I Never Thought I’d Ever…

As my first year teaching  and my first year living in Nicaragua comes to a close, some fellow first yearers and I decided to do a little reflecting on this past year. Together we came up with a list of things titled “I Never Thought I’d Ever” to describe the ups, downs, and crazy happenings of this past year. *Some of the things on this list did not happen to me but happened to a friend of mine. I hope you enjoy this fun reflection on my first year teaching and living in Nicaragua!

~have a monkey brought for show and tell.

~end up in the ER with a giant bug in my ear.

~get rear-ended by a motorcycle.

~participate in a corrupt system by paying off a police officer to escape a fraudulent fine.

~be pulled over 8 times in two weeks.

~witness water gushing out of my electrical sockets and live to tell the tale.

~kill a tarantula in my house.

~hear and see rolling waves of lava.

~vacation on a secluded Caribbean island for less than $500 (and snorkel with sharks and shipwrecks).

~get sent home from school unexpectedly due to political rioting.

~have an actual earthquake evacuation.

~want to go to the movies for a reason other than the movies. #AC

~have a shower-head that catches fire and pitches smoke at me.

~have a shower every day under something called a widow-maker.

~be called “grandma” by my students.

~own a car in another country.

~navigate the nameless streets of Nicaragua like a… pro!

~have every creature on God’s green earth fly through or live in my classroom (iguanas, bats, birds, rats, ants, geckos, beetles, cockroaches, termites, and butterflies, to name a few).

~watch a volcano erupt from our school office.

~teach in 102-degree heat. #noAC

~navigate public transportation in another language.

~have bronchitis for 3 months

~sweat all the time.

~be cold in 70-degree weather.

~love my second graders as much as I do!

~love living in Nicaragua as much as I do!

 

Through the good, bad, and the crazy I LOVE teaching and doing life in Nica land. God knew what He was doing when He called me here! This has not been a easy year, but I have grown and learned so much through it and would not have changed a thing about this past year! I am a better me because of it!

I am excited to see what year two brings!