Monday, September 22, 2008
PLARN-ed!
i saw an advertisement for a craft bazaar and - even though i may be the only blonde - i think i am going to do it. at least, i am going to attempt to make enough plarn purses/bags, etc... :) we shall see. and if my laptop ever works again (:-/) I can post pictures? :) I have a little over a month. unless i do the one in December. :0D yey.
PLARN-ed!
i saw an advertisement for a craft bazaar and - even though i may be the only blonde - i think i am going to do it. at least, i am going to attempt to make enough plarn purses/bags, etc... :) we shall see. and if my laptop ever works again (:-/) I can post pictures? :) I have a little over a month. unless i do the one in December. :0D yey.
necesito ayuda. I need your assistance, please?! :)
Sooooo...
Our "fall break" is from the 13th to the 17th of October and I really want to maybe go visit my Michiganders, but... I might not have a paycheck yet to get a plane ticket. and I'd need at least $450 to get a ticket and gas to drive to an airport...
but I have a week off!!! So hmm... i've been scouring cheaptickets and all that, and anyone who feels like helping me find a good ticket so in case I DO have money then I can visit,....
I'm living in Sanders, AZ, so:
Flagstaff, AZ is 143 miles away,
Albuquerque, NM is 180 miles away,
Phoenix is like 4 hours away,...
Yeah.
and Farmington, NM is like $763 for their flight... sick.
I'd like to leave probably Saturday the 11th of Oak-tu-bray (october) and get back to AZ onthe 18th or 19th so I can be back in time for school again. (meh.)
ANY help would be .... well, ama-zing. !
Our "fall break" is from the 13th to the 17th of October and I really want to maybe go visit my Michiganders, but... I might not have a paycheck yet to get a plane ticket. and I'd need at least $450 to get a ticket and gas to drive to an airport...
but I have a week off!!! So hmm... i've been scouring cheaptickets and all that, and anyone who feels like helping me find a good ticket so in case I DO have money then I can visit,....
I'm living in Sanders, AZ, so:
Flagstaff, AZ is 143 miles away,
Albuquerque, NM is 180 miles away,
Phoenix is like 4 hours away,...
Yeah.
and Farmington, NM is like $763 for their flight... sick.
I'd like to leave probably Saturday the 11th of Oak-tu-bray (october) and get back to AZ onthe 18th or 19th so I can be back in time for school again. (meh.)
ANY help would be .... well, ama-zing. !
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
semana dos. . .
Week two:
Well, this week was slightly productive. :)
I say slightly because that's how it feels right now, after grading almost everyone's quizzes on animal vocabulary... But more on that later.
My computer has decided that its internal fans need to stop working. I'm not sure if this is from the dust of the badlands that collected in my backpack on my several hikes, or just because it's in the mood to die, but I haven't been able to use it in the past few days at all - even the fan-pad thing I bought to put under it to alleviate the heat it produces wasn't working. :( so no FB or gmail for me, unless I go to the library. And I was rather hoping to do some lesson planning at home... Especially since we don't have books yet, and I have no no no no no nooo idea how to go about choosing a Spanish textbook.
So I got to have my first "parent teacher" conferences... About 20 people came to see me altogether over the two evenings that conferences were held. Most of them were mothers or grandmothers.... Many of these kids don't have fathers in the picture. :( But it was good to be able to put faces to names that belong to them. I am still trying to know everyone's names; seating charts help :) a LOt. As does those people who actually turn in their homework...
Homework. *Shudder*. So last week I assigned everyone the daunting task of
1) Making vocabulary cards of the Animal List that I handed out, and
2) Making a travel brochure of a Spanish=speaking country or a city in that country.
and then on the due dates for the notecards, a very sparse handful showed me that they were done.
and for the brochures? That I was hoping to have decorating the walls on my "clothesline" for P/T conferences? ??? Yeah,... I received 5. Out of 102 or so students, I received 5 brochures on the day taht they were due. MEH. So I've been trying to be lenient and let them work onthem a little bit in class, but the points are going down... and Monday they are only going to be 10 points (out of the 20) maximum, barring neatness, creativity, etc...
We also went -albeit briefly - over a list of clothing vocabulary words. And a very, very basic run-through of the verb "llevar," to wear. I assigned a few of the classes 5 sentences stating what they wear... It's so hard for me to be patient with them right now, especially when they don't turn things in as a vast majority, and hard for me to be patient with myself, because I want to teach them everything at once, ..... and I need to find a better few websites than the (slightly) British ones to supply my vocabulary words. And I have no money to buy books... So I am using the few Spanish books I found at Goodwill (YEY!!) and a few that I found in the classroom, and trying to piece together something semi-understandable for my Spanish 1 kids, and my one spanish2 class (that is basically Spanish 1 level, unfortunately).
So right now it's kinda a day-to-day lesson plan experience. Maybe I can actually set up a whole week in advance this weekend, since I haven't gotten a paycheck yet,...
We are going to work on pronouns and maybe even get to start on conjugating -AR verbs...
and then practicing the verb llevar (to wear) and maybe a few more.... And maybe have them go shopping... for clothes. And practice their numbers at the same time.
