From Porridge to Homemade Remedies....

Well, this week has been very interesting. Taylor, Josiah and myself have been sick this week with sinus and head colds which I believe turned into sinus infections. Thank goodness we can just go to the pharmacy and ask for an antibiotic here...that's right...no need to go to the doctor. She can even give shots if we needed them.  One more thing that is very different than in the states...but I kinda like it.

This week in class we have had some very interesting homework assignments. Mark has had to go around and ask five of the locals what kind of home remedies do they make in their house and what they use them for. He got all kinds of things from stomach cures to sinus cures. Well, guess what? That is right he tried one out on me because I have been so sick. He was to take fresh ginger root and boil it in water and make a kind of tea out if it. After it is done you add in fresh lemon juice and honey. (I personally do not like ginger other than in a gingersnap cookie but I was willing to give it a try).

So, he brings me this nice and hot cup of ginger tea that does not smell too bad. He made himself a cup as well so he could try it. I take the first sip trying to be grateful for his kindness.....my mouth is tingling and my throat is burning. He swallows a sip...and thinks the same thing. We keep drinking until I have drank almost half the cup and tell him I can not drink anymore or I am going to be sick. He laughs and agrees. The next day at school we ask our teacher if she drinks it and she says," yes it is very good for you." She then explains that you only use a "TINY" piece of ginger and you only drink a tiny amount at a time and then repeat every hour or so.......Mark and I both laughed as I told my teacher he tried to kill me with ginger. It was a sight for sure.  Now time for the porridge.

One of my assignments for the week was to retell a children's story in Spanish. Me of coarse being the K5 teacher that I am needed some visual aids...plus I thought if I messed up the Spanish part...at least I have the creativity part.( LOL)  That proved to be much harder than I thought. You see you tell a story in past tense and that was the current subject that we are studying. I thought English was tough...so many different kind of conjugations.  It is amazing to think though that we are getting closer and closer to be being able to speak and write better in Spanish.  Another, lesson that I had that I really enjoyed this week was to pick a person from the Bible and interview them and then write what you think their answer might be. This is actually a good topic for a devotion time in your house. You can write names on a slip of paper and have everyone draw a name and then they have to study that persons life and ask them 5 questions and give 5 possible responses. I chose Rebecca, for my person. I asked her "what she thought about being the first women to have twins?" (my answer was a little comical but hey we are all human and just because they lived way back then does not mean that they were any less human than us) So my answer was this: "Yes, having two boys at one time was a Crazy Blessing, but THANK GOODNESS for handmaids.....Try this activity in your house and see what you can come up with. I think that you will find in very interesting. We have a special prayer request before we leave you for the day. Our family along with one other family of 4 from the school will leaving at 5am tomorrow to head to Nicaragua. We all have to get our VISA's stamped so that we can stay here and study for another 90 days. Please pray for our safety while traveling as well as a swift and easy move through crossing the border. We have heard that sometimes people have waited at the border as long as 6 hours to get through. Please pray that with a 2 year old we will get through safe and fast. We will not have phone or Internet until we return on Sunday evening so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
Thanks to you all....