So I'm writing. I don't have very much time so it probably won't be as articulate as I'd like, but something is probably better than nothing.
With that said, I'm in M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I!! My last few days and weeks at home were a whirlwind of studying and taking the Praxis licsensure exams, celebrating Christian's graduation with my family, shopping, packing and goodbye-ing.
Christian's graduation!! Yeah yeah yeah!
Ice Cream date with my favorite non-family family...Isaac, Noelle, and Rosaline.
Oh heyo 2-0-1-1 graduates!!
My time at home was not nearly long enough--it never is--but certainly a refreshing transition time between the craziness of finals and graduation and the beginning of my Mississippi adventure.
On June 4th, Christian and I began our cross-country road trip and had a BLAST! Oh gosh we had so much fun! We stopped along the way to visit my friend Micah in Oklahoma City (who is also here in the Delta with TFA) and our family friends the Lewis' in Little Rock--both evenings were wonderful gifts of hospitality. We also managed to eat at a Subway at least once a day, visit a traveling Giant Reptile Attraction, check out the Mississippi River (twice...we got a little lost for a while), drive through some beautiful parts of Arkansas and Louisiana, and listen to a lot of really great music. Sweet, sweet Christian even drove almost the whole time so I could do my pre-Institute reading in the car. Before I put him on the plane in Jackson, MS, we travelled down to Hazlehurst, where I've been placed as a Kindergarten teacher. It's a small town for sure and Christian agreed that I will likely face all sorts of new challenges there, but it was so good to have him there with me that first time I explored my new home a little. Without getting mushy, our time together was really special and I think solidified that more than siblings, we're pretty great friends too. (Love you Trollther!)
Fazoli's!! (Christian got me iPhone for graduation, which made documenting our trip super fun!)
Home of "Big Al" and "Thunder" in McGeehee, Arkansas in the Save-Mart parking lot.
We made it!
The time when we crossed the River too soon and had to back track almost an hour. Oops!
Love love love already!
After leaving Christian at the airport in Jackson, I headed up to Cleveland, MS where I'm living for the next 6 weeks at Delta State University. Within minutes on the campus, I found my dear friend Becca (also from APU) and Micah. It was so sweet to be reunited again! Our first days of "Induction" (maybe I'll post a list of terms and acronyms somewhere...) were spent in sessions learning about the Delta and getting our first sips of the TFA Kool-Aid as they call it. The highlights for sure were making several new friends and having Emily arrive safely from the Ukraine. Our little circle of four has grown and we've loved all of our adventures with new friends.
B.B. King "Homecoming Concert" in Indianola, MS with old and new friends
Noah (also going to Hazlehurst), Laura, Becca, Janie, Emily, Micah and Wes.
The only place we've found open on Sundays that has WI-FI is McDonalds...so Mickey D's is the new Starbs!
Monday, June 6th "Institute" began. Long gone are the days of lazy morning and afternoon adventures...it's business time. My days begin at 5am, when I cleverly pretend to be more grown up than I am with some business professional dress. Then it's hopping on a bus for the twenty minute ride to Ruleville Central Elementary/Middle/High School--it is amazing just how sweaty you can get that fast on a bus with no AC! We spent most of last week learning curriculum, behavior management strategies, and lesson planning. The days were long, but it has been wonderful coming home to my "Delta family" to eat dinner together, run just about daily errands to Wal-Mart, spend time processing our days, and praying with our little group of girls. So far, we've managed to keep our most of our weekends free for play time. Friday brought us a Catfish fry and movie night. Saturday, Emily and I drove down to Jackson with Becca for her to take a Praxis test. We found a Corner Bakery (I literally got teary when I saw it), a Target, and a Starbucks...big day! After our lovely day and drive, we hit up the bowling alley with our favorite friends. We found a Methodist church to visit Sunday morning and were so grateful for their truly Southern hospitality.
Catfish fry! (I think I might be a pescatarian...)
Corner Bakery...tastes like home!
And starting yesterday--Monday--the real crazy began: teaching four weeks of summer school to entering-Kindergarten students. I "taught" my first math lesson this morning on "identifying same and different." Harder than it sounds, I promise. Not only is remembering how to think those kind of things for the first time a little tricky, but I learned in the most humbling way today that it doesn't matter what your lesson is if you can't control your classroom. All of our advisors in this process warned that the first day would be rough, and they were right. The good news is that there are 17 more days of learning before it's just me in my own classroom with my students all day every day. And for that, I am very grateful and hopeful. And in the midst of having hard days, I am really grateful for the convictions that brought me here. Somewhere in all the behavior management struggles and lesson plan writing and rewriting, I really believe that we are doing the work of the Kingdom. (I may need to hear that again in a few days when I've forgotten...)
AND...great, great, best news...Emily found out yesterday that she has been placed in Hazlehurst teaching Middle School special ed!! Needless to say, I was a mess of giggles and tears when she got the call. God's grace through this whole process has been so apparent and continues to still amaze me. The group of friends that I knew I would have here has been the "home" that I have so desperately needed at the end of these long, hard days. And the new friends that God has allowed my path to intersect with have already become very dear. And, I am absolutely certain that these things will only become more true in the next days and weeks.
Now, it's time to write a lesson on "sorting shapes"... "Super Smart Summer Scholars" here we come!
