Stacy and Tom in South America!

So, the first part of the trip has been quite draining, but Stacy and I are looking forward to an amazing day today.

What has happened so far...

1. We took of early Monday morning from Minneapolis and arrived in Miami and had plenty of time, 11 hours in fact, to sit there until we took the plane from Miami to La Paz, Bolivia. We then frantically went through a series of hoops to make sure we got on the next flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. My friend, Randy, was late to pick up the baggage, but I put it in storage so that all worked out, and Stacy and I were probably the last two to board the flight to Santa Cruz. Stacy had a chance to meet Sarah, third grade teacher at Highlands, and her friend Jen on the flight to Santa Cruz. I was pumped coming back to good ol´ familiar La Paz airport and seeing a familiar Highlands face and getting to introduce her to Stacy. I am already excited for when Stacy and I get to spend a couple days in La Paz at the end of the trip.

2. In Santa Cruz we had a discrepancy on the airline we should stand in line for to check in. Our tickets were issued through AeroSur, which is the airline we flew from La Paz to Santa Cruz, but our flight to Buenos Aires, through Asuncion, Paraguay, was to be through another airline, TAM Mercosur. Luckily, we had plenty of time to sort it out, since our flight didn´t leave until 3:00 or so. So, to make delays pass quicker, we finally made it to Buenos Aires, Argentina at around 8:45. We had planned to meet Sarah, her friend, and Isaac, highschool math teacher, for dinner at a real nice steak restraunt. Well, by the time our 32 US dollar taxi ride came to the restraunt, we had missed them. So, Stacy and I found a nearby, not quite as packed out restraunt to eat at and just not think about airports for awhile. We then proceeded to take another taxi, a little more pricy than the last, back to the Buenos Aires airport where we each got a little cat nap before checking in for our flight early on Wednesday morning to Ushuaia. After a brief stop in El Calafate, we arrived in Ushuaia at about 2:00 in the afternoon. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon finding a hostel, working on plans for the rest of our stay, and doing some exploring.

3. I will talk about what we will be doing in a little bit, but here´s a little about our stay so far in Ushuaia. Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world, from where you can take a boat down to Antartica if you so wish. Stacy and I don´t have time, so we won´t be doing that. The temperatures are not too bad, think a cool, Spring day in Minnesota. We are surrounded by snowcapped mountains, lakes that connect to the ocean, and lots of green forests. It´s breatakingly beautiful. Ushuaia is situated on the vast island of Tierra del Fuego.
Argentinos speak Spanish, but most of the time I can´t understand what they are saying, because it is spoken so fast and with more of an Italian lilt to it. But we have been able to get by alright. We spent the rest of Wednesday looking for a bus to Puntas Arenas in Chile. We finally found one at a reasonable price and will be boarding a bus tomorrow, the 2nd, (sorry, I have now begun updating you a couple days past from when I was originally updating), so that we will be there when our flight takes off the morning of the 3rd for Puerto Montt. Anyway, after contracting the bus we grabbed some burgers for dinner and went back to the hostel for a much needed night´s sleep.

4. Thursday- We got up around 10 and lazed around until 11 something. We then contracted a bus for 12 that would take us to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and bought some snacks. Of the four hikes they suggested, Stacy and I chose the hardest, naturally. :) We would have made it all the way, except for the nearly impassable mud that continuously blocked our way from climbing any higher. It was still a beautiful climb that made Stacy and I think of the Pacific Northwest woodlands. When we arrived back at the hostel, preparations were being made for the New Year´s Eve bash, which Stacy and I did not want to participate in. So we stayed in our room and slept for most of the time. We didn´t even get up the next day until 11. Sleeping in has been nice. It is sort of wierd though, since the sun doesn´t really set until 10 or later and rises just before 4.

5. Today- Happy New Year´s! Today was a pretty lax day. For a tourist town, Ushuaia was pretty dead today. Not much open at all. We did take a 3:30 boat tour and saw sea lions and many other different types of birds, but unfortunately no penguins. We are now back at the hostel. Stacy has our hostel reservations set for tomorrow night in Puntas Arenas, and we are looking forward to moving on to something new, as exciting as Ushuaia has been.

Thanks to anyone keeping up. I´ll probably have Stacy write the next post, but please respond with any questions you might have or comments. We would love to hear from you. Chau!!

La Paz Long Term?

