THE ALIAS!

Once again Friday, and the weekend has come upon us.  And, once again, tests were given.  The usual task of a Friday in my classroom.  With giving a take home test in Science on Thursday, I was curious to come on Friday and see who actually did work on it, since the had their books, notes and internet to help them.  When I arrived at school, only one child brought his completed, in which he got a 91% on.  I was very pleased.  Another student brought his halfway finished, while two didn't even bring back the test, and one didn't show up to school.  Wow!  What an awesome turnout on the easiest 100 points they will ever be given in their lives.  For actually trying and bringing back the test, I let the one boy finish while I was out in the lunchroom, doing my other duties.  I really want to try to get these boys grades up before the final grades go out in a week, but I do not know why I am the only trying to do this.  Not the boys, their parents, or anyone.  Only me.  So, I gave him a second chance.

While I was out tending the small children spilling milk everywhere and doing everything else first graders do, Mr. Samir popped his head out in the lunchroom and told me he needed me.  I came in to find my one boy with his face down, as Mr. Samir held onto his unfinished test, and someone else's test as well.  "Ask him what I caught him doing," Samir said as he turned to my student.  Of course there was no response, so Samir told me anyways.  "I caught him digging in the other boys file to find his completed test, and he was copying down his answers."  He was actually cheating on an open-book test.  This is something I had never heard of in 22 years.  It blew my mind.  I gave him many opportunities and this is how he reacts.  I think 50 pages, front and back, of "I will never again cheat in Mr. Isaac's class again" over the weekend ought to teach him a lesson.

This week has been a stressful week for me, the boys and the people in school.  It was just one of those weeks for everything, as things got stressful with grades coming out shortly, but this occurrence really set Mr. Samir and myself off.  We had a nice little conference with the boys, explaining to them where their lives are headed with actions like this.  They now understand they are on their last straw, and they may not be coming back to school next year.  At least not to YLC if this behavior continues to happen.  As Mr. Samir blew up on them, he told them that they have had plenty of teachers come in to help them, but they have ran everyone off, and now that they have me, they are trying to do the same thing.  He said, "Just take next week off Mr. Isaac to show them what it will be like when you aren't here anymore."  (They are clueless that I am going to Haiti for a week anyways)  This got the boys going, as they know next week will not be easy for them at all.  They will soon appreciate how easy they have it with me.  The rest of the day they were apologizing for their behaviors and asking me to stay.  I played it off pretty well.  It was glorious.  If only I could see their faces on Monday when I am not there.  

Today was very lazy, as I prepared to leave on my trip.  Getting my oil changed, pack bags, get money, and get medicines were all on the agenda for today.  As well as driving up north to see my brother Nathanael.  He flew in about 45 miles north of me today, so I drove up and spent the evening with him, and another one of the pilots that was along for this trip.  It was fun to go around the city with them, and catch up again with my brother.  We enjoyed driving around, going shopping and eating some amazing sushi, followed by a fun movie in the hotel room. (Since it was the same price as one ticket at the theater.)  He will be coming back to Miami this coming Thursday through Sunday, however, I will be getting back from my trip after he will be gone.  

In about 5 hours, I will be leaving for Haiti, where I will basically be out of touch with America, unless I really need it for an emergency.  Knowing my past, I will most likely need to get ahold of someone, such as Mom and Dad for an insurance card or something, but hopefully I will get along fine.  Malaria medicine, pepto bismol and other necessities have been purchased and packed to help prevent any types of sickness.  Hopefully they will all do their jobs just fine.  However, I wish there was a pill to prevent being hot, since the 7-day forecast for the next week is 100 degrees and rainy.  Please pray for our group as we depart the States early in the morning, and pray that our ministry will be welcomed gratefully by the citizens of Haiti.

ANOTHER DAY

Thinking back from today, it was very bland.  Nothing exciting, saddening, or maddening really happened.  It was just another day filled with back-talking, sleeping and curse words being used profusely in the classroom.  Practice was cancelled, due to our win and lack of a field to practice on so I was able to come home and relax for a change.  It was awesome to just be able to have the entire evening to relax.

Being Thursday night, we were required to be a "community" and do something as a house.  DOOR sets one day, or evening, apart from everything else to hang out together, getting to know our housemates better and better as the year continues.  While sometimes I feel like doing other things, or feelings that somewhere else would be more exciting, tonight I was excited to be a part of it.  We went to JJ's church, which was having an open art show of local artists.  With JJ being in Pennsylvania for meetings, the girls and I drove down south to the church.  There was around 6-10 artists with their work represented, with age an age range of about 12-75.  The different styles were very fun to look at and try to figure out what the artist was thinking or trying to convey to their audience.  With my art show just around the corner, this was very exciting to see other artists and their ideas.  Seeing other works really helps inspire other artists.  Not really copying other artists, but if a possible idea is seen, take it, change it, and make it your own.  

After this event, we chose to go to Shorty's Barbecue joint, which is supposedly the best barbecue in Southern Florida.  With this amazing accomplishment at hand, and a Kansas boy and Texas girl present, the biggest argument of the year has came about.  Just WHERE is the best barbecue located.  Of course, I know that it is in Kansas City, but she, for some reason, thinks that it is from Texas.  This is like a 1A school playing a 6A school, and yet, we all know the 1A Kansas City Barbecue takes home the trophy.  This argument has gone through texting of friends and research done online to find out just where exactly the world's best barbecue is at.  

Living with people we don't know at first can often be a hard thing to cope with at first, but it is through many experiences that tend to draw them closer.  How are we gelling as a group here in Miami?  So far it seems to be going just fine.  We all have a very relaxed attitude about most things in the house and how we do things.  While there are the hard moments and tense situations that are bound to happen, I feel that we all come through them very well, with a little more appreciation for the person we were upset and how they believe about something.  This experience with living with others is really something outside of my comfort zone, but that I am forced to be a part of.  I am one that really likes things to be my way, and get in routine then stay that way.  Living in a community, this is never going to happen, and I need to learn this.  It would just make life a bit easier.  And always being right in arguments is something that was bred into me.  I think both my brothers and myself inherited that gene from somewhere, because we all go to the ends of the Earth to prove that we are right.  Just like I try to do over something as stupid as BBQ.  While I can do this with certain people and know that inside, even though we are taking it to extremes and getting under each others skin, at the end of the day we can both agree that it is a dumb argument and the only reason it is being made is to just be obnoxious.  This sounds like the story of my life.  Doing things to get under people's skin.  Irritated.  I don not know why I like doing this so much, because some day it is going to catch up with me, when I do it to the wrong person, or group of people.  Such as those that you live with!  This aside, we all know that KC has the best BBQ in the land.

In about 60 hours, I am going to be loading a plane to go to Haiti.  While I think about this, it has not kicked in yet how different things are going to be there.  I have not mentally prepared myself for the things that I am going to see.  I have been looking at pictures of Haiti and the people, and it is amazing the differences that the US and Haiti share.  Will it be somewhat like Guatemala or Bolivia, more like Kingston, Jamaica, or somewhere else that I have been before?  I do not think so.  No matter how hard I try to prepare for this experience, I feel God is telling me not to worry about it, because it is going to be so much more different than anything I have seen or experienced.  It seems as if there is no real preparation that I can do to prepare properly for it except pray and sit back to watch God work!

DITTO

To save typing time, reading time, and thinking time, I will keep this part short.  Today in the classroom was a repeat of yesterday, only about 100 times worse.  Could anything go right at all?  Can just one single day, every student in every school respect authority?  It really is not that hard to do.  I have never had a day where I totally wanted to give up on everything.  That was, until today started.

When I reflect on my time here in Miami, and especially at YLC, I think back to the days when I was scared to go to work.  Scared to drive anywhere.  Scared to stay at home with the new people I was living with.  I had nobody.  I was a nobody in this huge new world.  However, I always had God.  I got closer to God in the first month than I think I have every been.  You always have a friend in Jesus.  Why is it so easy to remember him in the hard times, yet, when things go your way, he is put in the backseat, or maybe even the trunk?  That is exactly what has happened.  Things started going my way.  I learned my way around.  I got to know the attractions of Miami and the beaches.  I got to know people, and get asked to do things.  But did I ever invite along with me, the closest friend I had made in the first month.  For some reason, I always forgot to bring God along.  

