Happy St. Patrick's Day and have a great weekend!

Hello Friends,

I hope you feel better after the daylight saving time change that we had last Sunday. Experts say that it takes time for the body to adjust and recover from the time we lost, not to mention that people that are late to their activities and feel out of place for a few days after the time change.

Being tired can decrease productivity, concentration, and general well-being. Studies have found that setting the clocks forward for spring increases the risk of heart attacks, road accidents, and sleep problems:

A Swedish study in 2008 found that the risk of having a heart attack increases in the first three days after switching to DST in the spring. Losing one hour of afternoon daylight after setting the clocks back to standard time can trigger seasonal depressions like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or winter depression. A Danish study found an 11% increase in depression cases during after the seasonal change. The cases dissipated gradually after 10 weeks.

However, when it comes to car crashes and DST, there were less accidents after switching back to standard time, probably due to another hour sleep.

But now that we lost one hour to sleep and have one more hour to be awake and active, enjoy this wonderful Spring season, Spring is officially upon us on either March 1 or March 20, depending on your preference:

There are two different methods used for determining the dates of the seasons, and the method you choose will change the date the spring starts.

The Met Office often use the meteorological seasons, these are based on the annual temperature cycle and the state of the atmosphere. The meteorological seasons also co-ordinate with the calendar ad they consist of splitting the year into four three month seasons. Using this system the seasons are defined as: spring (March, April, May), Summer (June, July, August), Autumn (September, October, November) and Winter (December, January, February). By this system spring starts on March 1 and runs through until May 31.

The other system is to use the astronomical seasons these refer to the position of Earth’s orbit in relation to the sun taking into account equinoxes (when the length of the day is exactly the same as the length of the night) and solstices (the longest and shortest days of the year). If you want to get technical the astronomical calendar determines the seasons by when the Earth’s rotational axis is at a 23.5 degree in relation to its orbit around the sun.

By this system spring starts on March 20 and runs through until June 20.-Lupita Carrillo

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30, room 100

In Acts 13, St. Paul is on the road again on his first missionary journey, hoofing it from one end of the island of Cyprus to the other, with Barnabas and John Mark in tow. (See video) Again we see the same modus operandi. Paul and his companions consistently make their first appearance in a new town at the Jewish synagogue, where they tell the story of the nation of Israel and God's promise to them to send a Messiah. Then they testify about Jesus and how he fulfilled every one of God's promises. Sometimes their message is gladly received, and sometimes they are persecuted for what they are preaching, but in all their challenging and difficult situations, God is using them for good. 

We talked about problems that the Christian Church faces today, and that we need to trust that God can do great and mighty things, even in the midst of what might seem to some like chaos. When John Mark left Paul and Barnabas and returned to Jerusalem, it caused a rift between him and Paul. However, later we see John Mark and Barnabas setting off on missionary journeys of their own, while Paul and Silas traveled in other directions. All the while the Word of God was being preached throughout the world.

We also discussed how culture and traditions can sometimes get in the way of truth, a problem in St. Paul's time that can still be a problem today. We also talked about the beautiful story of God's love for us and how it becomes part of our language and our story. We read the Maasai Creed which tells how these people take this story and makes it their own. Chapter 13 ends with these words, "And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit." May that be true for us, too!-Jan Heimann

March 21: Join us as we read Chapter 14

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:00, room 100

We made our brackets. That makes us real Hoosiers who love our hoops. I hope that you take the time to join the fun and participate in March Madness by watching some of the games in the tournament.

March 21: Join us as we plan our spring activities.

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00, room 201

We considered page seven and talked about the Civil War in the United States. We talked about the second most popular poem of Robert Frost. In this poem Mr. Frost talks about that green is gold. This is particularly poignant this time of year when we see our first green after the cold of winter.

March 22
We will continue to peruse Easy English News.
We will read and talk about the poem by Alfred Noyes

Daddy Fell into the Pond

Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And then there seemed to be nothing beyond,
Then
Daddy fell into the pond!
And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed!" Click!
Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
When
Daddy Fell into the pond!

English Classes: Thursdays, 9:30-12:00, upstairs classrooms

Join our classes. We are happy to have you join us for the rest of our year!

feel better: be healthy of feel well after a period of feeling under the weather or out of sorts
not to mention that: briefly naming or listing

peruse: read

hoofing it: to walk

in tow: in the state of being towed or pulled along

modus operandi: (Latin) method of operating or working

in the midst of:  in the middle of 

chaos:  (KA oss) a state of utter confusion or disorder

rift:  an opening made by splitting, cleaving, etc.