Juan Pablo is in the advanced class and as far as I can tell is there mostly to help out and catch up to where he should be at his age (18). He rolls his eyes at the antics of some of the younger kids but secretly I think he enjoys being at the school. Next to him is Douglas (?), who talks non-stop and has very strong opinions on Catholicism, music, and any form of martial arts. His constant talking is actually helping me work on my Spanish... I figure if I can understand him at 90-mph, I can understand anyone in Nicaragua! Hiding there in the pink shirt is a beautiful girl with Down's Syndrome named Anita (19). She is currently working on A-E-I-O-U and 1-2-3-4-5, yet never seems to get as frustrated with all the repetition as I do! Alberto is 26 and the brother of Elvis, one of the teachers. He is a fast learner and has loves to draw, but by far his best skill is dancing - his favorite hour of the day is right before lunch when we put on music and dance in the main room. Next is Josseling (8), who you already "met". She is teaching me sign language, I am working with her on how to write out the words she already signs. The little girl in the middle who looks about 3 years old is actually 8; her name is Melissa and she can be quite the handful! She has non-stop energy and is still learning that she can't always do what she wants, when she wants. Kevin (15 - really) is very smart and quick to laugh. In fact I wish I could record his laughter to show you exactly how infectious it is! He is very polite and always call us teachers "vos". Kevin is hugging Gabriel (also 15). Out of all the students, I think Gabriel has the shortest attention span and temper, and the biggest heart. Behind him is Carlos (?), a very intelligent guy who is pretty introverted most of the time.  He really enjoys kicking the ball around during recess.

     Karen is the teacher in the intermediate class. I don't know how she got involved with Corazon Contento but I am so glad that she did! She has such a beautiful heart and just loves these kids with everything she has. Though she doesn't have any professional training in either teaching or working with special needs students, she does an amazing job and is always willing to learn new ways of doing things.

     And of course the four gringas in the back row - Amy, Annie, me, and Joann. We help out in the beginner and intermediate classes (I work in the intermediate class), play with the kids during recess, talk with the teachers, and occasionally decide what should be taught that day. We're in the process of planning more activities and ideas for the kids that we can lead by ourselves, to give the teachers a break in their 8:00-5:00 day and also to give them a chance to have meetings with Paloma, the director. It is definitely stretching me and it's a challenge in patience at times, but I wouldn't trade this for anything. By the way, I will keep looking for pictures of the rest of the students so you can "meet" them too - they're all so great!

     As always, I crave your prayers. This week especially our team seems to be a little less focused and a little more selfish, myself included. Pray that we will all be reminded of the God we are serving, and that we learn to give more and more grace to each other as individuals.