Spring Break madness Part1

Hello Spring Break and hello again blog world. It has been far too long. I am officially on Spring Break, technically on day 5 actually. And as I am sitting here writing this it is pouring down some hard core rain. It kind of seems like a sick joke, this rainy season that never seems to end. The weather has really taken a turn for the worst since yesterday and it's a depressing site, buttt despite it and all the craziness and roadblocks I'm trying to stay resilient and positive through it all. In reality, I am really just thankful for this time to chilllll out and just be still, it is much needed and even if things aren't going exactly as planned, it's still a blessing of a time and it's already been sweet. Here are some highlights thus far:

Pablo's Birthday Extravaganza 

Birthday smile! 

Pablo is one of my most favorite people on this island. He live in French Harbor and was one of the first friends we made. He turned 16! (so crazy!!!) on Friday, so we threw him a whole day celebration. Sarah and I took him and 3 other boys to West Bay, which was an adventure in itself.

ice cream pit stop

Trying to hitch hike with those crazy boys was a trek, but we made it and spent the day hanging out at the beach and playing in the water. Sarah and I felt like moms the whole day watching over our little kids, it was grand.

beach fun

such a stud

After the beach we went back to our apartment and had a huge extravagant dinner for all the boys. Ingrid and Caleb were back at the place with 2 other French Harbor boys getting all the goods ready. We made lasagna, rice, beans, chicken, and a double decker cake for them. It was tons of fun. We celebrated Jarvi's birthday also because his is in August and we won't be here then. He ate it all up as if it really was his birthday. Love those boys so much.

singing Happy Birthday

yay for cake

"take a picture of me with my cake" - Jarvi

Scuba Diving Galore: 
I've been so lucky to have been able to go on 4 dives within the last week (that's a record for us haha)! There's something about being in the water that just feeds my soul. Gratitude, love, peace, joy so many pure emotions pour out of me after being in the water. Everything in me wants to get back in at every moment. It has been such a blessing and incredible experience to have here on this beautiful little island. The reef here and the underwater world minutes away from the shore is seriously out of this world.

Jeep Fun and learning to drive stick shift
We were super duper blessed by one of our student's parents this past week. They have an old jeep that wasn't being used and they let us borrow it for the week to drive ourselves around. The only downside is that it's stick shift and well only 1 of us girls knows how to drive stick and she is currently traveling around central america. Luckily Caleb is visiting and can drive stick and we've been getting full use of the car. Caleb gave Ingrid and I  a little driving stick shift lesson last night in the mall parking lot and it was a blast! We were pretty good, just going to take a little bit of getting used to, but I'm convinced we'll be driving stick shift like pros by the end of my time here, heck to the yeah!



Now we're off to try and find a hiking trail and adventure around the island (weather permitting, the rain has stopped, thankfully). I'll try to write a part 2 soon of what we do the second half of our break. For now, thankful and breathing in gratitude and joy. love love love.

French Harbor Love

Jarvi and Pablo

Courtlin with some of the younger kids

Photobooth Craziness: 

working it

pig faces

precious

family picture

love.

These are some more of the kids we tutor in French Harbor twice a week. I am in love with them. We had a really good session today, lots of love, laughs, and learning. They are the sweetest kids, my heart is so full after spending time with them. Just so much love!!

Tutoring in French Harbor

In the past years the teachers have tutored/taught English to the local kids in French Harbor. They did it through a local church and I'm not sure exactly how it would work but they would go I think about twice a week,  teach English, help with homework and just spend time with the local kids. It hasn't been going on lately because no one has been able to do it, but with the new teachers here (us), we've been asked a few time by different people if we were going to do it again this year. Ingrid, Sarah, and I have been really wanting to do it, and after talking to various people and getting it all set up, we started today! We're teaming up with Intensive Heart Ventures (Joseph Natale) and hopefully using their curriculum to teach the kids.

So, today was our first day and it was an adventure! It was just Ingrid and I because Sarah went back to the states for a week and Courtlin (the project manager for IHV and our new friend) had car issues, but it was all good. We walked over from school with Jarvi and Pablo, the 2 local boys we're friends with. We sent out Pablo to go get some of the kids to join us. So he brought 3 girls and we hung out with them for a little bit. After a bit we decided that they should take us on a tour of the French Harbor community. So we walked around and they pointed out all the different places and people to us. French Harbor is really interesting and I'm still not sure exactly how it works but from my current understanding it's split up into 2 main areas: The Point (La Punta) and The Hill (La Loma). Today, we walked around The Point. Many of the houses in the area are in poor condition and are basically wooden shacks on stilts, but some of the houses sit right on the water and it's quite beautiful. It was such a stunning day, the clouds were looking so cool, and the sun was starting to set, creating an incredible orange, pinkish tint to the sky. It was so much fun to be able to enjoy it with the kids and as we were walking we gathered more and more children, which was great. Hopefully, we'll be able to explore the other side on Wednesday.

After our tour we headed back to the church and at that point had gathered about 15 kids ranging from age 5 to 15. We attempted to play soccer/futbol, but it started to get dark and we were on gravel and it was just starting to get ugly, so we went back inside and tried to give a mini lesson on English. I worked with some of the younger kids and Ingrid worked with the older kids. I mainly went over the alphabet and had them write their names. They are some of the sweetest kids. They were already telling me they love me and were giving me lots of hugs and kisses as we were leaving. I'm so excited to get to know them and love on them.

Here's a couple pics we took on my computer with just a small handful of the kids:

Love. They were getting such a kick out of taking the pictures, I had to close my computer because it was starting to get vicious as they all started piling on top of each other and pushing to get in the picture. Hopefully, I can get some more next time, but in a more orderly/safe manner. Feeling real blessed and full. Please pray for these kids and for us as we begin this new adventure. Love to you all!