Field Trip!!!

May 15th and 16th have come and gone. The long awaited field trip for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders is over. Now it's time to blog.

The first ever overnight field trip for elementary students was a complete success. Almost every child attended, and everyone had a wonderful time. We stayed at a fabulous Baptist retreat center (Centro ABEM) where there was tons of room for anything we might desire to do.


While horse drawn wagons are a common sight in Nicaragua, most of my student have never had the opportunity to ride in one. The tractor drawn version was a big hit!

Taekwondo! The kids loved this. What 11 year old wouldn't like learning kicks, jumps, and blocks from Miss Poortenga #2? (As my sister fondly became known as)

Horseback riding was another big favorite.

This activity took a bit more planning and preparation than expected, as the law in Nicaragua requires that you get permits to take livestock across departmental borders (think county lines).

Science activities included Solar clocks, Making compasses, and following compasses to a buried treasure.

The ever popular potato gun. This has been renamed in Nicaragua as the lemon launcher, as they are a bit more plentiful and ideally sized than Nicaraguan potatoes.

We spent all day Thursday and Friday in the sun. By the late afternoon everyone was tired. Even the students!

Roasting s'mores and singing songs by the campfire was yet another North American experience we were able to integrate into the trip. A few students enjoyed the s'mores so much that they went back for sixths, sevenths, and more!


Smart teachers follow the rule: Don't do for your students what they can do for themselves. This rule was applied to our benefit on Friday morning.

All in all, it was a great field trip. During the trip the question kept coming up: Are we going to do this next year? My answer: Ask me next year.

Fifth Grade Fun Time

Every Friday afternoon my class has 30 minutes (or less) of fun time. This has come to include things such as silent speed ball, dodge ball, indoor soccer, free time, and much more. As it is the end of the year, they're starting to become a bit bored with the same old games. Therefore I introduced them to some fun with food.

The object is to get the oreo from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands or other body parts.

Step 1: Clean your forehead. Necessary during the dry season in Nicaragua when 5th graders spend their lunch hour running around in the dust.

Step 2: Twist oreo. This step actually requires a bit of skill!

Step 3: Place cream side lightly on forehead. I would like to emphasize lightly.

Step 4: Use eye and cheek muscles to slide the oreo down toward your mouth. Careful not to drop it! hint: slowly chew other half of oreo to work your upper cheek muscles

Sounds easy right?

Problem #1 Get oreo stuck on eye.

Problem #2 Work too fast and drop oreo on chest.

Problem #3 Nose causes oreo to go off course

Can we play with food more often?

Muchas Gracias!

To all who recently attended a night of music at Hastings Reformed Church

On Sunday, May 4th my lovely sis lead a fund raising event for the 5th grade missionary teacher of Nicarauga Christian Academy.

the lovely sis, Laura

I recently purchased my plane ticket home for the summer at a cost of $450 (yes, an incredible deal and also necessary as I need to take summer courses to keep my teaching certification). I also had taxes of about $1000 that I needed to pay this year. I didn't have the money for either of these. Sunday's event raised $1500.

My God is so BIG so STRONG and so MIGHTY there's NOTHING my God cannot do!

The Eccentric Playground

Despite the heat, the students at NCA still enjoy the playground.

Vicky (3rd grade) is in a bit of a pickle.

Sabrina and Hye Lim enjoying the good life.

1st grade boys love their futbol!

(but what's that in the background??!)

Is that a circular saw??? On the playground???

Only in Nicaragua

Laundry

When I arrived home after school today this was what greeted me from the clothes line. 4 roommates = 4x the undergarments!

True Love

Anyone who loves books knows the sheer joy of walking into a bookstore, and the thrill of finding a great new book. This is one of the things I have missed most about not living in the States. It is well known to my good friends and family that bookstores are my weakness.

There is a little shop not far from my apartment that sells books. I had known about it for a while, and checked it out previously to find they only have books in Spanish. My Spanish is definately not that good. Last night while visiting this shop again, I found two shelves of books in English. I was thrilled! I even found a book I had been wanting to read for some time! You can imagine my excitement.

I returned this afternoon with cash in hand, intending to buy one - maybe two- books. In typical Kate fashion, I found more than expected, and bought three.

Guess what I'm doing tonight!

Hypnotizing Chickens

Some friends and I recently watched an bonus feature on a dvd that showed some random guy hypnotizing a chicken. Just before leaving Santo Tomas this weekend we decided to try it ourselves. After a good 10 minutes spent chasing down chickens, we finally caught one. Here's the rest of the story.