Nearly three months later in my third year at Highlands, and yes, I do have some things to share. Thanks to those who kept reminding me to update, it's a skill I've always been poor at, but still want to improve on.

School- I've had a great time with my class this year! They just finished their reading unit on biographies/autobiographies and our celebration was a wax museum. They had picked a teacher/staff member at the school to interview. They then used the information they received to write an autobiography as if they were that teacher. They came dressed up two Fridays ago as that teacher and parents, teachers, and students came to walk around and learn more about the lives of the growing staff at HIS. :)

Mr. Cunningham and his mini-me!

In October, we had parent-teacher conferences which went well. I continue to enjoy getting feedback from the parents, whether it's how much their child is enjoying fourth grade or how they can help their child do better. I have some very competitive boys in my class this year again, and according to their parents, they think I'm just amazing. And all I really had to do was climb the flagpole to get the flag unstuck. I love how easy it is to impress fourth graders! :) My girls maybe aren't quite as easily impressed with physical feats, but they do enjoy joking around with me. :) With only four girls in my class last year, I didn't have to deal with their drama, but with nine this year, I do. I feel like while they are still connected in some way, shape, or form, they tend to have new better friends one day and others another day. Oh well, I still don't understand the opposite sex, maybe one of these days. :)

Team day is coming up this Wednesday. I have coordinated all the teams and am in charge of the dodgeball/snowball fight station. They'll be throwing styrofoam balls at each other, it'll be hilarious. Our theme this team day is the Winter Olympics, so even though it's summer here in Bolivia and no snow, we'll be improvising a lot to make it work.

Relationships - My roommate Sheldon is in the campo (country-Altiplano) most of the time. I wish I saw him more often, and he says that things should slow down after Christmas, so I'm excited to be seeing him more at that time. He is definitely my closest friend here in La Paz and it's been such a blessing to shoot the breeze with him and discuss our personal lives together without hesitation. I'll be missing him a lot next year.

There is another very special someone that I wish I could tell you all more about. But there are some students who read this blog if you get my drift. She is truly amazing though. Conversation is open and honest. I don't have to guess around too much with her, but that's not to say that there's no mystery to make it exciting. Her faith is truly evident in everything she does and she becomes more beautiful to my eyes each and every time we spend together. I'd love to tell you more, but you'll just have to e-mail me at bjorlie@gmail.com or skype me.

The new teachers are great! They have really stepped up to the plate and are building strong relationships with the students. The middle school just took a trip to the School for the Blind and had a powerful experience there with the students. The 8th grade backpacking class is right now doing the Taquesi Trail, which I did a few weeks back. My quads were killing me for two days afterwards, and I've been running! So, yeah, you can be praying for them. :) Some of my students' favorite specials are music and art, which have new hires in charge. God has really blessed Highlands with an amazing staff this year!

Excursions - My weekends have been pretty busy since I wrote you all last in September. I have been driving more and more and not just in La Paz. It took me a little while to be comfortable driving a Land Cruiser, but it has quickly become my vehicle of choice if I ever buy a vehicle down here. There have been two long trips I've had the opportunity to drive on.

1. Lake Titicaca- One of the new teachers had a connection with someone who owned a nice home on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It was a very relaxing time of playing games, hiking around, and driving to places that we never got to see. :) We tried to going to Copacabana, but after having crossed over on the ferry, which was awesome driving the Land Cruiser on to, we were stopped by the police and told we had to turn around and go back because none of us had our passports. Somewhat frustrating, but the ferry was the awesome part for me!

2. Sorata- We had our staff retreat about four weekends ago in Sorata. It was definitely a time of spiritual rejuvenation, but it was physically exhausting. I went on a nine mile or so run with a couple teachers in the morning. The scenery was beautiful, but my legs didn't really care about the scenery afterwards. :) Both of these drives were without incident except for almost running out of gas, but God provided an extra little bit in the bottom of the tank to get us to the next open gas station. There aren't many in the altiplano. Although, one of the other vehicles hit a cow, it's easier to do than you might think, and had to deal with how to pay the cost of that. Luckily the vehicle itself was still intact.

