January 2010: A new year, a birthday, a job

During the month of January, the dust has settled from graduation and Christmas and the strangeness of not returning to Lee for another spring semester has begun to set in. Alongside the nostalgia and longing to be with friends, though, is the excitement of new things:

First of all, I turned 22 this month. I had the privilege of spending the few days around my birthday with Katelyn, a summer project friend from California. During her time here we reconnected with several other friends from SP who live in the Triangle.

I also got a new(ish) job this month. My boss from the YMCA where I worked in high school graciously re-hired me to work in Tracking Out programs. I’m working almost full-time, and I’m responsible for the youngest group of kids: kindergartners and first graders. I’m really thankful to have this job, especially since it was looking like substitute teaching was my only prospect. There have definitely been some challenging days—taking care of 28 five- and six-year olds is never easy—but in many ways it’s an ideal situation for me this spring.

Just yesterday I got the news that I’ve been waiting for for months: I was nominated for the Fulbright grant to Colombia…which means that I’m still in the running but won’t know the final decision for several more months. I’m really excited that I’m even being considered for the award—that in itself is an honor—but in a way it’s anticlimactic because I still can’t get my hopes up or make definite plans to be in Colombia next year.

Well, for anyone who happens to be following my blog, that’s pretty much all the news for now!

Post-graduation Reflections

I thought now would be a good time to update my blog because I’ve certainly been doing a lot of “looking forward.” Actually, a lot of “looking back,” too.

Graduating from college is a strange feeling. My whole life I’ve had some idea of what to expect the next month, semester or year. I remember how tumultuous my senior year of high school seemed as I filled out applications and agonized over where I should go to college. But at least I knew I’d be going to college, and that I’d adjust to that new stage of life sooner or later. But turning over my Lee University tassel ushered in a phase of infinitely greater uncertainty. My future is wide open and I have no idea what the next few months and year hold for me.

As I’m processing the fact that I won’t be returning to Lee, I’ve spent time reading through my journals that I wrote in college. I’ve really enjoyed remembering in detail the many ups and downs I experienced, and my gratitude grew for the countless ways God provided for me and helped me grow—as a Christian, as a daughter, as a roommate, as a friend, and as a leader.

Though it’s beneficial to look back on my college years and reflect on God’s goodness, it’s easy to get stuck longing for the friendships and familiarity of college. I’ve always been good at looking forward and making plans, but lately I’ve been consumed by all of the uncertainties the future holds. I’m discovering how hard it is to live in the present. To be honest, I really don’t know what to do with myself. Living at home is entirely different from visiting home on breaks. I’ve enjoyed having time to relax and see friends and family, but I can’t stay in vacation mode if I’m going to live here for a few months. Moving anywhere is difficult, and it takes time to find a job, to get involved in a church, to build relationships, and to find ways to serve. I had to do that three and a half years ago when I moved to Cleveland, but Lee University made all of that pretty easy for me. This time, not only do I not have an automatic, ready-made community, but the question of “What’s next?” is always on the horizon, influencing my ability to put down roots here. Even if I stay in the Triangle area after this semester, this is a transitional period—I’m living at home and substitute teaching. Next fall I could be in a different city, state, or even country—so it’s hard to fully invest in people and activities when I may have to do it all over again soon. I feel paralyzed by my lack of clarity.

Though I don’t know how long I’ll be here or what to do with myself while I’m here, what I long for is to gain from this time whatever God has in store. I don’t want to waste this period because I’m consumed by questions or worries. Maybe this loneliness and uncertainty will prompt a period of intense growth like the year after we moved from Romania. If so, I welcome it with open arms. Maybe it will be a time to learn to walk by faith and not by sight, trusting in God’s planning instead of my own. I don’t know.

One thing I do know is God’s sovereignty is the only thing I can stake my life on.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to an all-knowing God”
(Martin Luther)

A picture summary

A view of Mexico City



Dad and I at UNAM



Making friendship bracelets with Karla


My host family and I



Tortillas, the essence of Mexico


Teaching the intermediate class


Me+my classmates+Kelli, on of our tutors (not sure where Richard is)



Teotihuacan

The Close of a Chapter...

This time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane to North Carolina. I’m soooooo ready.

