The World Cup is On

Yesterday the whole school filled the auditorium to watch the opening ceremony and first match of the World Cup in Brazil.  The opening match was the host, Brazil, against Croatia.  Croatia scored the first goal, and the place exploded.  When Brazil scored, the reaction was subdued.  Brazil won 3-1.

Today, I am in Posadas, about one hour from ISAM, visiting another Adventist academy - Instituto Adventista Mariano Moreno.  It is a bilingual school, and their principal is Dr. Jorge Hilt.  His son, Brian, graduated from SVA a couple of years ago.

The SVA students are on a spiritual retreat on the back side of the ISAM campus in a huge wood.  They are camping out in the back yard.  Have a great Sabbath!!!!!

A Prayer Request

River and James enjoy "un asado".

 "Yo quiero aprender espanol mas rapido*," said James Matthews as a prayer request tonight at the school vespers in the church sanctuary.  I shouted, "Amen!" and so did many others.  The school chaplain challenged the student body, "How many commit to not speak any English to James for the rest of his stay?"  They all lifted their hands in encouragement.

Now, would you find it encouraging that everyone around you would commit to not speaking to you in your primary language?  Would that put a smile on your face or would you look like a deer in the headlights?  That is where the rubber meets the road, my language learning friends!  That is what it takes to do this, and James is taking it head on.

James is really showing me what he is made of on this trip.  He has never been out of the United States before, and his Spanish experience before coming to Argentina was rather, shall we say, uneventful.  But he is making it happen for himself, and I salute him.

I want to ask all who read this blog to pray for James in particular and for each member of our group here.  We all need it.  God created the languages, and he has given the gift of tongues.  He can open ears and loosen tongues.  That is what we are asking for.  Please remember us in your prayers tonight.  Muchas gracias!!!!

* google translate it!  :)

Added note:  River just told me this morning at 7:00 (before the day's opening cermonies) that he promises to speak only Spanish from here on out.  Not solicited by me, but of his own accord.  That is an answer to prayer right there.  These students are serious!!!!  

Man's Best Friend...

I had a welcoming committee today in a few key spots...

Each has his or her own post...

From sun up to sundown...

River and Autumn in a swarm of hungry high schoolers...

Later a meeting with SVA/ISAM Exchange students together.  By establishing relationships now between the students, it alleviates some of the initial culture shock.  I also test them for English.

The complete group from ISAM - Mariela, Santiago, Ian, Joselyne, and Camila.

Another former exchange student and 2012 SVA soccer star...  Gunner!!!!

Un Feliz Sabado en Misiones

 As Adventists, we really enjoy great Sabbaths, don't we?  Well, today was one of those...  We had a great sermon, a great lunch, a great walk, a great visit, and a great shopping trip in the evening.  What more could you ask?

Today the sun came out again.  The weather here is not exactly cold, but in the morning and evening you need something warm on.  It's kind of like being in a cold house.  The sun rises late and sets early, too.  But the weather is by no means cold yet.  Winter will begin here on June 21!

Last Sabbath, a former geography teacher at ISAM by the name of Victor App invited me to come over for some history and background on this place.  Today I took Mr. App :) up on his offer.  His daugher, Mariela, will be an exchange student to SVA from August to October.  You can see her next to Julia in the photo below.  We spent the afternoon on his patio while the kids "waded" (yeah, right!) in the creek out back.  I showed him the map of Virginia and lots of photos of SVA and the Valley.  He showed me all about Adventist history of South America They are so excited!  You wouldn't believe the level of pride and enthusiasm these folk have about going to the United States.

 

Yesterday afternoon, I had a meeting with our SVA students here to get us more organized and focused on the task at hand - improving our Spanish.  We spoke about how to represent our family, school, and country.  The kids shared about some struggles and successes in the first full week of classes and school culture here.  I took a week one Spanish language video sample from everyone and will do so every week until we leave.  I also gave them an assessment of their performance so far.  This is serious business, you know.  :)

During this exchange program, students are graded on a few things: attendance, cooperation/adaptability, speaking Spanish (not English), language progress, and intangibles.  Some are always with Argentineans while others spend more time than they ought with English speakers.  I am docking them for that.  But everyone is doing well in spite of challenges such as frustration at the inability to communicate the most simple things, homesickness, navigating the friendship question, and ordinary logistical issues.  I am proud of each one!

Here are the fathers of two students coming to SVA on exchange from Argentina next year.  You see Mr. App with Gerardo, an economics teacher and current law student.

