Three things have "ended" or changed this weekend here in Nicaland.
1) On Friday, Mr. Ippel said goodbye to his trusty sidekick and assistant Sandra Telleria. Mrs. Sandra has worked in the PreK2 classroom at NCA for almost five years; both of her children are NCA graduates and now attend university in California. Since her son, Orlando, moved to the US last year, Sandra has been living alone. While she LOVED her job at NCA (and did a great job guiding me during those first crazy months!), she had a pretty big hole in her heart being far from her own children, and decided to fill that hole by moving up to Riverside this month to be with her kids. We will miss her. . .Sandra is a very loving person and has given a lot of that love to Henry, Mae, and Charlotte in addition to the nineteen students we care for together. I will miss working side-by-side with this wonderful woman of God. I am thankful to have "Mrs. Ana" ready to take over on Monday. . .Ana has been helping out all year in all three preschool classrooms so she knows the students and our routine; she'll do a great job helping us finish up the school year smoothly. I pray for peace during this transition for Sandra--many tears were shed (by both of us) on Friday. . .this was not an easy decision for her. I ask God to guide her path in the US, both as a mom of adult kids and as someone who will be looking for work and settling into a new home again.
2) Last night, NCA high school students completed their last performance of "The Desires of Your Heart," a musical about the book of Esther. This was a big deal for the school--they've never done a musical before. They've never used our new Eagle Center stage for a play before. Lights and microphones were new. Building a set was new. Students, many of whom speak Spanish as a first language, did an incredible job memorizing a completely English script. A fellow teacher pulled together a small orchestra of 8, also a first for NCA. It was a big deal for me as well--I played piano for the production, which involved 2-5 afternoons each week after school since January, culminating this weekend with three performances, all requiring me to get through 35 songs (or 154 pages of difficult piano music) each night without making too many errors! My brain was absolutely DEAD after each show--a true musical challenge for me. It was so fun to be a part of the production, and to get to know a few "big kids" at NCA--I'm hoping that the Fine Arts program can continue to grow at NCA, to give a nurturing place for students to use their God-given gifts in the public arena. That said, both my wife and I are looking forward to a bit more time at home. . .thanks to Ruth for allowing me to play for the show. It was a big sacrifice on her part as well!
3) Friday night was Dexter's last night of sleeping indoors. He's been in a very small empty room, containing a few branches and a laundry basket to sleep in. This room, off of our laundry area, was a bit. . .gross. Every two days, the floor was covered in monkey pee, poop, and old food. . .yes, our monkey lacks proper etiquette when it comes to eating and voiding. We are SO thankful for the help of our neighbor Travis, who spent ALL day Saturday with me sawing, nailing, cutting fence, making a door frame and a door . . .basically doing things I would have no clue how to do on his own. Dexter enjoyed his outdoor cage (situated conveniently under our water tower) last night, and now has much more room to soak up the sun, play, and explore (and poop and pee, too), and watch the world go by.
So yup, Monday begins a new chapter of life for me. Mrs. Sandra won't be at school to greet me. . .I can go home directly after school to hang out with the family. . .and I don't need to spend 30 minutes scrubbing the floor in Dexter's room when I get home from school!
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