Potatoes and Parties

Hello all : ) I hope the past week has been a good one. Yes so it was supposed to be erasers in my last post. Thank you Sarah for pointing that out. I'm not quite sure who reads this, but if you know me, you know I can't spell for anything. So always expect misspelled words in my updates. 

This past week was uneventful till Friday came around. I'm pretty tired from the weekend and late nights of checking my kids work. 

The kids here love helicopters and planes. Having lived by a military base my whole life, they aren't something I pay much attention to anymore. But boy do these kids go crazy for them. Part of my class were taking a test and the other half were memorizing their spelling words when 2 helicopters flew right over my classroom. By the way the kids reacted, you would have thought something crazy or insane happened. Thy all rushed over to the window, screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs. Then at dinner that night, it was the only thing they talked about. Exciting times here at the Rosmarino house : )

Potatoes, mashed potatoes actually. We had an almost Thanksgiving dinner last week. It was absolutely delicious! Stuffing and mashed potatoes are such comfort food. While eating it, I was trying to remember the last time I had either. When I did remember, I laughed so very hard. Jenna, Drew and myself had finished finals and were relaxing, I think watching movie. Being that we hadn't had time to go grocery shopping, we had all the odds and ends left. We had a bowl of instant mashed potatoes and almost an entire carton of butterfinger ice-cream. It was also delicious. Do you two remember that? Sarah I'm pretty sure you were still studying. Good times!

Well moving on to parties. I attended two this week. The Rosmarinos, a few of the manangs and myself were invited to the memorial of a dear friend they have known for many years. He was a prominent man in the community and a Christian. Everyone that attended were happy and rejoicing that he has gone on to heaven. His family were the sweetest and kindest people. Asking how I was doing and adjusting, telling me if I ever needed anything to just ask and they will help me out. Just so sweet and loving. Here I am, someone they don't know at a funeral for their loved one, and they are making sure I'm okay and my needs are met. Truly a wonderful family. I also met a few of the old timers (what they call themselves), the missionaries and Christians who have been here longer than the Rosmarinos. They were also very sweet and gracious. 

The 2nd party was very different. A christian woman has celebrated her birthday with different ministries that focus on kids by throwing a party for the kids. She heard about the family through a friend who had helped at the toms shoe day and decided that she would celebrate her birthday here with the kids. They had so much fun! Games, hotdogs, cotton candy and prizes! We were all blessed by it. All the kids got water bottles. They are so EXCITED to use them in school. I have a water bottle that I bring to class and all my kids are saying they are going to be just like me now. So adorable. Before she handed out the bottles, she explained that she wanted to be a blessing to the family and instead she herself was so blessed. She told the kids that she had so much fin with them, that she wants to celebrate with the kids every year. That is so true of the Rosmarino family. When you try to bless them, you end up being so much more blessed. They love to love you. It's quite amazing. 

I taught Sunday school today. It was on Rehab and the spies. Much more exciting than my previous Sunday of teaching on moses' death. Well I only planned on 30 kids since that's about how many come. There were 38 today. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough coloring papers, snacks and a red ribbon like the rope in the story. But God faithfully provided exactly for my needs. I had 39 colouring papers, 38 snacks and ribbons. Thank the Lord that I had just enough. After class about 10 of the kids walked up to me and pointed to me and said kiss mum. And they all kissed me on the cheek. Calling my mum and giving a kiss is a sign of respect here. I thought they the outside kids didn't like since they are all quiet when I teach and never answer questions. But I guess they actually like me : ) even more thankful for that!

Oh I went to the wet market with them Friday morning. I was much more awake this time and realized how gross it really is. I think I was too asleep an had a stuffy nose to get a real picture of the place. Those of you who have been, you know what I'm talking about. And just incase anyone had any doubts, I do not look Filipino in the slightest. The poor manang that I was with, had to keep giving men "the look" and telling people to mind their own business when they asked about me. Good ol' Tatay when asked if I was one of his daughters said yes with a look and a tone that only a father can do. The one that makes the other man alittle fearful. Dad you know what I'm talking about. I love that I really am apart of the family. On a funnier note, I had told the manangs about guacamole and how it's my favorite snack. There was so much confusion. First off in ilongo it sounds like I'm telling them to go get sweet potatoes. Gwa means go out and camoty means sweet potatoes. And how it's pronounced ends up sounding like guacamole. Once that was all straightened out, i described it to them. Here the Philippines, especially on this island, everything is sweet. Down to the milk and sandwich bread. So it's only normal that they eat avocados sweet. They put sugar and condensed milk in it and eat it like a pudding. So weird, I know. But they thought my way was weird too. I made t for them the other night and a few of them tolerated it but the overall opinion was that it wasn't sweet enough. Now it's my turn to try it their way since they were such good sports about trying it my way. I'll let you all know if it's good. 

I got another letter this week! Letters truly cheer me up in a way that an email can't. Also in the picture is my new mug, a big one :) that says Bacolod and has the sugar trucks that it's know for! Isn't it so great! Well I think that is it for this week. School is plugging along. We are working on writing paragraphs and figuring out what is the main idea of a story as opposed to details. This week should be busy. We have people coming for a few days and manang Laura should be back I believe! 

2 Timothy 2:1 "therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

Thanks to everyone who is praying for me, the Rosmarinos and my family.

Till next time,

Kelsey