When God is left alone, it seems like he would have other people to hang out with.  Why would he be mad if he wasn't invited to MY night.  He has about 6.3 billion other people that he could tag along with until I was ready for him, right?  Well, God doesn't work that way.  God wants to be a part of everyones conversation and everyones activities.  No matter what!  Does God repay people?  Does he make you realize that you are a nobody?  Would such a loving God really put his people through something like this loneliness that we put him in.  Sometimes, I think he does.  Quite possibly what happened to me today.  While God did not leave me, he sat back and watched as I struggled to make it through the day.  He was there to hold me up in the hardest times, yet, when I got back on my feet, God let me go.  And this is when I "remembered" God.  "Please let this day get better!"  But all I hear, or sense is, "Now you want me.  When you are alone."  That is exactly what I noticed.  I really was alone.  No one was on my side, not even administration.  Nothing was right.  Did God forget me?  Of course not!  

I feel like I was reminded of something that happens quite often.  How often do we go through life, cruising on God's coat tails, but never recognize him for success, or talk to him during the good times?  I am the world's worst at this, but I am trying to get better.  I could really improve on this best friend relationship.  

For the rest of the day, we had another game.  The boys were motivated much better today, and took control of warmups, since we were short on time and I had a coaches meeting.  It was a great feeling, after such a day full of crap, to look over while meeting with the refs and see my boys lining up like I always have them do, and warm up at a good pace.  They wanted to be there, and it was obvious.  We went out, scoring on the first three drives of the game.  It was awesome.  Even though our defense was not the best, letting them score several times as well, improvements were being made.  We went into halftime trailing by 6.  But the second half is always our half.  Always.  Since the boys never listen in practice or do the plays, we make them run.  And run some more.  Then again.  While they often give up on the running too, and just stop, we make them jog.  We have them in shape, so we outlast most opponents in endurance.  And that is what won us the game today.  Near the end of the game, the other team started getting laze, throwing passes up in the air carelessly, giving the EAGLES the perfect opportunity for interceptions.  Which is exactly what we got in the last quarter.  Two, back-to-back interceptions stopped them from scoring.  We capitalized on each, putting it to a final score of 24-20 for our second win in a row.  The "new" and improved Eagles are 2-0.  Undefeated.  (That is, since our change in the roster after three straight losses.)

FRUSTRATION

Three day weekends still seem to be my least favorite type, even though I have more time off.  I'd rather come to school all five days, and have less time, then let the kids think this week doesn't matter and struggle through four days from Hell.

Forgetting how it was last time, I went in with a pretty good mood.  I went back to the room we worship in, but only find 2 out of the 5 that I teach.  This is typical as one comes halfway through worship, one comes sporadically through worship and the other always comes 2 hours late to school.  Even though it is all chopped up in different time zones that they come in, I have gotten used to it and accepted it into my schedule.  I do what I can and evolve my teaching around it.  I finally am learning how.  Until today.  After worship, they all come to my room where the principal surprised us all, waiting for them.  She makes the ones that are late call their parents demanding they be taken home until they can learn to come to school on time.  Now, once my schedule is accepted, it is being demolished by sudden organization and strict administration.  I am no complaining about their choices at all, or how they are fairly acting on everyone coming late, but I am just tired of finally getting in schedule, then they change.  It is starting to look like life is just one big schedule change, and I will have to get on board or get left behind.  But how can the train leave the engineer behind?  No one is going anywhere without him, and neither are those boys!

Two weeks from yesterday marks the first marking or grading term.  We send final grades out to parents.  A few weeks ago, progress reports were handed out at parent teacher meetings for the parents to look over and show their students.  We do not mail them out, because we want to know that the parents actually see them and understand the grades.  Well, out of 5 families, I spoke with 0; and still have spoke with 0.  Do people down here just not care about schooling or their children, or is this a nation and world wide problem?  This is a huge problem.  Come two weeks from now, when all my boys are handed out F's, I figure I will have 5 families to explain to.  But will I really?  Another frustrating thing.  

With the two students I was allowed to have in class today, I talked with them about this, and their grades.  It sparked a fire for the morning, but soon, them trying to improve died out, just like every fire eventually will.  Where is the gas when you need it?  With two students, you would think the day would be easy.  Follow your plans,  but only feed 2 mouths instead of 5.  Thats less than half a days work really!  But when it is to a class which is failing as a whole, it is hard to teach.  Do I go ahead with these two boys, which happen to be the best students I have as far as grades, and just leave the others, giving them no chance to do well at a test, which will eventually slaughter their grades even more?  Or do I mess around all day with these two, making it look like I don't care about my job to everyone in the office?  It is a hard predicament to actually find a good answer to.  It is tough.  Real tough!

They made up the decision for me, however.  They decided to be bad students all day, which made it easy for me to just load on the homework and punishment lines that they have to write, which is now a ticket into my room.  The lines not done, they will just join their buddies at home tomorrow.  Sounds fun for me right?  Well, how do I then try to help improve these grades?  They don't care if they have to stay home, because it is a day off.  However, I'm still at school, dropping their grades, looking like the bad guy that is out to get them.  (You may be saying, but it is the child's fault.  Exactly.  You are correct.  That is, until it is your child in my classroom, then, this story becomes hogwash and I'm the bad guy! Exactly!)  This is what I am worried about!  Which then gets the administration involved, making me have meetings in which I show them all the work these boys have turned in, which is nothing.  I have nothing to show for it, which means I haven't assigned homework, making it look like I have not been taking the job seriously!  Gotta love the domino effect.  

But I must remember, on the fourth day, God separated the night from the day, and it was good.  And it IS good!  The nights let us get these bad thoughts of failure out of your mind, and let the sunlight, or day, be a new beginning.  Tomorrow is a new day!  (Now, I just wish that God would have spent that seventh day creating a remote control that could control children.  My life would be perfect then!)

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

As the day began, I tried to think of something to do that Mom and Dad hadn't done.  Possibly, we could get it in today before they had to return.  If they make it back to Miami as often as they had before this visit, they will be 104 and not able to walk down the beach, so I made sure to get EVERYTHING in.  We had to be to my school for a Creole lunch at noon, so I decided to take them back to South Beach, since when we went it was cold and no one was there.  People watching is a favorite past time of our family, so we needed more people to have fun.  And today, with the sun out, it was exactly how we needed it.

We once again parked inland and walked towards the beach, as this parking is much cheaper.  We made it out to the hill that divides the beach from the city, and continued to cross over.  The very first person I see on the beach is laying on their side, watching the waves.  From a distance, I thought it was a European man, wearing his speedo, however, the closer we got, I noticed the bottom piece tied on the sides.  This was most definitely a woman....without a top.  Now I have never seen a topless girl at the beach, but always hear that they are older women who are way past their prime.  Not the typical "beach babe" that someone would actually want to see in the nude.  Not that I am saying I would ever want to see any girl in the nude, but, to be fair to those that do, the topless ones usually wouldn't be asked to pose for any magazines.  This girl, however, most likely could have posed in PLAYBOY.  Now you must remember who is walking with me.  My mother and father.  What an awkward way to start the day.  That is, until I look up and notice they were both gawking too and laughing about what they were seeing as Dad and I were continually making jokes.  They say going on missions really gives you a cultural experience and let me tell you, this is something that I have never seen at the Anthony Lake!

As we left South Beach with common images running, or laying, around in our heads, we took out north toward YLC for the last time.  When we got there, we were welcomed by my staff with white table clothes and piles of food creating mountains on the china they keep at the school.  It was a much nicer meal that we could have purchased anywhere else in the area.  Rice, beans, conch, grouper, onions and peppers, broccoli and fruit champagne.  An amazing spread.  While this is the menu almost every day at school, it was fun for mom and dad to finally get to experience the food that I enjoy everyday.  Eating this makes me really excited for my trip this coming week after this one as I travel south the Haiti where I will be eating fresh conch everyday!  I absolutely can not wait for that part of the trip, and the trip as a whole!