Hmmm ideas. :)
Right now we are watching a movie on the Corazon de EspaƱa. Madrid, Sevilla, etc... I want to go back now. wahhhh. lol. I want to take these kids to another country, but I'm not sure if that would even be possible monetary-wise, because they're in high school, and so many of them don't actually have a lot of money.
So if I can find a reallly inexpensive group trip type things I want to look into that for maybe this summer or maybe spring break... I want these kids to have so much more than they do already, and how much more cool would it be to visit a place like Mexico, which is just south of us.... ???
Pray for me that I can have wisdom with what to do. :)
and that I will be patient with myself. :) and consistent with the chillerns here.
and for my walk to be consistent.
I have one more class' worth of quizzes to put into the computer, and then a few to finish grading, and then I am going to look for things relating to clothing stores online... :)
If any of you have school supplies - notecards/3x5 cards, colored pencils, glue, markers, scissor(!), or any old magazines/catalogues that you don't want, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to take them off your hands.
PO Box 1114
Sanders, AZ 86512
;)
Muchas gracias!!
~Amanda
Well, this week was slightly productive. :)
I say slightly because that's how it feels right now, after grading almost everyone's quizzes on animal vocabulary... But more on that later.
My computer has decided that its internal fans need to stop working. I'm not sure if this is from the dust of the badlands that collected in my backpack on my several hikes, or just because it's in the mood to die, but I haven't been able to use it in the past few days at all - even the fan-pad thing I bought to put under it to alleviate the heat it produces wasn't working. :( so no FB or gmail for me, unless I go to the library. And I was rather hoping to do some lesson planning at home... Especially since we don't have books yet, and I have no no no no no nooo idea how to go about choosing a Spanish textbook.
So I got to have my first "parent teacher" conferences... About 20 people came to see me altogether over the two evenings that conferences were held. Most of them were mothers or grandmothers.... Many of these kids don't have fathers in the picture. :( But it was good to be able to put faces to names that belong to them. I am still trying to know everyone's names; seating charts help :) a LOt. As does those people who actually turn in their homework...
Homework. *Shudder*. So last week I assigned everyone the daunting task of
1) Making vocabulary cards of the Animal List that I handed out, and
2) Making a travel brochure of a Spanish=speaking country or a city in that country.
and then on the due dates for the notecards, a very sparse handful showed me that they were done.
and for the brochures? That I was hoping to have decorating the walls on my "clothesline" for P/T conferences? ??? Yeah,... I received 5. Out of 102 or so students, I received 5 brochures on the day taht they were due. MEH. So I've been trying to be lenient and let them work onthem a little bit in class, but the points are going down... and Monday they are only going to be 10 points (out of the 20) maximum, barring neatness, creativity, etc...
We also went -albeit briefly - over a list of clothing vocabulary words. And a very, very basic run-through of the verb "llevar," to wear. I assigned a few of the classes 5 sentences stating what they wear... It's so hard for me to be patient with them right now, especially when they don't turn things in as a vast majority, and hard for me to be patient with myself, because I want to teach them everything at once, ..... and I need to find a better few websites than the (slightly) British ones to supply my vocabulary words. And I have no money to buy books... So I am using the few Spanish books I found at Goodwill (YEY!!) and a few that I found in the classroom, and trying to piece together something semi-understandable for my Spanish 1 kids, and my one spanish2 class (that is basically Spanish 1 level, unfortunately).
So right now it's kinda a day-to-day lesson plan experience. Maybe I can actually set up a whole week in advance this weekend, since I haven't gotten a paycheck yet,...
We are going to work on pronouns and maybe even get to start on conjugating -AR verbs...
and then practicing the verb llevar (to wear) and maybe a few more.... And maybe have them go shopping... for clothes. And practice their numbers at the same time.
Hmmm ideas. :)
Right now we are watching a movie on the Corazon de EspaƱa. Madrid, Sevilla, etc... I want to go back now. wahhhh. lol. I want to take these kids to another country, but I'm not sure if that would even be possible monetary-wise, because they're in high school, and so many of them don't actually have a lot of money.
So if I can find a reallly inexpensive group trip type things I want to look into that for maybe this summer or maybe spring break... I want these kids to have so much more than they do already, and how much more cool would it be to visit a place like Mexico, which is just south of us.... ???
Pray for me that I can have wisdom with what to do. :)
and that I will be patient with myself. :) and consistent with the chillerns here.
and for my walk to be consistent.
I have one more class' worth of quizzes to put into the computer, and then a few to finish grading, and then I am going to look for things relating to clothing stores online... :)
If any of you have school supplies - notecards/3x5 cards, colored pencils, glue, markers, scissor(!), or any old magazines/catalogues that you don't want, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to take them off your hands.
PO Box 1114
Sanders, AZ 86512
;)
Muchas gracias!!
~Amanda
Friday, September 12, 2008
i'm in! and Extreme pickles pringles are good!
I got to teach this week!
On Tuesday I went into the classroom and did some fast thinking and lots of internal pep-talking with myself at the lack of materials, books, wall decorations...
The walls were covered in white posterboards with vocabulary words on them... which is great if you are a man teacher, I guess, but I wanted to barf. I know decorations shouldn't be my first priority, but if I can't think properly because there are blank white walls, I'm perty sure some of the students won't be able to, either.
so my mission tomorrow is to go thrift-store/dollar store shopping and get some supplies... such as crafty stuff (scissors, markers, glue), some type of fabric for the prison-like windows that are set 6 or so feet off the ground and are only 2x2ft. square,... some posters possibly, or at least some paint, and maybe a bookshelf for my bedroom (which is totally unrelated). and maybe a desk slash dresser.
