Cristo vive!

Matthew 28:5-6

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."

Kim and Stephenie are visiting me over the Easter break (more on our visit in another post), and today we, along with some other friends, went to the largest Easter service I've ever been to. Every year in Cochabamba, all the evangelical churches get together; they have a walk through the city starting at 5:30 AM, and then an Easter service in the soccer stadium at 7 AM. There is a worship team, preaching, and dancers.

We went to the service, but we just couldn't get up early enough for the walk through the city! :) It was so cool to worship with believers from churches all over Cochabamba. We sang praise songs in Spanish, and there was even a hymn in the Quechua language! The main message was given by the pastor of the church I attend. He preached on the passage from Matthew (above), about not being afraid and proclaiming the good news! 

The Christians here seem to all know the same chants. One person shouted "Quien vive?" (who lives?) and everyone responded "Cristo!" (Christ!) 

And then: "Y a su nombre?" (and to his name?) and they shouted "Gloria!" (Glory!)

The irony of being in a soccer stadium and shouting cheers for Jesus instead of for a soccer team!

The worship band

colors of the Bolivian flag

the dancers

Becca's friend Hannah, Ami, Stephenie, and Becca

Kim and me

Because what's an Easter service without a Christian mariachi band?

Science Fair

The past few years, some co-workers and I volunteered to judge the science fair at a local elementary school in Raleigh. It was always so much fun to see the students getting involved in science and doing their own experiments. (and the free lunch and half day off work didn't hurt either!)

So when I came to Carachipampa, I thought it would be fun to have a science fair here! I wanted the students to see that there's more to science than just the specific subject they're studying in class. The science fair is a way for them to focus on a particular area of science that they enjoy and to explore God's creation. Scripture says "How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all" (Psalm 104:24).

I talked to John, our director, and he was very supportive of the idea. He said they've never had a science fair since he's been at the school, although one of the other teachers said they had a science fair sometime in the 90s. So in December, I started planning the fair, with a lot of help from Beth, who teaches 7th and 8th grade science. 

The students learned how to design and perform their own experiment based on the scientific method. They also learned the three types of variables in an experiment, how to write a science fair report, and how to prepare a display board. Running the science fair was not without its challenges: I had to rearrange the topics I was teaching to allow time for science fair and I spent a lot of one-on-one time with students discussing their projects. Since most of the students had never done a science fair project, there was a steep learning curve for them. But they worked very hard and did a great job! 

The science fair was supposed to be March 12th, but we had a week of paros (school was canceled due to streets being blocked by protesters) and then the seniors and I were out of town for a week on their senior trip. So we were finally able to have the science fair this past Monday, the 26th. 

I was so proud of the students. Their projects turned out well, and the displays looked great. The best moment for me was watching my high school students interact with the elementary students. Even some students who don't like science were actively explaining their project to the little kids, who were fascinated!

Here were some of the science fair project topics from my 9th-11th grade students:

- Testing organic vs. chemical fertilizer on plants

- Testing the performance of a motorcycle vs. a 4 wheeler (!)

- Determining whether a hamster or guinea pig runs a maze faster

- Using electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen

- Building an electric motor and testing different brands of batteries

- Finding the best design for a bottle rocket

- Determining the sugar concentration in water based on the angle of refraction of a laser

- Determining whether liquids of different pH's preserve meat better (I'm sure their parents loved having rotting meat around the house)

And Beth and Max's students had some great projects. The 12th graders, who are taking physics, built a crossbow, a ballista, and a water wheel! One of my favorites was the overall winner for 7th-8th grade (You can probably guess why it was one of my favorites :). He showed how vibrating a violin at different frequencies creates characteristic nodes and patterns in the wood. Very cool. 

Here are some pictures below, and there are more on facebook. 

Beth teaches 7th-8th grade science, and I teach 9th-11th grade science

A view of all the projects in the gym after most of the students had cleared out

My 9th grade class

My 11th grade class
(I forgot to get a picture with the 10th graders!)

Announcing the winners in chapel Wednesday

Shopping trip!

So I flaked out on the February photo-a-day challenge towards the end. Life got really busy and I didn't have time to take/upload photos for a few days. But it was a fun thing to do, and it encouraged me to take more photos and write more blog updates! So here's a quick update on what I did today.

