I (still) love to run.

I love to run. Every morning starts the same. I run past my new favorite 'Life is now' sign and the sculpture of the world 'LOVE' written upside down so when it reflects off the water, it is readable. I run past the sea and the waves and through winding cities. Today, the water was rough, spraying up on my path every now and then. Then, I come back to the flat renewed, ready for the day. Yesterday we taught English. It was wonderful and difficult, again. We were greeted with 'The teachers are here, the teachers are here!' I always get a sinking feeling inside, because we do not know how to teach ESL, we are totally winging it, using vocab we think will be helpful, hoping our speech is able to be understood. But, by some humble fate, at the end of the 2 hour session, the two men I worked with could write the entire alphabet. All 26 letters, uppercase and lowercase. They practiced over and over again until their S looked different from their Z and they could pronounce the difference between B and P. They are extremely bright, even if they can't read or write. It takes intellect and perseverance to get across the Sahara and the Mediterranean. I was so excited for them. They were cheering and smiling once we got to 'Z'. They don't need people with their doctorates in ESL, they just need someone to bring a white dry erase board, some markers and a smile. That, I can do.

Today we have an afternoon of class and paper writing, followed by more paper writing. Our goal is to finish at least half of our papers before Spring Break. As long as this 'monsoon' is over Malta, we might as well stay inside and finish. That way, we'll be free to enjoy our time in the warm months ahead.

Hope all is well at home, and thank you for all the words of encouragement and support over the last month. I love you all! Take care! Love, Audrey

P.S. The pictures at the very top are the Blue Grotto. And, the very top is "the group." I realized I've been saying 'we' a lot. We refers to 11 students, 7 of us are from Luther, 4 from Concordia College. It's a great group of people, I'm so glad I've had the chance to meet each and every one of them. The picture of me and the refugees is at Hal Far, the tent village in Malta. And, finally, on the bottom, that big red sign that gets me everyday. Life is now. Get on, hold on, and enjoy the ride. :)