Thank you
to all my friends and family who have helped make my 25th Birthday a
very special one. It’s been a few months since I have taken a few days off from
“work” at the Farm. It’s hard to call what I do work because really it is just
life. That doesn't mean things are easy or necessarily difficult but instead
just life. That said though everyone needs a short escape from reality every
once in a while. What better time to do that than for my birthday.
After
planning, putting together and executing our Valentine’s Day (Dia del Amistad y
Amor) celebration it was time to focus on me. I know that sounds ridiculously
self centered, but I think everyone deserves to have at least their birthday be
all about them. Maybe that is why I enjoy making the parties here as great as
they can be.
Since arriving I've (with lots of
help from everyone at the Farm) been able to throw parties for 3 of our kids who've now turned 15 (2 boys and a girl). The 15th birthday is a
very big deal throughout Latin culture especially for the girls. I feel
incredibly blessed to have been able to work with Miriam to make her
celebration one of grace, beauty and fun just like she is. Thanks to one of our
house Moms (Suyapa) Miriam had an absolutely gorgeous dress that was mostly
sewn by hand until we found out the whole time one of our Sister’s had a sewing
machine. The time and dedication she put into making the dress really shows but
most of all it was done out of love. Miriam really looked like a princess.
Thanks
to Haydee (one of the other missionaries) Miriam along with the littlest girls
and boys (including her sister and brother) were able to pull off a beautifully
choreographed dance. Getting a group of 6-10 year old girls and boys to do
anything is a challenge, but Haydee did it! Take a look to the right at the
videos for a clip of the dance. As great as it is to have celebrated 15 years
of life with Wilmer, Cesar and Miriam I am relieved to know there are no more
to plan this year. 
At the end of every month we also
have one big birthday party for all the kids and adults who celebrated that
month. January’s party taught me that it doesn’t have to be fancy just
entertaining. We had a limbo competition that had everyone cheering. This month
I’m thinking it will be a circus theme. Our kids love dressing up as clowns and
their ability to act like clowns is basically innate.
As for the other half of my “job”
here we are now into the first bit of the school year. School started February
4th. I have got my hands full with 16 first graders and as of this
coming Monday I’ll have 10 second graders. Thankfully, I am teaching English
which is probably the only subject I am somewhat capable of teaching. So far I
don’t feel as if I am teaching the first graders anything. The first 2 weeks
have instead been teaching me everything.
I am learning that I need to be in 16
places at once. I am learning that if I let one child use the bathroom 15 more
suddenly need to go. I am learning that sharpening a pencil is not a simple or
quiet task. Because we don’t have a single large pencil sharpener that is for
example attached to the wall or the desk the kids instead use the individual
pencil sharpeners that were donated. This is a blessing and curse. A blessing
because yes we need pencil sharpeners, but a curse as well because the kids
then have to get up out of their seats to throw away all the pencil shavings,
but getting out of their seats means raising their hand and asking for
permission. This is not a quiet task though either. It usually consists of 2 or
3 (at minimum) shouting “Profa, profa, profa” (teacher, teacher, teacher) until
I turn around from helping another student. I am
determined to get around this.
Thanks to my mom I should have a large supply of pencils coming. I will be somehow marking these as “English Class Only” which will need to be returned before leaving. Using old coke bottles I’ve created containers for broken pencils and good pencils. This way each kid can simply swap out pencils when they break. The kids are teaching me patience, planning and organization. Hopefully, before the end of the year they’ll have learned some English from me.
I left the Farm Friday morning with my bags packed for a relaxing weekend at 
After dinner the rest of the gang came down singing our “traditional” birthday songs and to complete it they had with a delicious homemade ice cream cake courtesy of Laura. We had a tiki bar and bonfire celebration on the beach before going swimming in the bay under the stars. As it was pointed out to me this is quite possibly the first birthday I’ve celebrated while the thermometer is above freezing.
Saturday morning I was able to check another thing off the bucket list. Well, technically snorkeling was not on my bucket list, but it seems like something that ought to have been. Which by the way, I have also made an actual bucket list now… that will get posted later. As I was saying, we went on a morning snorkeling expedition out in the bay. A boat took us out to the edge of the bay where a expansive coral reef creates the border between the bay and the Caribbean .
I strapped on my flippers, suction the goggle mask to my face and practiced breathing through the snorkel. Now not being able to breathe through my nose and feeling pretty well claustrophobic it was time to slip into the water. Holding onto the ladder for a minute as I calm my breathing I put my face into the water. For the next few seconds a brilliant world of colorful plants, coral and fish surrounded me. I wish I had invested in that underwater camera.
This moment of awe lasted just a few seconds though before water began filling my mask. It was then I realized against my hopes that I would not be able to wear my glasses and use my mask. After a couple more failed attempts I tossed my glasses back in the boat.
Now free from the constant flood of salt water in my mask I was able to venture further out. Just inches below I skimmed over the tops of plants the same height as myself. The view from above to below the water is like upgrading from a static filled black and white TV to the I-Max theatre in high definition. That is even in despite of not wearing my glasses. It a beautiful sensation to actually see first hand the view only seen captured on video.
Laura, Kiddissa a few tourists and I spent about a half hour at the reef before heading to the other side of the bay. Our next stop was in the shallows where just three or feet down in the crystal clear water the boat skimmed over huge brightly colored star fish. About every 10 feet there were 2 or 3 starfish each the size of my foot. From above against the brilliantly white seafloor the reds, yellows, oranges and even green starfish looked like a child’s splatter painting. From under the water not even National Geographic can do it justice.
Just a few yards away we were brought to a “shipwreck”. I put it in quotes because it’s really just a small sunken fishing boat that went under during Hurricane Mitch in 1998. While it doesn’t exactly have the same imagery as perhaps the Titanic it is still pretty sweet to see how nature has taken over the boat turning it into a reef and home to a school of palm-sized blue and yellow stripped metallic fish. It is almost as if you are flying over an underwater city. I can really understand why there is so little of the Earth’s oceans that we know.
So now that I’ve had a mustard seed sized glimpse of the world under water I think the next goal is to see it from above. Here’s to 25 great years! Let’s see where God brings me for number 26!
Blessings,
Katherine
