A Long Time Coming

Usually my apology for my extremely late updates comes at the beginning, but I thought I'd save it for the end. So, you ready? Here goes,

First Months' Excursions: 

Biking the Muela del Diablo: This is also known as the Devil's Tooth. Yes, I did buy a bike once I got to Bolivia and it's been fun having a hard workout a few days a week attempting to bike to and from school with some pretty steep climbs both ways. So, that being said, I went with Deborah, James, and Andy (new guy also from New Zealand here to help with getting our wi-fi network up and running) to do some extreme biking. I've never done it before. You are supposed to hang your rear end way out past your bike seat, so that you don't go over your handlebars all the time. WELL, either I wasn't leaning back far enough, or I would hesitantly break on the steep parts and send myself flying over the bars into rocks. Needless to say, I was battered and bruised for a week after that trip. Although, I do plan to go again once I get a new tube for my front tire. My bike got rocked almost as much as I did. :)

Tihuanaco: Located just south of Lake Titicaca and only an hour outside La Paz, it is the site of the ancient Tihuanaco civilization that I covered with my students as they learn about early South American civilizations. I wanted to go due to the fact that it's going to be where I take my students for their first field trip at the end of the quarter (October 16th). I went with Alison, her two Samaritan Purse roommates(Brenda, Susan), and another Samaritan purse intern (Sheldon). Not much else to say about Tihuanaco. We stayed for about three-four hours and then returned.

Copacabana: This one was done last weekend with Alison, John, Sheldon, and Brenda. The memorable moment from this one was hiking the entire length of La Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) and reaching it by nightfall and then having to hike all the way back in the dark. A nice six and a half hour hike at altitude on an empty stomach, but still not nearly as bad as Huyana Potosi (20,000 ft mountain climb last May) or Randy's Bachelor Party Death March. It was still a great trip that I enjoyed thoroughly all in all.

Next Weekend (Co-ed High School hiking trek at Copacabana): This coming weekend is our third three day weekend since school started. (I'm starting to get used to them) Much of the hike will be what I did on La Isla del Sol, so I already know what to expect. It will also be fun trying to make sure there are no make out sessions between the boys and girls. This is the first time we've had a co-ed hike.

School Life: We have four new teachers: Sarah (3rd grade), Heather (middle school bible), Jenny (1st grade), and Lily (pre-school). They are all wonderful additions to our staff. Of the four, I've got to know Sarah the best as our two classes share lunch and recess together. She graduated early from school and only just had her 21st B-day this September. Lily is a Bolivian, and one of my student's mothers, so she's always asking me how he's doing and keeping me on my toes. 

Our staff has broke into five different committees to work on the self study for our school's accreditation visit in April. It's an exciting time in Highlands history, but it entails a lot of work in the meantime. :) I'm also struggling to finish up curriculum guides, so that those are ready as well when the accreditation team arrives.

Tim (high school health and advanced backpacking teacher, also husband of Whitney our fifth grade teacher) and I have partnered together as well as two other teacher pairs to lead three different Life Groups. Tim and I have five guys in our group that we meet together with weekly to talk about that week's high school chapel and also to be real with each other. It has been a great opportunity to work with another age level, but more importantly to pour our lives, experiences, and Christ's love into theirs. 

Due to the political climate, the Fisher family (Anne- my mentor and elementary principal, and Tom-music and ESL teacher) decided to head to the states for a little while. That leaves me in charge of games club and teaching music to my kids, which has been fun.

My kids are great! Some highlights from our year so far: Science: Lard experiment with gloves, a bucket of ice cold water, and of course LARD. Boy did they have fun, not getting the lard off of their hands. :) Predator vs. Prey experiment where they got to see how much of a difference camouflage really makes. Dead fish experiment where we analyzed the different parts, not dissecting, of a fish. The labeled me as a fish murderer. :( Grammar: Doing charades to work on action/doing verbs. Math: Around the World with multiplication facts and learning to skip count to some cheesily effective Bible songs. They love to roll their eyes at me while I play these songs, but it's helping a few of my eleven students that need multiplication help most, so I don't mind at all. Reading: They get to write letters to me each week about what they've been reading either in their groups or during their individual time. Chapel: They all wanted to act for my first chapel on the parable of "The Persistent Widow". Axel got to play me, he loved it! Bible: They are learning many of the names of God. So far this year, we've looked at El Roi (the God who sees), Jehovah-Jireh (God the Provider), etc...  Writing: We have been writing personal narratives and also working on fun little controversial prompts, such as "What is your opinion on uniforms?" Our students will be getting uniforms come second quarter. :) Social Studies: We are just finishing up on the decline of the Inca civilization and how Pizarro was able to defeat the largest empire in South America with only 180 men. Pretty interesting stuff!

