Rainy season is here, wide-open and roaring wet. I wish I could send you a recording of the thunder. Sometimes you hear nothing coming, and then suddenly the sky cracks directly above you, so loud it sounds like its falling on your head.
It’s hard to dry anything. Clothes are still moist when you take them off the line, and sheets are damp and sticky when you crawl in bed at night. Leather shoes scum over with mildew, and books molder on the shelves. But the weather has been cooler and more comfortable to work in.
The jungle growth-rate has shifted into maximum acceleration, and it takes a small army of machete wielding alumnos to keep it from taking over the place. I fear that when the kids leave, the school will go as wild they will. One nightmare variety of grass turns into a shrub if you let it grow too long between cuts. It develops an enormous sobre-terranean root-ball that is impossible to cut lower than a foot off the ground. The “stump” that remains has to be dug out with a pick and shovel. It takes lawn care to a whole new level. I find myself longing for the commercial John Deere ride-mowers and self-propelled Honda push-mowers of the Walla Walla Grounds Department, although the tractor with the brush hog or at least the flail mower would be a lot more practical for our situation.
Speaking of mowers, I started working on our solitary push mower this week, the one we haven’t used once yet because no one has had time to fix it’s clogged carburetor and watered-down oil since it arrived in July. Fortunately the cylinder and piston seem to be okay, there was no sign of rust. I think it’s going to work once it’s all back together. Reassembly will have to wait however, because a student helper twisted the head off of one of the bolts that secures the torque converter. (We were going to bring it in to town today, but kind of forgot about it with all the snakebite excitement.)
Cutting the grass so often really makes me think of soul maintenance. I’ve uncovered all kinds of discarded ugliness and a few treasures that have been hidden by the overgrowth: old rotten clothes, mango pits, trash, bricks, tools, and even a couple of spoons, a nearly complete archaeological record of life here at UETIRG. I’ve been surprised at the abundance of the heart of the jungle. As popular as it may be, letting things go natural is not the greatest idea. The closer the jungle comes to your house, the closer come the critters. I found a snake in my house two days ago, and Paeter recently almost stepped on a porcupine on his way back from a late-night jaunt to the bathroom. As the hillbilly buddies would say, “there be things that live in them there woods!” So keeping the bush cut back is not just a matter of keeping up appearances. Please pray for the kids as they leave for vacation that they will remember what they have learned this year and not just default back to harmful lifestyles and habits.
We’ve been busy planning for next school year while we try to wrap up this one. Enrollment is already up to 70 students, making it a necessity that we finish the new girl’s dorm and classrooms over the vacation. A group is supposed to arrive the 20th of November to help with that. Tara has been working on the new class schedule for next year. Several volunteers are not returning, and combined with the increase of students, that makes planning a workable class schedule difficult. Right now I’m leaning toward coming back for another year. I would probably teach two sections of chime choir as well as help with voice choir and teach third and fourth year literature. Tara wants me to write up a literature/language arts curriculum, so if you know someone who would be good at helping me think through that one, let me know!
I’m still working on the school website when I can. You can check my minimal progress here for stories on the international food fair, recent outreach projects, and other news. I’ve been slow about the updates… uploading pictures is a real hassle with the slow internet connection.)
I pray for God speed and thorough sanctification and the soon coming of our Lord and Savior. Blessings
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