The Madness of March

Hello, Friends.

March is super exciting in Indiana: it's March Madness! Men's college basketball teams compete for the NCAA championship title. We Hoosiers are known for our love of hoops. There is nothing like a championship to get you through the dreary end of winter, especially if you at missing the Olympics! Last night I stayed up after midnight to watch the Butler/Seton Hall game. It was a nail biter with the Butler trailing by mere points most the game. Seton Hall had some stellar three point shots on goal, but in the last two minutes of play the dawgs owned the court!

To get into the spirit (even if you aren't a fan), complete a bracket and follow the competition. You don't have to be a pro, just pick a team. Some people pick because they like the team colors, the name, the mascot, or because the players look the best. Other people study the statistics and make educated guesses. 

Get ready to mark your calendar for March Madness!

March 11: Selection Sunday: the 68 teams are announced. Time to make your picks! Here is the link for you to make your bracket so we can compete against each other for a fabulous prizes TBA. Or visit our Facebook pages to log in.

March 13-14: Teams are finalized and seeded into the bracket 

March 15 and 16: Sixty four teams compete in the first round games in eight cities.

March 17 and 18: Thirty-two teams battle it out in the second round.

March 22 and 23: Sweet Sixteen: (16 teams play eight regional and semifinal games).

March 24 and 25: The Elite Eight

March 31: Final Four

April 2: The remaining two teams compete for the national title

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

This week we finished our study of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. We began with, "Give us this day our daily bread." The Greek word for "daily" in this sentence is "epiousious," and it is not used anywhere else in the Bible. The only other place it has been found in Ancient Greek was in something written in a papyrus from around the year 400 A.D., in a list in an account book. It was used there as "enough for the day" or "the daily ration." By praying for our daily bread, we are trusting in God to provide enough for today and leaving our future needs in His hands.

We also talked about the manna that God supplied for the children of Israel in Old Testament times, as they wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt, and about Jesus, the Bread of Life, who supplies not only our physical needs, but also our spiritual needs.

The next petition is a bit of a scary proposition. We say, "And forgive us our trespasses (sins), as we forgive those who trespass against us." We are essentially asking God to treat us the way we treat others. If we are generous with our forgiveness, we will be forgiven generously. If we hold a grudge against someone who has mistreated us, then we are telling God to withhold his complete forgiveness from us, too. It's a great reminder that we, who have been loved so much by God, also need to pass along that love to people in our lives. Forgive and forget, but don't forget that you forgave!

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." God never tempts us to do evil, but He does allow our faith to be tested. So what we are asking here is that God spare us from trials and tribulations, and also that He would give us the strength to get through difficult times of testing or temptations to do evil. ~ Jan Heimann

We learned so much from this study of the Lord's Prayer, and we look forward to next week, when we will continue with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. Please join us!

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:00, Room 100.

We met to try our hand at making polvoron (the Filipino answer to shortbread). This interesting and tasty treat is concocted on the stove. Watch this video for directions for making polvoron.  This video is in Tagalog, but you will find that you can easily follow the directions. We had a little bit of a problem with our recipe because the initial recipe called for 4 Cups of Butter. This was in error. In previewing the video for this newsletter I discovered an amendment:

4 Cups of flour

2 Cup of Powdered Milk

1/2 Cup of Sugar

4 TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER

No worries! Our results were tasty. We increased the flour, powdered milk and sugar until the consistency of the mix was more to our liking and less gooey and greasy.

Here's a recipe for the famous Goldilocks style. This cook uses a small scoop to shape the cookies rather than a press.

Goldilocks Style Polvoron

2 C flour

2/3 C powdered milk

1 t vanilla

50 grams melted butter (what?! Grams?! We don't use grams here in the U.S.)

You can mix just about anything into your polvoron: chocolate, coffee powder, ground nuts (cashews, peanuts, etc.), even sprinkles! Some fancy recipes dip the polvoron in melted chocolate.

March 13: Join us to learn how to make that famous St. Patrick's Day feast: corned beef and cabbage! Maybe we will dance a jig.

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00, room 209.

You never know just how our conversations will turn! This week we talked about why it's good not to plan too much for a conversation class: to keep us flexible so the discussion can follow whatever path and keep on our toes to keep up with the conversation. We talked about how conversations require us to be able to follow unscripted paths.

We talked about cousins and second cousins and extended relationships. We found that different countries have different laws for marrying relatives. In Indiana you can not marry if "applicants are more closely related than second cousins (though there is an exception if you are first cousins and both are at least sixty-five (65) years of age)." These rules are similar in Venezuela and Japan, but in Taiwan you have to be more than sixth cousins (six generations apart). We read a few articles in the March Easy English News about St. Patrick's Day.

March 14: Join us for chatting and fun.

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

We are having some special guests to talk with us and answer our questions. Think of questions to ask. You can write them down or save them to ask the officer or fireman in person. Save the dates! Invite your friends!

March 29, 10:30-11:45: We will have a Carmel Police Officer come and talk to us and answer your questions. You can ask the officer yourself, or you can write your questions down and give them to your teacher March 6, or bring them on the 15th.

April 19, 10:40-11:45: Join us as a representative from the Carmel Fire Department comes to talk to us about safety. 

super: slang for very

hoops: basketball

NCAA: National Collegiate Athletic Association; the NCAA Hall of Champions is here in Indy!

championship: competition for the best

midnight: 12:00 am

dawgs: the bull dogs; the mascot for Butler

owned the court: won the game (basketball is played on a court)

stellar: outstanding, great

shots on goal: throwing the basketball at the hoop and net to score

get into the spirit: get involved; participate

mascot: the animal or character that represents the team or school

make your picks: choose the teams to win

make your bracket: put the team selections in the form

TBA: To Be Announced

seeded: arranged so that top ranking teams do not play early in the tournament

bracket: a diagram of teams competing in a tournament

first round: the first games of the tournament (competition)

semifinals: round of games before the final games

ration: a fixed allowance of food
manna: the food miraculously supplied to the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16:14-36)
petition: a request made for something desired; a supplication or prayer
proposition: a plan or scheme proposed
hold a grudge: to have a feeling of resentment for some real or imagined wrong
trials and tribulations: tests of one's patience or endurance; difficult experiences; problems

concocted: mixed together

initial: first, preliminary

amendment: correction, change

consistency: texture

more to our liking: to our taste

gooey: sticky

greasy: oily

you never know: it isn't clear; you couldn't guess

will turn: the direction a conversation takes; the topics covered

flexible: able to change or move easily

follow a path (of conversation): a train of thought; connecting ideas

keep on our toes: pay attention

unscripted: not prepared