My Bolivian Family: This year at the house has been Daniel (now in 1st grade), his mother Dora, her brother Fabrizio, and their father Alberto. Charo is in the states visiting her eldest daughter, as are the newlyweds Dani and Randy, who are also newly pregnant. :) I continue to feel like one of the family and will most likely be spending Christmas with them this year, which, while I will miss spending it with my family for the very first time, I couldn't ask for a better substitute one. 

  Prayer Requests: 

1. For my student Axel Torrico. He has been feeling like the outcast in my group of boys for the past couple of weeks. I had an intervention with them and since then things have been going better, but he still mentions wanting to go to another school from time to time.

2. For my student Sarah Mamani. She is at the school on scholarship, her father is a pastor, and they live outside the city. Their home was attacked by two men last weekend. Her father was shot, and other members of her family beaten. Everyone survived and is in the process of healing physically and emotionally, so please pray for her and her family.

3. For the families, such as the Fishers who are eager to come back to Bolivia now that the political tensions between Bolivia and the U.S. are a little better. Pray that there will be no red tape standing in their way.

4. Pray that as our staff grows, we find ways to stay unified as we serve Christ together.

5. Pray for the country of Bolivia as tensions grow between the different departments here in Bolivia about Evo (president) and his new constitution proposal.

6. Pray that I would be more disciplined and diligent in a variety of things. a.)Rising early to bask in the light of God and His Word, that it may shine out to the kids and others I meet. b.)Working on curriculum guides and accreditation questions. c.) Updating my faithful friends and supporters.

I hate not filling you in on some things that I may have forgot about, because I leave these updates for so long. I will try to do better next time. I humbly ask your forgiveness and thank you for your patience. You are all a wonderful blessing to my life. Thanks for your steadfast prayers and support.

Year in Review

I want to start off with an apology for my lack of communication to you on how things are going at Highlands International School in La Paz, Bolivia. Amazing things have happened this year in the lives of many of the students, their parents, and the staff (me included). I have been negligent in my duty as a sower to report back to you these tidings worthy of joyful thanksgiving, and so I am writing this update to inform you of these tales so that you may rejoice with me in them.

The Students:
- My 3rd/4th grade students improved overall on their math scores this year on the SAT’s, I look forward to the challenge of doing the same to their reading scores next year.
- Students as a whole spent more than 3,000 dollars on Scholastic books this year. An impressive amount to spend on books for the elementary!
- We had five high school students and a couple elementary students accept Jesus Christ as their risen Lord and Savior, and many more students eagerly searching!
- We had six graduating seniors, five of which will be attending universities in the U.S.
- All students are going to have a uniform dress code for next school year, which is going to remind me of teaching in England and going to private school during 7th/8th grade. J
- I love my students! I consider myself so blessed to be teaching 4th grade next year, because I will retain about two thirds of the class. I’m already excited to see them again!

The Parents:
- One of my concerns about teaching was parents and having conferences with them, but parents have now become something for me to look forward to working with more next year. They have been extremely encouraging and a great help to me in my first year of teaching. A few examples: invitations to their children’s b-day parties, chaperones on field trips (the zoo and Valle de la Luna), conferences that have made my eyes tear up from their gratitude, and throwing a big birthday party for me! I am really enjoying the embrace of the familial culture here in Bolivia.

The School and Staff:
- I’m not certain about the prospect of teaching in the U.S. mainly because of the supportive, encouraging, Christian unified staff that I get to work with everyday at a school where the sunrise over the mountains each morning reminds me of what an amazing Creator we have as our God. Some exciting things that have happened to both school and staff this year are as follows:
- Jason (school director) and Sara, James (high school science) and Julie each had their
first baby added to their family at the end of this school year. Margaret Grace to Jason
and Sara, and Maya to James and Julie. I can’t wait to see them begin to grow up this coming school year!
- Whitney (5th grade) was married to Tim (Youth for Christ/substitute science teacher) over Christmas. She had one student who thought she was somebody else because of the name change.
- Everyone except for our first grade teacher, Kristen, will return this upcoming year for their second or third year! It will be a great community to welcome in the new 1st and 3rd grade teachers.
- We finally have an organized library, internet capability, and PE equipment that will be great resources for next school year!
- Our 6th/7th grade teacher, Deborah, has taken us through a biblical integration course during our workshops this year, which has been a great help in all our lesson planning. It was even worth three continuing education credits!
- Tom and Ann Fisher (ESL and worship/elementary principal) have been holding a monthly community group for believers in La Paz, which has been an immense encouragement to everyone’s sense of unity and fellowship in La Paz, which has been coined the “graveyard of missionaries” due to the lack of people who stay to minister.
- The school is expanding and buying more land on the property where we are currently located. I have enclosed a note from our director with more information.

