Thursday, September 18, 2008

Rehoboth Shots

This will be up soon!

This will hopefully contain some pictures put up by other students and our professor. 

Posted by Jennie Zeilstra on 09/18 at 07:29 PM
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Biography of Students

Meet the 8 Calvin Students of the New Mexico Semester

Coming soon!  The stories of Sarah E, Caitlin, Sarah O, and Andrea! Here are the other student’s biographies.


Marie DeVries
Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI
Major: Special Education
Year:Senior

Hello from Rehoboth! It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for a month already. I’m doing my student teaching in Mr. VanderHoven’s 3rd grade classroom at Rehoboth Christian School. The view out of our classroom window is beautiful. So far I’ve taken on some reading, spelling, social studies, writing, and a little math, and will be doing my 2 weeks of full time teaching in November. Our weekend trips have also been amazing. A highlight so far has been the three and a half hour train ride through the Colorado mountains to Silverton. I’m looking forward to hiking in the Grand Canyon in October, and to a visit from my family in November.


Jennie Zeilstra
Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI (among others..)
Major:Secondary Education-English
Year: Junior

It’s been less than a month, and already this has been a phenomenal semester.  We have gotten the chance to see things we would never see if it wasn’t for this opportunity!  My favorite part would have to be any given weekend.  It’s great to finally be in a classroom setting--I’m observing this semester, and love the way my cooperating teacher teaches.  Rehoboth is a great community, and we have all been warmly welcomed.  I’m also trying to take advantage of the skies here--we’ll get many chances to look through Calvin’s telescope on campus here. I’m thrilled :) This group is an amazing group--we have so much fun together!  Many great memories are being made-I can’t wait for the future adventures!


Nikki Stusick
Hometown: Stevensville, MI
Major: El. Ed-Integrated Science and Language Arts
Year: Senior

this fall i am student teaching at Church Rock Academy in a fifth
grade class. it is public school located on the Church Rock Chapter of
the Navajo Indian Reservation. the students are full of energy and
we’ve been keeping busy: building volcanoes, making western states
posters, and of course playing lots of teather ball at recess. i can
understand why everyone who moves out here never leaves. i have yet to
find something about the Land of Enchantment that i do not love. the
mountains, mesas, sagebrush, sunflowers, lava tubes, and turquoise--
what’s not to love?!  and remember: WHOO WHOOOOO.


Ben Buursma
Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI
Major: El. Education-Integrated Science and Language Arts
Year: Junior

Hi everyone! Some might say I am the lucky guy with 7 beautiful ladies, but in reality, I am really more of everyone’s little brother. During our trips I can be found climbing over any rocks I can find and basking in the alluring Southwest sky. On a more academic note, I am teacher aiding in the classroom of Mr. Chris Huizinga at Rehoboth Christian Middle School. Together Mr. Huizinga and I engage middle school minds in the wonders of Science. My time in the classroom has thus far been rewarding and encouraging. Along with teaching, our weekend trips have been adventures of wonder and stupefaction. Ancient Puebloan Ruins never cease to inspire imagination and child-like joy seems to materialize on steam-engine rides through the mountains. At the end of each day, I hold on to the truth that my time here at Rehoboth is an exciting and engaging part of God’s plan for my life.

Posted by Jennie Zeilstra on 09/18 at 02:08 PM
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

New Mexico Adventures Begin!

Hello from New Mexico!  The whole group has been here in Rehoboth for about two and a half weeks, and we love it.  We are continually amazed by the beautiful landscape and breathtaking views of the great SouthWest. 

First a little bit about our new home, Rehoboth.  Rehoboth is very close to Gallup.  Gallup was founded in 1891 as a railhead for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.  There are still quite a few trains that pass Rehoboth!  The elevation of Rehoboth is about 6,500 feet--compared to Grand Rapids’s 640 feet.  To learn more about Rehoboth’s history, go here: http://www.rcsnm.org/History.pdf

Now for the things we’ve done and places we’ve gone!

On August 29, we all went on the Ropes course.  This was a great way for all of us to get to know each other a bit better.  We were led by Don Tamminga (or “T” as we and others call him).  We had a great time experiencing “new heights”

The Saturday, August 30, we hiked the great hike to “Pyramid Rock.” We hiked around 1,000 feet to the highest point-around 7,500 feet!  The weather was perfect!  It was around 78 degrees with a slight breeze.  Beautiful views and a great group picture at the top.  We will be climbing this mountain on our “moonlit hike” as well.

This is Pyramid Rock!

Here is Church Rock, which is close to Pyramid.

We love our (goofy) group


Guess what that little spec is in the picture? None other than our own Ben!

On Sunday, we drove to Zuni.  This is a beautiful place south of Gallup.  We had lunch and traveled to “El Moro.” El Moro is famous because Spanish explorers as far back as the 1600s carved their names or something significant.  There were signatures and statements form American Explorers as well!  The carvings were so neat, it looked as if the hand carved letters were actually stamps.  We then began our trek up the mountain.  We had an interesting time here as it rained halfway up our climb!  A few of us found refuge under a couple of trees, while a majority of students continued despite the rain.  Once we all climbed to the top, we were all amazed at the beauty.  In some areas, the mesa top has about 200 foot drop offs!



