6 hours on winding mountain roads...beautifully embroidered blouses passing by us as we wait for the three wheeled taxi's to clear the way in front of us (called tuk-tuks)...steep fields with curious children watching our bus as it sped by...finally...a cement brick school in the village of Santa Avelina.  Our limited expectations were shattered to pieces as we witnessed teachers using extraordinary methodology in teaching their students in both Ixil (the mother tongue) and Spanish.  Rosa, the director of the school, stands about 4'10",  has a great love for and commitment to her teachers and students.  

We learned a great deal about the struggles of bilingual education as we observed the classrooms.  Every student had a desk with a whiteboard for a top.  Most children read beautifully in Ixil, and entered school with brilliant smiles. The teachers had carefully drawn diagrams of the cell, nervous system, and respiratory system on large sheets of paper taped to makeshift walls.  They sang songs, played instruments, and went outside to sit on the hills to read.  Even so, with all of the varied strategies used, the students struggle, in a monolingual environment, to learn Spanish, the national language.  We gave oral and written Spanish tests to a random sampling of students, and math tests to grades 5-6 to see what suggestions we could give to the Rosa and the teachers.  Praise God, my spanish returned beautifully, and I shared many beautiful moments with the teachers, children, and my classmates.

I had the joy of visiting with a dear friend that I housed with in Dallas who is now working in Guatemala, as well as, a precious Guatemalan sister in Christ that I met while training in Alabama 4 years ago!  

 This was such a rare and wonderful experience that I have yet to truly reflect on all that God taught me in the process.  You will surely hear my heart on that soon!