After lunch, we left the school in search of something to do for the four hours that separated us from the time that I had to drop of the parents at the airport.  Since they were flying out of Ft. Lauderdale, we decided to go explore up around that area.  Being the ADHD patient that I am, I always have to have something to play with, even when I am driving.  Today just happened to be a pen that I had in the van.  Of course, since one hand is always on the wheel, I have to use my mouth as a second hand for playing.  I was putting the end of the pen in my mouth, pulling out the end piece, then push it back in.  Well, while driving through an intersection, this all happened at once, and very quickly.  I bit the end off, hit a bump and scared me, gasped for air, and sucked the stupid end of the pen straight down.  Where?  I am not sure.  It either went down my trachea into my lungs, or down the esophagus straight into my stomach.  Still, about 4 hours after the event, it feels like it is still lodged in my throat, but can't seem to cough it up.  I have puked once to see if it would come up, yet, there was no sign of anything "lime green" in there.  So, who knows where that little thing got to.  I am not about to start digging through other things each day looking for it.  Don't care that much.

I dropped my parents off about 4 o'clock at the airport and said goodbye.  I hate how hard this is to do!  It was awesome having them hear for the weekend, and know that I will miss them this coming week, but life goes on.  It will be exciting to see them again come Christmas.  When one person comes, the next exciting event is when someone else comes.  I just received word today that I may have another person coming in a few weeks to visit.  This is always exciting and I can not wait to entertain again.  Maybe this is my calling in life!

AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY HE RESTED, BUT WE DIDNT

The morning came a bit quicker for us today, however, this was the plan so it didn't bother me.  We woke up and debated going to church, but who really wants two services in a row?  Well, it isn't that bad, as I do about every other Sunday, but we decided to do something else.  South Beach it was.  We headed outside to leave, but quickly turned around for our coats.  It was FREEZING outside.  How were we going to go to the beach in the cold?  Well, Mom and Dad aren't exactly beach bums, but just enjoy walking, so we didn't care.

We got in and drove through town, passing all different people in coats and hats trying to stay warm.  I looked around trying to spot the snow flakes coming down to make the roads slick, but wasn't so lucky. We passed a bank with one of the huge signs that has the temperature.  A big 72 slid by as we kept on trucking to the beach.  We stopped for coffee and zipped up our coats as I rolled down the window to get our drinks from the drive-thru window.  Honestly, I really was cold.  Like, s

hivering...for real!

As we got to South Beach, we parked, walked to the beach and stopped to make sure we were in the right place.  Everything lined up right but wait, South Beach had NO ONE on it.  And th

is was the weeke

nd.  Their busiest time.  Who here is honestly dumb enough to go out there in a coat though?  We are.  We had the entire ritzy beach to ourselves, but didn't stay long.  We stuck our toes in the

 water, feeling how hot it was, as water doesn't change drastically overnight like the air does.  The rainstorm from yesterday actually

 

acted as a cold front, lowering the temps, however, it isn't supposed to last through Wednesday, which really is unfortunate.  We walked all the way up South Miami beach, then back down through the town.  Near the end, we stopped for an awesome omelet brunch.  We quickly got back to the van, avoiding a parking ticket as our toll was running out shortly.  (This is just the back side of the beach at South Beach, where everyone walks the streets.)

We left Miami Beach and turned the wheel to face Key Biscayne, one of the northern Florida Keys that actually is just east of Miami.  We really wanted to go to the aquarium, seeing dolphins and manatees, but the $40 fee per person didn't suit our budget, so we just drove around looking at the sites.  What an awesome place that I didn't even notice was right in my back yard.  I will definitely be going back.

(This is the Everglades, looking eye level out of the fan boat.)

This being the day for discovering, we decided to go to

 the everglades as well, another site I had no idea was just the same distance in the opposite direction of my house.  We filled the tank of gas, which doesn't last long driving all over souther Florida, and continued on our mission.  Just on the western outskirts of Miami starts the everglades and it doesn't take much longer to get deep into them.  We saw a sign for Cooperstown, or ville, or something Coopers, but stopped in.  They had "The Original" fan-boat tours, so we hopped in.  I had seen pictures of these and of course watched them in "The Waterboy" and always wanted to experience one, but had never been here. 

 Knowing Mom and Dad wouldn't be back for a while, we decided to do it.  What an awesome trip it was.  Flying through the marsh and swamp seeing all sorts of wildlife, even the gator that came right up to me on the boat.  Why he chose me instead of someone else of the 12, I don't know, but it was awesome.  Absolutely loved it.  The tour ended and we came back to the city, going to my friend Alicia's house for supper and games with some local DOOR alum.  Another great end to an even better day.  At this rate, I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!  

(This guy came swimming right up to me.  I may have reached out and touched him!)

ALL IN A DAYS WORK...OR PLAY

Mom and Dad's first real day in Miami, I woke up to the sound of silence in the house.  Usually, when at home or when they come to visit, the sound of them walking through the house wakes me up.  However, this was different.  Maybe they braved it out and went for a walk through Little Havanah, but who was I kidding.  I found each, still passed out in the beds that I let them use for the night.  I must have been too rough on them, or else my boys were.  Now they know how I feel each day when I come home from entertaining, babysitting or whatever else you would like to call my job.

We woke up about a quarter after 8, which was pretty late considering I was supposed to be at school by 8:30 for a gardening project.  We hurried around and made it there by about 9:15 to find that they still had not started working, but everyone was still showing up.  This is the beauty of Miami time.  No one cares what time things start, but come when they please.

We spend the morning planting the gardens at YLC and interacting with the children of the school some more.  It was really fun to have Mom and Dad come and see the kids a bit out of school, yet, actually having fun doing some community service for the school.  Everyone loved having them there, as not everyone had the privilege of having them in their class, but only got to say hello while passing.  The only bad part about this is that they now think my parents are the cool ones, since they basically spoiled them.  From now on, the kids are always going to be asking where they are and why they are not coming back.  

We left the school after we ate an amazing Honduran and Creole lunch prepared by the school chef and by the elementary teacher, Miss C, who is Honduran.  Mom, Dad and myself loaded the an and took out for North Beach.  I showed them around Little Haiti some more on the way, but quickly changed into the ritzy area of Miami and the beach side.  We walked down the beach almost half a mile and just sat relaxing in the sand together.  Shortly, we noticed people running in, but didn't think anything about it until we felt a few raindrops.  I checked the sky and nothing seemed promising for rain, but we decided to walk back anyways.  On the way, the storm moved overtop the building, which was blocking our view of it.  Being the only ones not in swimsuits, we got drenched on the way back.  However, it was good to be wet as the heat was starting to get to us.

We drove home wet, with the windows down which really helped my failing AC keep us cool.  We quickly showered, changed and got ready to go, as we hit the local mall.  It was my first time in a mall here, but the scenery inside was as if I was still in Wichita.  All malls are the same in my books.  Mom did a great job at spoiling me, which is always appreciated, yet, I felt guilty accepting everything without being able to pay a bit.  As we kept walking the halls, we noticed it was getting near time to go to church so we headed out.

We stopped at home and picked up Julie, then darted to church.  We got their just as they were starting the music.  This was the Lighthouse, the very contemporary church that we attend as a house.  Mom and Dad really seemed to enjoy the service, especially the music which is by far, the best thing they have there.  

We ended the night by taking Mom and Dad to Scotty's Landing, a local seafood place that almost has like an Applebee's menu, only with fish.  It is a nice place to relax with candles and live bands right by the ocean.  Couldn't ask to a better end to a fun day!

PARENTS

Another Friday has come upon us, and will shortly leave us.  

Being Friday, it was once a day full of tests in the classroom.  State tests and spelling tests; the two that are every single Friday no matter what.  As I handed them out today, the boys started complaining again.  They are just like clockwork.  Someday, I want to do a magic show.  Tell people that I GUARANTEE that I can make these boys complain.  Then, just give them a homework assignment or a test.  Simple as that.  Seems like they would realize they will never win, and make me take it back.

Today, they got to work, and were right in the middle of it when Mrs. Beauregard came in and informed us we were having a guest speaker today for the whole school.  I had them flip the tests upside down, and go join the rest of the school.  Little did I know, this would take the whole morning, but I had nothing to complain about.  Meant I had a morning off from responsibility and teaching!