My Homestay Family:
- The Lord has really blessed me with an amazing, Christian family who has made me feel like one of their own. My best example would be their youngest daughter (or one of my big sisters), Dani, who was married this year to Randy, Youth for Christ worker. I wondered where my name was on the list of invites, because all the Highlands teachers were on Randy’s side. They showed me that I was looking in the wrong place and showed me my name underneath family on Dani’s side.
- Fabrizio, my older brother by five years, and I love to talk about all sorts of things, but mainly relationships, since both he and I have had our issues with those this school year. We each comforted each other through our break-ups reminding each other of God’s sovereignty and provision and perfect timing. We are now once again, more or less (mas o menos), content being single. :)
- The family that I get to see every day: Charro, my Bolivian mother, Alberto, my Bolivian father, Dora, my big sister, and Dora’s son, Daniel. These individuals are also very special to me. Through them, not only does my Spanish improve daily, but I’ve grown to see what the extension of the family of God is like on a more intimate level.
- I attend church with my family, a church plant that is partnering with our school in location and in ministry to both parents and students of Highlands. It truly is an amazing community of believers that God has blessed the heck out of me with.
- I also love the country if you couldn’t tell. I have been on plenty of hikes at high altitudes, which include a climb to the summit of Huyana Potosi (19,978 ft) and a trip to Machu Picchu. The rugged beauty of the land is truly breathtaking!

Prayer Requests:
- The political situation in the country of Bolivia is unstable with three of the nine departamentos (provinces) voting and declaring autonomy from the rest of the country. More departamentos will be voting in the upcoming months also. Pray for peace, especially for La Paz.
- Pray for the new teachers Jenny and Sarah as they begin their first year of teaching at an amazing school!
- Pray for the school and its expansion. There are a lot of things as we continue in our process to improve Highlands before we are visited for accreditation this next April.
- Pray for me this summer as I work on curriculum guides so that they’re ready for the start of this next year.
- Pray for me as I decide whether or not to stay for a third year at Highlands.

Final Thoughts:
I want to thank all of you for your prayers. Through your prayers the Lord has been continuously providing all my needs. Pray that I would do a much better job in sharing with you my prayer supporters the astounding things the Lord is doing at Highlands International School. I will also try to do the same on my blog at bjorvia.blogspot. com. Here’s a picture of me with my students at the zoo and a day in the classroom.

Blessings to you all,

Thomas Bjorlie

15 weeks later...

Alright, so I'm terrible at this and you ask a good question Pete. I'm not sure how long I get to keep my blog without blogging, but I don't want to find out. I'm not even sure where to start. I'll be brief about my holiday break first. Time with family and friends was needed and I had a blast, but I was eager to get back to Bolivia and my students by the time break ended.

We have a week left in the quarter and so much has gone on I feel. Ashlyn and I broke up. It always seems like I have a tougher time with break-ups than the other person. But we both knew that it was for the best and now, at the end of the third quarter, things have become much more comfortable and easier as we teach together. I'll try to give some highlights from these past couple months now.

Highlights from School-
*I got another new student, 4th grade, whose name is Isaias. He is from Bolivia and is an amazing student, very eager to learn and please the teacher. :) What teacher doesn't appreciate a student like that? I now have a total of 18 students. 12 third graders, 6 fourth graders.
*We have a student teacher at our school teaching high-school math. It's great to have another young guy in the mix of teachers. His name is Nate and he is engaged. With math teachers being in such high demand, he has already found a job for next school year. Wow! It took me two years and moving to another country to do that!
*We are picking a new mascot for our school, because pumas just doesn't fit, due to the other rival American school being the cougars, which is the exact same animal. Thanks to my class it is now between White Tigers (their choice) and Condors (the one the principal really wants to stick). Well when the vote was between the two, White Tigers win, but we'll have to wait and see if Jason (prinicipal) really accepts the new mascot. Some of the other nominees (Fighting Manatees, Penguins, Bats, Stallions, Dragons, and the Ligers). Which would you have voted for?
*My students just finished their social studies projects which was to create their own business/company, accompanied by a poster advertising their product/service, a story on how it all started, a persuasive paper as to why anyone should buy, and a 10 step flow chart as to how their service is run/or their product is made. What a mean teacher right? To top it all off, yesterday they pitched their products to the fifth graders and were graded by the fifth graders on their presentations. Ah, they had a blast!! :)
*I've taught two chapels in the past two weeks. The first on Josiah, the next on Jeremiah. With Josiah the students performed a skit I had written called "The King Is Right" a spoof on "The Price is Right". We had about six kings come on to get interviewed by a panel audience (the rest of my kids). The first five being ones that did evil in the sight of the Lord and getting booed off, the last one (Josiah), getting cheered off. I talked about the cleansing of the temple, and how our hearts are a sanctuary also that need cleansing of any false idols and disrepair, so that we can be whole-heartedly serving the Lord. Yesterday was also Dr. Seuss day for my kids (I'll tell you why it was so late in a bit), so they introduced Jeremiah with a nice rhyme called "Would You, Could You", all about would you be able to give bad news to someone you loved, when you knew it would happen, and you knew they wouldn't listen. My talk wasn't as prepared as I would have liked, but I stressed how when God calls you, the task ahead will not necessarily be easy or fun, but how important it is to trust Him through each and every moment of it.
*So yeah, I celebrated Dr. Seuss Day two weeks late. There's a reason for it. I wasn't planning on celebrating it period. Kindergarten celbrated it on the day. First, second, and fifth grade celebrated it last week. I didn't think fifth grade was going to. My kids come to me all bummed, "Mr. Bjorlie, how come we aren't celebrating Dr. Seuss Day?" So I ask in return, "You want to?" "YEAH!!" And that's pretty much how it happened. Their activity was to write interview questions for the Grinch as if they were the Whos down in Whoville and then I allowed those comfortable with acting in front of the class a chance to improv as the Grinch. I found out I have much more willing actors/actresses than I thought. We have to continue the activity on Monday, because of it. Speaking of Monday, yes, I'll definitely be wearing me kilt, just not in the authentic fashion. ;)
*Our library is up and running and I was able to find books at each of my reading group's appropiate levels, so that I could do guiding reading with each of them, except the ones pulled out for reading help. My highest group's book is set in Norway, so the kids have enjoyed hearing more about my heritage. :) (Like lefse and Ole & Lena jokes)
*We also had a team day, and the theme was water. The weather was beautiful and the kids and teachers alike loved getting eachother extremely soaked in the huge water fight at the end of the day. You guys really can't do that in the states can you? Keep in mind this occurred the beginning of February. :)
*Our school is trying to decide between expanding the property that we are on or moving to another location nearby in Achucalla. Please be in prayer for this big decision.
*I was also observed while doing my dual grade math lesson. She thought it went very well and my scores came back as "at" or "above standard", which was very encouraging.