This young man, Santiago, will also come to SVA this fall on exchange as well.  He plays tennis, I hear...  So, we are little by little meeting our new students and parents.  Here is a photo of Melissa Tejedor's mom.  She loves us so much!

Tomorrow, Sunday, a few of us will be going just up the road to the Adventist Wellness Center to play tennis.

I was able to get caught up on the French Open yesterday, watching the Nadal and Djokovic advance to tomorrow's final at 3 p.m. Paris time.

In the afternoon and evening we will visit the Jesuit Mission at San Ignacio.  The students got some good historical background on this place with a lecture by a history professor and watching the film "La Mision" with Richard Chamberlain and Robert DeNiro.  It is set at Iguazu Falls, which we will visit in another couple of weeks.  Here the Jesuit missionaries worked with the Guarani Tribes.

I am learning more about this area everyday.  It was largely settled by German Adventists in 1912.  It has one of the highest densities of Seventh-day Adventism in all the world.  There are some places around Lake Titicaca, the Philippines, and in Africa that have similar density of SDAs.  This little school (bigger than SVA by the way) is growing.  They actually have a few college degree programs in nursing, accounting, and teaching.

Thanks for reading!!!!!!

Che! 7 dias mas...!!!

Language, culture, school...  It's all nice, but down here this is what it is all about.  "El Mundial de Lionel Messi!"  They are planning to intersperse the World Cup with classes here and there, as long as there are no time conflicts...  Viva el mundial!  Viva Argentina!  Viva el futbol!!!!

Argentineans Coming to SVA

Say Hi to Autumn, Ian, Sarah, Jocelyne, and River.  Ian and Jocelyne (2nd and 4th) are besides themselves with anticipation because they are part of the group coming to SVA from ISAM.  Ian is pretty strong in English.  It will be a little tougher for Jocelyne.  Great news!  Ian is a tennis player!

One of the things I have definitely picked up has been the effect being at Shenandoah has had on these young lives.  From administrators and teachers to parents and students themselves, the SVA experience has opened up their vision to new horizons.  These former exchange students are all into English and love the language that brings back great memories.

Here are a couple with Arturo Finis.  Nicole Wernich was totally speechless when she saw us here at her school.  Kevin Utz was repeatedly bear hugged by our SVA kids when we arrived on Friday.

 Melissa Tejedor's parents (below) traveled up here tonight from Buenos Aires (10-hour drive).  They just gushed about how their daughter left with no English and returned with "English fever".  Over and over again they thanked me.

 

Perhaps I can drive this point a bit further...  Below is a picture of the apartment my family and I are staying in.  It is just below the cafeteria in the girl's dorm.  (Yes, boys get to hang around the girl's dorm!)  When the school administrators brought us here - yes, they all came to pick us up at the bus station and drive us to campus in their personal vehicles - they told me that it had not been used for years.  But several parents of exchange students decided to clean it out and furnish it themselves when they heard a teacher was coming from SVA.  Let me tell you, that was touching...

Doris, left, is the high school principal here.  She invited me to speak for a special Jr/Sr vespers Friday evening about experiences in different cultures.  I am going to base the talk on Acts 17 and 1 Corinthians 9:19-22.  Cristina, right, is one of the English teachers and married to the headmaster.  I am guest teaching 5 or 6 different secondary EFL classes here, and it is fun.  This is an awesome experience.  We love ISAM, Missions, and Argentina!  Hasta pronto!

Misiones is an Awesome Little Place

Today the sun finally came out, and I realized what a truly beautiful place this is.  Our students are feeling the frustration of not being able to communicate well.  This is how learning a language by immersion works.  The more work you do up front, the more comfortable a fit it is when you get here...  Oh well!

 This is a selfie of me and my class.  Yes, I am teaching a few classes down here for ISAM.  I have about 17 hours per week.  It is a totally different experience teaching teenagers here.  I would love to see us do teacher exchanges for our faculty members.  It is an experience you need to have!

Welcome to Kevin's world.  Kevin Utz was at SVA last fall for the exchange program.  He made a lot of friends and fans there.  Here he unofficially runs all the ISAM computer networks.  When you need wifi around here, he is the man to see.  He has a nice little office/crib here.

Sunday afternoon we had a planning meeting with Arturo to get the students their daily schedules and a tour/excursion schedule.  We will be taking trips, local and regional,to several places over the next 4 weeks.  There will be special Spanish classes as well and history and culture ones, too.

Arturo is the man.  He makes it all happen.  What a blessing!