On the first day I had (whoever was in class) write down why they were in spanish / what they wanted to learn / study this year. Some kids didn't write anything, others wrote "nothing," "learn to play the guitar real good," (?!?!?) some wrote "talk to girls, sweet talking," still others actually gave me helpful suggestions, like learning to speak more fluently, learning "more" color words, How to say (this or that,...) .
And then I had them "write 4 sentences in spanish - about whatever you want. this is for me, to see how much you guys have learned so far..." (so for the month before I came, there was a doctorate student kinda teaching the class, and then it was a bunch of substitutes, so these kids seem like they're really behind...) I got some good sentences. Like "Yo estoy enfermedad." (I am sickness.... ) and "my friend is ___. She is drunk."
"I need 120 beef tacos. and a Coke. Please."
Oh boy. :)
Day two - I gave them three front-and-back sheets of paper with ABCs, Numbers 1 to a million, a few key "greeting" phrases, and a list of 69 animals in spanish (with the English equivalents). Basically we spent the hour repeating the words/phrases so they could hear what they sounded like, and then my one spanish two class (I am kinda giving them the same material for now, ...) I had make skits with the vocab from the day... There were a bunch of composition books in the closet, so i took those out and gave one to each group in Spn.2 and they put their skits in there. One group decided to make a dialogue between a hippo and a few other animals. Bua ha ha. Yes! I was really hoping for some creativity.
Day three (yesterday): Probably a really dry and boring day for the students, but I think maybe it was important. I had them take notes on the rules for dividing (Spanish) words into syllables, and then (tried to) explained the rules, and gave a few examples. And made them attempt to divide the animal vocabulary into syllables...
Day four: (today!) I tried to make it more fun.... Yesterday after the staff meeting (my first one! yikes! I had to talk about myself. ewww) I checked out some books from Candi, the librarian, who is blonde (! - there are not very many here.... ;) ) on Spanish speaking countries for a project I have planned. So in class, I told them about it - (Since there are P/T conferences next week (it's going to be interesting, since I have very little idea of what's gone on before I arrived).
I am having them make travel brochures so I can have something to decorate the room with besides family trees that they made sometime in the beginning of the year... Little do they know that's pretty much the only reason they are doing this. Haha, just kidding. Kind of.
I am also making them make flashcards of all (yes, all 69) animals from the animal list and dividing them into syllables. I don't really care that much about the syllable, but it really will help them with pronunciation at least. They sound like Americans, lol... if you're a foreign language student you so know what I mean. A lot of my professors/teachers made fun of the students that spoke Xlanguage with an American accent. I don't think anyone's ever told me my Spanish sounded American; Zarema, my Russian prof, told me I have an ear for languages,... so when i hear an american spanish accent, hahaha... run away!
So with the chillens making flashcards and brochures, I had a little bit of time to finish up putting grades in the computer (i finally found the program that lets me do that last night - I had to install Firefox to be able to use it, I guess...) and I handed back (well, made them hand back) a ton of paperage....
I have no idea how many points I am supposed to be giving these people.... so right now there are just "homework, projects, quizzes, and tests. and i haven't found any "tests" yet, so i think they're safe there. I don't know what to do about grades for people that maybe weren't in class that day, though.... meh.
I should go to bed. I kinda signed up for Netflix and spent half an hour on there looking at the movies they offer. It should give me something to do, and maybe I can find some good spanishy movies...
write me a letter! I'll write back!!
PO Bx 1114
Sanders, AZ 86512
On Tuesday I went into the classroom and did some fast thinking and lots of internal pep-talking with myself at the lack of materials, books, wall decorations...
The walls were covered in white posterboards with vocabulary words on them... which is great if you are a man teacher, I guess, but I wanted to barf. I know decorations shouldn't be my first priority, but if I can't think properly because there are blank white walls, I'm perty sure some of the students won't be able to, either.
so my mission tomorrow is to go thrift-store/dollar store shopping and get some supplies... such as crafty stuff (scissors, markers, glue), some type of fabric for the prison-like windows that are set 6 or so feet off the ground and are only 2x2ft. square,... some posters possibly, or at least some paint, and maybe a bookshelf for my bedroom (which is totally unrelated). and maybe a desk slash dresser.
On the first day I had (whoever was in class) write down why they were in spanish / what they wanted to learn / study this year. Some kids didn't write anything, others wrote "nothing," "learn to play the guitar real good," (?!?!?) some wrote "talk to girls, sweet talking," still others actually gave me helpful suggestions, like learning to speak more fluently, learning "more" color words, How to say (this or that,...) .
And then I had them "write 4 sentences in spanish - about whatever you want. this is for me, to see how much you guys have learned so far..." (so for the month before I came, there was a doctorate student kinda teaching the class, and then it was a bunch of substitutes, so these kids seem like they're really behind...) I got some good sentences. Like "Yo estoy enfermedad." (I am sickness.... ) and "my friend is ___. She is drunk."
"I need 120 beef tacos. and a Coke. Please."
