite tasty)


# 7
7. Music by Tono (Tono our fearless guia(guide) would serenade us with a flute by day and a guitar by night)


6. Riding through the mountains (going up and down the mountains was full of thin very steep little paths, quick drop offs, tons of rocks of all sizes, and all together pretty dangerous at times. Thankfully our horses were great, being raised in these mountains)
# 6


5. The unexpected with friends


4. The incredible number, beauty, and vastness of the stars


3. Galloping on the last day
# 3


2. The clearing in the mountains at the end of the 3rd day (Tono’s gaucho friend’s pasture)


1. The views on the 4th day at the top on the highest mountain in the region “el Alto”

# 2

# 1