We all sat in the back room and listened to a woman talking about Haiti, its history and the culture.  As I am preparing to leave for Haiti, it was interesting to learn a bit about its history.  I made sure to pay close attention, yet, watch for those dozing off and make sure to give them a nice big poke.  She started talking about their ancestors coming over from Western Africa, being forced into slavery by the white man.  As many times as I have heard this story, seen videos on it and listened to songs, it never had the effect on me as it did today.  Listening to a black woman address a black crowd about being proud and remembering what their ancestors did for them to be in a free world today, really had an effect on me.  But why so much more today than any other time?  I had never been the only Caucasian in the room when hearing it before.  Talk about depressing when you hear all these black people talk about the white man bringing them over.  It felt as if every eye glanced my way and shot looks of hate at my distant ancestors!  I tried to slouch as low as I could, but when you are sitting in from on a crowd in a chair with nothing in front of you, there is nothing to hide behind.  Learned that real quickly today.

After the presentation, I drove up to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up some strangers from the airport that needed a ride to Miami.  I finally found them, and got them loaded into the van with their luggage.  They quickly informed me that their names were Brad and Brenda Shue from Harper, Kansas.  Sounds like a lovely place they come from.

I took them back to the school, where they had prepared a large Haitian feast for us.  It really was fun to introduce my parents to all my kids at the school, especially the ones that I work with the most.  As a writing assignment, I had them all write their autobiographies and then read them aloud to the class, my parents, and I.  While I didn't know what to expect, they all did very well and it was fun to hear what they thought of me and how these thoughts have changed.  One kid admitted he has been scared to get out of his chair and move without my permission because he didn't want me to step on him.  Where he gets his ideas, I have no idea, but that definitely was a new one for me!

The rest of the day we sat in the room and talked about Kansas, as mom and dad would answer questions for them.  They really do have a genuine interest in my home and seeing where I come from.  I wish I had more pictures to show them, because GOOGLE images always gives me the same pictures when I type in 'Kansas.'  Ma and Pa spent an hour or so doing this, then giving them trick math problems on the board.  They really thought I had a family of messed up people when we could always guess what answer they were going to get.  They don't think of trying to figure out the methods, but just love getting the thrill of watching someone guess their numbers.  It was quite funny to watch.  

After school, we came to the house and all took a nap until about 5:30.  It felt amazing!  For the evening, we spent it at an event to help raise money to send to Haiti.  A lot of my students did a dance there, so we went to support them.  After this, we took Brad and Brenda to a very good Thai restaurant on US 1 called 'MOON.'  The sushi was terrific, but I think the company was even better.

It is awesome to be able to show my parents the life that I am now living and introduce them into a culture that is totally new to them as well.  Can't wait for the rest of the weekend.

MATH

While it seems like so much longer, I haven't even been here a full two months yet.  The weeks just fly by, however, the months are crawling by.  And I am not complaining.  At first I really wanted it to go fast, as everything was new and unfamiliar, but, now that it is my 'life' for now, I am wanting it to slow down.  I am almost halfway done!  While I feel like I just got here, I still do realize that I have indeed been here about 60 days.  That is more days than I have ever been in a real relationship!  Don't know if I should be admitting that!

Today, I wanted to try things a little different than what we have been doing for these two months.  Since Mr. Samir is now teaching the middle school, I feel like I can relate my work with his a little easier, making sure my boys are learning what the rest of the middle school is learning.  Only, on a more one-on-one basis.  For math, we took them back and team taught about 25 of the little rascals.  And that is exactly what they are when they are all together in one room.  Too bad they weren't as funny as the little rascals.  Might be much more entertaining to sit through.  We decided to put some large multiplication and division problems on the board, seeing who understood what they were doing.  While everyone worked fairly quietly, we would help those who wanted a little extra help.  My boys never raised their hands OR came up for help, but just kept working.  A few people said they were done, got their papers checked, then went to correct their mistakes.  Then, one of my boys shot up.  "I'm done!" he announces to everyone.  Slouching in my chair, I was nervous to see what kind of answers he came up with, as I had seen him try and do these before.  Did he just rush through to beat everyone and look cool, or did he actually do the work?  This is my worst student in math, so I thought I knew the answer.  He brought it up to me, I worked each problem out, looked at his work, and realized this boy got everything correct!  What an awesome feeling to see that what I have been working on with them, is really helping them exceed past the expectations of the mainstream middle school class.  

Being new, and placed in such a weird "title" at a school, given all the special needs kids, I really wonder each day, "Am I doing them any good?"  I understand I am not the only teacher that wonders this, but that it is a common question among teachers.  How do we know if we really are reaching these kids or doing anything to further their education.  Well, when something like this happens, it makes me do nothing but smile!

A WIN IS A WIN!

The YLC Eagles have not had a game in some time.  Since our last game, as a coaching staff, we decided to get rid of some boys hurting the team, add other with promising potential, and start completely over with square one.  Practices have really been going much better since this change.  While this was promising, we were tested today with the first real game as a new team.  What was the outcome?  Our first victory.  Finally we feel like we are doing something right as coaches, and moving forward as a team.

While we won, it did not come easy.  

We were playing two teams on the field at once.  The real opponents, and the refs.  I have never witnessed a game so one-side by the refs in any sport at any age level.  It was absolutely ridiculous.  However, the boy

s stuck through it and pulled out with the 'W' at the end of the game.  (The picture is of myself and Mr. Samir trying to coach these guys, but obvious frustration by our body language.)

The win aside, today was a day full of mixed emotions.  The day seemed almost promising as all of my boys were finally allowed back in school except for one.  They all came with their lines full completed and ready to learn.  At first, everyone would pay attention as I just had to pull out my stack of 84 papers, completely covered with Colossians 3:20, written as their punishment, to remind them of the power I had over them.  This worked for a bit, as they would quickly get back to work not wanting to be punished again.  However, each minute seemed to get worse and worse, as they started talking back, being lazy and falling asleep in the middle of the presentation.  When they do this to me, that is one thing, but they crossed the line today.

We had guest speakers in the school today, teaching about science and a garden project we have going on at the school.  Each Wednesday, they send a few college students to come and teach a lesson to each grade.  During middle school my boys, along with the rest of the middle school showed no respect for us as their teachers, or for the guests in the room.  The talked, slept, and sat their lazily, not paying attention through the whole presentation.  They would not answer questions being asked, or even try to participate.  I never knew how bad a teacher could look during this kind of thing until you are the teacher being represented.  Right now, those college kids are telling people that Mr. Isaac and Mr. Samir have no respect from their children and are horrible teachers.  All because our kids are too disrespectful to show any courtesy to anyone in any sort of authoritative power.  Could it be a culture thing?  Possibly yes, but at what point is that put aside and actions taken place?  That answer is today!

We kept the entire middle school after 30 minutes of school, letting them have the biggest chewing of their life.  I can guarantee they heard things they have never heard someone tell them today, and been pushed to do something they haven't ever did.  I talked a bit about why I am exactly here and what I really am doing for their school.  They had no idea that I was hear to learn about their culture and relate it back to people from other cultures to help and try to connect cultures or mix them in ways they haven't been before.  When I announced to them that I understood they don't respect me because I am white, they listened.  They never thought I caught on to that, simply because I never said anything.  But it is very obvious.  

I am excited to see if anything will change from this, as I already had 2 or 3 of the students come up and apologize for their actions and want to get better.  Others have already started simply listening to what I say, knowing that I am in authority over them, regardless of my skin color.  It will be good to see what happens, and I am anxious to start seeing the changes that I know will take place in their heads and attitudes.

CULTURES

Being in Miami is not something being done to have fun for a semester, to "get away" or to learn to be on my own, however, it is a time for me to be immersed in another culture, learning about what makes it different from others and learn to appreciate how it works.  Miami, as most likely known, has a very large Haitian community, which I have really became a part of.  When I first found this out, I will admit, I was some what nervous.  You hear stories about how poor Haiti is how much crime may happen.  So should I be scared to be hear?  Should I be watching my back for crime at all times?  While many people would answer 'yes' to these answers, I am going to say no!  Not at all.  