Highlights from Home
*My big brother Beto is going through a rough back and forth relationship. We've grown close through talking about truth and following the Lord in the midst of pain and heartache. It's been a time of bonding.
*My youngest oldest sister, Danielle, is getting married to Randy (youth for Christ guy). The bachelor party 3-day hike will be this next weekend. Yep, I know. That's Easter weekend. The wedding will be April 26th, so I'm excited to be in my first Bolivian wedding! Not only that, but my older sister's one.
*Charro is back (stay-home mom) from the states and it's been alot of fun learning more Spanish from her, and her learning English from me. She really treats me as part of the family, which is just one of the many reasons why I've decided to live with them again next school year. She went into the hospital a few weeks ago with a problem with her ankle. I don't know exactly what the problem was, my Spanish isn't great when it comes to medical terms, but she was in quite a bit of pain. She's doing much better now.

Highlights from Outside School
*I've started playing basketball on Tuesday nights. I'm terrible! But I am getting better slowly by slowly. I actually scored three baskets last Tuesday. Get ready Chris, I might be able to give you a bit more of a match when I get back this summer. It's also been getting me in pretty good shape for what I hear is going to be an extremely brutal bachelor party hike. The other reason why I can't wait to go on the hike is because I'll be prepared with good hiking shoes and a good backpacking pack. I'll finally be equipped.
*We had a four day weekend in which I actually got to go to another country, Chile. Arrica, Chile to be exact. Lots of desert, all the way up to the beach! I had a great time running along the beach in the morning and swimming up the waves in the afternoon. This happened a week after the break-up and Ashlyn also was on the trip, so it wasn't easy in that sense, but I still found other ways to enjoy myself. One of them was to get extremely sunburned. I know I'll get skin cancer one day, but the day out in the sun and surf was worth the pain. I compare it to Spring Break of junior year in college. Some of you know what I'm talking about! :)
*I'm becoming more active in our church here in La Paz. Today, (I actually have to get going right now), I am going to be participating in a little drama, I only have to act, not speak. Whew! Although, I have to act to a narraration in another language and yeah, I've gotta make sure I'm listening very well. :)
*The sunday school in the church wants to adopt the Children Desiring God curriculum as well and when they do, hopefully in Spanish, they want me to help with teaching the teachers how to teach the curriculum. I've never had to teach teachers before, should be an experience!
*My Spanish is getting better, but I still have a long ways to go before I'm fluent, but I'm getting better at holding on mini-conversations in topics that i know most the vocabulary for.
*We had a Texas Hold-em poker tournament last Saturday and I came out in the middle of a pack of 8, so I felt alright about my playing.
*I meet with Nate, Tom, and Scott on Saturday mornings for a time of accountability and fellowship which has been good. The only sad thing is that I do the same thing on Friday morning with the same guys minus Tom and adding John, just because of the group dynamics. Both times are good, although I wish we could just have one where we all get together.