On Friday I successfully finished CELTA, and what a relief that was! I’ve never felt such a sense of accomplishment and success after completing a course. And what I gained from it is so worth all of the stress!

The last few days I’ve been wrapping up my time here, hitting the last couple sights and saying my good-byes. On Saturday I went to Teotihuacan with three classmates. About an hour north of Mexico City, Teotihuacan is a pre-Aztec civilization, famous for its two gigantic pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. It really was an incredible sight—the vastness of the pyramids, the striking view of the Avenue of the Dead leading up to them, and just the thought of the centuries this complex has been here.

On Saturday evening I went home, said good-bye to my host family, and took a taxi to the Sassers’ house for my last few nights. They left to go to the States yesterday so I’ve got a couple of days here by myself.

Yesterday after church Tim and I did some souvenir shopping at a huge artesanía market. Afterwards we headed back to the neighborhood of our school (we just can’t stay away, apparently), attended a Catholic mass on a whim, then had dinner at Daša’s (one of our classmate’s) apartments.

Today I had the morning to myself—quiet time on the roof, a quick trip to the grocery store, then lunch. In the afternoon I met up with Jaaziel—we had some delicious crepes in Condesa (once again, the neighborhood where I went to class). We randomly ran into Tim and Leti (a student from the English class we taught) in a park there. From there the three of us met up with Abby (a classmate—who by the way already got hired by International House and started teaching English today!) for coffee and to say goodbye. Then I got caught in a lovely downpour with no umbrella, once again chose the wrong exit from the metro and had to walk around a million street vendors and through mucky puddles before finding the right bus to get me home. Now here I am—my stuff is packed and I’m ready to get on that plane tomorrow!

I’m so glad I’ve had this experience of living in Mexico City for 5 weeks. Each week was different, with its own highs and lows, but I can look back on this summer and see God’s faithfulness and wisdom:
Week 1: A great time with my dad and the chance to see Karla (my World Vision girl) for the second time.
Week 2: A rough week as I had so many new experiences to deal with “alone”—but a poignant reminder that God is my strength and portion; weakness and vulnerability led me to depend on him.
Week 3: A great week of making more friends, loving my classes, and having an in-depth God conversation with a classmate.
Week 4: The third and most difficult week of class, got robbed on the metrobus, began feeling ready to come home. But another opportunity to trust in the Lord and not in stuff and to thank him for all that I have.
Week 5: Wrapping things up at school and thinking a lot about post-graduation options; gaining experience and qualification in TESOL and finding out more about employability has given me a lot to process. We’ll see what God has in store for after the fast-approaching end of college.

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog this summer, I appreciate it! I’m so excited about seeing all of you soon!

CELTA Week Three

Week three is over, Praise the Lord! Between changing levels of students, doing 4 written assignments, and teaching three lessons (including our first hour-long lesson), the week just about did me in. I even dreamed about lesson plans!

In spite of the rigor, this course has been SOOO worthwhile. I signed up for the course hoping to learn practical teaching strategies that have been so lacking from the classes I’ve taken so far. And I have! I also had this fear going into the course that being a good teacher is a skill you’re born with; and if you’re just not a natural teacher (and I would say I’m not)…then there’s not much you can do. But even in these last three weeks of CELTA, I can really see improvement in my teaching ability. We learn strategies, put them into practice, and voila! Successful lessons! Of course I have a long ways to go. And I know that most improvement will come through experience…but at least I feel like I’m not a total failure at teaching!

On Tuesday I had some additional “excitement”. I stopped at the pharmacy on my way to class, turned my backpack around to get out my wallet---and realized that it had been pickpocketed on the metrobus. It was partly my fault, because I had been careless about where I put it. The night before when I got home, after using my key (attached to my wallet) to unlock the gate, I slipped it into the outer pocket, since I was just going inside. The next morning I forgot to move it to the deep inside pocket where I usually keep it—and someone took advantage of my mistake. Of course I was pretty bummed—and dealing with it added to an already stressful week—but worse things could have happened. They got my wallet (cash, credit card, drivers license), but thankfully I didn’t have much cash, it was my credit and not debit card, and my license and not passport. The worst part was that they took my phone and key as well, both of which belonged to my host family. But that same afternoon we got a new key made and I replaced the phone, which was fortunately the cheapest one out there. And it was a good reminder to “store up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” And also a challenge to “count it all joy when you experience trials of every kind, because the testing of your faith produces endurance.” I’m thankful that in spite of that unfortunate event, God is good and in control and used it to remind me of eternal truths.

