Discovering Guatemala

Okay so I apologize that it’s been so long since my last update but believe me when I say that things have been SO incredibly busy since the first day of school. There was the second day of school, the third day, a weekend getaway, and now the first real week of teaching. Wrapping my mind around teaching was enough of a rush for me to want to sleep for an entire week but the real deal is even more exhausting than I could have ever anticipated. I mean, I LOVE it but I’m wiped out!

So the rest of the week with my students went fantastically well. One thing I just adore about them is their hearts. They are so welcoming to others, forgiving, sensitive, affectionate; it can always put a smile on my face. We ended up putting our puzzle together without talking which was really impressive and entertaining. We also developed a list of classroom jobs and boy did those kids surprise me! One kid thought so far in advance as to create a job called “substitute” in case anyone was absent and their job needed to be done. I never would have thought of that! They also thought of class gardener and asked if they could bring in plants—heck yes, kid! I love their creativity and their willingness to share their ideas, even when they cannot think of how they are supposed to say what they are thinking in English.

Our finished puzzle!

I also don’t think I will ever get sick of how often these kids want to give out hugs. I’m a big hugger in general and getting them from these tiny little people is like my favorite thing about this job. Sometimes I put my hand up to give them a high five and they give me a hug instead ☺ I love third grade!

So this weekend Aubrey, Makenzie, Katie, Ashley and Tom (grade 5 teacher from Canada) went to a town called El Paredon at the Pacific Coast for the weekend. Tom goes there every weekend to surf and didn’t mind all of us piling in (literally, Aubrey laying in the trunk) his car on the way. We stayed at a surf shop hostel with a bunch of wanderer surfers from all over the world. It was pretty badass hearing their stories about traveling the world, meeting interesting people, and learning immense amounts from all the people and places they had been. I think I would really love to live like that someday. I especially liked venturing out into the small village and meeting some of the locals. It was pretty awesome to see how simply they live and how happy they all are. It was also pretty exciting for me to listen in on the conversations being had in Spanish as I am definitely understanding a lot more of what I’m hearing but still having very little to contribute to the actual conversation. I know this will change with time but its exciting/frustrating all in one.

:)

Tom was gracious enough to give us all surfing lessons and I’m pretty sure its something I could get hooked on. There are a lot of parallels with diving and surfing that made it so much fun for me. It’s that “I was so close!” feeling that made me keep turning around and trying again. It also has a fear factor attached to it like diving that made my heart beat so fast that I couldn’t stop jumping around like a little school-girl. My adrenaline junkie need has only gotten me in trouble a few times and I was able to make it through the weekend unharmed so there may very well be some surfing in my future.

The whole weekend, which included transportation via Tom, a place to sleep, surfing, and four meals was less that $35 American dollars. Plus, the food was some of the best I have had in the entire country. It was all fresh, homemade, and unique. If anyone reading this comes to visit, you can be sure that we’ll take a trip to this spot ☺

gymnasty

Roomie love!

This week at school has been crazy hectic so far but I’m hoping the next few days will smooth out. We started Spanish lessons after school with the elementary art teacher and they are going well. I really love the way he teaches and his classroom is so colorful and fun that I can pay attention the whole time even though the classes are riiiight after a long day of teaching. This weekend we are considering climbing Volcan Pacaya with a big group of teachers and then who knows what. Either way, I am really happy to finally be in a schedule and to have the opportunity to explore other parts of Guatemala.

I hope this post finds you well!