Alright, I'm sure I'm missing stuff and if I remember anything I'll try to send it on out, but now I want to hear about you all back home and how things are going. Like, how cold is it there in Minnesota? Just kidding! I want to hear about you, so send me an e-mail if you want or just a quick response via the blog. I wish you all a Happy Saint Patrick's Day, which also means Happy B-day Tara! I love you all! Thanks especially to those of you who stayed on me to get this blog done. That especially belongs to Jason and my mother. Thanks Pete and Chris for the reminders also. I'll be seeing you all in about three months!

People Know Me Too Well

Alright already. Yes, the thing I was unable to say anything about at the time. Well, I suppose it's safe enough to reveal. I have been dating an amazing, beautiful woman for the past two and a half weeks and her name is Ashlyn. She is the second grade teacher at Highlands and is phenomenal at what she does. Her love for each and every one of her students is evident in whatever she's doing. Things are still in the early stages, but yeah, I'm a bit smitten. :) I'm not going to go into any details on a blog, so you'll have to join skype and give me a call or something if you want those. With such a small, close-knit staff that we hang out with on a daily basis, we wanted to keep the information between us and the few others who knew, which is why I was unable to publicly share right away. Thanks for your patience!

Yeah, so that's my big news. What else? Is there anything else? Yeah, I suppose so. :)
In school news, not too much to report except this last week, which was a blast. It was our spirit week, so Monday was Crazy Hat Day, Tuesday was Pajama Day, Wednesday was Super Hero Day, and Thursday (yes, we had school on Thanksgiving) was Team Color Day. Our 6th/7th teacher Deborah Carpenter, she is amazing, made a bunch of skits for each morning. I had a blast participating in both Wednesday's and Thursday's skits. Oh yeah, I was Zorro for superhero day. You could make the argument that he's not a superhero, but I had nothing else to go on. (Besides, I wasn't the only Zorro, so I'll stand by my costume.) There was one girl who wore a white shirt that had painted on "Jesus is my only Superhero!" Pretty awesome. Team Day was Thursday and we had a huge Olympics theme. The whole school was split up into four colors (Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green) randomly by each grade. They all participated in lots of different events such as: Choreographed Aerobics (Ashlyn led that since she loves to dance and is darn good at it too), Scrub Ball, Long Jump, Tug-of-War, and an assortment of relay races. The high-schoolers really stepped up as leaders and did a great job with the elementary kids.
In other school news, the Christmas Program is coming up this next Thursday, December 6th and after I tell about what my kids will be doing I'm going to have to leave it at that and go running with my director. I will fill you in on the foreign staff Thanksgiving meal, Tim's bachelor party in the Zongo valley, and the six teacher trip to Sorata in the next blog.
So, my kids will be split into two groups, readers and actors. I have six readers who will read two verses each from Isaiah 53. I will portray Jesus as the rest of the grade acts out the verses being read. Upon completion, the two remaining students will come forth portraying Mary and Joseph wondering if their son will really have to endure all this suffering. Mary then asks does he really have to pay for all her sins and Joseph replies, "Not just yours Mary, but all of ours." Close scene. I'm excited and hope it will really bring the gospel message home to those attending. Well, I gotta go run with my principal, so I'll fill you all in on the rest later. Ciao!