Oh boy. :)
Day two - I gave them three front-and-back sheets of paper with ABCs, Numbers 1 to a million, a few key "greeting" phrases, and a list of 69 animals in spanish (with the English equivalents). Basically we spent the hour repeating the words/phrases so they could hear what they sounded like, and then my one spanish two class (I am kinda giving them the same material for now, ...) I had make skits with the vocab from the day... There were a bunch of composition books in the closet, so i took those out and gave one to each group in Spn.2 and they put their skits in there. One group decided to make a dialogue between a hippo and a few other animals. Bua ha ha. Yes! I was really hoping for some creativity.
Day three (yesterday): Probably a really dry and boring day for the students, but I think maybe it was important. I had them take notes on the rules for dividing (Spanish) words into syllables, and then (tried to) explained the rules, and gave a few examples. And made them attempt to divide the animal vocabulary into syllables...
Day four: (today!) I tried to make it more fun.... Yesterday after the staff meeting (my first one! yikes! I had to talk about myself. ewww) I checked out some books from Candi, the librarian, who is blonde (! - there are not very many here.... ;) ) on Spanish speaking countries for a project I have planned. So in class, I told them about it - (Since there are P/T conferences next week (it's going to be interesting, since I have very little idea of what's gone on before I arrived).
I am having them make travel brochures so I can have something to decorate the room with besides family trees that they made sometime in the beginning of the year... Little do they know that's pretty much the only reason they are doing this. Haha, just kidding. Kind of.
I am also making them make flashcards of all (yes, all 69) animals from the animal list and dividing them into syllables. I don't really care that much about the syllable, but it really will help them with pronunciation at least. They sound like Americans, lol... if you're a foreign language student you so know what I mean. A lot of my professors/teachers made fun of the students that spoke Xlanguage with an American accent. I don't think anyone's ever told me my Spanish sounded American; Zarema, my Russian prof, told me I have an ear for languages,... so when i hear an american spanish accent, hahaha... run away!
So with the chillens making flashcards and brochures, I had a little bit of time to finish up putting grades in the computer (i finally found the program that lets me do that last night - I had to install Firefox to be able to use it, I guess...) and I handed back (well, made them hand back) a ton of paperage....
I have no idea how many points I am supposed to be giving these people.... so right now there are just "homework, projects, quizzes, and tests. and i haven't found any "tests" yet, so i think they're safe there. I don't know what to do about grades for people that maybe weren't in class that day, though.... meh.
I should go to bed. I kinda signed up for Netflix and spent half an hour on there looking at the movies they offer. It should give me something to do, and maybe I can find some good spanishy movies...
write me a letter! I'll write back!!
PO Bx 1114
Sanders, AZ 86512
Sunday, September 7, 2008
another week; church! and coffee. and almost there? maybe?
Well.
Today I went to Grace Bible Church (also in Gallup, so it was a "bit" of a drive, but nothing big compared to the rest of the drives I've been doing this summer). A little less than 40 minutes away. I got there maybe 15 minutes after Sunday School had started, so I snuck in with another lady after she showed me the coffee (yey!) that they served in real coffee cups (how fun!).
The pastor was teaching the sunday school, and they are (just starting) The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. :) hurrah!
Everyone was really nice, and it wasn't just a congregation of one color/ethnicity. So that was cool. :) I wasn't the only blonde, and I wasn't lost in a crowd of white people, either. It was neat. Also, it was so so so wonderful to hear from the Word of God! :)
it was encouraging. :)
I am going to go to the after-high-school group that meets at 6 soon, and then to Walmart because well, I goto Walmart when I can, and I need um, milk. and a car sunshade. So my car doesn't implode from the heat. :)
and then tomorrow I am going to go to Flagstaff, if Rose is in her office and has my paperwork, and if I have the right "receipt" from my fingerprinting, and if I can get to Flagstaff (~2 hours of driving there from Sanders) and back by 4ish, and if the school board actually meets tomorrow night, I can start working as a substitute teacher in the spanish classroom on Tuesday. or soon thereafter. and if not, well, I am going to be sad. I've been trying to push these people to get me in the classroom somehow, but it's not very encouraging to be sitting around day after day because people are never in their offices when they are "supposed to be" or when I need to see them about something, or yeah.
So pray that I will be brave.
:)
and that maybe I can trust God with His timing. :)
write to me!
:)
~Amanda
Today I went to Grace Bible Church (also in Gallup, so it was a "bit" of a drive, but nothing big compared to the rest of the drives I've been doing this summer). A little less than 40 minutes away. I got there maybe 15 minutes after Sunday School had started, so I snuck in with another lady after she showed me the coffee (yey!) that they served in real coffee cups (how fun!).
The pastor was teaching the sunday school, and they are (just starting) The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. :) hurrah!
Everyone was really nice, and it wasn't just a congregation of one color/ethnicity. So that was cool. :) I wasn't the only blonde, and I wasn't lost in a crowd of white people, either. It was neat. Also, it was so so so wonderful to hear from the Word of God! :)
it was encouraging. :)
I am going to go to the after-high-school group that meets at 6 soon, and then to Walmart because well, I goto Walmart when I can, and I need um, milk. and a car sunshade. So my car doesn't implode from the heat. :)
and then tomorrow I am going to go to Flagstaff, if Rose is in her office and has my paperwork, and if I have the right "receipt" from my fingerprinting, and if I can get to Flagstaff (~2 hours of driving there from Sanders) and back by 4ish, and if the school board actually meets tomorrow night, I can start working as a substitute teacher in the spanish classroom on Tuesday. or soon thereafter. and if not, well, I am going to be sad. I've been trying to push these people to get me in the classroom somehow, but it's not very encouraging to be sitting around day after day because people are never in their offices when they are "supposed to be" or when I need to see them about something, or yeah.