Growing up in a predominantly white community and white state, I often hear stories about crime that happens there as well.  However, for some reason, we are not scared to continue living in our communities.  We hear stories and listen to people affected by someone such as BTK, the most notorious serial killer in history, living a short 50 or so miles from our hometown of Harper, but does that make us question our own culture and stay away from there.  Of course not.  We went on living life as if nothing was going on.  Some may have been more cautious, but what I am getting at is why do we question another culture when we hear about the crime they have, even though we have our own as well.  Did God not tell us to stop worrying about the speck of dust in our neighbors eye when we have a plank in our own eye?  Maybe God was not just meaning this on a personal basis, but on a cross-cultural one as well. 

Being safe in our own homes away from crime, the only connection to other cultures we receive is through the television in our living room, broadcasting live in front of the yellow crime scene tape.  Why do they never go to another culture, perhaps a black culture, and do a story on how all their children are also passing school and going on to college?  Why do news stations not show us the 'real' culture, showing how nice people really are?  Show us the "ripe apples" in the bushel instead of that one rotten one?  Being here for two months now, I am coming to realize that crime is something I have not experienced or been accustomed to in this new community, yet, I have graciously been welcomed.  People see me and respect me as the teacher who comes to help their children learn and grow to be better people.  

It really has been recognized as an experience that I would not have received had I not make the journey down to Miami to experience something like this first hand.  Had I taken the views of the news stations, or other people who have heard stories of what may go on in neighborhoods, such as the ghetto of Little Haiti, I would have gone to the grave with the complete wrong perception of these people.  I hope that my experience can be taken by others, and make them see a different side of what the world sees the 'ghetto' as.

Earlier, I asked the question why God puts someone like me in a place like Miami to do missions.  God is already present and doing great things here, so why do I need to come down to do his work?  People are not always placed in other communities or cultures to show God's love and save the nonbelievers of that group, yet, they are placed there to learn about other cultures, and what they truly are, then, return to their own group of people, spreading the news.  I feel that I have been brought to Little Haiti to learn from them and learn about them, bring it home, and teach others who have been given a false opinion or view of that community or culture.  Before coming to Miami, I was one that would often judge a man due to where they came from.  I would grab my wallet when walking by a person of different color.  With this experience, I am really pleased with what God has SHOWED ME instead of what I have showed others.  This experience has not been to better the people of Little Haiti, but to change me as an individual and God is doing just that each and every day!

To wrap things up, I ask that you could just remember one of my boys and his family in prayers.  I wish I could write why in detail, yet, it is not my place to do this on a public internet site, but just remember (we will call them the Smith's since there obviously are no 'Smith' Haitians) this family in prayer!

ITCHY

There is only one word in the English vocabulary that I think I can use to explain how I feel.  There are several adjectives, yet, only one specific word that gets the entire meaning.  Itchy!  

I wake up and see nothing around me.  Lights are off, no light shining in.  However, I am so wide awake that I feel as though I could go to work totally fine.  I roll over in my bed, grab my phone and push a button, igniting the lights showing me it was 3:07, obviously in the morning, as it is completely dark outside.  No chance I overslept so bad that it is in the afternoon anyways.  At this moment of confusion, I realize why I am awake.  My feet feel like they are on fire.  All the way up to my calves.  As I reach down to grab them, I feel tiny little bumps all over, obviously swollen bites from the bugs that were in our tent in the Keys.  I put on the tallest socks I own, and just pray that they will quit itching and I would be able to get back to sleep before I turn my legs into a bloody mess.  After what seemed like an hour, I finally got into a comfortable position.  Instantly, I woke up to the sound of my alarm.  Thankfully, I had gotten back to sleep and rested the rest of the night without interruption.

While they didn't feel so bad when I woke, I still could feel them under my socks, waiting for the slightest bit of irritation, giving them an excuse to start itching again.  How was I going to get socks and shoes on without hitting them just right?  I just did it normally, and told myself not to scratch.  Not as easy as you would wish, but I succeeded.  

Through the day, I started feeling more and more bites making their way up my legs and into my back.  It seemed as though there was something in them, helping them spread across my body.  While that would be horrible, I am sure it is just the same bites, only taking more time for them to react, making the "itch" appear.  I remember feeling them bite all over my body, even though my feet were the only bites visible with a bump or red mark.  

I went to school, showing the people I work with, all my little bites and asking for advice of what to do to make the itch go away.  While no one knew what to do, they all were very impressed with how many bites could possibly fit on my calves and feet.  By the end of the school day, I had visible and painful bites up my back, stomach and across both arms, as well as the first ones on my legs and feet.  The itch will not go away, yet, just get worse with each touch.  Finally, my principal, who is an M.D., got a cup of vinegar and told me it takes the sting away.  Being desperate, I dump it all over my legs and go to practice.  It cant possibly smell worse than the sweat and dirt that mixes in the air during football practice.  

I went through practice trying not to irritate them a bit.  However, this was the worst part of the day.  Sweat would slowly drip down my legs, getting into the bites that I had scratched enough to open the skin.  This, caused my legs to naturally lift up and rub the other one on the calves.  Well, wearing some athletic shoes with velcro, I lifted them, and started dragging the show down one leg.  The open velcro (rough part) hit my bites, scratching the crap out of them.  This made them light up like crazy, leaving me no other choice than to just lay into them with the velcro, rubbing them and scratching them hard.  My self control finally had left me.

Practice never seemed to end, but eventually did.  Driving home gave me time to not think about them, and not scratch them, as I would wreck.  By the time I got home, I had forgotten about them, and went to shower.  What happens when a powerful shower hits something?  It almost itches it.  With my body covered, the shower was like a power washer, or sand blaster as it felt like my skin was being ripped off.  At this moment, I start to think about my room mate Erin again, as she had so many bites yesterday.  I went to her room, and found her scratching her legs.  She too had thousands of mounds protruding off her legs and looked much worse than mine.  This is the moment I knew that I was going to live!  Thank God.  Maybe this is punishment for rubbing my camping experience into those I know in the snow and sleet.  However, I still prefer this I think.

THE KEYS

Two months in to the adventures of Miami, and I was still yet to leave my five-mile radius like bubble around me.  It seems like so long since I have seen anything other than skyscrapers lining the beach, or thousands of cars all going for the same exit and blaring their horns.  I needed to get away.  Desperately.  And what better place to go to get away from a beach city than to another beach, right?  This weekend, the house and one of our friends, packed up and headed south for the Florida Keys.  This is a trip I have always wanted to do.  To get on US 1 and drive as far south as you possibly can do.  We packed my van full of food, clothes and camping materials and took out for the weekend.

We drove and drove and drove until we finally got to where the keys started.  On a map it looks a lot shorter than what it is.  The continuous 45 miles per hour speed limit a

lso puts a kink in things.  Why are speed limits really necessary when traveling on a bridge over the ocean with casual breaks every time ano

ther key comes up?  Doesn't seem logical to me, however, we arrived safely. 

The original destination was Bahia Honda Key and State Park, as this is supposed to be the nicest beach in the Keys.  It also had a camp ground so it seemed like a perfect math for us an our tent.  Finally, we get there, go to the little hut to see if we can get a site to find out this is Columbus weekend and they have been booked for quite some time.  A

wesome!  What do we do now?  Well, we took out for the next key that we knew had open

 camping, which was Big Horn Key.  About a five minute drive over more br

idge and more ocean.  We arrived, looked over the grounds and decided to camp there.  After paying and getting everything out, the tent was put up and "camp" was settled.  Being two feet from the beach, we didn't have far to walk to the water.  However, it was not the beach you would think of, but pure coral and hard rocks.  We were the only people there

.  We took out walking around the key on the ba

nks, as the tide was out revealing lots of hard coral for us to walk on and explore.  We spent the afternoon doing this, and burning our skin at the same time, as we wou

ld find different animals such as jellyfish, snails and hermit crabs just lounging in the pools left in the corals.  It really was an awesome spot.  (The

 picture is of the beach at Big Horn Key.  It is coral and hard rocks as the tide is out, leaving behind the p

ools of water teaming with marine life.)

On the walk back to the tent, I looked up just in time to not run into two deer; walking the same path as I was.  Weird right?  This key actually is the home to an endangered breed of deer known as Big Horn Deer.  