The weekend after Sorata was the Taquesi hike, which was amazing, not only because of the great weather and beautiful scenery, but because of all the "open and honest" conversation that occured. ;)

The weekend after that was spent with my roommate Sheldon in the campo, and also with Amber, one of the Samaritan Purse interns. It was my chance to see if Samaritan Purse was a ministry opportunity that I would like to pursue. It was also Sheldon's birthday over the weekend. So we packed a bunch of stuff for tacos and also the birthday cake. We took off early Satruday morning, installed about five pumps, ate a delicious taco dinner, played some awesome games of cribbage, where I dominated all but one game :) , went to bed, got up and installed five more wells, and then got back to La Paz late Sunday night. Needless to say, I was behind on grading, planning, and everything else after these three weekends in a row, and I had to turn out progress reports the very next week. Yeah, it's been busy! And yet, each of those weekends was very special and I wouldn't trade any of them for the perfect lesson.

Some Happy Customers!

The weekend after the Samaritan's Purse one, last weekend, was spent here in La Paz and I finally got a little caught up on work, but it was still busy. Saturday was spent paintballing in the morning with some high school teachers and students. I know now why I never hunted or signed up for the army. I had no strategy and couldn't hit a darn thing. After that, I went to help out the IBM (Iglesia Biblica de Mallasilla) with their Olympics themed outreach to the kids of Mallasilla. It was a joy to be able to help and to see the faces of the kids light up with all the activities they could participate in. I even had to really work my Spanish by giving all the instructions for my station in my non-native tongue. I then got up really early Sunday morning and participated in a 10 kilometer run at 13,000 ft above sea level. I ran it in just under 46:00, which is a personal best for me. For some reason I run better at high altitude than in flat ol' Des Moines, Iowa. :) I almost didn't do it, but I had that special someone convincing me that I should, and I just couldn't say no. :) I went to church after the run, and after having missed the past three weekends, it was just good to reconnect with everyone. I even made some delicious apple crisp for the potluck lunch after the service. Not bed, eh?

Fierce Competitors! Ha!

Finally, this weekend has been the most relaxing in awhile. I did a bunch of laundry, it was piling up, and cleaned up the house. The thing that motivated me to do all this was of course date night. We made spaghetti, had a couple glasses of wine, went for a walk up the hill to the cross that looks over Mallasilla, and finished it with a movie I haven't seen in forever "Independence Day". It truly was a wonderful night! After church today, the staff will be getting together for an early Thanksgiving dinner. I will be bringing my appetite!

Future - I will be staying on with Highlands for one more year after this one is finished. During the course of the rest of this year and the next, I will be focusing on different ministry opportunities here in La Paz. I feel the Lord's calling here in this place, but I'm still not sure where that calling is, but I do feel that it's not Highlands, as much as the school is very special to me. I will probably still be doing subbing there even. This is definitely something that I would appreciate all your prayers on as I search for where He wants me serving Him. The church I attend was started through SIM missions, and the man who helped start it, Greg Hurst, also helped to start Highlands. He has asked me on more than one occasion if I would be interested in helping lead the Children's Ministries Dept. This option is definitely at the top of my list, but there are others, such as working with my Bolivian sister and her husband, and very dear friend, with their Shoeshiner's ministry called Kayuparu. There's even Word Made Flesh and Samaritan's Purse. So please pray that the Lord would make clear the direction He's leading me and also to make the decision if it would be wise to attend seminary before doing so or not.

In the more near future, another thing you can be praying for is a place to stay for Sheldon and I during second semester. We have been living in a missionary family's apartment while they are on furlough in the States. They will be returning in early January, so pray that Sheldon and I would be able to find an apartment within this next month.

Also, I'm really excited about this Christmas break for two reasons. 1. I get to come home and spend it with my family. It will also be a white Christmas unlike last year's. 2. I'll be returning early to South America with Stacy, my sister, to travel the length of Chile and end it with her having the opportunity to see where I work and live each day. I'm really looking forward to spending this quality time with her too. :)

I think that about wraps up my update. My next one will be over Christmas break. My family will help make sure that happens. Stacy and I may use this blog too as we travel throughout South America. We'll just have to change the name to Bjorlies in Bolivia. :) Thanks all again for your continued patience and support whether in prayer, finances, or both. I thank the Lord for such amazing friends and family that can put up with my weaknesses in communication. I will work on improving in this area. Take care and God bless!

