Orientation Day

Monday, August 17
First orientation day at Vida Abundant…it was SO long. We were given all the rules, demerits, do’s and don’ts, philosophy of Christian education and explanations of them all. So we were basically sitting in desks for about 6-8 hours of this day. It was necessary to know, but still not a fun day. We were shown our classrooms and ate lunch at school café; I started a tab there, which I’ll have to pay every 2 -4 weeks. Lunches are only about $2 so its not that bad and the food is pretty good, too. It’s easier than packing PBJ every day for lunch! We were given curriculum or lack there of; the lack of curriculum we received was the most frustrating. Jackie and Sarah had grades they didn’t expect they were going to teach and didn’t get some curriculum, so it made it even harder for them. I received most of my curriculum, which was a relief and most of it was there, too. At lunch break we went to see the river near school; its beautiful. I plan on going there to sunbathe on the rocks or sit on the water or something!
Overall the first orientation day was frustrating because of lack of curriculum, other things we were expecting we weren’t given and other things we were NOT expecting we were told we had to pay for, etc. The houses were getting cleaned up today and we found out the house Jacki and Sarah were supposed to be in has to have the roof fixed, which will take about a month. So Jacki and Sarah are moving in with me and Laura Beth for a month while house gets fixed. It’ll be fine, there’s enough room; it’s just the bathroom may get small. After our day we spent about an hour at Ana’s house venting all our frustrations to each other and discussing how things were going for us. It was probably the hardest day so far.
After orientation day we went back to hotel for dinner; Vicente and Dennis took Laura Beth to doctor because she was sick and then brought Kirsty to her host house in Gracias. Then Julia, Ana, Jacki, Sarah and me headed up the mountain in the rain at 9pm to “move into” the houses. Jacki and Sarah moved into me and Laura Beth’s house first because of Laura Beth being sick. It looked better than when I first saw it; they cleaned out the room that had a lot of the former owner’s stuff in it, but there were still lots of bugs and no screens on the windows. Vicente and Dennis went on a killing spree, killing HUGE spiders and other bugs before leaving Vicente, Dennis and I left Jacki and Sarah in the house for the night. I am just amazed by the servant hearts of Vicente and Dennis and other administrators like the Villelas to do anything to make our stay here as good as it can be. We would voice our concerns and Vicente would say “let me make a few calls.” Their generosity just humbles me so much and I’m so thankful for people like them here that make this experience better.