Melissa

At PT, one acquires many friends, some of the same age, some much younger. It seems that, for the summer, I have a new good friend from site. Her name is Melissa. Melissa is a hilarious, rather dramatic second grader. Every day, I look forward to the random stories/comments that she has to tell me, or anybody else for that matter (she will talk to anyone who will listen). She loves to sing, dance, and talk about her exotic life. This week, Melissa has topped the charts in her hilarious comments, so I felt her comments were blog worthy :). Here it goes:

Monday: This week, our theme is "Let's Go on a Cruise!" One of my fellow interns at site on Monday, Telana, was explaining what a cruise was to the kids during our morning Harambee session. Telana said "Ok everybody, so today our first cruise stop is in...JAMAICA!!!!" Then, Melissa, standing there in a patient position with her hand straight up in the air said, "Everyone, I would just like you to know that my family and I are going on a cruise to Hollywood. I can't believe that we are all going on a cruise now, and my family is also going on a cruise. We will be meeting many famous people. My entire family is going very soon."

Tuesday: Josh, one of my fellow interns, asked Melissa if she would like some chocolate chips. He had given them to all the students after their science experiment for that day was over (the kids made chocolate chips "dance" in carbonated water with Josh at their science station). Melissa looked straight at Josh and said "Ew. There are two things you need to know. Number one is, I only like chocolate in a tootsie roll. Number two is...NEVER stand in front of a tree frog or it will PEE in your FACE!!!"

Wednesday: As we were in morning Bible lesson, we were talking about how God gives us friends. I asked the students to name off some characteristics of good friendships. They told me that friends were loyal, loving, caring, and people who make us laugh. After I was done asking for characteristics, Melissa, as she always does, sat patiently with her hand raised. I called on her and said, "Melissa, do you have something that you need to say?" She looked at me and said..."Well, yes. Miss Molly, everytime I look at that word 'laugh' on the board, I just---start---laughing!!!" and she burst into a fit of giggles.

Also, during our afternoon enrichment component on Wednesday, we were learning about the Mediterranean (that's where our cruise stopped for the day) and so we tried different Mediterranean foods and drinks. We had hummus, pita, and italian creme sodas. Melissa, for some reason, was very hesitant about trying the italian soda. So I encouraged her to try it. After all the other kids had tried theirs and looooved them, they encouraged Melissa to try. All of sudden, she looked up and just burst into tears. When I said, "Melissa, what is wrong!?" She looked at me and said, "Miss Molly, they are just looking at me and I am SO nervous. They just keep looking at me and I'm SO nervous." So I sat her in a corner where the kids weren't looking so much and literally, 30 seconds later, after sipping her soda, she ran over to me and said, "Miss Molly, my soda is SOOOOOO good. I'm making them when I go home!"

It's true what they say...kids say the darndest things!!!

PT Story Time

I wanted to sit down and type a few wonderful PT stories before I went to bed so you can get a small glimpse into what my job is like day in and day out.
My first story happened last week when a bunch of fifth grade girls kept saying "Miss Molly, I am scaaaaaaaaaarrreeeddd!!!" When I asked 'Why?' they said it was because someone at the church died. I saw them in passing, so I wasn't really sure what that meant, but by the way they were acting, I assumed they were just being silly fifth grade girls. Then, right after I passed them in the hall, I went to pick up my 2nd and 3rd graders from recreation (they're officially "my kids," I suppose) and I was asking them how things went. Then, as I was heading towards the back of the line where some 2nd and 3rd grade boys were sitting, I heard one of them whisper "Miss Molly, come here." So I said, "Yes, what's up?" and three of them, all at once told me that a bride had died in the bride's room at the church. When I asked them why everyone kept saying that someone died they told me that everyone was talking about it. Apparently there is a sign on the bride's room at our site church that has a sign on it that says, "In loving memory of Mrs. Harry Someone." So, quite naturally, my children believe that a bride died in there, and the room is dedicated to her. After I was already dying of laughter on the inside, one of my 2nd grade boys named Efran looked at me with the most serious face and said, "Miss Molly, I know who killed the bride." As I rolled my eyes and said "Who, Efran?" He said......"Miss Molly, it was Chuckie, I know it was." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. My heart about fell out of my behind right then and there. I looked him square in the eyes and said "Efran! Chuckie isn't real." But, it's my word against his and boy, oh boy, all my 2nd and 3rd graders believe Chuckie killed a bride at my church.
For another quick story, the other day after recess was over, I went over to the sandbox to tell the kids it was time to go in. A first grade girl named Sandy and a first grade boy named Erick were both still dawdling around in the sandbox. I went over and Sandy was a complete mess! She was covered from head to toe in a sand mess. I looked at her with Erick at my side and said, "Sandy, you are saaaaaannndddyyyy...you need to start wiping all that sand off of you." In the middle of my sentence I see Erick double over in laughter and hear him screaming "Miss Moooollllyyyyyy!!!!" beside me. After I was done talking to Sandy, I looked at Erick and said "What is sooo funny?" He looked up at me and he said, "Miss Molly, don't you know that you just said that Sandy was sandy!" I laughed out loud at his small, but rather catchy observation.

Glad I could share some stories from PT. This week at our site it's "Game Show Week." We are playing a HUGE game of Deal or no Deal with the kids on Thursdays...with homemade briefcases and everything. Please pray for my kids! And me, too :).

PT Time

Howdy!! *I am in Texas, so I felt that that would be appropriate.* As many of you know, I am working down in Dallas this summer with an urban ministry called Project Transformation. I arrived in Dallas at the end of May, so this is my second week here. Currently, there are approximately 99 interns living here with me on the SMU campus in the fraternity houses. It's been great so far! Last week we all went through training, and oh my was that a long week. But, I am happy to report that I am CPR and First Aid certified. I know, I know, I should just probably hit up med school next. Anyway, I made it through training and then had the opportunity to relax this weekend, go out to eat, hit up an art museum and go to the North Texas annual conference. It was a good time!

Yesterday was my teams first day at our site. We work at a church called Walnut Hill. All together, there are around 70 elementary students and 30 youth. I work with the elementary students. I had the opportunity to meet them for the first time yesterday and I just got back from site today, about an hour ago. I feel like I've already known these kids for years! Most of them strive to be your instant best friend for life. It's quite entertaining. 100% of the children we work with are Hispanic so they Looooooooooooooooveeeee soccer. During team planning last week, my team held that in consideration and decided that our first theme would be "World Cup Week." It's been really fun so far, and the kids love it! We decided to break down our week and learn about a country that is popular in the world cup games each day. Yesterday we learned about South Africa (since that is where the world cup is being hosted currently). Today we learned about Italy (they won the world cup last time); tomorrow we are learning about Brazil, and Thursday we are learning about Japan! The kids are really enjoying the cultural diversity. During our afternoon enrichment today, I taught the kids an authentic italian song called "El Grillo." They looooooved it and really enjoyed singing. It was a lot of fun.

Those are some of the fun things going on in my life at the moment. I would covet your prayers for a safe summer and also for my kids! They are so bright and joyful and it's my privilege to be able to teach them this summer! They are learning about so many wonderful things, and PT is a true blessing in their lives. Here's to summer 2010!