So pray that I will be brave.
:)
and that maybe I can trust God with His timing. :)
write to me!
:)
~Amanda
Sunday, August 31, 2008
dream big... big enough to include God in those dreams. - Marilyn Laszlo
So....
I've filled out mountains of paperwork, made numerous phone calls, and taken lots of pictures of clouds.
The paperworking process and administration process is incredibly discouraging. :-/ But God brought me to Arizona for some reason or another, and even if I'll never know why, I still want to be able to praise Him through ... whatever this is.
See, the thing is, since I only have a Bachelor's Degree in the Spanish language, I have to apply for an Emergency Teaching Certificate. Which sounds easier than it actually is - it looks like I can only start teaching - in the high school Spanish classroom I was promised - as a substitute teacher to start, and then hopefully really soonfully after that with the emergencey certificate. Which is only good for a year at a time, and renewable if i take 6 credits of Ed. classes. which should be interesting, ....
So I have to be school-board-approved to even be a substitute, and with the Holiday weekend, and really slow-to-move admins (no offense to them, but it was terrible....) it will be at least Wednesday before I can begin working here. Which is frustrating, but I'm trying to look at it as a vacation.
So I have been going through my computer and deleting things that I don't need, organizing my music, using the stove
- God found me a spot living in a spare bedroom of one of the other teacher's trailers in the staff housing - it's nice and all, but she has two dogs and I'm allergic to them.... so hopefully the four new trailers they are bringing in will open up a trailer for me. Hopefully. . .
-- and reading a ton. Another blessing - there is a library, albeit a small one - books! I didn't read much all summer, and contrary to popular belief, it was easier than it seemed. I usually am in the middle of 12 or so books, but I was so busy being friends with great people and keeping in touch (although not as well as I'd've liked) with other great people.
My goal - Write at least a letter a day, or 6 a week, whichever comes first.
And it shall be easy to obtain, especially if you, my loyal readers, write to me.
(hint: Amanda Elaine Johnson
PO Box 1114
Sanders, AZ 86512 )
I went excursing into Gallup, NM today (it's only 35ish minutes away) to find a church - I got there around 10 after 9am and found a church that started Sunday School at 9:45 so I went to the Sunday school there; there was a couple and three men and myself; we read from Acts 27 and 28 where Paul gets shipwrecked. it was good,...
and then I went downstairs for the service which was terrible. Terrible as in,... the pastor started right out with a verse from John right after the time when Jesus heals a blind man while putting spitty mud in his eyes. The "sermon" was about work, and how it's good to have jobs and we need to have good attitudes, and well, I tuned him out because I was so disgusted. He mentioned the word "Baptist" several times, like he was proud of being a Baptist. He also only used two passages - and only in briefest of brief passings. And not even having all that much to do with us, but twisting the words of God's son coming to work "while it's still daytime" to mean that we need to be working while night's not here yet. So that made me not very happy and I really wanted to leave. I should have. . .
But anyways.
I found a little pub in Gallup - Really clean type - not the sleazy variety - that has wifi, so I am using that while I can. It's been weird not having internet 24/7 (because i don't have a teachery ID to use the wifi in the teachers housing yet. hopefully soon?? :) ), but Medora has taught me that it's totally okay not to be right next to a grocery store, Walmart, movies, etc. all the time. It's great not to hear ambulances every hour or so, too.
I am lonely, though. I saw my (new) housemate Christine about three times, and she's gone for the weekend, too. I went on a walk, and I passed the high school counselor, Samara, and her boyfriend. I also passed the former Spanish teacher and his daughter, who had to stop teaching because he's starting his Doctorate. He looked a lot like Tony Grubbs, one of my Spanish professors (the one who didn't let me pass either of his classes). And made me laugh inside.
The people here are beautiful. There are very few blondes. I went to Walmart and it was like a Navajo / Mexican VBS or something, there were so many little children running around or sliding on the floor (it was great fun).
But I haven't found anyone to people-watch with yet.
I am reveling in the power of the text message, and the cell phone.
Being able to hear someone's voice, or at least a textual representation of who they are, is such a blessing. Especially when I'm the only one I've really seen the past week or so.
On the upside, I found prickly pear and sage here. Hurrah! : )
Pray that I can find a friend. Or at least someone to take a walk or take picture of the flattop mountains with. Or something to do besides nothing.
I'll be expecting your letters...
I've filled out mountains of paperwork, made numerous phone calls, and taken lots of pictures of clouds.
The paperworking process and administration process is incredibly discouraging. :-/ But God brought me to Arizona for some reason or another, and even if I'll never know why, I still want to be able to praise Him through ... whatever this is.