This is the only place in the world to find them, as the

y never leave the island.  Not like the Kansas deer that total cars, these fellows were little!  Barely taller than my knee, and definitely not bi

gger than my waste.  Almost looked like toys running around.  At one point in the evening, I got one to eat out of my hand.  This, come to find out, was a mistake.  The deer left, and eventually came back with 4 others.  He went and told them that we were ha

nding out food I suppose, but they would not leave cam

p.  It became annoying very quickly.  (This is me feeding th

e deer.  You can thank my room mate Megan for making the picture blurry.)

Speaking of annoying, we quickly became annoyed with the gnats there, as they would bite like crazy.  Right through bug spray even.  And they hurt!  While the actual bite hurt worse than the fleas I experienced in Bolivia, the after bite welts were not even comparable.  These itch a bit, but not like the fleas did.  Not even close.  These are comparable to a mosquito.  In the morning, after the long night in a tent with no covers, no pillow, and what seemed like 105 degree humid air and no breeze, we awoke to thousan

ds of bites all over everyone.  My room mate Erin got it the worst though, as her legs were just annihilated.  Really felt bad for her.  I know how bad my feet itch with the 568 bites I got, I can't even imagine

 the 934 that she received just on her left leg.

We all packed up the tents and camp and took out to the Bahia Honda Key again, to try our luck.  Since we weren't camping this time, we

 were allowed in to the beach for the morning.  We got there, noticing we were only the second people there.  While it was not the imported sand beaches that most people think of, it still was a very beautiful beach, especially knowing it was all natural.  The smell though was horrific, as the natural seaweed was all washed up on s

hore.  (This picture is a picture of the natural beach at Bahia Honda Key.  It was OK I guess.)

We swam for the remainder of the morning as more and more people started coming.  Finally, about 11:30 we took out on our way back to Miami.  However, we had one more destination before we were to do that.  The famous, or infamous Alabama Jacks.  A nice, Floridan hick joint that was famous for their Conch Fritters.  According to their signs, they were the best in the Keys.  However, I think I saw that same sign in

 every window of every restaurant this weekend, so who knows.  I went with the "always safe" hot wings and french fries instead of the fresh seafood.  Why get something fresh and original to the area instead of getting the americanized food right?  Well, had the fritters not been battered in bread, I would have eaten them, bu

t staying healthy with a two hour drive was fine for me.

We finally arrived home about 3 or 4 this afternoon, to yet a still, hot and balmy Miami.  Kinda was hoping winter would hit while we were gone.  No such luck.  Still sweat every time I even think about going outside.  We all brought in e

verything, got showers and got some laundry going.  

This evening, I went out to Chilis and had supper with some friends from YLC to celebrate one of our coworkers passing her state boards and becoming an RN.  It really was a fun time to hang out outside of work hours and rules.  Getting to know someone outside of a school work zone is always fun as the true colors come out, not what they show the kids at school they are like.  While I have been here for a bit now, I am still getting used to the racial part of it though.  As we entered Chilis, I was most definitly the 

only white person in there, except for my friend Alicia who was with me.  However, not everyone turned and looked like most people did at the Chilis I worked at in Goshen.  People here, I have noticed, see people, not race when they walk into a door or place.  It really is awesome, and I am so glad that I finally am becoming a part of this culture as well.

This weekend was an awesome getaway for a bit in between work weeks.  Now, back to school for another Monday as the countdown star

ts until Ma and Pa arrive on Friday.  Four short days and then they will be here.  To experience and live a bit of the life I am living.  In Mia

mi!  (House shot L to R: Isaac, JJ, Erin, Megan, Julie)

FULL MOON

Growing up, hearing about the full moon was something that happened every time there was one.  Well duh!  Why would anyone talk about the full moon when there wasn't one?  Living with two teachers, they would always talk about how bad students are during full moons.  Naturally, most likely because it was my parents saying this, I thought it was made up and went to any measures to prove them wrong.  How could this possibly effect students behaviors, people getting sick, and anything else strange that happens at this time?  Well, I have came to this conclusion.  Parents actually do know what they are talking about!  Believe it or not, even though parents are stereotypical "not cool" anymore, they have been on the Earth a day or two and know what they are talking about.  Never would have thought this to be true had I not been at school this week.  

Lately, I have caught myself sounding just like my dad when I say something like this to the kids.  They ask why I tell them to do something, to which I do not have the straight up answer.  It is just one of those things you know from experience that you are making them do the right thing.  I always pull out the, "How old do you think I am?  Ok, out of that 37 years (they all think I am 37 still) do you not think I have had to make that decision once or twice.  You can do what you want, but I am telling you, the decision you are looking at right now is not going to end up being good!"  Then I close my mouth and say, "Shut up, Brad!"  Followed by searching around my head looking for the real Isaac.  The one who should be saying, "Do it!  Get into trouble!  Have fun with life and get hurt.  That is how you learn."

Back to the full moon though, children become little tyrants during these phenomenon.  There has been absolutely no control over them this past week.  If I remember right, we are just coming off a full moon, which is when my parents said was the worst.  We have had children kicked out of school, children trying to stab teachers in the eyes, children telling teachers that they should just go pee on themselves, and other things unimaginable.  I would love to say it is something with the Haitian culture, however, after being here a month, almost two, I know better than that!  Had my first week been during a full moon, I would have been on the next plane out of MIA to Harper, KS, also known as, "normalville."  At this remark, some may be laughing.  Harper?  Really?  Normal?  Yes, actually.  I have never seen students do things like this in that peaceful little town.  The reasoning behind this: I was the one doing those things to teachers back in the day.  Therefore, I never saw it being done.  God really does have a sense of humor.  The reason I am down here is to work at a school crazy enough to hire me, just so God could pay me back for a few people, such as:  Mrs. Zirkle, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Easter, Mrs. Graves, Mr. Buck, Mrs. Nichols, Mr. Hoopes, Mrs. Dunkleburger, and every other teacher out there that had the privilege of having me in class.  To all of you, three simple words.  I.  Am.  Sorry.

After these days or weeks of full moons, why do we as teachers keep going back to work, week after week, year after year?  Two more words.  First Graders!  These kids are great!  They will liven up any day.  Doesn't matter if your feet just got ran over by a bus and someone punched you in the face, these guys can get you to smile so easily.  And without even trying!  After watching my 5 boys disrupt the whole school today, I sat in the lunchroom with a scowl on my face, wondering why I had to sit in the 106 heat index and watch these kids demolish their piles of spaghetti.  All except one child named Marcfredi.  His mission in life is to make me smile, but he doesn't know this yet.

"Mistah Isaac?"

"Wes"

"Do you have a wife?"

"haha, no Freddy, but that was a good question."

"Well......who buys you things and does your dishes?"

Needless to say, I lost it, and couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day.  Where these kids constantly come up with these thoughts and ideas just kills me.  And why he thinks me, a 37 year-old male, can't do my own dishes just flatters me.  Maybe the moon was talking for him, I am not sure, but these little guys keep me coming back for more.  I never know what the day will hold, but one thing is certain.  I always have a story to write down! 

BIRDS, WALRUS AND TESTS: ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

Test days.  Can be good, but usually are bad.  Getting my guys motivated to take a test is about as hard as getting a sumo into wrestling spandex.  Not impossible, but unlikely.  Then, multiply it by two and give them two tests in one day?  Never again!  My first mistake of the week; not a bad start!

Language and Social Studies, the two tests being taken in Mr. Shue's classroom on this hot, humid Wednesday.  The day started off by finishing homework out in the sun, which was already about 85 degrees by nine in the morning.  Quickly, the work was done and the tests were able to be handed out.  The first one went fairly smooth, with everyone anxious to finish and try to work their grades up.  On Tuesday, we spend the English class period studying.  Directly off the test.  I gave them every question with the correct answer.  You would think someone would catch on that I was reading them straight off the test.  No such luck.  Sitting there like bumps on a log, not involved with studying at all, the information obviously escaped what they call their heads.  As they start reading instructions, the questions immediately start coming to me, followed shortly after with the complains of it being too hard.  Eighth graders complaining they don't know what a verb is, even though we have worked on nothing except verbs the past two weeks.  Did they ever bother taking notes?  Never!

