I was folding sheets the other day and remembered sharing that job with another girl in my first year there. We did sheets seemingly for hours and they had to be perfect. The two of us worked together to pull them out and fold them so they lay perfectly flat and with out wrinkle and all the edges perfectly matched. This was my first lesson if doing a job with someone else, and doing it properly. I think every student who did the laundry ended that job with a pride in doing a job well. Well, I don't know that for sure. I just know it was the result with me. Today I cannot fold a sheet badly without an inner “I've got to do that over.” And in this day of dryers for clothes I find I miss the smell of air dried clothes.
One of the jobs I got a lot or so it seemed to me was cleaning the girls bathroom, showers, sinks and toilets and the staff bathroom. I came to love the fun of making it shine and I personally came to enjoy working on my own to do the job. I only learned later in Bible School that cleaning a girls area was a lot easier than cleaning a guys area.
I don't actually remember any other job I did though I'm sure I was on the roster to do them all.
I also liked the fact that we were responsible to keep our own rooms clean, beds made, clothes in their places, floor swept and whatever was needful to make the room presentable. My mom had taught me to work and showed me each job and exactly how to do it. But I think at Tambo, with everyone having to do work, added a dimension for me to try and do it as well, and with pride.
In class, I loved History with Mr. Bill Pittenger. I loved taking notes in class and not following a book though we had books to study. I loved the essay tests and that after the test we all, as a class met with Mr. Pittenger and argued why we deserved a higher grade for our answers. He was generous and never made us feel foolish. I was so disappointed at Multnomah that we had these cookie cutter tests with answers that meant memorization of dates and events. I loved the fact that in writing an answer the dates and events and sequences just fell in place and became real which facts and figures without the story never has for me. I'm big on the story of how and why.
I loved English with Mrs. Lotz. She introduced us to the joy of good literature. I admit the grammar and spelling parts destroyed my g.p.a. more than once. ARG!!! But again, Mrs. Lotz was a teacher who made learning like exploration – a bit hard at times, but the end was worth it all. I still have a copy of James Whitcomb Riley's The Bear Story in my book of special poems. Mrs. Lotz reading of it made it come alive. And for Shakespeare, I remember we did Julius Caesar in her class. Years later, my daughter and I had a ball reading The Taming of a Shrew aloud, each of us taking different voices. Sometimes we just stopped to laugh. Something I would never have even thought enjoying without Mrs. Lotz' classes.
I loved Algebra with Mr and Mrs. Lotz. I seem to remember Mrs. Lotz started the course, Algebra 1 and Mr. Lotz taught Algebra II. I have never found math easy. I had to many blanks in my grade school years to be able to work well in any math. I am still not good in anything beyond the basic four skills and unfortunately, although I loved Algebra and did well in class I promptly forget it all. That I'm sorry for but I will say, I loved those classes and the sense of accomplishment as I conquered each new exercise. Also, the fact that by Algebra II Mr. Lotz gave us a test paper and we had the week-end to complete and turn in the test. He set guidelines and trusted us to follow them. That taught me about wanting to be worthy of the trust.
I loved where Tambo lay – out in the country. I loved the terrain around the school and the river that could roar one day, or turn into a mild mannered lady tripping along depending on the rain in the mountains. I loved the hills, the cactus. And I loved the 7 hour bus trips to and from Cochabamba to school, through the mountains and the rain forest. I loved the unexpected things that happened. On the bus trip I loved those times, only a few in number, where all the kids that got on the bus at Tambo sang hymns, in harmony, as we road through the night. It never occurred to me to wonder what the other passengers thought or may have wanted. I do hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.
I loved the music we had at Tambo. Mrs. Hurst making the piano dance and sing all on it's own. I've traveled and lived in many places since Tambo and discovered that we were very blessed with the musical talent we had at Tambo. Mrs. Hurst, Anna Foster and Gloria Stairs, there in my day, were all so talented. I was blessed that both Anna and Gloria so often were willing to sit and play for me, allowing me to just enjoy it and sometimes to sing. Wonderful memories.
Someone had made a platform in a tree in the area just off the road going out of Tambo toward Santa Cruz. In my first year there I spent almost all my free time up in that tree. I loved it. My memory is that that tree platform wasn't available by the next year. I never did find such a relaxing and lovely spot again.
But I loved that whole area surrounding school, and the freedom we had during the afternoons, after our jobs were finished, to wander in the hills. I learned to have my quiet time out in the open air. It actually took me years to adjust to having devotions inside in a house.