This weekend has been nice and relaxing after a crazy week. On Saturday I went and played racquetball with a friend on the campus of UNAM. I was so surprised when we got to the courts! First of all, they were outside! Just three huge stone walls, no ceiling (so we got the extra exercise of chasing balls!). Also, not a single person there had a racquetball racquet—it was either a tennis racquet or bare hands (OUCH!). It was a lot of fun, but the sun beating down wore me out!

In the afternoon I left with my host parents and a family friend to spend the night and next day in Cuernavaca, a town about an hour and a half to the south. They call it the “city of eternal spring” because of the beautiful weather and lush greenery, and it really is beautiful! We stopped at a nursery to buy a few plants, then toured a little spa/resort, then arrived at their condo. Today we picked up a few things at the local market, ate breakfast, laid out by the pool, and headed home in the evening.

It’s hard to believe how quickly my time here is going by! I have one more week of classes, then I’m staying at the Sassers again for my last few nights before I head home on Tuesday.

Week Two

I´m just over the halfway point now in the course. This week, though, is notoriously the hardest: on top of teaching three lessons and turning in three written assignments, we have to get used to teaching a different level of students. My group has the easier switch; we´ve been teaching elementary students and now have intermediate. Their ability to understand instructions and to communicate will make planning easier and open up the possibilities of activities we can give them. It´s kind of sad knowing we won´t see our beginner students anymore, though. On Friday after class we went to Starbuck´s with a handful of them. I love having adult classes because you´re on the same level, and can do things like go to coffee after class.

I had a great weekend—it was a nice mix of time to relax and to prep for this week. On Saturday I did some sightseeing with Evelyn, a German girl who also lives with my host family. We went to a craft bazaar, met up with some of her friends downtown and ate at a famous restaurant (called Azulejo—converted from a fancy hotel to a restaurant). Then we went up in the Torre Latinoamericana where you can look out on the city from 42 stories high. It was incredible! This city is gigantic. Then on our way home Evelyn and I got caught in a downpour and were absolutely soaked. Saturday evening I went to see Harry Potter with a friend. Sunday I went to church (Tim, a guy in my class, came with me) then headed home and worked on projects.

Week two was really good overall. I had more time than usual to chat with my host family; Evelyn moved in and it´s nice to have someone my age there; and I had an awesome conversation about God with one of my classmates!

Now the most intense week of the course lies before me…prayers appreciated!

CELTA Week One

Here’s a little glimpse into my first week of Mexican immersion and the CELTA course:

Food: Lots of fresh tropical fruit and fruit juice; tacos, quesadillas, rice; fried plantains and beans for breakfast; cactus soup, to name a few!

Life: kiss on the cheek for hello and goodbye; shrines to Guadalupe on every corner; Friday night “fiesta” with my host sister (=lots of drunk high schoolers=not my cup of tea); late meals; warm and affectionate people; learning the way on metros, buses, taxis; TRAFFIC.

Language: picking up on some Mexican slang: qué padre=cool; chavo/chava=guy/girl; órale/ándale=I don’t know, but they work in about every situation; qué onda=what’s up?; qué bárbaro=that’s crazy!

Classes: long hours, lots of lesson plans and assignments; learning a TON; enjoying teaching my lessons; learning the personalities of our students; starting to think in a British accent!

Other highlights of the week include time with new and old friends: Friday night with a new friend Jaaziel, Sunday lunch with the Sassers, and this Wednesday I’m having lunch with the other Maki, who Christina and I met on our last trip here.
Also, I discovered that one of the guys in my class is a Christian—that’s been so encouraging because between class and my homestay I’m not really around believers. He’s planning on coming to church with me next week.

Well, that’s a little look at the last week. It was a bit tough at times, but I’m getting more and more settled here and making friends helps a lot. And God is so good—he knows that I need to be stretched in order to depend on him more!