6/7/09-6/10/09

Sunday 6/7/09
Playing the piano went much better today. I was still shaking and my hands were ice cold since I was so nervous but it went o.k. It is so hard to follow the conductors when they are never on the right beat. There are two choristers that rotate and neither of them can get the down beat right. I think on Tuesday I will turn the player piano on and practice leading the music with them rather than playing the piano. Who knows. I might not even go to choir this week since we just found out that Dave Claus is coming down again on Tuesday. I wonder what fun things he will bring this time!! (:
Relief Society brought another new experience. I was asked to sing the new practice song for the month, by myself with no accompaniment and in Spanish. I'm sure everybody loved my pronunciation of the words as well as my cracking off tone voice!! I might be able to count the music but I am not the most talented singer there!!

two days of no rain...of course on the two days that there is no work going on at the temple site.

Monday 6/8/09
After school today, Lily informed me that a lady from the ward was going to my house to talk to me about the job. I asked, "what job????" Apparently a comment said jokingly about needing somebody to do the cleaning turned into a job for somebody!! Great!! The lady, Vilma came with her three little girls. She is one of the ladies in the ward that has been very patient with me trying to speak Spanish. Her husband learned a little bit of English from his companions on his mission and really wants to practice and learn some more. Their oldest girl can speak a tiny bit of English as well. After two hours of trying to communicate (surprisingly well I might add!), they left and I had the biggest headache ever!! It turns out that her husband doesn't have a steady job, just odd handyman stuff here and there. She doesn't work either so that she can stay home with the girls. They are a really amazing family from what I have seen. I have never seen Vilma without a smile on her face.....even when she walks to church with her three little kids and her husband every week. They live further away from the church than we do!! The people here continue to impress me with their hardword, diligence, and faith!!
Another thing that I noticed when Vilma and her girls were here was that my own kids have become very dependent on each other. As soon as the other kids came, all four of my kids ran off together to play. It wasn't really a positive in that moment but, it has been great to see how close they have grown and how much they stick together and watch out for each other. Just the other day, Laina was having a tough time going to her class so Morgan took her and gave her 1 quetzal ($) to buy a gumball after class if she went. When I asked Morgan why she gave her money she told me that she felt so sad for Laina because she was so upset.
Another positive that I am starting to notice since we've been here is that Morgan and I seem to be getting closer and getting along better. We have your typical mother/daughter (that wants to be 16) syndrome. We both have very strong personalities and we often butt heads. Since I started teaching something has changed. Morgan wants to be with me at school and wants to help me with stuff. It's been kind of nice!!

Tuesday 6/9/09
School is going o.k. but it is my turn to be sick. I've been fighting this cold (or whatever it is) for a while but it finally caught up to me!! I am still able to manage though so I spent the day at school, taught piano lessons, cooked dinner with no gas, and went to choir practice.
The piano lessons seem to be going well. I really need to learn some of the music terminology in Spanish so that I can help other people that don't speak English!! It would also help out a lot at choir practice!! There were a lot of people at the practice tonight. At the end of the practice, the choir director was talking to the group and I managed to figure out that we have to meet early on Sunday and wear certain clothes. I of course double checked my understanding with Lily and she said that I was right!! YEAH!!
During the day, Dave Claus arrived. Chris and him were in meetings until almost 8:00!! It's always a surprise to see what he will bring. This time I asked him to get me some piano books from Deseret Books. He went and got them but then left them on his desk. His wife found out and gave him several beginning books and flashcards to bring to me. Apparently she's been teaching piano for years and had some leftover stuff. I was soooooo happy!!

Wednesday 6/10/09
Today I got some excellent and not so excellent news. All schools in Quetzaltenango (or maybe Guatemala??) are being shut down for two weeks due to the flu. Yeah, no school!! Boo, flu!!! Boo, I have to get all of the school work prepared to send home with the kids to do at home.....by tomorrow!! I am so exhausted that I don't know if I will be able to get it all done by tomorrow!
The gas went out yesterday when I was trying to make dinner. With Dave being here, Chris has been extra busy and hasn't been able to get a new tank. So our only option (o.k. so there were other options but I liked this one the best) was to go out to eat tonight.....Darn, I really wanted to cook!! We went to Pollo Campero and the kids had a blast playing in the playplace and driving Dave crazy! I don't know what it is about him but all of the kids were instantly attached the first time they met him. They have repeatedly slipped and called him Uncle Dave. It doesn't help that they have two Uncle Daves so that kind of comes out naturally!