Last Day Part 2

I wasn't the only one who celebrated a "last day" yesterday.

The kids also celebrated their last day of school for the year! The school year runs February thru November for many of the schools here and Jericho has adopted that schedule.

While Miriam, Eduardo, and I are tried to decide how we're going to keep the kids busy for the next 2.5 months, the kids celebrated that they could now sleep in (usually we're up by 5 am), and not have to do homework in the afternoon.

Yesterday was spent cleaning the school, and celebrating with a great lunch and a big cake. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the day.

Here are all the desks and tables outside to be washed. I was very amused when I cam downstairs to find everything laid out so neatly as if they were going to have class outside!

The kids with their teacher Miss Lorena. She comes every day from a nearby city (about 20 minutes). She is absolutely incredible! 10 very rowdy kids with 7 different grade levels, all in one classroom for 6 hours. I don't know how she does it, but she is incredibly patient and loving with them. Everything you would look for in a teacher!

Last Day

Hae Young comes home tomorrow!

Well, technically she comes home today, but tomorrow she will be at the Villa.

I have a lot of thoughts and emotions going through my head and have put off processing them until right now.

Thoughts like:

THANK GOD!

Honestly, life hasn't been too crazy. The kids for the most part behaved themselves and were respectful to my authority. I've honed my stick-driving skills, and we didn't lose any kids or staff or anything while I was "in charge".

But being in charge is a lot of responsibility and there were a lot of situations where I felt inadequate making the decision.

That being said, I am perfectly content handing responsiblity back to Hae Young. Of course, I will still have a large role in taking care of the kids, but she can have the finances, being in charge of staff, and cordinating with Tegucigalpa.

AM I READY?

That's a funny question to ask after I just wrote a nice paragraph about how excited I am for her to come back. But it will be a transition and I don't quite know what my new role will be. Hae Young's authority will now be first which means that instead of me making decisions and answering questions, I will have to go to her first.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with her authority what-so-ever; but it will be a time of change for me as my authority role changes in the house.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Basically we have been talking/preparing for Hae Young to leave since March. She taught me how to drive stick so I could take the kids in and out of town, she spent countless hours telling me about the kids - signs to look for, personality traits, how to address each one, etc - she taught me how to pay the staff, and basically how to run a household.

So Hae's visit has been in the back of my mind pretty much since I arrived at Jericho. Now it's over, now she's back. I don't have to prepare for anything right now. What will I do with the extra time? Will we get more kids? Will the women come back? Will some of the staff leave? What is my new role?

Lots and lots of questions. Of course, I don't have to answer them because I know that God already has a plan formulated, and I will accept that plan once I know what it is!

So for now, we are content at the Villa. Preparing for our "Omma" (mother in Korean) to return. We are all excited to see her, hear her laugh and of course listen to stories from Korea!