Change is good

The great thing about life is the constant change, the continual motion, the refusal to stay the same. I used to get really frustrated with changes and had a hard time with it. My mom has sent me a lot of (amazing) Fall pictures lately (a few of my favorites on the left) which made me think more about changes. How each season, just like in our lives, brings about great things and fun stuff to look forward to.

I feel like my life is finishing a season now and getting ready for a new one. I'm not sure why, we aren't solid on any plans, but I just feel that stirring, that something is on the horizon. I have been feeling strong and healthy now and pain-free for 4.5 weeks now. That is a very, very good change. I almost forgot what healthy felt like! The school is changing so much, as I've been blogging about, and it's exciting to see and be a part of that. I've been reading some great books that help me grow in who I am too, more changes.

So I've committed to embracing whatever is ahead, whatever change is next. I'm going to stop resisiting them, because, well it doesn't matter anyhow...change still happens. But I feel excited and ready and am looking forward to all the ups and downs that changes will bring!

Baby bunnies

I've never seen a baby bunny before but they are pretty much one of the ugliest things I've seen! Mama bunny gave birth last night to 4 little blobs. I'm hopeful they'll be cute and fluffy someday, but it's hard at the moment.

Burn, baby, burn

We have been surrounded by burning sugar cane for a few days now, but thankfully it has seemed to stop, mostly because it's all been destroyed. I've heard various rumors as to why they're burning it, but the most common rumor is that it is a sort of strike because the bank doesn't want to sell the land to interested people who would then provide jobs for numerous people. Who knows? All I know is that we are now being rained on with black ash and it is endless.

The air now smells sweet, a very distinct burnt sugar cane smell. Kinda like when you burn sugar in a pot. As the cafeteria doesn't have windows that close, the ash is flowing in to no end. Today it got swept out a few times, but even still, as the kids were eating breakfast ash was falling into their food...not good.

On the flip side, I do kind of like it after the cane has been burned because it makes everything "clean" and the once sky high leaves and stalks are knocked down for greater vision. But don't worry, it'll be growing again soon, nothing seems to stop the sugar cane.

Fall

In honor of Fall, I've changed my blog background. It's about the only glimpse of Autumn that we're gonna' have on this island! It's still hitting the 90's in the daytime...hard to believe some of you have already seen snow!

Yubi's baby belly

Many of you know Yubi and Ruben. They have struggled with a lot of things...one of them being getting pregnant. Yubi had multiple miscarriages and thought the dream to have a baby was lost. But after lots of doctor visits and treatments, she is certainly pregnant and due in December. This is a little update that all is going well with the pregnancy, these are photos from 6 months and 7 months.

At last!!

We are actually, really, truly doing dental care at the Park Care Center, folks! It's so exciting and a much waited and hugely needed blessing. We saw about 6 kids yesterday afternoon and did just basic care...we're waiting for the dental materials to arrive. The dentist will continue coming once a week and I'm going to do cleanings during the week to check mouths and have the worst ones ready for the dentist. The idea is to get to a point of prevention...which seems like a far dream at the moment. To start by going through each student, give them a cleaning every 6 months and fill cavities and pull rotten teeth. Then we'll be at a point of maintenence where we only have to hopefully do the occasional filling. It's so great to take big steps forward sometimes!

New office things

My office space continues to change and grow with such exciting things. I am now the proud new owner of a sink...my very own sink! I wash my hands all the live-long day now which is so great! The water tank is held on the roof, and it's black, so the water actually comes out hot! Who could really ask for more?

We're installing a dentist chair that was donated and will be doing dental work every Friday with the kids. I'm apparently going to be trained to do cleanings so I can check the kids during the week, then the dentist will come on Fridays to do any work that's needed. It is such a blessing, these kids have such horrible teeth. Everyday I treat sick, black, rotten out teeth and so, as much as I hate to touch teeth and the whole mouth thing, I'm going to do it! I love the steps forward we're taking. It seems like real, physical things that we're moving towards and it will definitely make a difference in their lives.

New Space

We have a new classroom and storage open and running as of yesterday! One of the new classrooms was turned into a storage for classroom materials and sports equipment (very, very needed!) and then a space for two different classes.

We now have all kids present and accounted for after the public school made some difficult adjustments to their schedule. But opening this extra space has now made for a full school...just the way I like it. The cafeteria is bulging at the seams, which is great because in a few weeks we begin to tear down the walls for an expansion! The changes happen so fast it's nice to step back and remember when we were just a 4-classroom building!

Some measles, why not.

So the next sickness on my list: measles. Good grief! I has fever on Thursday and Friday and then Saturday woke up with rash all over my body. Fever continued and nothing I did could break it. This morning I woke up with the rash connecting itself and from my head to my toes...not good. Ariel called the hospital to see if this was a virus going around because some friends had something similar, but they said no and I should come in because it sounded like possibly dengue. So off we went. Diagnosis after all: measles. Glad it's not dengue, that's much worse! So now we just wait out, drink a lot, stay away from the heat (yah, right!) and pray for no more illnesses. On a side note, my stomach is doing well...over a week now with no pain or problems!!