Month in Review: The Sequel

Yeah, I suppose that promise to write soon after the last blog didn't turn out so well. Once again, I apologize and will attempt to be a better blogger.
It's so easy to get caught up in everything that's going on, not just school, but hanging out with the staff and my stay-home family as well. ( I put that in there for you mom.) I love you, dad, and Stacy alot, but they have become my extended Bolivian family since I have been here. Although the family has gotten much smaller since my last posting. Alberto and Charro, the parents, are both in Houston with their oldest daughter, Monica, who just had triplets! My big sister Daniela, who is the youngest child in the family and few years older than me, left for Houston on the first of this month. That leaves Dora, her son Daniel (currently in Kindergarten @ HIS), and Fabrizio (aka Alberto or Beto), the only son, about 5 years older than me. The house feels emptier, but Dora has been amazing, what with working, taking care of Daniel, and fixing me dinners. I try and help out when I can by letting her know what my plans are so she can better anticipate if I'll be around for dinner or not. I also helped out two weekends ago with Daniel's B-day party, my first Bolivian B-day party. They invite pretty much everyone, play games, eat cake (while parents have tea), open presents, and then at the end comes the pinata. Only, it's not like in Mexico where you bash the pinata. Instead you just pull out the bottom and all the goodies fall out. It might not seem as fun, and I do admit that I missed the pumelling the pinata usually gets, but you can reuse the pinata and it saves the little kids from laughed at by a bunch of grown-ups who enjoy watching children swing aimlessly at a structurally reinforced bag of candy while blindfolded. If that's not a run-on sentence, then I don't know what is. Anyway, I got a chance to blow up at least 70 balloons (pop at least 5 as I tried to tie them), help lead games such as Pato, Pato, Gonzo (Duck, Duck, Goose) (they never heard of Duck, Duck, Grey Duck, go figure), and do my best to help eat as much Spiderman cake as possible. Alright, there's a bit about the home life, now school...
Parent teacher conferences went well. I had 17 non-stop conferences from about 8:20 to 1:45. There were questions and concerns raised, and then plans and solutions were discussed and agreed upon. I can honestly say that, although being nervous during the day, I felt encouraged after all was said and done. I had many comments from parents with girls that their daughter was nervous about having a male teacher, but that now, they rather enjoyed having one. I do admit that I love each and everyone of my students, and I felt encouraged by those parents who came in and let me know that their students had experienced that love. Now that first quarter is done, I have dropped social studies and picked up science. After doing a brief unit on soil, we began our rocks and minerals unit. The boys are constantly at the other end of the field during recess like always, only now, I don't have to worry about finding rock and mineral samples, because it seems to be many of the boys passions, and I have way too many rocks in my classroom now. I'm just grateful for their enthusiasm and need to find a way to get the girls interested. Hopefully, when we talk about minerals and how they form crystals, such as diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, maybe then they'll become a little more interested. :)
We received our Desiring God curriculum two weeks ago also, which I have excitedly began to teach. I feel as if I got my first care package with familiar items from home, seeing as how I have taught this curriculum for a year and half at Bethlehem Baptist. The kids seem to enjoy it quite a bit also, as the whole theme is a mystery entitled "In the Beginning... Jesus". We will be solving the myster of Christ's death on the cross and the history of redemption. Yeah, that's right, redemptive history for third and fourth grade. Good stuff! Finally, keep me in your prayers regarding the reading curriculum. I'm still piecing stuff together and I'm afraid that I'm not meeting the criteria I should be, but 3-7 grades will be getting some resources soon to help. Pray that I can develop something concrete and cohesive for my students who vary so widely in their reading abilities. And now, the side stuff...
Games Club occurs Wednesdays after school and the coordinator, Tom Fisher, has pretty much made me the mascot. His slogan? "Beat Bjorlie!" Yeah, his newest poster misquotes me as challenging anyone who thinks they can stand a chance in a game of Settlers against me. Don't worry, I'm not getting a big head, but hey, I'm here to help, yeah? I still continue to hang out with Scott (english teacher) and the elementary teachers as we watch movies, play cards, or just simply chill together. After conferences, five of us took a trip to El Castillo, down in the south Yungas. El Castillo is an old Spanish castle that has been made into a hotel. We arrived at dusk and found out that the power was out and that apparently there were many ghost stories that surrounded the castle. So we had fun playing Phase 10 by candlelight in a spooky old castle until 2 in the morning. The next day consisted of a hike with Ashlyn and Scott to a waterfall, where I was compelled to stand under for the fun of it. The hike also consisted of many unstable bridges that were so much fun to cross. Then it was lunch and a couple games of Uno. Then I went swimming with Ashlyn and Alison at the beach. What a laugh, it was more like rocks alongside a rushing river! It was still fun wading out as far as you dared against the fast-flowing current. I like the fact that they don't have all those signs saying "Stay out of the Water, Dangerous Current". Yeah, duh! That's why I want to get in. Anyway, then it was back to play more games, watch "Pan's Labyrinth" and then trying to compose a ghost story, where each person took turns citing the next twist in the gruesome plot. We were all so tired though, that it was pretty pathetic. Sunday was another beautiful day that resulted in another hike to the other waterfall, where both Scott and I got drenched this time. It was a blast!
This last weekend was our Spiritual Retreat. All the teachers went to Chulumani, which is a beautiful town about another hour past El Castillo down further into the South Yungas. The Lord blessed us with amazing weather and a 25 meter long pool with two diving boards! Yeah, I was ecstatic! I must warn you though, these diving boards were thin wooden planks that didn't have much spring and the high board was cemented into a platform. The tip of the high board was two feet short from the edge of the pool, so you had to jump out aways to insure you landed in the water. Still, I was able to do 1 and 1/2s off both boards and impress my director a little. :) We also had lots of fun playing "Keep Away" in the pool. I love dunking people. Yeah, I know I was a lifeguard, so what? Jason, the director, had flown out dear friends of his from the states to lead our four sessions talking about the exchanged life. In summary, talking about the transformed life we have when we allow Christ to live in and through us, instead of trying to master our sinful desires on our own. It was a good time to reflect in areas of my life where I struggle with letting God reign. For me it's not so much an arrogant thought that I can do it on my own, but a self-pitying withdrawal when I don't. It was good to put that temptation at the front of my mind and claim the truth that I am an heir to the Kingdom of God and that I was known and loved by the source of life and love before I was even born. A good weekend!