This test ended, followed by the lunch break.  I took the tests outside to the lunchroom to grade when all hell broke loose.  Sounds bad, but not really.  It was just hot as Hell.  Literally.  Heat index of 105 degrees.  Funny thing is, I think when I heard that, they neglected to mention "Celsius" after it, because I know my blood was boiling along with the sweat bubbling out of my body.  I sat down to grade papers on the desk placed outside for me.  One of the fifth grade girls, Angelica, always comes and sits with me to talk.  She is a very fun child to talk to, with great stories.  As we are talking, we look up to see her first grade brother getting his brains pounded out by a kindergarten terror.  This boy came to school just recently, and has had nothing but bad tempers as he tries to shove pencil into anyones eyes that come near him.  Quite scary.  However, he has suddenly become best friends with me, respecting me every time he sees me.  "Good morning, Mistah Shues!," he says every morning with a smile.  This time was different, however, as Angelica went flying over to save her brother.  "Get off him!!!" she yelled as she grabbed her little brother.  The boy doing the beating looked straight up at her and flipped the bird.  And let it fly for quite a long time until I realized this was reality and noticed what really was going on.  I flew into action, grabbing the little boy by the hand still up in Angelica's face, in one steady swoop, swang him out from the table and onto his feet.  At this moment, he starts kicking and hitting and swinging, doing anything he can to get away.  Little does he know his little arms are about as powerful as my friends pet hamster.  He isn't going anywhere.  After much wrestling around, I manage to get him into the office and away from little kids.  The principal got him settled down and seated while I stared from across the office with a stern look on my face, trying to scare him.  "YOU ARE A WALRUS!" he yells at me with tears in his eyes.  Now, I don't know a soul on Earth that wouldn't laugh after being called a walrus.  An insult I have never heard of.  Where does that even come from??  Wow!  Anyways, I laughed and asked the principal to correct me if I heard wrong.  Then came, "YOU ARE A COWARD!!"  He just let them keep coming as I went back outside to finish up lunchroom duty.

If I were to say the rest of the day was uneventful I would be lying.  If a day ever went by at YLC uneventful, God would be playing a joke on the staff.  That is just something that doesn't happen.  After today, I can officially say I have: had a whole class flunk a test, except one student, joked with a nun about her having bad children, seen a teacher walk out of class and school with all her personal belongings, been stood up 4 consecutive times for a parent-teacher-meeting, and made children write out the whole book of James as homework, just to prove that they read it.  Yet, none of these stories could possibly top being called a walrus!

LOCAL FARMERS

Growing up in Kansas, I really understand how important it is to support the local farmers of the community.  Shopping in small stores instead of Wal-Mart, eating at a hole-in-the-wall burger joint instead of McDonald's and shopping at the local grocery store compared to the Publix or Dillons is just a way to help keep money in the local economy in this tough time.  

So what is a way that I can support the local economy of such a diverse community like the one of Miami, or even Little Haiti.  I could eat at the local taco stands sitting on the edge of the street and risk getting H1N1 or something.  Maybe something more like salmonella, but either way, I don't want to be contaminated.  Take some time now to think of a way to support the local community.  What does the economy thrive on in Miami and Little Haiti?  What makes the world go round here?  Here is a hint, if you support the local economy, your world will to start spinning around too. Possibly, in ways you may not want it to.  Give up?

Lets talk a little bit of Haitian gossip (according to the boys I teach at YLC) before we get into this.  According to my boys at school, getting drugs, specifically cocaine or weed, is very easy to come across.  They are a very common purchases in the neighborhoods around the school.  They tell me there is only two options in life.  Make some money doing something like being a mechanic, barber or another fair paying job, or make the big bucks by selling dope.  What great options we have to work with here.  Work honestly and make enough to barely feed your family, or, make one big sale, and buy a new Corvette or Dodge Viper to cruise around in comfortably.  This makes it look like such an easy choice for someone growing up in the community that can catch on to the ropes of the trade.  And what better way to help out your local buddies, right?  Keeping the economy up in your neighborhood, right?

Well, driving and working in Little Haiti for the past month, I have been getting familiar with the places, learning which ones are ok to go to, and which ones I should stay away from.  Funny thing is, Little Haiti has been getting familiar with me as well.  Something I didn't even think about.

As I was driving home today in my amazing 15-passenger creeper van, I drove the same route, waving to the same people sitting on their front porch, as they willingly wave back with a smile.  I then continue on towards the freeway, passing local vendors and children playing.  All in the same spot as every other day.  It is like clockwork.  Same beggars, same cars, same everything.  Anyways, today, as I drove towards home, I came to a stop sign where I saw two of my students talking with a local man.  I slowed down, trying to get the children to notice me so I could wave at them.  However, I didn't attract their attention, yet, I did capture the eye of the man that I had never seen, wearing a due-rag with dreads hanging out the back, and wearing a wife-beater.  Keep in mind, I am leaving school, driving home in the hot sun with the windows down, cranking Rodney Atkins in a place that has never heard country music.  Must I add I am so white people need shades when they talk to me to protect their eyes.  Everything I am doing, including transporting a digital camera, iPod and MacBook Pro on my front seat is out of the ordinary.  (Now, after all that description,)  

I come to a stop at the stop-sign to look in my mirror and see this man coming towards my van.  Now, history (and growing up in prejudice Harper County) tells us that in this situation, roll your windows up immediately, lock the doors, and spin your tires as you tromp on the gas pedal to get away.  However, being a little "too comfortable" with my surroundings at times, I just about put the van in reverse, saving him a few steps.  The man comes to the passenger window putting his arms and head inside my van.  Without hesitation, I say, "How are you doing today?"  Of course at this time, most people would be freaking out, but like I said, I am very confident in this community now, and don't think the usually "worst case scenario" anymore.  Looking at this through cultural eyes, this is an awesome step.  Looking at this with my reality goggles on, this is suicide.  However, he looks me straight in the eye and says in a low voice, "What do you need?"  At this point in my life, after opening my mouth to puke out a few sudden butterflies, I realized just how fast the human brain can think.  To be polite, I have to answer this guy within about 2 seconds or less before something bad could possibly happen.  However, all these thoughts are running through my head:  Tell him sorry for being on his turf and drive off, get the students attention and have them vouch that I am a teacher and mean no harm, tell him I am lost and ask for directions to the interstate.  Come game time, none of these came out.  What did was, "What do you mean, what do I need?"  The little voice from inside the head at this moment says, "IDIOT!  Go and get lippy with the guy!"

Now think back to when I said Little Haiti is getting familiar with me as well.  Driving the same route, people start to realize who you are and where you are coming from.  They recognize everything visual about you.  Well, this guy too, a local salesman, noticed me and wanted to cater to what he thought was my needs.  He looks at me and says, "Yea, what do you need?  You know, weed or something?"  At this moment I knew I was now welcomed in Little Haiti.  At least by this dealer.  What an awesome feeling of being accepted into a new culture.  With it getting a bit late, I kindly declined the local, ignoring my chance to support the economy I am living in.  Hopefully, from this point on, I will not be judged or known as, "The white dude that drives a horrible van, but won't buy the drugs."

MONDAY MONDAY

As I awoke for school this morning, it took me no time at all to realize that I had not had the appropriate amount of sleep to quickly jump out of bed. Usually, I am a morning person.  One who wakes up singing, whistling and anything else that may show signs of happiness.  However, this morning just wasn't that morning.  Maybe, just maybe, I was having a "case of the Mondays!"  Quickly, however, I snapped out of that, waking up completely as I got ready for work.  I was going to make this a good day.  If the week starts off bad, there is no turning it around.  And I am quickly getting tired of bad weeks at school.

Driving to work, I just prayed that the boys did their homework.  This makes it so much easier to be happy with them, and get the day off to a better start.  I should really start making them turn their homework in the last thing of the day.  This way, every day will not start off bad finding out they didn't do their homework.  Would they rather me be so upset through the day of school, or at the beginning of football practice.  If I id it at the end of the day, I am pretty sure that they would not appreciate me as a coach, as I would run them to death, just out of revenge for what the put me through.  Anyways, the drive to work was not long enough, as it never is.  My time to relax and think about the day.

