my benefactress

This is the lady responsible for my not quiting teaching at Libertad this past week! Elizabeth Dunlap, or Liz as we all call her. Liz taught at Libertad for many years and people at the school know her and love her. Behind Liz and in front of Harry is the new copy machine she bought for the lab on Friday. The books I dreamed of having were ordered too last weekend from Barnes and Noble and will be brought down by a trucker Liz's daughter uses for her catering business here in Cabo. Liz's long time friend, Doug, donated the money and Liz was in charge of how the money would best be spent. So thanks to them, I will now have curriculum I can easily download off the Internet and novels, novels, novels I can teach. Even I, a believer in miracles, found this one hard to believe.

At the gala school event last night the teachers were introduced to the parents. Harry and I were asked to get up and speak about the English program while Patty translated. The high school students sang and played instruments and put on a skit. There was a long prayer from our resident priest who talked about the children at Libertad being like little boats in a safe harbor who would someday soon to be launched into the sea. (Guess that would have to be the Sea of Cortez.) Then the English Lab, now replete with 5 computers, a copy machine/printer/scanner and soon many sets of classic novels, was open for all to admire. There was even a ribbon cutting ceremony and of course another prayer from my boss, Rosie, who said she had prayed for the right teachers to come along and develop this new model for teaching English at Libertad.

Afterwards the owner of Libertad, Elsa, told me as she gave me a big hug and kiss that I must feel like my prayers had been answered with the arrival of the new machine. Harry and Liz had been the ones (earthly angels perhaps?) who spent a good deal of Friday at Office Max exchanging the small machine that had been bought on Thursday for the new mother of all machines. Exchanging things in Mexico is quite a process! Elsa, with Liz's encouragement, coughed up a couple hundred dollars extra yesterday for the upgrade. Liz is now working on getting a nice bookshelf ready for the sets of novels when they arrive in a week. I swear this whole process has been enough to make even an atheist a true believer.

Well, the little boats, when sent adrift, may well be speaking better English out in those rough ocean waters of life thanks to the new English Lab. And the English teacher who was ready to go adrift is feeling very grateful and plans to stay in the port of Libertad where she feels safe. I thought I might take up my neighbor Greg's offer to be a hostess showing time-share properties for the company he works for. I don't think that would be the right job for me anyway. It was a great birthday and more importantly a good day for the wonderful students I have grown to love more and more at Libertad. Guess praying can sometimes do the trick, maybe I should do more of it when I find myself out there in those rough ocean waters of life.