8th grade boys

Coming to Bolivia, I definitely didn't expect there to be any cold days. I was wrong. When I came to Bolivia, I did expect the humidity to be intense. I was right. It's "winter" season right now. If this is winter, how hot is summer going to be? It's currently 95 degrees with a wind strong enough to make you think it's not hot until the wind pauses and you feel the suns full furry. The other sm's laugh at me when I talk about getting sunburned and when I insist on putting sunblock on my face before I have my 1:30 agriculture class outside but they don't burn and therefore don't understand the struggle of having una cara muy roja. My girls frequently ask me why my face is so red all the time. Let's just say the sun and I aren't on the best of terms after my being her for a month. 

Let me tell you a little bit about my 8th grade Bible class that I teach. They have been my class that I struggle with the most because what do you do in a Bible class? Normally, you would talk about something then discuss it. That doesn't work so well when you don't understand the words needed to keep the conversation going. I know some Spanish, just not enough to lead a conversational Bible class for 40 minutes. 

Right now, my students are reading the book of John, about a chapter per day, then we either discuss, write on paper or on the board what their opinion about the chapter is, what we can learn from it and why they think it was included in the Bible. 

This is sometimes how my class goes - I will finish discussing a topic with my students and I'll be in the middle of transitioning to my next part to discuss when either Kepler, Kevin or Eliseo (My trouble makers that are always disrupting class but I can never be mad at because they make life more fun and I like them and their mischievous ways so much) will close the Bible, get up and say in English, "Ok. Class finished. Chow tee-cher." They'll head for the door but I'll beat them to it, block their path, give my best impression of an adult who means what she says, (Being an adult works some days but doesn't work other days) then tell them to "sientate" (Sit down) and whatever follows depends on how they're feeling that day. Either they will listen and go back to their seats laughing or they'll playfully try to fight their way out the door. True story, I've paused my lesson for a good two minutes while wrestling one of them back inside. They're around 14 years old but way taller than me and a little stronger so I just have to outsmart them. 

Wrestling would never be appropriate in the states, but to gain their respect the first time that they said they were going to leave, I hooked my arm around Eliseo's neck and we battled a good wrestling match for about two minutes. I couldn't win because I was in a long skirt and he was so much taller than me but I put up a good fight and he finally decided that he respected me (At least for that day) and went back to his seat. Now instead of wrestling, the boys like to arm wrestle but I got smarter and if they're "good" in class, I'll let them arm wrestle me after class is over. 8th grade boys are something else but I really like them and their mischievous ways.