Alright, I think I have caught you all up on most everything that's been happening. There is one other thing that I have left out, but I'm not at liberty to share about it yet. Most likely in my next blog, I will be able to fill you in. I lead my second chapel this week for the 3-7 grades, so pray for wisdom and guidance as I seek the Lord for the best way to teach about another one of God's names, "The Unknown Name". It comes from when Paul is talking to the Greeks about the many statues of gods that they have and he talks about their pedestal they built for the "unknown god". Yeah, I tend to choose the abstract names of God, but hey, I like the challenge. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers for me and patience with me. God has been doing amazing things in the school and in my life. Pray that I continue to lean on Him who knows the prosperous plans for my life as I seek to serve Him here in La Paz.

A Month in Review

I once again find myself needing to apologize for my lack of blogging and keeping people updated. Yes, I am busy, but I still do have time to blog most weekends. Ok, so since I now only have a short amount of time to do this before I leave for school, I will do my best to give a quick overview.

The dodgeball tournament. My team got third, and the other teacher team from Highlands got first, but my team also beat the other teacher team once, which was a ton of fun.

The next weekend. I was gone all day Sunday with Jason (my director), James (science teacher), Scott (English teacher), and Randy (youth for christ leader and my Bolivian sister's boyfriend). We went for a 9 hour hike on the Zongo trail, which was amazingly, ruggedly breathtaking. I hiked up to 16,250 ft above sea level (the highest point I've ever been to.) It was a very difficult trail, but well worth it.

The following 3 day weekend. We didn't have school Friday, but I did not get any work done at all, because I went with the high school boy's trip on the Tequesi Trail. This trail may not have been as difficult as the Zongo trail, except for the fact that I had a huge heavy pack I had to carry for the whole trip. It was wonderful just getting to know many of the high school boys better. On the first day we made the hardest climb up to the highest point, only 15,500 ft this time. The highest point, a pass into the valley beyond, was amazing, because as you looked to the pass, you saw a cross. So, we set our eyes on the cross and made the climb. The first night was a little rough, as it poured rain as we were setting up camp in an amazing valley, where the moon seemed to shine extra bright. I did not sleep at all the first night and got up out of the tent dry heaving a few times. The first part of the hike the next day, I felt like I was walking in a trance, just putting one tennis-shoed foot in front of the other. The Inca trails were amazing, but it wasn't till I caught a quick nap at our stop around noon that I perked up a bit. We were going to set up camp at the place where we stopped, but the skies opened up again, and it was decided to continue on to an abandoned shelter another 2.5 hour hike further. Yeah, it downpoured almost the whole way there. It cleared up once we arrived and we got to set up our camps inside the shelter, so we had a nice dry place to sleep that night. By the way, we have climbed down from 15,500 ft above sea level and are now down to 7,500 ft. The next morning was a beautiful, warm flat walk to the town of Yanacachi, where we caught a bus back to La Paz.

Ok, I have to go, but a quick school update. I was observed by my director two weeks ago and talked with him about it at the beginning of last week. The ratings were above, at, below standard, and unsatisfactory. I was at standard for all the areas except for two, which he put me at above standard, so I guess I'm doing ok. I would appreciate your prayers for continued work on my lessons and on my diligence to blog. Also, the quarter ends this week and I will be having parent conferences next Friday. I still have to update you on what's been going on in school and the past two weekends. I will try and do that sometime this week. I promise.

I love you all and thanks for all of you who have been on my case to update. I really do appreciate it and will do my best to get better.