See, the thing is, since I only have a Bachelor's Degree in the Spanish language, I have to apply for an Emergency Teaching Certificate. Which sounds easier than it actually is - it looks like I can only start teaching - in the high school Spanish classroom I was promised - as a substitute teacher to start, and then hopefully really soonfully after that with the emergencey certificate. Which is only good for a year at a time, and renewable if i take 6 credits of Ed. classes. which should be interesting, ....
So I have to be school-board-approved to even be a substitute, and with the Holiday weekend, and really slow-to-move admins (no offense to them, but it was terrible....) it will be at least Wednesday before I can begin working here. Which is frustrating, but I'm trying to look at it as a vacation.
So I have been going through my computer and deleting things that I don't need, organizing my music, using the stove
- God found me a spot living in a spare bedroom of one of the other teacher's trailers in the staff housing - it's nice and all, but she has two dogs and I'm allergic to them.... so hopefully the four new trailers they are bringing in will open up a trailer for me. Hopefully. . .
-- and reading a ton. Another blessing - there is a library, albeit a small one - books! I didn't read much all summer, and contrary to popular belief, it was easier than it seemed. I usually am in the middle of 12 or so books, but I was so busy being friends with great people and keeping in touch (although not as well as I'd've liked) with other great people.
My goal - Write at least a letter a day, or 6 a week, whichever comes first.
And it shall be easy to obtain, especially if you, my loyal readers, write to me.
(hint: Amanda Elaine Johnson
PO Box 1114
Sanders, AZ 86512 )
I went excursing into Gallup, NM today (it's only 35ish minutes away) to find a church - I got there around 10 after 9am and found a church that started Sunday School at 9:45 so I went to the Sunday school there; there was a couple and three men and myself; we read from Acts 27 and 28 where Paul gets shipwrecked. it was good,...
and then I went downstairs for the service which was terrible. Terrible as in,... the pastor started right out with a verse from John right after the time when Jesus heals a blind man while putting spitty mud in his eyes. The "sermon" was about work, and how it's good to have jobs and we need to have good attitudes, and well, I tuned him out because I was so disgusted. He mentioned the word "Baptist" several times, like he was proud of being a Baptist. He also only used two passages - and only in briefest of brief passings. And not even having all that much to do with us, but twisting the words of God's son coming to work "while it's still daytime" to mean that we need to be working while night's not here yet. So that made me not very happy and I really wanted to leave. I should have. . .
But anyways.
I found a little pub in Gallup - Really clean type - not the sleazy variety - that has wifi, so I am using that while I can. It's been weird not having internet 24/7 (because i don't have a teachery ID to use the wifi in the teachers housing yet. hopefully soon?? :) ), but Medora has taught me that it's totally okay not to be right next to a grocery store, Walmart, movies, etc. all the time. It's great not to hear ambulances every hour or so, too.
I am lonely, though. I saw my (new) housemate Christine about three times, and she's gone for the weekend, too. I went on a walk, and I passed the high school counselor, Samara, and her boyfriend. I also passed the former Spanish teacher and his daughter, who had to stop teaching because he's starting his Doctorate. He looked a lot like Tony Grubbs, one of my Spanish professors (the one who didn't let me pass either of his classes). And made me laugh inside.
The people here are beautiful. There are very few blondes. I went to Walmart and it was like a Navajo / Mexican VBS or something, there were so many little children running around or sliding on the floor (it was great fun).
But I haven't found anyone to people-watch with yet.
I am reveling in the power of the text message, and the cell phone.
Being able to hear someone's voice, or at least a textual representation of who they are, is such a blessing. Especially when I'm the only one I've really seen the past week or so.
On the upside, I found prickly pear and sage here. Hurrah! : )
Pray that I can find a friend. Or at least someone to take a walk or take picture of the flattop mountains with. Or something to do besides nothing.
I'll be expecting your letters...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
double rainbows, huge skies, and Jesus music
So even though today was terribly long - I had a mountain of paperwork, texts, and phonecalls to make, and the "people in charge" weren't really concerned with why I was there - it seemed - God is still good. Even if I can't teach simply as a substitute teacher in the classroom I was hoping to get until Tuesday. Even if I have to share a trailer with an older woman and her two yippy dogs. Even if I didn't get as lost in Gallup tonight when I ventured out to get groceries. slash Taco Bell.
Even if I miss people terribly. . .
There is a radio station here called K-Luv or K-Love or I'm not sure what their actual call letters are, but yeah. They followed me all the way to Sanders from Colorado, and God's put a lot of good songs on while i was in the car that have been just what I was supposed to be hearing.
And last night I saw a huge double rainbow covering the whole sky above Sanders.
and it was amazing - did you know that on a double rainbow the two arcs' colors are reversed? it was spiffy. Especially since I saw one over Wyoming's skies two nights before that!
So even though things are maybe not going to stop being frustrating, God is still there, and He cares for me and has a plan for me - whether that be in Medora, Sanders, or Michigan.
Your job?
Pray for me, that I stay faithful to the one who has called me thus far.
That i will be a salty lightbulb for Jesus.
Even if I miss people terribly. . .
There is a radio station here called K-Luv or K-Love or I'm not sure what their actual call letters are, but yeah. They followed me all the way to Sanders from Colorado, and God's put a lot of good songs on while i was in the car that have been just what I was supposed to be hearing.
And last night I saw a huge double rainbow covering the whole sky above Sanders.
and it was amazing - did you know that on a double rainbow the two arcs' colors are reversed? it was spiffy. Especially since I saw one over Wyoming's skies two nights before that!