Over the last few days, there has been unrest in two of the suburbs of Cochabamba over the town borders.  In Bolivia, when groups want to protest something, they block the roads, called "bloqueos." This halts all traffic on those roads until their demands are met or they can work out a compromise. These bloqueos have blocked our access to school, so there has been no school the last two days. We call these "paro" days. That's what we have instead of snow days. :)

So Beth and Becca and I decided to use our paro day to go shopping! Since I've lost some weight, I've been in dire need of new clothes, but I haven't had time to shop. So today we went to a place called the Cancha, which is the largest open air market in South America. You can pretty much buy anything in the Cancha - food, souvenirs, clothes, computer supplies...It is block after block of little shops and street vendors. We went to the used clothing section. It's similar to Goodwill; in fact, I think some of the clothes were actually bought at Goodwills in the US and then brought here to be sold. But it's nicer than a thrift store, because the store owners generally take more pride in displaying the clothes, the clothes are usually in good condition, and you can find a lot of new clothes with the tags still attached. I was able to find quite a few familiar brands:  New York & Co., Loft, Limited, Gap, etc.

We spent about 6 hours shopping in the Cancha today. To give you a feel for how great the prices are: I spent about $100 and bought:

- 3 pairs of dress pants

- 1 pair of capris

- 3 blouses

- 3 sweaters

- 3 t-shirts

- 1 jacket

- 1 cute bag/tote

- eyeliner

I'm so glad to have some good clothes that fit me, and for a good price!

February photo-a-day challenge: Day 26

Day 26 is "night."

I had thought that Carnaval was over on Tuesday, but I was wrong! There were more celebrations last night. Here's the view of the fireworks from my window. At 2 AM, I woke up to the sound of a violent, windy thunderstorm. We have violent thunderstorms back in North Carolina, but I'm not used to them in Cochabamba. And in the midst of the 2 AM storm, someone was setting off some very loud fireworks again! It was all so loud, that my half-asleep brain thought "It's like it's the end of the world!" 

Here's another picture from my bedroom window. As I took this picture of the apartment building across the way, I felt a little bit like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window. (sans murderous neighbor!)

February many photos-a-day challenge: Day 25

Day 25 is "green." I'm a little hesitant about breaking the rules of the photo-a-day challenge, because I'm putting up lots of photos today and not just one. But you try taking a trip to the jungle and not coming out with tons of fun "green" pictures! Anyway, the woman who wrote the photo-a-day challenge said "there are no hard and fast rules", so I'm resolved not to feel bad about it. :)

Last weekend, my friends and I took a weekend trip to the jungle about 3 hours away. Here are some of my favorite "green" pictures from the trip. (the rest of the pictures are on facebook if you want to see them)

February photo-a-day challenge: Day 24

(Note: I skipped day 23 because I just couldn't think of anything interesting to do with "your shoes." And you've already seen my shoes anyway, from day 12!)

Day 24 is "inside your bathroom cabinet". So here it is:

I hope you're not getting tired of my "this-is-what-it's-like-to-live-in-Bolivia" posts. Because here are some comments about what my bathroom cabinet shows about life here.

• There are several bottles of contact solution (some I brought from the States, some I bought from departing missionaries). Apparently contact solution is crazy expensive here.
• I brought a full year's supply of several things, such as: contacts, electric toothbrush heads, makeup, razor blades, and nice smelling lotion.
• I brought my hair dryer from the States, which thankfully has a switch to go from 110V to 220V, so I can plug it straight into the wall.
• In case of illness, I brought Cipro and pro-biotics. But praise the Lord for giving me an awesome immune system - I've only had stomach issues once.
• I keep a pitcher in the bathroom to use when I brush my teeth with boiled water. I never use tap water to brush my teeth, although plenty of missionaries do. Personal preference, I guess.
• On the bottom shelf, there are some laundry supplies for the maid, who washes our sheets and towels. Yes, we have a maid who comes once a week - I am suffering for Jesus! :) Before moving to Bolivia, I had never had a maid, so it was something to get used to. But having a maid is very common here, even among the missionaries, and it's inexpensive (especially since I split the cost with my roommate). And amidst all the busyness of being a new teacher, it is a wonderful thing not to have to worry about cleaning the stove or scrubbing the floor!

February photo-a-day challenge: Day 22

Day 22 is "where you work"

I'm breaking the rules and sharing several pics today, because I just feel so blessed to be a part of the ministry at Carachipampa.

Here is the 2011-2012 faculty picture, taken a few months ago. I am thankful to be working with such great people!

And here are some pictures that I took today around the school grounds. (Well, Becca took the picture that I'm in!)

Sitting on the steps at school. My classroom is behind the stairs on the first floor.

View from the second floor.

View of the main buildings

Looking towards the front gate. Apparently the whole school used to be the adobe-type buildings, but the building on the left is the only one left. The current brick buildings were built several years ago.

The soccer cancha on the right, looking toward the music suite and comedor

The building that houses the gym, library, comedor (cafeteria), and music suite

the jatata and playground

The first floor in this picture is elementary school and the second floor is high school

My classroom!