The Prodigal Returns

How to restart a blog after almost a year later? Well, I'm not sure it can actually be done successfully, but I'm going to give it a shot. Let me catch you up to where I am now. Ok,

1. After much hard work, including: writing curriculum guides, filling out a self study on our entire school, writing a six page paper on my philosophy of Christian Education; Highlands International School was accredited by SACS (Southern Area Colleges and Schools) and ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International). This is a milestone marker in the short life of our school and puts us at par with the other international schools in the area in terms of the quality of education we offer.

2. Many teachers left HIS (Highlands International School) which made my second year a tough one as I had to say goodbye to very close friends. Many of the teachers that left were in leadership positions:

Jason - director

Fishers: Tom - ESL, Music, fellow Games Club leader; Anne -Elementary Principal

Deborah: Middle School Lead

John: Interim High School Principal, Chaplain, Guidance Counselor, etc...

James: High School Science & Accreditation Committee Chair

Scarboroughs: Tim - Backpacking/Middle School SS Whitney - Middle School LA

As you can see, probably half of our experienced staff left for obligations elsewhere. So, not only were there many positions to fill, but it required the remaining staff, mainly elementary to step up and be leaders for the new arriving staff.

3. This summer was a time of relaxation, reading, painting the outside of the Bjorlie house, Sonshine Music Festival, and quality time spent with friends in the Twin Cities. At many points though, I saw it as an unhealthy escape from the community of HIS and La Paz. Their memories had become bittersweet, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be ready to go back with things changing so much. At the same time, after having spent 10 1/2 months straight in Bolivia, it was more home than the U.S. was. So, much of the summer had the feeling of being caught in limbo. Yet, when the time came July 28th to return to La Paz, I couldn't wait to get on the plane.

4. New Staff: It would take me quite awhile to list all the new staff and how amazing they all are, but I will give you the basic breakdown. The only foreign returning staff members were singles, yes that includes me. :) Except for the new director, Scott, his wife Tammy (Science), and their three children, all the new staff members are also 20 something singles (2 guys, 7 gals). Now those that know me well know that I am always keeping my eyes open for the woman He has for me, and you may think I might be excited about this prospect, but instead I ask for your prayers for two reasons.

a. I've tried dating in the HIS atmosphere. It's not easy, and the after effects can be very painful. I'm not exactly eager to re-attempt even if there was somebody.

b. I miss the family influence. My closest friends were the Fishers. I loved going over to their place to play games, eat dinner, play with their daughter Avery, or whatever. Suffice to say, I'm tired of most aspects of the single lifestyle and am ready to woo whomever the Lord may choose. You can also pray that I would be content no matter what my marital status may be. :)

5. New Class and Old Class: It really is the best of both. I am teaching all subjects to my new fourth grade students, except for science. The fifth grade teacher does that, while I teach Social Studies to my fourth grade students from last year. It's such a blessing to be able to be their teacher for a third year in a row. There're definitely strong ties with that class. My new class is amazing too! I would say they are more mature than my previous class, and so far, are easier to manage, or maybe that's just my two years of experience beginning to pay off. I love having a class that is getting to know me as I am getting to know them. I love the mysteries that leads to new discoveries about each other in a safe and caring environment.

6. Tomorrow marks the end of our third week of the new school year. Each day that passes brings me closer to another very difficult decision. At this time, I have no idea if I will decide to stay another year or if this is my last. It's easier to see myself staying, mainly because I'm not sure what I would do if I left. I have thought about Seminary as a possibility, maybe going into Children's Ministries, but then probably going right back out, maybe with a Missions Organization like SIM or some other, but probably to a Latin American country. So, I would love your prayers regarding this decision.

7. I am writing this update as I sit alone at the apartment that Sheldon (Samaritan's Purse, and great friend) and I are staying at until it's owners, missionaries on furlough, return in January. It's a great place and close to school, but that means that it's also pretty out of the way when it comes to hanging out with other teachers. Sheldon is usually out in the campo helping oversee different well projects during the week. Pray for me that I would not only stay connected while living out of the way, but that I would rest in the Lord's strength when idle time meets alone time and not succumb to the temptations the devil is sure to lay in my path.

I think this should catch you up for the most part as to what my life has been like and what it's like right now. I really appreciate your prayers for the things mentioned above. My plan is to write updates at the end of each month. So, if you don't see one by the time October starts, then please bug me until I write. :) Connecting is going to be extremely important for me this semester, so please respond in anyway you see fit. I hope this update finds each reader well and blessed. Thanks again!

Bjorlie