So even though things are maybe not going to stop being frustrating, God is still there, and He cares for me and has a plan for me - whether that be in Medora, Sanders, or Michigan.
Your job?
Pray for me, that I stay faithful to the one who has called me thus far.
That i will be a salty lightbulb for Jesus.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
summer's end... and summer, summarized. or at least, some guys...
This summer was amazing. I got to spend three months in a little town smack dab in the middle of the Badlands of Southwestern North Dakota - Medora, ND to be precise.
I went there not knowing what to expect and not knowing anything about the town or the people with whom I would be spending a few months, and I left this morning.
I set out for Medora at the end of May and left with the idea that I would be going there to help lead worship services in town and in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which just so happened to be in the town's backyard.
The first few days were rough, because I didn't know anyone at all, and everyone seemed to know everyone else already. Somehow I got sucked into a group of people out there on summer project and then I got connected with everyone else simply by scanning meal cards at the pizza parlor I worked.
*side note - I bought a personal pan pizza from the Pizza Hut in Deadwood, and I definitely really, really miss the pizza parlor pizza right now. It's amazing pizza.
Then I made some even closer friends because a few of us were having "boy issues" and needed people to vent with, and God used those women - and some high quality men in my life to push me ever closer to Him when things didn't turn out the way everyone thought they would. "Things," however, actually turned out far better than I could have wished for. God is amazing.
Anyways, I was going to write a few observations about this summer, slash appreciations and mentions of random things that made my summer what it was.
First, the smell of sage and old wood permeates the senses on a hot day - in Medora, this was almost every day. Except for the few completely random downpours and hailstorms...
and the sun. is amazing. ly hot. and not muggy like Michigan; the locals know 90 degrees is nothing to sneeze at, and the winters are ridiculous... But I'm not writing about the winters because I haven't experienced a Dakota winter. All I know is that Everyone has an electrical plug hanging from the hood of their vehicles to plug their motor (engine?) in somewhere in the winter when it hits negative 40 or so...
and when you can walk 20 minutes and find yourself in the middle of a field on top of a butte surrounded by prickly pear, prairie rose, and tall grasses - and maybe some buffalo (which are also known as bison, for those of you who may be confused),... well. It's hard not to see why the west called to so many people in the middle of the 19th century.
and the small (small being less than a hundred official locals - maybe a few hundred with the seasonal workers) town atmosphere is definitely something every city slicker should experience. I'm so glad I got to, because I know now that I can definitely survive without a ginormous grocery store and malls only 10 minutes from home. And being able to wave at everyone because you know them (except for the tourists, but you still wave) is so great... it's like a bond of some sort that you can only understand if you've done it. Whee!
and getting to put in everyone's orders for pizza and subs taught me quite a bit as well - some people never change... ;) Double pepperoni with ranch. . . pepperoni with lite cheese, ...to go, never to stay because they eat it after the musical... and when they order something different, you wonder what's going on. :)
and once they ordered their pizza i would usually have a few minutes - or seconds - to chat about life with whoever, and i think those few moments are what I am going to miss the most about this summer. The time when the hungry people-who-will-soon-get-filled come in and chat. about life, about roomates, relationships, jobs, being real, travel, Jesus. The time when - if just for a few seconds, the people in the musical get to kick back and be themselves. (I hope). The past weeks by myself after the CRU people left I got to spend some time with people - not as much as I would have liked, because of work - but enough. Well, maybe not enough. I could stay there forever and ever, but everyone else would leave... and i actually probably couldn't.
I've learned that even though I started the past several paragraphs with "and," there were people this summer that left a huge impression on my life.
Firstly the men -
Dedy: from Indonesia. I worked with him; he didn't speak much English... I hate writing in past tense. he was real sweet, though.
Andy: ridiculously musical. Not fair. He let me sit and listen to him play, which was amazing. because some people don't like that... but he did. and he let me watch mice with him at midnight. And we had some good chats about life, and it's always great to have a manly perspective on things. :0)
Seth: he taught me a bit of what I already thought I knew (re: guys in leadership and what it really looks like), and I really, really, really appreciate his listening to the Spirit leading in preparing for the services with ACMNP; we had some good conversations, and even though things got confusing, he stayed true to what he knew to be true and helped keep me on the right path. thanks :)
Chris: even though he kinda pushed the whole guy issue on me, (i don't know if he realizes this or not) he grew a ton this summer from what I saw of him, and was a veritable rock to myself and several other people.
Alan: oh my goodness. It's like my little brother came to Medora with me. He listens to the same music, is about the same height, looks the same, and gives great hugs. And he has that look of someone who you just have to hug. haha.
Kristan: One of the harder-to-see-leaving-me people... meh. even though he's younger than me, I'm pretty sure I see him as an older-type-of-brother that I never got to have.. He is a wonderful listener, prayer, singer,... and I'm pretty sure he's wise beyond his years. :) And he got me to like Skillet.
Chad: he sings and plays the keys in the musical. and still talked to me at the pizza parlor. Last night when I was frustrated and couldn't figure out a driving route, he took a look at my atlas and helped straighten out my brain. And I'm sad that we were just beginning to be friends. meh. Guillaume: sure, he's from france and has an accent and amazingly blue eyes, but he and I had some good chatation. and I hope he stays in touch somehow...
