Hello Friends,

For your best experience go to our webpages for the Update and other current information.

Welcome Spring. Today is the Equinox! We have equal hours of day and night today. This means longer days of sunshine. With this latest round of showers, you will see leaves begin to grow. Go on a walk: the crocus are blooming.




March is Severe Weather Awareness Week: Learn more on the National Weather Service Education Pages. Make a plan, prepare your space, have a tornado drill.
Words you may be hearing:
lockdown: this means that people are not allowed enter or leave. My dad is currently in lockdown at his senior living space.
quarantine: a disease is present and people are restricted to their homes or a particular building.
shelter in place: stay where you are until it is safe to leave. This could be home, church, school, Walmart, etc. This is particularly true for severe weather.

COVID-19
So much of what you hear and see as it relates to our current situation reminds me of what I was taught by my mother and teachers: Wash your hands! Do not share drinks/food.

The City of Carmel has declared a local emergency. You can see the details or specific instruction  here: City of Carmel Mayor's Declaration.

Remembering that our priority is to keep our families and those around us safe by breaking the ability of this virus to move from person to person:

Do not make play dates. Kids or grown ups.

Do not play at playgrounds; they are closed.

Do not go out if you don't feel well. 

You can:

Enjoy quality, family time. Limit your close exposure to a small number of people.

Give each other space in the house.

Go for walks, runs, etc. Say hello, but keep your "social distance".

Order food from your favorite restaurant for pick up or delivery.

Some practical information.
When you pump gas:
Avoid touching the pump or buttons on the keypad. Use a paper towel, tissue or put your hand in plastic bag to dispense. Throw away the paper towel, tissue, etc. Thank you, Jackie for this advice.

We enjoyed our first “classes” from home. I have to say, I really enjoyed meeting, seeing and hearing you. Please continue to meet with us. Let us know how we can improve in this new way of learning. For parents of older children, this is a great way to demonstrate a new skill and attitude. We are all in this together.

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30.
We had a great meeting in four languages. Mark 8:14-21  is the teaching lesson about bread and yeast. Jesus warns about the "yeast" that grows and contaminates. We talked about yeast being "hypocracy" or demanding a certain behavior of others while breaking the rules. Jesus refers back to the number of leftover baskets of food for the Jewish people (12: one for each of the tribes), the Gentiles (7: one for each of the churches/and the number of completion). The disciples only had one loaf: they assumed there was a problem there, but they only needed one loaf of bread since they had Jesus with them. Jesus teaches not to listen to the negative spin and to look for the truth: God loves and protects us and will provide us with all we need.

March 26:  Zoom in with us as we talk about two stories Mark 8:22-30.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-11:30.
We learned to cook corned beef and cabbage. This is a traditional American dish to celebrate the Irish culture on St Patrick's Day.

March 26: Join me by Zoom as we talk about life in America these days and plan to dye Easter Eggs amd meet over what was supposed to be our spring break.

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30- 6:30.
We caught up with each other. Let's continue the conversation in Zoom. Our text chats are very informative. Thank you to this group for braving the new format that is dictated by our current health situation.

March 27: We will Zoom together again. Look for the invitation and the text conversations.

English Classes: Thursdays, flexible with your classes.

English For Children:  March is our Fairy Tail Month. This week is Princess and the Pea. Here is a very nice rendition of the story on YouTube: The Princess and the Pea.

Questions to think about:

• Why was the prince sad?
• How did the queen test to see if the girl was a real princess?
• How many mattresses did the queen put on the bed?
• Why couldn’t the princess sleep throughout the night?
• Do you think the princess could really feel the pea?

The goal of a fairytale is to teach a truth about life and survival. What do you think is the message here?