Motherhood and Education

I love my kids. Being a mom is so fulfilling and satisfying.

Andrés gives me joy every day. Today he was practicing being a gentleman. We walked up to the school supply store and back, he concentrating on walking between me and the road, crossing the streets carefully and telling me when to go, holding my hand and directing me around the crowded sidewalks, and opening and holding doors for me. “Pase, madam,” was his polite way of allowing me to pass. As he went, he racked up points, and received a Gogo for every 20 points he earned. By the time we got home, he had 50 points.

Elizabeth has finished her school year, passing every class but one. Granted, some of her classes she received a 7, which is the equivalent of a D, but she passed. She has to take her Natural Science test again, and has until the 16^th of December to study. Next week there is a scheduled study day with the professor, so she will study at home until then, spend some time going over it with him, then take the test in a little over 2 weeks. Tomorrow she has an awards ceremony, and she is receiving an award – for scholastic excellence! I am so proud of her, that she worked hard and even though she came in towards the end of the second trimester, she has been diligent to work towards improving her grades. She says that she didn’t work as hard as she could have, and so we have something to work for next year. I told both the girls that I don’t expect that they will get 7’s next year, that I would hope (expect) 9’s and 10’s on their report cards.

Emily said yesterday, “You’re dis-concentrating me!” to Andrés, who was dis-concentrating her! Tonight she was crying again, wanting to be back in Colorado. It breaks my heart to hear her long to be back in the US, especially as I struggle with not being there, not allowing her to be where she wants to be, seeing her struggle with not having friends at school, hearing how mean they can be to her because she is so innocent. Please God, give her a friend!

Emily is my best study-er. She is very conscientious about what work is due when, and getting a huge jump on it to be finished with plenty of time. I wish her teachers could see the amount of work that she invests in her studies, whether it be for presentations, tests, or just homework. She takes more time than the average student, but she also schedules time for it as well. Many times she won’t go to bed until late because she is still working on an assignment and wants to finish. She has taken her math test twice now, has invested countless hours into studying for it, and hasn’t passed it either time (we think). She will have to take it again in December, and hopefully pass, or she will then have to take it again in February. Again, I pray, God, please help her to pass!

I’ve been thinking about classical education, and am intrigued by the idea, and want to look more into it. I don’t know much about it, only that it focuses on teaching the ability to think, and uses good literature rather than the junk that schools are using nowadays – I say that because the books Elizabeth had to read this year, and what she has to read for next year are sensational, sexual, violent, depressing, godless and (therefore) hopeless. What is she learning from reading them? How is that improving her as a human being? We have to work extra hard to combat this stuff with godly principles and give her tools in order to understand why we don’t agree with what she is learning in school. Seems pointless to have to jump through hoops for school, when you don’t agree with what you’re being taught. Or worse yet, to learn something in school that you don’t quite agree with, but it sits in your brain and you think it over, and it becomes part of your natural though processes. Elizabeth might be able to understand what we are saying about the books that she reads, but I’m not sure Emily will. She won’t understand the books, won’t understand why we object to them, and will get frustrated over it all. Is it worth it?

Polo Argentino

We went to a polo match yesterday. First time I’ve ever been. I wish I had read up on the rules ahead of time. There’s not that many, but it would have been nice to know how fouls were caused.

The game is very interesting, consisting of 8 periods of 7 minutes each – they change horses every 7 minutes – it’s grueling on them, running back and forth all the time. I watched a video before leaving in which a player said that the game is 80-90% horse, and I can believe it. Those horses were very responsive to their rider, didn’t flinch at all when they were hit by a ball, and obeyed every command. We even enjoyed watching the horses which were about to go into the match be ridden and stretched as they ran alongside the field.

I can’t imagine what it would take to sponsor a polo team – four men, eight periods makes for 32 horses – plus a couple of backups. They say each team has between forty and fifty horses! Quite the expensive sport that caters to an elite world.

And what an elite world it is! I was amazed at the variety of people who showed up for the match. I heard more English – all types of accents – more there than anywhere else in Argentina. There were people dressed up, but others who weren’t, which surprised me. Between the two fields vendors have set up shop, offering all sorts of polo related paraphernalia for sale. And there were free samples of many items.

Polo has big name sponsors – BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz, famous wine houses, Rolex, private “countrys" (gated communities for the really rich), banks, jewelry companies, and OMINT, a health insurance company here in Argentina – our host for the day. 

Bryon last week had received an email stating that OMINT was raffling off two tickets for the polo matches, and you had to reply to enter, which he did. Two hours later he received an email telling him that he had won! The tickets arrived via courier mail the next day and we headed down yesterday afternoon to see our first polo match.

OMINT had a booth set up to offer food, drinks, promotional health aids – sunscreen, aloe vera, etc. And so we enjoyed a free coffee and snacks on the house. All in all it was an experience that I enjoyed and would love to repeat some day.

Saying good bye...yet again

Went to Tigre today – full of artisan shops, great prices. Bought a hammock! And hung out with Erin, who was shopping to take presents back to the US for her family.

She is leaving Argentina…the countdown is on. Next Thursday she departs for the US, and I don´t know when I´ll see her next. I´m trying so hard not to think about it, but it´s difficult. We were the newbies in Argentina together, have been prayer partners ever since the beginning, and have been through a lot. I will miss her tremendously.

May you have a safe trip, may you find a job quickly, a new place to stay, an F-150 shiny red and brand spankin new! May relationships go well with friends and family; may you have some precious last days with your grandmother. May God bless you abundantly beyond what you could ever imagine. And may we see each other sooner rather than later!

Costumes

Trick or Treat costumes: a Yankee player, and a field hockey player. That field hockey sweatshirt was mine when I was in high school. I paid for it with my own baby sitting money. My mother, who is notorious for throwing out everything, kept it for me. She had it dry cleaned and stored it for me in her closet in Colorado. I can't believe it's still around, and that it fits my daughter.

And the Yankee fan? Trick or Treat is just starting to be part of the celebreation here, and she was invited to go out with the neighbors. I must admit I was expecting more than it turned out to be; the kids came home with candy, yes...argentine candy, which is nothing to write home about! But they had a good time anyway...

Vampire cowboy???? who knows what he was thinking.