The trees really didn’t shelter us that much..as you can tell. :)

But this is one of the many beautiful inscriptions.

Monday, Sept. 1, we left in the afternoon for McGaffey.  We drove there and began to hike Strawberry Canyon.  I’m still not sure why they call it that, but it was fun, nonetheless!  When we reached the top, which was around 8,400’, we climbed a lookout tower where we could see very far.  On the drive home, we passed an Elk farm, and got to see some huge elk!  We continued down the road, only to find a Texas Longhorn just sitting behind a fence.  Never know what you’re going to find! 

Here’s our group at Strawberry Canyon (left to right) Nikki, Marie, Sarah, Sarah, Ben, Andrea, Caitlin, and Jennie.
Later that week, the Student Aids began their classes.  We are taking Geology, Sociology, and Education courses.  The Student Teachers have been in their schools for a while, and we all enjoy their stories during dinner!  During the week, some of us enjoy hiking to Rehoboth peak, watching the stars, or other activities going on at Rehoboth.

The weekend of the 6th, we traveled to Arizona for the Navajo Nation Fair.  It was extremely busy, but filled with beautiful people and beautiful colors.  The theme was “Navajo Women: Our Strength, Our Endurance.” After enjoying jewelry, fry bread contests, and the ever present country music, we all headed over to the Rodeo!  This was the first Rodeo experience for all of us, and it was a blast. 

We then headed back to Rehoboth, only to go to another hike!  We were exhausted but headed out.  What an experience that was.  Once we climbed huge rocks to the top of a nearby mountain, we realized why it was called a “Crevice Hike.” We all had to maneuver ourselves between two gigantic rocks.  It was challenging to say the least!  Some of us had climb down in the dark, while the rest of us cheered when they jumped (dropped?) to the bottom.

The Student Aids began to aid last week!  We all agree it was a lot of fun to finally be in a classroom setting.  Rehoboth has been very welcoming, and we’re excited to observe in the classrooms.  Andrea is in Church Rock (reservation school) while Ben, Sarah, and myself are at Rehoboth Christian schools. 

This past weekend was a definite highlight of the trip!!  On Friday, we drove to Durango, CO which is about three and a half hours north east of Gallup.  We went to the Hot Springs, which was very touristy but fun nonetheless.  They were hot tubs with geothermal-heated groundwater from the earth’s crust.  The next morning we headed to Mesa Verde.  That translates to “Green Table.” This park is special because ancient Pueblo people built their homes and villages in the side of cliffs!  It was very apparent that they were very smart people (and resourceful!) to live there.  We were able to spend lots of time walking around ancient cliff dwellings.  Here’s a quick picture:
=

This past Sunday morning, we took the train from Durango to Silverton.  The train was beautiful, and gave fantastic scenery.  We then walked around Silverton and enjoyed the former silver mining camp.  According to a 2000 census, the town population was 531.  Just a small town :) After seeing the town, we drove the 4 hours back to Gallup.  Back into the daily routine!

The beautiful train with..

beautiful views.

On September 20, we headed to El Malpais.  As flowing masses of hot lava cooled from a large volcano, these tube caves were formed.  One lava tube system goes to around 17 miles!  We did not hike near all of that, but did go through a couple tubes.  It was really cool!  El Malpais literally means “the badlands” in Spanish.  The Anasazi established communities along the edges of the lava flows.  They left around the mid-1300s to the Acoma area.  It’s amazing that anyone could travel on this, as the lava covers EVERYTHING. 

On the next weekend, we were able to go to a Sheep Ranch..and..have lunch!  We met the family, and got right to work.  Ben threw the rope and got a sheep.  After the ‘expert’ slaughter man came, we began our adventure of killing a sheep.  This was a very interesting experience.  We all helped one way or another.  After cleaning everything (and I mean EVERYTHING), we started making frybread and tortillas.  This was a lot of fun--and we had a LOT to make!  We really enjoyed talking and joking around with the family. They were really willing to help us and tell us stories.  After that, we drove a bit through the reservation.  It was beautiful...a big bumpy, but that’s to be expected.  We also stopped at the Hubbell Trading Post.  John Hubbell bought this post in 1878.  The Hubbell family owned this until they sold it to the park in 1965!  We got a tour of the Hubbell home.  It was pretty neat to see some of the furniture John Hubbell made by hand.  Really intricate and beautiful.  After that, we went to Window Rock, but it started drizzling so we headed out pretty quick.  As if that wasn’t enough, on the way home, we stopped by a huge piece of land that was COVERED with petrified wood.  The rocks we found there were amazing.  So many colors and sizes.

We also started the after school program!  We are all continuing our teaching and aiding.  Then at around 3:30, we go back to school and help tutor, play games, or teach sports to the students.  Some of the students have to stay after school, as the busses don’t leave on some days until 5pm.  So we try to help out the students as much as we can.  It’s a great opportunity to get to know the students a little better! 

This past weekend, October 4, we went to Chaco Canyon.  From 850AD-1250AD, this was the place to be if you were apart of the ancestral Puebloan culture (aka Anasazi). 

Posted by Jennie Zeilstra on 09/17 at 07:05 PM
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