My dear brother Michael is heading off to the very warm Botswana on January 10th! He just left us here in Alaska last night. I am going to miss that boy so much! He isn't going to be coming back to Alaska till next December. This summer he is planning on either Interning at a hospital (his number one choice), or will be taking summer classes. He wants to finish his degree in four years, which will mean getting in as many classes as possible whenever he can. Go brother go!
I think this is a funny picture of Michael. What a face!
About Botswana though, Michael is going down there for 2 weeks. He is going down with members of his school in what is called a "Go Trip" down at Union. There are a total of 7 students going (Michael and 6 peers), and two adults (a professor and his wife). Their goal while they are down there is to spread the Word of God to as many people as they can. They are also going to be focusing on making sure the people down there know the truth about God. There may be many individuals who have false beliefs about God. The team wants to make sure they leave there, knowing that people have a real idea of who God really is. Ashley Brown, a pastor at our church, gave Michael 13 Bibles to take down to Botswana with the team. I am sure those will put to great use!
Now for those of you who, like me, have no idea where Botswana is, I am including a map!
Oh and the capital of Botswana is Gaborone. Michael says its pronounced Haboroni. I said that is sounds like a cross between Habanero and Macaroni. Mom and Michael laughed at me!
So I am now back in the swing of things. I have been taking college classes all week long. In the mornings, I have had a 4 hour long creative arts class, then in the afternoons I have a 3 hour long health class. It has done quite the number on my brain. I have yet to get back in the classroom to see my kidos, that will be on Tuesday. We have a professional development day on Monday, so it will just be the staff there. Next week the college classes continue. I have two days of intensive science class on Monday and Wednesday. And I also have a regular class on Tuesday nights that will continue throughout the semester.
I will start my residency soon. I get to be "teacher in charge" for 30 days (6 weeks). Which means I am the one who writes lesson plans and is the teacher in the classroom. My mentor teacher, Julie, will be at school (I think), but I am going to be the one in the class. Last quarter I had a good amount of time practicing this, Julie would leave the room for periods of time to let me get used to teaching by myself. I am really looking forward to my residency, but I am also pretty nervous. I hope it all goes well.
Here are some amazing pictures of Michael's trip to Botswanna!
Michael helping out in the kitchen. The church provides a meal every day for the orphans there. Awesome program!
My brother playing soccer in flipflops! Go Michael!
A beautiful cheetah that the group got to see.
Michael's battle wounds from the cheetah!
