Back to the Routine

Happy Saturday to all!

I know cleaning house isn't the ideal thing to do on a saturday morning/early afternoon, but that's what I did and I feel much better! The apartment had reached its dirty point, so I took care of that today.

The past couple weeks that I've been back since Christmas break have been pretty easy; I've been getting back into my routine that I have established here. It has been good.

A couple things worth mentioning:

Last Sunday, I tried to make some homemade baked beans. I had never done that before, but I didn't think it would be too hard. I knew that the white navy beans would work for making baked beans, so I bought some from the local market and looked up a recipe online (I had just made bbq pulled pork the day before, and obviously anyone would want baked beans with pulled pork, so that was my inspiration.) I soaked the beans overnight, probably about 10 hours, and then put them in the slow cooker all day long with all of my ingredients; however, much to my surprise when I arrived home from school, the beans were still pretty much like dry spaghetti. Fast forward another 12 hours, the beans were still not done! 10 hours of soaking and 24 hours of cooking later, the beans were slightly soft, but not up to par. There have been a few theories behind this strange experience (maybe the altitude or maybe the beans were old...and actually one of my students told me that the white beans here never get soft; so why in the world do they sell them locally? Who knows!)

For the first two full weeks of school, I have been attempting to teach my students how to research for a biography project. It has been a nightmare! Basically because the students don't want to listen to the way I want the information organized, so we had to take another week to teach them exactly how I want it (and I'm not being some mean old man; the information from individual sources needs to stay with the source!). So, tomorrow, they are supposed to bring me their information...organized well (hopefully).

I'll leave you with a picture from the "Guatemalan Cleaning Experience."

Devin

Settled Back in Guatemala

Happy Sunday all!

I wanted to inform you all that I am back in Guatemala, safely, and ready to start the first full week of the semester tomorrow! I arrived back in Xela about a week ago (Monday, January 7th). We had two days of school last week (Thursday and Friday), and we have our first full week starting tomorrow. The first two days were pretty relaxed. I reviewed the final exams with all of my classes because I was unable to give the tests; however, I wanted to look at them with the students and learn if they were difficult or not. They weren't. My students said they were easy, which didn't bother me too much since I wasn't going to be able to give them (due to my leaving early). My English classes all checked out books on Friday and I gave them some time to start reading them, too. So, I got to be a good role model and I read my book, too! One of the perks of being an English teacher...I have to model good book reading, right? :)

Yesterday I was able to go to the water park that's about an hour and a half from Xela. I went with my Guatemalan friends from Totonicapan and Huehuetenango. It was really good to see them (because I really hadn't seen them much, even last semester). They are the guys my age that I have spent the majority of my time with in years past when I've been here for summer. We spent most of the day at the water park, where it was hot (my mom was surprised because it was snowing in Enid on the same day that I was at a water park)!

Today I have been sitting at a coffee shop preparing for the week. I am teaching chapel on Wednesday over Jesus' Transfiguration. I've never studied in depth the Transfiguration, and I'm really enjoying it! I found a funny intro video that I'm going to show. It's a children's lesson video to help teach the Transfiguration, but I think the middle school students will think it's funny (I myself thought it was hilarious). BUT, apart from being comical, my lesson on Wednesday should be spiritually educational as well.

I ask for your prayers on Wednesday in my teaching chapel. For me, but mostly for the hearts of the students. The students at my school don't like chapel, and I perceive that they just stop listening once someone starts teaching. Please pray that the Lord Jesus would open their hearts to hear about his love for them.

Thank you for your prayers!

Que Dios les bendiga

Mister Warfield (a.k.a. "Mister")

P.S. Here is the funny/slightly ridiculous Transfiguration video that I'm going to show. Don't expect too much or you'll be disappointed :)