I think I am going to maybe write about more people later, but for now...
I am in Lusk, Wyoming. And there is a king-sized bed, a refrigerator, microwave, and tv and wifi... more on this new adventure later, though.
I went there not knowing what to expect and not knowing anything about the town or the people with whom I would be spending a few months, and I left this morning.
I set out for Medora at the end of May and left with the idea that I would be going there to help lead worship services in town and in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which just so happened to be in the town's backyard.
The first few days were rough, because I didn't know anyone at all, and everyone seemed to know everyone else already. Somehow I got sucked into a group of people out there on summer project and then I got connected with everyone else simply by scanning meal cards at the pizza parlor I worked.
*side note - I bought a personal pan pizza from the Pizza Hut in Deadwood, and I definitely really, really miss the pizza parlor pizza right now. It's amazing pizza.
Then I made some even closer friends because a few of us were having "boy issues" and needed people to vent with, and God used those women - and some high quality men in my life to push me ever closer to Him when things didn't turn out the way everyone thought they would. "Things," however, actually turned out far better than I could have wished for. God is amazing.
Anyways, I was going to write a few observations about this summer, slash appreciations and mentions of random things that made my summer what it was.
First, the smell of sage and old wood permeates the senses on a hot day - in Medora, this was almost every day. Except for the few completely random downpours and hailstorms...
and the sun. is amazing. ly hot. and not muggy like Michigan; the locals know 90 degrees is nothing to sneeze at, and the winters are ridiculous... But I'm not writing about the winters because I haven't experienced a Dakota winter. All I know is that Everyone has an electrical plug hanging from the hood of their vehicles to plug their motor (engine?) in somewhere in the winter when it hits negative 40 or so...
and when you can walk 20 minutes and find yourself in the middle of a field on top of a butte surrounded by prickly pear, prairie rose, and tall grasses - and maybe some buffalo (which are also known as bison, for those of you who may be confused),... well. It's hard not to see why the west called to so many people in the middle of the 19th century.
and the small (small being less than a hundred official locals - maybe a few hundred with the seasonal workers) town atmosphere is definitely something every city slicker should experience. I'm so glad I got to, because I know now that I can definitely survive without a ginormous grocery store and malls only 10 minutes from home. And being able to wave at everyone because you know them (except for the tourists, but you still wave) is so great... it's like a bond of some sort that you can only understand if you've done it. Whee!
and getting to put in everyone's orders for pizza and subs taught me quite a bit as well - some people never change... ;) Double pepperoni with ranch. . . pepperoni with lite cheese, ...to go, never to stay because they eat it after the musical... and when they order something different, you wonder what's going on. :)
and once they ordered their pizza i would usually have a few minutes - or seconds - to chat about life with whoever, and i think those few moments are what I am going to miss the most about this summer. The time when the hungry people-who-will-soon-get-filled come in and chat. about life, about roomates, relationships, jobs, being real, travel, Jesus. The time when - if just for a few seconds, the people in the musical get to kick back and be themselves. (I hope). The past weeks by myself after the CRU people left I got to spend some time with people - not as much as I would have liked, because of work - but enough. Well, maybe not enough. I could stay there forever and ever, but everyone else would leave... and i actually probably couldn't.
I've learned that even though I started the past several paragraphs with "and," there were people this summer that left a huge impression on my life.
Firstly the men -
Dedy: from Indonesia. I worked with him; he didn't speak much English... I hate writing in past tense. he was real sweet, though.
Andy: ridiculously musical. Not fair. He let me sit and listen to him play, which was amazing. because some people don't like that... but he did. and he let me watch mice with him at midnight. And we had some good chats about life, and it's always great to have a manly perspective on things. :0)
Seth: he taught me a bit of what I already thought I knew (re: guys in leadership and what it really looks like), and I really, really, really appreciate his listening to the Spirit leading in preparing for the services with ACMNP; we had some good conversations, and even though things got confusing, he stayed true to what he knew to be true and helped keep me on the right path. thanks :)
Chris: even though he kinda pushed the whole guy issue on me, (i don't know if he realizes this or not) he grew a ton this summer from what I saw of him, and was a veritable rock to myself and several other people.
Alan: oh my goodness. It's like my little brother came to Medora with me. He listens to the same music, is about the same height, looks the same, and gives great hugs. And he has that look of someone who you just have to hug. haha.
Kristan: One of the harder-to-see-leaving-me people... meh. even though he's younger than me, I'm pretty sure I see him as an older-type-of-brother that I never got to have.. He is a wonderful listener, prayer, singer,... and I'm pretty sure he's wise beyond his years. :) And he got me to like Skillet.
Chad: he sings and plays the keys in the musical. and still talked to me at the pizza parlor. Last night when I was frustrated and couldn't figure out a driving route, he took a look at my atlas and helped straighten out my brain. And I'm sad that we were just beginning to be friends. meh. Guillaume: sure, he's from france and has an accent and amazingly blue eyes, but he and I had some good chatation. and I hope he stays in touch somehow...
I think I am going to maybe write about more people later, but for now...
I am in Lusk, Wyoming. And there is a king-sized bed, a refrigerator, microwave, and tv and wifi... more on this new adventure later, though.
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