Labor Day, Ain't That the Truth

Fried
My brain is a little fried, so I'm not quite too sure where to start. Today was our first half day. Now some of you might be thinking, "Lucky", but that only rings true for the students. (Besides, you all got Labor Day off, while we actually labored.) Sure, I don't have to plan things for the second half of the day, but the rest of the day is spent in meetings. I only had two meetings today, but back to back they lasted around four hours. The first one, the three hour long one, was spent discussing philosophy, scope and sequence, unit plans, etc... for Language Arts K-12. Yep, we're starting with the big one. For accreditation we are focusing on developing curriculum guides and aligning them K-12 in each subject area. This semester the focus is on Language Arts and Bible. The elementary teachers (yeah, that includes me) looked over two different Bible curriculums, Desiring God and Positive Action, and voted to adopt/buy the Desiring God curriculums, minus the workbooks. Both curriculums had pros and cons, but I'm excited to use a curriculum I have already worked with and start adapting the lessons so they can stretch over a three day period.
Anyways, I am definitely feeling overwhelmed and unfit for the task ahead, but I also know the devil and his lies. Please pray that I would seek help and dive head long into this project ahead and not find alternate escape methods. I also just graded my class' first social studies test last night and while there are about a third in the A and B range, there are many that struggled, especially the english language learners. I am still trying to develop strategies to help them understand the content that's being taught. Math tests are coming up for 4th grade tomorrow and 3rd grade on Friday, so pray that my students would retain the knowledge they have hopefully gained from my teaching. Alright, enough about school, I just had to vent a little I think.
Coroico
Yeah, this wasn't last weekend, but the one before. It was beautiful! The sun didn't come out as much as we all hoped, but it didn't matter. Stronger bonds among the teachers were definitely formed. Here are some highlights:
1. Playing scum or P&A (yeah, nobody had heard of this name for the card game, so I got labeled as the rebellious one) the first night until 1 in the morning. Hey, that's late for me now. I tend to go to bed somewhere between 8:30 and 10 every school night.
2. Beginning a hike, called the Flat Trail, and having everybody except Deborah bail on it, because a. it wasn't flat , b. we kept taking wrong turns and weren't sure of the trail, and c. the others wanted to get back for lunch and the pool at the Hotel Esmerelda (the name fits well into the Eagles song). Deborah, who loves to rock climb and mountain bike and has taught for the past five years in China, and I had a great time conquering the "Not So Flat Trail" together, enjoying the amazing views of the mountainous jungle valleys, and chatting about eachother's past and our views about things. For example, she asked me if I had my eye on any of the single female teacher's my age. My response? People who know me well enough should know my answer. "I'm content being single. I'm not opposed to a relationship, but I'm not seeking one. As of right now, my eye is on having a great first year of teaching." She appreciated the response and proceeded to open up to me how it was for her to stay single. I'll leave her pearls of wisdom with me.
3. The pool. I finally got to swim a little and show off. :) You know, like my handstand trick to get out of the pool, turn and fall back in. I also enjoyed convincing Ashlyn, Whitney, and Kristen that I would not play "Open Book" unless they jumped in the pool. You all know me, I would have played regardless, but they didn't know and therefore jumped.
4. Bonding with the other teachers over games of "Open Book" and the Spelling Game (as I will call it). "Open Book" was all about answering truthfully any hard-hitting questions someone had to ask you. Each person had their turn in the hot seat. We got to know eachother pretty well.
There's the highlights. It was very relaxing. I didn't do any school work, a much needed break. Of course, I just had a ton to do when I got back. :)

Last Weekend
Friday night was spent watching the Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum (great movies) at Kristen, Ashlyn, and Whitney's place with Scott and Alison. I got home at 2 and then got up at 9, so I could go for my run with Jason, our principal. He ran a marathon before coming to Bolivia last year, but he didn't run much last year, so after our run, he wasn't in that much better shape than I was. Our plan is to start off running twice a week (it's probably more like jogging for right now :) ) So our next day to run is tomorrow after school. It's a good stress reliever and fog clearer. The rest of the day was spent talking with the family and doing some planning, topping it off with a night of Bamboozle, spoons, golf, and euchre. Yeah, the last three are kinds of card games. Euchre was by far my favorite, mainly because Alison and I won. Sunday was spent like this: After church and lunch at a Beatles themed chicken wings place, many of the teachers went up to school to help Kristen and Ashlyn put their rooms back in order after getting their new flooring in their rooms. I was due to get my floor done next weekend. Lo and behold, we get to school and Ashlyn's room is done, but Kristen's concrete floor was apparently not set enough to lay down the new floor, so the workers had taken out all my desks and bookshelves and done my floor. They'll apparently do Kristen's next week. So I had lots of fun putting everything back not only into their rooms, but mine as well.
After our laboring we went part way back home to a good climbing rock that Jason and I had found during our run. Deborah had brought her climbing gear and many of us, including me, got a chance to rock climb. The route that was set was around a level 7 (European standard), or 10 (American standard). Deborah climbed up and she said it was one of the toughest climbs she had ever done, and guess who got to go up next? Yeah, my first time ever on a very, very difficulty level of climbing. I made it to the third clip which was about as high as eveyone else got that went after me. But I had lots of fun and can't wait to climb again. My forearms were killing me. I came down and couldn't open up my hands for awhile since they had locked in the grab position.

Yeah, I know. My update is long. I am trying to find adequate time to get work done, teach, do the fun things, and fill in everybody on how all that is going. A quick blurb about my family. Yeah, they're still awesome. Alberto, Charo is in the U.S. with her oldest daughter who just had triplets, still continues to get up when I do at 5 in the morning and get breakfast ready. I have even had the opportunity to babysit Daniel, Kindergarten at Highlands, and help him out with his homework. He learned that tijeras are called scissors, and vice versa for me. My Spanish recognition is improving, but my responses are coming along much slower. Spanish lessons are helping, but I'm still not close to being conversational, although I understand much more just due to daily routines.

Plans for next weekend
As far as I know, my stay home sister's boyfriend works for Youth for Christ and is organizing a Bolivian dodgeball tournament for this weekend. Many of the high schoolers and teachers from Highlands will be participating including myself. It should be a blast. Other than another run with Jason and a Skype conversation sometime on Saturday with anyone who is on, that's about all I know.

I hope y'all (Whitney and John are rubbing off on me a little) are doing well back home. I miss you all, but at the same time am not anxious to go back yet. Teaching may be tough, but I love my kids and Bolivia and am not ready to leave yet, not even close.

Dios le bendiga todos. Ciao.