When I pulled in, the school was still standing with no graffiti.  Two great signs after returning from the weekend!  I walked into the school, got to my room/table/area/conference room/movie room/whatever else they decide to turn it into, and got ready for the boys to get out of worship.  When they arrived, they quickly got out their homework, or what they had finished, and turned it in.  Those with work missing, have become accustomed to the drill of walking out into the sun to finish their homework.  Today, everyone was out there for at least one assignment, but they are getting better as we only spent about 15 minutes finishing up the weekends work.  They really are getting better at finishing homework at home, which makes my life easier and much more fun.

We got started on class, but, about two hours after school started, there was a knock at the door.  Of course it was one of my boys, who comes to school late everyday.  Usually about two hours is the time it takes him to finally get to school, but is never in uniform and always has a different excuse.  He forgets that we were all his age only a few years ago, and know all the excuses there are.  

Today we learned about subjects, verbs and predicates, multiplying dollar amounts, landforms, and a little bit about volcanoes.  It really is interesting starting on one subject and listening to how they change the subject to things they really find interesting and then going on them.  Tomorrow, I am going to try and take baking soda and vinegar into the class, and make a miniature volcano for them.  I know they will love it, as I don't think they have ever done an experiment before.  Getting them involved is the best way to get these boys to learn.

To make the day even better, we finally purchased our tickets to Haiti, making it as official as you can before you go.  Hopefully my passport reads Isaac David Shue, otherwise, I may have to forge it on there somehow.  We will see in a few weeks when my parents finally get out this way to visit their favorite child.

For football practice today, we started over on block one, as we taught them all the basics again.  When a team is doing horrible, such as 0-3, you really have to look at what you are doing wrong and make the right adjustments.  When this means letting some boys off the team that are taking advantage of what we are giving them, it has to be done.  Not always the easiest thing, but they realize they are a cancer on the team, really only there for the wrong reasons.  One boy didn't want to play, but cause trouble, and he knew that, therefore, letting him go was not a hard deal.  Other boys were forced off the team due to grades.  After these were let go, we recruited more boys and started over today.  Now, it is going to be a good season.  Practice today was 100% better, as the new roster came ready to learn and play.  Now I am sure that the Eagles are going to win.  No question in my mind!  We have over a week of practice before the next game, therefore, there will be no excuse for failure this time around.

FREAKY FRIDAY

The Friday day of tests.  Once again, it was test time at Yvonne Learning Center as every week we test over the states and spelling words.  This always tends to be quite a task getting the boys to actually try on one of these, let alone, both of them.  However, when bribes are on the line, that is a different story.  This Friday, I told the class that if everyone studied quite a bit, and passed with A's, I would bring pizza in for lunch.  Never in a thousand years did I think that I would be out some money on pizza for lunch.  Come time for the tests, I always mess around a bit, giving the boys a bit more time to study.  I put the tests off more and more each time allowing them to try and pass, as I know they don't study at home.  However, during this time period this week, the boys came to me saying, "Please Mistah Isaac, let us take the test now!  Come give it to us, we want to get our A's on it."  I NEVER thought this would happen.  Come test time, I try to have fun with the test, being a bit funny in the way I answer questions.  Listening to the way they respond, and how fast they were putting answers down, I was getting worried that I was going to have to buy pizza, which I didn't come prepared to do, as my money was at home.  

The tests were taken and handed in.  After the first two A's, I was so happy with them that I was tempted to just go get pizza.  However, the next three turned into D's or F's, which cancelled out the factor of buying pizza.  Thoughts of doing this anyway ran through my head, however, I knew if I rewarded them for not accomplishing our goal, they would never strive to reach it, knowing they will get the prize anyways.  Therefore, I could not get myself to reward them.

Being movie Friday, there was nothing else going on, and no possible way I was going to get the boys to actually pay attention or learn anything, therefore, the rest of the day was spent trying to figure out what we were going to do with them next week.  I figured, why not do lesson plans while letting them give me their input with what they would like to learn.  As we do not really have a curriculum to follow, I can teach basically whatever comes to mind that I think they should know.  Basically, we all start on one lesson, and let whatever comes out.  The other day we started talking about how corn is grown, and ended up with light years.  How it happened, I am not sure, but the learning was amazing as they all were very involved as they led the discussion in this direction.  I feel this is almost the best option for teaching these boys, because they are not going to pay attention to the subjects picked if they have no interest in them at all.  Such as how corn grows!

After school is let out on Fridays, the rest of the day is like a sudden blur.  Why?  I am unsure, but I think it has something to do with the fact that it is part of the weekend, which always flies by altogether.  Why the days of the weekend aren't as long, or seem as long, as the weekdays, I will never know!  But that is how life is, and will always be, according to the drunk guy I talked to on the beach this afternoon.  He told me I will never catch up with life, so I just need to stop trying and enjoy the water!  Perfect advice for the weekends in Miami!

THE ANSWER!

Grade cards just went out.  Everyone had the same grades.  To be fair, I won't state what letter grade they got.  However, be creative with your imagination.  Anyways, how do you explain to children this is the grade they will get when they never do their homework.  They will not understand it.  Nothing in this universe will ever get them to do homework and turn it in on time.  So, how can you give them a grade?  Good question.  Today, however, I found the answer.  Not being too well prepared for teaching anything today, I just took them to the sunny, outdoor cafeteria, sat them down with the books they needed to complete their homework, and just watched them the entire morning until each turned in every assignment to be graded.  I then took them in and introduced them a bit to an art thing we are doing.  I showed them a bit of reward for actually getting the homework done, even though it wasn't their choice.  This finally gave me an opportunity to see their own actual work, completed without cheating.  And without exaggerating a bit, each boy turned in an "A" on at least one paper.  It was an awesome feeling.

What is even more amazing, was reading what one boy wrote for writing class.  They had to write ten sentences of their own, underlining the subject, predicate and circling the verb.  One boy handed me the paper and this is what I read in one part:

4.  My life occasionally is fun.

5.  I wish I was at home.

6.  I hate coming to school and doing work.

7.  This year is the worst year of my life.

After reading this, I asked him, "Is the reason this is the worst year of my life because I am your teacher?" (Remember, it was awesome for me to hear this.  I loved hearing this.  Made me realize I am here for a reason.)  No answer was given as he smiled at me uncomfortably, as his head was shook no, then yes, then no.  "Well, what is it?  Is it me?  Am I pushing you too much?  Do I expect too much out of you?," I continued to ask wondering why this year is so bad.  It seems to me that he has been having fun most of the time.  "Well Isaac, last year we just came and sat, screwed around and had fun.  We didn't have to learn or do homework.  I flunked, but I don't care, cause I had fun.  We actually have to learn this year!"  AWESOME!  I love it!!  This is the best thing I could have heard.  Do I feel bad for putting this kid through hell and back this year.  Not a bit!  Right now he feels that I am his enemy during school hours.  (He comes in after school hours and we are best friends.  This is only school talk right now.)  When he grows up though, hopefully he will look back at what I am trying to do for him and he will remember with a huge smile on his face.

So what is wrong in this school?  Is it just my boys, or is it everyone?  It is not just this school, or community, but it is the culture of Haiti.  I have finally came to realize that these people are not expected to succeed.  In anything.  Their culture tells them that they can not make it.  They will be poor.  They will sell drugs, or something to this extent.  This is their only option.  To flunk out.  Their families give up on them, because they are a mouth they have to feed with no money.  And this is not just a habit in school, to give up, but with everything.  Our flag football game today was lost because of our attitude.  Two boys volunteered to get on the bus.  The other six we had to force, yell at, and make them get on the bus to go play.  You can lead a horse to water, but you won't get him to drink.  This is so true.  We got them there, but couldn't make them play.  Warm ups were pitiful, followed by a horrible first half.  Thank God we were playing a terrible team, so by half time the score was 0-0.  Then, after the half, it was the game of scores, but we had wasted to much time, and cared to little go get a victory.  We ended up losing 12-26 as the last play ended up in us throwing a hail mary, getting it intercepted, and them running it back.  It was much closer than the score showed.  Was I still mad?  Yes, very!  We made too many awful, stupid mistakes and our attitudes told everyone we didn't want to be there.  We played a good game, but the way we presented ourselves was outrageous.  I hope we can turn something around before our next game.  It will make the outcome something these boys haven't experienced, in anything.  Success!! A win!  Victory!  And I can not wait!